He pulled her limp body into his arms and held her the best he could; there was nothing else he could do for her. He felt broken inside every inch of him was slowly dying. He felt her stir in his arms ever so slightly and he looked down to see that her eyes were open. He so wanted to turn back time and do things differently but it was too late.

She saw the pain in his face and the tears. She'd never seen him cry before always in control of his emotions. She remembered the time he had shown up at her door after a case. They had fought before he left town and she was angry at him refusing to take his calls. He wanted out and tried to make her break up with him. She should have known then that his heart wasn't in it. She couldn't be mad at him. He was a good man and he wanted desperately to love her and so he stayed trying to convince himself that she was the one. But it wasn't true his heart had already been lost to another. She pretended not to see it and not to hear it in his voice whenever he talked about "her". Denial had been her hiding place and she waited there behind the truth and behind the silence of words unspoken. Now, as she lay in his arms waiting for the inevitable she saw that look again, sorrow, pain, his eyes, filled with tears spilling onto his face without any effort on his part to make them stop; he still could not give her his heart even in her final moments he would not betray his love for Penelope.

"I saw you." She whispered softly."

"What?"

"I saw you…both of you."

"Save your strength, help is coming."

Another lie he couldn't help himself she thought, He wanted to be everything she needed but he couldn't and at that moment it was okay.

"Derek, stop being afraid. I saw you."

"Baby, please save your strength don't talk…"

"It's okay. She looked up and then slowly around the room before speaking again; a single tear escaped and fell rolling down her face.

"Don't let her get away, Derek."

"Savannah…"

"Listen." She said closing her eyes for a brief moment as she struggled to breathe and fight the pain.

"Savannah…I don't understand…"

"Yes you do. I saw the way you looked at her. "

Derek pulled her closer and began to sob rocking back and forth sorrow taking full control of him now.

"I'm so sorry. Please don't leave me."

A faint smile crossed her face and she began to see the approaching darkness. It was so quiet and peaceful, which surprised her. She wasn't sure what she expected hadn't thought much about her own death even though she watched it everyday.

"Too bad I didn't meet you nine years ago I would have given her a run for her money." She chuckled and closed her eyes as the pain again rocked her body.

He looked at her through the haze of his tears and strained to smile.

"I love you Savannah…I'm sorry…I didn't deserve you."

"I love you too, Derek…"

She was still now, the rise and fall of her chest quieted. She felt lighter in his arms and strangely at peace. Holding her tightly he wished he could will her back to life so that he could somehow love her anyway but she was right it was nine years to late and he had done the unthinkable in pulling Savannah into his life of silent denial. He didn't deserve her or anyone for that matter. Once again he felt despicable and unworthy of happiness and love.

Nurse Lydia and her three male accomplices slipped into the elevator and headed upstairs. Their work wasn't over by a long shot. Lydia wanted to end their mission quickly but her friends treated it all as a game taunting Morgan and Savannah and wasting precious time. They weren't getting paid to prolong their deaths for personal pleasure. Their dangerous game left a large margin of error and error meant problems. She knew enough about her targets, to know that the BAU was not a group to toy with. Their mission was to kill them all, instead the others decided to take a cigarette break as if they had all the time in the world.

Hotch, Rossi, and Alex huddled in the small security office watching the footage. Each entrance showed people coming and going but none of them matched Morgan's description.

"He's still in the hospital." Hotch said.

"Yeah, but where?" Rossi asked.

"Is there a place in the hospital that isn't used a place where someone could hide?" Alex asked the guard sitting in front of the monitor.

"The lower level used to be offices and radiology but it hasn't been used in about five years."

"How easy is it to access?" Hotch asked.

"It's sealed off unless you have a special code to take the elevator down to that level." The guard answered.

"Takes us there!" Hotch demanded.

Reid and JJ met them at the elevator and the guard took them down to the lower level. Quietly they stepped off and then sent the unarmed guard back up to the upper floor to notify the local PD for backup.

The large floor had been transformed into an area for storing old hospital equipment. It was obvious that it hadn't been used in quite a while a thick layer of dust covered everything. They noticed a dim light at the end of a hallway that lead to what used to be offices or examination rooms.

Each of them pulled out their guns and proceeded down the hall toward the light searching each room along the way. Once they arrived outside of the room, Hotch looked at Rossi and nodded then slowly opened the door. What they saw stopped them momentarily in their tracks. Then slowly they entered moving slowly toward Morgan.

Morgan didn't react he just held Savannah close to his body rocking tears falling freely from his eyes. They had never seen him cry…ever. He didn't shed tears nothing moved him to show weakness until now. It didn't matter what they thought of him as he sat in the middle of the room trying to will her back to life. He couldn't look at them he didn't want to see the pity in their eyes they were too late to make a difference. He didn't pull the trigger but he killed her nonetheless; her life had ended the moment she met him.

"Morgan, I'm so sorry…" Hotch said softly kneeling down next to his friend. "We need to get you back to your room."

Hotch placed his hand on his shoulder and Morgan moved away still clinging to Savannah's dead body. The others stood motionless now fighting back their own tears not knowing what to do or say.

"They killed her, Hotch! They killed her! She didn't deserve this!"

"I know, Morgan, I'm sorry…"

It was hard to breathe his body suddenly reminding him of his condition. The pain in his ribs renewed by the kicks he'd received earlier. He wanted to sleep and never wake up. He wanted to forget everything that had happened but there was no way he'd ever forget. His mind and heart was crying out for Penelope, she'd know what to say and do for him right now. She was his lifeline, his anchor. He needed to lean on her, his rock and God-given solace. How could he tell her now how he felt? He was dangerous and he knew that she would not be safe loving him. Maybe it was a good thing that she was with Sam, someone safe and normal and someone whose love would not get her killed.

He felt his body getting weaker he was vaguely aware of the arms removing Savannah from his grasp and voices speaking to him about getting back to bed and pain medication. He could hear whispers from his team but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Everything existed in a fog and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop the men in the green scrubs from taking her lifeless body and placing it on the gurney covering her body with a white sheet and wheeling her from the room.

He let go allowing his body to float into the dark mist of despair his spirit kicking and screaming and blaming him for the senseless death of the woman he'd chosen to save him from himself.