Chapter 10: Waiting
A/N: You guys are the best! Thank you all for your reviews. Here is chapter 10…
Enjoy!
Previously
"Grenade!" Emily yelled. Everyone took cover, although Hotch's reflexes weren't as good as he thought, because before he could take cover a blinding pain ripped through his collarbone and pushed him to the ground…
Chapter 10
He opened his eyes, trying to get up, a gasp left his lips that had Emily by his side immediately "Aaron!" she kneeled down by his side, the orange jumpsuit was staining red on his collarbone, she immediately leaned down and pressed on the red spot, she could feel the blood, her husband's blood under her fingers.
"Em… sorry… that's not how I wanted your return home to be…" he said. His breath was already coming in short gasps, this was wrong… so, so wrong! Emily closed her eyes for a second.
"Don't say that Aaron, just look at me, alright? Everything will be perfect. You'll see, we'll get out of this hell hole and go back home, just you, me Jack and our baby. Don't worry, just keep your eyes on me alright?" she pleaded, the tears she tried to conceal falling down her cheeks now, he made one last try to open his eyes, his hazel irises were darker now, with pain clouding them, "Baby? We're having a baby?" he asked. Emily felt the tears rolling down her cheeks "Yes, baby, yes we are." She felt a hand on her shoulder and she tried to fight it off, "Emily it's Kate, hey, need help? What can I do?" Emily saw Kate's face over her shoulder, Elle moved forward towards the corridor, followed by Alex and a few SWAT agents. "Aaron is shot, we need paramedics here now! I need you to put pressure, I'm trying but there's too much blood. My hands aren't…" Kate saw the shaking in Emily's hands; the blood was slipping through her fingers, painting them red.
"Alright, okay on the count of three, you pull your hands and I press my jacket down on the wound." Emily nodded and moved a bit to the side to allow Kate to come closer; she took off her jacket and folding it to create a gauze, "One, two, three, now!" Emily pulled her hands away from the stained fabric and Kate pushed the light jacket hard on the collarbone, a ground left Aaron's lips, he closed his eyes tighter. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay baby." Emily took his head on her legs, combing her bloody fingers through his hair. "Can you open your eyes for me, for a little?" she said, Aaron opened his eyes a little and looked straight into her smiling face. "Best pillow ever!" he breathed out, his voice was soft, almost went unheard, she chuckled remembering the first time he told her that.
They were sitting in the bench across from their hotel for over an hour, the sky was clear and they could see the starts clearly. She felt his head drop on her shoulder lightly for a second or two before he straightened up again. "Hotch." She said, putting her palm on his cheek. "Aaron, you called me Aaron earlier, I like that." She smiled widely at him, his eyes were tired, he had trouble keeping them open for long, "Alright Aaron, let's get you back to the hotel, you need to sleep." Then she saw him do something that she never guessed he was capable of, he putted!
"Come on, can we stay here, for a little?" she stroked his cheek softly looking straight into his eyes, something in them made her to want to kiss him, and she almost forgot that she didn't have to keep back any longer, cause she could kiss him wherever she wanted as long as they weren't in work.
"Sure, come on." She pulled his head down her lap, "Lie down before you collapse on the ground. I can't carry you; if you fall here, you sleep here." She said joking, he froze for a moment his eyes wide and Emily couldn't help herself she leaned and kissed him softly. A smile formed on his lips and he lay horizontally on the bench resting his head on her lap. He closed his eyes and, (swear to God!) snuggled closer to her.
"Hm… best pillow ever!"
"Remember first time you told me that?" she asked him, his eyes were still closed but the smile on his lips told her that he was still with her.
"Hmm, I do. We were in Ravenswood, on the way back from the angel maker case. On that bench across the… the hotel." She saw Kate's eyes look at the two of them with curiosity; this was a side to Aaron Hotchner that she had never witnessed.
"The paramedics are on their way." Tara said she appeared from the corridor; she holstered her gun and kneeled down next to Hotch as well.
"Always the trouble maker!" Elle said when she came closer, Aaron tried to laugh, but the sound soon turned into a cough so he stopped, Emily felt the tears pooling in her eyes, they all turned to their left where footsteps were coming closer, Emily could see the paramedics coming closer and she clutched one of Aaron's hands tightly, "See, the medics are here, you're gonna be fine." He opened his eyes again a little,
"Em… love you." And she felt the grip on her hand weakening as he let go of the last grip he had in consciousness.
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After finishing up at the prison, the rest followed Emily and Hotch to the hospital, Dave walked in last, waiting back to call the rest of their family.
