"It's good to see those eyes," Will commented kissing JJ's hand.
"Where's Henry?" JJ asked looking around the room.
Will kissed her hand again. "Penelope has been amazing with him."
JJ gave a small smile thinking about her son.
Will leaned in. "Are you ready to see him?"
"Yeah, I am. Will, why won't anyone tell me about Emily?"
Will sat back into the chair not answering.
JJ persisted, "what aren't you telling me?"
He answered in a whisper, "I don't know anything. My concern is with you."
JJ felt a flash of anger and she tried to sit up but the pain kept her down.
"You need to make it your concern."
Will didn't say a word but stood up and left the room. After he was out the door she pressed the button for the nurse. She watched him outside the window talking to Derek. They would occasionally look in the room at her. She kept her eyes on them making sure they felt her glares. The only thing that pulled her away was the nurse standing in the room.
JJ directed herself to her, "I want to go see my friend."
"I'm sorry?" the nurse asked in confusion.
"My friend is in this hospital and I want to go see her."
The nurse continued to speak but in hush tones, "we can't do that right now."
JJ was getting more frustrated, "go figure a way to do it."
The door opened and JJ caught a flash of blonde hair. Her heart skipped a beat as it disappeared then finally landed on the chair by the bed.
"Hi mommy!"
Nothing could hold back her smile, "hi sweetie!"
"Nap all done?"
JJ reached her hand out to Henry, "yes my love."
Henry climbed into the bed next to her, "pretty colors," he said touching her face.
JJ let the tears fall as she pulled him into a hug, "I love you so much."
Will walked back into the room and began to speak quietly to Garcia who was hanging back in the shadows of the door.
She turned and flashed JJ a smile, "Henry, why don't we go to the gift shop and get mommy the best gift."
Henry smiled and looked back to JJ, "the best gift mommy."
Penelope lifted him up and before they left the room she turned a concerned eye to JJ, "it's good to see you awake."
"Thanks, Pen, for everything."
Garcia smiled and chased Henry out.
JJ's smile faded as the door closed and she redirected her attention back to Will.
"So, what do I need to be prepared for when I go see Emily?"
Will flashed a face of confusion, "go see Emily? What?"
JJ felt the anger boiling inside, "I'm not a child. I have a right to know what is going on! What are you not telling me?"
"Nothing, I just don't think you should be moving around yet. Your fever broke but it does not mean the infection is gone."
"Why are you stalling Will?"
"JJ," Will paused and looked out the window but no one was there, "Emily's dead."
A wave of panic overtook her. She squeezed her eyes shut reeling from his words as they echoed in her mind. Her chest became heavy and she began to choke on the sobs caught in her throat.
Will voice was distant, "JayJe, it's okay."
She shook her head in disbelief but couldn't speak.
"JayJe," he repeated. "JayJe, wake up."
When she finally opened her eyes her surroundings were dark, and she didn't trust what she saw. He brain couldn't seem to register what was real and what she had just witnessed. Will stood over her, his eyes overflowing with concern.
He touched her arm gently. "You're safe, it was just a dream."
JJ's eyes shot around the room trying to take in where she was. She tried to sit up, but the pain in her body wouldn't let her.
"Emily." She choked out.
Will stroked her hair trying to calm her down. "It's okay."
JJ shook her head in frustration. "Tell me where Emily is."
"She's in the ICU."
"She's alive?"
"Yes."
"I need to see her!"
Will shook his head. "You need to rest."
"No, I need to see her right now!" She wanted to leap from the bed a barrel down the halls until she found the room that Emily was in. Her mind and body refused to communicate and she found herself a prisoner to the bed. She turned her pleading eyes to Will. Words of assurance that Emily was alive was not enough for her, she needed to see her with her own eyes.
The tears no longer held back she reached out and squeezed the man's hand. "Please, Will, I need to see her."
He stared at her unsure what the right thing to do was but nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
JJ allowed her head to fall back into the pillow, but the tension wouldn't release. She knew it wouldn't until she was reunited with Emily.
