A/N Hey, this is my next story, I know there is another sequel open to write, but I had the idea for this story in my head for some time now. I wanted it to write, so I did. I don't know yet if it is a one shot, it started as one, but you never know ;) So have fun, and please please review! Maybe there will be a next chapter then. – I do not own criminal minds!
The trees are passing by, you look deep into the wood, that seems grim and somber. The rain is splashing against the windshield of the car. The visibility is bad, it is already after 11 p.m. and Hotch steers the SUV through the darkness. The silence in the car is expression of the tiredness of you two. It has been a really long day and you are glad that you don't have to drive. Only one lonely car passed by in the last 30 minutes. You have to be in the middle of nowhere, you think. You lean your head against the headrest, close your eyes and sigh.
The case is already annoying you, the interview with this so called "important" witness, turned out to be a waste of time. Not that it was almost to unnecessary to drive there, it took nearly half of the day. Now you are on your way back to the hotel. The others are already there, they called it a day some time ago.
The last 10 minutes of your ride were real bumpy. It became stormy outside and some squalls hit your car from time to time. You are really grateful not to drive, you think again and you are almost asleep when you hear Hotch breathing out heavily. You open your eyes and look at him.
"Everything alright?" You ask.
"A deer just passed right in front of us. It was close."
You watch him, as he returns your look shortly and frowns. You rise your eyebrows and just manage to say, "Oh". He just nods and continues his gaze on the street. You follow his gaze, but after that everything happens too fast. As you see what is in front of you, you only bring out: "Watch out!" Hotch yanks the steering wheel around, the SUV is sliding uncontrolled over the street, but you just see the object approaching too fast. You manage to hold your arms up in front of your face, trying to protect you from the impact. And then everything is going dark.
###
Wet. Cold. You hear it raining. What the...You try to focus. Okay, open your eyes! What happened? As you try to open your eyes you feel the cold water running over your face. The first thing you see are branches. Many of them, actually. You are in some kind of weird position. You are obviously sitting in the SUV, leaning against the frame of the door and in front of you the windshield is pierced through with thick branches.
And then it comes to you. You were in the SUV with Hotch, driving some lonely street through the woods on your way to the hotel. And then... Hotch! You try to move your head, but feel instantly a sharp pain running through your head. You squeeze your eyes shut and grit your teeth. Instinctive you move your hand to your head, but you sense, something doesn't feel right. As your stomach muscles contract to breath through the pain you have an odd feeling. Slowly you manage to move your head and try to look down on your body. You gasp. More pain rushes through your body. Nausea is growing. There is a thick branch sticking in your body, right through the windshield into your body. Great. You try to calm down as far as the view you are having allows it. And then it hits you again, Hotch!
"Hotch?" You try to manage.
"Hotch?"
It is exhausting. You start to shiver, it is cold and wet and dark.
"Hotch?"
With a sharp pain and some white flash in front of your eyes, squeezing them shut again, you manage to turn your head. You gasp again, feeling your whole body aching at that movement.
Slowly you open your eyes again and you try to make out Hotch's form in the dark. There are a lot of leafs and branches in the cockpit, buried under them leaning on the steering wheel, Hotch.
He is unconscious. Carefully you raise your left arm and try to reach Hotch's body. But you can't reach him, it is too far. With your body leaning against the right door frame, pinned by a ridiculous thick branch of a damn tree that is lying on the SUV, you are not able to reach Hotch. Slowly you begin to sense the situation. Fear is rising inside you. Panic. You are in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. Who is going to find you? Phone. Your phone. 'Yes sure the phone, I can't even reach Hotch.' But suddenly you hear a moan from the other side. Hotch's side.
"Hotch?"
Another moan.
"HOTCH!"
That hurt. You squeeze your eyes shut again, grit your teeth and move your arm to your body. Then you recognize your other arm. You can't feel it. You didn't even look to the side of the door frame. You see the door is crushed into your side. Into your side of the body. And it takes a moment that you begin to understand, you are conscious, yet. The only thing that holds you upright is adrenaline. You turn your head under the now familiar pain to Hotch. He has managed to lift his arm to his head.
"Hotch?"
"Mmmhhm."
"Wake up Hotch!"
You eagerly watch him regain consciousness.
"C'mon!"
