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Elaine assumed that no one would be in Emily's room when she arrived around nine that morning. Therefore, it was a shock, when she opened the door and saw someone sitting in one of the uncomfortable chairs ranged at either side of the bed. At first, she thought one of Emily's female teammates was sitting there because the person had long, wavy, golden brown hair. Then she realized that no woman would dress in dark brown cords, a brown and white striped sweater vest, and a long sleeved white shirt turned up at the elbows. A light brown corduroy jacket was slung over the back of the chair with a purple scarf and he wore dirty blue converse shoes.

She froze in her tracks, but he didn't move to acknowledge that he knew she was there. She took a step closer and one of her shoes squeaked on the tile. He jerked awake, sitting up so fast and straight he reminded her of a soldier coming to attention at the arrival of their CO. One, long fingered hand went to his shoulder and he winced, groaned and pinned her with a suspicious stare.

"Who are you?"

His voice was raspy with exhaustion, he badly needed a shave, but it was his eyes that ripped at her heart. They were large, chocolate brown, and resembled a puppy that someone had beaten and abandoned in a downtown alleyway to huddle in the rain.

"I'm Elaine. Emily and I have been friends since college."

His bloodshot eyes bored into her and she shivered. It was as if he'd read her soul in the same time it took her to introduce herself, and she didn't know what he saw, but he didn't smile.

"How did you know she was here?"

She bit down on replying with "none of your fucking business," but there was something in his eyes that smote at her heart and at once, she knew who he was.

"I have a friend in the DC metro police. He called me when the shooting came over the wire. He has contacts and he got Emily's name for me."

He just stared at her with probing eyes that cut like surgical knives.

"You must be Dr. Reid," she said without thinking.

His eyes narrowed at her and he winced as he straightened out one of his long legs. He grabbed the cane leaning up against Emily's bed and struggled to his feet.

"Don't get up," she said holding out a hand.

He raised his eyebrows a little. "How do you know who I am?"

He said it as if he hadn't heard her admonition not to get out of his chair

Tell the truth and you'll reveal more than Emily wants him to know. Stay silent and he'll get it out of you.

Oh yes, his eyes said he wouldn't take a lie for the truth. "She talks about you all the time."

"Does she?"

"Yes."

They were quiet, each sizing up the other until he looked away and back at Emily. Elaine kept her face placid, but inside she was smiling. She'd seen the way this Dr. Spencer Reid looked at Emily. If only Emily would wake up and realize that life was short and just admit her feelings.

"What did she tell you about me?"

"Nothing earth shattering, I assure you."

"Which means what?"

She went around to the other side of Emily's bed and sat down. "Why don't you get some rest? You look exhausted. I'll stay with her."

"You don't need to worry about me."

"Why not, I'm sure Emily would appreciate it if I do."

"I don't like games."

"And, I don't like someone I don't know trying to pump me for information on my friends."

"Fine, I need coffee anyway. I'll leave you alone."

She watched him limp rather irritably out of the room. She couldn't help but smile at his retreating form. He looked as good from the back as he did from the front. If she wasn't married… Well, it didn't hurt to look.

Emily was still out when the door shut after Dr. Reid. She was so pale; she resembled a marble sculpture in a museum. "He's as hot as you said," she said to Emily. "He really loves you. You should see him. He's about ready to drop. You need to wake up and talk to him or he's going to kill himself worrying about you."

She watched Emily breathe. The rise and fall of her chest began to calm the stark terror she'd felt when Matthew had called her about the drive by. If only Rick were here. She could use his arms around her, and the touch of his lips on her mouth.

She shook her head. It didn't do any good to wish for what she couldn't have for another three months. God, she hoped he was okay.

"Emily, you need to wake up. You've got a man that desperately loves you right here. Don't push him away because you're afraid. You need someone in your life that will love you for who you are, and from what you told me, he's the one."

"Do you remember that night we sat up after that storm knocked out the power. We only had one candle in the dorm, and no heat. We huddled together under that quilt my mother made for me and talked about the kind of man we wanted. Well, I found the right one in Rick. Dr. Reid seems to fit everything you wanted. Why are you resisting?"

