They arrived to the emergency room but JJ had already been moved to the main hospital for her overnight stay. A nurse showed them on the map where she had been taken and they made their way to her room in silence.
"Jennifer?" Frankie whispered as the entered the quiet room. They found JJ asleep in her bed behind a privacy curtain. Will was called away by a nurse to fill out paperwork and Frankie took the spare moment of privacy to call her sister. She sat down on a couch near the window of the room and pulled out JJ's phone, scrolling through contacts until she came across her sister's name. The phone rang a couple of times before a husky voice answered.
"Jay?"
"Nope, still Frankie."
"Did JJ get home?"
"Emily, I don't want you to be worried but JJ was in a car accident. She's okay but the hospital is holding her overnight. I'm here now and she's currently sleeping so I don't know if you want to come here or if you want to meet me back at my hotel maybe?"
"No, if JJ is in the hospital I'm on my way to you. Which hospital?"
Frankie gave Emily all the required information and added, "Emily, I can't believe you're here."
"We have a lot to talk about," Emily replied. "I'll see you soon."
An hour later there was a knock on the door which startled Frankie and Will. Frankie got up and answered the door to find her mirror image staring back at her. She burst into tears at the sight of her long lost sibling and Emily did the same. They collapsed into each other's arms and stood at the door sobbing for what seemed like hours. A nurse even checked to make sure they were okay as she made her rounds.
Hand in hand they entered the room and took up a place at a table near the end of JJ's bed. She was still happily passed out and under heavy sedation, the doctor had stopped in and explained she may be out for the night other than the hourly checks the staff would be doing to make sure she was okay.
Upon seeing Emily Will's jaw went tight. When JJ left him she had admitted to cheating although she never disclosed whom she had cheated with. Will always had his suspicions that if anyone had known about the cheating when it occurred it would have been Emily and he held a grudge that she had never told him what was going on. Not that she owed him anything. She was, in fact, JJ's best friend and owed no allegiance to Will but he thought someone would have told him his wife was cheating. He never knew Emily had been the culprit and both JJ and Emily aimed to keep it that way.
"Emily," Will whispered through gritted teeth.
"Will," she replied curtly.
"She's been asleep since we got here but I'm sure she'd want to know you made it," Frankie chimed in trying to ease the obvious tension brewing.
"No, I don't want to wake her."
"Well, I think I'll be more help at home with the little man," Will concluded sensing that Emily and Frankie wanted privacy. He forced a smile as he said his goodbyes and headed out the door, leaving the sisters alone to catch up.
"Emily, I'm so sorry," Frankie started once they had the room to themselves.
"Frankie, hun, you have nothing to be sorry for. We were kids and I forgave you years ago," Emily smiled as she squeezed ehr sister's hand reassuringly.
"You have? I mean when you never wrote me back I assumed you never wanted to speak to me again."
"Wrote you back?" Emily asked.
"I wrote you letters for years," Frankie looked confused at the idea her sister had no idea what she was possibly talking about.
"Frankie, I never received any letters."
Frankie shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't imagine that their mother would stoop so low as to hide the letters from Emily for so many years and leave Frankie forever wondering if her sister would ever forgive her for the travesty that had occurred. It was despicable to think her mother would do something so heinous. She decided to let it go for now, and focus on what was important. The fact was despite the years between them Emily was there now and that was all that mattered.
"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Frankie sighed as she hugged Emily firmly.
"Same to you."
"Will you two get a room?" a groggy voice chimed in. JJ was beaming back at them from the bed with the biggest shit eating grin stretched across her face. "Hello, Emily."
"Jayje. How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a truck."
"Hey, that's my line!" Emily laughed as she approached the bed. She locked eyes with those same sad baby blues which had entranced her so long before. She felt the butterflies in her stomach as she reached out and gave JJ's hand a gentle squeeze. Before anyone could say anything else the doctor entered the room for his hourly check.
"Ms Jareau, how are you feeling?"
