Chapter 12
After a tough night with Emily, JJ decided to grab a quick shower before Emily needed her help. Jumping into the hot shower, she felt terrific. Her batteries recharged, ready to deal with her five-year-old wife.
"Jen!" shouted Emily
A towel-clad JJ ran into the bedroom to find her wife struggling to breathe, holding her chest. She had a blue hue to her lips.
"Girls! I need your help." Yelled an emotional JJ
Running into their mother's bedroom, Vanessa and Ellie helped Emily sit up in the bed to help her breathe easier. Sandy and Robert ran in a phone in hand
"I have dialled 911, and the ambulance is 10 minutes away." He told his daughter, looking concerned.
"She's not breathing. What do I do?" Screamed Vanessa all most hysterically
Reid walked up to the bed and pulled Emily onto the floor, and started to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation while they awaited the arrival of the paramedics. Two minutes later, Ian Roberts entered with his medical equipment. After a quick examination, cutting the wires holding her jaws shut, they passed a breathing tube down Emily's throat and connected her to a ventilator. Continuing with chest compressions, they moved Emily out to their ambulance. Escorted by a police SUV, they rushed Emily to the hospital.
EJ
JJ sat in the waiting room of the ER while the doctors resuscitated Emily. The blonde deputy sheriff was beyond frightened her soul mate laid in that room, still not breathing for herself. Feeling a hand on each shoulder, she looked up to see her two distraught daughters; seeing how upset they both were just broke her resolve, and she started crying, pulling her daughters into her chest.
" She will be alright, girls; she is too stubborn to leave us," JJ told the girls through sobs. Not truly confident his time.
The waiting room started to fill with the remaining members of the Prentiss and Jareau family and members of the women bay police and fire department. JJ was now getting very impatient after Emily had been taken to have a CT scan. The doctors had wanted to take her for an MRI, but her metalwork prevented that.
" Mrs Prentiss?" asked the doctor
JJ just nodded, not trusting her voice at present. The doctor smiled " Mrs Prentiss; your wife had a scan where we discovered a large clot in her right pulmonary vein of her right lung. We call this a pulmonary embolism. We tried using clot-busting drugs where we had some success and broke some of the clots up. What we were not aware of was the clot contained tiny fragments of bone. When we broke the clot up, we released these small bone fragments to travel further into her right lung. They blocked the smallest vessels of her bronchioles. Think of them as branches of a tree that stretch to every part of the lungs. They spread around what looks like upside-down cauliflower florets. This is where oxygen is transferred from the lungs to the bloodstream. Mrs Prentiss had an earlier embolism that caused some damage sending her into respiratory arrest. Two of her right lungs lobes have been compromised and producing about 3% of what they should," the doctor paused and took a deep breath before continuing, " the reduced oxygen flow has damaged the left atrium of her heart. She will go into cardiac arrest very soon; I'm afraid there is nothing we can do until she stabilised." Emily's doctor told her wife.
JJ looked at the doctor, very worried. " so she will be ok in a few days?" JJ emotionally asked, afraid of the answer
The doctor took her hand. " No, it's when not if, at the moment. We're just waiting for her to go into cardiac arrest. We might be able to bring her back once, but each time will make it harder. It would help if you said your goodbyes now before it's too late." he told her as gently as he could. Any questions?
Sandy had to catch JJ as she collapsed; the sheriff scooped her up and carried her over to the hospital trolley. Vanessa and Ellie needed support after the crushing news from Reid and Robert.
EJ
Slowly opening her eyes, JJ looked around, hoping it had all been a nightmare. Slowly she started focusing on her mother's face full of concern.
" Not a dream?" she asked
"No," sandy tearfully answered
"How are the girls? They have already lost one set of parents and a guardian. This will destroy them." asked the troubled blonde. Sliding off the trolley carefully, she stumbled into her mother's arms.
" Sorry, take me to my girls, please, mom," she asked " I need them; I can't do this without them. I'm not as strong as Emily; I have never been." asked a distraught daughter only just hanging onto her emotions.
With Sandy's help, JJ walked towards her daughters in the waiting room. Taking a seat between her girls, she took a hand.
" Jennifer? We are ready to take you up to Emily when you are ready," Cody, the head nurse, told her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
JJ stood and pulled Vanessa and Ellie up with her; she needed the support she couldn't do this alone.
EJ
The intensive care nurse escorted JJ and the girls into Emilys intensive care room. The brunette laid in bed surrounded by multiple machines keeping her alive. JJ noticed her lips and a hue of blue still. The symphony of beeps and her ventilatory were the only sounds in her room.
" Take your time; anything you need, press the call button. I will leave you alone now." the kind nurse told the three Prentiss women leaving them alone.
