A Song of Their Own
Chapter 14
Emily ran interference for Morgan as he carried Reid out of the basement. They commandeered an SUV, Emily driving and Morgan holding Reid against him in the back. "Hang on, Pretty Boy." Please, God, let him hang on.
Emily punched Garcia's number. "Don't ask any questions. Get us to the nearest hospital!"
Garcia could hear the desperation in her voice and responded at lightning speed. Emily gave silent thanks that university hospitals were so often located in needy neighborhoods when she learned that the nearest was a mere five blocks away. Lights and siren blaring, they were there in under two minutes.
"Is this the agent?" They'd been met at the ED entrance by a number of men and women in scrubs. Apparently one of the team had called ahead.
Perversely, Morgan had difficulty handing Reid over to the medical team. In the few minutes he'd held his colleague, he'd felt like he was acting as a lifeline for this man he loved as a brother. He couldn't bring himself to interrupt it. Without fully understanding what Morgan was feeling, Emily could see the struggle.
"Morgan! Morgan! " She'd at least gained his eyes. "Derek, you need to let him go. Let them take him." She watched as Morgan slowly released Reid into the care of the trauma team.
They both heard one of the team shout, "Red line him to the OR!"
At the house, the EMTs had arrived and taken over CPR from Rossi. They were bundling Will for a quick removal to the same university hospital that was now tending to Reid. Hotch had his hands on JJ's shoulders. He could feel her whole body shaking. She hadn't said a word since she'd touched Will.
Hotch knew his team was traumatized by the scene in the basement. They wouldn't be able to contribute to the investigation of whatever had transpired in this damp, dark, foul place. He moved away from JJ as Watrous entered, and officially handed the scene investigation over to the DHS chief.
Watrous was sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Agent Hotchner. From all accounts, they were good men."
"They are good men," corrected Hotch.
Watrous was apologetic. He understood the need to hold on to hope. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to presume otherwise."
Hotch held barely contained anger. "We're going to need to look at how this happened. We know they were tipped off by someone at the agency. We need to find out why that arm of the takedown happened out of sequence." Acknowledging the gravity of the situation, he added, "It may indeed ultimately have cost more than one life." His eyes went to Viera, whose death had been confirmed by the EMTs.
Watrous nodded gravely. "Agreed. Minutes, sometimes seconds, count in operations like this. We can't afford mistakes. I'll be looking into it, I can assure you."
Hotch caught Rossi's eye. The other senior agent had his arm around JJ and led her over, very clear concern on his face. Even years of experience couldn't prepare someone for what they'd all just witnessed.
"We'll go to the hospital now. Where is the child?" Hotch hadn't seen her moved.
"There was a female NOPD officer who seemed to be able to get through to her, at least enough to get her into a car. They're bringing her downtown to meet the social worker." Rossi was answering. JJ still hadn't said a word.
The two men escorted their colleague to an SUV. Rossi had to attach her seat belt for her, as she made no move to do so.
During the short ride to the hospital, JJ's brain began to function. It had been, as far as she could tell, literally blank in the minutes before. Her first conscious thought was just that. My mind is blank. I can't even think. That started the flood of images, and fears, and silent, pleading prayers that would be the only things her mind would hold for days.
She was alert enough to extricate herself from the seat belt and walk into the ED with Hotch and Rossi. Seeing their IDs, a triage nurse directed them to a waiting room in the surgical suite. At this hour, the only occupants were Morgan and Prentiss.
Emily stood and ran to JJ, embracing her. "I'm so sorry, honey. I'm so sorry this happened." JJ returned the embrace without feeling, almost an automaton. Emily escorted her friend to sit down. JJ did so, finding herself next to Morgan.
"They took Reid right into the operating room, they said they'll give us an update as soon as they can." He offered all he dared to her.
JJ had been taking deep, slow breaths in an effort to calm herself. The process cleared her mind enough to ask of Morgan, "What aren't you telling me?"