"Dizzy, a bit foggy. My head is killing me," JJ admitted as she followed the doctors prompts and squeezed his fingers with each hand and followed the pen light to prove she was doing okay.
"That's normal. You have quite a concussion. We'll be doing hourly checks on you overnight to make sure you're okay." he explained. Once the doctor was satisfied with JJ's responses he left the three women alone once more.
Quickly feeling like she was in the way and knowing that JJ and Emily had a lot to discuss, Frankie yawned precociously.
"Well, I'm exhausted. I should head out," Frankie offered as she winked at JJ knowingly.
"I'll take you back to your hotel," Emily offered.
"I was going to catch a cab," Frankie insisted, knowing Emily and JJ had plenty to talk about.
"No, I think JJ will be fine for an hour," Emily replied looking to the blonde for approval. JJ nodded and gave a thumbs up. Frankie agreed and the sisters said goodbye and made their way to Emily's car.
"She's really lovely," Frankie said as they got into the rental.
"Don't go down that road, Frankie," Emily warned.
"What? I'm your sister. I'd be at fault if I didn't tell you that JJ is absolutely perfect for you and you'd be an idiot not to go after her."
"I idid/i go after her. She broke my heart, twice. I don't think I have it in me to try again," Emily tightened her grip onthe steering wheel as they entered the highway.
"Emily, things are different now. She's different now. I think you two are both too stubborn to see what is right in front of you. She left her husband for you, that has to mean something!"
"Did she say that?" Emily looked across to Frankie to monitor her sister's expression. This was news to Emily, seeing as last she heard Will and JJ were happily married. Then again things change over the course of a year but Emily couldn't help but be a bit hopeful to learn of JJ's divorce.
"She said a lot of things but I'm not the one to tell. You need to talk to her, Emily. I think when you get back the two of you need to sit down and actually talk to each other. You both have proven you're great at assuming but you know what dad always said," Frankie looked at her sister.
"Assuming makes an ass of u and me." Emily finished with an overly dramatic sigh. The two chatted about nothing in particular for the rest of the ride and Emily dropped Frankie off in front of her hotel giving her one last massive hug. If she was able to mend things so easily with her sister whom she hadn't spoken with her entire adult life perhaps mending things with JJ wouldn't be too bad. She kept herself hopeful as she made the return trip to the hospital.
Emily arrived back at the hospital and popped int he gift shop to buy a bouquet of roses. If she was going to be honest with JJ she wanted to make a grand romantic gesture of it all. She entered the elevator humming happily to herself.
"Those are lovely flowers," a nurse commented.
"I'm about to tell someone I love them," Emily grinned.
"Well, best of luck! I hope they love you too!" the nurse cheered.
"You and me both," Emily smiled as the elevator door opened and she stepped off and made her way down the hallway to JJ's room. A doctor and a herd of nurses rushed past her in a hurry, making her drop her arrangement. The vase shattered on the floor and Emily did her best not to curse in frustration. A janitor who happened to be walking by helped her clean up the mess and offered her some paper towels to wrap around her flowers so they wouldn't dry out. Emily accepted and tried to make the bouquet look festive once more.
She hummed as she walked, nothing was going to get in the way of her telling JJ how she felt and for the first time in a year she felt alive. She arrived at JJ's room to find the door closed, she knocked happily but before she could enter the same team that had nearly knocked her over came rushing out of the room wheeling JJ in her bed.
Emily's heart sank. One of the nurses was straddled across JJ's chest administering CPR as they rushed past Emily and off through a set of double doors.
"JJ!?" Emily called. The last nurse came out of the room with a forlorn look. Emily burst into tears, "Please, please what happened?"
"She had a clot that cut off oxygen to her brain, they're rushing her to surgery."
The flowers fell to the ground once more as Emily collapsed on the ground in a heap of sobs. The nurse tried to comfort her but she was too far gone. Once she could walk again the nurse escorted her to the waiting room where she sat alone and terrified. She couldn't help but wonder if the emptiness inside of her compared to what the team had felt the night they thought she had died. It was a void that could not be described, an abyss of despair. Through tears she fished her phone out and made the hardest phone call she had ever placed.
