The past 12 hours and 37 minutes had been grueling. In fact, the last 37 minutes Ashley had been convinced that she might never get the chance to leave work that afternoon.
But she had finally finished her shift, sure, 37 minutes late, but it was over. She had seen twelve motor vehicle accidents ranging from extensive injuries to cuts and bruises, nine stomach pain cases, four broken limbs, two expectant new mothers and one DOA. She was sure there had been more, but those were just the ones she remembered right now.
She carefully gathers her things, tossing a coat on over her scrubs and closing her locker door. Just as she's about to leave, Fran, her longtime friend and the nurse who handled the intake for her hospital popped her head into the lounge.
"Ash, you have a call on line 2."
"Who is it?" Ashley asks as she glances at her cell phone and notices several missed calls from several different people.
"One of your sister wives," Fran remarks with a giggle before disappearing out of the room.
Ashley giggled herself at the name the other nurses had given to JJ and Emily almost immediately upon finding out about their unique family situation. At first, the joke had bothered her. She didn't want people thinking she was married to a man who had other wives.
Eventually, over the years, she herself found the humor in it. She had to admit, it was an unusual bond that they all shared and if she didn't live it herself, she probably wouldn't believe it could actually exist the way it does.
She makes her way to the telephone on the other side of the room and picks up the receiver, pressing the line that Fran had told her.
"Hello?" she offers, not knowing which woman would be on the other end of the line.
"Hey Ash, sorry to call you at work. I tried calling Will but he must be out on assignment," Emily says from her end and instantly the hairs on the back of Ashley's neck stand up.
"Is everything alright?"
While phone calls from Emily and JJ weren't unusual, they were when they came through the hospital itself. Ashley spoke with both of the women at least once a day and usually texted them throughout unless she knew they were on a case that needed their attention. So the phone call had her on edge.
"Yes and no. Everything is fine it's just that Jen really isn't feeling very well," Emily explains.
It is then that Ashley can hear the sounds of JJ mumbling in the background, probably complaining about Emily making the phone call in the first place.
"Oh no! Do you need me to come by and check on her?"
"Honestly, yes," Emily replies sounding relieved. JJ can be heard shouting and mumbling about how she doesn't need help in the distance.
"Well you got me at just the right time, I'm about to head out of here so I'll just stop by your place on the way."
"You are seriously a lifesaver, thanks Ash. See you in a bit."
With that, the line disconnects and Emily is gone.
Ashley quickly pulls out her cell phone and types a text to Will first, letting him know that she's going to be stopping by the women's house before she heads home, just in case he happened to get there before her.
It's not a far drive and it's a familiar one. One that Ashley had made thousands of times over the past nine or so years. Because of that, she's able to let her mind wander just a little, thinking of the first time she had been called by Emily and asked for help.
She had been dating Will for just over three months when she first met the two women. He had been very open and honest about his relationship with his ex-girlfriend and her new girlfriend right from the very first date. But he had also been cautious, not wanting to introduce someone new without knowing it was a lasting relationship first.
Ashley had respected that. But because she had never met the two women and only met Henry a handful of times, she honestly didn't believe that they were as good of friends as Will said they were. She thought maybe he was exaggerating for the sake of showing her that he was a good guy or because he didn't want to scare her off. She had been very surprised when she did get the opportunity to meet them and found out he was not exaggerating their relationship at all.
What they had worked. There wasn't an explanation for it, other than the fact that all of them worked incredibly hard to make it work. They talked to each other constantly, more often than not, about something other than Henry and instead just because they liked talking to one another.
She had been invited over to dinner at their house on a Friday evening with Will and Henry and she had been cautiously optimistic as Will drove them there. But when she walked into the front door and was immediately wrapped in a hug from JJ, she knew in that moment that she had nothing to worry about.
Their friendship came easily. They three women talked the entire night while Will sat back and watched, clearly grateful that he had chosen to bring Ashley for an introduction when he did.
It was only two weeks later when her phone rang and an unknown number popped up on her caller ID.
"This is Ashley," she had answered wanting to sound professional in case it was related to work.
"Hi Ashley, this is Emily Prentiss, Will's…" Emily had paused, not sure of the proper word to explain who she was to the man Ashley was dating. Thankfully, Ashley recognized the name and spoke up.
"Emily, hi. I'm sorry, I didn't save your number in my phone so I wasn't aware it was you."
"No worries, I'm sorry to call like this. Will texted me your number. He said that you would be just getting off of work."
