AN: I am not thrilled with this chapter and rewrote it about five times; please review. Oh! And let me know, temporary or permanent? You will see what I am talking about at the end of the chapter! Let me know in your vewiew
Hotch sat next to JJ, kneeling on the floor as he held her hands. His heart broke at the sight of her; she looked awful.
"JJ, Ross is coming; we are clearing the house and then he will be here." He soothed, hesitant to touch her anymore then her hands. The blisters and burns covering her body made him cringe.
"Agent Hotchner?" Hotch looked up to see one of the SWAT officers staring down at him, "secondary sweep is complete, there is nobody else here. We are searching the property but so far we found no evidence of explosives." He paused and briefly looked down at JJ. "Agent, I am one of the tactical medics; is it okay if I look her over?"
Hotch looked up at him and furrowed his brows, "Dr. Ross is coming…"
The officer nodded, "I know, he is grabbing his equipment, I just want to be here to help."
Hotch looked down at JJ, "JJ, there is a medic here to look you over until Ross can get here," and then a thought came racing back to him, "she has no immune system,"
The medic paused for a moment before speaking into his radio, he watched as instantly the men backed away forming a protective circle around JJ, but also one where she was safe from them and anything they may be carrying.
"Agent," Hotch looked up at the medic, "she's already been exposed to whatever is here; the environment isn't sterile; at this point, it would do more harm than good to try and take the time to remove everyone."
Hotch nodded and reached over to wipe a strand of hair out of JJ's eyes; they didn't wait for a response, the medic set his gear down next to the couch as he slipped on his gloves. "Agent Jareau?" He spoke softly, not wanting to startle her. "My name is Tim, I am one of the tactical medics here, I just want to check your injuries if that's okay?"
JJ nodded, slowly. "I.. need to… sit up." She coughed, desperate for oxygen.
"Okay, okay," the medic reached behind her and carefully helped her to sit up. "Better?" he asked, concerned at the heat radiating off her body. JJ nodded, hoping the change in position would help her catch her breath.
"Hotch," she huffed, "can…you." Hotch looked over at the medic, both concerned about how hard it was for JJ to breathe. They needed Ross.
"What is it JJ?" Hotch took her hand again as the medic peeled away the light sheet she had on. He pretended not to notice as the medic shook his head at the injuries.
"Light?" She gasped, she needed to see. She couldn't understand why they hadn't turned on the light yet.
"What about the light, JJ?" He asked, hearing Ross finally rush into the building. "What about it?" He asked again as Ross crashed next to him, another agent carrying in medical supplies.
"Can… you?" More coughing, "turn it…" she swallowed and grimaced at the pain in her throat. "On?"
Hotch, the medic and Ross froze. They all looked at one another before Hotch spoke up. "We will turn the light on soon, JJ." He promised, not wanting to frighten her anymore.
JJ nodded, "I'm… tired," she sighed, closing her eyes.
"JJ, I'm here," Ross reached over and was alarmed when JJ didn't flinch. "JJ, can I take care of you?" he asked, his eyes growing with concern as he saw the multitude of injuries lining her body.
JJ didn't respond and Ross knew they were losing her quickly. "JJ, I need you to open your eyes," he pleaded as the medic got behind JJ and allowed her to lean against him in a sitting position.
To his surprise, JJ slowly opened her eyes. And what he saw scared him; her eyes were not focusing, she wasn't looking at any of them. "JJ?" he called her name again and watched as she turned her head towards him, but her eyes did not make contact.
"Fuck," he whispered, but knew it would have to wait. He had to get her airway stabilized; he had to get her breathing under control. He knew she couldn't talk much and doing so would cost her significant energy. He was just going to have to go on body language.
"Hotch," it hit Ross suddenly, Hotch was trained to watch for body language; he would be able to distinguish if JJ was showing signs of pain. Hopefully. "Just.. just watch her body language; she has been damn good at fooling us before. I doubt she will let us know if she is any pain."
Hotch nodded his understanding and watched as Ross grabbed his tools, working quickly to assess JJ.
"JJ, Ross is just going to look you over; we have a helicopter waiting to get you out of…" Hotch looked up to see the tactical medic shaking his head.
"Chopper couldn't land; blizzard came in much faster than we predicted." He paused, "Grace is trying to locate how to get out of here that is safe for JJ; but right now, every option has her exposed to the blizzard for at least an hour."
Ross shook his head, "it would be better for her to stay here then," he replied, looking over at JJ. "She cannot be exposed to the wind and snow. At least here its dry and warm."
Hotch closed his eyes; and rubbed JJ's arm, careful of the injuries. He would figure out the next step once Ross assessed her. "Would we be able to get medical supplies and food and water in?" Hotch asked the tactical medic.