He try to rise from the steering wheel with his face distorted with pain. His whole face is covered with blood. Slowly he opens his eyes and tries to take in his surroundings.
"JJ?"
"Yeah, I'm here Hotch."
You feel yourself getting really exhausted. The rain is still pouring down and it is freezing cold. You are still shivering, your lip is trembling. After a moment, Hotch seems to have gathered himself.
Groaning, he is turning to you.
"JJ, are you alright?"
You hesitate to answer.
"JJ?"
He tries to move some of the branches.
"Hotch..."
"JJ, are you ok?"
"No, Hotch."
After he cleared his sight to you from branches, shock is written all over his face.
"JJ..."
He swallows, but at the same time something must hit him. He also squeezes his eyes and gasp, as he holds his left side.
"Hotch? Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
He hisses through his teeth and pauses, trying to breath the pain away. Hotch is always ok, even when he just got hit by a tree, you think and you have to smile mentally. His hair is wet from the rain, when you notice the whole roof is gone. Half of the tree seems to be inside the car and the roof is crushed backwards from another thick branch. The rain is pouring down through the leafs and branches on you. Hotch begins to search his pockets.
"JJ do you have phone reception?"
"I can't get my phone Hotch."
"Alright."
You feel he is in survival mode, controlled, calm. It soothes you. It seems like an eternity since the crash, but it must be only a couple of minutes. Finally you hear the beeping from Hotch's phone.
You lean your head back in the original position, you are tired. You know you can't sleep now. You try to concentrate on Hotch.
"I don't have any reception, JJ."
You close your eyes for a brief moment. Your eyes are burning, maybe you are crying, but you can't tell because of the rain that is pouring down on you.
"Hotch."
"What is it JJ?"
"I don't know how long I can hold on."
You don't see him, but you can feel him being sick of worry.
"Hold on I'm trying to get to you."
You hear him groaning, when he moves around on his seat. Obviously trying to get rid of the seat belt. Another thick branch is blocking the direct way from the driver side to you. In the corner of your eyes, you try to make out the movement in the darkness. You are shivering badly, you already becoming hypothermic. Hotch is struggling to open his door. It seems to be wedged. Suddenly you hear Hotch roar followed by a thump and crash.
"Hotch?"
Hotch is breathing heavily and moaning in pain, as far as you can tell. You manage to turn your head, but the pain is almost unbearable, you have to stop and gasp. Your eyes shut, you wait until the first spike of pain is over. You try to calm your breathing, because it hurts badly. But you sense you can't calm down your breathing. It is labored now. The constant weird feeling in your stomach, where the branch impaled you, is now accompanied by pain. And it is rising into your chest. What makes the breathing difficult.
"Hotch?"
The rain is almost too loud, to hear anything from Hotch and the storm is still blowing over you. You feel the warm of your tears mixing with the raindrops on your cheek. You close your eyes again. Trying to manage the panic, that is now surrounding you. Then you hear movement behind you, Hotch apparently climbed some how on the back seat.
"I'm right behind you JJ."
"Thank god..."
You let out a sigh in relief. You blink several times. Hotch manages to get rid of most of the branches, that are blocking the space between you two. He is leaning over to you, assessing how you are doing. As his face is close to yours, you let out a scared chuckle and smile at him. Blinking your tears and the rain away.
"I'm screwed Hotch."
"JJ..."
He looks over your body, examines every part and finally meets your eyes again. He takes your left hand and is carefully squeezing it.
"Hold on JJ, please, you are strong, you are going to make it. I will trying to reach Garcia."
You sniff and nod slightly, smiling anxiously. While he is getting back behind your seat, he is wincing in pain and suppressing a moan. You hear him getting outside the car again. Closing your eyes, you sigh. But another sharp pain is radiating through your body. Breath, just breath, slow and easy, you say to yourself.
"JJ? I finally got reception!"
Your eyes fly open and for the first time being in this situation, you feel hope. You eagerly try to hear some of what Hotch is saying outside the car.
"Garcia? …. crash... on the SUV... JJ...yeah... what?... Garcia? …..llo? …you hear... Garcia?"
The rain has taken over the surrounding sounds. You hope with every fiber of your body, that he was successful. It has to be. You don't want to die here, outside, in the dark, cold and wet nature.
