Chapter 10. And thank you very much for the reviews, I really do appreciate them. Also the follows and the favourites. School is CRAZY and now I have an art show coming up in 10 days which is crazy and exciting and busy and especially exciting. I will endeavour to get chapter 11 up by the end of the weekend. Thanks everyone ( :
10
The sight of Prentiss' bloodied body lying face down on the road unmoving.
Garcia was the first to react. She propelled herself down the stairs and ran as fast as she could towards Prentiss' body. Moments later Morgan, Hotch, Reid and Rossi followed suit. Garcia halted just short bewildered by the state of her body. The men stopped just behind her and were shocked at the sight before them.
Morgan bent down and felt her wrist, using his fingers to check for a pulse.
He couldn't feel anything.
She was very cold.
He moved his hands to her neck and then breathed a sigh of relief.
"She's alive. Call an ambulance. QUICK."
Hotch pulled out his phone as Garcia, Reid and Rossi all bent down to surround Emily. All looked her over. All were sickened by what they saw.
"What do we do? Do we move her? She can't just stay lying on the road." Garcia asked frantically.
"Hey baby girl. Calm down. We can't move her in case there is damage we can't see."
"Oh my. Look at her back. Look at it. It's ripped apart. Those sick freaks did this to her. She's bleeding, quick we have to stop it."
Rossi pulled off his jacket and placed it on her back holding it firmly in place. He had seen the muscle and knew that when she was awake she must have been in pain. Everyone saw the hickies, but chose to say nothing. They all knew what had happened to JJ. It was likely much worse for her. But they couldn't think about that right now. They needed to keep her alive until the ambulance got there.
Morgan saw her arm contorted on an angle that looked as though it would be painful. He went to move it but let out a gasp, when he saw three of her fingers a mixture of purple and blue, incredibly swollen.
"Son of a Bitch. Look at her hand."
All did, and all felt a slight need to gag at the sight before them. What had Emily been through? Would she even make it back to them after all this? Before any more questions could be asked lights and sirens were seen and heard as an ambulance pulled up beside them. The workers got out and asked the team politely to move back. They did as asked and just watched as the medics did their job.
The man removed Rossi's jacket to see the dangling flesh and immediately covered it and taped sterile strips of gauze to it. Looking her over, he saw nothing else. He told his partner to roll on three.
Once lying on her back the team and the medics saw the rest of her injuries. The bruising on her face matched that on her hand and was a distinct contrast to that of her pale skin. The cut on her cheek had dried up. The swelling around her mouth looked painful also. Everyone saw that her blouse was undone revealing her blood covered bra underneath.
The skin that covered her ribs also had a purple tinge to them as they moved shallowly up and down.
Prentiss' breathing became shallower making it apparent that she was to be intubated. After the tube was in placed, a manual respirator was attached and one medic squeezed it, getting the vital oxygen around her body.
Her pants were also undone, as the unsub had only had enough time to pull them back up without fastening them.
Upon cutting the slacks open bruises were seen spread across her legs, however no real damage was there. As the medic in charge was about to give the all clear for her to be moved to a stretcher, he noticed her hand. Immediately splinting each of the three damaged fingers, as well as her entire arm in case there was worse damage.
Flawlessly she was moved onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. The team was going stir crazy. What were they to do?
Garcia used actions rather than words and simply followed her friend into the ambulance. As the rig drove away, Hotch turned to his remaining team.
"We will go to the hospital until we hear the news. However, Morgan, you need to go and get JJ. She will be relieved but freaked out and now more than ever we need her. And remember her go bag, I don't think she'll appreciate having to wear hospital scrubs."
"Yes Sir."
All sombrely moved towards the vehicles and followed their injured friend on a journey toward the hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital the agents made their way into a desolate waiting room. The only person they saw was Garcia sitting on a seat crying into her hands.
Morgan walked over and pulled her into a hug.
"It's okay baby girl." He whispered in her ear.
"No, it's not. I, I, she stopped breathing in the ambulance. They made me come here. But, but they were doing CPR. She, what, Derek, what if she doesn't make it."
His hand grazed her cheek until it reached her chin and lifted it so he could look into her eyes.
"She is going to be fine. We all are."
The team sat down together as a group for a few minutes as they all prayed for their friend.
Not much later, Derek stood much to the surprise of his team. "I have to go get JJ."
