Chapter LI
Ana had been propped up and was now leaning against the large bed, her head slightly turned to face where Emily was seated. The girl had woken up several times just long enough to look for Emily, ask for water and fall back asleep. Her doctors had assured the team that this was normal and that soon, she would be able to stay awake for a few hours at a time. As Emily played with her fingernails and watched Ana's chest rise and fall, she could faintly make out the conversation on the other side of the door. Hotch and JJ had gotten into a rather heated argument on whether or not they should allow Judge Kenway to visit the girl in the hospital. Hotch was adamantly against it; saying that not only was it his fault that Ana was here in the first place but that she could not have a say in the decision. JJ protested, saying that there was no way Kenway could have known what was going to happen and that she was sure Ana preferred a conversation with the man to life in prison. Emily simply rubbed her temples. She was more focused on finding out who attacked Ana and how she could make their life a living hell when she noticed the girl shift in bed. At her side immediately, Emily took her hand and waited for her to regain consciousness.
"Hi." Came the meek voice before her eyes had even opened.
"Good morning." Emily smiled as the green of Ana's eyes became somewhat visible. "How are you feeling?" Ana risked a deeper breath.
"Better." She nodded with a smile. "You were telling me about the trial before."
"Right." Emily stopped to remember where she had left off. "Emma talked to Judge Kenway." She saw Ana visibly tense at the name. "He agreed to cancel the trial under one condition."
"What, my kidney?" the girl scoffed at her own joke. When Emily didn't laugh, her face grew more solemn. "What?"
"He wants to talk to you." Emily told her and waited for a reaction. Ana simply seemed confused. "He wants to make sure you're nothing like Hail and that it's…safe to set you free." The brunette glanced at the pair of handcuffs keeping Ana's unbroken wrist to the bed. The sight unnerved her greatly even after all these days of staring at it.
"Ok." The girl surprised her. "I'll do it."
"Really?" Emily asked, expecting a much more negative response.
"Emily, if a simple conversation is going to keep me out of life in prison, then hell yes I'll do it." Ana leaned her head back, a sudden wave of nausea catching her off-guard.
"The effects of the concussion should go away within the week." Emily told her as she placed a cup of water on the bedside table.
"Yea, you should know all about concussions." A familiar voice joked from the corner of the room and a mop of golden hair came into view.
"JJ!" Ana cried, having not seen the blonde since the trial. The older woman smiled widely, surprised that Ana was so happy to see her, and hugged her as tightly as she dared.
"How are you feeling?" JJ swept a handful of black hair away from Ana's eyes.
"I'm alright." The teen answered honestly.
"Well, I brought you something that might help you feel a bit better." JJ went to the door and opened it. Before she could motion for someone to come in, the two brunettes heard the pitter patter of little feet and Henry burst into the room seconds later.
"Anaaaaa!" he drawled at her name as he hopped onto her bed, wrapping his little arms around her neck. Both JJ and Emily cried out for him to be gentle but Ana seemed too preoccupied to care.
"Henry!" she cried, surprised that the little boy had missed her so much.
"Ana, guess what momma said?" the boy asked her animatedly as he bounced on the bed with his knees. JJ placed a hand on his shoulder to stop the action but it didn't seem to bother him.
"What did your momma say?" the girl asked, taking his small hands into hers. It had been years since a child had been this interested in her and while it brought her unimaginable joy, it also reminded Ana of a time when Alexia was this happy to be with her. The thought of her sister made her heart ache.
"She read me a story where the prindress went to sleep for a really, really long time b'cause of the Evil Sheen and then woke up because the man kissed her!" Henry recounted the story to Ana and she pretended to have never heard of it.
"That sounds like a great story. Maybe you can read it to me sometime." Henry blushed at the mention of spending time with her.
"I think you're the prindress." The boy admitted, causing the three women to chuckle.
"Princess, Henry." JJ corrected softly. The boy nodded, a wide grin on his face revealing missing teeth.
"That too." Ana laughed wholeheartedly, ignoring the tug from the stitches inside her chest.
"Why, thank you Henry!" she cried. "I'd love to be the princess but only if you get to be my prince." Henry placed a hand over his eyes, shyness taking over. Ana, momentarily frightened that she had actually embarrassed the boy, opened her mouth to reassure him that it wasn't actually a requirement. Just then, Henry leaned forward and placed a big, sloppy kiss on the girl's cheek.
"Now you awake!" he cried, overly satisfied with himself. JJ and Emily couldn't help but laugh out loud at the look on the girl's face.
"Yea, now I'm awake." Ana nodded with a smile.
"I'm going to get some coffee." JJ announced, shaking her head at her son's more than obvious crush on someone she had been ready to shoot a few months ago.
"Oh, great idea." Emily shot out of her seat. The woman had barely left Ana's bedside in a week and now that the girl had company, took the opportunity at once.
"Henry, be gentle with Ana ok? She's got a few boo-boos." JJ explained, a hand on her hip. Henry's eyes widened at the thought.
"Why?" he asked his mother. JJ shook her head.
"That's not our concern ok, buddy?" she said, clearly still trying to teach the boy about privacy.
"It's ok, JJ." Ana assured her and turned to Henry, still positioned partially on her lap. "Some bad people hurt me because they were mad."
"Like when the bad man hurt Jack's momma?" Ana saw Emily and JJ exchange looks and tense at the mention and although she had no idea what the boy was talking about, she understood what the correct answer was.
