Chapter seven.
"Have you noticed something about JJ since she's been back?" Reid asked Morgan and Garcia as they sat in the canteen for lunch.
"Like what?" Morgan asked.
"She has grown up more." Reid wasn't even sure that was the right way to describe it.
"If you mean she looks even more powerful and even more able to metaphorically and literally kick ass, I would say most certainly." Garcia said with a firm nod of her head. "Like, have you seen the clothes she wears these days." Garcia's eyes widened as she spoke, "I have to wonder, whatever happened to our good ol' small town girl!"
"Reid's right, she's all grown up." Morgan admitted. "There's a confidence in the way she carries herself that wasn't always there before, but you can still tell its the old JJ, just better, stronger. She might not have wanted the move to the pentagon, but its made her character toughen up, but not in a bad way." He added.
"If I was inclined to bat for the other side, she would make me look twice, actually, it would only be once! I mean, the confidence she exudes, the shoes and power suits she's wearing now... hubba hubba!" Garcia then said, making Reid choke on a mouthful of coffee.
"Oh come on," Garcia laughed at Reid's discomfort. "She is gorgeous, and as much as she's like a sister to me, if there was anyone to take me off the straight and narrow it would be..." Morgan nudged Garcia as she spoke.
"Talk of the devil." He waved across the tables, "Hey JJ, over here."
JJ smiled and walked towards them all. Sitting down, she could tell there was something up.
"Did I miss anything?" JJ asked, looking puzzled.
"No, nothing." Garcia managed to say innocently, making Reid look at her with a slight frown.
"Ok...ay." JJ said slowly, "Have I suddenly grown two heads or something?" She moved her head from side to side looking over her shoulder as she spoke, to illustrate the point.
"No." Morgan said quickly. "We were just talking about dress sense. Or in Garcia's case, the lack of it."
"Hey, low blow, very low blow." Garcia protested.
Later that day, JJ came through the front door and up the stairs, and could hear the commotion as she walked.
"At least let me walk to the bathroom, and then I can get one damn catheter out!"
"Miss Prentiss... Emily!"
Hearing the doctor falter like he did, JJ cringed, wondering just how bad that particular glare had been. She could see in her mind his hands going up in some sort of attempted peace gesture.
"I was going to ask how she was, but I guess I've just got my answer." JJ whispered.
"She has been like this all day." The nurse also whispered standing alongside JJ who was now in the hallway. "This is when the word patient is an oxymoron."
JJ and the nurse then both flinched in unison at the string of swear words that they then heard.
"I didn't know there were that many swear words in the world." JJ muttered, as she heard Emily continue in other languages, and she could only assume they were a continuation of what they had already heard in English.
"How many languages does she speak?" The nurse asked.
"Six, which means she could keep this up for a while yet." JJ replied, and then she looked at the door, "I'm going in."
"Good luck!" Came the reply with a look of pure sympathy.
Seeing JJ walk through the door, Emily stopped in mid-sentence.
"JJ…Get…. Me….. Out…. Of…. Here!" Emily then hissed, punctuating every word.
"No!" JJ then turned to the doctor and ignored the look Emily had thrown her. "How is she?"
"Getting better, but she still needs full bed rest."
"But..." Emily began to protest, and JJ turned back to face her.
"Emily, be quiet, please."
The request was said in such a quiet but authoritative voice, Emily found herself stopping her tirade, sighed and shook her head.
"You're all monsters." Emily muttered, but she sat back against the pillows on the bed.
JJ noticed how grateful the doctor looked at Emily's compliance.
"I will agree to allowing her to go to the bathroom..." He was interrupted by a sarcastic, "Hallelujah." from Emily.
"Shut up." JJ turned around and this time didn't try and hide her annoyance. Emily glared back, but didn't say anything more.
"But, she will have to be accompanied if she does." The doctor continued, "And the IV should be okay to come out in a couple more days. I have taken all but the antibiotics off now, but that is a substantial wound, and if she tries to do too much too soon, it could cause a lot of problems, including a hernia or ripped internal stitches."
"I don't need help." Emily looked at JJ, who was standing alongside the bed, the doctor and nurse having left.
"You do, and you are getting it. I'm your nurse for tonight. Be grateful the doctor has given you this much leeway. If you were in the regular hospital, there is no way you'd be allowed to do this." JJ insisted, as she put her hand out, gripping Emily's elbow, to help steady her as she stood up from the bed.
"I'd be signing myself out from there if I was." Emily grumbled, but didn't dare admit standing up had taken a lot out of her, far more than she'd thought it would and she was beginning to think that the bathroom, albeit just a short distance away, was suddenly looking like a gaping chasm.
Emily eventually sank back in to the bed, trying to hide how wobbly she felt, and couldn't believe how such a simple task had wiped her energy. She was so tired and the latest pain killing injection the doctor had given her as a replacement to self medication was beginning to work, making her even more groggy. She wasn't even aware that JJ was beginning to change her dressings until she heard a slight gasp. Opening her eyes, Emily could tell that JJ was looking at her left breast and the burn where Doyle had branded her.
"It looks worse than it is." Emily said softly.
JJ looked up, and she didn't even attempt to hide the tears that sprang up in her eyes.
"I..." JJ stopped, "I heard about it, I just wasn't prepared about how I would feel seeing it." JJ admitted.
"Hey, its just a reminder as to why we're doing what we are." Emily said with feeling. "As long as I have that mark, it will always remind me of what we had to do, and I'm okay with that, because we're saving an innocent life."
"I'm not sure I could be that stoic." JJ admitted.
"I can't change what happened," Emily shrugged slightly, "So I choose to use it as strength, and not my weakness."