"Rossi residence!" Dave smiled at the sound of his daughter's voice
"Hey sweetheart." He said
"Dad, where are you, everything alright?" she asked, the worry in her voice evident.
"I'm alright, cara, we are in the hospital now, Bethesda General, though because Hotch… Aaron got shot." He heard her gasp and the line went silent for a moment.
"Do you want me to do anything? Should I tell the rest?"
"There isn't anything you can do darling, tell the rest but not the kids, not yet, as soon as we know something more solid I'll call back, try and not panic Jack, he went through enough already."
"Of course dad, don't worry, mom, Shawn and I can take care of them just fine. Be safe!"
"You too cara, you too."
He hanged up and walked towards the fifth floor where the nurses told them to wait…
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Emily hated waiting, she hated not knowing, the hospital itself was bringing back some of the worse memories of her life. Bethesda General hospital, no matter how qualified it might be still brings the worse time of her life back.
"Emily!" she turned and saw Dave walking towards her. He looked just as bad, his clothes wrinkled, dark circles under his eyes, "Dave." He sat down next to her "Where are the other?" he asked her.
"Tara and Elle went to get coffee, Kate went to wash her hands and Alex is talking with her husband, JJ and Reid said they'll go get something to eat." Her voice was drained, all the fight, and stubbornness he had witnessed few hours ago was all gone. She looked just as drained as she sounded, and that caused Dave to sit down next to her, he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders and Emily leaned her head on his shoulder.
"Did the doctors said anything about Hotch?" he asked
"No, they won't say a thing."
"Alright."
The two of the sat in silence for the next ten minutes till they saw Tara and Elle appearing from around the corner, they held four cups each, Dave noticed for the first time just how drained they looked, the whole ordeal, which yet wasn't over, was draining their energy completely.
"Here" Elle gave Emily a cup which she accepted gladly. Elle smiled softly and sat down next to her; Tara took the seat on his left and offered him a cup as well. "Drink, you look ready to collapse." She said, and any other time Dave would have joked about the pot and the kettle but right now only thing that would come out of his mouth was a soft thanks.
Spencer and JJ came back after twenty minutes, their coffee cups now discharged, they were carrying a couple of bags each, they dropped the bags on the table, everyone in the room knowing that the whole 'need to get food' was just an excuse to get out of the hospital. JJ and Spencer's red eyes were proof enough.
They took the seats on the other side of the small room silence filled the air once again. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, not at all, it was like familiarity, like coming home, it was something they knew and cherished.
Kate and Alex walked in the room last, the two women walked next to JJ and sat down without saying a word, what to say after all?
It's been three hours since they rushed Hotch to the hospital when a tall blonde woman with piercing blue eyes walked in the room. She took off her scrub cup which had birds on, making Elle flinch just a little bit, and smiled at them all, "Family for Aaron Hotchner?"
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Joy parked the car outside of her father's house; she noticed the various other cars there as well and realized just how bad the situation must have been.
Shawn took Kai silently and walked out, her mother, followed path and they left her alone in the car, and she was so thankful for that, since her dad called telling her to take Kai and Shawn, call her mother and take the first flight to D.C. STAT! She felt as if she was drowning, and then the news of an explosion in the FBI academy reached her news midflight and all she could do was clutch her mother's hand and pray with her that they didn't lose any member of their family. After a few of deep breaths she walked out, holding her head straight she took the last steps up the stairs to the front door which was already open. She recognized Will LaMontagne and Mateo Cruz standing there, the first had a large smile on his face while the second was chewing on a sandwich, "Hey Will, Matt, right?" Matt smiled and winked at her, the two men stepped aside letting her in the house, "Kai already found Jack and Henry, they are out in the yard." Will said, she smiled at him, thanking him under her breath and walked farther in the house. Nothing had changed since the last time she was there, he had put up some new frames, some pictures of him with Kai and some with her mom, a new photo from Derek's wedding, but that was it. Nothing had changed making the place too familiar. She found herself sitting on her father's favorite loveseat, closing her eyes and trying to release the pent up tension from her bones and muscles. When the phone ringed she felt startled, she took the device answering
"Rossi residence!"
"Hey sweetheart." She smiled hearing her father's voice, he sounded to be alright although tired, she could handle tired.
"Dad, where are you, everything alright?"
"I'm alright, cara, we are in the hospital now, Bethesda General, though because Hotch… Aaron got shot." She let a soft gasp fall from her lips, she knew Hotch, not well enough but she knew him and she also knew that if he was shot then things weren't that good… well that wasn't new.
