A/N: On to the next chapter. Enjoy :)

-ThianaJay10

Chapter 21: I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight

Freshly showered and wearing scrubs and a clean hoodie, Aimee made her way back to the floor Aria was on.

"Amelia!" A familiar voice called out.

Aimee frowned then turned. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was. "Carrie?!" She made her way over to where the older woman was standing and was immediately pulled into a hug.

"Oh, look at you." She said with a smile. "You work here?" She asked.

"Er, yeah. I do." Aimee answered. "What are you doing here?" She asked confused, wondering if her parents had maybe told her what had happened to Aria.

"Oh, I'm looking for my son." She answered. "This is the ICU floor, right?"

"It is, yes." She confirmed. "Your son's in the ICU? What happened?"

"Oh, no. Honey, he's fine. Or at least that's what he told me." She told her.

Aimee frowned. "I don't follow."

"It's..." She looked over Aimee's shoulder. "Oh, there he is." She said, moving past Aimee. "Hi Sweetheart." She said, pulling him into a hug.

"Mom, what are you doing here? I thought your flight only got in later this afternoon." He told her.

"There was place on an earlier flight so I took it."

Aimee turned around. She recognised that voice.

Aaron.

Aaron was Carrie's son.

"Amelia? Are you okay, Hon?" Carrie asked concerned.

"He's your son?" She asked softly.

She nodded.

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Aaron asked.

"Amelia's aunt, Isabella, was my best friend. I've known Aimee since she was a teenager." She answered. "I took over the book store Isa owned after she passed on."

The aunt that died from cancer. The aunt who Aimee stayed with after her mother kicked her out. Aaron realised.

That meant that Carrie knew Aria. She had met her before he did.

"Aaron, I didn't know." Aimee told him when she saw his eyes widen in realisation. "I swear I had no idea."

"What's going on between you two? How do you know each other?" Carrie asked confused.

"You should go sit with Aria." Aaron told Aimee. "She was pretty upset earlier."

"Aria's here? Why?" Carrie asked. "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She said as she watched the two of them stare at each other, not answering any of her questions.

"Aimee, go. Please." He told her, wanting to talk to his mother alone.

She hesitated then nodded before she made her way to Aria's room.

"Aaron?" She questioned.

"Let's take a walk, Mom." He told her, placing his hand on her shoulder to lead her away from the floor.

They walked for a few minutes until they entered one of the hospital's garden areas. Aaron guided his mother to a nearby bench, motioning for her to sit down.

He remained standing. "You've met Aria, right?" He asked.

Carrie nodded. "I have. I've known her since she was a baby." She frowned. "Aaron, please tell me what's going on."

"Mom..." He paused then sighed. "Aria's my daughter. Mine and Aimee's."

"What?" She asked with widened eyes. "I don't understand. I wasn't even aware you two knew each other. Now you're telling me that you have a child together." She said then stood up.

"It's a long story, Mom." He told her.

"Well, I've got time." She told him, sitting down on the bench and patted the space next to her. "Sit." She instructed sternly.

He knew better than to argue with that.

"I have so many questions, my boy." She told him once he sat down. "But first, tell me how Aria's doing." She said as she patted his knee.

"She actually woke up a couple hours ago."

She smiled. "That's great news, Aaron."

He nodded. "She's not completely out of the woods yet and she's in quite a bit of pain but she's healing. She just fell asleep about half an hour ago."

She nodded. "I'm glad she's doing okay." She squeezed his hand. "Now. Start from the beginning. And don't leave anything out. I want to know everything."

Aimee sat at Aria's bedside, watching her daughter sleep. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Carrie was Aaron's mother. That meant that she was Aria's grandmother.

The two of them had gotten off to a rough start when they met for the first time but that was mostly Aimee's fault. She was so angry at her mother that she lashed out at anyone who tried to help her.

Carrie wasn't fazed by it at all. She didn't let Aimee's attitude stop her from helping. Once she got through the stubbornness, she realised that Aimee just needed some motherly love and support. She was there during her pregnancy and was one of the first people to hold Aria after she was born.

Aimee shook her head as they filled with past memories. All the times Carrie had spent with Aria, neither knowing that they were related. It made her wonder: Did Carrie hate her?

"I can't believe Aria's my granddaughter." Carrie told her son as they stood outside her hospital room. Aimee sat at Arias' bedside, holding her hand as she slept, oblivious to the fact that she was being watched.

