Hotch had to drive to the hospital in the SUV by himself because Emily rode along in the ambulance with JJ. He took the time to call Morgan and Rossi to inform them of the situation. They didn't take it well, but that didn't surprise him. How could anyone take this news well? But they agreed to meet at the hospital. After that, he decided to call some police officers and tell them to keep an eye out for Reid and Brian, but it didn't go as well as he'd planned. All of the officers were up in the mountains bagging up evidence and searching the perimeters of the forest just like he had told them before. He was furious, not with them, but with himself.
"Well can't you just gather them up and drive down here?" Hotch asked as he got out of his car and walked towards the hospital doors.
"Yes sir, we can, but I don't think we'll be down there in near enough time to catch up with Agent Reid or the suspect."
"Just do what you can." Hotch hung up abruptly, not bothering to hear the man's response. The waiting room looked empty and it was almost completely silent. His shoes thudded and squeaked against the floor as he walked because of how much water was in them. He walked straight up to the counter, "Excuse me, ma'am. Is Jennifer Jareau here yet?"
"Yes sir, she just arrived."
Hotch nodded, "Can you tell me how she is?"
"I'm afraid that I can't unless you are a family member." The woman replied, giving him a sympathetic look.
Hotch wanted to argue and yell at the woman because she didn't understand the circumstances that he was under, but he held back. She was just doing her job and he knew how hard that could be sometimes, "Alright thank you." He sat down and immediately started to dial Will's number.
He didn't even hear the sound of heels clicking against the floor as they walked towards him.
"Hotch."
He looked up and saw Emily, completely soaked, standing in front of him. He got to his feet, "How is she?" He barely noticed that he had dropped his phone from his hand to clatter to the floor. He picked it up quickly and then gave his full attention to Emily.
She shook her head, "I-I…they said that it was bad and that they couldn't get her to wake up. A-and then she started crashing…and they shocked her three times. She was dead for a minute and a half before they finally revived her."
Hotch gulped, listening carefully.
"And then she was awake, well sort of. She kept mumbling and reaching for me, but she was too weak to hold on to my hand. It just kept slipping off so I had to hold onto hers. That's weird isn't it?" There was a hollow look in her eyes, "Someone holding your hand or you holding theirs. You usually don't even consider it because you're both holding the other's hand, but in that ambulance I knew that I had to hold her hand. I had to pull her weight. I had to be the one that wouldn't let go. Because I knew that if I didn't, she wouldn't either."
Hotch was touched and slightly chilled by her statement. It really brought him into a whole new perspective, but before he could really explore that he had to ask the question that had surfaced in his mind, "What did she say? When you were in the ambulance, what did she say?"
Emily shrugged and shook her head like she didn't know, "She kept saying stuff about Ray and Spence and screaming and…something about a movie. A lot of stuff that didn't make any sense. One of the doctors said that she was probably delirious, but she kept mumbling the same things over and over. I don't know, do you think she was trying to tell me something?"
Hotch creased his eyebrows in thought, "Maybe…if you think of anything else just say so because she might know where Reid went."
Emily nodded, "Yea okay. Oh and they said that Ray's wound wasn't too bad, the only problem was that there was no exit wound so they would have to remove the bullet and repair all the damage. He was fine the last time I saw him though; awake and responsive." She muttered bitterly. The irony of the situation was cruel.
As Hotch and Emily sat down, the doors swung open again to reveal a soaked Morgan and Rossi. "What the hell happened to you two?" Hotch asked.
Morgan ran his hand over his smooth head, "The gas station we went to didn't have a cover. So what happened?"
Hotch explained everything quickly and efficiently.
Morgan looked unsettled, "Well what about Reid? Shouldn't we be out there looking for him?" He asked.
"I sent the officers to do it, but they said that they might not get back down here for a couple of hours at the least." Hotch glanced at Emily, considering whether they should look for Reid or be there for JJ when she woke up.
Morgan huffed angrily.