"Do you want me to do anything? Should I tell the rest?"
"There isn't anything you can do darling, tell the rest but not the kids, not yet, as soon as we know something more solid I'll call back, try and not panic Jack, he went through enough already."
"Of course dad, don't worry, mom, Shawn and I can take care of them just fine. Be safe!"
"You too cara, you too." she hanged up the phone and walked outside to the patio, the boys were running chasing each other around laughing, they seemed so happy, and so unaware of the dramatic turn their lives had turned.
"Dad called." She saw the look on Derek's face changing, his smile dropped, Will put down his water glass and took a sharp breath, Matt followed lowering the half eaten sandwich on a napkin. Penelope who was sitting next to Derek gasped, she knew the tone, and she knew it all too well.
"Who is it?" she asked sadly.
"Hotch, he was shot. Dad said to not tell the kids, not until they know more, he's gonna call with more info later." She said softly, keeping her voice down. She heard Penelope gasping, "No, not here baby girl" Derek said and helped her up, Joy saw them walking in the house, he had his hand around her waist holding her up. She turned to the others on the table, "If you want to go, go, mom, Shawn and I can handle the kids alright." She said
"I have to go back to HQ, Bern sent me a text." Matt said, he got up and left the table, a sad smile on his face, he turned for a moment, looking at them "Call me with updates. I'll go say bye to the kids." He walked to the three kids playing and Joy turned her head back. Will looked shocked; he had paled and was looking straight ahead to the playground "Will?" Joy tried to get his attention "Will?"
"Hotch will be alright, right. He wasn't dead. He was injured. He's been injured before."
"I don't know, dad didn't tell me more, if you want to go to the hospital to be with JJ, I'll take care of the kids. You can go." He took his eyes from the kids and looked at Joy; she noticed the sorrow in them "Thank you, JJ… Hotch is like a brother to her. She… they have a bond, I don't understand at all times, but I've learned to respect it. Just like I've learned to respect her bond with Penelope and Emily… at first I was jealous of him, I thought he and JJ had something, not that she was cheating on me, I trust her I know that she wouldn't do that. I thought there was something between them that none of them ever explored. When I saw him with Emily, I realized how wrong I was. I never had a brother, Hotch became the brother I never had, he helped JJ, multiple times, he protected her and at the end of the day always made sure she came home safe. I don't think that JJ will survive losing him… I am not sure any of us will." Joy gripped his shoulder "I think you need to be with JJ now."
Will looked at her and smiled a little, "I'm gonna tell the kids I have to leave for a while."
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Matt walked closer to the boys trying to keep the smiled on his face. "Hey boys, I have to back to the office, be good for Aunt Joy, Uncle Shawn and Aunt Hayden." The two boys nodded and turned back playing with Kai who was still on the tree house Dave built. "Uncle Matt." He turned and saw Jack starring at him, Henry had already climbed up the stairs and disappeared within the leaves of the tree.
"What's going on Jack?" he asked Matt kneeled down in front of the older boy.
"Does this have something to do with my dad?" Matt bit the inside of his cheek,
"Yeah, something to do."
"Is he coming home?" Jack's eyes shined, he had a big smile on his face and Matt felt like crap when he heard the question, because he knew he had to lie.
"I think… we're close to that." Jack hugged him and run up the steps as well. Matt took a deep breath and turned around walking to the front yard without looking back, he hated himself for that but what else was he supposed to do?
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Will walk to the tree house, "Henry? Jack? Kai? Guys can you come down for a second?" the three young smiling faces appeared from within the leaves. "What's wrong daddy?" Henry asked, he was smiling widely and Will was almost sure that it has something to do with what Matt said to Jack before he left.
"Nothing bud, I need to go to work for a while. I'll be back soon though alright? You three be good, and I'll bring chocolate ice-cream when I'm back" the three of them nodded their heads, Jack and Kai said bye and disappeared back inside the tree house, Henry walked down the stairs and run to his arms "I love you daddy, be safe!" Will squeezed his boy and kissed his forehead softly "Don't worry bud, I'll be just fine."
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"Family for Aaron Hotchner?"
"That's us!" Dave said walking up the doctor. "We're his family."