Many of them had been so caught in their own little world, they forgot anyone else was even there. All nodded as Derek made his leave, to head up to the fourth floor, and break the bad news to an already distraught JJ.
As Derek meandered through the car park, on his way to the entrance that he could use to go straight to JJ's floor he couldn't stop thinking about how she would react. Emily, JJ and Penelope were close. Closer than close. They were sisters. JJ already felt guilty about not having stopped Emily being taken even though it wasn't her fault. How would she feel once she heard about Emily's condition? He knew he was going to have to watch her. But only because he cared, not because he didn't trust her.
The news that an FBI agent had been dumped in bad condition outside of the police station had made its way through town very quickly. Reporters had started to flock to the police station ready for the first statement to be made. Meanwhile, the town was in shock, and had started to talk about theories as to why the killers would let her go.
The second Unsub had heard the news and was enraged. He had explicitly told him not to dump the agent. That she would be absolutely perfect for his first time. But no, the pathetic little pain in the ass had decided that he couldn't have her because her eyes were the wrong colour.
'I knew that he was crazy. But how did I not see this coming. Of course if her eyes were the wrong colour he wouldn't do it. But why the hell wouldn't he wait for me and let me deal with it? That idiot dumped her, when I could have enjoyed her. Hell, I could have had my choice if I knew that this was going to happen. I swear, when I get my hands on him I am going to ring his neck. The idiot. I knew he would break eventually but I didn't think it would be this soon. I swear, he better not have been seen. Maybe it's coming close to the time that I need to get rid of him too. But not before pinning the blame on him. I just hope he doesn't do anything else rash before this afternoon.'
His mind was so wrapped up he didn't even realise he was on the right floor until he got to her room. He saw the local cops and flashed his badge so that he could get access to the room. He stepped in to find JJ sitting propped up in the bed reading the newspaper.
"Hey girl. How you feeling today?"
She jumped slightly as the sound of his voice scared her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"It's fine and I'm fine. I just want to get out and leave this damn place."
"Yeah, about that…"
"What? What happened?"
"We won't be leaving, we'll go back to the waiting room."
"Waiting room? What? Did you find Em?" she asked anxiously.
"Not exactly."
"Morgan, don't beat around the bush. I can handle it."
"I'm not saying you can't. She was pretty banged up. She stopped breathing in the ambulance when Pen was with her. We haven't heard anything but we are taking that as a good sign. We are all worried, but when you're ready, we'll go so that we can all be together to wait."
"I, Morgan. Is she, do you think she'll make it?"
"Of course she will." He smiled as walked over beside her bed. He placed the go-bag next to her "I figured you'd like to wear your own clothes."
"Yeah, thanks Morgan."
JJ grabbed her go-bag and went to stand up. The doctors had made it very clear that although she was being discharged, she had had two severe hits to the head. This meant that she would feel the ill effects of the concussion for quite some time before returning back to normal. In addition to that, there was the tearing which was not a pleasant feeling when moved. However, she knew she had to be strong for the team and especially for Emily. Who knew what the repercussions of her time with the unsubs would be.
JJ walked slowly over to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door behind her.
Derek noticed her awkward movements, mentally noting to make sure she took it easy. She seemed to be in pain, but wouldn't admit it even if she were so that she could be there for Emily.
JJ exited the bathroom wearing a casual but baggy top and loose pants. Even though it was not cold outside, the top had long sleeves that covered her wrists. Conveniently covering the rope burns. She placed her go-bag on the bed before sitting on it.
"I'll go get the doctor and let her know you're ready to go."
"Thanks."
Derek left and minutes later he arrived with the doctor and a nurse.
"Agent Jareau, Agent Morgan has told us that you're ready to go."
"Yes ma'am."
The nurse made herself busy removing the part of the IV that was still attached to JJ's hand.
"Agent Jareau, I am allowing you to leave, but you must be careful. Thus far you have been incredibly lucky. Many more knocks to your head and something much more serious could happen."
"I understand."
The doctor looked briefly at Derek who stood behind JJ, on the opposite side of the bed.
"And remember, that there will be discomfort for a few days, so make sure that you take it easy. If something starts to feel wrong make sure you come back. Also, keep your wrists as dry and clean as possible in order to help them heal as best as possible."