The profiler swallowed, looking away and then back at her. "They think he's bleeding into his chest. They think the bullet hit an artery."
Both Hotch and Rossi closed their eyes and uttered silent prayers at that. JJ said nothing. She simply looked Morgan up and down, noticing the red splotches on his shirt and trousers. Slowly, she reached out and touched an area on his sleeve. It was still wet.
JJ looked at her finger, now coated in Spence's blood. For reasons she might never understand, she blotted the finger against the white sleeve of her own blouse, feeling closer, and somehow comforted.
Emily watched her, and then abruptly rose and left the room. Hotch followed her out.
She was crying. Emily never cried, not in public, anyway. She turned when she heard the footsteps behind her. "It's not fair! It's not fair, Hotch. They're just starting out, they've been through so much, especially Reid. It's not fair!" She resisted his first attempt, but he persisted. He reached out to her and pulled her slowly to him, to cry against his shoulder. He would never be able to let down as she had. In a strange way, he drew strength from her tears.
Anyone passing by might have simply felt sympathy for the couple with a loved one in surgery. But Rossi, watching the scene through the waiting room window, knew it as the rare coming together of two very isolated souls. He prayed thanks that they were able to comfort one another.
He turned to his colleagues. "Morgan, what about Will? What have you heard?"
Morgan was shaking his head. "Nothing. They ran by here with him about ten minutes after they took Reid."
A thought penetrated to JJ. "Phil. We need to call Phil. Will's brother. He's here in New Orleans."
Rossi got on it. Garcia would be able to track him down and get word out. He punched in her number.
"Rossi! Rossi, tell me what happened. I've been monitoring the emergency lines. Is Reid hurt?"
He realized they'd left this very vital team member out of the loop. Softly, slowly, he explained the situation.
In contrast to the other women on the team, Garcia's emotions were never far below the surface. He could hear her soft sobs over the phone. Haltingly, she instructed him, "You give JJ my love. Give her a hug from me."
Rossi was about to tell her to come to the hospital when she started speaking again, this time with a note of firm resolve in her voice.
"I'm getting into those computers. I'm going to find those sons-of-bitches and make sure they get put away for good. Bad enough they were hurting all those children…..but now they're hurting my family! You keep me posted, Rossi…but I have work to do!"
Eventually, someone from Admitting came up to get information on both men. There had still been no word on the condition of either of them. By now, the waiting room was becoming a sea of blue. NOPD was coming out in force to show support for their fallen colleague.
Shortly, a young woman in scrubs came into the waiting room. "Is there a family member here for Agent Reid? For Detective LaMontagne?
Hotch cleared a path for JJ to step forward, even as they both realized she wasn't technically family to either of them. Hotch identified himself, and explained. The woman, a surgical intern, was satisfied.
"You'll both do. We need some information on them. Let's start with Detective LaMontagne. Any medical conditions that you know of? Family history of bleeding, heart or lung disease?"
JJ was able to answer all of the questions, having gone over all of it for Henry's family history. "He was completely healthy as far as I know."
"How about Agent Reid? Any heart problems? Lung disease? Medication allergies? I should have asked that for the detective as well, " she admitted.
JJ turned to Hotch, a question in her eyes. How much do we tell? It's life and death!
Hotch took over. "Agent Reid has had a serious lung infection in the past. We were told there was residual damage, but it was minimal, and it didn't appear to affect him on a daily basis."
The intern was marking her chart. "Do you know what the infection was?"
The two agents shared a look. JJ responded. "We're not sure. But it was years ago, and he's seemed fine since." She knew they would call Dr. Kimora immediately after this conversation, to be sure it wasn't necessary for the surgeons to know the specific nature of the anthrax infection.
"Okay, I'll tell Dr. Vargas. He's the surgeon with the pulmonary artery bleed." She didn't realize she'd just given them new information, and was already moving to go back to the OR.
"Wait!" JJ halted her. "What does that mean, a pulmonary artery bleed? Is it dangerous?"
