Chapter 7
Doctor Hunt, too excited about beginning the experiment today, plus aware that the FBI would probably be showing up again, decided to arrive at the hospital while there was a skeleton crew on duty which would change once the day shift came in several hours later. So, he quietly entered the hospital only to be acknowledged with a smile by the nurse at the nurses' station as he passed by heading down the hall before anybody else saw him. He knew things were usually quiet at this time and unless something happened with a patient, the staff usually didn't notice too much. He walked in the direction of his office, but then went past his office and to the locked storage closet around the corner from his office. Seeing nobody around, Hunt removed his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, walked inside, and went to the back of the closet.
Resting his hands on the wall, he slid it aside to reveal a hidden door. He exhaled deeply. It had taken three years to organize everything; to find the right location for the lab, and to get the equipment and everything else well after hours. Then, after so many failures with women, Hunt believed he would never succeed with his experiment; then, by a stroke of luck, Agent Hotchner was brought to him, and he began to believe again. Began to believe that with Hotchner being a man and apparently someone in charge of others as Daria had informed him, things might be different this time. None of the women had been leaders; Hotchner was a leader which made him stronger than those he led and that intrigued Hunt tremendously. Maybe he would succeed with Hotchner where he had failed with the others. He smirked. If he succeeded with the FBI agent, nobody would dare laugh again at his theory that a person's mind could be permanently erased and a new and different person created by implanting new and permanent thoughts in their place.
Exhaling again, he knocked three times, and waited. The door opened inside, and the Doctor found himself greeted by the smiling face of Daria standing there, waiting. Walking inside, he then slid the wall shut over the door and then closed the door behind him knowing the door hidden by the wall, was concealed from anybody who came inside the storage closet for anything. And as the room was insulated, he knew if anybody did come into the storage closet, nobody would hear anything. He smiled at the woman.
Daria enthusiastically wrapped her arms around her father-in-law's neck and plundered his mouth, pressing her body against his. He held her tightly in his arms. When they pulled apart, Hunt looked at her with raised eyebrows. "What was that for?" he asked recalling the few hours they had spent in one of the empty patient rooms available.
She looked up into his brown eyes. "That was for last night," she purred as she ground her hips against his. "Too bad you couldn't have stayed longer," she said wraggling her eyebrows. She gave him a quick peck on the mouth.
"Unfortunately, I'm not as young as I used to be, my dear," Hunt said with a smirk.
"You could've fooled me, Jack," she purred giving him another peck on the mouth.
With a sigh, Hunt reluctantly released Daria and approached the stainless steel table. "Perhaps later. But first, were there any problems with Agent Hotchner during the night? Any reason not to proceed?"
"Everything was fine last night. When I relieved Ron he told me nothing happened. There were no problems while I monitored him either. Agent Hotchner slept throughout the night and didn't wake up once. I also monitored his heart and respiration every two hours, and all was well." She looked up. "There's no reason not to proceed."
Hunt rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Excellent. Then let's get started, shall we?" Smiling, he reached into a box on a shelf, and pulled out two pairs of latex gloves, handing one pair to Daria. He put his on and waited until she had donned hers as well before proceeding. He let his excited eyes fall on Hotch.
"Daria, start an IV of succinylcholine to relax his muscles, while I insert a rubber block in his mouth. Wouldn't want him to bite his tongue when we start the electroshock."(1)
As Hunt opened Hotch's mouth and inserted the rubber block inside, Daria rolled up Hotch's right shirt sleeve, and inserted the needle into the exposed arm, afterwards wrapping a strip of tape around the arm to hold the needle in place, then checked to make sure the muscle relaxer hanging from the IV pole was flowing easily. She then placed an oxygen mask over Hotch's mouth so as not to deprive him of oxygen during the procedure.(1)
"Be sure to monitor Agent Hotchner's heart rate the entire time," Hunt instructed his daughter-in-law. "We don't want any problems during the ten minutes the procedure will take." He then proceeded to rub conducting jelly on both of Hotch's temples and, after doing so, Daria followed by connecting electrodes to both of his temples. Seeing that all was in readiness, Hunt then turned to the electroshock machine behind him, and pressed a button. He took a step back as an electric current shot through Hotch's brain, causing the profiler's body to jerk upward straining against the restraints, and a grimace appear as he appeared to be in terrible pain. Hunt noticed Daria look at him nervously seeing the agent's body react. But Hunt smiled.(1)
"Nothing to worry about. He's having a grand-mal seizure which only lasts for twenty seconds. It's perfectly normal," he said.
