Emily was turning the corner when she heard the shot. Without thinking about her own safety she quickly ran into the house and searched all the rooms downstairs. Not finding anything she raced up the steps taking them two at a time. She knew something was wrong because the way her heart was pounding at not seeing the one person she needed to walk towards her. Where was he? If he was the one who fired the shot then she would have ran into him by now. Emily ran into the bedroom and her heart dropped into her stomach. The window was open and she quickly peered out and saw the UNSUB running through the yard getting away. She radioed the rest of the team telling them he was on foot, and that she needed an ambulance and then turned back around.
She dropped to her knees besides the man who she had come to have deep feelings for. "Hotch? It's me Emily. You're going to be okay, do you hear me?" Emily watched as Hotch winced in pain as she put pressure on his bullet wound on his stomach. So many thoughts were running through Emily's frantic mind. Why did she let him go into the house alone? Why didn't they clear the perimeter and then head in together? Instead she let him go in by himself and look what happened.
Blood seeped through Emily's hands as she tried to control the bleeding some. Emily watched as Hotch tried to say something but failed to do so. Tears filled her eyes as she thought that this might be the end. She looked down at her hands once more then quickly removed them and ripped her jacket off of her body and placed it on the wound.
"I know it hurts Hotch, but help is on the way. I need you to hold on okay? Please don't die on me." She begged as tears escaped her eyes and bounced off of his shirt. One of Hotch's hands latched onto her arm and her eyes met his again. She saw the pain and the worry in his eyes, and she knew that all he wanted from her was for her to tell him that he was going to be okay.
"You aren't going anywhere Hotch. You're going to be fine. It's not even that bad," she lied even though she knew he realized she wasn't telling the truth. Emily could hear the sirens in the background heading towards the house and she let out a deep sigh of relief. "Do you hear that Hotch? They're coming to help you. Just keep holding on. Keep fighting for me."
"I—" Hotch tried to talk again but the pain he was in cut him off. Emily stared at him and realized that this moment may be the very last time she sees him alive. If she doesn't tell him now she'll never be able to live with herself. So without thinking she told him what she never planned on ever telling him.
"I love you," she blurted out quickly. She watched as Hotch's eyes widened slightly at her admission. "God I love you in a really big, horrible, give me butterflies type of way." Tears readily made their way down her pale cheeks as she tried to tell the man beside her how much he meant to her. "I'm so sorry that it took me this long to tell you, and I'm sorry that it took a tragedy for me to confess my feelings."
Hotch's breathing became more labored and Emily quickly grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed. "There is nothing more that I want in the world than for you to get up and let us start a life together. We can," she paused as she struggled to speak, "go on dates and show the world how amazing we can be together. I need you to get up so I can kiss you for the first time, so I can show you how much you mean to me."
"Pre—"was all Hotch was able to say before he passed out, leaving Emily above him crying uncontrollably begging for him to wake back up. Help crashed through the door and moved Emily aside as they loaded Hotch onto the stretcher. Morgan came into the room and looked at the scene. He bent down and wrapped an arm around Emily's waist as he helped her stand. Morgan began walking them down the steps after Hotch as he pulled her closer to him trying to calm her down. The soft words of hope and encouragement were exactly what Emily needed right now considering the fact that the man she was in love with was dying and she also needed it because the second after she confessed her feelings to that very man, he began to call her by her last name. Everything inside of Emily hurt, but above all her heart was breaking slowly.