The intern looked at her as though she should have known. "It's the main artery to the lungs. When you puncture that, you fill your chest with blood. And you can't get oxygen. Yes, it's dangerous."
JJ's hand had gone to her own chest, and she swayed a little bit. Hotch caught her and sat her in the nearest chair. He turned back to the intern.
"What about Detective LaMontagne?".
"Penetrating trauma to the heart." She was reciting the diagnosis in surgical jargon. "Yes, he's with Dr. Tajira. He's one of our best. If he can be saved, Dr. Tajira will do it."
Neither of them had to ask if a heart wound was dangerous. As the intern turned again to leave, JJ called after her.
"Wait! About Dr. Reid." The intern looked confused. "Agent Reid. He can't have narcotics. Please don't give him any narcotics."
The intern looked at her as though she were mad. "Ma'am, he's already had those. He'll be on narcotics for weeks."
Hospitals always knew when to capitalize on a situation. Several NOPD officers had offered blood in support of their fallen colleague, and the hospital organized an impromptu blood drive on the spot. It was true that both Reid and Will were going through the hospital's blood supply rather quickly, but it was also true that none of the blood donated this night would reach them. But it would replenish their stores for another crisis. The room began to thin out its population as more and more officers left for the lab.
Eventually, Philip LaMontagne entered the waiting room. With him was a woman JJ didn't recognize. He looked around the room and found the familiar face. He rushed to her.
"JJ!" he said, as he embraced her. She couldn't help but notice how much he looked like Will, albeit younger by two years.
"JJ, how is he?"
"They haven't told us anything yet. Only that his heart was wounded." Her voice was breaking at the last few words. She watched as Phil went pale, and then remembered the woman with him. She was equally pale.
"JJ, this is Charlene. Charlene, JJ. " He turned his eyes to JJ. "Will and Charlene were…are…seeing each other." Turning to Charlene, he explained JJ's role in Will's life. The two women shook hands, then realized the foolishness of it and embraced one another. JJ looked downward.
"You're…."
"Pregnant. Yes. Seven months." Charlene's voice was laden with tears.
JJ took a moment before she responded. "He hadn't told me."
Charlene nodded. "I know. We only found out when he came back from D.C. Right after he went under cover. I can't help but wonder if he would have turned it down if we'd known before." And she dissolved into tears. Phil led her to a seat.
JJ followed her. Her own tears were missing in action. She almost envied Charlene her ability to simply feel what she was feeling. She reached out a hand to touch the woman's arm.
"Will's a great dad, you'll see." Hoping she'd have a chance. "Do you know what you're having?"
"A boy," Charlene sobbed. "Will didn't know. It was too early when he went undercover. What if he never gets to see his son?!"
Rossi was watching the scene from across the room. From the look on JJ's face, he thought she needed rescuing, even if she hadn't realized it yet. He came over and lifted her from her seat, escorting her to the quiet of the hallway.
Rossi had always felt paternal towards JJ. "Cara, how are you holding up?"
She didn't make eye contact, which concerned him. "I'm all right. I'll be better when we know something."
"Have you called your folks yet?"
It hadn't even occurred to her. She'd only thought of Henry, and how she didn't want him to know.
"No. I need to wait until we get some information. What would I tell them?"
That the men you've loved are both in mortal danger? That you're scared to death? That you need them? Rossi thought these things without saying them. JJ was obviously not thinking clearly yet.
The first hint of dawn was brightening the sky. No one in the room had slept. Most of them were too exhausted to pace. The NOPD presence had dwindled to the few who were on duty but not actively engaged. Many had gone to assist in wrapping up the investigation.
Finally, there was a flurry of activity at the door leading from the OR. What must have been eight or ten bodies surrounded a gurney that was being rushed out of the automatic doors and into another set labeled as leading to the 'Surgical ICU'. All of them stood, anticipating. And, eventually, resumed their seats.
It was another hour before a man entered the waiting area. "Family of Detective LaMontagne?"