"David," the ambassador's daughter huffed as he wiped the blood away from her arm.
"Don't tell me to fuck off, Emily Elizabeth."
Emily glared at her brother before turning her attention to the man fixing the bandage that wrapped around her wrist. She no longer needed a brace for it, it had been over two weeks, but she still needed the support until her bone was successfully healed. "And what are you doing?"
The police officer smirked as he set the pin in her bandage back into place. "Fixing what you undid in your little meltdown just before."
The patient gave a roll of the eyes. Her brother had come to visit because she got out in a couple of days, and with the news that her parents wouldn't be coming to visit, she flipped.
Sure they had always been busy throughout her life, missed chess matches and reading of her short stories at school, even birthdays, but this was different. She had almost died and they didn't even try and make a dent in their schedule to send her a get well card.
In her rage, screaming and fuming at the news, she had unconsciously yanked her IV out of her arm and her bandage around her wrist had come unraveled when the pin that held it together stuck to her bed sheet.
"You're lucky the doctor doesn't sedate you."
Emily grimaced at the thought. "A few more days in here and I could mess it all up because of my parents," she mused, letting Aaron hold her injured hand.
He squeezed at her small fingers.
Dave watched the pair and gagged, laughing when his little sister shot him the stink eye. "Alright little bear, the doctor said that with your head wound, you need to have someone at home with you for at least a month."
Emily squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. "I don't need a babysitter."
"According to the doctor, and me," her brother pointed out, "you do."
The brunette snorted. "Are you talking as my brother or as a doctor?"
Aaron turned to the other man in the room. "You're a doctor?"
"I am."
"He's a pediatrician," she pointed out, her brow arched as her brother turned back to look at her.
"A pediatrician who is qualified enough to know that you cannot be alone for a while," Dave groused. "Especially after what just happened." He watched her roll her eyes before placing a hand on hers. "I'm taking days off."
Emily's jaw dropped. "That's insane."
"Why?" the other Prentiss questioned. "It's what I did for you while you were here," he pointed out.
"Exactly. You've already taken way too much time off."
Dave softened his faze on the younger woman. "Em, I can afford to not go to work. You need someone to take care of you."
"I do not!" she exclaimed.
Aaron squeezed the lawyer's hand to get her attention, and once her posture relaxed and those dark eyes met his, he smiled. "What if instead of thinking of it as needing someone to take care of you, it's needing someone to sleep on your couch and maybe buy you groceries?"
The lawyer frowned at the smile on her friend's lips and let him wrap his fingers around her. "I don't want to put anybody out."
"The only person you'd be putting out is yourself if you don't let us help you."
Aaron nodded. "We can both help. That way, neither of us have to take off work all the time and you won't get too sick of us if we keep switching on and off."
Emily bit her lip. "You both have families."
Her older brother smirked. "Bun, you realize you are my family." Watching his little sister fight with herself, Dave shook his head. "Besides, do you think Allison would really mind having me out of the house every few days? She'll be packing my bags the moment I tell her the news."
Aaron watched the siblings share a smile.
"Aaron, you have Jack."
The police officer shook his head. "Not every moment of every day," he countered, the air in the room growing hotter at the look Emily was giving him. "You're not getting out of this whether you like it or not."
She had made sure not to smile at either man for the rest of her days in the hospital, doing her best to show how annoyed she was with them because they didn't seem to trust her to be on her own. Deep down she knew that wasn't it, but she wasn't accustomed to anyone wanting to care for her the way they say they did.
Helping her out of the car, Aaron chuckled. "You're going to hurt yourself."
"I'm going to hurt someone if they don't go and open the door."
The police officer shared a smile with the younger woman before hurrying up the steps of the ambassador's daughter's brownstone to unlock the door.
"Don't let the dog out," Emily warned, hiding her grimace when she felt her back twinge. Lying in a hospital bed for weeks on end had screwed up her posture, her muscles aching and spazzing every time she'd take a step. "He likes to wait by the door for me when I'm not home."
Aaron walked back down the steps and held his hand to the injured woman's back, helping her walk slowly up each step to the front door. "Don't over exert yourself, ok? I can't carry you all the time."
Emily stuck her tongue out at the older man. "Chopsy," she grinned, letting the husky lick at her fingers and snuggle into the palm of her hand. "Come sit down with me, baby." The lawyer dropped her purse on her coffee table and let Aaron feel helpful by holding her hand as she sat herself down.
"Chopsy?"
"Don't even," she laughed, sitting back into the cushions and letting the four year old black and white husky plop himself across her lap. "My goddaughter named him."
Aaron let the dog sniff him so he grew accustomed. "He's beautiful."
The lawyer immediately nodded her head in agreement. "His mother's litter was found at the side of the road, and when the news of it was in the paper I immediately went to the pound. I couldn't let all of those puppies stay there without a home."
Aaron grinned. "Why didn't you get them all?"
"It actually was very sweet; the PTA of the closest school to me had told the faculty and they had brought all of the third graders there to pick out a puppy to take home. Luckily," Emily chuckled, kissing the furry head of her dog, "I snatched this guy up before any of those pesky eight year olds could."
The single father let out a bark of a laugh at the triumphant smile on his friend's face.
Hearing the shrill ringing of a cell phone after her new friend went to find her a drink from the kitchen, after she had specifically told him not to, Emily looked up from her dog. "Aaron? Is that yours?"
The police officer rushed back into the room and set her glass of water on the coffee table. "It's Jack," he grinned, pressing the answer button. "Hey buddy!"
Emily watched how the older man's face lit up at the sound of his son on the other end of the phone, and she felt her heart break. Looking over to the small table against the nearest wall, her eyes caught the faces of her and her ex in her favorite picture frame. Their first Christmas together.
They had wanted to have kids; they were going to have it all. That was no longer a dream she could see coming true for herself.
"Yeah bud, I have a friend I want you to meet."
Emily's head spun.
Aaron held out the phone and put his son on speaker. "Remember I told you I met a new friend a few weeks ago?"
"Emmy!"
The lawyer felt herself blush at the nickname.
"I have her here with me," Aaron grinned, knowing how happy his son was to finally meet his friend. "Do you want to say hi?"
Emily bit her lip, looking nervously to the older man. "I'm not very good with children," she admitted embarrassedly.
"He already loves you. You're going to do fine."
Gently nodding her head, the brunette woman with the dog in her lap looked to the phone. "Is this Mr. Jack?"
"EMMY!"
Emily's eyes widened at the excitement in the young boy's voice. "Hi buddy," she laughed, her hand over her mouth as she felt her laughter take over. "Your daddy's told me so much about you."
"Same, Emmy! You're my daddy's friend!"
She felt his hand brush over hers, and the lawyer looked back up to Aaron and grinned. "I sure am."
