Chapter 13: Changes

It has been six days since the accident, five days since Fran showed up to comfort her son. "Momma why won't she wake up?" he asked his mother while they sat around Garcia's bed.

"She'll wake up when she's ready. The swelling went down on her brain so it's just a matter of time before she wakes up. Be patient son," she consoles him. Fran gets up from her seat and heads towards the door. "I'm gonna run home to shower and change, I'll pick up some breakfast on my way back. Do you need anything?" she asks him. Morgan doesn't respond he simply shakes his head. She leaves without another word.

As soon as she's gone the tears start again. He does so well holding it together until he's alone. That's when the flood gates open up. He lays his head down on his arms on the side of her bed and just lets loose. Who cares what people think of him? He's nothing without her. Minutes pass, maybe 20, maybe 30. At this point time seems like a lost thought. I don't want to live another minute without her he thinks. He gets the feeling of something brushing on his shoulder. He lifts his head expecting to see a nurse or his mother in the room with him, but instead he sees Garcia's beautiful blue eyes staring back at him. He jumps from his seat and sits next to her grabbing her hand. "Oh baby, I've missed you. How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" he asks.

"I feel better than I probably should. The pain is tolerable at this point. It's a reminder that I'm alive and I need that at this point. How long have I been out for?" she replies.

"It's been six days baby girl. Do you remember what happened?" he asks her trying to read her level of memory.

"I remember Kevin opening up my door when I hit the unlock button at my desk. I also remember him hitting me and knocking me out," she says. She starts thinking trying to recall more memories.

"Do you remember anything else baby girl?" Morgan presses.

She sits quietly for another minute or two trying to bring back any memory she can. "Ahhh..." she gasps. "I remember he had a knife. He stabbed me in the back.
I... I remember feeling it. It felt like my back was on fire," she says beginning to sob. She starts trying to untangle herself out of the blanket. Morgan grabs ahold of her hands to stop her frantic movements.

"Calm down sweetie. You need to stay calm. You're okay now. You're safe. He can't hurt you here," he comforts her.

She takes a moment and regains her composure. "I remember blacking out. It hurt so bad that I couldn't stay focused anymore. Walk me through what happened between me blacking out and where we are now. I need to know what is going on," she asked him trying to reign her emotions in.

"Let me start from the beginning. I had just landed and I tried to call you. You didn't answer so I started getting worried. When we made it back to the office I headed straight for you. When I opened your door I found you laying on your floor covered in blood. I screamed for the rest of the team to come in and help me. Hotch called for medical and put pressure on your wounds with towels while I gave you CPR. The EMTs got there and I rode with you giving you CPR the whole way. When we arrived here they took you from me and straight into surgery. You coded a few times, but they were able to revive you. When you fell you had hit your head and you had brain swelling so you've been in a coma for the last six days. Your wounds have been stitched and will heal with time. I need to ask you something though Baby Girl," he says gingerly. "Do you remember him touching you?"

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"When you were brought in they found that you had been sexually assualted. Do you remember?" Penelope's tears fall down her face but she doesn't respond she only shakes her head. "I guess its a good thing that you don't remember. I just didn't want to hide it from you. It'll be okay baby. You will just need to take it easy for the next few weeks. It's still a waiting game baby. I'm just glad to see you awake. I've really missed you," he says wrapping his arms around her and giving her a gentle kiss.

"I'm so sorry you had to see me like that. I tried to distract him until you landed. I was hoping I could keep him talking until you made it home, but he knew he had a limited amount of time and I couldn't distract him. I never imagined that he would stab me thought. I expected him to hit me that's why I tried to... oh my gosh Derek. The baby... how is the baby?" she panicked.

"Penelope we don't know yet. It's a waiting game. His knife didn't hit the baby, but it did hit the placenta. They are unsure yet if it will be able to heal or if the baby will need to be removed via emergency c-section. They should be back in this afternoon to do another check up on her," he explains gently.

"Oh Derek. I can't lose her. Did they say the likelihood of survival for her at this rate?" she pushes on.

"They haven't given a likelihood of needing a C-section, but the doctor did tell me that if they did do one she would only have a ten to twenty percent chance of survival," Morgan said beginning to cry again.

"I can't... I can't do this Derek. I can't lose her," she says starting to panic. The machines in her room begin to make noise. Penelope's heart rate begins to sky rocket and she begins hyperventalating.

"Penelope you need to calm down. Panicking isn't good for either of you. The more stress you are under the more stress the baby is under. Please calm down. You're safe and everything will be alright," Morgan sternly says to her. A nurse busts in the door with the doctor shortly behind her.

"What is going on?" Dr. Sheets asks hurriedly.

"We were talking about the baby and she lost it. I can't get her to calm down. She's afraid the baby won't make it," Morgan replies fearfully.

