Chapter 66
"I'm sorry I scared you, Dave," Hotch uttered as his cheeks heated with shame. "I didn't mean. . ."
"It's fine, Aaron. I just wasn't expecting you to jump up like that," Rossi told him with a grin as he grabbed the cloth napkin off of the table and proceeded to blot at the wine all over his pants.
"I can't say how thankful I am for you and the team. I know I wouldn't have survived without you guys," Hotch offered sincerely as he sat back down onto the bed.
Rossi nodded. "We all look out for each other, but I do need to tell you that you wouldn't be healed like you are if it wasn't for the Schewels," Rossi admitted and sat back down in the chair.
Hotch looked at him and his eyes asked for an explanation.
"Jamison and Nora helped me heal. . ."
Hotch stood up with a horror in his eyes. "Nora? Who is Nora?"
Rossi smiled. He knew the only reason Hotch was worried about who Nora was because he'd been reduced to just his boxers. He put a reassuring hand on Hotch's arm. "Calm down, Aaron. Nora is Jamison's wife and her eyes never held anything but maternal concern for you."
"Oh," Hotch offered as he sat back down. "That's alright, I guess."
Rossi chuckled. "You don't actually think I would let some woman ogle you while you were incapacitated, do you?" he asked him as he sat beside him and put an arm around his shoulders.
Hotch shoved him away playfully. "That's exactly what you would do, David Michael Rossi!" When Rossi outright laughed as he sat back up, Hotch shook his head. "And then you'd tease me about it later, and you know it!"
Rossi pat his thigh. "Normally, yes, but I was too worried about you to even think along those lines, Aaron." He wrapped his arm around him again and gave him a tender squeeze. "Nothing like that happened. I promise you, the only people to see you in your shorts were Jamison, Nora, and myself. Oh and a couple of younger guys who helped carry you," he told him with serious eyes. "And I haven't seen them since. Hell, for all I know, Jamison or Nora forbade the rest of their family to even come near this place because I haven't seen any of the others."
Hotch took a deep breath. "I will make sure they know how much I appreciate their help."
Rossi smiled.
"But, shit, what about the case? What time is it? We better. . ." Hotch started as he jumped up again and looked around for his bag.
"Calm down," Rossi ordered as he stood up, too. "Everything is being handled, and they are almost done." Hotch's look asked for more, but Rossi went to the end of the bed and picked up Hotch's bag. "I will explain everything in a bit. First, you need to get in there, take a shower, get dressed, and then you need to call Kahlan."
Hotch winced. "She knows?"
Rossi laughed. "When doesn't she know, Aaron?"
Hotch took his bag. "How worried is she? Should I call her first?"
Rossi pat him on the back. "She was extremely worried, but I assured her you were going to be fine. I did promise her that I would have you call her as soon as you could, but she would understand you wanting to get cleaned up and dressed so you are more comfortable when you do."
Hotch took a deep breath as he nodded. "Alright. I'll be out in a few," he offered and headed to bathroom that was hooked onto the bedroom. He turned back before shutting the door. "Exactly where are we?"
"Schewel plantation, guest house near the coast."
Hotch titled his head a little and then frowned. "I don't hear any of them."
Rossi shrugged as he sat back down in the chair he's been using. "I told you I haven't seen any of them."
Hotch huffed. "They probably didn't want any of their family around for when I woke up."
Rossi shook his head at the stubborn man. "No. It was probably more like they wanted it to be as peaceful as possible so you could truly rest."
Hotch thought about it for a second and then smiled. "You're probably right."
"Get your ass in there!"
"Alright, alright," Hotch muttered as he went into the bathroom fully and shut the door behind him.
Rossi shook his head again and filled his glass with some more of the wonderful wine.
Hotch stared at his reflection in the mirror. While he hadn't gotten to see exactly what he'd looked like after his fight with the shifter, he knew it had to have been bad because of the way the whole team had looked at him. There wasn't a trace of any of that, though, and he sighed as he closed his eyes. I'm sorry I scared you all so much.
If he was being honest with himself, the wounds littered all over his body didn't scare him as much as they did the team, but knowing that he would have eventually been reduced to ashes on the sacred ground, that had scared him. No, it had terrified me. He took a deep breath and looked at himself again. I guess I'm not as immortal as I first thought.
He shook his head as he slipped off his boxers and climbed into the massive granite lined shower and turned on the water. He hung his head and let the steaming water run over his back. And here I thought that Kahlan wouldn't have to worry so much about me now every time I left for a case. He sighed. I'll get it all figured out, eventually.
After drinking about half of his wine, Rossi took out his phone to check on the team. Before he could hit 'send' on the text he'd prepared for Morgan, though, there was a knock at the door.
He got up and smiled when he opened it to find Jamison standing there. Jamison took one look toward the opened bedroom door and smiled. "How's he doing?" he asked as he turned away from the door instead of stepping through it.
Rossi nodded as he followed the older man out onto the porch. "Very well, thanks to you and your wife."
Jamison waved the thanks away with his hand. "Just one of the things we could do to repay him and you."
Rossi's brows rose as he sat down in the chair next to the old man's. "One of the things?"
Jamison chuckled. "You caught that, huh?" Rossi's brows rose as he waited for the explanation and Jamison smiled. "The women were talking, and you know how women get, and they decided they wanted to thank you all in true Hawaiian fashion."
Rossi studied the old man. "A luau?"
Jamison nodded. "A luau. When he's finally ready, bring him to the main house. Just follow the trail that leads to the right behind the cabin."
Rossi mentally winced, though. "I don't think Hotch would want you all to go through all that trouble. He. . ."
