Chapter 2

"Shit! Are you ok?" Morgan asked Blake as he made his way to his feet.

"Yeah, just a little ringing in my ears," she told him as he helped her up.

All of the SWAT guys were up and dusting themselves off. "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about a trial," one of the officers said as he started walking toward the SWAT truck parked on the street.

"Let's see if there's anything useful in the house," Morgan suggested to Blake.

XXX

Reid moaned as he rolled over onto his stomach and surveyed the damage down the hall. He suddenly realized JJ was on the floor next to him. "JJ! Are you alright?" He yelled as he scooted over next to her.

"Yeah. My God! I sure am glad we weren't any closer to that thing," She told him as he helped her up.

The four police officers were up and one was talking on his radio.

XXX

"Jesus Christ!" Rossi yelled. He was on the ground on his stomach right next to the other sea container. Hotch was on top of him. "You can get off me now, Hotch." Hotch didn't move. "Aaron?" Rossi asked desperately as he struggled to get out from under his friend. He pushed and turned and was finally able to roll Hotch off of him. Rossi knelt next to the all too silent man. "Hotch!" Rossi yelled as he slowly turned Hotch over. His breath caught in his chest as he took in his boss. Hotch's face was bloody from a severe gash on his upper forehead; apparently Hotch's head had slammed into the sea container from the force of the blast.

Rossi tuned to the closest officer. "Get an ambulance here, now!"

The man grabbed his radio and called for a bus.

"Come on Hotch!" Rossi yelled as he searched for a pulse. It was there, but it was weak. "Hold on, Aaron. Help's on the way." Rossi told him tenderly as his eyes watered up. He noticed a clear liquid leaking out of Hotch's ears and nose, and he slowly lifted Hotch's eyelids. His left pupil was dilated more than his right one, and Rossi's stomach twisted, threatening to expel what he had eaten for lunch. That's when he also noticed a piece of metal sticking out of Hotch's right abdomen. He didn't dare pull the offensive piece out, but he put his hands around it to help stop the blood from flowing so freely. "Son of a bitch!"

One of the officers ran up to them. "What can I do?"

"Call my team. See if everyone else is ok," Rossi told him as he hoped theirs was the only bomb to have gone off.

XXX

Garcia had tapped into Detroit PD's system and the alerts of the explosions came onto her screen. She gasped as she realized the three bomb sites where were her family had been headed. She hit speed dial and immediately relaxed a little when Morgan answered with his usual "Hey Baby Girl."

"Are you alright?" she asked even though she thought she knew the answer.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"Because three explosions have been reported and all three of them were at your all's locations. How's everybody else?"

"All three?" He asked just as desperately as Garcia just had been.

"I'll call Hotch!" she told him as she hit another button on her phone. It rang three times and went to voicemail. "Oh, Derek. . ."

"Hold on, someone's calling," Morgan told her and she could tell he had switched calls.

She went ahead and called JJ and relaxed a little more when she found out her and Reid were also fine. She connected JJ's call with Morgan's, and she told JJ about not being able to get ahold of Hotch. She tried Rossi, too, but also got his voicemail.

Morgan finally came back. "Hotch has been hurt he's in route to Detroit Medical center. They think Rossi's fine."

"They?" Garcia asked.

"One of the officers with Hotch is who called me." Morgan told them. They could hear him getting into a vehicle.

"Since you didn't say it, apparently Hotch is bad?" JJ asked as she and Reid also got in their SUV.

"He didn't say, but I could tell by his tone that it wasn't good," Morgan confessed. "We'll meet you there, JJ."

"Call me. . ." Garcia started as her eyes teared up.

"As soon as I know, Baby Girl," Morgan assured her.

"Be careful. I couldn't handle finding out if another one of my pretties got hurt," Garcia told them all.

"Thompson's gone," Blake told her.

"Good!" JJ, Reid, and Garcia all said at the same time.

"Tell him. . ." Garcia started again but couldn't bring herself to go on.

"I will," JJ told her and then they all hung up.

XXX

They all arrived at the same time and found Rossi in the waiting room. They took in his bloody hands and clothes and their fears were doubled.

"Rossi?" Morgan asked as they ran up to him.

"I don't know, we just got here." Rossi told them and Morgan led him over to a chair and sat him down. He didn't like the way Rossi looked like he was going to pass out. "He was seizing in the ambulance," Rossi told them, the fear evident in his voice.

"Oh my God!" JJ exclaimed and then looked Rossi over. "Are you alright?" JJ asked him just as concerned as Morgan was. She had never seen Rossi so distraught, but she knew how had bad it must have been from Rossi's expression.

Rossi waved a hand. "I'm fine," he told them through heavy breaths.

"What happened?" Reid asked him.

