The Face of Love Chapter Twenty-One
"There is no denying that there is evil in this world but the light will always conquer the darkness." ― Idowu Koyenikan
"I created Lauren, have you forgotten about that? I know who she is and what she feels...Lauren is mine..." Emily started panicking as well, Cruz was antagonizing him and this wasn't gonna end well
"Matt" Hotch warned this wasn't good at all
"But she loves me she is mine and she will always be mine," Clyde said venomously
"No, she is not" Hotch frightened look focused on Cruz, what the hell was he doing "What you don't understand is that she was mine first...even before you even met her" he had made his way closer to them slowly
"Matt no" Emily whimpered scared, she knew exactly what he was doing, he wanted to anger Doyle enough to turn his gun against him he was sacrificing her life for her
"I was her first man even when she was just a girl..." Doyle's eyes turned darker at the mention of Emily ever being with Cruz
"Matt stop" Hotch begged petrified
"and no matter what you do or what you say...I will always be her first love...and you cannot do anything about that"
"Then I guess I just have to kill you..." Doyle barked letting Emily go and turning his weapon on Cruz
"Nooooo" Emily screamed as she heard multiple shots being fired
Everything happened so fast after that, Doyle's unexpected movement caused him to let go of Emily shoving her aside, this gave Hotch enough time to take a clear shot, his weapon firing twice. Matt was able to jump out of the way, but the bullet was able to hit him in the arm, Doyle collapsed on the floor, taking down Emily with him.
"Cruz?" Hotch asked his ears ringing; the faint remains of smoke and gun powder in the air
"I am okay" Cruz gasped holding his arm "Go to her" Hotch hesitated for a second as he watched blood zipping through the Section Chief's fingers.
"Doyle is death I need a medic, please Cruz is hurt" he called on his mic
"Go to her I am fine," Matt said again reading the hesitation in Hotch's eyes
Hotch ran towards Emily, keeping his gun out and aimed just in case; when he approached them he saw the two holes on his forehead, both of his bullets had reached their target. Doyle was finally dead, he fought the urge to empty his cartridge on the man that had caused so much pain to his family and him.
Carefully and as quickly as he could he placed his weapon back into the holster, then his attention was on Emily who seemed to be unconscious, he dropped into his knees, picking her up on his arms... this couldn't be happening she had to be fine.
"Emily..." he called desperately "Baby please..."
Her eyes open slowly and she blinked a few times before focusing on him, she was dizzy and she was sure she hit her head while falling. But he was there, he had found her.
"Aaron..." she chocked hardly able to make the words "Doyle...is he..."
"He is dead baby...is over..he is gone forever," Hotch said as his eyes filled with tears, he never would have thought he would be holding her again like this. A few months ago, when he had believed Emily was dead, his life had fallen apart. Now life was giving him a second chance to be with her, to make things right.
"Aaron I am sorry.." she cried as he wrapped her in his arms, they both had suffered so much for the last six months.
"You have nothing to be sorry for... I love you so much Emily" there was more to say but that was all she needed to hear right now, out of the corner of his eye he saw the rest of the team walking inside the church and helping Matt of the ground, paramedics already rushing to his side.
"Violet...where is...Violet..." Emily whispered, her mind finally beginning to clear.
"She is safe, she is with JJ, everything is fine" and just with those final words Emily finally broke down crying, everything that had happened in the last six months running through her mind like a movie.
Doyle threatening her and forcing her to divorce Aaron, the phone calls, Doyle coming close to Violet, him taking her into his cabin and raping her, their fight at the hangar when she was impaled, being in the hospital dead, or pretending to be dead, hiding for weeks, and the Doyle telling her that had kidnapped Violet. It was all too much to bear and she just broke down crying, for months she had to keep all her emotions to herself, but her nightmare was over, Aaron had finally saved her and put a stop to her worst nightmare.
"I am so sorry Aaron" she sobbed holding him closer "I am sorry"
"Shhhh baby is okay," Hotch said kissing her head and losing the fight against his own tears.
"I am so proud of you...for everything you did to protect me and Violet...are you listening, I am so proud of you"
"Let's get you to a doctor okay? " he said gently picking her up and glancing one last time at Doyle's dead body.
He was dead, once again they had won their battle against evil, and it was all that matter now, of course, there were so many unresolved things. But right now all that he cared about was taking Emily to the hospital and getting his family back.