"I can't believe I have a daughter." Aaron countered. "It's crazy, Mom. After Jack was born, I never thought I could love another person as much as I love him." She shook his head. "Then I found out about Aria and it felt like..." He paused, trying to find a word or phrase that fit.

"Your heart exploded?" Carrie filled in questioningly.

"Oddly enough, that's exactly how it felt." He agreed.

She hummed in understanding. "The love a parent has for their child is indescribable and immeasurably." She told him.

Aaron smiled. "You're being extremely calm about all this."

Carrie shrugged. "I have a granddaughter. You couldn't have given me better news, Aaron." She told him. "I just wish it were under better circumstances."

He nodded in agreement. "Do you want to go in and see her?" He asked.

She wanted to say yes but hesitated, glancing to where Aimee sat beside Aria.

"Aimee won't mind, Mom."

She inhaled then breathed out. "Okay." She agreed then made her way towards the door.

She knocked lightly before she entered. "Is it okay if I come in?" She asked as she stood in the doorway.

Aimee sat up straighter. "Of course." She said then stood up, offering her seat.

"Oh, no. You sit." She told Aimee then made her way over to the other side of the bed. She inhaled deeply when she laid her eyes on Aria. "Oh, sweetheart." She said softly as she tucked a strand of hair behind Aria's ear, he eyes lingering on the bruises she could see.

"How is she doing?" Carrie asked.

"She's stable and her vitals look good. She's on some pretty heavy pain meds so she'll be asleep for a while." She answered cautiously, trying to gage Carrie's mood.

"And her injuries?"

"Mild concussion. She has cuts and bruises all over but her abdomen took the brunt of the trauma." She shook her head. "She has one fractured and two bruised ribs. And she was stabbed." She said the last sentence softly then looked at Aria, placing her hand on Aria's stomach. "Right here."

"The knife punctured her liver and she needed a blood transfusion because she lost so much blood."

"Amelia..." Carrie placed her hand over Aimee's, squeezing it lightly. "Good Lord. Who would do something so awful?" She said as she shook her head then looked back at Aria.

Aimee couldn't stop the emotions she was feeling as the tears slowly made their way down her face. Her heart hurt so badly. She hated the fact that Aria was hurt and that Carrie was officially meeting her granddaughter like this.

"I'm so sorry." She gasped out in between tears.

Carrie moved around the bed to towards her, startled to see Aimee crying. "Amelia, no. Don't apologise." She said as she leaned down, wrapping her arms around Aimee. Her heart broke as she heard the girl she always thought of as a daughter, sob in her arms. She ran her hand up and down Aimee's back, hoping it would soothe her.

"I swear I didn't know." Aimee said as she pulled away, wiping her face. She tried to stop but the tears kept coming. "Erg, why can't I stop crying?" She huffed in irritation.

Carrie's lips tilted into a half smile. "That usually happens when you keep your emotions in too long." She said as she lifted Aimee's chin with her finger. "How long has it been? Five, six days?"

Aimee shrugged.

"And I believe you. I'm not mad. How can I be? It's not like I wasn't a part of her life. I mean I was there when she was born. I watched her grow up and after you left Seattle you kept me updated on her as much as you could."

Aimee sniffed. "You're really not upset?" She asked unsurely.

"I'm not upset." She confirmed. "Surprised, yes. But not upset."

Aimee let out a breath. "You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that."

Carrie smiled. "Aaron filled me in. Of course, I already knew about the part where your mother kicked you out..."

"Carrie..." She sighed. The older Hotchner was not Guiliana Marano's biggest fan.

"I only speak the truth, Amelia. That's exactly what she did." She dismissed. "She kicked you out when you needed her the most."

Aimee pressed her lips together, not wanting to argue. "She's gotten better though. She's not that same person anymore. She loves Aria so much."

"Of course, she does. It's kind of hard not to love her." She pointed out.

"Yeah." Aimee smiled as she glanced at her injured daughter. "She has that effect on people."

They sat in silence until Carrie spoke.

"You know, there was always something that felt so familiar about her." She said. "I just couldn't comprehend what it was."

Aimee nodded. "She was so fascinated by you when she was little."

"Oh, I remember." Carrie said with a smile. "She used to ask me so many questions like why my eye colour was different to hers and how did I know so many stories without reading them from a book."