"Yes, it's not an issue getting supplies in; its getting her out until the storm passes."
"Ross, can you take care of her here?" Hotch whispered, seeing him gently trace his fingers over the burns.
JJ jumped as Ross pressed his stethoscope, right where numerous burns seemed to be present. Ross didn't respond, his sole focus was entirely on JJ. He would deal with Hotch in a moment.
"It's just me, JJ, it's just Ross." He shushed her, as she tried to turn her body away from his touch. "I won't hurt you," he promised. He knew long before entering the cabin that JJ needed help breathing, but as he listened to her, he realized how desperate the situation was.
"Can you keep her upright?" Ross turned to the medic who nodded. Ross turned away for a moment before grabbing his gear bag and pulling out a small oxygen tank and mask. He cranked the tank on and checked to make sure the oxygen was flowing before reaching over to her. "JJ, I am just going to slip this on, it's just oxygen, it'll help you breathe." He hoped and gently, he brought the mask over her face, ignoring the panicked look. "Just oxygen, JJ. That's all it is; try and take a deep breath," he urged, watching as she tried to shake off the mask. He watched as Hotch reached over and held both of JJ's hands in one of his own while the free hand gently held the oxygen mask in place.
It broke their hearts to see her trying to fight it off, trying to breathe, trying to talk. It shattered their hearts to see that she simply couldn't do any of them.
Ross reached back into his bag and grabbed the small machine and slipped it over her finger, watching as it flashed back a red number, 83. "Damn it," he whispered, looking back to JJ. Her lips still had a blue tinge, her fingernail beds matching. He took off the machine and slipped it on another finger, this time the reading came back at 82.
Licking his lips, he thought of his options. He did not want to intubate her; if he did that, they would have to get her out into the blizzard and to the closet hospital. And it was risky; he wasn't sure her body could handle the sedation. It was a last effort and only one he would use once it became apparent that nothing else would work.
He reached over, hating to do this. "JJ, it's just me, okay? Its just Ross. Hotch and a medic are here, but neither one will hurt you." He promised, pulling the sheet completely away from her body not waiting for a response.
All three men paused, all three closed their eyes for the briefest of moments before regaining their professional composure. Hotch's heart fell into his stomach at the site of the injuries. There wasn't just burns and blisters; bruises and cuts ran up and down her flesh, and as his eyes traveled down her body, he saw her knee at an odd angle, her leg twisted and mangled. She hadn't reacted and Hotch realized, she couldn't feel it.
But Ross was focused on something else completely; he would look the rest of her over later. He watched as every time JJ took in a breath, her skin seemed to disappear into her ribs. He shook his head and reached into the medic's bag, before pulling out a small tube of clear liquid and a syringe.
"Ross," Ross looked up to see the medic looking down at him, he nodded down and Ross saw what he was gesturing at.
"Damn it," He reached over again and saw the port. If she had a port and Leaff had been accessing it, Ross knew that she had contracted something; he knew that Leaff had not followed any hygiene and sterile protocols when injecting her.
Again, he would deal with it later. Because now, he was starting to see what they were up against; what JJ was up against. And it was just one of the numerous conditions Ross knew was plaguing her body.
He ran his hand over the bridge of his nose before standing up. "JJ, Hotch is going to roll you on your side for just a second," he explained as he stood with the syringe and carefully measured out the dose.
Hotch did not say a word, but with the medic's assistance, the men were able to get JJ on her side, mindful of her injuries. "JJ, just a short sting," Ross explained and then as quickly as he could, he pressed the needle into her hip. "I know sweetheart," he said softly, pressing the medication in and seeing JJ shake. "It's just a steroid, it'll help," he promised and withdrew the needle before gesturing for the two men to roll her back.
He watched as the medication began to work, watched as it appeared that JJ didn't need to fight as hard to breathe, he watched as she seemed to lean back into the medics embrace and watched as her body began to relax.
"There ya go," he whispered, taking his own deep breath, "there you go." He reached over and grabbed some medical tape before affixing the elastic around the mask to her cheeks; freeing up Hotch's hands.
And Ross fell back on his heals, looking at JJ and wondering where to start. Wondering how the hell he was going to get her to a hospital and wondering why the hell she suddenly couldn't see. Because he had known the moment he had seen her; JJ was blind. His only hope was that it was temporary; that the fever has caused it; but he also knew JJ had been sick long enough that whatever she was fighting off could have already taken its toll. All he could do was wait; wait and hope that this was temporary. That all this was temporary. But as he glanced at her again, he knew they were running out of time; she was living on temporary time. They couldn't wait for the blizzard to pass; they were going to have to go. And they were going to have to go soon; because he knew she was only going to get worse before she got better. He just hoped she got worse in the confines of the ICU; and he prayed they could get her there in time.