Morgan trudged into the conference room of the police station holding a Styrofoam cup of coffee as the sun was just starting to rise, but was still too early for any of the team to arrive yet. But after several restless hours on a hotel mattress that Morgan suspected might have been stuffed with tree branches, he decided to get up and come in early and try and get some work done before the others arrived. Not expecting anyone to be in the conference room at this hour, Morgan was more than surprised to find Reid seated at the table with elbows on the table and his chin resting on the back of his interlaced fingers. The young agent appeared to be deep in thought and hadn't even noticed Morgan's arrival.
"Hey, pretty boy, you couldn't sleep either?" Morgan asked. Reid didn't respond or even raise his eyes; in fact, he didn't even appear to have heard the question. "Reid!" Morgan repeated a bit louder this time.
Reid, looked up, startled. "What?" he asked seeing and hearing the black agent for the first time. It was obvious from the look on his face, that the young genius hadn't expected anybody from the team to come in at this hour either.
"What are you doing here?" The Unit Chief asked as he removed the top from his Styrofoam cup and took a sip of the hot dark liquid. "Couldn't sleep?"
Reid hung his head and shook it. A slight tinge of red appeared on his cheeks.
"Then what?" asked Morgan, now concerned. "Talk to me, kid. What's troubling that big ole brain of yours that has you here before the sun rises?"
Reid, swallowing the lump in his throat, looked up into his friend's face. "I had a dream about Hotch," he said softly.
Morgan sat down slowly and looked into the younger man's hazel eyes. To him, the younger man's eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Tell me about it," he said.
Leaning forward, Reid looked into Morgan's eyes. "I could see Hotch being held in a cell or room of some kind, and he was being tortured mercilessly. He was begging for someone to help him. I, I could see and hear him begging for help, but I couldn't get to him. I, I tried so hard to reach him, but it was like whenever I got close to him, he somehow remained out of reach." He paused and chewed his lower lip.
"Reid, listen to me. It's normal for you to dream about Hotch. This case is dredging up a lot of painful memories of what happened three years ago that we're still dealing with. But you can't…."
"He was dead," Reid said interrupting, his head bowed again, unable to meet his boss's eyes.
"Who was dead?" Morgan asked with narrowed eyes. He had an idea what his best friend was about to say but kept mum for the moment.
"Hotch," was Reid's answer. "He was dead, just like the other women. By the time I reached him, he had been killed just like the six women. Suicide. Or made to resemble suicide. I couldn't get to him in time, Morgan. I just couldn't get to Hotch in time to save him."
"So you came here instead of talking to me or Rossi about the dream?"
Reid shook his head. "I left the hotel and took a walk. I uh, eventually found myself near the police station and decided to come here figuring maybe I could get something done before I have to head to the hospital with Emily."
Morgan nodded his understanding. "Reid, listen to me. We all miss Hotch and want to know what happened to him after he disappeared. But torturing yourself by telling yourself that he's dead isn't going to help you. We don't know if Hotch is dead; all we know for sure right now is that he's missing, and until we find his body, he's considered still alive, and you have to hang onto that thought."
Reid swallowed the lump in his throat. "I know you're right. It's just that it's been three years." He raised his head this time and looked into Morgan's eyes. "Do you still think after three years that Hotch is alive? Tell me the truth."
Exhaling through his nose, Morgan answered without hesitation. "The truth? Yeah, I do."
The corners of Reid's mouth turned upward slightly. "Why?"
Morgan chuckled. "Why? Because Hotch is a survivor, and will do whatever he has to to stay alive until help arrives or he can find a way out himself. Also, if our UnSubs had already killed him, I'm positive they would have left his body where we could find it. The fact that we haven't found him yet also tells me he's still alive. And believe me when I say we will find him." He paused for a minute before continuing. "I just don't know what he'll be like when we do."
Reid nodded and a smile broke out slowly. "Thanks," was all he said. "I guess I just needed to hear somebody else say that they believe Hotch is still alive."
Morgan smiled back. "You're welcome." He looked at his watch. "Now, why don't you sack out on that couch in the corner for awhile. The others will be wandering in here in about two or three hours."
Reid slowly got to his feet. "Think I will. Thanks again."
Morgan watched the younger profiler and best friend walk over to the worn couch in the corner and stretch out on it using his messenger bag as a pillow. The minute Reid closed his eyes, Morgan took a long draught of coffee and looked thoughtful hoping he hadn't just lied to his best friend.
As Doctor Hunt removed the electrodes from Hotch's temples, and then the rubber block from his mouth, he noticed Daria removing the IV from the patient's arm and then bandage the puncture site. She also removed the breathing mask. Hotch's face was bathed in sweat although he was still unconscious; his head lolled to the side. As Daria undid the restraints, Hunt proceeded to check Hotch's heart and respiration.
