It had been five, six, or even eight. The hours had blurred together, as Emily lay, bleeding and hurting, among a rough undergrowth of bushes and weeds.
She opened her eyes and was disappointed it was still night - the city's workers, paper boys and school children would not be trudging along the path beside her - and hopefully finding her -for a while yet.
She didn't know how much longer she could last.
She had been freezing once. Not so much now. Numbness had creeped in and was lulling her to sleep.
Emily wondered why the season's first snow had chosen tonight to fall. A snow flake landed on her lips, and she licked it desperately thirsty.
It was then she thought about her team. Did they even know she needed their help.
She'd been heading to Morgan's yesterday evening to go over a case, when she was struck from behind. Had she told Morgan to expect her? Her head ached as she tried to remember. She would have, wouldn't she?
Emily wanted to feel the back of her head, to feel how much damage the broken brick had caused, but she could barely breath let alone muster the strength to lift her arms.
It was the unsub who had done this to her. He'd followed Emily from her apartment and struck when the path had grown quiet. The brick to the head had been strong, but not strong enough to bring her down.
Emily had turned, shocked and fought back, landing a few blows of her own in retaliation. She was almost gaining the upper hand when she felt a knife blade thrust into her abdomen. She'd gasped and stared at the man in shock. He's smiled wrighly as he pulled out the blade and thrust it in for a second time. In the distance a dog barked and the unsub turned and ran into the night, leaving Emily to stumble and fall, without even a scream.
In his apartment, Derek Morgan awoke from a bad dream. His back ached from the awkward position he had fallen asleep in. He glanced at his watch and saw it was 4.15am. Then he remembered Emily. He'd been waiting for her to arrive when he'd fallen asleep on his couch. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before walking to his window and staring out into the night.
He wondered what had happened, if she had changed her mind. His heart began to beat a bit faster. Emily wouldn't do that. She would have called.
"Shit" he murmured to himself as he reached for his phone and dialed Emily's phone. By the time it reached voicemail, Derek was already out his door and on his way to Emily's apartment.
A mere 50 meters from Derek's apartment, Emily had slipped back into unconsciousness. Had she been awake she could have called out to Derek as he rushed passed her on the path nearby. Or maybe she wouldn't have had the strength anyway. In the messed up world of Emily's dreams, the unsub was laughing and then stabbing her over and over again.
"Hotch?" Derek spoke into his phone as he stood outside Emily's apartment beating on the door.
Derek's boss sat up straight in bed and answered his phone. A call at this time of night (or morning) was never a good thing. He half expected JJ to be calling about a new case, but it was Morgan's panicked voice on the other end.
"Hotch, I think something's happened to Emily," he said
"She was meant to stop by my place last night but never showed - and she's not answering her phone or at her apartment".
Hotch stood and reached for the shirt he'd flung onto the floor the night before. "I'll meet you at her apartment," he said, hanging up the phone.
The BAU had been working on the same case for a week now but had been unable to apprehend the unsub. The case was close in Washington and agent Aaron Hotchner had sent the team home for some much needed rest.
The unsub they were after was stalking and killing tall brunette women. He'd stabbed and killed six women in two days but then stopped suddenly, leaving the team with little clues to work with.
As Hotch climbed the stairs of Emily's apartment to meet Derek, he tried to remain calm. Panic would not help.
Together the pAir kicked in Emily's door, guns out. Nothing was out of place.
"Her phone, badge is gone," Derek said.
"I'll call in the team," hodge said, reaching for his phone.
But Derek was already racing out the door. "There's no time for that", he called back. It had been too long already he thought to himself. He swallowed down the feeling of guilt that was rising into his throat. 'Why had he fallen asleep?' he thought to himself.
Derek began to do the only thing he could think of - follow the path Emily would have taken to his place... He couldn't lose her again, he just couldn't. Derek began to have flashbacks to the night Emily had been hurt by Doyle. Stay focussed he mumbled to himself as he jogged down the street. He made his way onto the small paved path, which creeped through a park and led on to his place.
"Emily!" Morgan yelled as he ran along the path, searching for any sign of his friend.
As Emily lay in the motionless night, something made her wake and pay attention. It was Derek... Atleast she thought it was. The night had played tricks on her before. As she fought to stay awake, the noise got louder. "Emily" she heard Derek yell.
"Derek!" "Derek help me," her cries echoed around her head causing it to throb. Although loud to her, Emily's pleas were but a whisper on the wind. A whisper heard, ever so slightly, by the man searching for her.
Derek raced over to where Emily lay. "Emily, Emily, oh god Emily" he cried at the sight of her bloodied body. He reached down and grabbed her hands. Emily squeezed his ever so slightly.
Derek fumbled with his phone calling for paramedics.
"You'll be okay, everything will be fine" he told Emily as she fought consciousness. He noticed the pink snow pooled around her still cold body and he reached down and carefully lifted her into his arms.
"I'm so cold Derek" Emily whispered, opening her eyes and staring into his.
"I know baby, helps coming okay, just keep looking at me.""I'm so sorry I took so long". He leaned down and kissed her brow, wiping her tears with his hand.
Emily moaned in pain as feeling to her abdomen began to return.
Two paramedics rushed to the scene, and Derek stepped back. He watched in pain as they loaded a lifeless Emily, into the ambulance...
...
When Emily came to she was back in the snow. Or she thought she was until Derek's voice broke through and shook her from her nightmare. "Derek?" She whispered desperately trying to open her eyes. She felt him take her hand in his and take it to his lips for a kiss.
"It's okay Emily, I'm here. The team's all here," Derek responded, brushing back the hair from Emily's face.
She'd been in surgery for hours but had pulled through. "You're okay baby," he told her as she finally opened her eyes.
"I knew you'd find me," she smiled back at him.