Part Ten
Penelope got up in the middle of the night with the usual nausea, coping as best she could. She'd finally taken to eating candied ginger before she went to bed and then a few more pieces when she got up with the inevitable barfing somewhere between three and four in the morning. Thus, she could function without Derek's intervention.
She grabbed her handful of ginger bits and settled back into bed, turning on the TV. She was tired of the same reruns being on all the time when she had time to watch TV. She was also tired of watching the news because it was hardly ever good - it didn't make her feel very happy about bringing a baby into the world.
She was just about to click off of CNN when she saw footage of an explosion in Midland, Texas - where the team was. Her heart flew into her throat when she saw the FBI vests scattered around the scene, and she felt the nausea rising up again fast and furious when she saw several people leaving by ambulance with severe wounds. She grabbed her phone and rang Hotch, but there was no answer. Next was Rossi - same result.
Now, she was panicking; her heart was beating out of control, her stomach was roiling, turning over and over again like she was going to be sick. And finally, she got someone on the line. "Jay-ge, oh my god, what happened?" she sobbed. "I saw the news - they've got video of it everywhere - what happened?"
"Unsub had a bomb on him and it went off." JJ said as calmly as she could.
"Derek?"
"He's gone to the hospital in an ambulance."
"Is he...is he okay?"
"We won't know until he gets assessed."
"Jay-ge, I'm pregnant - I can't lose him."
"They will do their best."
Penelope sobbed on the other end.
"Penelope, listen to me," JJ said firmly. "You stay put - you and Derek's mom are both on the emergency contact list, so you're going to get a call any time now, and so will she. And they will tell you if you need to get here as soon as possible or if he's going to be okay. All right?"
"No, it's not all right," Penelope wailed. "I can't lose him - he promised..."
"What did he promise?" JJ asked, her voice softening.
"Not to leave me," Penelope sobbed brokenly. "He promised never to leave me - "
"Just calm down, you don't need to stress yourself out."
"Calm down - CALM DOWN - how am I supposed to calm down?"
"Just breathe, you get stressed out it can hurt both you and the baby."
There came a knock on her door and Penelope got up to see Fran, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Fran -"
"I just got off the phone with someone from a hospital in Texas and -"
"Oh god," Penelope exhaled. "I'm on with JJ now -"
"Derek was injured," Fran said. "We need to get down there."
Penelope hesitated. "Is it that bad?"
"No, sweetie," Fran murmured, "but he's demanding to see both of us as soon as we can get there. His wounds are supposedly superficial, except for a piece of shrapnel that's lodged in his spine - but he wants us there before they do surgery."
"I'll get a flight booked," Penelope mumbled.
"Call the Director," JJ said. "There's an FBI jet especially for scenarios like these."
"There is?" she asked.
"Yes! Now call and get here quickly."
After getting off the phone with the director, they only had thirty minutes to get to the tarmac. Penelope grabbed her go bag and Fran her suitcase and off they went.
Penelope spent a large chunk of the flight pacing in the cabin - against all of Fran's motherly logic that she should be sitting down and relaxing. "I'm scared," Penelope admitted, finally. "Well and truly terrified."
"If he's asking for us before surgery, he's being damn stubborn," Fran commented. "So I think we should just relax and be calm when we get there."
"I'm pregnant," Penelope finally told her. "I can't do this alone - he promised he would never leave me."
"He's not going to leave," Fran said gently. "Derek would never leave his commitments, even after all these years he still helps the kids in the old neighborhood."
"I am not doubting his promises, I am doubting his survival. I can't lose him - I can't."
"Penelope - "
"Yes?"
"Did you just tell me you are pregnant?"
She nodded.
"Come and sit," Fran said in a tone that booked no argument. When Penelope did just that, Fran put her arm around her shoulders. "He called for us because he's worried about how you're going to take him being in the hospital - I don't think he's worried about himself or his condition because he's scared of you being upset."
"He's stupid for getting himself into these situations," Pen whispered.
"Oh, I'm not saying that he's not stupid," Fran commented. "I'm just saying that he's probably going to be just fine."
"When he comes out of surgery, I am going to beat him senseless."
"I am sure he will figure he deserves it," she laughed. "I'm happy, Penelope, you know that, right?"
She nodded.
"It's about time Derek settled down."
"It's my fault we weren't settled sooner," Penelope admitted quietly. She leaned into Fran's comforting embrace and poured her heart and soul out - only stopping because the plane landed and they were ushered into a waiting FBI-issued SUV.
JJ met them at the hospital and said, "Hotch and Rossi are okay - minor injuries. But Derek was up close and personal with the bomb; he was trying to get away when it went off. It's been three hours since we called you guys and he's still refusing surgery till he talks to you."
"Stubborn ass," Penelope muttered, walking up to the counter. "We're here for SSA Derek Morgan - this is Frances Morgan, his mother, and I'm Penelope Garcia, his emergency contact."
She couldn't bring herself to say fiancee if she was going to lose him.
"He has been asking for you." The nurse said. "Miss Garcia, he wants you first."
She nodded and followed the nurse into his room.
