Chapter 22
Dr. Sherman's nurse pressed several buttons on the machine to end the incessant beeping; as that was being done, the doctor adjusted the stethoscope by putting the plugs in his ears. He put the flat disc on Hotch's chest in various places.
"Breathe for me, Agent Hotchner. Again. Again." He then had Hotch lean forward and repeated the process on Hotch's back before the agent was ordered to lean back in bed, watching the doctor drape the stethoscope around his neck. "Everything sounds fine. Can you tell me exactly what happened before the heart monitor went crazy?"
"It was nothing," the agent replied, now a bit calmer but still distressed.
"Agent Hotchner…" Sherman began crossing his arms. "There is no reason for your heart rate to suddenly become erratic for no reason. Now unless you tell me what upset you so much, I will be forced to ban all visitors from this room. If necessary, I will sedate you."
Hotch mulled over how he would answer the doctor's question, not wanting to see the raven-haired woman again, but not wanting to not see Reid, Rossi or Haley again. He realized in the short time he knew the three of them, he found he liked them. And he didn't want to be sedated either. He sighed wearily. "It was a dark-haired woman named Emily Prentiss. She upset me. I don't want her allowed in this room again."
Nodding, Dr. Sherman picked up the medical chart from its hook on the foot of the bed, and made several notations. "I will see to it that Agent Prentiss is kept out of this room until such time as you are comfortable with her visiting."
"Thank you," was all Hotch said in response.
"Emily, wait!" JJ cried out again before Prentiss found herself leaning against the bend in a wall leaning against it with arms wrapped around herself and head bowed. She sobbed quietly. She felt hands gently grip her shoulders and turn her around where she came face-to-face with JJ. She saw the pained expression in her friend's bright blue eyes. "Hotch didn't mean what he said," the blond explained gently. "I'm sure he's just frustrated because he can't remember us."
"JJ's right," Garcia assured her with a look of sympathy in her eyes. "Try not to let what the boss-man said get to you."
Prentiss wiped her cheeks with the pads of her fingers as she looked at her friends gathered around her. "How can I not?" she stammered, lower lip trembling. "Hotch sounded like he knew exactly what he was saying."
Suddenly Haley pushed between Rossi and Morgan and confronted Prentiss, her eyes blazing. "I want you to stay away from Aaron!" she hissed. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Prentiss was about to respond when she saw Doctor Sherman exit Hotch's room and approach them. The doctor looked around until his eyes feel on the raven-haired agent, a concerned look on his face.
"I assume you are Agent Prentiss?" he asked.
"That's me," Prentiss replied. "Is Hotch all right?"
"He's fine now that he's calmed down a bit. However, he has asked me to inform you that you are hereby banned from his hospital room until further notice. And I suggest you honor that request because if you don't, I will have to have you banned from the hospital. Do you understand me?"
Prentiss chewed her lower lip as her dark eyes looked around at anything except her teammates or Haley. "I…I understand," she murmured shakily.
"Good," Sherman replied. "Mrs. Hotchner, you may return and sit with your husband. But I suggest the rest of you visit later this evening and allow the patient to get some rest."
"We understand," Rossi replied. "And thank you doctor." Everybody watched the doctor walk away.
Haley glared at Prentiss one last time before turning and walking back in the direction of Hotch's room just as the nurse walked out and down the hall. Now alone, Prentiss let JJ guide her to the bench with a hand on her back, where they sat down beside Garcia who sat on the opposite side of Prentiss. Reid, Morgan, and Rossi stood in front of the trio; Rossi and Morgan with arms crossed, and Reid with hands stuffed in his pockets.
Prentiss exhaled through her nose. "I don't understand what happened," she said. "I don't understand why Hotch blew up at me like he did." She raised her eyes to met Rossi's.
"That's what we have to find out," Morgan replied. "My guess? Seeing you triggered a memory in Hotch that he recalled as being unpleasant. We just have to find out what that memory is."
"But how can that be?" asked Garcia looking between Morgan and Rossi. "Our raven-haired beauty here didn't do anything to Hotch to make him react like that."
"Something happened during those three years, kitten," Rossi assured her seeing the tech analyst about to protest. "But don't get me wrong. I'm not saying Emily did anything wrong. But something in Hotch's memory was triggered when he saw her.
Reid shifted his feet and cleared his throat; Rossi and Morgan both looked at the young genius. "What are you thinking, kid?" Morgan asked.
"I think we need to go over what took place when Hotch and Emily were last together before Hotch was kidnapped," he explained. "It's the only thing that makes sense."
"What makes you say that, Spence?" asked JJ looking up at the man she considered her baby brother keeping a soothing hand on Prentiss's back. "What could Emily have done before Hotch was kidnapped that would make him lash out at her like that?"
