CHAPTER 26

Hotch and Emily were heading out for a busy day. Not only did she have her follow up appointment with her surgeon and talking with a physical therapist but now they were heading to her first OB appointment.

Before leaving the hospital, Emily had set up the appointment with her longtime OB/GYN for the follow up that the doctor at the hospital had recommended. Given her injuries, they suggested that she would mostly likely need frequent visits but that would be decided by her doctor.

When they arrived they were relieved that the hospital had already sent a copy of her record from her hospital stay which they reviewed. While Emily had mentioned during a routine exam months earlier about her marriage, she was now able to introduce her doctor to Hotch.

After many questions and the doctor checking her over, she did another ultrasound which showed everything was progressing well with the pregnancy. They now had another picture to add to their baby book.

Overall, given what happened, the doctor was complimentary of how well Emily was doing. She commented that her labs looked great for how much blood she had lost though she still wanted Emily to maintain the recommended dietary changes. The doctor continued that Emily looked well rested and her vital signs were normal. Even her weight gain was where she liked to see it at this point in pregnancy. Hotch and Emily were relieved when they left the appointment at the overall good news.

Next up was Emily's appointment with Dr James, her orthopedic surgeon. After some follow up xrays with extra shielding of her abdomen, he stated he was pleased with the progress in the healing of her bones. He pulled up the images both from when she was in the hospital as well as today and explained the progress he saw. He then removed the sutures from the incisions made during her surgery before also taking out the pins from her shoulder.

Then it was time for the immobilizer to come off which Emily found more painful than expected. Once that was off, he checked her movement in the various joints from her fingers all the way up her arm as well as her sensation in multiple places.

While with expected stiffness, she could move her elbow, wrist and three of her fingers without a problem. Her left ring finger and pinky only moved slightly and there was diminished sensation in both fingers.

Dr James explained that it wasn't surprising nor necessarily permanent given she still had swelling in her shoulder which could be affecting the nerves as those were the two mostly likely to be affected. He cautioned her to be particularly careful with those fingers and that they would continue to monitor them as she progressed with her healing and PT.

Before she left, she was fitted for a supportive sling that replaced the immobilizer but for now was only to be removed when necessary or working on PT. She was also given a sling that could get wet to use when bathing.

When she was done with her doctor visit, they met with the person who would be handling her physical therapy. They established goals both short and long term as well as expectations. For now most of it focused on where Emily wanted to be in six to seven month when the baby was born. With that in focus, her PT also recommended an OT for her to start working with as well.

Then with upcoming appointments set, Hotch and Emily went back to the car to head back to Dave's house. By the time they reached the house, Emily was exhausted. When they walked in Dave was anxiously waiting for them. He was somewhat taken aback when Emily walked up to him with tears in her eyes and hugged him. Letting the surprise pass, he carefully hugged her back while giving Hotch a worried look over her.

When Emily pulled back, Dave kept his arm around her and quietly asked, "what's wrong, honey? What happened?"

Emily shook her head as she answered, "nothing is wrong. I just wanted to thank you. Everything looks good and it's because of what you have done for me, for us over the last couple of weeks. I know I've been difficult. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all that you are doing."

"That's good to hear. You worried me when you came in with tears in your eyes." Dave answered having relaxed as she explained

Emily shook her head as she said, "sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

At that Dave guided them into the living room where he sat in a chair across from the couch where Emily and Hotch were sitting.

Once they were settled, Dave asked, "so what did your doctors say?"

Emily smiled as she responded, "Dr Shaw thought I looked great considering what happened. My labs look good though she wants me to continue with the dietary changes and keep taking the vitamins. She commented that I look well rested. My blood pressure and weight are right where she wants them at this point. She did another ultrasound and everything looks good with the baby as well."

Dave smiled and relaxed as she explained. He couldn't have asked for more reassuring news. Even better was that Emily was associating the measures since she had been at his house with the positive feedback from her doctors. He could only hope that it helped her continue to accept all of his help as well as that of the rest of the team even as she improved.

He reached over to take the small ultrasound picture from Hotch. After looking at it, he smiled and said, "well the baby is definitely bigger." as he handed it back to him.

"Yeah."

"What about your ortho appointment?" Dave inquired having noticed the immobilizer was gone. When she had been released from the hospital there had still been some significant unknowns. He was hoping they had gotten some answers today.

Emily nodded as she answered, "healing is on target. Sutures and pins are out. The immobilizer is gone though it hurts to not have that support. He tested all the joints in my arm. Moving each of those is my physical therapy right now as my shoulder isn't ready for too much yet. Oh and I have a wet sling so I can get in the shower now..."