"With all due respect sir, I can only give the information on his actually related family." She said
"I'm his wife." Emily got up and walked to the blonde doctor. She smiled "Hi Mrs. Hotchner, my name Dr. Teddy Altman, I operated on your husband, Agent Hotchner lost quite a lot of blood from the GSW on the collarbone, we managed to stop the bleeding and repair the damage to the bone and the soft tissue, he was lucky on that front if the bullet entered just a few inches down, we've have a very different outcome. He crashed on the table and we've found out that he had three broken ribs, one of them was pocking his lung and it collapsed, it was a bit on the serious side so we put in a chest tube, we'll remove that in two to three days depending on how he improves. We've also did a general examination on him and found that he had an effusion on his left knee; the orthopedic surgeon will come and explain the cause of action that will need to be taken for that injury. I think overall he is a very lucky guy." The woman smiled and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Thank you. Can we see him?"
"He will be transferred to a room soon, the orthopedic surgeon wanted to check knee's mobility before she decided on a cause of action weather it will be un-invasive or surgical. I'll have one of the nurses to take you to him room as soon as we have more."
"Okay, thank you Dr. Altman." Emily said, the blonde doctor smiled and turned around leaving the eight of them alone. Emily sat down on the chair she occupied before, a relieved smile on her face now. She looked around, everyone seemed like the weight of the world had lifted off of their shoulders.
"Aaron told me that he didn't have any broken ribs." Elle said. Everyone turned to her, there was a fury in her eyes, a fury unlike any other. "What?" Emily asked.
"When we found him I saw him touching his chest often and I asked him if everything was alright. He told me that the prison doc told him it was just bruises, no broken ribs. I should have known. I'm so sorry, if I had had know I would have sent him out right away." Emily moved closer to the other woman, she was standing next to the window hugging herself tight, "Elle" Emily hugged her "You didn't know, it's okay, it's now your fault." Elle hugged her back, she buried her face on her shoulder and let few tears roll. "I need to go wash up, coming with me?" Elle nodded and the two women tuned around to the rest.
"We're going to the restroom, need to wash the blood off, come get us when Aaron is back."
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Matt walked in the building looking around, everything was a hounded times different, three armed agents in each exit, multiple id checks, each in every floor and so much silence. "Chief Cruz!" he turned and watched Marvin, the security agent at the front desk "Marvin."
"Sir, Deputy Director Tolbert asked you in his office immediately." Matt nodded his thanks and walked to the elevators in the east wing, on the other side on the BAU. He got into the elevator looking on the metal doors closing, his mind raced through hundreds of scenarios. He would have loved to say that he was ready and prepared to deal with all of them but that would have been a big fat lie. He walks out when the car stopped in the fifth floor and walked towards the deputy's office.
Standing outside the dark wooden door caused him to feel like a kid going to the principal's office, and he did… as a kid he did a lot. So he knows the feeling quite well.
"Come in Matt." He turns the doorknob and walks inside to find a sight he never expected to. Tolbert was sitting on the black leather couch, a glass of Bourbon in his hand, his jacket discarded on the chair across from him, his tie on the floor next to his shoes. All layers of professionalism striped away, he wasn't Deputy Director Tolbert, no, now he was Bern.
"Hey Bern."
"Hey, suit yourself." He said nodding to the crystal bottle and the empty glass. Matt leaned forward purring a small amount of the brown liquid in the empty glass.
"What's going on?"
"You tell me first, how's Hotch?" Matt took a deep breath and looked at the glass in his hands, he hadn't touched it yet but right now he needed a sip.
"You know about the prison riot. Well it was shut down, 350 guards, 39 of them dead, 82 injured, 12 of them critical, the others only minor things. And then from the 2000 inmates, 200 died in the riot, some trying to escape others in crossfire, 1000 injured, twenty three seriously, the others nothing major. Hotch… well, he is shot, I don't know anything else yet. All I know is that he got shot during the riot and he is in Bethesda General hospital, Dave said he'll call as soon as he knows more." Bern refilled his glass and drank a generous amount in the first sip. "Your turn" Matt said
"John's dead. Starting tomorrow I'm officially the new FBI director. I think I know who did it, but I need help to prove it." Matt looked at him stunned, the director was dead?
"How… when?" he asked, he paused and looked around him, "the car bomb. It was his car." Bern nodded his head negatively.
"No, it was my car. He took it to go visit Hotch in prison, he wanted to tell him that he was sorry for what happened, for letting it happen under his nose, and tell him that he's got his back."
"What do you mean letting it happen? He signed off the counterterrorism investigation!"
"No… that was all Stafford… John had been ill the past few weeks, he had difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, fever… he visited hundreds of doctors, no one could find what he had. He took time off and separated his work load between the two of us, Stafford and me. He signed it off. Today was the first day John was back to work."
"You mean that Stafford had something to do with all of this?"
"I'm sure he did."
