Story I - Chapter 1
Rossi's brain tried to wake him up, but he was fighting it. It had been a few long days on the case divided only by short nights and all he wanted to do was curl further into his pillow.
"Dave!"
Rossi's eyes snapped open as he finally realized there was banging on his door, and the terror in Hotch's voice chased any remnants of sleep from his mind as he rushed to open it. He flung it open and Hotch fell to into his arms. "Jesus Christ, Aaron! What's wrong?" he asked as he helped the man to the floor. The first thing that came to his mind was that Hotch had had a horrible nightmare.
Hotch shook his head and sweat flung from his soaked hair. "Don't know. . ." he gasped as his whole body tensed. "Hurts!" he got out in a huff.
Rossi looked up to see the whole team scrambling down the hallway towards them in the still open doorway. Apparently they'd all heard Hotch. "Call a bus!" he screamed and JJ nodded as she took out her phone.
Morgan swept Hotch up under the shoulders and Rossi helped get him to one of the beds. "Damn, Hotch, you're burning up!" Morgan told him as he laid him down on his back.
Hotch's whole face showed exactly how much pain he was in as his eyes locked with Dave's, and Dave could see terror. "What hurts?" Rossi asked and the desperation in his voice had Mack tearing up as they all moved in to be closer to their Unit Chief.
"Veins. . . feels like. . . lava running. . . through. . . them," he got out between pants and clenched teeth.
Rossi and Morgan locked eyes and then got even closer to the hurting man. Morgan grabbed one of the arms that Hotch had pressed against his middle and pulled it away to get a good look at it. Hotch's veins were bulging and the inflammation about an inch thick around them made Morgan's heart speed up. He looked at Rossi with tears in his eyes. "Poison?"
"Oh God. No!" Rossi yelled as he lifted Hotch's t-shirt to reveal the same streaks following all of Hotch arteries and veins. He pressed Hotch's head back and looked him in the eyes. "You need to try and calm down, Aaron. If it is a poison you're just making it spread faster," he told him in as calm a voice as he could muster as tears trailed down his cheeks.
Hotch nodded and tried to take a deep breath, but he ended up screaming as his limbs tensed themselves into contorted positions, and everyone flinched.
"They're five minutes out," JJ told them.
"We could take him," Mack suggested as she moved in to help hold down Hotch's legs when she saw Morgan holding down his upper body.
"No. They can get start flushing his system in the ambulance," Reid put out.
Another scream escaped Hotch's throat as his back arched up off the bed. After several seconds he finally collapsed back onto the mattress and Rossi cringed at the blood vessels that had ruptured in Hotch's eyes from the strain of body tensing in pain. He put his hand on Hotch's forehead and started stroking his hair. "Just hold on, Aaron. Help's coming," he softly urged him but Hotch started trembling.
Hotch tried to swallow as his eyes locked with the man he loved as a father. "Kah. . . Kah. . ."
"You want me to call Kahlan?" Rossi asked him and Hotch nodded as best as he could. Rossi's heart threatened to collapse as he took out his phone. If Hotch wanted Kahlan then he knew how bad it was and the fear in Hotch's eyes made that realization a hundred times more clear. "Ok, Aaron. I'll call her."
"Lov. . . her," Hotch uttered as he looked at the phone.
"I know. Tell her you love her, right?" Rossi asked as he brought up his contacts. He had to wipe his eyes to be able to see and if Kahlan's picture hadn't been saved as part of the contact Rossi wouldn't have been able to figure out which one was the right one.
"Oh my God, Dave! What's wrong?!" Kahlan demanded as soon as the call connected.
Rossi cringed. I should have known she'd know something was wrong. He licked his lips and turned away from the bed hoping to keep Hotch's whimpers and cries out of the phone's microphone. "I don't honestly know, Kahlan, but there's something wrong with Hotch. He's hurt."
"Hurt?" She took a shuddering breath. "How hurt?"
"Aaron needs, you, Kiddo."
"Oh God," she muttered and he could tell the tears had started to fall, but he could hear her moving through the house. "I'm coming!"
"Alright," Rossi started and Hotch grabbed his arm in shaking hand. Rossi looked at him and Hotch's look pleaded with him to give her the message. Rossi put his hand over Hotch's and nodded. "He wants me to tell you that he loves you," he got out and had to fight back the sob that wanted to escape.