He slowly walked out of the church with Emily in his arms, there were officers everywhere, the swat team, and detectives already securing the scene. Dave approached them as he made his way towards one of the ambulances.
"Is she okay"
"She needs to see a doctor but she will be, okay," he said placing Emily down in the journey "Is Matt okay?"
"The bullet tore his arm pretty badly, he is losing a lot of blood...they are rushing him to the hospital now.."
"I want to go with him..." Emily said gaining enough strength and trying to step down from the gurney, after all, Matt almost sacrificed his life to save her.
"Honey you need to go to the hospital as well..."
"Please Aaron" she begged, "I need to go with him..."
"We are all going to the hospital, you will see him there..." he reasoned helping her back into the gurney
"Come on Gattina" Dave urged placing a hand in her arm "Let them take you, I will ride with Matt"
"Thanks, Dave"
Hotch helped the paramedic wheal the gurney into the ambulance and then he jumped in taking a seat next to Emily, painful memories coming back to his mind, not too long ago, he was riding in an ambulance just like that, only to find out later on that his wife was dead.
But she wasn't dead, she was here, right in front of him, looking beautiful and just so perfectly Emily, she was slimmer and God only knew what she had been trough for the past few months. But she was here, she was alive and he couldn't bring himself to stop crying.
"Where is Violet..." she asked again, the only thing that had been going through her mind for the past few hours since Doyle had sent her that picture, was to save her daughter
"She is with JJ," he said leaning down to kiss her forehead. "She is okay..."
"Did he hurt her..." she needed to know; because she would never forgive herself if something happened to Violet
"No, she is fine, she strong just like her mommy..."
"I am sorry" she started crying again "I never meant to hurt Violet...this is all my fault and I am so sorry"
"Emily is not your fault..." he said caressing her face gently
"Yes it is...he went after my baby...he could have killed her" she could not even finish the sentence
"Shhh stop talking like that" he reprimanded softly
"Emily is over okay? He is gone, he can't hurt us anymore..." he was trying so hard to keep her calm but it wasn't working. Once the adrenaline from the shock went down, her brain was running a thousand miles per hour.
"Her blood pressure is rising..." the EMT told him "We need to keep her calm" he scolded as if it was Hotch the reason that she was getting upset.
"I know that and I am trying..." he glared at the younger guy.
"Emily baby please relax okay...? we are going to the hospital and everything is gonna be fine I promise you that..."
"I want to see Violet..."
"You will see her, I swear.. but right now you need to relax and let this young guy do his job..."
"I can give her a sedative..." the younger guy stated
"No, I don't want anything..." Emily said before Hotch was able to respond
"If would help to bring her pressure down" The guy added
"Em is not a bad idea..."
"Noo Aaron, I don't want it please..."
"Then just relax okay?" Hotch said caressing her cheek and wiping the tears away. "I promise you that you will see Violet as soon as we can..."
Emily closed her eyes taking a deep breath, one that she had been holding for almost six months now. From the minute Doyle appeared in her life, she had not been able to sleep, think, or even breathe. Then she had to leave her family behind to protect them, she would have never imagined a job she did ten years ago will affect her life forever. She was so lucky to be alive, so many times she didn't think she was gonna make it out alive, she truly didn't even know why Doyle hadn't killed her, all she could do was be thankful that everything was fine and this was finally over.
When they arrived at the hospital they took her in immediately, her blood pressure was high off the roof, and she was severely dehydrated and under extreme emotional stress. Hotch watched as the medics disappeared with her through the doors. Dave was already there waiting for him and the rest of the team.
"How is she doing?"
"I don't know..." he replied truthfully
"Everything is gonna be fine Aaron..." Dave said patting his back
"I still can even assimilate she is alive..."
"We should be thankful for that"
"I am Dave, I just... I spend two months crying over her death...my life just stopped, and all of a sudden..."
"It was hard, but they did whatever they had to do to keep her safe. I know your mad Aaron but you have to understand that this was about saving Emily"
"Where do we go from here..."
"You stay by her side help her get through this... you help your kids understand what happened to their mom" Hotch stood there looking at his best friend for just a second, how the hell was he supposed to tell his daughter that her mother was alive, that she didn't die.
How did you explain to a 5-year-old girl that her mother had returned from death?
"How is Violet supposed to understand this?"
