Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Every 40 Seconds-Chapter 10

The next day and a half passed in a blur for Hotch, as he barely left his daughter's side. He marked time by the comings and goings of various medical personnel. More often than not, there was a member of the team in the room with him, frequently more than one member. Garcia had left the hospital only once and that was to get a bag for herself and one for him and Jane.

He didn't think it was possible for his daughter to sleep for as long as she did, or as deeply as she did. Jane had inherited his light levels of sleep and any noise in the house usually woke her up, but here there were people parading in and out of her room all day and she didn't stir. Hotch knew that it was the high level of pain medicine in her system that was keeping her in a deep sleep, but it was still disconcerting. She slept while they checked her vital signs, when they started a second IV and when they debrided her branding. They kicked him out of the room during for that, but when he came back in; he saw that Jane was still asleep, although she had tears rolling down her cheeks. That's when he realized how painful the debriding had to be and he wondered with some unease, how Jane would handle it once she was awake.

The rest of the team tried to get him to go back to the hotel to sleep that night, but they were met with the famous Hotchner glare. Dave and Penelope had offered to stay with Jane in case she woke up, but Hotch refused to leave her room, he wanted to be the first person she saw when she woke up. The team had been good about bringing him meals, but he found that he wasn't hungry, especially for the horrible hospital food. All he wanted was for his daughter to wake up so he could talk to her and apologize to her for getting her into this mess. He knew she was beginning to heal on the outside and he was anxious for her to start healing on the inside as well.

At noon on the second day, Spencer, Derek, Emily and Penelope were in Jane's room with Hotch and they were all eating sandwiches from a nearby restaurant when Dr. Adams and two nurses came into Jane's room.

"Hello everyone, I am going to have to ask all of you to step out of the room, it's time for us to work on Jane's burn." Dr. Adams announced.

Derek and Spencer left the room, while Penelope gathered up her things. Hotch didn't move from his chair.

"Come on Hotch," Garcia said, "Let me buy you a really bad cup of coffee."

"No thanks Garcia, I'm staying here." Hotch told her.

"Agent Hotchner-" Dr. Adams began.

"Dr. Adams," Hotch interrupted, "I need to see what was done to her, I need to! She is here largely because of me and my job. She would never let me see her wounds if she was conscious, but I have to see them, in part because she's my little girl and I want to know what happened to her and in part because I'm going to be taking care of her once she's home and I have to know the extent of her injuries."

Dr. Adams thought for a minute and then relented, "Are you sure you want to be here for this, Agent Hotchner? Because I'm not going to just be debriding her branding today, I'll also be examining her back and arm as well. Those injuries are not going to be pretty to look at."

"I understand," he told her, "I'll be OK."

"All right. Ms. Garcia, I am assuming you will be helping to care for Jane once she is released from the hospital?" Dr. Adams asked her.

"I will be, and please, call me either just Garcia or Penelope," she told the doctor with a slight smile.

"Penelope, I know you saw Jane's wounds briefly in the ER, but if you will be caring for her you should see them again as well. Would you like to stay?"

"Yes, I guess…" She said, almost in a whisper.

"All right then, let's get started." Dr. Adams gave Jane a small booster shot of pain medication in her IV before beginning; she didn't want her to start waking up in the middle of the procedure.

Once the additional pain medicine was administered, one of the nurses raised Jane's gown up and over her right hip and stomach and exposed the branding. Once it came into view, Hotch sucked in his breath, it looked horrible! Garcia was standing next to him on the left side of the bed and when the branding came into view, she clutched his hand as silent tears started down her face. They both watched as Dr. Adams and one of the nurses started scrubbing the burn. It was then that Hotch noticed the tears rolling down Jane's cheeks.

Once she was finished cleaning the burn, Dr. Adams turned to Hotch and Garcia, "I know it looks bad, but the branding is actually looking better than it did yesterday. Once Jane is awake, we will numb the branding area before debriding it. She will have some pain, but there really isn't much we can do about that."

Dr. Adams bandaged the branding and then had the nurses turn Jane over so she could examine her back. Once Jane was on her stomach, the nurses untied her gown and Hotch got his first look at his daughter's back. Once again he sucked in his breath and had to blink back tears, her back was a mess of welts and cuts. She had actual stripes on her from where Sampson had beat her with the dowel and he could tell where the metal of the belt buckle had hit her. She had bruises and welts from her upper back all the way down to her lower thighs. The nurses cleaned the wounds while Dr. Adams examined a rather large cut on Jane's back where the belt buckle had caught her skin and then dragged down for three inches.

"I debated stitching this cut up while Jane was in the ER and I had hoped it would heal on its own, but I am going to have to stitch it up so that it heals more quickly." Dr. Adams told Hotch and Garcia. She asked one of the nurses for a suture kit. While she sutured the cut, she talked to Garcia and Hotch, who were still standing next to Jane's bed, clutching each other's hands for support.