"I don't know exactly," Reid replied. "But we need to review what we know about what transpired between Hotch and Emily just before Hotch went missing."
"But we know what happened before the boss-man went missing, my baby genius," Garcia chimed in.
"True," Reid responded. "But we need to look at everything again piece-by-piece. I believe if we do that, we will find what it might be that could be upsetting Hotch or that he might be misinterpreting and correct it." He looked at Rossi, Morgan, JJ and Garcia shyly, then lowered his head to look at the floor and cleared his throat again.
"It's worth a shot," said Rossi. "Since we can't visit Aaron under this evening, I suggest we all head back to the BAU and go over what we know about what happened prior to Hotch's disappearance." He sighed. "And whether or not we find anything, I will talk with Hotch to see if he knows why he lashed out at you."
Prentiss looked at each of her teammates with moist, red eyes, and a faint smile on her lips. "But, what if we can't find anything, and Hotch doesn't know why he lashed out?" Her eyes finally fell on Rossi. She noticed the older man smile at her affectionately.
"Then we'll keep looking and I'll keep talking to Aaron until either he either remembers, or he's encouraged to understand that you are his friend like the rest of us are. Let's go."
Hotch shifted in his bed as Haley, leaning forward, sat stroking his hair gently and resting her other hand on his arm. "That feels so nice," he muttered feeling his eyelids growing heavy as he turned his face towards the blond. "I can't believe that dark-haired woman had the nerve to show her face in here after what she did."
"It's all right, Aaron," Haley remarked quietly. "She's been ordered by me and the doctor to keep away from you. Just relax and get some rest. I'll make sure Emily Prentiss doesn't come near you again."
"Thank you," Hotch's voice became softer and softer as his lids started to flutter closed and his breathing evened out. "I really don't want to see…." he didn't finish as his eyes closed and a gentle snoring was heard; however, Haley continued stroking his hair all the while wondering what Emily Prentiss had done.
The dream replayed in his head over and over.
He and the reddish golden-haired woman had entered the building with Rossi, Reid and Morgan following. Once inside, Hotch gestured toward the staircase and ordered Reid, Morgan and Rossi to head upstairs while he and the woman checked out the main floor. Once the others had gone upstairs, he pointed to the opposite end of the hallway while looking at the woman. She nodded her understanding.
"Be careful," he told her in a low voice.
"You too," was her reply equally as softly.
Splitting up, he proceeded down the hall to the left and the woman to the right. He had gone to one of the closed rooms with gun drawn and opened the door. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, and with his gun aimed in one hand, and a mini Mag-lite in the other, slowly entered the room and looked around.
He recalled calling out something but couldn't recall what in the empty darkness without receiving an answer. He called out something again, and again there was no answer. But he felt as if he was not alone in this room. But there was nobody present.
He turned around warily keeping his weapon pointed recalling hearing a sound behind him. "FBI. Come out with your hands up!"
Hotch shifted and made a noise in his sleep that caught Haley's attention. She immediately suspected he was dreaming. She debated whether or not to wake him. But what if he was remembering something and by waking him caused him to lose the memory? She finally decided for now to continue watching him, and not wake him unless whatever he was remembering caused him distress.
A noise from behind him made him whirl around again shining his mini flashlight in one corner. There was nobody. What was going on here? A sudden moaning sound from behind him made him turn around again and shine his flashlight in the far corner where he found a young woman, lying on the floor curled up in a ball, whimpering so softly he hadn't even heard it prior to now. Her arms were wrapped around herself, her raven hair partially covering her face.
With eyes narrowed, he hurried to the woman's side and dropped to one knee. Brushing the hair out of her face, he recognized her as Emily Prentiss. How did she get here and in this condition? He placed a hand gently on her head and equally as gently stroked her hair attempting to calm her down.
"Don't hurt me," Prentiss begged in a shaky tone as she began to shy away from his outstretched hand. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt me anymore."
"I'm not going to hurt you, Emily," he said in a calming voice. "Can you tell me what happened? How did you get here in this condition?"
"Don't hurt me anymore, please. Please don't hurt me." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut refusing to look at him. She just continued to whimper as if in pain. A noise behind him again made him turn while remaining on one knee beside Prentiss; his flashlight illuminating a man about six feet tall standing beside the door holding what appeared to be a club.
"Get away from her," the man with the club demanded as he took a step closer. "Prentiss belongs to me."
Still kneeling beside the frightened woman, Hotch aimed his weapon at the approaching man who was slapping the weapon into the palm of his opposite hand and continued approaching. "FBI. Drop your weapon and put your hands up where I can see them," he ordered. The man paused.