"She did say you always told the best stories. Sound effects and all." Aimee pointed out.

"Yes, well." She chuckled. "She was easy to entertain."

"For you, yes. When I tried to read her a bedtime story after she spent the night with you, she told me: 'You're doing it wrong, Mama. You have to read it like Aunt Carrie does, with the different voices.'"

They both chuckled lightly.

"I'm sorry we never visited more. Aria would always ask when we were gonna go back to Seattle to see you but life just got so busy."

Carrie shrugged. "It's alright. I'm just glad you stayed in touch."

"Yeah, me too." Aimee said just as her phone vibrated with a message.

"Any news on Aria?" - Rachel

"Hey, Carrie? I have to make a quick phone call. Can you stay with her til I get back?" She asked.

Carrie nodded. "Of course." She easily agreed. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just need to update a friend of mine. Her son is Aria's best friend. Poor kid's been worried sick." She explained as she stood up. "I won't be long."

"Take your time." She waved dismissively.

"Thanks." She said as she squeezed Carrie's shoulder then left the room. She met up with Aaron right outside.

"Hey. Everything okay?" He asked cautiously.

"Yeah..." She drew out. "Why?"

"You and Mom were in there a while..." He trailed off.

"We just talked, Aaron. Caught up and stuff."

"That's it?" He frowned.

"Yeah. What did you think would happen? That she'd rip me to pieces or something?"

He looked at her without answering.

"Aaron!" She exclaimed hitting him on the shoulder.

"Hey, that hurt." He said rubbing his arm.

"Your mom's pretty great, you know that?" She told him.

He nodded. "I do."

"She was really there for me before Aria was born and even more so after." She told him. "I'm glad she's here and I think Aria will be too." She pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I need to call Rachel. Do me a favour? Get your mom some tea, please?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure." He told her.

"Thanks." She said flashing him a small smile then took off to find a quiet space to make her phone call.

Danny made his way to the auditorium, two coffees in hand. It was fairly early so the school was practically deserted.

Everyone who was involved in the showcase was meeting up before school started so they could sort out any last minute details in Aria's absence.

He entered the auditorium, waving slightly at the few people gathered near the front of the room. He spotted Izzy sitting alone in the back row and made his way over to her.

"Hey. You're here early."

"Yeah. My dad dropped me off on his way to work." She said with a yawn.

"Well, I come bearing coffee and some good news." He told her as he sat down then passed her one of the coffees.

"Erg, yes. We didn't have time to stop at Starbucks this morning." Izzy said as she gratefully accepted. "Thanks."

"Sure." He told her with a slight smile as he watched her inhale the coffee scent.

"Wait, you said you had good news." She said after her first sip.

"Yeah. My mom spoke to Aimee. Aria woke up this morning."

"What?!" Izzy exclaimed, almost dropping her cup. "Seriously?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah."

"Is she okay? Does this mean we can visit her?" Izzy asked.

"She's okay as she can be right now. They're keeping her in the ICU for now just to be safe so we'll probably only be able to visit once they move her to her own room."

"Well, that sucks." She complained. "That we can't see her, not that she woke up." Izzy clarified.

"Yeah. I figured." He said with a small grin.

They sat in silence, both sipping on their beverages.

"Do you think she's okay?" Izzy asked softly.

"Honestly? No." He admitted. "But she will be, eventually"

"I wonder if she knows that they haven't caught the guy yet."

Danny shook his head. "I doubt it."

"Well, if we can't visit yet, maybe we should send her flowers or something. From all of us." Izzy suggested.

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea. Maybe we can add a card with messages from everyone."

Izzy nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She shifted in her seat. "Looks like the gang's all here. We should tell them before we get started."

"Sounds like a plan." He said, repeating Izzy's previous notion.

With a bouquet of flowers and card in hand, Danny made his way down the hospital corridor towards the ICU. He looked around, hoping he would catch either Aimee or Dr Grey but no such luck. The ICU was quiet with just a few nurses working quietly.

After arranging with one of the nurses on duty, Danny left the flowers at the reception area. He bumped into a familiar face on his way to the elevator.

"I'm so sorry, Dr Bailey." He apologised.

"It's alright." She brushed off. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "I hope you weren't trying to sneak in to see your best friend." She said with a raised eyebrow.

He held his hands up. "I wasn't. I swear." He promised. "I heard she woke up this morning so I brought her some flowers. Left it at the nurse's station."

