Hey everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful and restful Christmas holiday and had plenty of time with your loved ones. My holiday has been crazed and I hope you'll accept this next chapter, late as it is. There's a couple more chapters to go yet, I think, and I'm hoping to write a Christmas-y or New Year's themed one-shot too, even if it ends up being late. Anyway, thank you for your patience when my updates are slower than I mean for them to be and for your always much appreciated feedback. Now on to the story…
Come Back to Me
Chapter Eight
It was early yet when Emily Prentiss cautiously entered Morgan's hospital room, gingerly balancing a carrier of coffees for Garcia and for Derek's mother and sisters. She hoped she wasn't intruding and didn't want to be a pest, but she honestly couldn't seem to stay away any longer. All she wanted was to check on how Garcia was holding up, see if she could do anything to help, and find out if maybe – just maybe – Morgan had shown any signs of waking.
She was surprised as she reached the door to find his mother and sisters tiptoeing out. Fran Morgan smiled at her warmly and Desiree and Sarah both proclaimed her a lifesaver upon her offer of much more tempting quality coffee than the hospital cafeteria had to offer. "Penelope's asleep, and we were just going for some breakfast," Fran explained, patting Emily's arm kindly, "but you're welcome to go in and sit with them if you want."
"I think I will for a minute, if you're sure I won't disturb them," Emily agreed, taking the one cup of coffee that was left with her for Garcia. But the sight that greeted her eyes when she pushed the door open and entered the room, stopped her in her tracks, a smile spreading across her face.
Garcia was curled up in the chair right beside Morgan's bed, feet tucked under her, leaning far enough over out of the chair that her head was resting on Morgan's shoulder and she was holding one of his hands in hers, their fingers intertwined. Everyone on the team of course knew how head over heels they were for each other, but the glimpses of it they were treated to were the sexually charged bantering and creative uses flirty nicknames. This sort of quiet show of caring and devotion was something they had obviously kept for themselves alone. For a second, Emily just stood there, a lump building in her throat at the picture the two of them made.
She had finally gotten her feet in gear and stepped forward to put Garcia's peppermint mocha latte on the nightstand at the other woman's side for her when she woke, when she heard movement from the bed. Shocked, she turned to look right into Derek's confused, anxious dark eyes. "Prentiss?" he asked softly, clearly not quite sure yet just where he was or what was going on. "Where's Penelope?"
Blinking back a few rare tears and a yelp of surprise, Prentiss felt a smile bursting across her face in spite of herself, "Right here," she nodded, inclining her head to her side, showing him that his girlfriend was sitting right there next to him, starting to stir from her own slumber. "She's right here."
Derek looked down, still seeming a little fuzzy, but slowly piecing it all back together. He saw their hands held there on his lap atop the covers and looked back up at Emily again worriedly. "Is she okay? Was she hurt?"
Emily shook her head 'no,' opening her mouth to explain to him what he'd missed when Garcia suddenly sat up, coming awake quickly at the sound of Derek's voice finally making its way back into her ears. She cried out his name joyfully, seeing that he was awake, and flung her arms around his neck – for a moment forgetting that he'd just awakened from a coma and was still hooked up to all manner of equipment and wires.
He chuckled deep in his chest, and reached out to hug her back, only to stop short, his arms freezing, a wince on his face and a hiss of pain he couldn't quite stop escaping through his teeth.
Pulling back quickly, Garcia heard Prentiss asking at almost the same time as she did, "Are you alright?"
'I would be if you'd hold me again like you were,' Derek noted to himself. He'd missed the warmth of her loving embrace – missed her – the whole time he'd been out; even unconscious, she was somehow still in his mind, with him. He'd been desperate to hold her close, to feel her presence next to him, solid and real and not some fevered dream. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little tender," he mumbled, "should've thought before I moved to much." And that was all he offered out loud. He wasn't one to beg, but he gazed at her, trying to convey with his eyes that he wanted her to come closer, needed her closer.
Emily seemed to shake herself out of her shock suddenly and announced, "I'm glad you're awake, Morgan. It's good to have you back. I'm gonna go find a doctor though, and have them check you over, okay? Then I'll go get your mom and sisters."
