St. Peter's Hospital – Evening
Everyone had gathered in the waiting room for news on Penelope and Derek. Will had returned to Quantico to relieve Sarah and Desiree and they too were among the others. Penelope had been taken to the ER for evaluation over an hour ago and Derek had just arrived by ambulance and taken directly into surgery. He was unconscious when he was found, and the paramedics had nearly lost him on the way.
"Penelope Morgan?"
The group stood and turned toward the gray-haired man in the doorway.
"Yes, we're her family." Fran answered. "How is she?"
"I'm Dr. Alvarez and I'm the attending on duty tonight." He began. "Mrs. Morgan has a dislocated right shoulder, a few bruised ribs, a slight concussion and a few minor bruises, but they're both doing fine."
"They?" JJ asked.
"Yes, there was no trauma to her pregnancy..."
"Pregnant?" Fran gasped.
"I'm sorry, I just thought you knew."
"No, no we didn't know."
"She's about six weeks along, so it's still early."
Dr. Alvarez smiled at the confused faces in front of him. He was sure this was not how his patient wanted her family to find out that she was expecting.
"I hope I didn't spill the beans." He continued.
"No, no it's okay, thanks doctor. Can we see her?" JJ asked.
"Of course; we're keeping her for a couple days just to monitor her and the baby but she's doing fine."
The group followed the doctor toward the door and just as they stepped out into the hall, Fran's heart broke at the possibility that her son may not live to see his child. Dave renewed his hold around her waist as if reading her mind.
"He's going to be alright, Bella."
She let her head fall on his shoulder as they followed the others knowing that that was another assurance he had no power to grant and again she'd never hold it against him if Derek didn't survive.
Penelope smiled to see them all walk into her room. The group surrounded her bed and filled the tiny space each wanting to be as close to her has possible.
"Oh baby!"
Fran was the first to reach her gently kissing her on the forehead.
"Hey Mama Fran."
"How are you feeling? Fran asked.
"I'm sore but I need to know about Derek; is he really..."
"No, no he's alive, Garcie." JJ interrupted.
"Thank God!"
"Garcia..." Hotch began.
"What?"
"We found Derek; he'd been beaten pretty bad and stabbed..."
"NO!"
"He's in surgery right now." Dave added. "The doctors promised to come out and give us an update as soon as possible."
"I can't lose him, Dave especially now." She said tearfully.
"The doctors are doing their best." Reid assured.
"The doctor told us about the baby." Fran started. "Why didn't you two tell us?"
"We wanted to share the news with everyone during our vacation. We wanted to enjoy the news between just the two of us for a few days, that's all, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, there's nothing to be sorry about." Fran insisted.
"I need Derek to be okay. I need him to be okay."
Meanwhile in surgery the doctors were struggling to save Derek. He'd already stopped breathing during the transport to the hospital and now the doctors were fighting to stop the bleeding and repair the damage to his body. Both the beatings and the loss of blood made their attempts nearly impossible.
Derek had tried to ignore the ringing of his cell phone; he was tired and angry, tired of fighting and angry that he'd lost so many battles against evil. The ringing wasn't going to stop just because he wanted it to, so he pulled the phone from his pocket.
"What took you so long to answer?"
"Gideon?"
"Forgotten me already, Morgan?"
"No, no but you're..."
"Dead, yeah I'm dead." Gideon smiled and Derek almost heard the man chuckle; Gideon never chuckled.
"Am I dead?"
Gideon chuckled again.
"I didn't call you to talk about that."
"Then why did you?"
"You have to make amends."
"What?"
"We're losing him! We're losing him!"
"Amends, you know apologize for your sins."
"Gideon, I don't know what you're talking about."
"You have to apologize to your wife and your son for leaving them all alone."
"I didn't, I mean I don't want to leave them but...if you and I are here together then..."
"Fight, Derek! Prove them all wrong, fight!"
"Them, who's them?"
"Your demons, Carl, the man who killed your father, all the unsubs that got away; Them!"
"CLEAR!"
A jolt of electricity sent his body into the air for just a second, he was flying just above the gurney, then he crashed hard against the steel.
"CLEAR!"
"They're waiting for you! Fight while you still have a say, fight while you still have a choice!"
"Recharging..."
"Doctor, it's too late..."
"Recharging!"
"Doctor!"
"CLEAR!"
Then the line went dead, and all Derek could hear was the tone on the other end. Pocketing the phone, he looked ahead toward an odd light. He'd always been told about a bright blinding light, but this light was dull, sepia-toned, and warm and he felt compelled to walk toward it. The closer he got, the warmer the air felt around him; it was like sunshine and clouds all mixed. He could hear music, Christmas music and children laughing. Cookies, were those cookies he smelled? The deep baritone of his father's voice warning him to run. He missed his father; nothing had been the same since the day he'd been killed.
"Run, son!"
Derek turned and ran as his father's voice became fainter and fainter.
A bolt of lightning hit him again. He'd always dreamed of flying but he didn't know it would be so painful.
"Don't you give up on me, damn it; don't you give up!" The surgeon yelled.
"He's back!" One of the nurses yelled.
Closing his eyes for a moment the surgeon glanced toward the ceiling. He wasn't a religious man, but he owed this win to a higher power, and he believed in giving credit where credit was due. He had done all that he could do, thankful not to have given up when urged by members of his team to do so. The next several hours would be crucial.
Everyone had stayed past visiting hours waiting to hear about Derek. One of the nurses had checked in on them with updates but now they were becoming anxious.
Dr. Alvarez and the surgeon Dr. Parker headed to Penelope's room. Their patient had fought a difficult battle, and no one wanted him to survive more than the two of them, but they both knew the odds were stacked against him.
Everyone's attention was drawn toward the door as the two men entered; even the profilers in the room couldn't read their faces and that worried them.
"Good evening." Dr. Alvarez began. "This is Dr. Parker, he's the surgeon on Agent Morgan's case."
The others nodded and greeted them both.
"How is he?" Penelope asked.
"I won't sugar-coat it." Said Dr. Parker. "It was touch and go for most of the surgery, but he's strong and he's a fighter."
"Can we see him?" Asked Fran.
"We admitted him directly to the surgical intensive care unit and we expect him to be there for a while. I'll clear you all to see him in the morning, but the next few hours are critical."
"Thank you for everything doctors." Penelope said tearfully.
"Please let us know if you need anything." Added Dr. Alvarez.
The room was quiet as the men left the room. Just as the door closed behind them, both of their phones sounded with a text message summoning them to the SICU Stat!
"Damn, not now, not now!" moaned Dr. Parker.