Chapter 9 – Watches and Waiting

One week later Emily Prentiss sat nervously inside the BAU's jet. Their recent case had taken three days to solve and she desperately wanted to get home. Looking at her watch again she heard a voice beside her ask, "anything wrong Prentiss?" Emily looked up to see Morgan standing beside her before he sat down. "Nothing why?" Emily replied.

"That's the fifth time you've looked at the time in the last half an hour," Derrick replied easily. Noticing behaviour being his obvious specialty, if anyone else was doing the same thing Emily may have picked up on it too. "So what's up?"

"I just need to get home," Emily replied. "Carina has a music competition in the morning and I need to be there to help her out."

"I'm sure we'll get there in time, so you are taking tomorrow off then?"

"Yeah," Emily replied. "Not really off though because we do get a day off after a case anyway. I just actually have something to do with the time off." She slightly chuckled.

"You like having someone living with you don't you?" Morgan began. "I've noticed that you've been happier. You actually talk about what you did on the weekends."

"I actually have something to talk about," Prentiss replied with a smile. "And yeah it is good, to have someone to talk to, to have someone to eat with, to fight over the television remote." Derrick smiled then showing his sparkling white teeth. "It just feels good to know that Carina is getting better."

"And it's all because of you," Derrick added. "You were the only one who wanted to take her in, help her out; you even risked losing your job to help her and that Prentiss that takes more guts than running into an unsubs home without a gun."

"Strauss is scary Derrick but I don't think she's that scary," Emily joked making them both laugh for a while. JJ appeared beside Derrick and Em "So what's all the fun over here about?" She asked before she took a seat next to Morgan. "We were just discussing Carina."

"How is she doing?" JJ asked.

"She's really good," Emily replied. "Oh and I wanted to ask everyone, Carina is entering a music competition tomorrow and I wanted to know if you would come to support her. She didn't ask for anyone to come but I think it would be good to have someone there. Plus some company in the audience wouldn't go astray."

"Sure I'll come," JJ replied. "I'll bring Will and Henry too; they need to get out of the house."

"Yeah I'll be there too," Morgan smiled. "Give us a call with the details and I'll come to see her win."

"Don't you mean see her participate?" Emily wondered taking a sip of the water on table between the group of three. "No I think I chose the right words."

The plane landed and the BAU split into their separate ways. Emily walked to her car, her boots clicking against the ground beneath her before she opened the door and climbed in. Buckling her seatbelt she turned on the ignition, opened her headlights and began the drive home. After turning into her driveway Emily opened her door, took her jacket from the passenger side seat and exited the car, locking it behind her before she unlocked the front door and walked into the house.

Throwing her jacket onto the couch she looked to the clock in the kitchen to see that it was fairly late. Walking up the stairs she decided to check on Carina and to make sure that everything was okay. Reaching Carina's room she turned and expected to see the teenager sleeping on her bed. Walking into the room further though she saw a sand-shoed foot on the other side of the bed, near the piano. Quickly Emily walked into the room to see Carina unconscious on the floor with blood on her head. "Oh God Carina!" Emily called kneeling next to the teenager and checking her breathing. "Carina can you hear me?" She asked but there was no reply. Turning the teenager from her stomach and onto her side Emily pulled her phone from her pocket and immediately called the only person she knew who could get an ambulance as quickly as possible without too many stupid questions.

"Hello," Garcia answered groggily, sitting up from her bed and looking to the clock telling herself that if this wasn't good she was going to crucify whoever interrupted her slumber. "Garcia I need an ambulance sent to my house now." Emily began.

"Emily! Why what's wrong?" Garcia asked running to her FBI networked laptop and accessing it.

"It's Carina, she's unconscious and her heads bleeding." Emily explained.

"Have you tried getting her to wake up?"

"Yes,"

"What about her checking her breathing?"

"It's fine too,"

"What about..."

"I've tried everything!" Emily yelled making Garcia stop her questioning. "Sorry Garcia, I'm just worried that's all."

"The ambulance is on its way my love," Garcia replied. "I'll meet you at the hospital."

"No Garcia you don't have..."

"I want to," Garcia interrupted.

"Okay," Emily replied taking a deep breath as she looked to the chair Carina used to play piano, on the other side of the room, her electric piano still plugged in an turned on. "Em," Garcia sighed. "She'll be okay." Emily hung up her phone before she looked down to Carina again and shook her shoulders. "Come on Carina open your eyes for me. Wake up."

Every attempt until the paramedics arrived were all useless. They loaded Carina onto the gurney and began moving her from the room, down the stairs and out to the ambulance. Emily quickly turned off the piano before she followed closely behind, locked the door behind her and climbed into the ambulance with her.

The ambulance sped off down the road and took multiple turns, the Ambulance officers trying to get her conscious but it wasn't working either. Emily placed her hand on Carina's and squeezed it. Even if she wasn't able to see her Emily knew that maybe Carina would be able to feel her. She needed to know that it was going to be okay, hell, Emily needed to know she was going to be okay. This definitely was not something they had planned on. Emily just hoped that Carina would be okay and that she could still perform in the competition in the morning. Carina needed the competition to heal and begin her life again. Emily on the other hand, needed her to wake up.

AN: Do you think Carina will be okay and what do you think happened in her room? Chapter 10 will be up soon. Thanks for reading!