Save Me

Chapter 11: Route 66

A week after Emily had asked Aaron for a break, she had not yet returned to work; in fact, she had asked for an additional week off. Since she never took any time, or even vacation days, Strauss accepted her request almost immediately. Emily realized she needed more time to think about the situation since she wasn't sure she wanted to be back with Aaron any more…she did love him more than she had ever loved any man, but she was hurting deeply, and she didn't think Haley's schemes would ever stop, and because of that, she was not sure she could live with that any longer.

Aaron has hurting deeply, too, he knew inside Emily was going to break up with him, it was just a matter of time. The fact that she had taken an additional week off was giving him all the answers he needed to know that he was about to lose the brunette, and it pained him greatly. He hadn't been sleeping lately and his migraines had been intensifying, as well as the pain in his chest. He wasn't sure if it was the pain of Emily being gone because every now and then he got a sharp pain in his chest after Foyet stabbed him, but it didn't compare to what he was feeling now.

The team was about to go into another case where a sixteen-year-old girl had been abducted from her house about eight hours ago, and they were running out of time; the team needed to head to Wichita, Kansas. They had reason to believe she had been abducted by her father who was an ex-convict. The team was briefing in the conference room knowing they needed to rush to the jet and save the girl, but there were details they really needed to discuss.

"He has been in and out of jail since he was a kid, but he hasn't been in jail in three years so why take her yesterday?" Rossi said, looking at the pictures.

"Revenge on the mother maybe?" JJ suggested.

"She has been missing for eight hours already, and we know how sensitive these cases are…um…" Hotch started, but he stopped, grabbing his chest as he felt a sharp pain hit his chest, and he was unable to breath.

"Every hour is..." He tried, but was unable to continue, as he collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

"Aaron..." Dave cried, terrified.

"Hotch! The rest of the team tried to call to him, but Hotch was completely unconscious.

"Garcia, call 911 for an ambulance!" Dave shouted, feeling for Aaron's pulse.

"Yes sir, right away." She responded with tears in her eyes.

In a matter of minutes, the room filled with chaos and panic; the ambulance arrived just a few minutes later to pick their boss up, who still had not responded.

"Okay, go ahead and take the jet to Wichita…I'll meet you guys down there." Dave ordered.

"But Rossi..."

"Morgan, there is a sixteen-year-old girl missing. Aaron is being rushed to the hospital, now go!" Dave ordered. JJ, Reid and Morgan all hesitated, but did as Dave asked.

Dave and Garcia followed the ambulance to the hospital, and when they arrived there the paramedics explained that the Unit Chief was bleeding internally and he needed emergency surgery or he wasn't going to make it. Apparently, all the stab wounds Foyet had inflicted, had damaged him after all, and he was bleeding from all the scar tissue that had torn apart internally from the stab wounds. Dave called the team and informed them what was going on with Aaron, so they could relax a little, but Dave knew he also needed to fly to Wichita and meet the team. They couldn't really solve the case with only three team members working on it.

"Garcia, I'm going to go meet the team in a few hours. They need me, and I'll also need you to go back to Quantico and work from there." Dave ordered.

"But what about Hotch?" Garcia said, horrified…almost crying.

"He would want us to focus on the case, and I'm calling Emily." Dave stated. Garcia just looked at him without knowing what to say; by now, everyone knew about Hotch and Emily, thanks to Haley.

"She would want to know, trust me, go back to Quantico. I'll stay until Emily gets here, then I'll go meet the team." Dave told Garcia, who nodded, and after Dave assured her for the 100th time Hotch would be okay, she finally left.

Emily was in Dave's cabin making a cup of coffee and reading a book; she was really enjoying her time off. She missed Aaron like crazy, but she knew that things would never change with Haley, and she wasn't sure if her heart could take anymore heartbreaks. She was working on her stirring her when her cellphone rang, and it was Dave. At first, she wasn't sure she should answer, but since she was staying at his cabin, and she also knew he was just wanting to check on her, she clicked on the answer bottom.

"Hey, Dave." She said, sipping on her coffee.

"Hey Em, how you feeling?" Dave started nervously,

"A lot better, thanks, is everything ok?" Emily could tell immediately something was wrong by his tone.

"Listen Em, something has happened." Emily immediately felt the knot in her stomach start to build.

"What do you mean?"

"It's Aaron…he…um…collapsed during briefing today…and the doctors said he is bleeding internally…they are not sure; he is in surgery right now."

"Oh my God, wh…whe…where…are you?" Emily asked, shaking with tears already threatening in her voice.

"George Washington Memorial. Listen, Em, we have a case, and I have to go meet the team; they're already on the way...a sixteen-year-old girl is missing..."

"Okay, I'll be down as soon as I can." Emily hung up the phone as tears rolled down her face. For a minute, she couldn't even think straight.

She ran to get her purse and keys and rushed to her car, driving as fast as she could to the hospital. The only thing on her mind the entire drive there was seeing him. She felt so guilty about pushing him away, about taking this stupid break. The worse scenarios started running through her head, what if something happened to him, and she never got to tell him how much she did love him, she should have talked to him sooner, she shouldn't have taken another stupid week off. What if this had all been her fault...she drove there with tears rolling down her face the entire time. She just prayed that she still had a chance to see him again, to speak to him again, because if something did happen to him she would never forgive herself.

She finally arrived at the hospital and parked in a hurry, rushing down to the emergency entrance, and as soon as she saw Dave in the waiting area she ran in that direction.

"Hey, I'm so sorry it took me a while to get here." Emily said, as tears formed in her eyes again. Dave smiled pulling her into his arms as she sobbed.

"What happened?" She asked after a while, when she pulled away wiping her eyes.

"They think it's the stab wounds, he's bleeding internally from all the scar tissue, it doesn't look good." Dave said, watching as more tears rolled down her face.

"I want to see him, please, can I see him?" She begged, crying.

"Not now, Bella." Dave shook his head.

"But I need to see him, he needs to know Dave." Emily sobbed, and Dave pulled her in for a hug again.

"You need to calm down, please, everything will be fine…he is so strong."

"If something happens, I will never forgive myself, ever."

"Emily, this is not your fault, whatever was going on with you two has nothing to do with his...okay...now please, please, I'm begging you to calm down, so I can leave with the team, they really need me."

"Okay, go, I'll be okay." Emily said, wiping her eyes again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, go. I'll call you as soon as I know something." Emily said, smiling sadly. Dave nodded and pulled her down for another hug and kissed her cheek, then he disappeared behind the doors.

Emily sat there in the hospital chairs as tears started to roll down her face again, she just prayed to God Aaron made it okay out of surgery, because she didn't think she would be able to survive if something happened to him.