Chapter 64

Once Morgan and the rest of them were gone, Rossi knelt down next to Hotch again and looked to Jamison. "So just pour this on him, right?" he asked as he held up the bag of blood.

"That can wait. We need to get him covered and out of the sun first. We can see to healing him as soon as he's safe," Jamison told him and then looked to the younger members of his family. "Fashion a litter and grab some loulu to cover Mana'akua so we can take him and that 'lole to the boat," he instructed as he pointed at the dead girl.

Rossi looked to an old woman beside Jamison. "What did he say?"

She smiled. "He wants to cover the agent with palm boughs."

"And what does 'lole mean?" Rossi asked as he checked on Hotch.

She smiled. "Literally it means rat, but I assure you he implies something far worse."

Rossi chuckled. "I bet."

Jamison clapped him on the back. "Agent Rossi, I would like to introduce you to my wife, Nora."

Rossi stuck his hand out to the woman. "It's Dave, please, and it's nice to meet the woman who keeps this one in line."

She shook his hand as she laughed. "He would need four wives to even attempt that."

Jamison chuckled as he put his arm around her. "I'd tell you I'd like to have four wives but this one beats me enough by herself."

Rossi laughed as he shook his head, and when a young man and woman brought several palm tree branches over and laid them on the ground next to Hotch, Rossi eyed them. "And why do we have to cover him up?"

Jamison grabbed one of Hotch's arms and unbuttoned his shirt cuff. "Because he will bake even faster with being unconscious," he started and then pulled the sleeve up to expose Hotch's pale forearm, and his skin immediately reddened and started to blister in the full sun.

"Jesus Christ!" Rossi yelled and then pulled Hotch's sleeve back down.

Jamison nodded. "It a testament to his strength that that doesn't happen when he is awake, but he can't stop it when he's asleep."

A horrified expression overtook Rossi's features as he looked at the old shapeshifter. "You mean he has to actively stop that from happening the whole time he's in the sun?"

The old man shrugged. "And the stronger the sun, the harder it is."

Rossi shook his head and gently stroked Hotch's hair back from his forehead. "We're going to take of you, Aaron," he offered quietly and his phone vibrated. When he took it out of his pocket, he winced. It was Kahlan asking what the hell was going on. He took a deep breath and text her back: 'I'm taking care of him, and he's going to be fine. I will explain later.'

'You're sure he's going to be fine?'

'Yes, Kiddo, I promise.'

'Alright. Call me when you can and tell him I love him.'

'I will,' he text back and then slid his phone back into his pocket. He looked Hotch over again. You better not make me into a liar, Aaron. He sighed heavily as he ran a hand down his face. Cause I know I won't be able to face her or the kids if not.

Once a litter of branches and a few of the younger men's shirts was made, they laid Hotch on it and covered him with the palm leaves. "We can start healing him on the boat," Jamison pointed out as they picked Hotch up and started walking. One of the younger men just grabbed the body of the girl and threw her over his shoulder.

"That one bag won't nearly be enough to heal the damage done to this poor boy. You know that, Pilikua," Nora pointed out.

Rossi bit his lip. "He has more in the SUV and at the hotel. Maybe one of you can go and get it."

Jamison shook his head. "There's no need. We have what, about seven pints lying right there," he said with a grin as he pointed to their dead unsub.

"Pilikua, I doubt the agent would allow something like that!" the old woman insisted.

Jamison huffed but he looked to Rossi with raised brows.

"And what Hotch doesn't know won't hurt him," Rossi put in with a grin.

Jamison's grin matched Rossi's. "Besides, shifter blood will heal him even faster."

Rossi looked at him and then the woman. "Heal him faster?"

Jamison's wife shrugged. "Shifter blood, while not as strong as vampire blood, has very powerful healing properties."

"So it will just heal him?" Rossi asked trying not to sound disrespectful, but he needed to make sure they weren't doing anything long lasting to the man he loved like a son.

Jamison laughed. "It wouldn't affect him in any other way unless he drank it."

Rossi stopped mid step. "What would happen if he drank it?"

The woman smiled. "It would allow him to shift for a time."

Rossi eyes grew wide. "What? I thought Jimmy was joking when he told us that."

Nora laughed. "You said the boy was young, Pilikua, but I didn't realize they were all so inexperienced."

Rossi shrugged as they all started walking again. "Yeah, well, sorry. This is all quite new to us."

"Not to worry, Agent, we'll get you all through this and you might even learn something along the way," Jamison told him with a grin.

"And how do you know so much about vampires?" Rossi wanted to know.

Jamison smiled. "I haven't always lived on an island," he said simply.

Once they had Hotch safely down in the boat's small cabin, and the boat started its journey back towards the Maui Island, Nora joined Rossi. "So can we start healing him now?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Yes, Jamie is procuring the rest of the blood. We need to get him exposed so that we can heal all of his wounds," she instructed as she handed Rossi a pair of scissors and then started undoing Hotch's Kevlar vest. After laying it open, she started cutting through Hotch's shirt.

