Adrenaline
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Within moments a middle-aged, dark-haired woman came rushing into the room, the housekeeper still standing at the door. "My name Karen Anderson, I'm the hotel nurse. Can you tell me what happened?"
The woman dropped the small bag she was carrying, quickly retrieving a stethoscope. Rossi still had a hand on Hotch's shoulder, the younger man still not having said a word, but the pain had seemed to ease, if only a little, David had noticed Hotch taking deeper breaths. Morgan started talking as the nurse started taking Aaron's vitals. "He was just released from the hospital yesterday, he was caught in an explosion a few days ago, it damaged his eardrum, caused bruising, cracked ribs. We came to check on him and found him collapsed, in pain here on the floor."
The nurse looked at Morgan and Rossi in surprise, "He was one of the Agent's from the car bomb?" Rossi nodded. The nurse remembered the new coverage of the attacks across the city, culminating a few nights ago with two explosions. Refocusing her attention the nurse asked, "What's his name?"
"Agent Aaron Hotchner." Morgan spoke before Rossi.
"Agent Hotchner, can you hear me, can you tell me where the pain is coming from?" Confusion crossed the woman's face as she received not response.
Rossi spoke, "They told us with the damage to his eardrum that his hearing could become extremely muffled or he could loss it all together at times."
Morgan added, "He had an episode almost like this at the hospital yesterday, it took a few minutes before his hearing returned."
Both Agents' watched as Hotch still held his eye's closed, hand still against his head. "Dave…" The unusually weak sounding voice brought the three peoples attention to the pain-filled dark-brown eyes of Aaron Hotchner.
"Hotch, can you hear me? This is the hotel nurse; we've got an ambulance coming. Do you remember what happened?" Rossi asked, watching his friend closely as the younger man continued to take slow, deep breaths.
"No ambulance…" He mumbled, "Fine…" As if to prove his point Hotch attempted to push himself up, but was stopped not only by Rossi, but the nurse as well.
"Sir, at least let them check you over when they arrive." The unfamiliar woman commented.
"Hotch, man you are not fine, we just found you collapsed on the floor, now stop arguing and listen for once." Rossi shot Morgan a look that told him to back off, David knew the worry the younger man was feeling and he didn't want this to turn into another episode like the one that played out at the hospital the morning Hotch woke up.
"Hotch, what happened?" David asked again.
Blinking a few times Hotch's hearing was starting to clear some, "Was getting ready and the pain…" A flash of pain crossed his face as he attempted to take another deep breath. Just then two paramedics came rushing into the room, followed by four, very concerned BAU members.
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Five minutes ago in the hotel restaurant.
"It's been a few minutes; you think everything is okay with Hotch?" Reid asked, nervously looking toward the doors Morgan and Rossi had left through nearly fifteen minutes ago.
Emily spoke, taking a bite of her toast. "He's probably giving them a hard time."
"He just doesn't like giving the impression of being helpless." JJ added.
"When has our fearless leader ever appeared helpless?" Garcia spoke up, taking a drink of her tea, trying to banish the image of Hotch's body being blow out of the camera frame as the SUV he was approaching exploded.
She knew her boss was a man of little outward emotion, however she had seen the pain in his eyes when they lost a victim they had been so close to finding, or even the hints of fear if he thought one of his Agent's were in trouble. And Garcia remembered that time she had been shot, though not reflected in his face, she saw the genuine concern Hotch had for her well-being as they tried to track down the man who had shot her.
She found her heart aching for the older man as he seemed to feel the need to hold everything in and not allow other's to help.
"What the…" Emily stood quickly as she heard an ambulance stop outside the hotel, the others hearing it as well, but sirens in New York were not the unusual, but it was the EMT's that ran through the lobby toward the stairs that had her moving toward the door, the other's quickly following suit.
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The paramedics moved across the room to the man sitting against the bed, "I'm fine" Hotch spoke again, this time a little stronger, since the pain was now subsiding.
"Humor us Hotch," Rossi squeezed his shoulder, finally getting only the hint of a nod. Reluctantly the older Profiler stood and stepped back, allowing the professionals to start their assessment.
Morgan was standing near the door with Reid, Prentiss, Garcia and JJ, Rossi approached as he heard Emily ask, "What happened?" Everyone was now turned and watching as the EMT's and the nurse exchanged information and the medics did their own round of vitals. Hotch had again closed his eyes and had his head leaning back against the bed, his lips barely moving as he answered the paramedics questions.
Morgan looked back at the team, "When he didn't answer the door, we got one of the housekeepers to open the door. We found him hunched over on the floor, holding his head in pain. It took several minutes before he even opened his eyes and looked at us, a couple more before he spoke."
"Is it possible he was released too soon?" JJ asked as they continued to watch what was happening with Hotch.
No one answered at first as they watched the EMT's help Hotch to his feet and onto the side of the bed. "I don't know…" David answered, "They said he could have problems with his hearing for weeks, but I don't know if that means he will have pain this intense for that long."
"We're going to have to make sure he contacts one of those doctors' in DC when we get back and try to keep an eye on him." Emily added as one of the EMT's approached.
"That should be fun." Reid commented sarcastically under his breath.
"Which one of you is Agent Rossi?" The medic asked.
"That's me." David spoke up.
"Agent Hotchner's refused to be transported to the hospital…" Before the young man could finish David stepped around him and made his way toward Hotch.
"What do you mean you're not going to the hospital?" Rossi was, himself, getting angry at the ridiculous stubborn streak that Aaron possessed.
