Hello everyone! This is just a little something I thought of after watching The Fisher King. Hope you enjoy it! P.S. To those of you reading my other story, Under the Surface, I am having a little writers block, but I will try to update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and please review!
He sat next to her bed, waiting for when she would open her eyes. Thank God that she was alive to open her eyes. Hotch kept telling him otherwise, but somehow he knew it was all his fault. There had to have been another way, Elle could have been protected. But he had ordered JJ to hold the press conference, the unsub had gotten angry, and Elle had been shot. He had failed in protecting her. He had come to think of her as a daughter, he realized. He had come to think of all of his team as his children in some odd way, and he always tried to keep them safe as best he could. But today he had failed. So here he sat, waiting for her to open her eyes.
"I love you." Elle said to her father.
"I know." he replied.
Then there was darkness. Slowly she began to be aware of her surroundings. She was now aware that she was lying down, and that she was in some sort of scratchy material, and that she could hear someone else breathing. Painfully, she slowly started to open her eyes. She could vaguely see light colored walls, and for one happy moment she thought she was back with her father. Her father. Oh, how she wished he was with her now. Maybe if she had run up to him and said "I love you, daddy!" and given him a big hug, he would have left home a minute or two later, and he wouldn't have been the closest squad car. Maybe he would have lived! It was all her fault.
Elle let out a choked sob. "I'm sorry, Dad! I'm sorry! This is all my fault. I'm sorry." She began to sob relentlessly, her shoulders heaving.
Gideon was up in flash the second he heard Elle. He felt his heart break just a little bit at the desolation in her voice. He knew that her father had died in the line of duty, but he had no idea why Elle would blame herself. But either way, he couldn't just stand there and let her make herself sick.
"Shh, Elle, it's okay. What happened to your dad wasn't your fault. Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault." Gideon wasn't sure, but he thought that he was getting through to her just a little bit. "It's okay, your dad doesn't blame you for what happened, and I bet you that he wouldn't want you to blame yourself either. Elle, your father loves you!" That seemed to do it. Slowly, her sobs quieted and her breathing slowed. Gideon watched her as she closed her eyes, seeming to fall asleep. No wonder, he thought, she just got shot after all. She must be exhausted!
Gideon quietly lifted one of the hospital chairs and set it next to her bed, determined to stay there until she woke up. He didn't count whatever just happened as waking up, that had appeared to be more like a nightmare. But there was one thing he wanted, no, needed to do that couldn't wait until she woke.
"I'm sorry, Elle. This whole thing could've been prevented. If I hadn't ordered JJ to hold the press conference, then none of this would've never happened. Sometimes I get a little too confident for my own good. Again, I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me." Gideon hung his head and put one of his hands on the bed. Suddenly, he felt a hand come to rest on top of his.
"I do." Her voice was so quiet that he had to strain to hear it. "And Gideon," she whispered as she began to fall back asleep, "This is not your fault"