AN: IMPORTANT! Please don't flip out when you see a certain part in this chapter... just keep reading. Also, huge revelation at the end of this chapter :)
Ross was exhausted; JJ was stable, the pain medicine she had finally consented to had seemingly done its job hours after the pain had started. Ross had been exceedingly careful with the dosage, nervous about giving her anything. It was a gamble to put more drugs in her system at the moment, but the pain she was experiencing took precedence and he had to do something. Saying a silent prayer as JJ's body shook with pain, he injected the liquid into the tubing and watched. It took less then two minutes for it to work, the shaking stopped and Ross heard her able to catch her breath. He sat with her as her body relaxed into the bed and he released the breath he didn't know he was holding. "JJ?" He whispered, seeing her eyes shut. She didn't respond and Ross smiled slightly, the pain had receded enough that JJ was able to get some rest. The other side of it was that it knocked her out and she would be out for several hours.
"How is she?" Ross jumped at the sound of Morgan's voice.
"Much better I think; where's Hotch?" Ross looked around.
"He is outside with the other agents;" He didn't go into detail. "Look, JJ is asleep, I will sit with her, why don't you go and get some rest." Ross opened his mouth to protest but Morgan was a step ahead of him. "I am going to sit right here, if anything goes wrong, I will come and get you."
Ross nodded and with one more glance at JJ, he headed out and towards his room. He didn't even have time to change before he fell into bed; hoping for a peaceful night's rest.
He wasn't sure how long he had been asleep when he heard a panicked voice shouting for him. "Ross! ROSS!" He jumped out of bed and rushed down the hall, towards Hotch's voice.
"Hotch… what?" He looked over and to his horror saw JJ violently seizing.
"What happened?" He rushed passed Hotch and to JJ, quickly removing the blanket and sheets from her. "Hotch, what happened?"
"I don't know!" Hotch replied, "She was talking and then said her headache was back again, next thing this is going on." Hotch watched helplessly as JJ continued to seize; his mind flashing back to when this had happened in the hospital.
"How long has it been going on?" Ross asked, digging in his medical bag for medication to stop the seizure.
Hotch shook his head, "Maybe three minutes?"
"Damn it," Ross said as he found what he was looking for and unwrapped it before taking the pill between his fingers, "It's okay sweetheart," he said softly, placing the pill between her cheek and gum, "that's it, it's okay." He rubbed the side of her mouth dissolving the pill and watching JJ. It didn't work, he had to go to plan B. He reached into his bag again and pulled out another medication. "Pray this works, I can't give her anything else. I need you to hold her, don't restrain her, just hold her while I roll her on her side." Hotch nodded and helped Ross roll JJ, the seizure still going strong. He watched as Ross gave the suppository and prayed. Prayed it would stop. "Hotch, call 911, she needs to get to the ER." Ross rolled up his sleeves, grabbing his bag again. He knew this was bad, very bad and getting worse. "JJ, c'mon," He grabbed her arm and skillfully started an IV; knowing what could come next. And as his hand held her arm, he noticed the fever. She was burning up. "what the hell?" He whispered to himself, grabbing tools from his bag and placing them where they needed to be. As soon as the oxygen saturation device was clipped to her finger, it began alarming. The reading was blinking in red, a reading of 82, far too low. "Hotch, we need them here now!" He screamed, panic quickly arising in his body. Panic and guilt, guilt that he had given her pain medication just hours before and now she was heading back into critical condition. He shook his head, powerless until they got to the ER at that point, the seizure was still going, still violently happening despite two rescue medications. Brain damage was a real possibility at this point, brain damage and cardiac arrest. And JJ was rapidly heading towards cardiac arrest. Ross briefly debated just placing her in the SUV and driving her there himself, the SUV was equipped with lights and sirens.
And just as he was about to lift her up, the seizure began to slow down. "There you go," Ross whispered, his voice shaky. He glanced down and saw her fingernails blue, her lips blue and he already knew what was happening. He checked her pulse and yelled for Hotch again, as he started CPR. "JJ, c'mon!" He begged as he pounded on her chest, "Not like this…" He said, but he knew. He knew deep down it was over and after four minutes of CPR, he bowed his head, collapsed to the ground and sobbed. She was gone; she had fought so hard and was suddenly gone. And at the minute he knew he never wanted to practice medicine again.