"Will, it's Emily."
"Emily? What's wrong?"
"Will, JJ had a blood clot. They're rushing her into surgery. I don't know if she's going to make it," Emily lost it just thinking she could possibly lose JJ before truly even having her back. "You and Henry need to be here."
"Of course, we're on our way."
The next hour felt like it passed in slow motion. Patients and staff whizzed by here and there but Emily felt stuck. She spent most of her time curled in a ball, sobbing. She only lifted her head when a familiar small hand tugged at her shirt.
"Emily!" Henry beamed.
She straightened up and pulled the small boy into her lap, "Hey buddy."
"Emily! Look at my truck!" Henry smiled as he produced a shiny red toy truck from behind his back.
Emily forced a smile and nodded, "That's pretty great."
Will sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She wasn't usually one to break down, she had always been taught to be strong but the thought of losing JJ had shook her to the core. Finally, the surgeon came through the doors and greeted Emily with saddened eyes. Emily once again burst into tears.
"It's too soon to tell but I think we got the clot in time," the surgeon explained. "She's being taken to ICU for the time being. She's still unconscious. We'll know more if she wakes up."
"iIf/i?" Emily asked as she wiped her face.
"Again, it's too soon to tell. I'm so sorry," the surgeon showed them how to get to ICU and left.
Emily was trembling from the news. She was just joking with JJ an hour before and now the doctor was saying iif/i she woke up. It was too much to handle. Emily made her way sullenly to ICU and pulled up a chair next to JJ who was hooked up to four different monitors. The robotic sounds were almost comforting as Emily sat next to her and gently brushed JJ's cheek. let her walls down and
Minutes turned to hours as Will and Emily took shifts watching Henry who had eventually passed out. Will finally gave in and decided to take the young boy to JJ's mom's house so he could sleep. Finally alone, Emily let her walls down and let the anguish she had bottled up around Henry.
Jennifer, I don t know if you can hear me but I just want to tell you that even in this moment you look absolutely stunning. You are so strong. I don't blame you for anything. You know I would have been here for you, I am here for you. God Jennifer, there s so much I need to tell you. About how this past year has been absolutely agonizing without you. Or how I have wanted to call you everyday and was too scared. I need you to pull through this because I don t know what I d do without you. I can t imagine not having you here. Please, Jay don t go. I need you to survive. Can you do that? Can you survive this for me? Because Jennifer, the truth is I love you. Do you hear that? I love you. You have to make it because I don t want to spend another day without you being mine. I know you ended things with Will. We can do this. I m yours if you ll have me. So please, please be strong Jennifer. Be strong for me, please? Emily sobbed as she laid a kiss on JJ s cheek.
The hours slipped by and soon night turned into day. Emily slept uncomfortably in a chair next to JJ's bed. In the middle of the afternoon the blonde stirred as her eyes started to open. Emily smiled happily and pressed the button to alert the nurses. The nurse and doctor came rushing in, asking a bombardment of questions.
"Do you know your name?"
"Jennifer Jareau"
"Do you know where you are?"
"Presbyterian hospital"
"Do you know why you're here?"
"I was going to pick up Henry and there was an accident."
"Good, very good," the doctor smiled, then tested her mobility which she seemed to pass with flying colors. Emily smiled and only let go of JJ's hand for a moment so she could squeeze the doctor's hand. The doctor seemed pleased and left the two alone once more.
"JJ, babe, it's me Emily."
JJ looked into Emily's deep brown eyes and smiled, "Emily?"
"Yes, it's me. I'm here. It's going to be okay, I'm here now and I'm never going anywhere. I love you, Jennifer. And I think you love me too, please tell me this isn't a mistake. Please tell me you feel the same."
"Emily?" JJ repeated weakly.
"It's okay. You don't have to stress yourself. I know you need your rest," Emily reminded as she tried to calm herself down and think of JJ's health.
"Emily, who?" JJ questioned.
/END/