Penelope sat in JJ's car on the back seat. Her best friend had wrapped her arms around her holding her close to her. Penelope was still trembling all over her body, while she was looking at her blood covered hands. Derek's blood she really, really never wanted to see in her whole life.
Rossi and Reid were in the car too, heading to the hospital, Derek would be brought to.
Tara, Alvez, and Emily had remained at Derek and Savannah's house to make sure, Savannah would get arrested. After that, they would come to the hospital too.
Penelope couldn't stop weeping right now. She was too afraid of Derek, he'd lost so much blood. He'd gone through too much, she desperately wanted to be with him and make sure he would be alright.
"Hey Garcie, can you tell me what happened in there?" JJ suddenly asked her, caressing Penelope's upper arm while she held her.
Penelope sobbed but nodded after a moment. She tried to calm herself down and took a few deep breaths.
"I'll try," she answered in a tearful voice, wiping away her tears with a handkerchief, Rossi had given her earlier. It felt like she was going through it again as she began to tell her team what had happened to Derek.
Flashback:
"Time to have a few drinks, Honey!"
Savannah came back into the room, she'd brought a huge bottle of Derek's favorite's whiskey and a big glass with her. Penelope watched the woman opening the bottle and pouring a big glass full, just for Derek. Savannah uncuffed one of Derek's hands and put the glass into it.
"Drink, Honey. It may be the last time you'll get some of your favorite stuff."
Derek had done it without hesitation. He was looking at Penelope while he did so. She could see he didn't want to, but Penelope knew right now he would do anything to protect her. Penelope looked back at him the whole time. Savannah poured him a few more glasses in the next hour until Derek barely could hold and drink them on his own. Tears streamed down Penelope's cheeks seeing him like this. She so hardly wanted to stop all this, wanted to be at Derek's side to give him some much-needed comfort. He looked so lost, cuffed to the chair, threatened by his own wife. How could Savannah do this to a man she appeared to love?
Penelope couldn't imagine what that would do to him. Savannah silenced her every time she tried to talk to Derek, so Penelope remained silent, staring at Derek, while he tried his best to look back at her, with bloodshot eyes. She decided to give him comfort in this way, and it seemed to help him a little bit.
Soon, Savannah put the gun into Derek's hand.
"And now, we're going to show the cow what you did when you missed your team oh so much, alright Honey?"
Derek remained silent, still looking at Penelope. She didn't know how much he understood, so she smiled at him softly. Penelope needed him to know that she wouldn't be angry with him, she knew he had no chance.
"Shoot her!" Savannah suddenly screamed, which caused a very drunk Derek to look at her.
"Nah...," he slurred and aimed the gun at his right leg. He pulled the trigger very fast so Savannah couldn't stop him. Penelope screamed as the bullet hit his skin. Derek remained straight-faced, yet his cheeks became a bit paler than before.
Savannah slapped him across the face after he did that.
"Shoot. The. Cow! You coward!"
Penelope risked a look at Savannah who appeared very angry with Derek's actions. Indeed, Penelope wanted to jump at the woman in front of her, for harming Derek in such a horrible way.
Derek, again, shook his head and aimed the gun at his left leg. Within a glimpse, he'd shot himself again.
"Derek, stop it! Please don't hurt yourself!" Penelope begged him in a tearful voice. He shouldn't do that. He couldn't leave her, that wasn't an option.
"Don't do that, please!"
"I've better shut my mouth then," Penelope cried, gripping JJ's hand so hard, her knuckles became white.
"Savannah realized how much it hurt me to see Derek shooting himself, so she made him do that three more times. It's not like he had a chance to fight against that bitch!"
Weeping hard, Penelope couldn't talk for a while until JJ was able to calm her down a bit.
"You know why he did that, Garcie. He did that to protect you. You'll see it's going to be alright."
Rossi agreed. "Stay strong Kitten. I know it's hard to talk about these things, but Derek will be okay, and he'll need you when he's recovering."
