Chapter 13

Triage

Morgan pushed Haley into a chair and stared at her.

"How on earth do you equate murdering Jack's father with protecting him?" Morgan was mystified. "Do you know how much he loves that child?"

Haley's eyes were burning with anger. "He's a pervert!"

Morgan slapped Haley's face in indignation. "You had better pray that Aaron survives." Morgan wanted to get back to Aaron, but he had to keep Haley controlled. "Because that little boy has lost his mother today. He can't lose his father as well."

"He has not lost his mother. I am his mother." Haley spat, dabbing her bleeding lip with the back of her hand.

"You are being charged with the attempted murder of two Federal Agents," He glanced at Hotch. "Possibly murder. You won't be seeing the light of day for a long time."

Morgan could hear Hotch's breathing becoming labored, as if he was breathing through liquid. Pinkish foam was forming at his lips as his airways filled with his blood.

Where the hell is that ambulance?

He undid the cuffs holding Haley, and reattached them around the back of the chair. He went to kneel with Hotch. He brushed his hair back off his face, and put pressure on the gun shot wounds

Hotch was trying to wake up, his eyes flickered open a tiny bit, and he tried to focus on Morgan. He tried to speak, Morgan could barely hear him. He put his ear close to Hotch.

"…Spencer….warn…hos….hospital…"

Without taking his eyes off Hotch, Morgan took out his mobile and called the Potomac Hospital. He held Hotch's hand reassuringly. Hotch struggled to keep awake while Morgan made the call.

He closed his phone and turned his attention back to Hotch.

"He's ok, Hotch. They got to him in time."

Morgan felt Hotch relax. Morgan began to understand the strength and depth of their relationship. He squeezed his hand.

"You're going to be ok, Hotch. You will be together again very soon."

He heard the sound of running feet outside the room. The medics and the cops had arrived.

……………………………………………………………………………………………...

Reid now had an armed guard outside his room. He had been given another shot of antivenin, and he had been x-rayed. Apart from the bruise and tissue damage, there were no broken bones. He had woken up, feeling ill, and was distressed to find he was intubated again.

Most of the contaminated antibiotic had gone on the floor when the nurse pulled out the drip, but a tiny amount had entered Spencer's system. He was back on the ventilator, but the doctor was confident of his recovery.

"Someone tried to dose you with snake venom again, Dr. Reid, but we stopped it from doing any damage." He could see a look of fear in the young man's eyes. "There is a guard outside the room. You will be safe now."

He could see that his patient was trying to communicate. "If I gave you some paper, do you think you could write it down?"

Spencer nodded, and was given paper and pencil. He wrote one word.

Aaron

"He hasn't returned to the hospital yet. I'll go and see what I can find out." He smiled at Spencer, and left the room

An FBI team was with security now, examining the security footage. A crazy looking blonde woman who seemed to know her stuff was supervising.

He asked one of the agents if she could contact Agent Aaron Hotchner, his patient was wanting to see him. The woman, whose tag bore the name Emily Prentiss, nodded, and left the room to use her mobile. He watched the CCTV footage for a few minutes, when Agent Prentiss came back in. she looked pale.

"He's on his way." she said. He was about to say, 'Good. Dr. Reid needs him.' when she added, "In an ambulance. He has been shot."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Morgan followed the ambulance back to the Potomac in his borrowed car. They had wanted to take him to a closer hospital, but Morgan thought it would be better for both Reid and Hotch to be at the same place.

Things were happening too quickly for him, he could hardly keep up with everything that had happened in the last day or two.

Hotch and Reid were……together?

Haley had taken out a contract on Hotch and Reid? That in itself was unbelievable. But her reasoning was crazy. And to try to kill both of them? How did she hope to get away with it?

He followed the ambulance into the hospital grounds, and he left the car in a spot marked 'Short Term Parking Only – Max Time - 15 Minutes'.

He locked it and ran to the back of the ambulance as Hotch was lifted out. He reached under the blanket that was covering him, and held his hand. He felt Hotch tighten his grip on Morgan. Hotch turned his head to face him.

"Thank you, Derek." he whispered huskily. The GSW to his neck had been dressed temporarily. Morgan guessed he would need surgery. The medics rushed Hotch away, and their hands fell apart.

"We will let you know as soon as there is any news." the casualty doctor told Morgan.

Morgan told him that he would be with Reid.

On the way to Reid's room, Morgan called the PD and asked about Brooks, the name she chose to give the arresting officer. Morgan was glad. The connection to Hotch wasn't so obvious. He knew though that that wasn't the reason she wasn't using the name Hotchner.

The cop he spoke to said she was telling them everything. He said it wasn't like a confession, it sounded more as if she was telling a story.

Preparing for an insanity defense, thought Morgan, angrily. That was the only way she would get away with a long incarceration in prison.

Now he had to tell Reid who had been trying to kill them.

This wasn't going to be easy.

He stopped outside Reid's room, talking to the nurse, watching him for a few moments through the window.

The nurse, who identified herself as Jane Minton, was very upset at what had happened.

"He injected snake venom into his IV." Her eyes, he noticed, were red from crying. "If I hadn't seen that syringe on the floor, if he had taken it with him, Doctor Reid would be dead now!" She started to cry again.

"But you did good. You saved him." Morgan could see she was shaking. "Are you able to get us a drink? Looks as if you could do with one."

Jane nodded. "I can have a break if I want. I'll bring it back here. What would you like?"

"Black coffee, please." Morgan smiled at her as she went off to get coffee.

He stood and watched Reid while he waited for her. He was very pale, almost white. The ventilator was pushing air into his chest, his chest rising and falling in an even rhythm. He was awake, his eyes large and staring at the ceiling.

The nurse was back with the coffee. They went into Spencer's room together. She sat by the door, Morgan want to Reid and took his hand.

"We've got the UnSub, Kid. We picked up the ring leader."

Reid seemed to relax a bit. He wanted to ask questions. He gestured to the pad of note paper and pencil. Morgan put them in his hands. Spencer wrote:

UnSub?

where is Aaron?

Morgan took Reid's hands in his. There was no easy way to say this.

"The UnSub is Haley Hotchner."

Spencer's eyes widened in shock. He tightened his grip on Morgan's hands. He could see that Spencer was starting to cry.

Morgan sighed.

"Reid, she shot Hotch….." Spencer whimpered in panic. He tried to sit up. "He's in theatre. They will let us know as soon as there is news."

Spencer's tears flowed freely; he coughed and gagged on the tube, as he cried uncontrollably.

Morgan hesitated for just a moment, then he took Reid in his arms and hugged him.