JJ was thankful the doctor hadn't blatantly said why there would be discomfort. She knew the whole team knew, but she still liked to keep as much as she could private.
The doctor left the room followed by the nurse leaving JJ with Morgan and her discharge papers. Morgan made a grab for her go-bag just as she was about to get it.
"I got this." He told her as he smiled charmingly.
"The shining armour thing right?" JJ quipped as she smiled back. The first smile Morgan had seen in what felt like forever.
He opened the door for her and followed her out. He allowed her to set the pace and then started walking beside her. He felt her pace become faster, and with a sideways glance saw that she was struggling slightly. He touched her arm "Woah, no rush. Take your time."
Inwardly she was relieved, but told him "I'll be fine."
They got onto the elevator, and as they got off Morgan noticed she was walking slightly slower.
They dropped by an SUV so that they could drop off her bag before heading over to meet up with the rest of the team and see if there was any news about Emily.
As they walked through the doors they saw that everyone was still sitting. The team looked up and saw JJ and Morgan. The three profilers looked up and noted straight away the long sleeved top and the pants.
Penelope however ran up to JJ and engulfed her in a massive hug. Derek sat down to have his fellow profilers raise their eyebrows at him asking the silent question. He tilted his sideways giving a half grin raising one eye brow. This told the profilers that she was going to be okay. And at this moment, that was all that they could hope for.
It was nearly twelve and the team was still sat waiting. All were growing impatient and restless. It was then that Hotch spoke. "We need to eat."
All were about to protest, but none did, because they knew this was true. Reid and Rossi offered to go and get decent food and coffee for them all. JJ said she would go too, but Morgan gave an inconspicuous shake of the head which Hotch silently acknowledged. "It's okay Jayje. The guys have got it."
The duo headed off.
At quarter to one they returned with coffee and food for all.
They ate, drank, ate and drank some more.
Just as they were finishing a doctor came out "Prentiss?"
All leaped up and Hotch walked over "That's us. We're her co-workers, I am her boss SSA Aaron Hotchner."
"Nice to meet you. I'll get straight into it. It is a good thing that Agent Prentiss was gotten to the hospital as soon as she was. She had numerous injuries, and has been in surgery. She has now been moved to recovery and should be moved to an available room soon. Firstly, she is lucky to be alive. Her heart stopped ad we had to perform CPR. We shocked her and she returned to us. She had to have multiple stitches as well as skins grafts on her back due to the nature of the damage. Her muscle was exposed because her skin was so damaged. There was only a limited amount that we were able to salvage. She has an array of bruises across her body. The worst of which are on her upper body – her back, ribs, arms and face. All ribs are bruised and multiple are cracked. These will be painful for the next few weeks as there is nothing that we can do to support these in any way. She has severe rope burns on her wrists which needed to be debrided as there were rope fibres that had begun to fuse to her skin. Her face needed a couple of stitches. But the worst was her hand. It appears as though something heavy was forced down upon each of them. One finger is badly bruised, the second has a hairline fracture and the third was badly broken in three places. The nail split and was pushed backwards. One of the bones pierced the skin as our surgeon was attempting to fix the damage. She is going to be on medication to keep the pain under control when she wakes up. Also, she will require physical therapy. It was noted that you wanted a SAE. One was performed, and there is bruising on her legs that could be consistent with an assault but there is no evidence of an act such as this otherwise. You will have to wait until she wakes up."
The entire team looked stunned but relieved as they stood there hearing about their friend.
"Can we go and see her?"
A nurse came out and informed them that she had been moved up to level 3, room 311.
"Yes, you can. However, multiple people can only be in there for short periods of time. She needs rest, not over stimulation. And she will be intubated."
The team thanked the doctor and made their way upstairs. When they walked into her room they all looked stunned.
She looked so ill, and small lying in the hospital bed. At that moment Hotch's phone rang and he stepped out. Everybody else moved closer. All now hoped that she woke up and could help them get the people who did this to her and JJ.
Hotch walked back into the room "we have to go. Smith just called. It's a media circus out there. They caught wind that an FBI Agent was dumped and want a statement. We'll need return to the station and continue working on this. JJ and Morgan however, you stay here. Wait until she wakes. We need to know what happened."
"Yes Sir."
Begrudgingly, all parted with their fallen friend and headed towards the SUV and the media circus that awaited.
End of chap 10 ( :