"Hotch?"
"Yeah JJ, hold on a second."
He is now working on to your window, that is actually broken, but the tree branches are everywhere. Finally he gets a view and space to lean through the window and gets in touch with you. With a calm soothing voice, Hotch speaks to you.
"I was able to contact Garcia, JJ, the connection was really bad. But I'm sure she understood the facts. We were disconnected in the middle of the call, though."
He pauses and looks deep into your eyes.
"JJ, help is on the way, you have to hold on, ok?"
You can only smile and nod, while you are slowly blinking your tears away. You are really tired now and your breathing is shallow. He carefully strokes your cheek.
"Let me see what your injuries are."
"Well I got in touch with a tree!"
You snort, but your faint smile fades, when you taste blood in your mouth. Hotch notices your sudden change in of your face.
"What?"
"I can taste blood."
He frowns and goes on with his examination.
"What is with your right arm? Can you move it?"
"No. I can't even feel it since I woke up."
"Does your head hurt?"
"Oh yeah, everytime I try to move it, I want to pass out."
"Hold on a second I'll be right back."
"No, don't go Hotch please. I'm scared."
He switches his gaze between your eyes.
"I'm not going to leave you JJ. I need a flash light, it is too dark. I'll be right back."
Before you can insist, he is out of your sight. You close your eyes again and you begin to sob, crying utterly. The sobs are turning in gasps and your lung hurts like hell. You are feeling that you are deteriorating, at least definitely mentally. You don't want anymore. You just want to sleep and stop this miserable situation. Don't want to freeze anymore, no more pain, no more damn branch in your body. Just stop, please, you think.
"JJ?"
Hotch is breaking your thoughts. You slowly open your eyes and have to adjust them to the light.
"Ok JJ, at least I remember we don't have to wait that long for help, we were not too far from the city, where our hotel is. So they must arrive soon, if Garcia got our position."
You see his breath through the light of the flash light, while the rain is also clearly shown, how it still pours down on you. You nod at him, slowly blinking, aware that it is getting more difficult to hold your eyes open. He must have noticed it.
"JJ."
"Hm?"
"I know you are tired, but you have to stay awake ok?"
"Hmm."
You swallow and you feel your body getting weaker, as you lay limp against the door frame.
"Ok, JJ, how is your breathing?"
"Crappy. It hurts like hell and I can't breath through anymore."
"What is about your legs?"
Your legs. Oh god. You didn't even think about them. You were too busy with all your other injuries. But honestly, you start to don't care anymore.
"I don't know Hotch."
"Can you feel them?"
"It's so cold Hotch, I want to sleep."
Somehow you know, you are irrational, but you don't care anymore. The tiredness is overwhelming now.
"JJ, c'mon, stay awake!"
"I don't want anymore, Hotch."
"I know JJ, but you have to hold on! You have to hold on for Henry!"
Your eyes slowly open again. Henry... Your mind is running crazy right now. 'What if I don't make it.' Suddenly the panic is in your gut again. 'I can't let him left alone.' You are trying to shift. But you are hit by another radiating pain, as you are even crying out, your eyes squeezed shut. Your left hand is searching for hold. You begin to hyperventilate. The pain is too much.
"JJ, slowly, I know it is hard, but try to breath even and regular. In... and … out...In and … out. Nice and easy!"
You try to focus on Hotch's words, but you feel yourself getting tired again.
"JJ, open your eyes again, so I can check on you."
You hear Hotch's words, but it takes all of your energy to focus, you are feeling dizzy, slowly you open your eyes again. You try to focus on the light. You notice Hotch is shifting, so that you can see him better, he is leaning into the car. He takes your left hand and squeezes it.
"There you go, JJ!"
The shivering already got into a normal feeling for you. But the cold is still overwhelming and you struggle to hold your eyes open.
"JJ, when we are back home, I will come over with Jack and the boys can play soccer."
"Mmmh."
"We can make some barbeque and beer. There will be sunshine and it will be warm. Do you like that?"
"Ss...sounds...great...Hotch."
You feel Hotch stroking your cheek again, as your eyes are closing again.
"C'mon, JJ, hold on!"
"'m too … tired...Hotch."
You feel, as he is shifting and moving back out of the window. That catches your attention a little bit and you manage to open your eyes again.