"I see. Well, that was really sweet of you, Danny. I'm sure she'll love it."

"Yeah." He smiled. "I should probably get going."

"Hold up." She announced, making him freeze in his tracks. He turned around slowly to face her.

"Did I do something wrong?" He answered, unsurely. She may be little, but she was fierce and though he would never tell it to her face, she scared him a little.

"Come with me." She nodded her head in the direction of the nurse's station then started walking.

"O-okay." He said then followed her as she walked towards the cubicles.

"Dr Bailey?" He asked, confused as he followed closely behind her.

"Put one of that on." She told him, pointing to the disposal gowns. "Then follow me."

He did as he was told. They stopped just outside of Aria's room. "Wait here for a sec."

"Dr Bailey..." Danny stopped her. "I need to know what I'm walking into here." He told her.

She paused. "Aria's stable. Her vitals are good. She doesn't remember much about what happened but she does know that the girl that was with her didn't make it. She's been kinda down and I think seeing you might help her. She might actually be moved out of the ICU by this time tomorrow."

He stayed silent as he took in the information he was given.

"But, if you don't wanna see her..."

"I do." He said eagerly.

"Good. Come on and stay behind me." She instructed.

He nodded then followed.

Dr Bailey quietly entered Aria's room.

"Aria?" She asked softly when she saw that Aria's face was turned away from the door as she looked out of the window. She was awake but looked exhausted.

Aria turned towards the door. " Hi, Dr Bailey." She greeted with a small smile before her eyes moved to the person behind her.

"Hey." He said softly.

Her eyes watered. "Hey." She whispered.

"You have about 15 minutes before the next shift change." Dr Bailey mentioned.

They both looked towards her and nodded.

"I'll be right outside." She said then made her way towards the door.

"Thank you." Danny told her softly.

She nodded then left, leaving the two best friends alone. The room was quiet except for the beeps of the machines.

"You look good." He told her with a slight smile.

"You're a bad liar." She said.

He shrugged, knowing she was right.

"What are you doing here?" Aria asked.

Danny moved closer towards her. "Well, I planned on just dropping off some flowers for you and leaving but I ran into Dr Bailey at the elevator and she brought me here."

Aria raised her eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." He answered.

"Wow. She must really like you."

"Guess so." He said with a small smile. "I left the flowers at the nurse's station since they aren't allowed in the room. I did manage to sneak this in though." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed it to Aria.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Open it." He told her.

She did as he said then pulled out the card. It had Get Well Soon written across the front and was covered with hearts and stars in purple and pink. She flipped the card open to look inside. Both sides were covered with handwritten messages in different coloured ink.

Aria smiled as she read over the various messages from her friends, letting her know that they were thinking about her and that she was missed. "This is great, Danny. Thank you."

He nodded, his eyes scanning her face, taking note of all the cuts and bruises he could see. His gaze landed on the bruising around Aria's neck. He clenched his jaw, trying really hard not to completely lose it as he thought about what his best friend had gone through.

"Danny..." She said trying to get his attention as she noticed the look on his face. "I'm okay."

He shook his head. "No, you're not." He said softly.

Aria bit the inside of her cheek as she felt the tears forming. "Danny..." She sighed. "If you start, I won't be able to stop." She told him when she noticed that he was on the verge of tears.

She couldn't do it. Not again. It didn't just hurt emotionally but physically as well.

"Okay."

She reached out her hand towards him. "Come here. Sit down." She told him then scooted over in her bed.

He hesitated. "I don't wanna hurt you."

"You won't." She said adamantly.

He sighed then sat down on the edge of the bed facing her.

"So..."

"So..."

"How've you been?" She asked casually.

"Pretty terrible actually. My best friend completely bailed on me and left me all on my own for almost a week." He said with feigned annoyance.

"Sounds like you were lost without her." She said, playing along.

"Completely." He confirmed.

She smiled slightly. "Tell me what's going on with the showcase."

"You really wanna talk about that now?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded. "It's been a crazy day. I really need some normalcy right now."

"Okay." He agreed. "Well, everything's pretty much on schedule. Just sorting out some last minute details." He said vaguely.

"That's good." She nodded. "What are you not telling me?"

Danny sighed. "We had a meeting this morning. To go over the programme and finalise a few things..." He paused.

"And?"

"The guys wanted to cancel everything. They said it didn't feel right to go ahead without you."

