Emily had been taken back to her room, where Chase had hurriedly set to removing the Rifampicin from the IV stand, while Taub began to ready the LP. Foreman and Thirteen had gone back to the lab to run a few more tests on her blood, and House had disappeared.

Emily looked exhausted; the dark circles under her eyes stood out against her almost-white skin, although her cheeks were flushed to a rosy pink from the fever. Hotch had again taken up residence at her side.

"We're going to have to do a lumbar puncture," explained Taub, his eyes focused on the kit that was spread out on a smaller table. "We'll take a sample of your spinal fluid to try and determine what kind of infection you have so we can treat it."

"What did you see on the MRI?" Emily narrowed her eyes. Although she was tired, her fatigue didn't override her profiling abilities. She knew they were attempting to delay telling her something. And whatever this something was, it was not good.

Chase and Taub glanced at each other warily, before the Australian doctor said finally, "You have an abscess in your brain, probably caused by the infection."

"Is that why I had a seizure?" Her hand felt around until she found Hotch's larger one. She needed the comfort.

"Yes. And you're going to have more neurological problems until we find out the cause of the abscess."

"Oh." She was, for the first time in a long while, speechless. "What happens if the abscess isn't treated quickly?"

"Well, as Dr. Chase said," Taub answered, picking up where Chase was not willing to, "your neurological problems could worsen. More abscesses are likely to grow if we don't get this treated. It depends on where they develop, but it could eventually lead to-" He swallowed nervously. "-death."

Emily hung her head back, leaning against the pillow. This was not anything she wanted to hear right now. "Great," she murmured sarcastically, that part of her not totally absent. She felt Hotch rub his thumb against her hand.

"It'll be alright, Emily."

Taub took a seat on the opposite side of the bed from him, the rolling table at his side.

"I'm going to need you to roll onto your side so your back is facing me."

Hotch made a movement to stand. "Should I leave?"

"If you'd like-"

"-No, Hotch. Please stay." She looked up at him with pleading eyes. This wasn't going to be something she particularly wanted him to see, but she needed his support. He settled back down in his seat with a nod. He understood.

Chase came to stand next to Hotch. "You're going to have to draw your knees up towards your chest." Emily did as she was told, feeling much too vulnerable for her liking.

"You're going to feel a slight prick as I inject the anesthetic." That pain wasn't bad; not any worse than anything she had already gone through during her stay here. But an anesthetic just meant worse pain was coming. Perhaps she should have let the nurses up her morphine, just so her senses would have been dulled a bit for this. "Now a slight pressure as I insert the needle-" Taub was cut off by the sound of the sliding door slamming shut, and then House was at his side.

"What are you trying to do, paralyze her?" The beeps from the monitor began to speed up as Emily grew anxious. She didn't know it was House behind her; she had only seen him that one time, and it had only been for a quick moment. "Gimme that." Taub moved out of the way, making room as House took his seat.

"House, what are you doing?" he asked indignantly, crossing her arms. Chase looked on with a faint expression of amusement. At least he was in the same room as the patient.

"What does it look like?" He positioned the needle, and slowly slid it through her flesh. Emily's hand grabbed for Hotch's forearm, her nails digging into his skin, as pain shot through her back. The anesthetic was barely helping. Her eyes were squeezed shut, but she could feel Hotch's hand on her upper back, rubbing small circles in an attempt to calm her down. She grit her teeth, willing herself not to yell out. She wasn't about to show any more fragility than she already had.

"Almost finished," soothed Chase softly, trying to help comfort her as well. Hotch appreciated the effort, although he was not at all happy about the fact that House had barged his way in here, and in the process caused Emily anxiety.

And then the procedure was over at last, and a bandage was placed over the portion of her back where the needle had been inserted before Emily was positioned so she was on her back once again.

House laced his fingers together, peering at her with curiosity. Hotch didn't like how his eyes roamed hungrily over her body. Was that jealousy he was feeling?

"So, what's up with Hotch and Emily?" JJ was tired of the silence. The despondence that hung over the waiting room like a storm cloud was overwhelming, and she had to brighten it up somehow, even if it were just with a conversation.