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Emily closed the door behind them, she saw Elle walk to the mirrors and stare ahead.
"There is something, something you didn't tell the others. What is it?" Emily asked, Elle turned and chuckled.
"Your husband was shot, he just came out of surgery and you wanna know about me?"
"Well, I always wanted to know about you. Penelope, JJ, Morgan, Reid, they all love you, and Aaron… well… he always speaks really high of you. I always wanted to know you better." Elle smiled softly
"I have a son, Gideon Greenaway. I adopted him a year and half ago, his parents had died in a home invasion. He was just a baby, barely three months old. Jason helped me with the adoption process and settle in a life with an infant. We both lived in Foley Beach, a little outside of Charleston, we weren't a couple… not in the traditional aspect but he was there, he was… the adoption finalized the day of the funeral. And it was unfair! Jason was… this was a second chance for him to be a dad, to be there and he wanted it, he deserved it too. he came back to Virginia, he wanted to gather some personal things from the cabin and arrange some of his affairs… he wanted to include me and Gideon in his will, inform Stephen, when he found out about that bird killer coming back, he called me and told me that he's going to take a little longer, he needed to figure some things out and call Dave, Rossi. He never managed to call him, or come home. When the doctor came with the bird cap, she reminded me that he died… by a killer using his love as a signature. Around the same time Matt made an offer to return to the BAU, he said I was going to have my own team which will work hand by hand with Hotch's team, I confined in Jason, he told me to think about it, and if I wanted to he was going to back me up, he'd stay home take care of the baby so I wouldn't have to worry. I did, I considered it, but then Jason got shot… died. I couldn't come back. Matt made me the same offer three weeks ago and then Hotch gets arrested and shot…" a couple of tears rolled from her eyes and down her cheeks. Emily stood there in shock, she expected something was hidden under the façade the other woman put on but this was a bit much…
"I'm pregnant. A month far… I figured it out the day my husband was transferred to a federal prison and now he is shot. I told him we were gonna have a baby while he was bleeding in my hands." Elle laughed, the sound shocked Emily who looked at the other woman in question.
"I'm sorry, it's not funny, and it's not funny at all! But messed up lives we lead!" Emily followed the woman laughing, they laughed till tears rolled down their eyes. Emily walked to the other woman hugging her tightly, Elle wrapped her hands around the other woman smiling this time.
"You'll be a great mom."
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Will walked in the hospital looking frantically for a nurse or a doctor, he didn't know where JJ was and he couldn't call her because his battery died and he felt like the biggest idiot in the world right about now. He noticed a nurse in the front desk getting up and run there, at least he till carried his badge, which was something.
"Hello, I'm detective LaMontagne Metro P.D. I'm looking for a patient, Aaron Hotchner, he's an FBI Agent." He tried to keep his voice steady. Mask the fear and anxiety he felt to no avail, in his opinion. The nurse looked up from her computer. "Of course, Agent Hotchner is just out of surgery, he isn't moved to a room yet, but you can go wait with the rest of his family in the fifth floor surgical waiting room." Will smiled at the nurse and walked to the elevators. He felt so much better knowing that he was alive, that their family was still intact.
The ride to the fifth floor didn't take long, in a little less than three minutes he saw the doors opening and he faced Dave standing by a window talking to the phone. he walked to the older man and waved, Dave nodded back and smiled "They're inside." He whispered and turned back to the phone call.
"Will!" JJ walked to him smiling "Hey sweetheart." He wrapped his hands around her shoulders and back and held her close to his chest. "Hotch is going to be alright." She said pulling back smiling widely. Will mirrored her smile and leaned forward, he softly touched her lips with his pulling her closer. "I love you." She said softly when they pulled apart. "I love you too sweetheart."
"Enough with the muss you two!" the couple pulled apart laughing and turned around to see Kate and Alex biting their lips.
"You two are horrible!" JJ said, a big smile plastered on her lips.
"I'm sorry, agent Hotchner is in room 543 you can visit him, one at the time please." They turned and saw one of the nurses on the door. "Could you please inform his wife, the orthopedic surgeon is looking for her."
"Of course." Dave said.
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Elle and Emily walked back to the room moments after the nurse left. "Did they get Aaron to a room?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, the ortho surgeon is looking for you. He is in room 543." Dave answered smiling. Emily left a sign of relieve and smiled at the older man . "I'll go find them, see what they need me, you guys so visit him first. I'm not leaving him if I see him." She said and turned around walking to the nurses' station where Dr. Altman was sitting with a tall brunet woman in similar dark blue scrubs.