"JJ, they are coming, help is coming, hold on!"
"Hmmm."
You don't notice, as Hotch disappears from your window. You can hear the sirens and see some flashing lights in the distance. But your eyes lids are too heavy, as your eyes close again.
#
The next thing you notice is some distant voices. Some muffled sounds are getting to you. Then a voice is calling your name, followed by a touch on your shoulder.
"JJ?"
You try to open your eyes, but you fail.
"JJ! C'mon open your eyes for me!"
A gently shaking on your shoulder pushes you more awake and you manage to open your eyes.
The bright light is stinging in your eyes and you have to blink several times to adjust them.
"There you go JJ. The paramedics are here to take care of you ok?"
You are too numb to say anything. Too tired. You start to blink, the eyes falling close again.
"Hey there I'm Matt, I'm a paramedic and will treat you, alright?"
Already, you are on the way to unconsciousness again. Drifting in your dizzy feeling, like everything is rotating around you, light headed, you feel hands on you. Something is wrapped around your neck. The pain is only a dull ache and you don't care anymore. You just want to sleep.
"JJ! Open your eyes for me please!"
The voice of the paramedic is ripping you out of your drifting. Your mind is focused on the world around you. Opening your eyes slowly, you can make out, that there is a busy working all around you and the car. People are swarming all around the crash side, as it seems. Sounds are making their way to you, but the man in front of you moves into your sight.
"JJ, we will give you something for the pain, soon, ok? The fire rescue is going to cut you free from the branch, so that we are able to move you. And it seems, we have to crack open the door, too, to get you out of there."
Too much words. You can't follow him. Behind you and next to you, it seems from all sides, people are trying to get into a position to help you. Another paramedic is now right by your left side and is starting to assess your injuries. You didn't notice, that your eyes are closed again, too tired to even care about that. The sounds begin to drift away again. But you feel how the men are working on you. Something is stuck in your hand and followed by that you feel something warm flows in your arm. Voices and other sounds are mixed up, you can't differ anymore between them. You are eagerly waiting to drift complete into unconsciousness.
"JJ?"
Someone is calling your name. You feel an oxygen mask over your face, as you notice that you are barely taking proper breaths anymore. But it feels so much better. The pain in your chest is now overwhelming. What started as a weird feeling in your stomach, radiated and rose up into your chest. Suddenly you feel how something is thrown over you, a blanket? You hear the voices are getting louder, commands are shouted. And then a horrible pain sends jolts through your body and your eyes fly open, as the noise of a chainsaw cuts through the night. You start to hyperventilate, try to get in control of the pain. You feel your chest tighten. Voices are shouting at you, but you are not able to recognize them.
"Jeeez, give her more, what were you thinking Mike?"
"JJ? I'm here, shhhhh try to calm down. Easy..."
You feel Hotch present, you can hear him. It soothes you, it always has. But right now your body doesn't let you calm down. Your chest feels like someone is sitting on it, like it got hit by a truck. You cannot breath. It is not hyperventilation anymore. You simply cannot breath. Finally the stressing sound of the chainsaw is over, but the sounds are still mixed up, like one unit.
"JJ? Try to take deep breaths."
It is annoying, you feel the panic rise, while next to you, someone gives you smart advises.
"Matt, I think she is in breathing distress, her oxygen level is dropping. There has to be something more injured. Maybe her lung collapsed, we have to intubate her soon. I'll give her more morphine for the pain now."
Your eyes are closed again, trying to minimize the sensation you are getting right now. The voices are becoming distant again, you feel your mind is drifting away, finally. You don't care anymore about breathing or pain. Hands are now all over you. It keeps you away from the eagerly-awaited unconsciousness. Air... you can sense, that you went out of it. You feel a jerk going through the car and you can feel how your body is stabilized as you slowly slide on a board, where the door was before. You think you have to suffocate and you are too dizzy to do anything about it. You are lifted on the board, it is a weird sensation, your whole world is rotating, you cannot tell where you are, until you are being slowly set down on something comfortable.
"Ok nice and easy, she has to be immobilized. Mike get the head."