"But you said everything was on schedule." She said with a frown.

"It is. I managed to convince them to go on as planned. Well actually you did." He told her.

She frowned. "Me? How?"

He hesitated before he replied. "I showed them the video."

Her heart dropped. "What video?" She asked then realised what he was talking about. "No. Danny, no." She gasped out as she felt her heart rate accelerate.

Danny grabbed her uninjured hand. "Ari, please. You need to calm down. It's okay."

She shook her head. "You weren't supposed to see that. None of you were." She told him as she tried to calm down.

"I needed to see it." He told her as he looked her straight in the eye. "...because I was ready to give up, too." He admitted. "I didn't wanna do it without you either."

Aria squeezed his hand back as she tried to even out her breathing. "I was forced to say those things because I had a knife to my throat." She clenched her jaw. "While my mom and Aaron had a front row seat to everything." She told him."Where did you get it?" She asked.

"Don't get upset, okay?" He paused. "I got it from your dad."

"My dad? You mean Aaron?" She asked with a frown.

"Yes." He said cautiously.

"You met Aaron." She stated.

"I did." He confirmed. "He's a pretty solid guy, Ari."

She nodded. "I know."

"And I'm kinda offended that Izzy got to meet him before I did."

"Yeah, well that wasn't exactly planned." She told him.

"I know."

They sat in silence for a while.

"Delete it." She told him.

"The video?"

She nodded. "Please, just delete it."

"Okay." He said then took his phone out, tapping a few times before locking it. "There. It's gone." He assured her.

She nodded her thanks then tried to stifle a yawn with her hand.

"I should go." He told her when he realised how exhausted she looked.

"Stay." She whispered as she squeezed his hand. "Just a little bit longer."

"Okay." He agreed squeezing back. He watched as she struggled to keep her eyes open.

"Madison." She said softly.

Danny frowned. "What about her?"

"You should partner with her for your duo, since I can't dance with you at the showcase."

"Who said I was gonna dance?"

"You have to. You have your reason, remember?" She told him, referring to the video.

"Guilt trip, huh?"

She shrugged. "She's good, Danny. She just needs a little bit of encouragement. Plus, she's the only other person who knows the routine."

"Okay, fair enough." He admitted. "I'll talk to her."

"Thanks." She said with a small smile.

He nodded. "Get some rest, okay?" He told her when she yawned again."I'll stay until you fall asleep."

"Okay." She said as she tried to get more comfortable. She still had a firm grip on Danny's hand.

He sat with her for a few minutes as she slowly drifted to sleep. "Love you." She mumbled then finally dozed off.

He smiled then removed his hand as gently as he could before laying it on her stomach. He leaned over and placed a kiss to her forehead. "Love you too, Ari." He whispered then took the card from Aria and placed it on her bedside table so she'd be able to see it when she woke up.

Walking towards the door, he glanced back at his sleeping best friend one last time before he left the room.

"The clothes that I was wearing, where are they?" Aria asked as Aaron walked into the room a few hours later.

He frowned. "Why? They're completely ruined." He told her.

"Where are they? Can you get them for me, please?" She asked rapidly, ignoring his statement.

"Aria, slow down. What do you need?" He asked calmly.

"My jeans. I left something in one of the pockets."

"Okay. They're right here." He said, pointing to the bottom of the table in front of her bed. He bent down to retrieve the clear plastic bag then handed it to her.

Aria froze as soon as she saw the bloodied clothes that seemed to stand out even more in the clear bag. "Can you give me a minute, please?" She asked softly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, not really wanting to leave her alone.

She nodded, wordlessly.

"Okay." He agreed, rather reluctantly then stepped out of the room.

Aria ran her hands over the bag. She pulled it open, skimming through the dirty and torn clothing that was partially covered in dried blood until she found her dark denim jeans. She pulled it out then checked her front right pocket, and sighed in relief when she found what she was looking for. She also found a smaller separate bag that had her ring and bracelet that she was wearing in it. She placed the gold locket chain in the bag as well so she wouldn't lose it.

Glancing one more time at the bag in her lap, she shoved the ruined jeans back into the bag before she threw it on the ground next to her bed.

Aaron came back five minutes later. He noticed the bag lying on the floor but chose not to say anything. "Did you find what you were looking for?" He asked softly, trying to gauge her mood.

She nodded silently.

