A/N So this was beta'd by my new Beta starofoberon. Thank you. And now on with the story.

Beep beep beep.

The steady drone of the heart monitor was the only sound in the room.

He didn't hear it. He didn't see the sterile room. All he saw was the woman on the bed. She looked so peaceful, like she was talking a nap. But this nap was one she might never wake up from. The EMTs had managed to stabilize her on the way to the hospital. She had made it through surgery. Well at least her body had made it through. She had lapsed into a coma. The doctors were hopeful that she would wake up. She should recover. All she had to do was wake up.

So he stayed. He was going to be the first thing she saw when she woke up. He held her hand and waited for the woman he loved to come back to him.

"I need you to wake. I need you to come back to me. ... I go to see what my life would be like without you. And it was Hell. ... I can't live without you. Please. I need you to open your eyes.

A knock on the door interrupted his vigil. Dave entered the room. "How is she?"

"No change. She still hasn't woken up."

"Aaron you should get some sleep you've been here for more than a day."

"So has she. I'm not leaving until she does."

"Aaron she's going to be all right. The doctors-."

"The doctors are guessing, hoping. But she hasn't opened her eyes Dave. I keep talking to her, but she hasn't opened her eyes." He was desparate. He had lost her. She had "died". And then she was back alive and in his life. And now she was in a hospital and she might never wake. He just needed her to wake up and tell him she was going to be all right. That she wasn't going anywhere.

Dave said nothing just put on a symapthetic smile and a comforting hand on Hotch's shoulder.

/

Time slowed in the room. It crawled like a man dying of thirst in a burning desert. The rest of the world moved at a normal pace, but in this room time moved languidly. Hotch hadn't moved. He sat in a chair next to the bed, his hands holding on to hers. A connection back to the land of the living. Back to him.

There was a tiny knock on the door, before Jack stuck his head in the room. "Can I come in Daddy?"

Hotch didn't want him to come in. It was bad enough Jack had had to see him in a hospital bed he didn't want him to have to see Emily as well. But Jack had been asking to see her ever since he found out that she was still alive. Hotch smiled softly. "Of course buddy."

Jack walked in solemnly carrying a teddy bear.

"Why are you carrying Bobo, buddy?"

"It's for Emily. He always makes me feel better when I'm sick. Is that good daddy?"

Hotch smiled at the innocence of his little boy, even after all of the horrors he had experienced. "That's a great idea buddy. Here let me help you up." Hotch lifted his son onto the bed.

Jack crawled over and tucked the bear into Emily's side. He then crawled over and kissed her on the cheek. He sat for a moment waiting for something to happen. He turned back to Hotch his face scrunched in confusion. "I kissed her booboo, but she didn't not get better."

"I think she did get better, buddy." Hotch replied trying to keep the sadness and disappointment out of his voice. For a brief second he had hoped that the kiss would would waken the sleeping princess. But it hadn't.

/

JJ knocked on the door. Hotch turned his head slightly so that she could just see the corner of his eye. "How is she?"

"The same." He turned his head back to facing Emily.

JJ walked over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders, she bent down and lightly kissed him on the top of his head. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"I can't leave. Not till she does."

"She's going to be all right."

He said nothing.

JJ walked over to Emily and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You need to wake up soon. We all miss you." JJ pulled up a chair and sat down next to Hotch. They said nothing just sat in silence.

/

Reid walked in to the room and walked over to JJ. She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. They held each other for a moment, and kissed quickly before pulling back. Still holding onto JJ Reid turned to Hotch. "How is she?"

"We really need to come up with a better starter question."

"She still hasn't woken up." JJ offered as she lightly stroked Reid's back.

"Hotch you've been here 48 hours, your body needs sleep otherwise your cognitive function will start to deteriorate."

"Reid I need you to do me a favor."

"Whatever you need."

"I need a dry erase board about 16" long and maybe 10-12" high. And a black marker."

Reid stared at Hotch for a moment. He was defintely confused. He couldn't imagine what Hotch wanted with those things.

"Reid, can you help me?"

"Uh. Sure. I'll go get them now."

"Thanks Reid."

Reid kissed JJ and then walked out the door.

"What's that about."

"Timesaver." Hotch replied mysteriously.

/

He hadn't moved. He didn't have the strength to move. He sat there drained of everything. Not hoping, there was no hope left, but wishing that she would open her eyes. He would have prayed, but he had long since given up on that. He was alone in the room. Reid had come back and after he and JJ sat with him for a while they had left needing to get back to work. For once work was not the focus of Aaron Hotchner's mind. It existed somewhere in back in the far reaches of his mind, but at this moment was so unimportant it was laughable.

Morgan entered the room. "How's she doing?"

Hotch didn't turn, just stayed facing Emily. "No change."

"You should get some sleep."

Hotch said nothing just pointed to the dry erase board on the dresser. It read, "Don't tell me I need sleep."

Morgan said nothing just shook his head and smiled.

"I figured that's what you would say, although I didn't think you would quite so clever about it. So here." He said handing Hotch a coffee.

"Thanks Morgan."

"She's going to wake up you know."

Hotch gave an almost imperceptible nod.

/

Rossi walked in. "Aaron we need to talk."

"Whatever it is it can wait."

"It's Strauss"

...

...

...

"It can definitely wait."

"Aaron."

"I'm not leaving this room. Hang the Bureau. If they can't see that I'm busy, then ..."

"She wants to see you Aaron. My guess is to have a talk about you and Emily. You lost it a little bit during this whole thing."

"Wouldn't you if it was the woman ou loved?"

"I din't think I've ever loved a woman that much, but I get your point. Still you had to know there would be repercussions."

"Later. When she ... ... When this is over. I'll deal with them later."

"Don't do anything rash. I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Dave."

/

Exhaustion had finally claimed him. His head was turned sideways on the bed. His face looking towards Emily. His hands and her right hand created a makeshift pillow. A little drool had fallen onto her hand.

If he had been awake he would have seen it immediately. He had spent the entire time in the hospital staring at her waiting and waiting for her to move to show signs of life. Her hand moved ever so slightly. Her breathing quickened. Her body shifted slightly. Her eyes slowly fluttered open. The first thing she noticed was the weight on her hand, and the wet spot. She smiled. She could tell by looking at him that he had been here awhile. Then she caught a whiff of him. Ok a long while. She reached over with her left hand and ran her fingers through his hair.

He stirred slowly. He lifted his head and his brown eyes met hers. He stared unbelieving. He slowly lifted a hand and touched her cheek. She leaned into the touch. She smiled at him. He smiled back. She could see he still wasn't convinced. He pinched himself hard leaving a little red mark on his hand.

"Do you believe now? It's me Aaron. It's real."

"I had to be sure. When you were dead I had these dreams. These vivid dreams. Every night I saved you." He looked down at the bed his face twisted in guilt. "Every night I didn't fail."

Emily reached out and took ahold of his face. "You didn't fail. You saved me. I'm here. I'm alive because of you."

"I gave up. I thought you had died. If you hadn't sent me that message ..."

"I'm here now that's what matters. How long?"

"It's been three days."

"Have you been here the whole time?"

He nodded.

"I guess I can forgive the drool then."

He looked up at her sheepishly. "Sorry."

She laughed. "It's ok."

"The doctors. I need to get the doctors. Wait here I'll be right back."

"I'm not going anywhere." She said to his retreating figure. I'm not going anywhere for a long time. I'm staying forever, if you'll have me.

A/N Again I wish sometimes I could show this to you visually. You would almost have never seen Hotch's face. And the beginnings of scenes wouln't have been so awkward. But I still think it's good. Let me know what you think.