The line went so silent Rossi thought that he'd lost her for a second, but she cleared her throat. "Can I talk to him?"
"I don't know how much he can talk, but he can listen," Rossi assured her and then put the phone on speaker.
"God, Aaron, you don't have to tell me you love me, I already know. Me and the kids love you just as much, too," she started with a quivering voice.
"Sa. . . Sa. . . Sorry," Hotch blurted out.
"Don't be sorry, Hun. You have always done your best for all of us. You just worry about yourself right now." Every one heard her whimper and tears started down all of their cheeks. "Aaron, if something. . . If you. . ." She cleared her throat again to try and fight back the anguish that was constricting her voice. "You know nothing can keep us apart!"
"Yep," he got out and then his whole body tensed again as he screamed.
Kahlan had to cover her mouth to keep from yelling just as loudly, and she prayed that he could hold on. "Dave!"
Rossi took the phone back off of speaker and held it to his ear. "God, Kiddo. I. . ."
"He'll be alright! This is Aaron we're talking about! I'm going to hang up and I'll be there as soon as I can. Text me which hospital as soon as you know."
"I will. Hurry, Kiddo. I'm not sure. . ."
"He'll make it!" she insisted and then ended the call as she grabbed her bag and headed downstairs.
Rossi wasn't sure who she was trying to convince as he put his phone back in his pocket, but his heart clenched because he couldn't tell who was more afraid: Hotch, Kahlan, or himself.
XXX
Rossi and the team couldn't do a whole lot for Hotch except keep him from hurting himself as they waited for the ambulance. JJ did run a cold washcloth over his face and head, but none of them had any idea what was wrong with him for sure, so they had no idea how to help him. They all took turns and ran and got dressed, but their feelings of helplessness were only compounded by Hotch's screams of agony that kept getting worse and worse.
Once the EMTs arrived, they loaded Hotch onto the gurney after assessing his vitals and when Rossi saw that Hotch's heart was beating at two times its normal limit, that his blood pressure was steadily going down, and that his temperature was steadily rising, Rossi had the sinking feeling the man he loved as a son wasn't going to make it. He rode with them and they hooked up IVs of fluids and pain medicine. They even administered adrenaline hoping that would do something, but nothing was helping. Tears trailed down Rossi's face as he held onto Hotch's hand. When Hotch tensed with another excruciating bout, he almost broke Rossi's hand, but Rossi didn't complain and he didn't let go, hoping the connection would somehow keep Hotch tethered to this world.
We they pulled up and got him into the ER, doctors and nurses swarmed around him as a nurse took Rossi to the station to get much needed information, but it wasn't far enough away and Rossi died a little more with every scream. His hand was shaking so much, that he couldn't even attempt to fill out the forms. He sat them down on the counter and took a deep breath.
"Here, I'll do those," Morgan told him as he grabbed the clipboard.
Rossi turned and saw the whole team behind him, and JJ swallowed him in a protective hug and he broke down.
After several minutes, Hotch's cries quieted down, but Rossi wasn't sure that was a good thing or not.
"Aaron Hotchner family?" a man in scrubs called as he walked into the waiting room.
The whole team stood up but Rossi stepped towards him. "Yes?"
The doctor swallowed hard and went to them. "I'm Dr. White. We have put Mr. Hotchner in a medically induced coma to alleviate his pain because it seemed nothing was helping, but I'm not sure it will do any good. We have taken blood to test for the suspected poison, but I have to tell you without knowing which one may have been used. . . Even once we find out, if we're able to find out, there may not be an antidote. I'm sorry, but there's not much we can do besides keep him comfortable."
Rossi's heart threated to stop with the news. "Nothing you can do? That man has a family!" he cried.
The doctor inhaled patiently. "I understand that, but unless we find out what it is and by some miracle have an antidote, there's not much hope. His temperature is steadily climbing, his heart is working triple time, and whatever it is it is blocking his blood from carrying oxygen to his cells."
"How much longer do you think he can survive?" Reid asked as he stepped forward. He had been cataloguing all of Hotch's symptoms trying to match it to known poisons, but he wasn't having any luck.
The doctor winced. "If this keeps going, maybe an hour, maybe less."
Rossi couldn't handle it anymore, he collapsed but Morgan grabbed him before he hit the floor.
"I am terribly sorry," the doctor added as he started towards Rossi, but Morgan held his hand up to stop him.
