After Hotch dropped Jack at school the next day, he rang the bell at Jess house. Dave's words didn´t go out of his head, why would Jess not take the chance to be happy with Dave?
"Aaron? Something wrong with Callie? "
"No, it's all ok with Callie. I´m worrying about you. Why didn´t you tell me, David wants to marry you? "
"Dave and me was a long time ago, Aaron. " Jess tried to dodge.
"That's not true, Jess. Dave loves you, he told me. "
"Did he also tell you, I rejected his proposal? Haley was my sister, I cannot break my promise towards her, I just can´t."
"But she never wanted you to be alone, Jess." Hotch put his arm around her.
"Being together with Dave doesn´t mean you can´t take care of Jack anymore. Jack and Dave love each other. Maybe you can take care of him a little less, I´d understand that. We´ll find a solution for this. Jess, you don´t have to sacrifice your own life for Jack and me. You've done so much for us, now do something for you. "
" I do not know Aaron. "
"You don´t know, Jessica? What? Whether you can be happy with Dave? " Hotch grabbed Jess by her upper arms. " Surely you´ll get unhappy without him. I would give anything in the world, Jess. For a life with Callie, to get old with her. To have the chance, to lead our daughter down the aisle or watch Jack´s children play on our front porch, but this is not going to happen. So please, do not throw away your happiness." Hotch said urgently. "Don´t let Foyet win, Jess. He has destroyed so much, this has to stop."
Jess snuggled up to Hotch, "you know, if I didn´t love Dave so much, you´d be the man of my choice, Aaron. I pray for Callie and you, every night. We heard about these wonders Aaron. Haven´t we? Isn´t there something, anyone can do?" Hotch shook his head, " I can make it easier for her, Jess. Nothing more. " Hotch said sadly.
oOo
Ike Malone sat in front of Callie 's CT scans, hoping to find a way to help the young woman.
"Malone," he grumbled into his phone, after he picked it up.
" Oops, Grandpa. What´s bugging you?" Renée Malone asked in surprise, that was so not her grandfather.
"Hello, froglet, I didn´t expect you to call. It must be in the middle of the night, over there in Berlin? "
Renée laughed merrily, " Somehow I have the feeling that it´s always in the middle of the night. They let the beginners do the night shift´s, you know? Why are you so grumpy, Grandpa?"
"How good are your neurologists, Renée?"
"Phew, Prof. Dietrich is one of our best, but he's pretty peculiar, if I may say so. But he is really very good. Why do you ask? Are you reaching your wit's end, can´t imagine that, Grandpa. "
" You have to do me a favor, froglet," Ike Malone said firmly.
oOo
Renée put herself together and knocked at her Professor´s door.
"WAS?"
Renée rolled her eyes, that wasn´t going well. Dietrich was known for his somewhat gruff nature and the fact that he treated students and junior doctors like idiots. She was hoping, Dietrich wouldn´t remember, she had been the little klutz, that had locked him in the autopsy fridge. I really haven´t seen him, Renée said half aloud and squared her shoulders.
" Kommen Sie herein, oder wollen Sie da draussen Wurzeln schlagen? "
"Of course not, Professor." Renée walked into his office and Dietrich groaned.
"Oh, it´s you Malone? Still causing mischief? There are still colleagues, you haven´t locked in autopsy, have you? Wanna say good-bye, before leaving for DC?"
So much for, maybe he forgot about me, Renée thought frustrated. " Uh, yeah. Course I mean , no. I´m gonna stay. Prof. Kleinschmidt has offered me to stay a while longer and I accepted. I feel very comfortable in pediatric psychiatry. I really love working with those kids. "
I can imagine he has offered that, Dietrich thought. The old Casanova Kleinschmidt was after her very adorable butt, like so many of the interns, who all and sundry got a knock back from the cheerful American. Dietrich would also like to welcome Malone to his team, neuro - surgery. He found her very talented, but there was one drawback, Malone was just...clumsy. Not a single day was passing by, without happening any mishap to her. Yesterday, at her lunch break, she was stumbling over her feet in the cafeteria, baptizing her chief resident with potato soup. Not for anything in the world Dietrich wanted her in his OR, but she was an excellent diagnostician and the patient's loved her. In pediatric psychiatry, where she was working at the moment, everyone was full of praise. Dietrich was keeping an eye on her, Renée Malone was the most caring intern, he had seen over the last couple of years. A pure sunshine for everyone.
"What do you want, Dr. Malone? You haven´t got any coffee, so you don´t want to shower me."
"I 'm not doing these things intentionally, Professor," Renée noted a bit peeved, handed him a USB stick, touched the cactus on the table with her sleeve and swept it to the ground.
"Oh Lord. I´m so sorry Professor!"
