(this is a bad day for Aaron, but in upcoming chapters I'm going to start including some of the team more :)

Aaron had been making good progress, Haley had started letting him see Jack twice a week now, which made him happier. He was starting to look optimistic, maybe he had hope after all.
He wasn't being as stubborn towards Emily helping him, even though he still hated it. But like he had been warned, they'd be bad days and good days. Today was a bad day. A really bad day.

Aaron awoke with this head pounding and a terrible pain in his neck, he looked around and saw Emily had already got up. He sighed, weakly pushing himself up slightly before giving up and falling back down. "Em.." he choked out, he couldn't say the rest of it. He was scared his speech had deteriorated. He couldn't go back to that.

In hospital, it had taken them weeks to understand anything he said, he knew what he had wanted to say but it never came out. The doctors called is aphasia. When he finally could form words, it would come out wrong or in stutters. He still stuttered now, but not quite as bad and he was able to form words.

"Em." He repeated, stuttering as he did. He was quiet, he didn't have enough energy to shout.
Emily was walking upstairs anyway to wake him for his meds as she heard a small plead of her name. She hurried in, "Hey..what's up?" Emily said, sitting next to him on the bed. He looked at her, struggling to form the words without stuttering, "I- it..it hu-hurts." He formed, placing a hand on his head and wincing.
She nodded, "Have your meds. That'll help" she said, placing a cup in front of him with a straw which she held. Once he took them, he leaned back and closed his eyes in pain. "Would you like to rest?" She asked. He nodded, and Emily placed a kiss on his knuckle before walking out.

Two hours later, he had awoke and groaned as he opened his eyes. He saw Emily in the distance, getting changed. God, he missed touching her, she was so sexy. Emily put her shirt on and turned around to see Aaron was awake, "Hey, how you feeling?" She asked.
Aaron groaned, "Be- better." He said, "Hurts..st-still but..bet- better" he added, getting frustrated by the stutter. Emily nodded, being patient as he spoke. She knew how annoyed he got when he couldn't formulate the words correct, or his stutter came.

"Come on, let's get you dressed." She said softly, he yawned and nodded slightly.
Once she had dressed him, they made their way downstairs, she pulled his chair up to the table and went to make breakfast.
"How does pancakes sound? I made some for myself earlier..as you know their my favourite and saved some in case you wanted them" she asked, looking at him. He nodded, he wasn't in much of a mood to talk, it would only get him more agitated. Emily warmed the pancakes up, and sat down next to him at the table. "Here, you go." She said, handing him a plastic fork. He was able to grip hold of the plastic better, and managed it better. He slowly took it, shaking as he ate a few forkfuls. He groaned frustratedly as he split the syrup onto his chin, and dropped a bit of the pancake on his lap.
"It's okay, you've almost had it all." She said, wiping his chin with a napkin and cleaning the piece of pancake from his lap. "You can do it." She said, softly but not condescending in any way. He nodded softly, as he tried again, dropping it once more. "Don- don't want..an- any- more." He said, in an annoyed tone. She nodded, "Okay..but that was the best you've done, your getting better, Aaron." She said, before taking the plate away.

It irritated him so much that he couldn't even feed himself without spilling it, making a mess or asking for help. It was embarrassing to say the least, and he knew Emily didn't mind but he did.

Once the kitchen was cleaned, Emily went to join Aaron who was in the living room watching TV, since there wasn't much else he could do these days.
"Aaron, we have to talk about something.." she said, coming next to him. "Yeah?" He asked, raising a brow. "The bureau want me to come back." She said with a sigh, "In the next 3 weeks." She added.
Aaron exhaled, he knew what that meant, it meant that he would have a complete stranger taking care of him when she could be gone for days on end. He hated the thought of that. He valued his pride, and the only person he'd ever let himself be vulnerable around was Emily. She was the only who he'd let take full care of him, even in rehab. But now, he was going to have to expose himself to a complete stranger. "The rehab centre recommended some people.."
Aaron scoffed, "Wh-what..so- they can all..treat me- like- like a child." He stuttered, he despised being at the rehab centre. The nurses eeee condensing, and they'd speak about him like he wasn't there. "We could try somewhere private..I'll start researching people that are recommended." He sighed, he was angry and annoyed which often led to emotional outbursts. His eyes were welling up and he could see it coming, compose yourself Hotchner. "Aaron.." she said sweetly, seeing he was starting to become distressed. He shook his head, refusing to listen to her as she started hyperventilating, breathing heavily as tears fell down his face. Then, an uncontrollable sob escaped and that set him off. God, he didn't want to do this. Not in front of her. As much as he tried to stop it, it worsened the situation.

