CHAPTER 20

Later, Dave was sitting by Hotch's bedside after sending the rest of the team home. A light tapping on the door roused him as he was starting to doze off. The door opened and two people in scrubs walked into the room.

As they looked at Hotch, one of them said, "Agent Hotchner, I'm Dr Winters. We met in the ER. I have been taking care of your wife. This is Dr James the orthopedic surgeon who operated on her."

"How is she?" Hotch asked groggily.

Dr Winters nodded before responding, "stabilized and in recovery at the moment. We will be moving her to the ICU shortly. As long as she stays stable, we can move her to a regular room tomorrow morning."

"How is her arm?" Dave asked cautiously having been in the apartment and heard the update earlier.

At that point, Dr James looked over at him and replied to both Dave and Hotch, "I placed a plate and two screws in her clavicle to stabilize the fracture there. Her shoulder was a much more complicated repair. I needed to place several plates and screws in the bones that surround the shoulder joint as well as several pins to hold the bones in their correct place while they start to heal. This was needed because the entire joint needed to be rebuilt as that is where the bullet did the most damage.

She has an immobilizer on her shoulder and arm that will restrict any movement. In a couple of weeks, we will take off the immobilizer and remove the pins before starting her on light PT and OT before progressing as she heals.

I'm not going to lie to you. It is going to be a long road to recovery for her. The next six to eight months are going to be crucial in her getting back as much function and flexibility as possible in her left shoulder."

"Months? Will she fully recover?" Hotch blurted out surprised as he attempted to comprehend what he was being told.

Dr James sighed before continuing, "I am hopeful but we won't know the extent of any permanent damage including any potential nerve injuries until at least two weeks from now when the swelling has diminished and I can have her start moving her arm.

In addition to the fractures and soft tissue injuries, the area where the bullet hit is also where the blood supply and nerves are for her arm. That is why she required several transfusions before we were able to control the bleeding. Early indications are that if there are any nerve issues, they will be minimal so we are optimistic. There is no reason to anticipate that she would not be able to do most normal daily activities once she has fully recovered as long as she takes her PT seriously.

However I will say that it is unlikely that she will regain the flexibility and strength needed to return to full field status. I know better than to tell an FBI agent it is impossible but you and Agent Prentiss both need to be prepared for that likely outcome and plan accordingly."

Hotch looked down shocked at the prognosis that he had just heard. He knew that being forced out of the field would devastate Emily given how much she loved their work. When he glanced over he could see a similar stunned look on Dave's face. Before he could say anything, Dave asked quietly, "does she know any of this yet?"

Dr Winters shook her head before answering, "no she hasn't regained consciousness yet. We did an MRI and the good news is that there is no brain swelling or a skull fracture from when she hit her head."

"What are the rest of her injuries?" Hotch asked.

Dr Winters responded, "we had a plastic surgeon close the laceration on her head from her fall so she should have minimal scarring. The chest tube is doing its job allowing her lung to reexpand and her oxygen levels have remained stable. We will take that out in a couple of days as long as no problems arise. She has now received three units of blood. We will assess in a couple of hours if she needs more."

"When will she wake up? You said her head was OK but she is still unconscious." Hotch asked frustration clearly in his voice.

After the report on her injuries and current status he wanted to be there with her. While he was upset that she hadn't woken up yet he was worried that when she did, no one would be there.

Dr Winters walked over to the other chair in the room and sat down looking at Hotch before calmly answering, "Emily's body has experienced a significant trauma. Her body is reserving energy to heal. I would anticipate her waking up in the next few hours as the anesthesia wears off though she may only be awake for short periods of time.

In addition to all her injuries, in general, women in the first trimester of pregnancy will fatigue more easily."

Hotch's eyes widened before he loudly blurted out, "she's pregnant?"

Dr Winters had a brief look of surprise cross her face before answering, "yes, it came up in the lab work we did before her surgery. You didn't know?"

Hotch shook his head feeling his anxiety rise before answering, "no."

Opening the chart she was carrying, Dr Winters took a small piece of paper out and handed it to Hotch before responding, "here is a copy of the ultrasound OB did in recovery. Everything looks good now but we will be keeping a close eye for the next few days. With the stress to her body, we are concerned about her miscarrying however there is no indication of that today. They estimated that she is about nine weeks. OB will do another ultrasound tomorrow morning."