"He was right. I am just now leaving," she had remarked as she slowly made her way out of the hospital parking lot.
"Look, I'm really sorry to do this and I swear this isn't something I'll do all the time, but I was wondering if you would maybe consider stopping by our place right now?"
"Umm…" Ashley had paused, not knowing exactly what the nature of the visit was and feeling slightly nervous at the thought of being alone with the two women. Sure, they had gotten along great with their first meeting with Will, but they hadn't spoken since and they weren't even really friends. "Now?" she followed up with the question, wanting to be clear before she started to freak herself out even more.
"Yes, I'm sorry. Today JJ and I were at work and JJ sort of got knocked on the head pretty hard. I think she has a concussion but she's refusing to go to the hospital and honestly, she's not the easiest person to get to do something they don't want to do."
Ashley had agreed right then and there to pop over and take a look at JJ. She had felt like she was going to vomit the entire drive from the hospital to the house, being as nervous as she was to meet with them alone, but she had made it without doing so.
Sure enough, JJ had a concussion. Ashley was able to give Emily instructions and even get a doctor to call in a prescription for the headache JJ was suffering from. Once she had gotten there, she had completely forgotten all about her nerves of being there without Will. It had felt like something totally normal. Something she would do for a friend. She was at ease around them and that she was grateful for.
Today, there are no nerves on her drive over there. No worries other than for JJ and whatever kind of sickness she's feeling in the moment. Somewhere along the way, during the time she started dating Will and married him, JJ and Emily had become two of her closest friends.
She pulls up to the house, parking in her usual spot on the street, careful not to block the driveway in case either woman needs to get out quickly in their government issued vehicle. She doesn't even knock when she gets to the door and instead opens it casually, calling out for Emily as she does.
She finds the women in their bedroom.
Just like Emily said, JJ was sick. There was no denying it. The blonde was dripping with sweat and shivering completely wrapped up in a blanket like a cocoon on her bed. She barely opened her eyes for Ashley to examine her and just by the touch of her hand to JJ's forehead, Ashley knew she was sporting quite the fever.
Once she had finished looking over the blonde, taking her pulse, temperature and helping to get her as comfortable as possible, she nodded her head toward the doorway leading to the hall for Emily to follow her.
"So, prognosis?" Emily asks as soon as they are out of the room.
"Probably the flu. We've been seeing a lot of cases lately, it's going around."
"Is there anything you can give her to make her feel better?" Emily asks, hating to see her wife feeling as miserable as she is feeling right now.
"Since you said the symptoms started this morning, I think we could get a prescription for Tamiflu called in and it would probably help her feel better faster. Unfortunately, she's probably going to feel pretty crappy the next day or so."
"Great. Means I'm next in line to catch it," Emily remarks, hating being sick almost as much as she hates watching JJ be sick. "I'm guessing I'm already exposed and there is no sense in running away and hiding until she's better?"
"Probably not worth it," Ashley laughs as she texts a colleague at the hospital to get the prescription called in for JJ. Once she's finished she looks up and smiles at the brunette. "But since you haven't seen Henry since you've gotten back, he probably hasn't been exposed. Do you want him to come stay with us tonight?"
"Seriously? That would be amazing Ash," Emily says pulling the woman into a hug. "He should be home any minute."
The two make their way down the stairs and Ashley takes a seat at the counter while Emily begins to fix JJ a cup of tea to ease her aches and pains. They make small talk until the kettle whistles out, signaling that it's ready and Emily pours the liquid into a mug, nodding in the direction of the stairs indicating she would return shortly.
Ashley can hear her feet lightly making their way up the stairs and she can't help but smile. She had always admired how much love the two women had shown for one another. It was clear from the very first minute that she had met them that they were very much in love.
Until she had met Emily and JJ, she had never actually known anyone who was in a same sex relationship. It wasn't that she was against it, but if she was being honest, she really didn't know anything about how relationships like theirs worked. It didn't take long to figure out that they were no different than any other kind of relationship. They took care of each other when they were sick, they fought when they were angry and they laughed and joked around when they were happy. All in all, they were the perfect example of a great relationship in her eyes.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door slamming shut rings out from the entrance and Henry appears almost in the blink of an eye in the doorway.
"What's wrong?" he asks dropping his book bag on the floor by the counter and making his way closer to her. "Are Mom's okay?"
"Yeah, Mom's just sick," Ashley replies smiling at him and holding her arms out to wrap him in a hug. "Pretty sure it's the flu."