He nodded, suddenly realizing he still felt pretty weak and tired, which seemed absolutely ridiculous to him when he considered all of the time he'd spent in the coma already, which to his mind was basically like sleeping. He simply nodded to Emily, lifting a hand slowly this time to rub his eyes and thanked her.
Then she was gone and he was alone with Penelope. Shifting his gaze over to meet her eyes, he saw that they were now brimming with tears and red-rimmed from having already cried before this. He motioned her nearer, cupping her face in a clumsy hand when she finally complied and leaned in close to him again. "Come here, Baby Girl," he whispered low in her ear. "I missed you."
She smiled, leaning over even farther, her blonde stream of curls falling over her shoulders and brushing his chest, like it was hiding the two of them together behind a flaxen curtain. "Not nearly as much as I missed you, Sweet Cheeks," she teased, smiling at him so the tears running down her cheeks seemed to make her face shine happily again at last. Then, she lightly brought her lips that last little bit lower to meet his in sweet reunion as he felt his heart start to beat faster, the way it always did from even the most innocent of her kisses, and he could feel her heart pounding in time as the contact continued.
He toyed with a curl of her hair, slipping his fingers through it, savoring the soft, silky feel; suddenly thinking that as long as she was still here with him like this, he was going to be fine.
They were interrupted just then by a business-like clearing of the throat, announcing that they no longer had the room to themselves. Garcia giggled girlishly, her cheeks flushing pink, which made Derek grin wider, pleased with himself, as she stood and they both turned to look at the middle-aged doctor who had entered the room.
"Well, Agent Morgan," he stated dryly. "Good to see you back – obviously you're feeling much better."
Penelope blushed even brighter, if that was possible, and stumbled backwards to sit back in the chair she'd vacated when he woke. Hearing laughter from behind the doctor, Derek saw Emily and his two sisters, who'd obviously bonded while he'd been out of commission, chortling heartily at his expense. His mother stood beside them, looking on with a pleased, knowing smile on her face. His eyes met hers and she came to kiss his forehead. "Hi, Baby," she said, using the endearment she'd always had from him as a kid. "It's about time you woke up."
He let his mother fuss for a moment, knowing she'd held herself under control the whole time, both for Sarah and Des, and quite possibly for Pen as well, and that she needed to let out a little of her relief. Then, he turned to look at the doctor, who had been waiting patiently, and asked, "So what's the damage, Doc? Will I be outta here by Christmas?"
He felt Pen slip her smaller hand in his as he asked the question and was staggered, as he still always was, by just how much comfort she could provide with something as simple as being there and holding his hand. Returning the gentle pressure, Derek waited for his prognosis.
"Obviously, Agent Morgan, you lost a massive amount of blood and were in a coma overnight, so we'll want to observe you for another day's time. You'll have a fair amount of physical therapy ahead for the muscle damage to your shoulder – which will take time. But, I think you should be able to head out of here tomorrow and expect to make a swift recovery. The arm may not regain 100 strength and mobility, but it shouldn't be an amount of damage that troubles you once it's healed and rehabbed."
Derek nodded, relief flooding his system at the good news, though Penelope immediately saw determination harden in his eyes as well. That arm would be 100 again, if he had anything to say about it, she knew him that well. She merely smiled at him, loving that fierce, driven streak he had – she had it in her too. For now, she was just going to focus on the fact that he would be fine, and in a day's time he would be home where she could have him all to herself and take care of him. Derek didn't know it yet, but he was coming to her place for awhile, while he got back on his feet – whether he'd think he needed to or not, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. She wanted to fuss over him, spoil him, thank him, and make it very clear that she just might have to kill him herself if he ever risked himself like that again.
Glancing back over at the man occupying her thoughts, she saw that he was eyeing her warily, for once not seeming able to read her mind on his own. "What?" he asked, his brow crinkling adorably with his puzzled expression.
"Oh, nothing, Hot Stuff," she said, smiling innocently, though mischief twinkled in her eyes and she knew he cold see it. "I was only thinking how ready I am to get you alone again."
"Take it easy with me, Mama," he chuckled, eyes darkening with desire, contradicting his words, "I'm an injured man."
"Sweet Cheeks, you don't need to worry about a thing," she said with a wink, and Morgan felt himself swallow hard, eyes widening as she actually licked her lips, her gaze positively hungry when she leaned over to whisper in his ear, "I'll do all the work…"