Emily tried not to listen. She really didn't want to hear her friends argue about which one of their team mates needed the most of their attention right now.
"Here's what we're going to do." Hotch said, "Morgan and Rossi. I want you two to go out and start looking for Reid, canvass the area as best you can. Here, take the other SUV, but try not to separate. Stay together as best you can."
Rossi took the keys, "Call us about JJ." He said before following Morgan out of the hospital. They left just as quickly as they came.
It was quiet for a few moments before Emily broke the silence, "You didn't have to stay." She said.
"JJ is my friend too and I want to be here for her because I wasn't when I supposed to be, so I will be now." Hotch leaned back in his chair.
Emily looked over at Hotch, "I didn't know that you and JJ were that close."
"We aren't that close. Not as close as you two are, but I do care about her…and Reid. I really just hope that this isn't the end for them, you know? I've always had high hopes for each of them…and it wouldn't be fair to have that taken away." Hotch met her eyes.
Emily nodded, clasping her hands tightly in her lap. "I agree."
And after that, the rest of the day went by as a blur. They were only updated once about JJ's condition, once all day. They all found that extremely unreasonable, but it was easily forgotten as they were told about all of the horrifying injuries JJ had sustained.
Among them, more than a few lacerations all over her body, small patches of second degree burns on her arms and legs, also an infection that had pretty much weakened her whole immune system to the point that she would have to be put in a bubble for 24 hours to make sure that no viruses or infections would come into contact with her and lastly, a major concussion which had left her in a state of unconsciousness for hours that deprived her brain of oxygen and caused a small brain bleed, which they were able to fix, but they aren't sure what it would cause until she woke up. The effects that the doctor explained were memory loss, short-term and long-term, speech impediment, seizures, a state of confusion, nausea, and cognitive, behavioral, and physical disabilities.
With that statement, Will (who had arrived after receiving a call from Hotch) left the waiting room and stormed out of the hospital. Outside, he kicked over a trashcan and screamed out into the parking lot at no one in particular.
He couldn't grasp the fact that the woman he loved was in this situation and that there was a chance that she would never be the same again.
Meanwhile, inside the hospital, Emily and Hotch watched as the doctor walked away after saying that none of them could visit JJ until the next day because of how weak her immune system was. They mutually decided to go back to the hotel and come back to the hospital as early in the morning as it would allow. But as they started to grab their stuff, Hotch noticed Henry sitting on one of the chairs.
Will hadn't come back inside yet.
Henry looked up when he felt Hotch's eyes on him. He offered a small, innocent smile. "Uncle Hotch! Where did my daddy go? He said that mommy was here!"
Hotch looked down at him, envying his ignorant innocence. His eyes met Henry's and he was chillingly reminded of how much he looked like his mom, how his blue eyes matched hers and how his smile could always made everyone, even him do the same.
"Your daddy is scared, Henry." He answered.
A confused look crossed his face, "Why is daddy scared?"
Hotch kneeled down in front of the small boy, "Because your mommy is hurt and he's scared for her. But you know what? He shouldn't be…because your mommy is the strongest woman that I've ever met."
Henry's face had dropped at the news that he'd been given, "She's hurt?"
"But she's strong, right Henry? Strong enough to get through this."
Henry nodded slowly, finally understanding. "My mommy is hurt, but strong." He simplified with a simple smile, but it quickly faded, "But if mommy is strong then why is daddy so scared?"
Hotch shook his head with a small shrug, "He just loves your mommy so much that he isn't thinking straight, but that's where you come in. You need to make sure your daddy remembers how strong your mommy is. Make sure that he knows everything is going to be okay." He paused, "You're going to have to be strong right now, Henry, alright?"
"Just like mommy?"
Hotch cracked a smile, "Just like mommy."
A/N: Sorry that this update is so short, but I just wanted to get some background stuff out of the way so that in this next upcoming chapter I can just get right into the action. I hope that this is enough to hold you off for the next one. Thanks for reading!