"Hey." He said trying to get her to look at him. "Talk to me." He pleaded. "Did you remember something?"

She nodded again.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" He asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

She shook her head. "Not right now." She said softly.

"Okay." He said as he touched her hand.

"When is Stephany's funeral?" She asked.

"This Saturday." He answered. "Why?"

"I wanna go." She said.

"Aria..." He sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?" She asked.

"Well, you had surgery less than four days ago and you're still in the ICU. Your injuries are going to take a few more weeks to heal. You need to rest."

"I'm fine!" She exclaimed then winced as the movement jarred her bruised ribs

"Are you really?" He asked her.

She stubbornly leaned her head back to rest against the bed, not answering his question.

"I know how hard all of this must be for you." He empathised. "I get that you feel like you need to do this, but you don't." He told her.

"I just..." She bit her lip as she shook her head slightly. "It feels like the right thing to do. I want to do this."

"It's not my call, Aria." He told her. He understood why she wanted to go. He really did. But it wasn't safe. Not with Jacob Myers still on the loose.

"Then who do I need to speak to? Dr Grey?" She asked him.

"I assume so. But you probably need to run it pass your mom as well."

Aria shook her head. "No, she'd shoot me down without even thinking it through." She told him. "Do you know where Dr Grey is now?"

He checked his watch. "It's 7 now so she's probably doing her rounds. I'm sure she'll stop by soon."

She nodded. "Where did you go earlier this morning?" She asked.

"Home." He replied. "My mom's in town so I went to get her settled at my apartment."

"Oh." She said softly. "Does she know? About me, I mean."

Aaron nodded. "She does." He confirmed. "That's partly why she's here."

"So, you told her everything?" She asked.

"I did. Although, I didn't expect her to come all the way out here." He explained. "I know I should have told her sooner but..."

"No, it's okay." She said, stopping him.

"She's really looking forward to seeing you." He told her. "When you're up for it, of course." He said, leaving out the fact that Carrie had already seen her earlier that morning.

Aria nodded. "Okay."

"Looks like you had a visitor while I was gone." He said, motioning to the card on her bedside table.

"Yeah..." She dragged out. "Danny stopped by earlier. The flowers at the nurses station's mine."

"Wait, he was here?"

"He was but if anyone besides Doctor Bailey asks about it, he wasn't." She told him.

"Right." He nodded in understanding. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked.

She remained quiet for a bit. "I'm glad I got to see him." She finally answered. "I just hate how all of this has affected him. I mean, it happened to me. I was the one that got hurt but he was hurting too."

Aaron nodded in understanding. "I know. I saw him after you were taken. He was really distraught."

"Is that why you showed him the video?" She asked softly.

"Aria..."

She shook her head slightly. "I'm not upset. I was just caught off guard when he mentioned it."

"I know that you probably didn't want anyone else to see it, but Danny..." He paused. "Danny was really helpful during the investigation."

Aria frowned. "He was?"

Aaron nodded. "He gave us a really solid lead. We had been trying to figure out the victimology and Danny pointed out something that ended up connecting those girls including you."

"I didn't..." She paused then swallowed. "He never said anything." She sighed. "Now I feel awful about how I reacted."

"I'm sure he understands." Aaron told her. "What?" He asked as he saw her frown.

"How much time did you spend with Danny exactly?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Why do you ask?"

"Well, apparently you made a very good impression on him."

"He said that?"

"He didn't have to."

Aaron smiled. "He's a good kid."

"I'm glad you approve..." She said with a small smile. "...because he's very important to me."

He nodded, seeing the sincerity in her eyes before her smile faded. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I was just thinking about Stephany's best friends and how awful they must feel right now."

"She mentioned them?" He asked.

Aria nodded. "Yeah. She had two. I think their names were Jamie and, uhm...Tahlia." She said with furrowed brows.

The name Tahlia stood out for Hotch but before he could ask her anything further, the glass door slid open and Dr Grey walked in.

"Hey. You're still awake. That's good. I was worried you might be asleep already." She said with a small smile. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she grabbed Aria's chart, jotting down a few notes as she checked her vitals.

Aria shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Exhausted mostly."

"Well, you've had quite a day so that's normal. I'll try to be quick so you can get some rest." Dr Grey said as she removed her stethoscope from around her neck.

"I'll just wait outside." Aaron said as he moved towards the door.

"It's okay. You can stay." Aria told him.