"Thank you," JJ put in trying to stay strong, and the doctor nodded and turned to go.
"Can we see him?" Mack asked and the desperation made her voice crack.
The doctor turned back. "Of course. Give me a couple minutes and I will send a nurse out for you."
JJ knelt down next to Rossi and placed a hand on his back. "Come on, Dave. You need to go see him."
He looked at her through his tears. "Kahlan won't get here in time."
She bit her lip. "I know, so we have to be there for him."
He sniffed and nodded and Morgan helped him up as he wiped his face. Morgan kept a hand on him in case Rossi started to go down again. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up so Hotch doesn't see you so upset."
Rossi nodded absently and nobody bothered to mention that if Hotch was in a coma he wouldn't even know they were there.
XXX
Once the nurse came out and took them back and they all stood in stunned silence as they watched the man they loved as a boss, a coworker, a friend, a brother lie lifelessly in a hospital bed covered only from the waist down. He was even paler than usual so the red streaks that marked his blood vessels stood out in horrible contrast. His heart was pounding in his chest so hard, that Rossi thought it might actually bust, and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out.
When none of them moved to go to the bedside, Morgan grabbed Mack's hand and pulled her with him. They both said their goodbyes, and then Reid and JJ went. When they were done, they moved back to let Rossi in and he sat on the edge of the bed and took Hotch's hand in his. He cringed when he saw the tips of Hotch's fingers turning blackish blue from lack of oxygen. He started crying in earnest as he lowered his head down onto Hotch's chest, and the heat coming off of Hotch's body made Rossi sweat. No, God! He's not supposed to die before me! How dare you do this to him! He is a good man and he doesn't deserve to go out like this! He's supposed to live to be old and gray and enjoy his grandkids!
After a few minutes, he felt Hotch's heart start to slow down and he sat up and looked at the monitor. Hotch's heart beat was slowing down, but an alarm sounded as Hotch's blood pressure and oxygen level dropped dangerously low. He got up and scrambled out of the way as nurses and the doctor came running in. He watched in horror as they checked Hotch over, and when the doctor turned to Rossi and shook his head, Rossi wanted to die.
The doctor placed a hand on Rossi's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, but it's working even faster than I initially thought."
"He's not going to wake up, is he?"
The doctor cringed. "He's only asleep to manage the pain." He swallowed hard. "Although, with as far as it's gotten, he's probably not in that much pain any more. I could wake him up if you want me to. That would give you a chance to tell him goodbye."
Rossi ran both hands down his face as he tried to weigh being able to talk to the man he loved like a son against that man suffering any more.
"If it seems like he is still in a lot of pain, I won't bring him all the way out," the doctor quickly added when he sensed Rossi's hesitation.
Rossi took a deep breath. "Alright. Do it."
The doctor nodded and took the oxygen mask off of Hotch's face and then turned a couple dials that regulated what was being pumped into it and then replaced it. "That gas works pretty fast, but people recover from it just as quickly. He should be waking up any time."
Rossi moved in and grabbed Hotch's hand again and smiled when Hotch squeezed his hand back "Come on, Aaron. Wake your lazy ass up."
Hotch's eyes fluttered open and then he looked around and they found Rossi's. He reached up with a shaky hand and removed the mask. "Dave?" he asked in barely a whisper.
"Yeah, Aaron. I'm here."
Hotch smiled. "It doesn't. . . hurt anymore."
Tears started down Rossi's cheeks again. "Good."
Hotch swallowed. "I'm dying. . . aren't I?"
Rossi put his free hand on Hotch's chest and started rubbing circles. "I really wish you weren't. You have too much shit to take care of," he tried jokingly.
A breathy chuckle escaped Hotch and he smiled. "Nah. . . You'll take care. . . of everything. . . for me. . . won't you?"
Rossi nodded vigorously. "You know it."
Hotch nodded as his eyes locked with Rossi's again. "Love you. . . Dad," he uttered and his eyes slid shut.
Rossi tears started waterfalls down his cheeks. "I love you, too, Son," he muttered and then cradled Hotch's upper body to his chest with one hand and stoked his hair with the other, all the while crying into Hotch's shoulder.
Hotch gasped two times and then went completely limp as the alarms on the monitors sounded in earnest. The doctor silently walked over to it and turned the machine off. After a deep breath, he put a hand on Rossi's back. "Take all the time you need."