Holding his hand up to stop David's rant, Hotch took the offered glass of water from the hotel nurse as the other EMT gave him a pill from one of the prescription bottles that were on the nightstand. "David, I'm fine now, the pain has eased and my hearing is almost clear. I should have just taking the pain medication when I got up."
"Damn it Aaron, we just found you collapsed in pain on the floor of your hotel room and now you are telling me you are fine." Rossi stepped away; he was very close to doing the same thing he had gotten on Morgan about just days ago. Looking the EMT's he asked, "Can't you just take him in, have him checked out?" Somewhere in the back of Rossi's mind he knew if a patient refused transport then the paramedic's hands were tied.
The young medic that had approached him spoke up, "I'm sorry, but if he refuses there isn't much we can do. His vitals are within normal ranges now that his pain has subsided, he explained to us what the doctor at the hospital told him and taken he just took the pain medication he was prescribed, so unless he changes his mind that's all we can do."
"David, I'm fine, really." Hotch looked at the concerned face of his teammate, then glanced at the equally concerned faces of the five people standing on the other side of the room. "Just give me a few minutes and we can get ready to head home." Hotch stood slowly, then faced the EMT's and the nurse, "I'm sorry for the trouble this has caused, thank you for your help."
Hotch walked toward the bathroom as the medics gathered their equipment, exchanged handshakes and thank you with Rossi and Morgan, then the two men left the room. The nurse stepped up to the group, minus David who was standing near the now closed bathroom door. "I'm sorry we couldn't convince him to go to the hospital. He really should be seen by his doctor as soon as he returns home, especially if he is experiencing pain that severe." Shaking hands with the rest of the team, she also left the room.
JJ's quiet voice broke the worried silence, "We should probably get back downstairs and get checked out." Looking toward Rossi she continued, "We'll meet you down there." With that Morgan, Prentiss, JJ, Reid and Garcia stepped into the hall.
"I don't know about you guys, but I hope you all don't have to come back to New York for a long time." Garcia spoke as they all walked a few feet down the hallway.
Derek paused, "Look, don't tell Hotch, but I'm going to hang back and drive him home. That way one of us can keep an eye on him, maybe once we're back home we can convince him to stay with either me or Rossi, at least tonight."
"You seriously think he'll stay with someone?" Emily asked, glancing back as Rossi stepped from Hotch's room, carrying the injured Agent's bag.
Morgan shrugged his shoulder, a smirk crossing his face, "If someone has to drive him for a couple of days he won't have much of a choice unless he want's to sleep in the car." They all nervously chuckled as David came to a stop next to the group.
"He'll be out in just a minute, what are you all up to? I smell a conspiracy." David smiled a tired smile. They had only been up a couple hours, but he was already feeling exhausted.
Morgan answered, "I'm going to drive Hotch back, but I'm not telling him until we are at the Field Office and you guys have left, that way he won't have any choice." Rossi nodded, he felt better knowing one of the team would be with Aaron on the drive back, he had been thinking the same thing himself.
"Then Morgan had this brilliant plan of getting Hotch to either stay with you or him, once we're back, at least for tonight." Reid piped up, his hands stuffed in his pockets, rocking on his heels.
"He's staying with me, for the next couple days." Rossi answered to the surprised looks on everyone's faces.
"How'd you manage that?" Prentiss asked, knowing if Hotch didn't agree to something nothing was going to change the man's mind.
A sly smile crossed Rossi's face, "I just told him if he didn't stay with me then we were all coming over to campout in his apartment until he made an appointment with his doctor and we were given the all clear that he was okay to be left alone."
Garcia smiled as she walked over to Agent Rossi and looped her arm around his, "Oh, Agent Rossi I do like your underhanded style."
They all laughed, then turned as they heard a door down the hall close, collectively releasing a sigh of relief to see Hotch walking toward them, albeit still a little slow. They knew it would take some time for his bruises to fade and his eardrum to heal, but they knew whether the man liked it or not they would be right there for him.
Six pairs of worried eyes watched as SSA Aaron Hotchner approached the group gathered in the hallway. In Hotch's mind he could see the concern and caring these people held for him, it was the same he held for them. In the quiet hours at the hospital between the team's visits and the nurse's coming in at all hours of the night, Aaron had thought about what had happened. His mind always going back to the explosion. He felt guilty that he hadn't been able to do more to save Kate, hell he knew he was lucky to have survived himself. He sat in the dark of the hospital room and wondered how many more times luck would be on his side, but if there was something good that came out of the horrific experience he knew he would be eternally grateful that it had been him that was near the blast and not one of his team.
He had seen what losing people that you were in charge of and cared about, could do to an agent, he had watched Jason Gideon fight those demons for two years until they finally won over one of the strongest men he knew and Jason had just walked away, effectively without saying goodbye. Over the time he'd been Unit Chief he had watched some of his agent's get hurt, both physically and mentally and that had worn on him, feeling it was his responsibility to protect them. Losing Kate had been hard enough, but she was a colleague and a friend. The six people he was approaching were more than that, they were family and he would willing place himself in harms way to keep his family from being hurt.
So as he approached, coming to a stop next to Rossi and Prentiss, Hotch tried to do what he did so little of, he gave a hint of a smile, trying to reassure his team that he was really okay. Then quietly he spoke, "Let's go home."
A/N: Okay, there you have it, my first completed Criminal Minds Fanfic. I want to THANK EVERYONEwho took the time to read/alert/favorite and review my story. Since I'm new to these characters I was worried I wouldn't get them correct, but I hope that I have. I truely appreciate all the encouragement I received to extend my story and I hope it made it a better story. Again, I hope you all enjoyed it, I have a second story already invading my brain and begging to be written, so hopefully you will see me again soon. THANK YOU AGAIN! YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!--Montez