"Ms. Garcia are you in pain? Do you want some more medication? It will help you calm down," he asks her. She's too short of breath to respond so she simply nods. The doctor pulls a syringe out of the medicine drawer and inserts it into her IV. Slowly but surely Penelope's heart rate slows and her expression changes from panic to calm. "Is that better now?," he asks her.

"Yes, thank you. I got myself upset and then the pain set in. I'm sorry this is just so much to take in right now," she says much more calmly. Morgan is beside her again holding her hand. He puts his casted hand on her belly and rubs it gently. "Hot Stuff what did you do to your hand?" she asks finally realizing that it's casted.

"I went to find Kevin and I beat the crap out of him. I broke my hand in the process. I need to be honest with you Sweetie. We may see IA come down for a statement from me. I crossed the line tonight and I'm sure I'll have to answer for it," he explains to her.

"What do you mean you crossed the line? You didn't kill him did you? I can't do this without you," she says softly.

"I almost did Penelope. I guess I sort of blacked out briefly. Before I knew it I had him tied up with my gun pointed towards his head. I had him in my laser beam with my finger on the trigger. The only reason I stopped was because Hotch stepped in between us and I didn't have a clear shot. I'm sure he's telling them all about it right now so there is no doubt I'll be facing an interrogation," he says shaking his head. There's a knock on the door and in walks Dr. K.

"It's nice to see you awake Ms. Garcia. I've come for an ultrasound if you feel up to it today," he tells her.

"Absolutely," Morgan and Garcia say in unison. The doctor rolls the ultrasound machine up to her bed side and removes the blankets from her stomach area. He very careful lifts her gown just below her breasts to reveal her wrapped up stomach.

"I'm going to have to cut through the bandages and rewrap you once we are finished.
It will probably cause you some pain and discomfort. Would you like another dose of medication before we get started?" he asks Penelope.

"I was just given some more medication. I'm pretty numb right now so just go ahead. More than anything I just need an update on my little girl," she says quickly. The doctor grabs a pair of surgical scissors and cuts through the wrap on her stomach. Penelope winces as the stitches on her stomach begin to pull and cause pain. The doctor stops and makes eye contact with her, but before he can say anything to her she say, "Keep going. It's not too much to handle I promise." The doctor continues to cut the the wrap until it is completely gone. He puts a small amount of gel on the wand and places it on her stomach. He moves it around for what seems like forever without saying a word. Garcia and Morgan look between the doctor and each other waiting for news.

"Ms. Garcia, I can't see the baby well from this angle. I need to move you a little bit. Are you up for being shifted around?" he asks her.

"Anything you need to do to see her. I just need to know that she's okay," she responds. "Derek can you help me?" she asks.

"Alright Ms. Garcia, this is going to be pretty painful. Mr. Morgan we need to get her sat up a little more and shifted over to her left side. I need to be able to take a look at the placenta and the baby. I'm going to roll her on her side I just need you to hold her there while I look. Try not to let her roll back over or we will have to start all over again. She does however have a stab wound on the back of that side so it's probably going to be painful," he replies. The doctor begins to roll her on her side to get her in the right position.

"Ahh... oh God it hurts. Derek please it hurts so bad. Can we please stop? Please Derek. Please!" she begs.

"Just hang on Baby Girl. We can do this. It's for the baby. Just hang in there," he cries. He holds her while she sobs looking at the doctor hoping he can get what he needs quickly. Finally the doctor nods and helps to roll her back to her back. She lays there with her eyes closed trying to catch her breath. "Are you okay honey? It's over with. Just breathe!" he comforts her.

"Let me get you a little more medicine to take the edge off," Dr. K says as he walks to the locked medicine drawer and pulls out a vial. He measures out some medication into the syringe and pushes it into her IV. "GIve that medicine just a minute or two and you should start feeling better." Penelop nods to him. "The good news is guys the placenta looks like it has healed some and the baby's heart beat looks great. She seems to be developing as she should be. I'm going to let Dr. Sheets know that I am okay with you going home. I just want you to check back with me every other week for the next month or two just to keep a close eye on her. I have high expectations that she will be fine. I'm going to write for you to be on bed rest for the next month. I don't want you on your feet for more than a half hour at a time and I'd like you to fully lay down for a half hour or so every three to four hours. Do you have any questions?" Dr. K asks them both.

"No Doctor. I'll make sure that she rests often. Thank you for taking such good care of both of my girls," Derek responds. Dr. K gathers up his stuff and gets ready to leave the room.

"Doctor wait. I have a question for you. I'm a technical analyst for the FBI. My job requires me to sit at a computer and run searches for my team. Is this something that I am able to do even though I'm on bed rest? I really could use work to distract me," Penelope asked him.

"As long as you can make sure to rest then I see no problem with it. Just please make sure to take it easy. I'll send you with your discharge restrictions when you leave," he says. The doctor takes the ultrasound machine and leaves the room to get all her forms for her.