"Everything sounds good so far," he said draping the stethoscope around his neck. He noticed his daughter-in-law's expression. "What's wrong?"
"How many more treatments will he need before we know whether or not his memory has been completely erased permanently?"
Hunt inhaled and exhaled through his nose. "Probably about six to twelve more over a two week period," he said. "If after two weeks, everything goes according to plan, we'll then begin implanting new memories into his mind and make sure they become permanent."
Nodding, Daria undid the last restraint, then looked at Hunt for instructions.
"Let's get Agent Hotchner back to his room. I gave him enough of a drug yesterday so keep him asleep for several hours before the electroshock. But by my estimate, he should be waking up in about an hour or less, and I want you with him the entire time because he needs to be monitored carefully. Also, when he wakes up, he's bound to be confused and disoriented, and I want somebody with him to keep him calm and under control. And finally, I'm positive the FBI's going to be back here later to speak with Dr. Bowman and I don't want them to discover their missing agent. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," Daria answered as she and Hunt moved Hotch's dead weight from the table to the wheelchair. After the man had been securely strapped into the wheelchair, Daria wheeled the chair in the direction of the door. The agent's head fell onto his chest.
Nearly an hour later, again strapped down on his bed in his room, Hotch moaned as he moved his head from side-to-side slowly, and struggled to open his eyes not really feeling like it, as well as his lids felt like lead. He swallowed hard and groaned, but managed to crack his eyes open just enough to look around his surroundings. His head was pounding mercilessly, and the room appeared to be moving. Also, his entire body was sore; and oddly, his jaw ached for some inexplicable reason. Looking around the room he was confused. Where was he? What was this place? He started to raise a hand to his head and found he couldn't. Moving his eyes only, he noticed the restraints, then closed his eyes again and let his head fall to the side on the pillow. That's when he heard the sound of somebody moving closer, and again opened his eyes just a slit to see who it was.
Standing beside the bed was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen since….who? He couldn't remember right now. If only his head would stop pounding and the room cease spinning. She had reddish-gold hair drawn back in what appeared to be a French braid, and the most piercing hazel eyes he had ever seen. She slowly sat down beside him on the bed and began to gently caress his cheek.
"Who….who are you?" Hotch asked in a rusty-sounding voice.
"I'm Daria," she said huskily. "Do you know your name?"
Hotch couldn't take his eyes off the woman. "My name is….is…." he scrunched his face as he was drawing a blank. Why couldn't he remember? "My name is….it's….I don't know. Do you know who I am?"
Daria nodded as she continued stroking Hotch's cheek lovingly. "Your name is Adam. Adam Hefner."
Hotch's eyes narrowed. "Adam?" The name rang no bells with him whatsoever.
"Yes. Your name is Adam." She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Do you know where you are?"
Hotch let his eyes dart around before falling back on Daria again. "I….I'm not sure."
"You're in a hospital."
"Hospital?"
"Umm-hmm. You had an accident of some kind. Don't you remember?"
Hotch scrunched his face again trying to get his mind to work even if just a little, but found it wouldn't. "No," he said grimly. "I don't remember anything." He lowered his eyes and looked down again at the restraints, then again at Daria with a puzzled look. "Why….why am I tied down? Am I violent?" He appeared frightened. "Did I attack someone?" He was now beginning to panic. He was so confused and afraid, and what made it worse was not being able to remember anything.
"Shhh," Daria said softly, then gently stroked Hotch's dark hair, and noticed immediately the man began to calm down a bit. "You reacted violently when you were brought in. We had to strap you down as a precautionary measure and for your own protection. But once we're certain you won't act violently, we will release you. Now, why don't you just try and get some sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."
"Good idea," Hotch said, tired. "My head hurts so much. My entire body hurts." He closed his eyes while Daria continued stroking his hair and soon, a gentle, even breathing was heard, and she knew he was sleeping. Daria lightly kissed Hotch's forehead, then rising from the bed, walked over and sat back down in the chair near the door and just stared at Hotch.
It was while he was sleeping that the words echoed in his mind again. Words that had no meaning whatsoever.
"Be careful."
"You too."
Hotch turned his head away from Daria and found himself staring at the wall through partially open eyes. Right now, he was too afraid to close his eyes and sleep. He kept seeing a group of about six people; people without faces or names. People he couldn't recognize nor remember.
"Be careful."
"You too."
Why did those words pop into my mind just now? he thought to himself. And who said them? For the life of him, he wished he could remember.
(1)Information about Electroshock Therapy Treatment is from .