Ross shot up in bed, gasping for air. His shirt and pillow were drenched in sweat but he didn't care; he shot out of the room and down the hallway, ignoring the calls from Hotch.
Ross turned the corner and rushed into JJ's room before stopping and putting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "Ross?" Morgan stood up and walked towards him. "What's wrong man?" Morgan placed his hand on the doctor's back, concerned.
"JJ. Is she okay?" He panted now realizing it had been a horrible nightmare. He stood back up and walked over to the bed needing to see that she was asleep. He reached down and pressed his fingers to her neck and grabbed the oxygen saturation device, slipping it onto her finger. The machine reading came back at 92; and Ross nearly collapsed onto the floor.
JJ was okay, she was doing well. "Has she been asleep?" He asked Morgan.
"Yeah, she hasn't woken up at all; she's been mumbling a few things but that's it. What's wrong with you?" Morgan asked again as Hotch walked in.
Ross shook his head, "Bad nightmare."
Morgan smiled, "Yeah, we all have those about her," He nodded towards JJ. Ross stood up and pulled a chair up next to the bed; he was not leaving her side again for a long time.
Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Hotch stood in the medical examiner's office, waiting for the doctor to come in. Morgan was with JJ and Ross; the house surrounded with even more security now. And Hotch wanted to move her, desperately wanted to move JJ; but after the detailed information she had confessed, he didn't know what to do. He needed Garica, he needed Reid; he needed his team. And he needed the body of the man laying on the slab in the morgue to be alive. He needed him to tell him how to save JJ. Because Hotch had come to the horrible realization last night after seeing the pain his agent was in, that he was helpless. This couldn't be done without extensive help from numerous agencies. But then JJ would need to be exposed to all of those interviews and he knew how private she was about what had occurred. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Ross had reveled to him the implications of the GPS device the previous night and the probability of it controlling her paralysis.
"I've never seen or heard of anything like it, Hotch. But she has been right about everything before; unfortunately, I am sure she is right about this one." Both men remained silent for several minutes before Ross spoke again, "It would explain why she was suddenly in so much pain; she was able to feel everything below her waist for the first time in months; and apparently the only reason she could was because someone activated that chip."
Hotch nodded but even more concerns hit him, "but why would they have activated it? They already knew where she was, what was the point?"
"Besides continuing to torture her?" Ross said softly, "maybe to remind her that they are still there."
Hotch took a deep breath, "JJ knows; JJ knows why it was activated. She just has to tell us…"
"Agent Hotchner?" Hotch was brought out of his memory by a man dressed in scrubs walking towards him. "I'm Dr. Simon, I was told you would like to speak with me?"
Hotch stepped forward and shook the doctor's hand. "The man that was brought in last night; we need whatever information you can get."
Simon nodded, "I am just about to being the autopsy, is there something you were looking for in particular?"
Hotch thought back to his numerous interviews with JJ. "I need to know if his nose was broken within the last few years."
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Only four miles away from the safe house, the leader walked into the compound. She smiled as she approached Leaff and shook his hand. "Wonderful job, Leaff. Doc has been neutralized, the FBI has his body." Leaff nodded, proud of his sniper training. "Has Dr. Bryant arrived yet?"
"Yes ma'am, in the conference room. Would you like me to take you to him?"
The woman nodded and followed Leaff as he scanned his card giving him access to the hallway; another scan allowed the two into the conference room. A man and six security guards sat around a table, all looking at a screen hanging on the wall. The woman frowned as she saw the picture, the picture of the one person who had ever escaped. The woman who could bring down the entire operation. And there would be hell to pay; after all she was being paid high dollar to manage the project. The project that was being paid for by the intelligence agency of her county's sworn enemy. And it had been going on for years; different research projects, but this one had been a resounding success. So much so, that the intelligence group was planning to come and visit; and she would get an even bigger bonus provided she handed JJ over. And she didn't have her. JJ had escaped with pivotal information, and now she had not only the small group looking for her, but an entire intelligence agency desperate to find her. The FBI didn't stand a chance protecting their so called agent; after all, they all knew JJ would never be a field agent again. Hell, they knew she would never walk again.
As the door opened, and the woman walked in with Leaff, Bryant looked up before smiling and reaching out his hand. "Wonderful to see you again Dr. Cruz."
