"Come on, Reid." Morgan practically begged "Don't give up! Fight it, man!"
Morgan used one of his hands to prevent blood flow from Reid's gunshot wound and his other free hand to tap Reid's cheek.
In one side, comforting darkness welcomed Reid but in another side, Morgan's desperate cries were preventing him to falling into dimness.
"How is he doing?" Hotch asked
"Not good. He is losing a lot of blood. Where are damn paramedics?" Morgan yelled
"One gun shot wound to the shoulder. Did he get hit anywhere else?" One of the paramedic asked when they arrive seconds later.
"No," Morgan said and moved out of the way to give the space for the paramedics
Morgan stood helplessly with the others as he watches the paramedic working to save his best friend.
"Okay, we are ready to move him." The paramedic informed "Are you coming with us?"
Obviously Morgan said yes without any second thought. He clung to Reid's hand throughout the ride and sat anxiously with Hotch and Rosssi in the waiting room. Emily and JJ had gone back to the BAU to fetch Garcia. At the moment of anxiousness, his phone buzzed
"Can I speak to Mr. Derek Morgan?"
"Speaking,"
"Hello, Sir. My name is Stacey Brown. Dr. Reid was supposed to fetch his daughter from the preschool half and hour ago. Your name is the first in the emergency list. Do you know where he is?"
Oh My God! How could he forget about her.
"Yes… he is up with something important. I will be there in a while,"
"What happened?" Rossi asked when Morgan ended the call
"Roxanne," Morgan answered shortly "I will take care of her. Call me once you know about Reid's condition,"
Morgan ran out to the parking lot, particularly his SUV. As he drove to the well known destination, Morgan tried to stumble upon answers for Reid's little girl. What he could tell her? That her beloved dad is in hospital, fighting for his life?
"Shit!" Morgan sighed as he hit the steering to release the anger. With the siren on and extra speed, Morgan reached the preschool in record breaking time. He parked his car across the street and saw a little girl, sitting on the stairs outside. Her eyes wandered on the road, perhaps searching for the car she well aware of
"Roxy!" Morgan called loudly before he crossed the road
"Uncle De," The girl hopped down the rest of the stairs and gave Morgan a big hug when he bend down to her height
Releasing Morgan from her hug, Roxanne's eyes searched for a familiar person "Where is Daddy?"
"Roxy," Morgan gently took both her hands into his "Daddy is not feeling so good today…"
Roxanne asked quickly before Morgan could finish with his sentences 'Is he going to okay?"
"Of course," Morgan answered "You know how strong daddy is, do you think you can be strong for daddy today?"
"I can try,"
"That's my girl. Come on, let's get going," Morgan took over her school bag and with the other hand he held Roxanne's hand
Once they were settled in the car, Roxanne asked "Did they bad guys hurt daddy?"
Morgan sighed silently. He knew, she always would find out.
"Yes," There is no point in lying to her "But he is going to fine. The people who are helping him are really good," Morgan helped her with the seatbelt.
"Can I see him? Please….?" The tone of her voice crushed his heart and he felt worse when tears rolled down her cheeks
"Come on, Roxy. Don't do this to me," He wiped off her tears "When Uncle Hotch call us, we can go, okay? In the mean time, we can stop by at the gift shop to buy some gifts for daddy."
Roxanne smiled a little "Can I get him a teddy bear?"
"Sure, junior baby girl,"
The little girl jumped off the car and ran into the gift shop. As she hunts down gifts for her dad, Morgan's phone buzzed again
"Morgan, he is out surgery. The bullet in his shoulder did quite a bit of damage but the doctor said that with physical therapy Reid should regain full usage of his arm." Hotch informed
"Thank God," Morgan said in response
"How is Roxanne?" Hotch inquired
"She cried a little but tried to put up a brave face just like her dad,"
"Is it Uncle Hotch? Can we see Daddy now?" Roxanne asked
Morgan laughed, the scene in front of him was too cute. Roxanne was standing in front of him but Morgan couldn't see her face. The gifts she gathered for her dad seemed to pile up from her arms until it covered her face
"Can we get all this for Daddy?"
"Sure, Roxy and yes, we can see Daddy now," Morgan answered before he helped to carry some of them
With the gift packs in her hand, Roxaane walked down the hallway of the hospital to see her dad.
"If daddy is sleeping, we have to wait until he wakes up, okay?" Morgan said
"Okay," Roxaane answered and ran speedily into a room shown by Morgan
"Daddy!" Roxanne screamed when she saw her daddy awake
Hotch helped her by lifting her up and placing her just beside Reid
"Daddy, I miss you," She hugged and kissed him
"I miss you too," Reid answered as he returned her hug
"Does it hurt?" Roxaane asked, pointing towards the sling around Reid's arm
"Not much since you are here," Reid said, kissing her again
The others quietly walked out the room to give Reid some time alone with her daughter. Morgan patted Reid's shoulder before he walked out. An hour later, when Morgan walked in back, Reid was leaning against his pillow with Roxaane sleeping against his chest
"Thanks for taking care of her and saving my life" Reid thanked Morgan
Morgan smiled "Glad to see you alive, Reid,"
"Did she behave?" Reid asked as he played with his daughter's hair
"She was an angle," Morgan replied shortly
Things were quiet for a while before Reid resumed talking "Thanks, Morgan. Really, I don't know what I will do without you guys. I wasn't really sure about anything when I first adopted her three years ago"
"Reid, you are a great father. She loves you more than anything,"
"Will you be there for her, Morgan in case anything happens to me?" Reid asked
'Kid, nothing is going to happen to you and you know that I won't leave her alone" Morgan comforted Reid
"I know. I just want to hear it from you. Don't worry, Morgan. I am not going to die anytime soon. I have a lot of things to do,"
Morgan smiled "Such as?"
"Walk my daughter down the aisle. There is no way I am going to miss that," Reid answered
"Reid, she is just five years old," Morgan laughed "Don't worry, buddy. I will surely watch your back.
"Thanks, Morgan,"
"Sure, kid. Anything for my friend,"