"You sure?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Can you maybe just not...watch?" She asked unsurely. She didn't want him to leave but she didn't want him watching her either.

He nodded. "Okay." He easily agreed as he diverted his gaze to the other side of the room.

This exam went a bit quicker than the first as Dr Grey did a basic check up.

"Alright. Everything looks fine. How's the pain right now?" She asked.

"Not as bad as it was before." Aria answered. "Just a dull ache right here along my ribs." She pointed out.

"Okay." Meredith said as she made a note of it. "I'm gonna keep you on the pain medication you're on right now. It's tricky when it comes to treating injured ribs so the dull ache might not go away until they're fully healed. If it gets any worse, just let me know and we'll re-evaluate." She explained. "I'll have a nurse give you your next dose in a few minutes."

She nodded. "Before you knock me out with those... There's something I wanted to ask you." She said then glanced at Aaron.

"Sure. Go ahead." Dr Grey encouraged.

Aria briefly hesitated before she spoke. "What are my chances of getting out of here within the next few days?"

"Out of the ICU?" She asked with a frown.

Aria nodded.

"Well, if your vitals remain as stable as they are right now and you don't develop any post-op infections, you could be moved out of here by tomorrow afternoon at the latest." She informed her.

"And how long would I need to stay in the hospital after that?"

"At least a week. Maybe two." She paused. "Why do you ask?"

Aria bit the inside of her cheek. "The other girl, Stephany, her funeral's this weekend and I wanna attend. Not for the whole day, maybe just for an hour or so." She paused. "Would I be allowed to go and then just come back here after?"

"Absolutely not." All three heads turned towards the door as Aimee stepped inside. "You are not ready to leave this hospital yet."

"Aimee..." Aaron started.

"Are you actually considering this?" She asked, cutting him off.

"Mom stop, okay." Aria said. "Aaron never agreed to anything. He doesn't think it's a good idea either so I asked Dr Grey if it would be possible…"

"I said no, Aria." Aimee said sternly.

"What do you mean, 'No'? You don't get to decide that for me. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"I'm still your mother…"

"Exactly! You're my mom. You're not my doctor." Aria argued. "All I want to do is pay my respects to Stephany and her family. I don't get what the issue is here."

Aimee turned towards Aaron. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

Aaron shook his head. "No."

Aria frowned. "Tell me what?" She asked as her gaze moved between her two parents.

"The man that did this…" Aimee paused then sighed. "He's still out there somewhere. The police haven't caught him yet."

Aria shook her head in disbelief. "Aaron?" She said questioningly as she looked towards him.

He moved closer towards Aria. "He got away, but we'll find him. My team's working on it. His face is plastered everywhere. He can't hide forever."

"Do you see now why I don't want you leaving the hospital? It's not safe right now, Tesoro."

"I..." She swallowed. "I don't care." She said surprisingly. "I'm going to Stephany's funeral even if I have to have a police escort." She said adamantly.

"Aria..." Aimee tried to reason.

"No! I'm not gonna let him take anything else from me."

Aimee shook her head. "Why are you being so adamant about this? I don't understand."

"That's the thing, Mom. You don't understand because you weren't there! You don't know what happened. You don't know what he did to me. To us." She shook her head, trying to keep the tears at bay. "You don't know, okay?!" She yelled out then winced as pain shoot through her ribs.

"Aria, what's wrong?" Dr Grey asked as she noticed the pained look on her face. Then her heart rate increased.

"Ribs hurt, can't breathe." Aria gasped out as she struggled to get air into her lungs.

"Meredith, what's going on?" Aimee asked worriedly as the machines started beeping loudly.

"Her O2 stats are dropping." She pressed the call button. "I need some help in here."

"I can help." Aimee said.

"No. I need you to leave. Now." Dr Grey told her. "Get her out of here." She told Hotch when Aimee didn't move. She watched as he nodded then pulled a reluctant Aimee away.

"Aria, I need you to calm down. Take slow, deep breaths." She instructed. "Hand me that oxygen mask, please." She told the nurse that had entered.

She placed the mask over Aria's nose and mouth, as she still struggled to regulate her breathing. "If you don't even out your breathing, I'm going to have to sedate you and I don't want to do that."

"Hurts." She gasped out.

"I know. But I need you to try so you don't injure your ribs any further, okay?"