Pulling a chair to Emily's bed JJ took hold of her hand, noticing it felt slightly cold to the touch. " I love you so much, Emily Prentiss. The doctor tells me I should be saying my goodbyes to you. He doesn't know you very well can't stand staying in hospital..." JJ breaks down as she is talking things finally getting too much, saying goodbye to her soul mate
Crying herself, Vanessa brings her mothers head onto her shoulder, trying to comfort her. " Mama's too stubborn to leave us. She will prove the doctors wrong. You'll see." the distraught daughter tells her mother.
The three spend the next few hours talking to Emily about anything, just spending time with the brunette.
"Elle, you need to rest for my Granddaughter; I will ask if we can get you a bed close by," JJ tells her daughter.
Just as she starts to complain, she starts yawning, and her stomach begins to grumble. At that moment, everyone bursts out laughing.
Spencer walks in " I have arranged for a bed just down the corridor. I am taking you to the cafeteria first for something to eat; I can't let my sister-in-law get hungry when she is growing a little lady inside her belly." smiled the genius
"Thanks, Spencer. You're an angel." his wife told him with a kiss watching her sister walk away under protest.
Vanessa pulled her chair up to her mothers so she could rest her head on JJ's shoulder. Abruptly Emily's monitors started to alarm. Three nurses ran back into the room, quickly scanning her monitor.
"Code Blue!" shouted a nurse
"You need to step outside now." the nurse told them firmly but polite
Walking out hysterical, JJ collapsed to the floor in the hallway. Vanessa helped her mother up from the floor with the aid of her grandfather. Mother and daughter embraced, surrounded by their friend, all silently supporting the troubled pair. Time seemed to stop for Vannessa and her mother, as they assumed until JJ heard.
"Mrs Prentiss?" the doctor asked
Turning to face him, expecting the worst, "yes!"
Taking a deep breath, " we restarted her heart, this time. I think you should consider signing a do not resuscitate order; we are just prolonging her agony, Mrs Prentiss. Every time she codes, her heart and right lung are damaged further," he said
"No!" screamed Ellie, supported by Reid
The doctor started to walk away and abruptly turned around to face JJ
" There is a possibility, but the chance of survival is around 20-25%. If we continue, we might be able to resuscitate her 1 or 2 more times, but she deteriorates each time until her body give out." the doctor told JJ
" 20-25% chance is better than doing nothing. What would the operation entail?" asked a barely hanging on JJ
" I would remove her right lung, and my colleagues would perform a triple heart bypass. If Emily survives the operation, her life will be significantly altered. She would need to be on blood-thinning medication for life." he paused " Mrs Prentiss, this is a highly complicated procedure with a high mortality rate. I need to start as soon as possible while Emily is still strong enough." he warned the distraught blonde wife
JJ locked eyes with her two daughters, "do it 20-25% is much better than nothing. My wife is a fighter. How long will the operation take?" asked JJ now with a slight bit of hope
" If we have no complications, 7 hours. But we need to start immediately," he told the worried blonde.
EJ
JJ escorted her wife as far as she could go giving her a quick kiss on her forehead as she disappeared into the operating room.
" I will see you soon, Emily Prentiss," JJ told her disappearing wife. And collapsed to the floor
Derek Morgan caught the collapsed blonde before she hit the floor. Picking up the collapsed blonde, he carried her towards a nurse who told him to follow her. He laid the emotionally drained blonde down onto the hospital bed.
"I will look after her, Princess, until you get your lazy ass out of bed." Derek quietly promised
"Amen to that, Dereck Morgan." a very emotional Garcia told him
Turning around, he found a very emotional Trina and Garcia hugging each other
"Tell me she is going to make it, Derek?" sniffed Garcia
" she will crawl across broken glass to meet Emily Rosaline Prentiss, the baby girl. I would put money on it." Smiled Morgan pulling the two women into a hug.
EJ
Emily had been on the operating table for six hours now. They had successfully removed her right lung and completed her bypass surgery. All that remained was removing her from the bypass machine and restarting her heart.
As time passed, JJ grew more agitated and paced the waiting room like a deranged mama bear. The combination of coffee and fear didn't mix well, as the swelling around Derek Morgans right eye demonstrated. Unfortunately for Derek, he had been the person to ask her if she was ok too many times, and she punched him.
Silence fell in the waiting room as the surgeon approached JJ.
"Jennifer, everything went as well as it could. We have taken her to the I.C.U for the next few days. We are not totally out of the woods; the next 24 hours will test if her body handled the operations. I am afraid I can only allow one person into her room at a time, and unfortunately, you will not be allowed to sleep in her room. Your wife is a fighter, Jennifer; she's made it halfway through her fight." smiled the surgeon shaking her hand.
EJ
Sat beside her wife in the intensive care bed, Jennifer allowed a few tears to fall. Emily laid in her hospital bed looking like a crash test dummy, her chest covered in white bandages covering her two operation sites.