"What do you mean?" asked Reid, who was now standing, leaned against the wall. It had become too uncomfortable for him to fold his lanky body into one of the plastic chairs. Morgan chuckled from his seat.

"Come on, kid, you had to have noticed something different between them."

"No, I haven't.." The genius looked lost.

"Look at them now!" exclaimed Garcia, the numerous bracelets she wore on her wrist rattling as she gestured towards the glass walls of the hospital room. The blinds had been drawn, but whoever had closed them hadn't done the best job. They could still see small sections of the room through them. Emily's back was turned to them, and they could see her hand on Hotch's forearm in a death grip, and Hotch's free hand on her upper back. "Look at where his hands are. That's not just a boss comforting a hurting colleague, my dear. That's not even friends. If you didn't know them, and you looked at them now, what would you think?"

"That they're together," he said determinedly.

"Exactly."

"Then why aren't they?"

"Now that's that good question, Reid," interjected Rossi from the corner of the room, where he had, up 'til now, been sitting, quietly sipping at his coffee. He was smirking. "I think everyone has realized that they have feelings for each other except the two that are the most important."

"I haven't," stated Reid sadly.

"You're out of the loop, kid," Morgan commented with a smug grin. "You know, after this is all over, we need to make sure they realize their feelings."

"Oh, I know that look," Garcia muttered, cocking a brow. "You're plotting something. I want in." They weren't able to finish their now-clandestine conversation to plan the joining of Hotch and Emily, because a woman in a white doctor's coat appeared, walking towards them, her curly brown hair bouncing atop her head.

"Hello," she greeted them, with a bright smile. "I'm Dr. Lisa Cuddy, the Dean of Medicine here at Princeton-Plainsborough. You all are here for Agent Prentiss, correct?"

"That's right," JJ replied, naturally taking the lead. She was always the one who dealt with each person involved with the team; this was no different. She quickly introduced the rest of the team that was present before Cuddy took a seat and continued,

"I'm here to speak to you about your colleague's condition."

"Finally," huffed Morgan, crossing his arms. "But I'm confused. Why isn't Dr. House telling us this? From what I've heard, he hasn't been in to see Emily since she's been here."

"Actually," Cuddy corrected, "he's in there right now. And, I know, I apologize for Dr. House's..rude behavior. But, I already spoke to Agent Hotchner about this. What I'm here to talk to you right now is what we're doing to help her." It wasn't normal for her to do this sort of thing; this was the patient's doctor's job. But, she wanted to make sure Princeton-Plainsborough made a good impression for the FBI, which right now it had apparently not. "The seizure your colleague had was caused by a brain abscess. We don't know if she will have anymore, but what we do know is that it was caused by an infection."

"So, this infection is causing all of these different symptoms?" questioned JJ, puzzled. "The lung issues, and the brain?"

"Yes. At first, Dr. House thought it was pneumonia, or Tuberculosis, but that was proved wrong. A biopsy was done to determine whether or not she had lymphoma-"

"-Cancer?" squeaked Reid, the color draining from his face.

Cuddy nodded. "We haven't got the results back from that, yet. But the lumbar puncture will help us diagnose whatever is wrong with her."

"So, basically, you have no idea what's wrong," Rossi said bluntly.

"Not exactly," stammered Cuddy, looking flustered. "We know she has an infection, and-"

"Statistically, there are thousands of infectious diseases," Reid interrupted.

"I know this doesn't sound too good," she said, her voice taking on a tone of compassion and understanding. "But Agent Prentiss's doctors are working very hard." Cuddy stood, brushing invisible specks of dust from the front of her clothing. "If you need anything, please ask anyone around. I'm in my office if you'd like to speak directly to me."

As she walked away, Rossi murmured, wrinkling his nose in disgust, "Well, that was a big help."

Author's Note: So sorry for the long time it took to get this chapter out. I've been loaded with work. But, look forward to the next chapter. It will have a LOT of Emily. Thank you so much to all of you who are reading and reviewing. Please don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.