Emily just lay there, so Elaine pulled her chair up closer to the right side of the bed and reached out for her hand. It was warm when she clasped it. She squeezed it tight. "He's just like you told me he would be. You were right about his eyes, they're deadly. You should thank your lucky stars I happen to love Rick as much as you love this Dr. Reid or -"

Emily's hand squeezed hers tight. Her eyes flicked up to see Emily's eyes fluttering open as though they were trying to push back all the weight of the world.

"Spencer," she croaked in a whisper.

"He's not here."

Emily's eyes widened, blinked, and closed again.

"Don't worry, he'll be back." Elaine moved up and kissed Emily's forehead. "You scared the hell out of us."

Her voice cracked and tears seeped out of the corners of her eyes. "What the hell would I do without you?"

"Elaine?"

Emily's eyes stopped fluttering. She pinned them on Elaine and swallowed hard. "Hurts. What happened to me?"

"I'll get the nurse."

The door opened and a man Elaine had never seen before walked in. He was tall, well-defined, black and extremely good-looking.

"Hello," he said, but his eyes were wary.

"Hi, my name is Elaine. I'm a friend of Emily's," she stuck out a hand.

He took it. "I'm SSA Derek Morgan."

"Oh yes, she's told me all about you too."

He raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Morgan?"

His eyes swept over to Emily and he smiled broadly. "Hey there Prentiss, what the hell you trying to do? You scared us."

"Sorry, don't remember what happened."

He took her free hand as Reid came back in with a steaming cup of coffee. He stopped short at the sight of Morgan and Elaine could see he wasn't happy that the other man was there. All the color drained from his face when he saw Emily awake and staring at him.

"Emily."

Elaine couldn't help but smirk at how Dr. Reid's voice squeaked.

"Hey man, are you still here?"

"Yeah, I said I would stay. Why are you here? You're supposed to be going after the men that sh - I mean did this."

He gestured with the coffee and it almost spilled over his fingers.

"We got them Reid. They were after Agent Stryker. Apparently, he was about to take down the better part of their operation with his task force. The raid was set for today. They decided to take him out instead. Emily was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I can't believe Organized Crime was so sloppy."

"Well, they're not happy about it or that Garcia hacked into their supposedly secure system and pulled out all the details about the undercover ops. Their Unit Chief is boiling mad, but the Director is out for Stryker's blood. He was supposed to be keeping a low profile."

Elaine watched the entire exchange with Emily from her seat. Dr. Reid went back to his seat, sitting down with a hiss.

"You okay man."

"I'm fine.

Morgan put a hand on his shoulder. "You look like hell man. It's over, go home. Everyone except Hotch will be here soon to take over."

Elaine watched the internal struggle that the others didn't seem to see. She flicked her eyes at Emily who'd listened to this Morgan without a word. She wanted to stop Dr. Reid from leaving, but Elaine could see she didn't know how to without blowing her secret. Elaine wanted to laugh. It was like their own soap opera.

Reid broke the standoff by getting up and limping out of the room without so much as a goodbye.

"What's wrong with him?"

Morgan directed the question to her. "I don't know. I just got here right before Emily woke up. I don't know what's going on."

"Emily, what is going on?"

The door opened again and another man and two women poured in like sand through a sieve.

"I thought they only allowed two people in here at a time," said the other man.

"Emily needs her friends," said one of the blonde women who wore a very colorful outfit and carried a few balloons and a small teddy bear in her arms. "Here you go my dove," she said to Emily after kissing her cheek.

"Hello," the second blonde woman greeted Elaine.

"This is my friend, Elaine."

Emily croaked out introductions of the rest of the team. Elaine greeted them all. "I better go," she said after meeting Garcia, Rossi and JJ. "It's nice to meet you. I'll see you later Emily."

She tried to indicate that she would try to catch up with Dr. Reid if he were still in the building without making it obvious. Emily nodded and smiled. "I'll see you soon."

Elaine hurried out of the room, down the hallway to the elevator. She waited long enough for it to arrive, to be sure that Dr. Reid would be gone when she got to the first floor, and even though the hospital was huge and there were many places he could be, she knew he was gone.