Chapter 7

"Are you all ready to go?" Emily asked, as she entered JJ's hospital room with her discharge papers in her hand. "There's nothing keeping you here anymore." She smiled gently.

"Yeah, I'm good. I'm so ready to get out of this room." JJ sighed as she took her purse into her left hand and Emily grabbed JJ's bag and put all the hospital documents in it.

"Let's go then." Emily smiled and JJ stood up. For a moment she got a little dizzy and Emily shot her a concerned look. "Are you sure you don't want the wheelchair?"

"You have asked me that 10 times before, so for the 11th time, no, I do not want a wheelchair." For a moment Emily thought that JJ was going to hit her or something.

"OK, OK. Just checking. I just wouldn't want anything…"

"I'm fine, Emily." JJ assured her. "I really am. Except of course for my arm, which seems to ignore what I want it to do," She laughed, "but I knew it was gonna happen, so that's OK. They took care of me here, you know?"

"I know." Emily almost couldn't believe how overprotective she was being. "I'm just worried, that's all."

"I know you are." JJ said in a soft voice. "But don't be. I hate to see you so sad." JJ added and for a moment they looked at each other in silence, their hearts beating a little faster, both realizing that this was going to be a tough couple of days.

"Everybody says 'hi' by the way." Emily broke the silence. "They wanted to be here, but they have a case in Ohio I think. And Garcia has to be, you know, available."

"Yeah, I heard about that case. By the way, have you met the person they found to do my job when I'm recuperating?"

"No, I haven't. Garcia wanted me to come by and check this new person out, but I…" Emily hesitated for a moment, "I just couldn't."

"Afraid that you might realize how much you miss the job?" JJ asked and Emily was amazed at how easily the blonde could still read her mind. She had always been able to do that.

"Maybe." Emily replied, but they both knew this was precisely the reason why she couldn't take one step into the BAU office.

When they got into the parking lot, they walked up to the car and Emily put JJ's bag into the trunk, next to hers.

"You got a new car?" JJ asked curious, knowing that this clearly wasn't the ride Emily had driven before.

"It's a rental." Emily explained. "I sold my old car when I left, but never felt like I needed to buy another one for, you know, here."

"Oh." JJ nodded and for a moment things got a little uncomfortable again. JJ realized that Emily's stay in the US was really only temporary. Everything from Emily's small bag, to the way the brunette would look at her kept telling JJ that Emily had no intention of staying. And now the car in a way confirmed that. But then again she did know that Emily had never gotten round to getting rid of her apartment.

They got into the car and the first couple of minutes of the drive were done in silence. It felt so strange for them to be in a car together, like they had been so many times before, and to feel this tension between them. Of course they both knew why the tension was there, but they wished it could just go away and that things could go back to the way they were before… everything. JJ was the first one to speak.

"Did I ever tell you thank you for doing this?" She asked, wanting to make sure Emily knew how grateful she was.

"Yes you did." Emily smiled. "And it's no big deal."

"Of course it is a big deal. You're putting your life on hold to do this for me and I really appreciate it."

It's not like I have a life to put on hold anyway, Emily thought to herself, but decided that JJ didn't really have to know that particular fact. So Emily just smiled and said, "It's really OK, JJ. I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Oh, I forgot to warn you that I have absolutely nothing to eat at home, so maybe we should do some shopping?" JJ suggested.

"Actually I took the liberty of going grocery shopping this morning." Emily grinned. "Should be enough for a couple of days."

"You are a life savior, Emily Prentiss." JJ said with a gentle laugh and she sighed as she thought that she and Emily should have been going grocery shopping under totally different circumstances. Not with Emily being forced into helping her. JJ knew Emily was too good of a person to not help her, but this was so not the way she wanted to be spending time with Emily. Not like this, not with so much history between them, not after she had destroyed the best relationship she had ever had, destroying herself in the process. But she knew there was no going back. She had burned all the bridges and she was going to have to live the rest of her life with that notion.

The drive to JJ's apartment took another 20 minutes, although it seemed much longer to both of them. Being alone in a car like this was making them both anxious and a little uneasy. It was maybe a little harder than they had thought it would be.

"Well, here we are." Emily said as she got out of the car and opened the trunk. She took her and JJ's bags and followed JJ into the building. JJ had managed to take out her key out of her purse and was about to open the door.

"I have to warn you," JJ said before she went into the apartment, "It's a disaster there."

"I think I'll live." Emily smiled as she helped JJ open the door and they went inside. Emily placed the bags in the hallway and went back to the car for the groceries. When she got back inside and went into the living room, she saw JJ trying to carry her bag into her bedroom.

"Freeze right there!" Emily called after her with a chuckle. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking my stuff to my room." JJ replied shooting Emily one of the sweetest smiles, but she knew Emily was not going to be satisfied with that answer.

"And how exactly lifting heavy bags fit into the taking it easy idea?" Emily asked, looking at JJ with a more serious expression on her face.

"OK, feel free to take the bag then." JJ agreed and moved towards the couch. "I'm just gonna stay here and do absolutely nothing." She grinned as she sprawled herself on the couch.

"Which is the way it should be." Emily pointed out. "You just got out of the hospital and my job is to make sure that you don't do anything that is unnecessary or too hard for your condition."

"I'll have you know that my condition is very good." JJ insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, you keep telling yourself that." Emily laughed and went to the kitchen. A few minutes later she came back to the living room and picked up JJ's bag to take it to JJ's bedroom. When she opened the door and went into the room, her mind became flooded with memories of the times she and JJ had spent in that bedroom. Making love, talking, watching stupid movies on TV, having breakfast in bed… Some of the best moments in Emily's life were confined to the four walls of Jennifer Jareau's bedroom. But she knew those were memories of life past, life that could never be again, and she had to stop doing this to herself. Sometimes she felt like she had agreed to help JJ just to torture herself. After all, what did she expect? That she could just walk into JJ's apartment and not be haunted by memories of all the times she and the blonde had spent together? She would have been stupid if she believed that she could be in that apartment and not hurt, not feel like her heart was being torn out of her chest all over again.