Discerning

A Criminal Minds Story

"We're losing her!" The surgeon yelled as he frantically worked to save the life of the young agent in front of him.

"She's lost too much blood."

"She's still bleeding."

Voices of his surgical team rang out as he desperately tried to remove the last bullet fragment before he could seal the wound. It seemed to already be encased in tissue, but it needed to come out.

"Come on. Agent Jareau stay with me. Jennifer, stay with me."

He wouldn't lose another patient today.

"Her vitals are dropping fast; we need to stop the bleeding."

"Just hold on," The surgeon yelled, but not at his team.

At her.

"Derek."

Someone was calling his name, but he couldn't tell who it was.

All he could hear was laughter, maniacal laughter.

It was the Unsub

And then he'd feel it, a body being thrown against his back.

Knocking him over.

JJ's body.

She'd saved him.

Then there was screaming.

And the Unsub was still laughing.

Horrible, horrible laughter.

"Morgan."

A cry of pain.

It's Rossi, he's been hit.

And then he sees him.

He sees the Unsub.

He looks satisfied,

Pleased even.

And it makes Morgan sick.

"Morgan!"

The Unsub is gone.

The laughter has stopped.

And Derek Morgan wakes up.

He looks up to see Reid and Hotch standing worriedly before him, and he realized he had fallen asleep on the hospital chairs. He groans slightly as he looks around, he couldn't see Emily or Garcia.

"Where are the girls?"

Hotch sighed, "Emily was grazed in the head by a bullet, and she didn't even realize it. She had to get some stitches. Garcia's with her now."

"Rupert?"

"He's at the station, sitting happily in his cell until he is transported."

Morgan clenched his fist, "Rossi and JJ? Any word?"

"Not yet. Both are still in surgery, it doesn't look good."

"Rossi lost a lot of blood before we got him here and well… you saw JJ," Reid mumbled as he looked down at his shoes.

"She took a bullet for me Hotch."

"I know."

And as the other two men sat down, the three stayed in silence as they searched for the hope that they're friends would be alright, that they all would be alright.

God knows they needed them to be.

Emily Prentiss shifted restlessly on top of her own hospital bed. She's had it with these over cautious doctors and their idiotic notion that she should stay overnight. Just in case. It was ridiculous. And she could not stand the large amount of wrapping they had done to her head.

She looked like a freaking mummy.

It was only a small graze to the head and they act like she was a miracle. Something about should have had some brain damage, or blood pooling. Most of what they told her she figured only Reid could understand.

She did have a headache though, a severe one. The doctors said that it was to be expected after an injury like that. She told them it was because of their inability to understand that she needed to be out there.

Waiting with her friends,

And just as they were about to relent,

Garcia came in.

And Emily knew all hope was lost.

Garcia wasn't about to let her Gumdrop leave the room without clearance from the doctor.

"Hello! My mummified kitten," Garcia chuckled at Emily's horrified expression, "when are you going to just listen to the nice doctors."

"When they're diagnosis actually makes sense because … I am fine," the last part was stated at a higher pitch than the others as she directed it towards the open door. Emily turned to look back at Garcia, surprised to find the colorful technical analyst crying.

Emily leaned forward, "Hey, it's going to be okay."

She hoped it wasn't a lie.

"It's – I – I almost lost all of you today," Garcia clutched Emily's hand tightly, "And I still might lose some of you. I'm afraid, Em."

Emily was too, but she wasn't about to tell Garcia that.

It wasn't what Penelope needed to hear right now.

So she simply told her,

"They're strong. They're strong."

Because it was the only truth she could think of.

It was days like these that David Rossi seriously wondered why he ever came out of retirement. He wasn't as young as he used to be and his bones were more fragile. Sure he was healthy and in good shape, but that didn't mean he wasn't old.

Well okay, he didn't consider himself old.

Yet.

But getting there, he was definitely getting there.

Maybe when he's eighty.

"Hey, David can you open your eyes for me?" A voice he didn't recognize was talking to him, and he figured he must be in the hospital and that he must have survived.

He hoped it would be the same for the rest of the team.

The only one he was sure about was Reid.

As his eyes flickered, the first thing he registered was the bright light and the sharp pain shooting throughout his body. Suddenly he preferred his previous state of unconsciousness and closed his eyes again.

"You have some really worried people waiting to see you," The kind voice entered his mind again.

Right, the team.

Rossi guessed he probably should quell their concerns.

He winced as the bright white room assaulted his vision once again, "You doctors ever think about getting a nice dull color on your walls. Like beige or even just a simple buff."

"Sometimes, but white portrays clean… and it always helps when a patient can feel clean," The doctor smiled, "Shall I tell you your diagnosis?"

"Please do."

"Well you gave us quite a scare. The bullet had almost completely severed an artery. You lost a lot of blood, so we had to start an immediate transfusion as we patched up that artery and removed the fragments. You arrived here just in time."

"Recovery time?"

"We do expect you to make a full recovery, but you'll be in a brace for several weeks and won't be able to return to active duty for a month and a half. And that's the bare minimum. You'll need crutches and will need lots of rest."

Rossi groaned, "Perfect."

"You have some people who are very anxious to see you, I'll send them in."

"Hey Rossi," Morgan entered first, "How are you feeling?"

"The Doctor told us you almost died," Reid whispered.

"Don't you guys know? I'm too old to die," Dave feigned a look of complete shock and utter surprise at their lack of confidence in him.

It earned a few forced smiles.

"Where is everyone else?" Rossi directed his question towards their silent boss. The relief he had felt at the sight of some of his team had lasted a mere moment when he realized they weren't all there.

Hotch looked at him a stressed look on his face, "Emily was grazed in head by a bullet and Garcia's with her."

"And JJ?"

Everyone fell silent for a long time as Rossi feared the worst. He tried to think back to the last time he had seen the blond. Emily was trying to get her to safety, it didn't look good. He looked at each of their faces waiting for an answer.

"Is she?"

"We don't know."

That wasn't what he hoped for, but at least it wasn't a definite.

There still was hope for a better outcome, and Rossi would hold on to that. After all, it is what she would have wanted.

Would.

It is what she would want.

He hoped, anyway.

So Rossi's okay... well sort of. And Emily will be. But JJ?

This chapter turned out to be longer than I thought it was going to be, but I guess that's alright. To those of you reading this story, thank you. You rock! Please let me know if you have any suggestions, comments, or criticisms.

Thanks!

-HCB