Suddenly Hotch heard himself yelp dropping the flashlight and grabbing the back of his thigh having felt the pin prick. Looking around, Prentiss, now seemingly recovered, was leaning on one elbow and holding a syringe in one hand. She had a grin on her face.
"What did you…what…?" he managed to get out before a weird sensation overtook his body, and suddenly he found himself unable to speak or move. He fell forward onto the floor; even his weapon was too heavy to hold now and slipped from his fingers. He knew immediately he had been given a paralyzing drug. As he couldn't move or speak, but was awake and could feel things, he felt the woman's body press against his as she leaned over his and picked up his dropped weapon before scooting around him and was now in front of him gazing into his eyes. She was smiling.
"You're probably wondering why I did this to you, Hotch. It's very simple really. You know me for one. The other is that you'd be perfect for the experiment; a big, strong man like you. So in control. It'll be enjoyable to see how out-of-control you can get." She looked up at the man who still carried the club.
"We can't stay here any longer," he told her in a low voice. "We need to get out of here and take him with us. He brought others with him and they're all in the house searching for us and the girl."
"How do we get him out of here then?" Prentiss asked.
"Simple. I have a stretcher hidden inside one of the secret panels. We can use that to help get him out of here as he can't speak or move. I've taken care of the red-headed woman who came with him so she won't interrupt us. Once we get him out of the house and into the woods, we can then load him into the ambulance and head to our location where we can keep him until it's safe to move him. We'll have to get him somewhat prepared for what needs to be done."
"Get the stretcher," she ordered. She waited until the man had walked away before leaning over and running a finger along Hotch's jaw line. "You are a looker," she said softly. She kissed the tip of Hotch's nose and glanced over her shoulder to make sure the other man hadn't returned yet. Turning back to Hotch she stroked his cheek. "Jack probably won't like us bringing you to him at first. But the idea of breaking a big, strong FBI agent like Aaron Hotchner will appeal to him, so he'll come around. And anyway…" running her hand now down the agent's body, Prentiss let it linger on Hotch's groin area. She groped him through his trousers. Her eyebrows arched and a pleasurable smile appeared. "…I always knew you were well endowed, Hotch. Perhaps it won't be a total waste after all." She turned and spotted the man carrying a folded stretcher. Standing, Prentiss walked over to him, leaving Hotch alone. His eyes watched the two of them as they went about their business knowing he couldn't do or say anything to stop them. And what had the man done to his subordinate? What did he mean by he had taken care of the woman? Was she dead? No. He wouldn't think like that. He couldn't afford to. He blinked back the gathering moisture in his eyes.
The man reached under the stretcher after it had been opened and locked it after laying it flat beside Hotch. Then, he stuck his arms under Hotch's armpits and moved the upper half of his body onto the stretcher while the woman moved his legs. Once that was done, the woman stuck Hotch's weapon in her waistband and his mini flashlight in her pocket as the man picked up a sheet and shaking it open, quickly covered Hotch with it from head-to-toe.
"Let's go," he said as he crouched down grabbing the front end of the stretcher while Prentiss picked up the other end and the duo then left the room by exiting through the hidden wall panel being sure to close it behind them. But just as suddenly, Prentiss turned into the reddish-golden-haired woman he had entered the building with. But how could that be?"
"Can't be…" Hotch murmured still sleeping. "Can't be true…" Haley stopping stoking his hair and looked at her husband's face seeing his eyebrows knitted together and his face showing signs of distress.
"I took care of the woman," he had heard the man say to Prentiss. "She won't interrupt us." Hotch's eyes fell on the woman who was helping load him onto the stretcher, and was surprised to see she now had reddish-golden hair instead of the black hair she originally had.
"No!" Hotch nearly shouted in a loud voice still in the throes of sleep as he began twisting the blanket in his white-knuckled hands. "No!"
Haley was on her feet now, shaking her husband by both shoulders frantically as tears were staining her cheeks. "Aaron. Aaron, wake up! Please! You're scaring me. Please wake up!" She shook him harder. "Aaron!"
Hotch's eyes suddenly flew open and darted around like a frightened deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. His body was tense and he was both sweating and breathing heavily. His eyes suddenly noticed Haley and the words spewing forth did nothing to chase away the frightened look on her face.
"Daria?" he asked, fear showing in his eyes as he moved away from Haley. "What are you doing here? Get away from me."
Haley, shocked at her husband's outburst, didn't even move when the door to Hotch's room opened and a nurse hurried in. She had been attracted by Hotch's shouting. She looked at Haley.
"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to leave the room while I try and settle your husband down. Doctor Sherman has been alerted and is on his way."
Covering her mouth with a hand and with tears coursing down her cheeks, Haley bolted from the room.