"Hey. It's okay." She said, pulling him into her arms, he cried softly into her chest. "I know your not keen on the idea..and I wish I didn't have to go. But, if I don't they're not going to be generous about me taking a longer absence." She said,stroking the back of his hair.
He nodded, "I- know..it's just- just..embarrassing, I don't- want..people seeing me. Like- like this." He said, his voice shaky as he started to calm down. She soothed him, "I know, and I'm sorry for that. But I promise, we'll find someone who you like and trust, it's their job Aaron. I'm sure they've seen people who have it worse, people who aren't getting better." She said, as she pulled away and kissed him softly. He nodded, as he kissed back, "I know- I- I know..I'm lucky." He said, "It could-be a lot- a worse than it is." She smiled a little, "yeah, I still have you. That's all that matters."

That afternoon, they took a walk to get some fresh air and Emily insisted that it would help him improve his mood. As usual, she was right. For the time he was out, he felt better and his headache wasn't as bad. It was Aaron's day to have Jack today, he would here in a few hours. He was excited to see his son, but also was exhausted and didn't think he'd be much fun for Jack tonight. Not that he was anyway, these days. But he wasn't in a sociable mood.

Aaron was practicing writing on a paper when he felt it, the humiliation burned inside him and he felt red. He felt the dampness coming from down below, he sighed, it had been weeks since he'd done that. He thought he was getting better at feeling it, he hadn't had an accident in so long. If the doctors found out, they'd easily keep him in the god awful pull up things that may as well be diapers.

There was a day in rehab, when he'd first got there, he remembered the first accident he'd had. The nurses were patronising, treating him with little respect and comfort about it, that was until Emily showed and sorted it all. Claiming it was a small error and it wasn't his fault. The embarrassment was too much for him, for her to see him do that. It was then, and it certainly was now.

He started getting worked up, he felt himself getting hot and flustered. His breathing became fast, not again he thought. This was the second time today his emotions had got the best of him. He put his hands to his head, a small groan escaping as he tried to calm himself before Emily heard.

It was too late, she had heard already and came rushing in. "What's up?" She asked, wiping a tear from his cheek. "I- I can't fucking do it." He said in between a sob. "Do what?" She asked, taking his hand into hers. "I- I couldn't feel it coming.." he sighed, pointing down below. She sighed, she knew how hard this bit was to him, it was prob the part that pissed him off the most. It was the humiliation, this was something toddlers did, not grown men.

"It's okay...it's not major, you've done well for a while now." She said, reassuring him. "It's- not okay!" He shouted, he was getting angry now. Emily gasped, letting him get out his anger, she knew he couldn't help it. "Come on..let's get you cleaned up, I'll run a bath." She said, softly. She wasn't phased by it, she had seen it happen before, it didn't gross her out. It just made her feel bad for Aaron, because it was a while since this had happened. It could be just because he was having a bad day, he hadn't been like this for a while.

Emily drew him the bath, and helped him in, he could manage cleaning himself it was just his hair that he needed assistance with. "Do you want to relax for a bit?" She asked, after she had helped wash his hair. He nodded, "Yeah" "I'll come back in 20 minutes" she said, kissing him softly before leaving.

Aaron sighed, his day had gone from bad to worse, it had been the worst day he'd had in a while. Sometimes, he wondered how Emily could cope with him. His mood swings were hard, and they must be for her too. He mentally made note that once he was able to do so, he would spend the days treating her for being there through it all. She deserved a medal, he never made it easy. Even before his accident, he was stubborn and not the easiest to be with.

Aaron closed his eyes, the bath was the first time today he had felt relaxed.
He was exhausted, today had been emotionally draining.

Emily came back in 20 minutes later, "Aaron, wake up." She shook him gently. He mumbled, "Tired.." he said, not opening his eyes. She nodded, "I know, come on, we'll get you into bed." She said. "Can't..Jack- coming" he said, he was surprised with himself that he'd remembered, and took note of the fact he was finally starting to process short term information.

Emily helped him out of the bath and took him into the bedroom, he was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open. "I think we should rearrange Jack, I know you want to see him..but it's been a long day, and your exhausted." He nodded sadly, "Yeah..I-I think we- should." She kissed his head, helping him into some joggers and a top. "I'm sorry about today.." he said, as he got into the bed and laid down. She shook her head, "You have nothing to be sorry for. Tomorrow will be a better day, I promise." He nodded, and motioned for a kiss.
She chuckled, kissing him softly, "Get some sleep, Aaron." She said.
He nodded, closing his eyes, unable to keep them open any longer.

Today was hard, his emotions had been all over the place and he hated how he wasn't in control of that. But he wasn't going to give up.