" You, sweetheart, are one stubborn woman. I am so happy you haven't left me; now I need you to wake up and open those gorgeous brown eyes for me." sniffed JJ. "The tricky bit is behind you; your granddaughter arrives in three months, granny. You won't want to miss out on snuggling with her. I love you." her emotional wife told her."
EJ
After a week, they were about to wake Emily. She had suffered a slight set back suffering a minor postoperative infection. The doctor injected the reversal agent into her arm and stood back.
" Jennifer, it should only take a few minutes before Emily wakes. I will leave you alone with her, press the call button after she is with us." smiled the doctor
"Thank you." smiled a relieved blonde
JJ held her wife's hand, eyes transfixed on her face, waiting for signs of her waking. After five minutes, she started to open her eyes for the first time in eight days.
" That's it, Emily, let me see those gorgeous brown eyes." coaxed her wife
Emily slowly opened her eyes and looked around, confused. She smiled when she found JJ sitting alongside her bed.
"Hi," she croaked
Passing Emily a straw through her now rewired jaw, she greedy drank the water to quench her parched throat.
" Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, you scared the crap out of me. Don't you ever do that to me again?" a weeping wife told her
Emily gently squeezed her hand. "what happened, Jen?" Emily asked weakly
" Long story short, you had a clot in your right lung that damaged your lung and heart. You stopped breathing and frightened the life out of your daughters, by the way. To save your life, they had to remove your right lung and perform a triple heart bypass." pausing to allow Emily to catch up.
" I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to frighten you. I need some pain relief. My pain score is about 12." Grimaced Emily
JJ pressed the call button immediately, knowing if her wife complained about being in pain, you should add two to her answer.
" Hello Mrs Prentiss, you had a lot of people worried. How do you feel?" he asked his patient
"My right lung hurts, considering it's gone, and my sternum hurts like hell. What did you use to split it open?" asked Emily
The doctor smiled and ordered her pain medication to increase. He handed her the button for the patient-controlled analgesia.
" your chest is still painful due to the damaged nerves from the removal of your lung. I will start you on some Gabapentin for that nerve pain; Morphine will not work. Your wife has told me to add two to what pain score you give me.
Emily scowled at her wife, who was grinning.
EJ
Emily had been home from the hospital for three months; she had adapted well to only one lung and her triple bypass. To everyone's surprise, Emily complied with every one of her doctor's instructions during her recovery. Nearly dying had scared the brunette to her core.
" Stop rubbing your chest scar," warned JJ
Emily scowled at her wife. "I swear this itching is worse than anything I've been through. Will you please rub some cream into it, please, Jennifer? I will do anything for you." begged her wife.
"Fine, but you better not just want me to feel you up." smirked a cheeky blonde
"Arghh! Moms," screamed Vanessa, "my waters just broke"
Her generally calm parents started to panic a little bit before their training kicked in. Emily grabbed the hospital bag as JJ rushed everyone out to their SUV. They set off for the hospital, ready for the delivery of Emily (Emmy) Rosalie Prentiss.
A slightly out of breath, Emily smiles at JJ. "Ready to be a grandmother?"
"No!" she replied with a smile.
It would seem, Emmy, Prentiss was in a rush to meet her mother as she was screaming her little lungs out in the delivery room a mere hour after Ellie had arrived on the maternity ward.
" she is beautiful, sweetie." gushed JJ
Emily is speaking quietly to her granddaughter in Italian. "What did. You tell her, Mama?" Enquired Ellie
Emily looked up and smiled " I told her she was beautiful and wouldn't want for anything. Her grandmother's love her so much." smiled Emily
"Grandma JJ would like another snuggle. Granny Emmy seems to be hogging our new granddaughter," smirked JJ holding her hands out.
EJ
Emily and Jennifer pulled up outside their cabin after leaving Ellie and baby Emily in the hospital, both sound asleep. Sheriff Peters SUV sat outside, obviously waiting for them.
"Can I talk to you, please, Emily?" he asked with a smile. " don't worry, it's not bad."
The three settled on the couches in the lounge after removing their heavy coats.
" How are you feeling, Emily?" asked the sheriff
"Well, thank you," Emily replied, a little concerned
"I'll get straight to the point. You do know you can't work out on patrol with one lung?" he asked Emily
Emily just nodded and grabbed JJ's hand for support.
"I have a proposition for you. The mayor thinks the same as I do; it would be ridiculous to lose all your years of experience in the FBI and WBPD. He has permitted me to offer you the new undersheriff's position. You would take a lot of the day to day mundane tasks away from me so I could concentrate on my paperwork. You still get out from the station and support the sergeants in the field. You can't respond to 911 calls. You will have to leave that up to your wife; I might be able to allow you a hair dye allowance as she does seem to get herself into trouble regularly." laughed the Sheriff
"Oh my God, yes!" smiled Emily " Jennifer won't be getting herself into trouble anymore. She is permanently answering the phones so I can keep an eye on her myself." laughed Emily
Thank you for reading.
DoctorMS