Emily stared at the ceiling. It was incredible how many nuances one could find in white plaster tile when they felt like it. The doctor had told her she had visitors but she refused to take them. She could let the team into a lot of aspects of her life but she didn't want them to see any more of her like this.

Two days had past since she'd almost shot the father of the missing boy. The boy was found the next day and returned to his mother but Emily hadn't been there to witness it. She had been here, in the hospital, staring into the blurry haze of sleep that so forcefully penetrated her mind. She had been given a lot of drugs. Some were for sleep, others for depression, maybe one for psychosis; she wasn't sure.

The husband had immediately wanted to press charges. He demanded that "someone in charge" get their butt down there and arrest the crazy woman. Naturally, Hotch was called. As soon as he had been briefed on what had happened, he decided to bring JJ too to talk the man down. JJ had managed to convince him to wait to press charges so that it wouldn't be a distraction from the case since the whole team would have to give statements. Then his son was found and he had a change of heart.

It was decided that Prentiss would be suspended for two months with mandatory partial hospitalization followed by her usual biweekly therapy. She was in the ER until the previous could be arranged.

Emily fell into a tumultuous sleep in spite of the sun still being high in the sky.

"You never helped me, you know." A voice mused beside Emily. Emily turned away from the grassy view of an expansive lawn and saw a familiar woman beside her.

"What?" Emily asked. "You didn't even talk to me after I was raped." The woman said. Emily placed the face quickly. It was her friend who had lived in the dorm across the hall from her in college, Jade. Emily frowned.

"I did though. We went to the movies together a couple times with Carole. You were the one who stopped talking to me." Jade crossed her legs and Emily noticed that they were both sitting in white lawn chairs. "You don't talk at the movies. You watch movies. Didn't it occur to you that I needed someone to talk to and just didn't know how?" There was a bitterness in Jade's voice that put Emily on edge.

"I didn't know how either though." Emily protested. "You just got so difficult to be around." Carole stared out sadly.

"There was no wrong way to do it. But you understand that now, don't you?"

"How did you know?" Emily asked. She leaned toward Carole, eager to hear more.

"I'm dead, Emily. You've known that for, geez, almost 10 years?" Emily felt tears well up in her eyes. She brushed them away impatiently.

"You didn't have to do what you did. You could have gotten help, real help." Emily said. Her voice was beginning to crack.

"I didn't think anything or anyone could help me. It seemed like everyone around me was just letting me down." Jade said. She still had not met Emily's eyes and Emily was terrified that she never would.

"You know that's not true. I just didn't understand."

"Your team understands, don't they?" Jade said. Emily shrugged an found herself unable to look at Jade for a moment.

"I guess. Morgan was molested as a child. Reid was held hostage for days by two people at once. Hotch was attacked in his home. But you know all of that stuff, don't you?" Emily said.

"I do." Jade admitted. "I just wanted to make sure that you did." Emily snorted a laugh despite the situation.

"Yeah, I do." Emily said. Jade smiled faintly. She turned her head and finally looked Emily in the eye.

"You'll be alright." She said appraisingly. "You have more than enough support. I think you're ready to go back to the waking world."

"Don't leave." Emily pleaded, reaching out with her hand. Jade spoke once more. "I made my own choices and I can be of no further help to you. For what it's worth, I forgive you. And I think I forgive myself too." Jade faded away and the chair was left empty.

As Emily lay sleeping in her hospital bed, a single tear fell from her cheek.

Morgan and Reid inched in first. They looked nervous as though they expected Emily to chew them out. JJ and Hotch filed in behind them and Garcia's face via Skype was carried in by Rossi.

Emily hated to have so many people in her room at once but she didn't protest.

When the silence in the room continued on for several minutes, Emily began to fear the worse. They were mad at her. She remembered what Morgan had said to her just before she had pulled the gun on the husband. I don't give a damn for whatever excuse you have because all of us have repeatedly asked if you needed help and you kept shooting us down! Did he still feel the same way? Did they all believe that?

"Surprise!" Garcia called out from the computer screen. A brightly colored bouquets of flowers appeared from behind her back. "I have some lovely flowers for my lovely friend. You're lucky you get the digital version. These things have some serious pollen." She said, rubbing her pink nose.

Everyone burst out laughing at the same time, the tension in the room broken. Even Hotch managed a good chuckle. Each team member turned toward her and each other and he room was soon filled with a chorus of pleasant chatter that for the first time in a week and a half, Emily was able to fully enjoy. She was still terrified of what lay ahead of her. Therapy was hard, Strauss wouldn't give her any breaks, but at least she could start fresh.

A/N: Geez, that sounds horribly like an ending! It wasn't planned that way because I would have warned you. (Yes, I need to work on pacing my stories.) So anyway, I think that I will probably be doing a sequel to this story. Even if I were to continue in this same story, I would be starting with another major event so I might as well make it into a sequel. Please let me know if you interested in this and if you have ideas of what you'd like to see and I'll try to incorporate them:) I don't know exactly when I'll start the sequel, that'll depend on what kind of feedback I get from you guys and how busy my life is, but I'll do my best to get it up soon. You guys are great and make sure to look out for more from Emily!