"Let me guess," Henry says, hugging Ashley back and accepting the kiss to his forehead she places, "she refused to go to the doctor so Mom called you to check on her."
"Man, it's like you've lived through this before or something!" Ashley remarks with a smirk.
"So am I staying with you and Dad tonight? I really can't afford to get the flu and miss the next few games."
"You are. Though, Dad's on a pretty tough case. I'm hoping he'll make it home but if not, it might just be you and me. Hope that's alright."
"Awesome!" Henry remarks heading toward the refrigerator and grabbing a bottle of water out. He quickly opens it, takes a large chug and places it back on the counter in front of him. "Can we go out for pizza?"
"We just had pizza two nights ago," Ashley reminds him and the words make Henry frown and shrug.
"I know but I love pizza."
Ashley stares at the young man in front of her for a few seconds. He's grown up in such a flash in front of her and sometimes she forgets he's the same little boy that hid behind his dad's leg the first time she met him.
She had been just as nervous to meet Henry as she had been his mom's. The only difference in meeting him was that he was a little boy. She knew she had way with kids after her years spent working in the ER hospital. While he had been shy at first, it didn't take him long to warm up to her.
They were buds within two weeks of her meeting him. Playing dinosaurs on the living room floor and snuggled up in bed as he begged her to read him just one more story before his eyes finally succumbed to his exhaustion from the day. She loved him as if he were her own within months of dating his father and had never stopped since.
"Fine, pizza it is. Now go grab your stuff and say bye to Mom's. You can follow me to the house so I can get cleaned up and then we can head out to the place."
"Thanks Mom!" he shouts as he darts out of the kitchen and runs up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
As Henry is searching around his room for his soccer uniform that he will need for his game the next day, his phone rings and he glances at it, smiling as Claire's picture appears on the screen.
As he accepts the call and puts it to his ear, Claire's voice rings out.
"What are you doing?" she asks before he can even say hello.
"Just packing a bag. Mom is sick so I'm going to Mom and Dad's for tonight."
"Oh, okay," Claire replies and instantly Henry can tell something is wrong.
"Something wrong?" he asks, still searching through the laundry on his bedroom floor for his uniform as he does, slightly distracted by the task at hand.
"We need to talk," she says.
The words stop him instantly. He knows what those words mean. He's seen movies and television shows. He's not stupid.
"Oh, okay," he replies as calmly as he can but he knows that she can hear the fear in his voice.
"Do you think you could maybe meet me tonight?"
"Uh, well I told Mom I'd go to dinner with her and I have a ton of homework…"
"This is really important," Claire intervenes and he runs a hand through his hair letting out the breath he had taken in that he wasn't aware he was even holding.
"I guess I could meet you after for a little bit," he decides, wishing he could have thought up an excuse instead. He had already convinced himself that she was getting ready to break up with him and he wanted to put that off as long as possible.
"Okay, well ask your Mom and then call me back," Claire practically snaps before ending the call and leaving Henry even more confused at the change in her demeanor from sad to mad.
Finally he finds his soccer uniform, shoves it into a bag he had been packing and makes his way out to the hall. He stops by his Mom's room and slowly opens the door, seeing his Mom snuggled up and fast asleep in her bed. He smiles, closing the door softly as to not wake her and makes his way back downstairs.
"Got everything?' Emily asks when he comes into view in the kitchen but as soon as she sees him she can tell that something isn't right. His face, the one that had been plastered with a bright smile for the past couple of months was instead replaced with a furrowed brow and look of concern and worry. "Hey, you okay kiddo? It's just the flu, Mom will be fine a couple of days."
"Yeah, I know, I'm good. Just hungry," Henry lies. After all, there was no sense in telling them the truth about the phone call considering he didn't even know exactly what the phone call was about. He forces out a smile at Emily. "Tell Mom I hope she feels better. Think you guys will be able to make the game tomorrow?"
"I should be. Uncle Hotch says we are out of rotation for a couple of days so pending any terrorist threat, there's no where else I'll be and if Mom is feeling up to it, you know she won't miss it."
"Great, love you, see you then," Henry says swinging his backpack to his other shoulder and heading toward the front door, not even waiting for Ashley.
"That was weird, right?" Ashley asks as she stands and makes her way toward the exit passing Emily on the way.
"Very," Emily replies.
"I'll get to the bottom of it and call you later. Both to fill you in and check in on JJ."
"Thank you Ashley."
"No problem."