Derek ran a hand over his head in a mixture of emotions the most prevalent was uncertainty. All of it was coupled with exhaustion. They had been there for days, but the little change in any direction.
He slowly walked down the now empty hallway. He headed towards the lone man pacing in irritation while talking on his phone. As Morgan approached him he could see his eyes narrow and he responded to the person on the other side in cold one-word answers. Morgan let out a sigh knowing it was not a good conversation. As he was almost in earshot Hotch finished the call and turned his attention to Derek.
"You really need to go get some rest."
"I know," was all he managed to say.
He motioned to the phone. "Who was that?"
Hotch's jaw clenched, "Strauss."
"What does she want?"
Hotch crossed his arms. "A lot of things. How's Emily?"
Derek knew that Hotch was redirecting but answered his question anyway. "The same, I guess. There is talk about taking her off the ventilator to see if she can breath on her own."
Aaron closed his eyes shaking his head but didn't say a word.
Morgan kept talking, "Hotch, what did Strauss want?"
Hotch didn't answer right away, "They are going to start an investigation."
"IA?"
Hotch nodded. "They want to know what went wrong and if proper procedure was followed."
Morgan began to feel his blood begin to boil again. "Are you kidding me? No one did anything wrong. The ones who did are dead."
Hotch let out a sigh nodding his head again. "Brass is breathing down her neck wanting to know why Sergeant Morris and two FBI agents were overpowered."
"You mean two female agents. They are worried about how the Bureau looks."
Hotch didn't answer, his scowl said it all.
Morgan's fists clenched. "This is ridiculous! It's a joke, right?""
"No," was all he could respond, "they'll give us a few more days but want us back in DC to start the reports and interviews."
"You can't be serious! I'm not leaving until I know that JayJe and Emily are going to be okay."
"You can stay, Morgan, and I understand, but for their sake your analysis of the situation is just as important. We really don't know how much longer either of them will be here, and I can only stall for so long. Will is going to stay and keep us updated."
"I don't like it Hotch!" Morgan turned away to look back down the hall.
Reid was talking to Will and the conversation looked intense. Will was talking passionately and kept gesturing back to JJ's room. Curious Derek walked down to the two men.
"Everything okay?" He asked looking between the two of them.
Will turned away and Spencer answered for him, "JayJe had a nightmare and thinks Emily's dead. Until she sees her she's not going to be convinced otherwise."
Derek squinted. "So what's the debate here? We take her up there."
Will stood in a defensive manner and protested. "She's too weak to be moving. She's still sick, just because today she's coherent doesn't mean she won't make things worse by pushing her body."
"I don't disagree with you Will and I understand your concern for her, but she needs to see Emily. They've been through a traumatic event one we can't even begin to comprehend. They are going to need each other to get through it and for JayJe right now she needs to know Emily's okay."
"Is she?"
"What?"
"Is Emily okay?" He challenged. "Are you going to allow her to go up and see that Emily's barely hanging on? How is that helpful?"
"Is that really our call?" Derek countered.
Will wanted to hold his ground, but only conceded because he knew Derek had a point. "Okay, but I'm not happy with it. She only goes if the doctor says it's okay."
Spencer walked away from the two as they spoke to address the nurse. "How do we get Agent Jareau to the fourth floor?"
"I'm sorry?" The woman asked in confusion.
"She wants to go see a friend who is on the fourth floor. What do we need to do to make it happen?"
The nurse still looked confused. "We'd have to get an okay from the doctor, but it's late and I'm not going to wake him if it's not an emergency."
Reid leaned back slightly. "Are you not a patient advocate?"
"Yes I am but-"
"She needs to see her friend for her own mental state and in turn it will speed up her recovery rate."
The nurse hesitated for a moment then disappeared into a conference with the other nurses, but came back with the final say being the doctors.
They could only push so far, but knew that both women's health was a delicate balance at the moment.