He was lying flat on his stomach, a wicked-looking piece of metal sticking out of his back. His eyes were closed and she could tell he was struggling with the pain by the way his muscles were ticking. "Hey, handsome," she murmured, taking a less than confident step toward him.
His eyes snapped open and he stared at her. "Baby -"
"Shh, it's okay - your momma and I are here now," she soothed.
"I needed to see you."
"You need to come home safe." she retorted, "you promised me."
"I just needed to see you before I went into surgery - in case."
"Derek - DO NOT GO THERE."
"Penelope - "
"Don't Penelope me, have the surgery and get your ass home safe and sound."
"Baby, you take care of our peanut - no matter what happens," he said firmly.
"I will always take care of Jr.," she murmured. "You just get in there and get that thing out of your back, you hear me?"
"I hear you," he acknowledged tiredly. "Loud and clear. Where is Momma?"
"In the hall, I'll send her in and then you are going into surgery, right?"
"Yes." he huffed.
Penelope walked out and Fran walked in.
"Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant?"
"Momma, this is not the time."
"Are you sure about that?" Fran asked. "She's scared to death that something is going to go wrong and she's going to lose you - and you've just about handed that to her on a platter, Derek."
"Momma, shut up and listen to me," Derek grunted. "They aren't sure that there isn't going to be some spinal cord damage when they pull the thing out. I... I don't want you to tell Penelope how bad it really is, okay? I needed to see her and know that she's still hanging in there before I let them do it - "
"Derek, I don't think it is right that you are keeping things from her."
"I can't upset her any more than she already is."
"As soon as you are out of surgery, you need to discuss this with her."
He nodded, "Now go comfort my fiancee, please, mom."
XXXX
She knew it was incredibly bad for the baby, but that didn't keep Penelope from nervously drinking an entire pot of coffee by herself as they waited for news. JJ gave her a frustrated look every time she got up for another cup, but didn't actually say a word. Reid and Emily flittered between Hotch's room, Rossi's room, and the waiting room, and Reid finally said, "You do know that drinking caffeinated beverages is bad when you're pregnant, right?"
Penelope hesitated for a second, then said, "I'm not -"
"Derek told me in the ambulance," Reid said.
"Oh."
"And Reid told me," Emily said. "But we all kind of already knew."
"Fucking profilers," she mumbled
"We are here for you, he is going to be fine, Derek is a fighter, he is not going to let you down."
"It's nice to see you again, Mrs. Morgan," Reid commented. "I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances -"
"So, how about that party with the rum cupcakes, then?" Emily said pointedly, looking at Penelope. "We can celebrate Derek being okay."
Penelope laughed. "You know that was a lie, right? There are no cupcakes -"
"Oh, you'd better come up with some cupcakes," JJ said. "Or I will be pretty pissed."
"I'll make them rum flavored." Penelope laughed.
"After this case we could all lose a distraction." Emily admitted. "So PG, when is Jr Morgan due?"
"Not sure yet." she admitted.
"The doctor can usually tell," JJ said.
"Ah, well... there's the rub," Penelope said. "We're about 9 weeks along, give or take a week or so - did you know that sperm can stay viable in the reproductive tract for up to 10 days?"
"Yes," Reid said, cringing a little.
"Okay, so... what's the problem in determining a due date?" JJ asked.
"They can't tell if it's spot on 9 weeks or 8 weeks or 10 weeks," Fran said. "It's too early to make that determination - so her ballpark due date would be somewhere in January."
"A winter baby, it is better than being a humongous house in the middle of summer; that is no fun."
"I can only imagine how not fun this is going to be," Penelope sighed.
"Once you get that baby in your arms you will forget everything before it." JJ added.
Penelope nodded and closed her eyes, trying not to think about Derek in surgery - but she couldn't help it. The nausea rose up in waves and it was all she could do to find the nearest trash can before she threw up.
"Hey, hey," Emily said, coming over and rubbing her back - seeing as how she was the closest to that corner of the room. "You okay?"
"No," Penelope heaved out. "I'm not okay."
"Can I get you something?" Reid asked.
"Crackers and lemon lime soda soda, please," she begged, retching into the garbage can.
Time passed and the doctor came out to talk to them.
"Derek Morgan?" he said, flipping through the chart.
"Yes," Penelope said, stepping forward with her box of crackers and bottle of soda in hand before anyone could stop her. "How is he?"
"The easy answer to that is that we removed the shrapnel from his spinal column," the doctor said. "It was lodged in the cartilage, so there was no spinal cord damage that we can tell - however, it did do serious damage to said cartilage and there is a possibility that one or more of his discs will need surgery in the future. For right now, however, he should be up and around in a couple of days."
You could hear the breath that Penelope let out. "When can I see him?"
"He is in recovery, will be about an hour or so and only one at a time."
"You should go first," Penelope said to Fran. "You're his mom."
"You're his girlfriend," Fran said gently. "He's more worried about you than he is about himself, Penelope. He's worried about you and the baby - so you need to be in there."
"Maybe, while we're waiting, you should go see Hotch and Rossi," JJ suggested.
End Part Ten