"I know this looks bad right now, but Jane is actually healing fairly well. In only a day, the IV antibiotics have managed to clear up some of the infection in her branding and while she still has a fever, that is going down as well. Her vital signs are much better and we've balanced out her electrolytes. Her latest blood work also shows that her kidney functions are improving, which is great because that means that we are doing a good job at rehydrating her."

Garcia and Hotch were able to give small smiles at the fact that Jane was slowly getting better. Dr. Adams finished stitching up the cut on Jane's back and had the nurses re-tie her gown and turned her over onto her back. Once she was on her back, Dr. Adams undid the bandage over the bullet wound on Jane's arm and examined it.

"Even the bullet wound looks better, the infection has lessened. I know it looks horrible to you right now because of the redness and sutures, but it really does look better than yesterday." She told them.

"Will she have any permanent muscle or nerve damage from the bullet wound?" Hotch asked.

"No, it was a deep graze, but only a graze. Other than a scar, Jane should have no lasting effects from it." Dr. Adams told him, re-bandaging the wound. "Because Jane is healing so nicely, I would like to begin waking Jane up from her medicinal sleep. I will still give her enough pain medicine to keep her comfortable, but she will be conscious. She needs to begin eating again and she needs to begin her psychological recovery. The longer she stays asleep like this, the more disoriented she will be when she wakes up."

"Do what you think is best, Dr. Adams. I just want to be sure that Jane won't be in agonizing pain when she wakes up." Hotch said.

"She will have some discomfort from time to time, but I will make sure that any pain she has is manageable." Dr. Adams told him. "Do either of you have any other questions or concerns?"

"There is one thing," Hotch said, "I don't plan on being away from Jane for very long while she's here, but if I am not here I would like it noted in Jane's chart that Penelope Garcia and David Rossi are authorized to make medical decisions for Jane on my behalf."

Garcia turned and just stared at Hotch. "Are you sure about this, Hotch?" She asked him.

"Penelope, there is no one that I trust more with Jane's well being than you, you should know that by now." He told her.

"I will make sure it is noted in her chart." Dr. Adams said.

**********

All there was for Jane was sleep. Dead, black , sleep. She was grateful for it as it took over her body in the ER the day she was brought in.

Once the pain medicine began being tapered off though, the nightmares started. She dreamed she was back in that horrible basement, her kidnapper coming at her with his pants unzipped and this time not stopping just because she was a kid. She dreamt that he raped her, that he shot her, that her father arrived and she watched as the kidnapper killed him. She would wake up screaming and gentle hands would grip hers and she would hear voices tell her that everything was all right and she would fall back asleep.

The worst nightmare occurred late the second night. She dreamt that the kidnapper had that come back into her room with that horrible branding iron again and he was going to brand every inch of her body. She sat up in bed, her arms flailing wildly as she screamed and cried.

Hotch had been lightly dozing in the chair next to her, having ordered the rest f the team, including Garcia, back to the hotel to get some sleep, when he heard the loud scream come from Jane. He watched as she sat up and tried to fight off an invisible intruder, crying the whole time. The look of terror on her face was heartbreaking. Hotch jumped up and encircled his arms around her, holding her arms against her body as he tried to wake her up. She wouldn't come out of her nightmare and as he rang for a nurse, he tried the last weapon in his arsenal to try to get her to calm down; he began to sing to her.

Even in her nightmare, Jane was aware of her father's voice. She felt strong protective arms around her and she heard her father order her to wake up. She wanted to obey, but part of her wondered if it was a trick that her kidnapper was playing on her. She still struggled, not wanting to give in, not wanting to be hurt by him again when she suddenly heard singing. She quieted as she heard her father sing The Rainbow Connection softly to her. There was no way that the kidnapper would know that her parents used to sing this song to her when she was younger; this meant that she might actually be safe. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around and realized she was in a hospital room. Just as she was making that connection, a nurse came into her room.

"Is there something wrong? I heard your call button just as I saw a spike in Jane's heart rate." The nurse said.

"My daughter is awake but she had a nightmare and I'm afraid she might have pulled some of her stitches," Hotch said.

"I will check them for you." The nurse said as she began checking Jane's arm. Hotch moved back to his chair as the nurse checked the stitches on Jane's back. "Everything looks fine here, Agent Hotchner. I'll let Dr. Adams know that Jane is awake. I know it's late, but she is still here working on some paperwork." The nurse bustled out of the room to page Dr. Adams.

Jane turned to her father, "What time is it?" She asked in a raspy voice.

Hotch got up to pour her a glass of water from the pitcher next to her bed. "Twelve-thirty in the morning." He told her, handing her the water.

