True love burns the brightest, but the brightest flames leave the deepest scars.

-Unknown

Dave's eyes burned from the bright lights of the hospital waiting room. Every minute that passed seemed like a day. He'd held her hand and watched as the EMT s skewered her with IVs, and screamed about ice baths.

Now – sitting in the waiting room on a hard plastic chair, the sound of the TV droned in the distance – there was nothing he could do but sit there and try to pray; that part should have come easy – he prayed every day- but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus.

Father. God, please…

What's taking so long? Shouldn't we know something by now?

Father. God, help Erin.

What if Hotch was right?

Our Father, who art in Heaven…

What if it was all for nothing? No! He couldn't think like that! Lurching up from the unforgiving seat, he let his feet carry him across the room. He watched his team settle in various chairs throughout the room. His team was there, behind him. Watching him, but he couldn't focus on them now.

Every time he saw a nurse or doctor come around the corner and pass the waiting room, another piece of his composure slipped away. The hands on the clock slowed with every passing minute. Sixty seconds were like sixty years; he didn't notice he and Hotch were alone until Hotch spoke.

"I sent the others to get food." He knew Dave was coming unraveled, his eyes were blood-shot, and his hands shook.

"Please, Hotch, don't ask if I'm alright," Dave said, collapsing in the chair, exhaustion set deep in his bones but he wouldn't be resting anytime soon.

"Dave-"

"I can't do this, Aaron," Dave's voice went husky with emotion, "Wasn't once enough?"

Hotch could see where his friend's mind was heading. It was only two years ago that Carolyn decided to end her suffering with an overdose and dying in Dave's arms, and now chances were that he was losing Erin to the same fate. Silence settled over them. It would no good to push Dave into talking.

"Erin is the Anti-Carolyn, Carolyn was sweet, almost naive but in the end; she was selfish she killed herself and made me watch because she didn't want to suffer." Dave ran his hand down his face. "Erin's children don't deserve to lose their mother because she chose to do her job. She was supposed to be the safest of all of us," he bit out. "What the hell happened?"

The sound of footsteps kept Hotch from replying. A second later, a doctor entered the room. "Erin Strauss?" He addressed the pair. "I'm sorry it's taken so long to talk to you. I'm Doctor Garrett, and I'll be overseeing Erin 's care."

Dave hastily wiped his face. "How is she?" His trained profiler eye searched for anything that might reveal Erin 's fate, but doctors and cops wore professional poker faces. Or maybe he was just too tired.

The older man slipped the surgical cap off his head and perched on the table in front of Dave. "It's complicated…"

"Please, Doc, give it to me straight," Dave stated matter of fact. "She's my- we're partners. Is she going to be okay?"

The doctor nodded in understanding, "Her condition is still very critical, but we have managed to stabilize her. Unfortunately, there was no way to treat the overdose because we don't know what toxin she ingested. Hopefully, the lab will send back results from her CBC, and we can begin treatment." He paused for questions, but Hotch and Dave remained silent.

"Her heart rate accelerated and we were struggling to put it back on track," he continued the spiel. "Her internal temperature skyrocketed dangerously high. She had one seizure before we could get her cooled down. So far, the IV seems to be doing its job." Doctor Garrett paused and took a deep breath. "I wish I didn't have to deliver this bad news, but Erin's lapsed into a coma. The next 48 hours will tell-"

Dave felt his stomach hit the floor, "No! That's not her, she wouldn't just give out like that!"

"She was unconscious when she got here," Doctor Garrett replied. "We thought after her temperature was stabilized, she would come out of it since her EKG indicates her brain is functioning properly. But with the severity of the overdose, I suspect this is her mind's way of preserving itself until her body can fully heal."

Dave took a deep shaky breath, but his inner profiler instinct went into overdrive. He could sense that the doctor was holding something back. "What aren't you telling me? What else is there that we need to know?"

Doctor Garret reached into the pocket of his lab coat. "Congratulations."

Dave took the photo with a shaky hand, his mind unwilling to process it. There was no way Erin was pregnant; he would've known, she would've told him. But there it was in black and white. His stomach
lurched with a sickening realization how he'd almost lost them. Not just Erin, but their child too, because some sick bastard wanted his fifteen minutes of fame.

In a fit of rage Dave lunged at the wall his fist collided with the concrete, the clock rattled on the opposite wall. As the fight fell out of him, he didn't have the strength to stand. He sat down hard on the chair he had only minutes earlier cursed as hell on earth, and tried to get his jumbled thoughts in order. He could hear Hotch talking to the doctor, but his mind was too numb to comprehend what they were saying. He closed his eyes, Erin needed him to get it together; he couldn't go on like this.

"I need to see her."