"He will recover, Garcia, you know I examined the bullet wounds. Derek didn't hit important blood vessels. Even if he was drunk, he knew exactly what he was doing." Reid told them, and Garcia looked at him through the review mirror.
"Are you sure about that?" Penelope asked in a tearful voice, wiping away the tears from both of her cheeks.
"I am, I can tell you he'll do just fine if the bullet which remained inside his body hadn't hurt anything I couldn't see. His body will recover very fast, you'll see."
Penelope let out a shaky sigh and nodded slowly.
"Thank you, Boy Wonder, thank you for just knowing everything, at the right time," Penelope answered him, and JJ chuckled a bit.
"I hear ya, Garcie, that's so true," she said, and Penelope was able to smile a little bit. She still worried too much about her Hot Stuff, but Reid had calmed her a bit. Physically, Derek would heal, with every other thing Penelope would stick to his side and help him through everything until the love of her life would feel better again.
She took another deep breath before she started talking again.
"Alright, where did I stop? Ah..."
Flashback 2:
After Derek had shot himself for the fifth time, Savannah pulled out a second weapon and walked over to Penelope to uncuff her.
"You're going to take care of his wounds. He isn't allowed to die yet. The both of you will suffer a few more days!" Savannah hissed, but Penelope ignored her. She rushed over to her Noir Hero and cupped his cheeks with her hands.
"Baby Girl," Derek slurred when Penelope rested her forehead against his.
"I'm here, it's fine, Hot Stuff," she whispered and kneeled down in front of him after she caressed his cheeks a few times. Derek barely nodded, he was getting paler with every passing moment, so Penelope decided to take care of his wounds just like Savannah had told her. The other woman was standing right behind her, aiming her gun at Penelope's head.
"Work now!" Savannah hissed, while she was watching Penelope. "God, you're as slow as you are fat!"
Penelope didn't listen to Savannah, it wasn't important, what she said, the man in front of her was, who was essential to her more than anything.
The wounds in Derek's legs didn't bleed that much, it was the one on his torso which worried her most. Penelope felt around him with shaking hand and checked his back. There was no exit wound, so Penelope was sure the bullet would still stick somewhere in his body.
She took off her scarf for a makeshift bandage around his torso.
"Does that hurt, Handsome?" She whispered, looking at the man she loved more than anything. His bloodshot eyes were barely open, but very slowly, he shook his head. Penelope worried so much about him. Her heart was racing in her chest when she reached the other two wounds his left arm. They were bleeding most, and Penelope hadn't anything to stop the bleeding. So she just pressed her trembling hands on them in the effort to stop the bleeding. Looking at Derek again, she realized he lost his conscience.
"Derek, please!" She cried out, hoping he would hear her when his head sunk on his chest.
"That was the time when you came into the room," she ended, still shakily but a bit more relieved. It was good that she spilled out what had happened to Derek and her.
JJ squeezed her tightly, giving her some much-needed comfort.
"You did really good, Penelope, I'm proud of you," Reid told her when they drove into the parking lot in front of the hospital.
"Thank you, Spencer," was all she could answer because as soon as the car stopped, she headed out of the vehicle and into the hospital followed by JJ, Rossi, and Reid. Penelope quickly made her way inside. She desperately needed to find out where Derek was and in which state he was.
Soon, a doctor was sent to her. He brought some papers with him, Penelope needed to sign for she was Derek's emergency contact.
The doctor told them, Derek would be in surgery for the next couple of hours, it would be a risk because he was very drunk and it would be a high risk to set him under anesthesia. But Derek needed the operation. A bullet was still in his body, and as far as the doctor could see, it had broken two ribs at least but not hurt Derek's lungs. The doctor would come back to tell them how he was doing.
Penelope thanked the doctor and, shakily sat down on the next chair, after she'd cleaned herself up a Little bit.
"I have to call his mom," Penelope suddenly whispered. JJ handed her her cellphone. Penelope rose to her feet again and tried to call Derek's mom then. Slowly pacing through the room, she waited for Fran Morgan to accept the call.
