Later that evening, Emily signed herself out of the hospital against medical advice – insisting that she could lie down and do nothing in a hotel room just as easily as she could in a hospital room. Hotch had of course protested, but the nausea and dizziness had lessened significantly, so she shoved him out the door with a quick peck on the lips and ordered him to focus on finding the unsub and Rebecca Nichols, and not waste energy worrying about her.
JJ had arrived shortly before she checked out, at the request of Hotch who refused to leave Emily alone at the hotel even though she told him she planned on sleeping the whole time. So she obediently let herself be wheeled to the exit doors and then slowly climbed into the SUV that JJ had parked out front, grimacing at the pull on her bruised body. They made a quick stop at a pharmacy to fill Emily's prescription for painkillers, that she had no intention of actually taking, and then headed to the hotel. As much as she hated to admit it, even just the drive from the hospital to the pharmacy to the hotel room left her feeling exhausted and even more sore, so she only half-attempted a protest when JJ insisted on helping her get ready for bed.
Cringing at JJ's gasp when the blonde got a good look at her entire torso covered in bruises, she grabbed her shirt and tried to pull it on quickly but was hindered by the cast covering her left arm. Talk about humble pie, Emily thought to herself as JJ had to help her get the shirt on.
"It's not as bad as it looks." Emily muttered. JJ didn't look like she believed her for a moment, but to Emily's relief, she didn't say anything in reply.
A little while later, after Emily had ordered JJ to go work on the case, much in the same way she had ordered Aaron out of her hospital room, she headed for a quick clean-up in the bathroom. She'd just finished washing as much of the matted blood out of her hair as she could with a washcloth, promising herself a long, hot shower the following morning, when her cellphone started ringing. She glanced at it to find Jessica's number on her caller ID.
"Hello?" She answered the phone as she headed for the bed, which JJ had kindly turned down the covers on before exiting the room.
"Emily?" She heard Amanda's little voice across the line.
"Mandy, hi sweetie, what's going on?"
"When are you coming back?" She questioned.
"Um, well, I don't really know. Hopefully sometime soon, okay?"
"Did you catch the bad guy yet?"
"Not yet, sweetie."
"Can we have pizza when you get back? With ham and pineapple?"
"Uh, yea, that'd be fine I guess. Mandy, honey, is everything okay? Does Jessica know you're calling me?"
"Yeah, she said I could. She's washing the dishes."
"Oh okay. Is there a reason you're calling me or did you just wanna talk for a bit?"
"I dunno."
Emily had a feeling there was something the girl wasn't saying, but thought maybe she needed time to work up to it. "Okay, well what did you do today?"
"Jessica showed Jack and me how to make puppets out of paper bags. Jack made a dog and I made a kitty and Jessica made a frog."
"Wow, it sounds like you had a lot of fun. You'll have to show me the kitty when I get home, okay?"
"Okay! Emily, can we get a cat?" Aha! Emily thought, finally we get to the reason she's calling.
"Well, sweetie, pets are a lot of responsibility, so that's something we'll have to talk about when I get back, okay?"
"But I'm responsible. I clean my room and help with the dishes and everything." Mandy insisted in a voice that Emily would categorize as a cross between a sulk and a whine.
"We'll talk about it when I get back, Amanda." Emily stated firmly, unwilling to have this discussion over the phone.
"Fine. Bye." Amanda pouted and hung up the phone, not waiting for a goodbye from Emily.
Hmph. Emily rolled her eyes and tossed her phone onto the nightstand. To be honest, she wasn't in the mood and didn't have the energy to deal with Amanda's attitude at the moment. She switched off the bedside lamp and had just burrowed under the covers when she heard a knock at the door. Groaning in frustration because all she really wanted to do at the moment was go to sleep, she reluctantly climbed out from under the covers and headed for the door.
When she opened it, she found Hotch standing on the other side, holding a bag of greasy take-out. He held it up with a smile, saying "I got the usual." before moving past her into the room.
"Not hungry." She stated blandly, before closing the door and following him back over to her bed where he had taken a seat.
He nodded to her statement. "How are you feeling?"
"Eh. Better I guess. Tired though. I was just getting ready to lay down when Amanda called and then you knocked on the door."
The slight tone of reluctance when she mentioned Amanda's call had him curious – she was usually smiles and brightness any time she mentioned the girl. "What did Amanda want?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, silently pointing out the fact that he had just blatantly profiled her, before giving in. "She wants a cat. I told her we'd have to discuss it when I get home because pets are a lot of responsibility. She wasn't exactly thrilled with my answer."
Hotch nodded and offered up a quiet "hmm".
"What? What is it?" Emily asked since there was clearly something he wasn't saying.
"Well, Jenna – her mom – had a lot of allergies so they couldn't have any pets. I'd venture to guess that Amanda has been wanting a pet for a while now, but since she was probably told they couldn't have one before, maybe she's just getting used to the idea that now she could. Jack's recently taken to asking about getting a dog."
Emily contemplated this new piece of information about the sister she never knew. It was still weird to think that Aaron not only knew her but had a close friendship with her and her husband, while Emily wasn't even aware of her existence until it was too late.
Aaron noticed Emily's silence and the sad look that crossed her face, and wondered if he shouldn't have said anything – which is why he hesitated to say it in the first place. "Sorry. Does it bother you if I bring her up?"
She looked up at him, startled. "What? No. It doesn't bother me. I was just thinking that there's still so much I don't know about her. When we packed up the house, you agreed to tell me about her. I still want to know. I'm just sad, I guess, that I'll never get that chance to meet her, you know?"
He nodded. "Yea, I get that." He glanced over at her and noted that she really did look exhausted. "If you're not hungry, then why don't you just lie down and I'll tell you what I can about her until you fall asleep, okay?"
She agreed and slipped under the covers as he dropped the unwanted food onto the small round table occupying a corner of the hotel room. "Will you lie down with me?" She asked, her voice betraying her uncertainty in posing the question.
He smiled reassuringly at her. "Thought you'd never ask." He teased her, as he toed off his shoes and slid into the bed to lie beside her. He automatically reached for her, wanting to pull her closer, but stopped when he saw her cringe and pull away slightly.
"Sorry." She whispered apologetically to him. "I'm just too bruised. As much as I'd love to be in your arms right now, I'm just too sore at the moment."
Aaron could've kicked himself for not realizing that he'd have hurt her by pulling her to him, and then making her feel like she had to apologize for it. He mentally chastised himself for being an idiot. "Don't apologize. I just wasn't thinking."
She gave him a small smile and grabbed one of his hands, interlacing their fingers. It wasn't nearly as much as either of them wanted, but for now it would have to suffice.