"Are you married, Agent?"
Rossi frowned wondering why he wanted to know that. "Not right now, but I have been," he told him honestly.
"So you know how when a woman gets it in her mind to do something that the only thing a man can safely do is agree with a smile, right?"
Rossi chuckled. "I know exactly what you mean."
Jamison nodded. "I told Nora that your boy probably wouldn't want it, but that damn woman can be more stubborn than a rock."
Rossi laughed. "I know a few women like that."
Jamison stood up. "It'll just be a little thing."
"Alright. I'll bring him, but I can't promise you that he will want to stay."
Jamison huffed. "Once Nora gets her hands on him, he won't be able to politely bow out."
Rossi shook his head. "We'll be there as soon as he's ready."
"And Jimmy is going to see to it that the rest of your team comes as soon as they are done."
"Alright, I'll see you at the main house."
Jamison smiled as he walked down the stairs of the porch and then went around the side of the house, and Rossi took a deep breath and went back inside to await Hotch.
Once Hotch came out, Rossi smiled at him. "Do you feel as good as you look?"
Hotch was wearing a pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt. "Yes, Dave. A hot shower still works wonders."
Rossi chuckled and gestured to the door expecting Hotch to follow him, and Hotch did. The rest of the guest house had an open concept floor plan and Rossi led him to the table sitting in between the kitchen and the living room areas. He scooted a chair out for Hotch and then sat in the one next to it and grabbed one of the glasses that were waiting. Once Hotch sat down, Rossi handed it to him. "Here."
Hotch knew what was in the glass as soon as he had come out of the bedroom. "What are you doing?"
Rossi huffed. "You need to feed, Aaron," he insisted as he sat the glass down in front of Hotch.
"I just. . ."
"And that was a small snack. After what you've been through you. . ."
"I'm fine," Hotch insisted as he slid the glass away from him. It was taking every ounce of strength he had to keep the vampire at bay with the blood being so close.
Rossi studied him. "Can you honestly say that you don't want it?"
Hotch's Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed, but he held his chin up. "I said I'm fi. . ."
"That's not the question I asked, Aaron."
Hotch wilted as he sighed. "Why are you doing this?"
Rossi held his chin up. "Because the only way you are going to get comfortable drinking that around us is to force you into it." He slid the glass of blood closer to the younger man and then grabbed the other glass. "I put it in a glass and I'm joining you for a drink. There is nothing wrong with that, Aaron. It's perfectly normal." Both of the crystal stemmed glasses held a dark red substance that almost matched perfectly in color.
Hotch's eyes flitted to the blood and then back to Rossi. "There's nothing normal about it, Dave. I'm not going. . ."
Rossi shook his head. "What's wrong with sharing a drink with an old man? We've done it a million times before."
"But it's never been that!" Hotch insisted as he pointed at the glass with the obviously thinker liquid.
Rossi moved his glass right next to Hotch's. "There's not much difference in the look of them, Aaron, they could easily be different types of wine."
"It's not just the look. . ." Hotch started and Rossi opened his mouth to argue again, but Hotch shoved the glass of blood to the older man. "Don't tell me you can't smell it!"
Rossi took a deep breath through his nose. "Yes, I can smell it, but not to the point that it bothers me."
Hotch studied him.
Rossi sighed and put a fatherly hand on Hotch's arm. "Our sense of smell isn't as strong as yours, Aaron, and yes, we all know what it is, but the only person it will bother is you, Aaron, and it shouldn't."
"But. . ."
"We accepted you for what you are when all this first happened, Aaron."
Hotch wilted even more. "But. . ."
"And that means that we accepted every part of you, even the part that has to drink blood to survive."
"But you all knowing I need to drink it and actually seeing me drink it are two different things. Not to mention you all don't need to be around it."
"Jesus, Aaron, it's a little glassful; it's not like us walking in on some grotesque crime scene or something!" He sighed as he locked eyes with the younger man. "The only one it would bother is you." Hotch looked away from him, and Rossi took a deep breath. "Is it because you can't drink it without changing? Is that why?"
Hotch's brows furrowed. "I don't know if I can or not because I have to have fangs to get into the bags. You're the one who suggested that, if you remember."
Rossi moved the glass of blood even closer to him. "You'll never know until you try it."
"Just being this close to it is making me want to change; I don't think I could keep it at bay."
"You handle crime scenes when you've fed properly, and you're not starving now, so. . ." Rossi smiled. "Hell, maybe drinking it like this every so often would help you stay in control even better."
Hotch could tell that the older agent wasn't going to back down, so he grabbed the stem of the glass. "If this doesn't work, I don't want you to bring it up again."
"Deal," Rossi agreed.
The grin on Rossi's face, though, told Hotch that wasn't close to the truth. He took a deep breath, moved the glass to his lips, and took a sip.
Rossi studied him closely as Hotch swallowed.
Hotch could tell the vampire within him wanted more, but it wasn't to the point that he had to fight it so he tilted the glass up and took a bigger drink.
Rossi smiled as Hotch sat the glass back down. "See, I told you."
"Shut up, Dave."
Rossi chuckled. "Hell, we could even get you a to-go cup with a lid and colored straw and no one would ever know what you were drinking."
Hotch shook his head. "If you ever. . ."
Rossi laughed as he stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going out to enjoy the fresh island air and beautiful sunset while you call your wife."
Hotch nodded as he took his phone out of his pocket as Rossi moved towards the door.
Rossi turned back, though, before he went out of it. "And that glass better be empty before you're done."
Hotch rolled his eyes. "Yes, Sir," he uttered and mentally winced as he brought up Kahlan in his contacts. And here I go.