Dave turned and looked at the rest "I know we all need to see him but I don't think we should ignore the nurses in this one, we go one by one, alright?" everyone nodded "I'd like to go first if you don't mind." Elle said. Everyone else nodded and she smiled sadly.
Elle kept her head straight and walked to the room they told them Hotch was. She opened the door and walked in, the sight took her breath away. He was lying on the bed, a tube down his throat, multiple other tubes and… shit… on him. He looked like the exact opposite of the man she saw few hours ago. That man was vibrant filled with life, a little beat up, but strong and… well a fighter to the end.
She walked and pulled one of the chairs from the wall closer to the bed. She sat down and took his hand in hers. It was so surreal, the whole thing was.
"Hey, Hotch, it's Elle, I'm sorry I didn't notice… I should have known, I should have seen that you weren't okay, but you were… exactly liked I remembered, for the most part. Strong headed, stubborn, vibrant… a fighter, I ignored the signs that something wasn't right. Maybe I didn't want to believe them. I'm sorry I blamed you all those years back that you didn't have my back. it wasn't your fault… I know that… you were right about Lee too. I'm not the same woman anymore, but I guess you're not the same man anymore either. I think I'd like to meet the new you and I'd like you to meet the new me. I'd like you to meet my son too. he is turning two next month. There's something else, I want to discuss with you as well, I'm thinking of coming back to the BAU… just… get better okay…" she got up and squeezed his hand tightly one last time before she turned and left the room.
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Emily walked to the doctors "Hey, Dr. Altman?"
"Hello Mrs. Hotchner, this is Dr. Torres, she's the orthopedic surgeon, I'll let you two talk."
"Hi, my name Callie, Callie Torres. Agent Hotchner had a mild effusion which we'll treat non-invasive, which means that I'll prescribe him some pills, that will help with the pain and hopefully the fluids in the joint will subside, I'll also give him some corticosteroids to help ease the inflammation which is starting, he'll also need to have some injections of steroids directly to his knee. It's a painful process, not extremely but it's still painful, he'll have to stay out of the field for at least the next two months, and that's if he responds to the medication, because if he won't we'll probably have to take surgical action, I'm hopeful that it might work but there seems to be older trauma on the knee and I can't be sure how that will affect the treatment." Emily nodded at the doctor.
"Thank you, is there anything I can do, anything I need to know?"
"Well, he needs to stay off of that leg for at least a week, no running for a month…he just has to rest and take his medication." The doctor smiled and put a comforting hand on Emily's shoulder, "Don't worry, I think he'll be okay."
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Kate walked in Hotch's room second, Elle had just left and she asked the rest if they would mind if she walked in next. She saw Hotch on the bed he had a breathing tube down his throat, various other tubes coming out of him, she walked to the side of the heart monitor, watching the strong beat of his heart.
"You gave us a scare Hotch. A huge one. Don't do it again. I met your wife, she's amazing you know… we're all here, Alex, Dave, JJ, Will, Reid, Elle… we're all here for you. Just wake up and we go back to our lives. We love you." She took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Get better!"
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Dave called home to inform them on how Hotch was doing.
"Rossi residence." He smiled when he heard Hayden answer the phone.
"Hey, Hotch is out of surgery, he'll be alright."
"Oh, thank God, everyone was extremely worried here. You have a great team of people around you David. I like them already." He heard the smiled on her voice and smiled as well.
"I know, they are the only family I have apart from you and Joy. They are important to me and to know that you and Joy like them, it's a great comfort."
"I know, well don't worry about us here we've got everything under control. I'll go inform the rest now. Stay safe."
"You too guys."
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Alex walked in the room, she as reluctant, too reluctant to do so. She knew that the view wouldn't be nice, she knew it. But then again she needed to see with her own eyes that Hotch was alright. If Reid was like a son then Hotch was like a brother. He was lying on the bed, pale and unmoving, the whole picture brought her back two years ago when she was sitting at Reid's bedside. That time she took the decision to leave the BAU, funny that this time she decided to come back…
"Hey Hotch, it's Alex, I'm back, you scared us, a lot. I lost a brother Hotch… I can't lose another, please wake up. just wake up and… just that. Get better and wake up. we all need you." She leaned down and kissed his forehead, she had no idea why she did it but she needed it.
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Hayden was sitting at the kitchen table trying to chop the vegetables for dinner that Shawn was planning, she was distracted though she needed to know more about David and what was happening with Hotch, he was the one David spoke the most about but she hadn't met yet. Although if she judged by his son then she would defiantly like him. She heard the phone ring from the living room, "I'll get it!" she said and Joy returned back to the patio.