Aria nodded, then closed her eyes as she tried to focus on slowing down her breathing. She squeezed Meredith's hand as the pain got worse but managed to slow down her breathing enough to take in the oxygen she was given.

"There we go. That's good. Aria. Slowly, in and out." Dr Grey coached as her gaze moved from Aria's face to the monitor next to her.

After a few minutes, Aria's heart rate had stabilised and she was breathing normally but was in quite a bit of pain. "I'm going to give you your next dose of pain medication, okay?" She said softly.

Aria gave a slight nod. She needed that medication. Her ribs felt like they were on fire.

"Alright." She said as she administered the dose. "It should kick in within the next few minutes."

Aria's hand went up to the mask over her face, then she pulled it away slightly. "Meredith..." She said softly. "Do you think that I could go?" She asked.

Dr Grey sighed then moved the mask back into place. "Keep this on a while longer." She said as she thought about Aria's question. She sat down on the side of the bed facing Aria. "You really wanna do this, don't you?"

Aria nodded.

"Tell you what, how about we focus on getting you out of the ICU first. Then we'll talk. Okay?"

Aria nodded again as her eyes started to droop.

"Get some sleep, sweetheart." Meredith said softly as she patted Aria's hand. She stayed a few more minutes, making sure that her patient was asleep before she got up and left the room.

"Aimee, stop." Aaron told her as she struggled against him.

"Let me go, Aaron. I want to see her."

"You can't do anything to help her right now. Let Dr Grey handle it."

"She couldn't breathe, Aaron. She was in pain. I could see."

"I know. But you trust Dr Grey, right?"

She nodded, reluctantly.

"Then let her work." He told her.

She ran a hand through her hair. "Do you really think her going to Stephany's funeral is a good idea?"

"It doesn't matter what I think. Aria was right, Aimee. We don't know what happened. Only she does. Do you really think she'll open up to us if we don't let her do this?"

"I just don't want her to get hurt again."

"I know. I don't like it either but if it helps her heal then who are we to say no?" He reasoned.

She remained silent as she considered his words. "Will you go with her? If Meredith clears her?" She asked.

He nodded. "I won't let her out of my sight. I'll get a couple of my team members to be there, too. Just in case."

Aimee nodded as she bit the inside of her cheek.

"You're shaking." He noted as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged. "I'm fine." She insisted.

"You could go with her, too. If you want to." He told her.

She shook her head. "I don't think I can do that. I'll just be reminded of how easily it could have been Aria's funeral."

"I guess that's understandable." He told her. "Looks like Dr Grey got her to calm down."

Aimee turned around. "Oh, thank God." She said as she watched Meredith sit down on Aria's bed. It looked like the two of them were talking. Meredith sat with her for a few more minutes before she left the room.

"Is she okay? Please tell me she's okay." Aimee said as Aaron stood beside her.

"She's fine. It took some time but her vitals stabilised. She was in quite a bit of pain so I administered her next dose of pain medication. She's resting right now." Dr Grey informed them.

"Can we see her?" Aimee asked.

Meredith sighed. "I think you should go home, Aimee."

"What? No. I'm not going anywhere." She insisted.

"You've been here since she got in on Sunday morning. You should go home and rest. Come back tomorrow morning."

"I can't." She shook her head. "I don't want her to be alone."

"She won't be alone. Alex and I are both on call tonight. We'll alternate every hour. She'll be fine."

"Dr Grey has a point, Aimee. Come on, I'll take you home." Aaron offered.

"Can I at least say goodbye first?" Aimee asked softly.

"Of course." Meredith easily agreed.

Aimee nodded then entered Aria's room. Aaron decided to hang back.

"You're not gonna go in with her?" Dr Grey asked.

Hotch shook his head. "I think she needs it more than I do."

"Aria's pretty adamant about going to Stephany's funeral." She mentioned as they watched Aimee through the glass doors.

He nodded. "She thinks it's the right thing to do."

"What do you think?"

He paused before he answered. "I think that her and Stephany bonded over a very terrible experience. I guess she just wants some closure."

"I can't even imagine how hard that must have been for them." Dr Grey said.

He nodded.

"Aria's strong. It might take a while but she'll be okay." Meredith told him.

He smiled. "I hope so." He said softly.

"I got all I need when I got you and I, I look around me, and see a sweet life, I'm stuck in the dark but you're my flashlight, You're getting me, getting me, through the night..." Jessie J - Flashlight