Rossi took a deep breath and started in on what was left of Hotch's pants. When he finished with one leg he noticed a syringe in Nora's hand. "What's that?"

She looked at him. "A mixture of rompun and ketaset," she said simply as she readied to stick the needle into Hotch's vein.

"Horse tranquilizer?!" Rossi put a firm hand on the woman's arm. "You're not giving him that!"

"It's used for many different animals, not just horses, and. . ."

"It won't hurt him, Agent," Jamison cut in as he came down the stairs.

Rossi turned to him. "That much could kill a guy!" he insisted as he eyed the large amount in the syringe.

Jamison sat a metal pail down on a side cabinet and turned to Rossi with a patient look. "Yes, that amount could 'kill a guy' as you put it, but only a human guy." He took a deep breath and stepped closer to Hotch. "Only two things can kill a vampire, Agent, and a strong sedative is not one of them."

Rossi looked back and forth between the old couple. "But why is it needed?"

"The only reason he hasn't woken up already is because he is so weak, but as soon as we start healing him, the pain will make him come screaming back to consciousness." He rested a hand on Hotch's arm. "And I thought you didn't want him in pain."

Rossi studied the man he loved like a son as he considered their words.

"Watch," Nora told him as she moved and touched light fingers to Hotch's left foot. As soon as she did, a small moan escaped Hotch as his face scrunched up in pain, so she quickly withdrew her hand. "Please let us help ease his pain."

Rossi reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as he considered them. "How can he still feel that when he's unconscious?"

Jamison sighed through his nose as he pursed his lips. "Perhaps he is too powerful to truly be rendered unconscious, or perhaps he is already coming to. I don't know to tell you the truth. I have never actually dealt with one the likes of Mana'akua," he admitted as he looked Hotch over again.

"How long will that shit keep him out?"

Jamison shrugged. "I don't know to be honest, but I hope long enough to heal him." He moved further and placed a gentle hand on Rossi's arm. "Please, Agent Rossi, we owe it to him to help him, and that sedative cannot hurt him, I promise."

Rossi took a long, slow breath and then nodded. "Alright. Do it. He's experienced too much pain already."

Nora gave him a small smile and then administered the sedative.

"How will we know when he's truly out?" Rossi asked them.

"Watch," Jamison instructed as he held up Hotch's top lip. Within a few seconds, Hotch sagged even further into the mattress he was lying on and after another second his fangs retreated back into his gums. "Completely relaxed," the older man offered as he let Hotch go and moved to the bucket. "Get him undressed."

Rossi moved to rid Hotch of the rest of his pants as Nora finished with Hotch's shirt. As Jamison rolled Hotch on his side, Nora winced at the slashes on Hotch's back as they pulled the vest out from under him. "This poor boy. I would have thought the vest would have protected him better."

Rossi winced. "A bullet proof vest is made to stop high speed projections, not slashes. They can be cut with pretty much anything sharp," he instructed as he grabbed the vest and a disgusted look crossed his face at the jagged rips going across the top of the back of it. "What the hell did he, she attack him with?"

"Looks like claws. God knows what forms she took in her fight with him," Jamison mused as they continued with the rest of Hotch's clothes.

When they had him down to nothing but his boxers, Nora shook her head as she looked over the Unit Chief's damaged body. "The boy has been through a lot."

Rossi nodded as he stroked the hair back from Hotch's forehead. "Yes, too much."

She reached a gentle hand to Rossi's shoulder. "He is very strong. He will heal."

Rossi pat Hotch on the head and then turned to the older woman with a small smile. "I know. I just really hate seeing him like this." His sigh was heavy as his eyes trailed over the abused body. "How long will it take?"

Jamison grabbed the ladle from the bucket. "The minor wounds will heal quickly, but his legs. . ." He took a deep breath and moved toward them. "That will take a while because he just doesn't have to heal, he has to regenerate."

Rossi studied him for a moment and then nodded. "I don't know how I will ever be able to thank you for all of this."

Nora shook her head. "It's a small payment for what he has done for our family and all of us. It is we who owe him."

"And you, too, of course," Jamison added with a smile. Rossi frowned and Jamison's brows rose. "Are you not the one who shot the beast?"

"I am, but I only got the shot because Aaron got that little girl away from it," Rossi explained.

Jamison shook his head. "Like father, like son."

"What?"

Jamison laughed and grabbed the ladle. "Modesty is a good trait to pass to him. Most vampires are cocky."

Rossi shrugged. "I didn't make him like that; he was that way when I first met him."

Jamison appraised him for a moment and then smiled. "So a great man from the start, then, that's a good thing," he pointed out and then poured the ladle full of blood over Hotch's right leg.

Hotch's charred flesh immediately began to bubble and hiss but the blackened outer layer started to turn pink. Rossi's brows rose. "That's amazing."

Nora dipped a rag into the bucket and then moved towards Hotch's face. "It is. He will be back to perfection before you know it." She ran the drenched rag over the gouges along Hotch's jaw and they sealed shut as if zipped closed.

Rossi grabbed another rag and moved to work on Hotch's other side while Jamison focused on Hotch's lower body.