"Morgan?"
"Uhm, hello? Is this Fran?" Penelope asked. She wasn't ready to tell Derek's mom the bad news.
"Yes, Penelope, is that you?"
"Yes, it's me...Fran..."
"What happened to Derek? Is he hurt?"
Fran interrupted her and Penelope sighed deeply. She needed to tell it to Derek's mom, even if she felt guilty for being the reason why Derek shot himself. Fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks as she started talking.
"I'm sorry...yes, yes he is hurt. He..he shot himself five times. Savannah made him do that, she made him drunk also and I...I," she tried to tell her more, but Penelope really couldn't stop a loud sob which escaped her mouth.
"Okay, Penelope, I can understand you're shocked, I'm too, but tell me a few more things while I book a flight, alright?" Fran remained calm, which helped Penelope a lot. She took a few deep breaths and nodded.
"Alright, alright, I'm so sorry, it's just...he's gone through so much, Fran...," she whispered sadly, hoping, everything that had happened wouldn't affect Derek too much.
"I know sweetheart, I know." Fran sighed at the other end. Penelope again, wiped her tears away before she started talking again.
"He's in surgery right now. Spencer told me he's only in danger if the bullet in his body has hurt something important. The other wounds on his legs and left arm didn't hurt major blood vessels. The doctor told me to come back as soon as Derek's out of the surgery, but it's a high risk to put him into anesthesia with all that alcohol in his blood."
"Alright, thank you, Penelope. That helps me a lot to stay calm. He will make it, even if it's a risk to do that now. I have a flight booked and have to hurry, please keep me updated alright? I'm going to send you the number of my cell phone."
"Alright, I'll do that," Penelope whispered and hung up. She checked if she received the number of Fran's cell phone and handed JJ's cell back to her.
Penelope couldn't sit still the next couple of hours. Every time a nurse came, she rose to her feet, every time a doctor came out of the surgery, her heart began to race in her chest.
She was a mess, worrying for Derek and praying that he would be okay.
"You have to eat and drink something Garcie," JJ whispered beside her, holding a cup of coffee for her best friend and a sandwich. "You cannot help him if you're not strong enough."
Penelope sighed and nodded slowly. She took a few bites of the sandwich and drank the coffee. It soothed her a bit, but when the doctor, who'd spoken to her earlier walked towards them, Penelope felt nervous like before.
She rose to her feet and greeted the doc with a nervous smile.
"How is he?" She asked, nervously, looking at the doctor.
"He did just fine. We were able to get the bullet out of him without any complications. He isn't awake by now, it can take a bit longer than usual, but that's totally normal. He's breathing on his own that's a good sign." The doctor smiled at her when tears began to stream down her face once more.
"Can I see him then, please?" She managed to ask the doctor who nodded.
"I'm afraid it'll be only you for now, but yes, sure."
Penelope smiled in relief and hugged JJ, Reid, and Rossi. "Please send a text to Fran, I promised her to tell her how Derek's doing," she begged JJ who nodded before Penelope followed the doctor to Derek's room.
"Take your time, if you want to, you can stay here overnight."
"I want to stay with him," she quickly answered, there was no way anyone would part them again for the next while.
"Alright, we'll get everything ready for you then. I'll come and check on Derek in the next few hours. If he wakes up, call for a nurse please."
"Thank you, doc, I will do that," Penelope answered him before she made her way into Derek's room.
Quickly she headed to his right side, the only part of his body was he wasn't hurt and softly took his hand in hers.
"Hey Handsome," she whispered and kissed his forehead slowly. "I'm here now, you're going to be okay very soon, but I won't leave your side for a long while," she whispered.
"I'm going to stay here until you throw me out of the room, and you know I'm hardheaded, so you're going to stick with me for a long, long while, Hot Stuff."
Penelope squeezed his hand and watched his exhausted face for a long while.
"Your mom will be here soon, too. We won't ever leave you on your own Baby, you're not alone."
Penelope held his hand, sitting at Derek's side until he would wake up again.