"Like that, yea." She nodded and Henry launched himself into her arms. Surprised, Ana took a moment to reciprocate the embrace.
"But I don't want you to go!" he cried, tears wetting her shoulder. Ana's eyes widened as the older women watched the scene with worried expressions. "Jack momma went to heaven forever!" Shit.
"No, no Henry." Ana patted the boy's back. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
"You sure?" Henry leaned back and placed a soft hand against her cheek as if reassuring himself that she was really there. Ana's heart throbbed at the sight of the boy's tears.
"I'm positive." She croaked, her own tears getting in the way.
"Good." Henry's cheery expression was back and the three women sighed in relief. "There was this other story that…"
JJ and Emily quietly made their way out of the room and into the bright hallway.
"Well that was-"
"Unexpected." JJ finished for her friend. As the two began to make their way to the coffee shop on the second floor, a tall, thin man bumped straight into Emily. The brunette faltered and stepped back.
"I'm sorry." She began just as the man was saying,
"My fault." The two looked up at one another and a frown made its way onto Emily's features. Judge Kenway stood before her, no longer dressed in the garb of his title. The man wore black pants along with a matching coat and a dark grey button-up. He seemed to take a moment to place where he had seen Emily before when suddenly, he remembered.
"Agent Prentiss." He nodded and stretched out his hand. Emily's remained stationary at her side.
"Judge." Her stance shifted slightly, only detectable by JJ. The judge cleared his throat.
"I'm here to see Miss. Valerious to-"
"I know why you're here." Emily interrupted, no longer forced to abide by his orders and rules. She would make no effort to hide her distain for him.
"How is she feeling?"
"Now you're worried about her well-being?" Emily spat, ignoring JJ's warm hand on her arm.
"Agent Prentiss, despite what you and many others might think of me, I did not send her to prison with the hopes of her ending up here." Kenway frowned, an earnest look in his dark eyes.
"You should've thought of that before you-"
"We can show you to her room, Judge." JJ interrupted, more worried about what Emily might to do him if she let her continue. Kenway seemed to ignore her statement altogether.
"I'm sorry for what happened and I'll gladly assist you in finding the people responsible for-"
"Oh, I don't think it's going to be as difficult as you think." Emily narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms.
"If I knew what would have happened, I would've never sent her there to begin with!" Kenway cried, his anger at being constantly interrupted flaring. Clearly, the man wasn't used to the treatment Emily was giving him.
"I told you it would and you completely ignored me just like you ignored the blatant display of courtroom misconduct and the fact that the prosecution cared about nothing more than her own reputation!" Emily shouted, drawing the attention of several medical staff who turned corners just to get away from her.
"That is not true!" Kenway yelled back. "Never in my seventeen years of presiding in a courtroom did I ever have to make such a difficult decision! I admit it was the wrong one but at the time-"
"The wrong one?!" Emily scoffed. "You're damned right it was the wrong one! You nearly cost Ana her life!" Just as the man opened his mouth to reply, JJ forced herself in between the two who had gotten dangerous close.
"Enough!" she cried. "This is a hospital, not the place for a debate on things that have already past!" Emily ignored her friend and with a growl, tried to take another step towards the man before being forcefully shoved backwards by the blonde. JJ gasped and shut her eyes tightly as the action caused a sharp pain to arise from her still-healing ribs.
"JJ, I'm-"
"I said enough!" the blonde glanced from one red face to the other, intent on separating the two for good. "Whether or not Kenway intended for this to happen or not doesn't matter right now, Emily. He's here to talk to her and set it right, so go and get your coffee so I can take him to her room." The two pairs of eyes stared at each other, a battle of wills taking place for several seconds before Emily exhaled and wove her way around the blonde before heading down the stairs.
"Agent Jareau, are you-"
"The only reason I don't set my whole team on you is because it would cost us our careers." JJ's fiery gaze turned to him, causing the man to take a step back. "Emily's right. Now come on, she's in room 325." The blonde began walking before Kenway could piece together what she had said. JJ knocked on the door before entering and saw her son still engrossed in a fast-paced conversation with Ana.
"Momma, look what-"
"Henry, can you go outside and sit with your uncles for a bit?" the woman's tone left no room for discussion and the five year old made his way off the bed and into the hallway where Morgan and Rossi greeted him.
"Everything alright?" Ana frowned at JJ's suddenly pale complexion.
"Ana, Judge Kenway is here to see you." Her blue eyes darted towards the door, signaling that he was waiting behind it. Wordlessly, Ana nodded and JJ went to let the man in.
"Miss. Valerious." Kenway said as he stood by her bedside, taking in the drastically altered state she was in. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine." The girl's voice was small and weak, nothing like what it was when speaking with someone else. Kenway cleared his throat as he caught sight of JJ nearing the bed from the corner of his eyes.
"I was hoping to have this conversation in private, Agent Jareau."
"Keep hoping." The blonde crossed her arms and took a seat opposite the man at Ana's side, a hand placed firmly against her ribcage.
"This is a rather sensitive topic that-"
"That she undoubtedly isn't comfortable talking about with you." JJ finished for him. "Considering the fact that I just kept you from getting the beating of your life, you can deal with my presence while you conclude your…investigation." Kenway opened his mouth and decided against it, understanding that the blonde would make for a terrible enemy.
"Ana, I know you don't want to talk to me about this but I have to see for myself that this is the right decision." He explained, trying to ignore JJ's unwavering eyes.
"I understand." Ana nodded, accepting the small comfort of the blonde's hand in hers. "What do you want to know?"