"Rossi residence."
"Hey, Hotch is out of surgery, he'll be alright." She smiled when she heard David's voice on the other side of the line. She felt a relieved breath leave her lips at the news.
"Oh, thank God, everyone was extremely worried here. You have a great team of people around you David. I like them already." She genuinely liked them a lot. They were a little crazy to be honest, but they all had hearts of gold. It was extremely rare to find people that could love so unconditionally these days.
"I know, they are the only family I have apart from you and Joy. They are important to me and to know that you and Joy like them, it's a great comfort."
"I know, well don't worry about us here we've got everything under control. I'll go inform the rest now. Stay safe."
"You too guys."
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When Alex walked out of the room Tara said to the rest that she'll go in next. No one really said anything, they just nodded and she walked to the room. She entered looking at the injured man on the bed. He looked worse than she had ever seen him. The bruise on his cheekbone was clearly visible although she was glad to notice that the swell had gone down, a white bandage was visible under the paper gown where he was shot and his left knee was slightly elevated propped on few pillows. She took the chair and pulled it closer to the bed taking one of his hands in hers.
"I'm not going to tell you about what I regret, or how much we all miss you, or how much we need you back. I'll wait till you're awake to do so. Instead I'll tell you something that happened earlier today, Jack called me aunt Tara, and I heard Henry refer to me as aunty… I've been officially accepted into the pack! I also met Elle Greenaway, Alex Blake, Kate Callahan, of course I knew Emily, it's good to know what shoes I'm filling. They are great women… all of them. We also got Eric Rawdon, he was the one who put the bomb in the director's car. At least he was the one who planned it, we still don't know who actually put it there. We need you for that. So get better." She let his hand softly back on the sheet and left the room, she was walking slowly holding her head high, trying not to look at anything else than the end of the hallway…
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Emily wanted to see Aaron but she decided that she needed to talk to Jack first, it wasn't fair to leave the boy in the dark about Aaron's condition.
"Morgan!"
"Hey Derek, can you get Jack for me?"
"Sure princess!" she heard Derek push open the patio doors and calling Jack's name.
"Emmy?"
"Hey Jack, I have to tell you something baby."
"Is daddy alright?" Emily closed her eyes tightly, nothing went past this boy. Even at ten he was exactly like his father.
"Baby, we… dad got a little injured… he'll be alright."
"Can I… can I talk to him?" she heard him sniffling, and her heard broke in million pieces.
"Well he is sleeping right now, but as soon as he wakes up I'll call you back and you can talk to him. I might even come and get you to see him tomorrow if he's feeling better okay?" she was met with silence on the other side of the line. "Baby?"
"Yeah?"
"You okay?"
"Daddy isn't going to die is he?"
"No baby, he won't, I talked to his doctors and they told me that he won't… he'll be alright. I promise you that."
"Alright Emmy, take care of daddy and the baby okay?"
"Okay."
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Spencer, JJ and Will decided to go in after, first was going to be Reid, then JJ and last Will. Spencer walked in, he was the only one who managed to ignore the injured man on the bed, his eyes fell to the medical chart on the base of the bed. He took it in his hands and started reading each line, it took him less than three minutes to memorize the whole file. For some reason he didn't trust the doctors in telling them the whole truth, he was please to see that at least this time dr. Altman did tell them the truth.
"You'll be alright Hotch." He finally addressed the man on the bed. "You'll be just fine, few months out of the field, maybe one in bed rest, but you'll be as good as new. And we need you like that… we need you to find who orchestrated the trap. It was an attack towards all of us. We've got your back, you know we do. Get better please!" he placed a hand on his right shoulder, the uninjured one, and stood silent for a moment, after which he turned and left the room, not looking back…
He got out of the room and nodded to JJ who was leaning on Will, she was exhausted, just like the rest of them were. She straightened her posture and walked towards the room Reid had just came from.
Opening the door she felt the breath caught in her throat. She had never seen Hotch like that… not even after he was stabbed nine times by Foyet. She felt the tears roll down her eyes but did nothing to stop them, it wasn't going to help anyway, and more tears would just roll down her cheeks.
"Hey Hotch…" she sat down on the chair and pulled it as close as she could to the bed. She took his right hand in both of hers. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. I guess you can, I was scared I was… when I saw you on the ground… blood around you, I thought you would die… Matt gave me a scare yesterday… and now you… I felt I… I felt I couldn't breathe. I can't lose you guys… any of you. So just… don't die? Please get better." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek softly, running her fingers through his hair for a moment. "Just get better."