Jane's hand shook as she took it. "When…what day…how long have I been here?" She asked, taking a long drink.

"You've been here almost two days, sweetie. They wanted to keep you asleep to help with your pain and to help you heal."

Jane thought for a minute, she couldn't believe she had slept for almost two whole days. Then she was stricken with another thought.

"Where's the kidnapper? What happened to him? Did you catch him, can he get me again?!" She asked Hotch frantically.

Hotch, seeing the terrified look on Jane's face, engulfed her in a gentle hug. "Sampson, your kidnapper, is dead, sweetie. He can't hurt you anymore." Hotch felt the way Jane's body went rigid when he called her sweetie.

"Dead? Really?" Jane asked him, almost scared to believe that she might be safe.

"Really," he said, as Dr. Adams came into the room.

As Dr. Adams approached Jane's bed, Hotch moved back to his chair again. "Jane, it's good to see you awake. How are you feeling?" She asked.

Jane gave a feeble smile, "Not so great, I feel like crap but not just from the pain. Am I sick or something?"

"In a manner of speaking," Dr. Adams said, "some of your wounds are infected and that's causing you to run a fever. That's also why we have you hooked up to the heart monitor. How's your pain?"

"Um, not good…my side…my branding I guess, is really hurting and so is my nose, and it really hurts to take a deep breath." She didn't want to sound like she was whining, but she couldn't help but complain a little.

"How about the rest of you? How does the rest of your body feel?" Dr. Adams asked.

"Achy, just really achy." Jane said.

"OK, I'm going to give you another shot of pain medicine now-"

Jane interrupted her, "No, I don't want to sleep for another two days!"

"The medicine will be a lower dosage, just to get you through the night. We'll talk again tomorrow morning and re-evaluate your pain. If you are doing all right, we can lower your dose even further, or switch you to an oral pain medicine. OK?"

"OK." Jane relented.

"I'll have a nurse come in and give you the shot. I'll see you in the morning and we'll talk." Dr. Adams said as she left the room.

After Dr. Adams left, Jane looked over at Hotch sitting in the chair next to her bed. "How is it that I was beaten for four days and yet you still look worse than I do?" She asked him, smiling slightly.

He returned the smile, "I am so glad you're awake sweetie," he saw her face darken again at the term of endearment. "Is there anything I can get you?" He asked.

"No, I'm fine. Seriously dad, when was the last time you got some sleep?" She asked him.

"Don't worry about me Jane, I should be the one worrying about you." He said, unable to hold back a really big yawn.

Jane snorted when she saw him yawn, and then felt the pain of the snort in her broken nose and grimaced.

Hotch saw it and immediately asked, "What? What is it? Where are you feeling pain?" He was ready to hit the call button for the nurse when he felt her hand cover his.

"It's nothing dad, my nose just hurt when I snorted. What's wrong with it anyway?"

"It's broken." He told her.

That took Jane by surprise. "Jesus, really?" Hotch nodded.

"What else is wrong with me?" She asked, on the verge of tears.

"We'll sit down with Dr. Adams tomorrow and discuss your injuries sweetie," he saw her look away as he again used her nickname. "Right now you need to sleep."

"Pots and kettles dad, you should go home and get some sleep yourself." She told him.

"That is an excellent idea Jane," Derek piped up from the doorway.

"Morgan, what are you doing here?" Hotch asked him.

"I never left, Hotch." He replied, blowing on his cup of coffee.

"I thought I ordered everyone back to the hotel to sleep?" Hotch was slightly angry that his orders were ignored.

"You did," Derek said calmly, "but since you're on a leave of absence, you really don't have the authority to give me orders. Besides, I've gotten some sleep in the last six days." He gave Hotch a pointed look.

"Seriously dad, once they give me that shot, I'll be out until the morning. Go get some sleep," she could see he was about to argue with him, so she played the guilt card. "Knowing that you've gotten some rest will make me feel better dad. Don't you want me to feel better?"

Derek grinned and stood back to watch Jane play her father. He thought that Jane would make a great profiler some day.

Hotch thought for a minute, "I don't want to leave you alone Jane."

"Hey! What am I, chopped liver? I'll be here with her." Derek told him.

Hotch finally relented. "Ok, I'll go get a couple of hours of sleep, but call me if anything changes, Derek."

"Dad, I love you, but I don't want to see you here until eight o'clock at the earliest.-" Jane could see he wanted to argue with her and kept talking, "Seriously, I'm already in pain. Do you want me in pain and pissed off?"

"Not at all," he said as leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Sleep well sweetie. I love you."

"Love you too dad, now will you get out of here?" She said with a small smile.

Hotch left the room just as the nurse was walking in with the shot of pain medicine for Jane.

Jane, relieved to be getting some relief from her pain, talked to Derek for a minute before falling asleep.