Hotch focused on the ultrasound picture as she spoke. As he heard the plan, he looked up and stated, "I would like to be there."

She nodded as she answered, "of course, I'll make sure they know."

"When can I see her?" Hotch asked wanting to be out of this bed and with Emily.

Dr Winters stood up and answered, "I will call and let your nurse know when she is settled in her room."

"Thank you." Hotch answered as she and Dr James left the room and closed the door.

The room was quiet for several minutes as Hotch focused again on the ultrasound picture. He did not look up when Dave asked, "you didn't know?"

Hotch shook his head and quietly answered, "no and neither did she."

"Are you sure?" Dave questioned.

Hotch looked over at him and nodded his head before responding, "yes, she would have told me. She would have found an excuse to avoid going to Detroit. Twice. She was tired and seemed off a few times that I knew of but she mentioned it was stress about what we were going to do about our jobs."

Dave sighed and then nodded as he thought about how Emily would have reacted to the news. While she may not have taken herself immediately out of the field, she wouldn't have taken unnecessary risks. Her assignment in Detroit had been risky and she had willing gone twice.

Assessing just that piece of information he had to agree with Hotch that Emily hadn't known about her pregnancy. Dave nodded as he answered, "true. She wouldn't have taken that level of risk if she had known."

They sat in silence again before Dave looked at his watch after noticing the sunlight coming through the window. Turning to Hotch he said, "the kids should be back soon. I'm going to go to the office and talk to Strauss. I'll do what I can to distract her from Emily being at your apartment at 2AM without letting your secret out." He didn't want to leave before he saw that Emily was OK with his own eyes but dealing with Strauss needed to happen sooner rather than later.

Hotch nodded though dealing with Strauss wasn't at the top of his list of concerns right now. Nevertheless he did understand that it needed to be done and accepted Dave's offer to talk to her. "Thanks Dave."

Dave stood up and looked at him sternly before answering, "don't thank me yet Aaron. You need to decide soon what you want to do going forward."

Hotch nodded even more sure now what he wanted to do. Still holding the picture, he replied, "I know and I am certain of what I want to do but I want to talk to Emily before making it official."

Dave's stance and voice softened as he answered, "what are you planning?"

Hotch sighed before saying, "I'm going to leave the BAU. As I've looked at various options over the last couple of weeks, there have been some that are interesting. None are the BAU but I can't justify the hours and schedule anymore. In addition to Emily and now a baby, I have Jack. I have so little time with Jack now. And I don't want to lose Emily too to this job."

Dave relaxed and smiled at his words hoping that is the direction he would go after their talk in the ER. He had lived through what the BAU had done to his own marriages as well as the distress he had witnessed from Hotch when his marriage with Haley had broken down. As much as Emily understood the work more than his own ex-wives or Haley, with what happened this seemed like a good time to make a change.

Dave looked over and answered reassuringly, "you are making the right choice Aaron. Emily understands the job much better than Haley ever could. But you are right- her, Jack and the baby all need you. And from the sound of it, Emily is going to need a lot of help and support over the next few months as she recovers from her injuries. While pregnant."

Agreeing with Dave's assessment he answered, "she is. I need to take a leave of absence and go from there." Hotch nodded as he felt more certain of his decision. Transferring is what he needed to do. As soon as he spoke to Emily, he would start the process.

Dave watched as the determination came over Hotch's face, recognizing that now that he had made his decision it would be difficult to change it. But before he left, he wanted to go over how he saw the best path to proceed given the current circumstances, "can I make a suggestion if this is the path you and Emily decide to pursue?"

"Of course." Hotch replied.

Dave nodded before he said, "I will put in paperwork today for medical leave for both you and Emily as well as Derek taking over as interim unit chief as we discussed.

After talking to her, if you are going to leave the BAU, contact HR and request a sabbatical along with your intent to permanently step down as the BAU unit chief. You can at that point make your recommendation through them that Derek remain as the new Unit Chief. This will allow you to keep your SSA status and seniority as well as remove you from Strauss' chain of command. She will have less influence when you do come back in terms of where you go and in what position."

Hotch sighed and gave a small smile about Dave's suggestion on how to sidestep Strauss as that had been his greatest concern about how to transfer given what she had tried a couple of years earlier after suspending him. Looking over at Dave, he answered, "sounds like a plan. And with a sabbatical, I can always consult if needed depending on how Emily is recovering."