You can make out what the people are saying around you. The paramedics are strapping something around your body, you feel how you are getting more connected to the board, your head is wrapped with stripes too. The rain is now rinsing over your face. The new sensation lets your mind becomes more awake. But you feel too dizzy to get fully awake, your lung burns, the lack of oxygen is now overwhelming. You begin to heave your chest, to get some more air.
"Lets get her in the ambulance, out of the rain, we have to intubate her soon, oxygen is getting critical. Move, move."
Your body is panicking, but your eyes are still closed, wanting to drift away, but at the same time fear throttles your throat, you are barely breathing. Your chest still heaving, you feel the underground moving and rumble.
"JJ?"
Someone calls your name. You feel the rain has stopped, the moving too, but the dizziness and the rotating sensation are still there.
"JJ?"
"Sir, I don't think she can respond anymore, we think a lung is collapsed, she went in breathing distress, when the fire rescue was cutting the branches. She is out. We have to intubate her now."
'Hotch? Oh stay with me please' you are now aware, it was him calling out for you. You want to open your eyes so badly, but you feel your whole body is like being pulled downwards. You are limp. You feel the hands of the paramedics touching you, working on you. As your jaw gets pulled down roughly you feel metal connect with your mouth. You don't care anymore. You want it to just end. Suddenly something is slipping down your throat, you want to choke, but your body doesn't respond anymore.
"I'm in, can you check please."
"Sure."
"Ok...damnit, right side is not ventilated."
"What's with the left?"
"Hold on...yeah, not nice but ok. We have to get her out of here. This is nothing we can treat here. Lets go, the rest I can manage while you drive."
Air, you feel finally a relief of the tighten feeling in your chest. But you don't know exactly how you are. 'Am I unconscious? Then why can I hear them talking' you wonder. You feel a hand connecting to your left.
"How is she?"
"Uhm, sir, her lungs are damaged, one is collapsed completely, it isn't even to be ventilated. I have to check her through now, I didn't have time for that before. After that I can tell you more."
"Do you think she will make it?"
"Sir, I really can't tell you. She has to be rushed to the hospital ASAP. Her condition is life threatening. That is what I can tell you."
The hand on yours is stroking it gently. You feel your wet clothes being removed from your upper body. The hands are touching you all over again, something is attached to you chest and a beeping sound joins the sirens, that you can hear. The dizziness and the rotation are gone, but you still feel limp and heavy lying, like something pulls you even further down. You cannot move anything. You try to open your eyes, but you can't move even one muscle. You still feel the thick branch, stuck inside your upper abdomen and you are aware of the tube in your throat.
"Damn, she is still freezing cold. Body temperature is 87.5°."
"Hey Matt, keep her that way, lets do a prolonged therapeutic hypothermia for her brain injury."
"Yeah, you are right, good call Mike."
"How is she doing anyway?"
"You should hurry Mike, BP is really crappy and I'm not satisfied with her oxygen. It's in the lower nineties."
"Alright, I hear ya."
You have no idea what they were talking about, but you feel it isn't good. Your body is a wreck. You are crushed everywhere. The pain is a dull ache and you feeling, what seems to be Matt, how you are being examined by his hands. Suddenly you feel something weird in your right chest, a pain begins to sting and all of a sudden it stops again. But what happens after that, lets the panic rise again, that was still subtle welling inside you. You hate that feeling that is now very present. Air, no , you cannot... No! You cannot breath, you feel like your drowning inside. Not again. You want to fight, to struggle, but your body doesn't respond. Panic. Utter panic is all over you.
"Oh no!"
"What is happening?"
You hear an alarm going off and are sensing that the panic went over to the paramedic, who is next to you.
"Tell me what is going on!"
"Sir, please, let me work!"
Something was disconnected from the tube in your throat as you feel a warm liquid run over your face, down to your neck. 'Hotch! Please! Help me! Please...' You want to choke, struggle, you would do anything to be able to get some air in your lungs.
"No, no, no... c'mon kiddo!"
The paramedic is holding your cheek as you hear a gurgling sound, a suction pump.
"What is happening back there Matt?"
"She is bleeding through the ET tube."
"Oh shit."
"Hurry up, man!"
"ETA 5 minutes!"
And then you sense a darkness, slowly growing around you. The sensation of suffocating ebbs away. You are feeling you can relax and you want to, it is a need, you cannot hold on anymore. You want to let go. And so you do. Darkness.
TBC (?)