"...with help." Hotch interrupted

Emily rolled her eyes before continuing, "yes with help. But I can shower again. Or take a bath." Even with it being recommended that someone was with her, she was so looking forward to being able to shower. Having Hotch or JJ help her get washed up with a washcloth at the sink had been a poor substitute for the last couple of weeks.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when Dave said, "or maybe just a nap right now." as she yawned for the third time in two minutes.

Emily sighed and nodded before replying, "I think you are right. All the appointments wore me out."

With that Hotch stood up and helped her up. Emily stepped over and hugged Dave again before he said quietly to her, "you take your nap. I'm so glad you got good news today."

Emily stepped back but before she walked out of the room, she turned and asked him, "is everyone still coming for dinner tonight?"

"If that is still OK." Dave said having had some reservations about the plan not knowing how these appointments were going to go for her. Even with everything going well, he still wanted to give her an out if she just needed a quiet evening.

"I'm looking forward to seeing everyone." Emily said before walking out of the room and down to their room.

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A few minutes later Hotch joined him in the kitchen. When Dave turned to look at him he noticed that the stressed look that he had noticed as Emily described her visits was still on Hotch's face.

Bring a couple of drinks over, they sat at the table before Dave stated, "but it wasn't all good news."

Hotch looked over at him before shaking his head and saying, "No."

"What is it?" Dave asked suddenly worried again.

Hotch sighed before answering, "she only has minimal movement and sensation in two of her fingers."

"Which two?" Dave asked

"Ring finger and pinky. According to the doctor, those are the two that would be most affected by the swelling that she still has in her shoulder." Hotch replied remembering Dave had been with him when the doctor had initially explained her injuries in the hospital.

"What did he recommend?" Dave asked.

"That she is very careful with those two fingers since the sensation is muted. Other than that it is wait and see." Hotch gave the answer they were given however he still didn't like that was all they could do.

Dave sighed before saying firmly, "he warned us about this Aaron. And you can't let her see you get discouraged."

Hotch nodded as he accepted the truth of Dave's words, "true and it has only been a couple of weeks."

They sat quietly for a couple of minutes before Dave added, "well this guy is the local expert on shoulders. You saw the information that Garcia found on him about his research. It doesn't sound like she could be in better hands."

When Emily was still in the hospital, Morgan and Garcia had researched information on the doctor who did the surgery on Emily's shoulder. They wanted to find out his qualifications as well as look for other doctors who could give a second opinion once they heard the prognosis.

As they searched they found that Dr James was the local expert and go to orthopedic surgeon on difficult shoulder injuries. In other words, she already had the best person taking care of her.

"Yes I know." Hotch answered.

"I see she has a sling now. What changes did they make that I should know about?" Dave said pivoting the discussion so he knew if anything needed to change.

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Later that evening, the team was talking after finishing dinner. It was the first time they had all been together since the day that some of the team helped pack up their apartment and place most of their belongings in storage.

Although he couldn't help much when the day came, Hotch insisted on going as well to the apartment. He just felt he needed to be there. Garcia and Spencer offered to stay at the house with Emily since no one could find a reason she needed to be there. She had made a list of a few more things she would like to have with her but was OK with everything else going to storage.

The process had gone well except for when they reached Jack's room. When Hotch walked into the room, something had immediately felt off. It did not take long for him to notice with certainty that Foyet had been in the room. He had left two Eyes of Providence symbols. One on the pad of paper Jack used to draw. The other was carved into the headboard on Jack's bed.

Morgan and Dave got him out of the room before he lost it. Ultimately, the decision was made to get rid of everything in Jack's room not knowing what exactly Foyet had touched. Until Hotch and Emily made other plans, Dave had a furnished room that was for Jack. JJ agreed to pick up a few outfits that would replace the clothes. Once they had a new place, Hotch would just take Jack to pick a theme to decorate his new room.

After that the team just packed up as quickly as they could so they could leave the apartment for good.

Now they were back together for a much happier occasion. Everyone was relieved at the good news they had received that day.

In the midst of discussion, Morgan jokingly asked Emily, "So Em, tell us. Since your surgery, do you feel smarter, glitterier or more Italian?

Emily looked at him perplexed as she responded, "what are you talking about?"

"During and right after your surgery, you received four units of blood. Three of them came from people you know. One each from Rossi, Garcia and Reid. Jayje and I tried but we weren't the right type." Morgan answered.

Emily could feel the tears building up in her eyes as she looked at her friends immediately clear to her was what Morgan was saying was true. Wiping her eyes, she said, "you guys gave me your blood."

"Of course we did Emily. You needed it." Reid answered.

"Thank you" she said before she gave each of them a hug before saying, "well I have been feeling all three and at least now I know why." before all of them started laughing.