"The only thing that she needs to understand is that her mother loves her more than anything in the world"
His phone started ringing and he reached into his pocket
"Yeah JJ"
"She is alive?" JJ asked he could hear the tears on the blonde's voice
"I am just as shocked as you are..."
"Oh my god" JJ covered her mouth "Is she okay? Is Doyle really gone"
"He is dead, I made sure of that"
"What do you need Aaron?" JJ asked wiping her eyes, there would be time for questions later, the only thing that mattered right now was that Doyle was gone and she was getting her sister back.
"Just be with Violet, please?"
"Do you want me to bring her over?"
"Not just yet..." he hesitated
"Aaron...she is her mother"
"I know that Jennifer...but how do I explain Violet her mother didn't die, she was at the funeral...this has been so hard on Violet already"
"I know," JJ said tears spilling again
"Look Violet is very smart and strong... she is Emily's daughter after all"
"I will tell her as soon as we know Emily is fine, I want to talk to Violet and Jack myself.."
"Of course I understand... look Will just got home he can stay with the kids, and I can to the hospital if you need me there"
" Thanks, JJ, how is Declan doing...?"
"He is scared and confused..."
"All right, look the minute the doctors give me an update on Emily I will go there..."
"Okay, just keep me posted please"
"Thank you, JJ..."
"Cruz is still on surgery" Dave informed him as soon as he hung up the phone.
"I should be there and not him..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"He turned the heat on him," Hotch said tightly "He made Doyle shot him so we could get a clear shot without hurting Emily..."
"And that was his decision," Dave said calmly "Matt knew what he was doing, it might have been the only way out to save Emily..."
"He could be dead..."
"Aaron stop, if you want to end up like Gideon blaming yourself everything you go ahead. But that voice in your head is not your conscience is your ego " Dave said harshly
"You just got a second chance at life, you got the love of your life back, stop feeling sorry for yourself and figure out a way to help your family move on from here... right now Emily needs you more than ever..."
"I know that"
"So go be with her... Matt is gonna be okay.."
"Thanks, Dave..."
"Go see her, I will go check on the guys and Easter..."
Hotch walked inside Emily's room, she was laying that on the bed, with an oxygen wire around her nose; she was connected to several heart rate monitors, and there was an IV attached to her hand slowly dripping fluids into her system. Dave's words resonating inside his head, you just got a second chance at life, you got the love of your life back, and it was true... just yesterday his life had no meaning, and now he was here again right next to her.
He stopped next to her carefully taking her hand and kissing it, tears already rolling out of his eyes. Her eyes open slowly focusing on him.
"How are you feeling sweetheart?"
"Dizzy..." she replied tiredly "And tired, um have you talk to the doctors?"
"They are gonna keep you over tonight, maybe tomorrow...depending on how the stress test comes out..." Emily nodded too tired to argue
"How is Matt?"
"He is still on surgery honey... but I will let you know as soon as he is out.."
"Aaron I need to see Violet, did you call for her...?"
"Not yet, sweetheart, I will call for her later"
"You are not gonna call her, are you?" Emily replied knowing his expressions fully.
"What?"
"You don't want me to see her" she said scared, of course, he was hesitant to let her see their daughter after everything that happened
"Of course I do Emily..."
"Then why don't you want to call her?. I need to see her Aaron"
"I know baby" he replied calmly pulling a strand of hair behind her ear."I want you to see her too"
"Then what is it?"
"Em, Violet doesn't know that you are alive..."
"Oh..." she said frowning, "I thought Matt..."
"No, until just a few hours ago... I did not even know anything myself..."
"I am sorry Aaron" she could only imagine what it had been for him
"Is okay love?" he said kindly kissing her forehead "This is...look I love you and I am just glad you are here and fine..."
"I want to go home and talk to Jack and Violet and then I am gonna bring them over, I just don't want to scare them...they are still too little to understand"
"No, you are right...I don't want to scare them either, I just really want to hold Violet..."
"She has missed you so much..." he said his eyes filling with tears, and she began sobbing again,
"I am so sorry Aaron...I..."
"Shhh baby, is over okay?" he said wiping her eyes " We need to move on from here... Emily I am not mad at you, and neither are the kids...I just have to talk to them. "
"I love you, Aaron, more than anything in the world..."
"Oh baby I love you too" he pulled her into a hug "I always have and I always will..."
"Evil may be strong, but love-love breaks any curse, any spell-any sort of magic."― Chantal Gadoury