She turned her back to the bed and walked to the door, she stood for a moment taking a deep breath and whipping her eyes from the tears before walking outside.
"I'll go see him for a moment too sweetheart and then we can drive back to Rossi's, get a change of clothes for Emily and maybe for Hotch too okay?" JJ nodded and Will kissed her forehead softly before walking towards the room.
"Hey man, I promise you I'll spare you the muss. Just… thank you for not dying. You're like the brother I never had Hotch… just get better, we miss you." Will smiled at the sleeping man on the bed. He closed his eyes and tried to pry away the picture in front of him from his mind, although he knew that this wasn't possible because as soon as he opened his eyes again the same sight greeted him again.
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Jack walked towards the living room and found Penelope sitting there with Savannah, the two women had their arms tightly around each other. "Aunt Penny, Aunt Savannah, did you knew about my dad?" he asked. Penelope turned around and looked at the little boy on her right.
"Oh buddy, we learned about it. Come here." She opened her hands and was relieved when Jack walked towards them. He climbed on the couch and settled in their arms letting the warm hugs of the two women calm him down.
"Emmy said that dad's gonna be okay. Emmy never lied to me so she might be right." He said, leaning his head to Penelope's chest. "You know that bud, Emily never lied to you, I don't see her starting now."
"And I happen to know the doctors in Bethesda where your dad is and I can vouch that they are the absolute best. Your dad couldn't be in safer hands." Savannah said smiling at the boy, Jack flashed her a big smile showing off both his dimples.
"Thank you Aunt Savannah."
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Rossi had let the rest of the team to go see Hotch first, he wanted to have as much time as he wanted to be there, even if he wanted only seconds. Walking in the room his brained flashed in all the other times he had seen Hotch on a hospital bed. This was without a doubt the worse he had seen him. Even after Foyet he got to the hospital when the worse was over, Aaron was awake and most of the tubes had been removed. Now though with the ventilator helping him breathe and the chest tube and everything else with the fancy names that didn't care in learning he looked at his best friend and for the first time in their lengthy friendship he was afraid he might lose him, they had come so close to… closer than any other time, all because a stupid prison doctor didn't gave him an x-ray to diagnose that he had indeed broken his ribs. 'Just bruises my ass!'
"Hey Aaron, we got you, you don't have to worry, we… we know that Slade and her son were part of the set up, alongside with Rawdon who planned the bomb in the Academy. We need to find who did it… who else was it. It's hard if you won't be there. I told you years ago that we can go on without you, I lied… we almost killed each other in the last three days we had to work without you. We need you, this team, your team needs you. So… get better." Rossi leaned down and kissed Aaron's forehead softly, if Aaron was awake he was going to push him off but right now he couldn't so Rossi took the opportunity.
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Emily stood outside the room waiting for Rossi to come out, she had kicked the rest out telling them to go back home and take some rest immediately. They all thankfully complied.
She didn't have to wait long, after few minutes Rossi walked out.
"Hey kiddo." He said, Emily smiled at him and let him hug her "Hey, you need to go home, they aren't going to let us stay here with Aaron both of us, go home." Dave nodded and kissed her cheek before untangling himself from the hug they shared.
"Take good care of him, both of them." He said putting his hand on her flat stomach.
"How did you?"
"I just do."
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She walked in the room last. Aaron's eyes were still closed and according to the doctor he wasn't going to wake till the morning, they had him in strong anesthesia, trying to have him sleep peacefully tonight and not step back his recovery. She sat down on the hard plastic chair that so many others from the team occupied before her and took his hand in hers.
She didn't spoke to him, she sat there in silence rubbing circles on the back of his hand, partially trying to relax herself as well as soothe him.
Her eyes were heavy and she tried to keep them open as hard as she could but in the end failed. Laying her head on the bed over his hand she let her eyes close and sleep took her over…
A/N: That's it chapter 10 is done! We're really close to the end, but now I have a dilemma… should I write a sequel or not? I already have the story planned in my head, would anyone be interested in reading it?
Sneak Peak!
He started getting feeling back on his hands, legs, torso, the itchy sheets, the light blanket covering him and a weight on his hand. He didn't need to open his eyes to know what the weight was. He knew it was Emily probably sleeping with her head on his hand. that didn't worry him, what did thought was the fact that there was something blocking his airway, there was something, a tube and it was gagging him, his eyes flew open and he used his left hand to pull it out.
"Aaron, Aaron! Hey calm down, baby calm down."