"No, please. Do not touch it, " Dietrich said, afraid to imagine what the girl might do with a cactus. "What's on it? "
"A patient of my grandfather, Professor. He would like to hear another opinion. "
Dietrich plugged the stick into his computer, "You´ve already seen it?"
Renée nodded. " 36 year-old woman, glioblastoma, WHO grade IV occurred little over two years for the first time and was surgically removed. Then chemo and radiation therapy. Seven months ago, it has returned. The images on the right are four weeks old, the left ones from Thursday. "
Dietrich was silent for a while and studied the pictures carefully. "How old did you say? "
" 36, Professor."
"Schöne Scheiße," Dietrich said bluntly. "You see this and this here?" Dietrich pointed at two dark points.
"Metastases" Renée said promptly.
Dietrich nodded. "I hate to say this, but the young woman should arrange her matters and she should not take too much time for it. A family member? "
"No Professor, but my grandfather is very affected to that case. His patient, Callie Aimes, she just met the guy of her dreams and her boyfriend has already lost a woman, there is also a little boy and ... "
"It´s just unfair?" Dietrich completed her sentence.
"Yes, it is," Renée agreed.
"Sit down, Dr. Malone." Dietrich said. "I stopped about thinking if something is unfair or not. This decision´s were made in a higher place and everything happens for a reason. Maybe we don´t understand this reason, but you have to trust in God. My only criterion is, I can help the patient or not. Must be my only criterion, you understand what I´m tying to say here, Dr. Malone?"
"I should leave my personal feelings in the locker, after I put on my scrubs?"
Dietrich smiled briefly, "that's what I wanted to tell you. You are a very compassionate person, Renée. Beware, that might be fatal one day. "
oOo
Jess looked at herself in the mirror, Aaron's tongue-lashing had an effect. She wanted to see Dave. Jess had been banning the thought of having a future with him for so long, she even refused, to think about him often. But the truth was, she loved him. With all her heart. Aaron was so right, she could have with Dave, what would be denied for him and Callie. Children, a future, a love that would last. Jess took off the dress and just threw herself in jeans and shirt, everything else was completely unimportant. "I love you, David Rossi ," Jess said loudly and jumped into her car.
oOo
"And you are quite sure you want to do this? "
Hotch was checking the fit of her overall again. Callie had been talking to him, like she was talking to a sick horse. She wanted to do this, Hotch wasn´t convinced, she was well enough to jump. But Callie wanted to exploit every good moment she had. She felt ok, today. Okay, in her case it meant, not that much pain as usual. At least, Hotch gave up. If she wanted to jump out of this damn plane, then not alone.
"We want to do this," Callie corrected and climbed into the plane. "I can no longer postpone it, Aaron, You know that. "
Hotch crawled into the plane behind her and the tandem master smiled. It happened again and again that women had more guts than men, when it came to jump. It took a while until the exit altitude of 3500 m was reached.
"All right, guys! Remember what we told you, nothing can happen here. The free fall lasts about 30-60 seconds, we open the parachute at about 1500 m, the whole operation takes about 10 to 15 minutes. "
Callie and Hotch were latched to their respective partners and gave thumbs up. A moment later they tipped off the plane. Hotch 's heart was racing like crazy, his adrenaline went through the roof and he yelled, like he never did before. All too soon, Pete opened the parachute, Hotch was completely blown away by his feelings, for Hotch it was a whole new experience that turned his entire security thinking upside down. He looked out for Callie, she floated a few meters down to earth, just as gentle, as he did. He heard her laugh, when she landed. She threw herself into his arms, Callie beamed all over her face, her cheeks were slightly flushed and her eyes shone. Hotch wished, this moment would last forever.
oOo
Rossi turned his car into the driveway. Was there sitting someone on his stairs? Dave wondered if he had probably forgotten an appointment, but actually there was nothing on the agenda, except maybe one or two cognac 's on his couch.
Jess? Dave was surprised that was Jess, she started waving and Rossi got out of his car, as quick as possible.
"Jess? You all right? Has something happened?"
Jess laughed and said only one word. "Yes!"
"Yes? " Dave repeated irritated.
"That would be my answer if you´d ask me again, David."
"Are you sure?"
Jess laughed again, "Ti amo, tesoro. Tia amo molto, Dave. "
He took Jess in his arms, unable to ask the crucial question, but Jess understood anyway. Thank you Aaron, Rossi thought. I do hope, everything will turn out well for you, too.
oOo
Hotch told Callie about Dave and Jess on their way home.
"So I was right then, Aaron." Callie said. "Jess resets her own life, because of the promise she made. I guess, she and Rossi would be very happy together, do you think, Jess is going to say yes? " she asked.
"I think so, I am very convincing, love. "
Callie smiled, " Tell me about it " She kissed him quickly at a red light . "I´ll need a new dress for the wedding, isn´t there a mall near by? "
A/N By the way, what do you think about Renée?