"We were in the container, and the next thing I knew Hotch was forcing me out of it and as far away from it as possible. Then it blew and threw us off our feet. Hotch landed on top of me, and when I finally got him off. . ." He took a deep breath and put his head in his hands.

"Dave, calm down," Morgan told him as he put his hand on the older man's shoulder.

Rossi nodded and sat back up. "I think the blast slammed his head into the other container, and he had a piece of metal sticking out of his side," he told them, and they could tell he was about to cry.

Reid shot JJ a look, they were both teared up, too. If Rossi was that upset, they knew it was bad.

"Come on. Let's go get you cleaned up," Morgan told him as he gently pulled Rossi into a standing position and walked him to the bathroom. Reid followed in case they needed help. JJ walked up to the nurses' station to see if she could get an update and give them information on Hotch. Apparently they hadn't asked Rossi for it yet. Blake sat down and put her head in her hands; her ears were still ringing.

XXX

Forty five minutes later, a doctor finally came out to give the team an update. "Mr. Hotchner is down in MRI as we speak. X-rays revealed a skull fracture, and we need to know how extensive the damage is. The metal that pierced his right side has caused internal injuries, and they will need to be fixed through surgery. Once we have an idea about how his head is, we will take him into surgery. I'm sorry I don't have anything more definite at this point, but I thought you all would like to know where we stand right now."

"Thank you," JJ answered for all of them.

Once the doctor left, they all stared at each other, and Rossi put his head in his hands and cried.

"Come on Rossi. This is Hotch were talking about, man. He'll be fine," Morgan tried to console him.

Rossi finally looked up at them. "He was protecting me. If he hadn't had done that, he would have gotten further away."

"You don't know that," Reid tried to reason with him.

"Yes I do. If he hadn't been so concerned about getting me out of the way, he would have been fine," Rossi told him coldly, and they knew not to argue with him anymore about it. They all knew how much Rossi cared for Hotch, and they also knew that when he shouldered guilt, it was extremely hard to get him out from under it.

JJ got up to step outside. Someone had to call Jessica and let her know what was going on, even if they didn't have any real news.

Morgan decided to follow her to give Garcia and Strauss an update, too. He gave Reid a look to tell him to keep an eye on Rossi. Reid nodded his understanding.

XXX

Another hour later, Rossi was up and pacing when a nurse came out and got them to take them to a consult room. They all eyed each other warily, none of them liking not being told what was happening in the waiting room. Even though there were several seats around the little room, they all chose to stand and wait for the doctor the nurse had promised would be right in. Two doctors finally came into the room, and no one liked the looks on their faces. Maybe to the average person they looked calm, but to a room full of profilers their facial expressions conveyed enough concern that Rossi felt his chest tighten. "Won't you have a seat?" The younger doctor from earlier asked. Rossi looked at the young faces around him, nodded, and sat down. The rest of the team followed suit and so did the doctors.

The older doctor introduced himself as Dr. Powell, a neurologist. "Agent Hotchner's MRI shows traumatic brain injury," he started as he focused on Rossi. Whether he focused on Rossi because he was the oldest, of whether it was because he could tell Rossi was the most upset, the team wasn't sure. "His brain is swelling; his prefrontal cortex and amygdalae have been damaged. If the swelling persists, we will have to perform a Ventriculostomy so the cerebrospinal fluid can be drained from inside the brain, helping to relieve the pressure." He paused to let that sink in. Rossi felt as though he couldn't breathe. "We will not know the extent of brain damage until he regains consciousness. Right now we have him on a ventilator to help regulate his oxygen intake because that will help with the brain swelling also." JJ gasped and turned away to face the wall. Reid put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

The younger doctor, Dr. Rexrode, then took up the narrative. "He is in surgery right now to take care of his internal injuries. The penetrating abdominal injury did damage his colon and his liver. Once they get the bleeding under control, they should have no trouble repairing the damage. He will also be put on a course of strong antibiotics to fight off any infection caused by peritonitis."

"We will know more once the surgery is done and he finally wakes up. The next twenty-four hours will be critical," Dr. Powell told them as he stood up. Dr. Rexrode stood up, too.

Morgan glanced at Rossi, when it was apparent that he wasn't going to speak, Morgan stood up to address the doctors. "So what do you think the overall prognosis is?"

The older doctor took a deep breath. "It is too soon to tell, but we will keep you posted." And the doctors left the agents to figure out what it all meant.

"Oh God!" Rossi said and put his head in his hands again. They could all tell he was crying.

JJ couldn't help herself either, she broke down, too, and Morgan pulled her into a hug and let her cry on his chest. He looked over her head at Reid. "What does all that brain mumbo jumbo mean?"

Reid winced. He had hoped none of them would ask him. "It's too soon to tell, Morgan. You heard the doctor."

Morgan wasn't letting him get away with that, though. "What does it mean, Reid!?" Rossi also looked at their resident genius.

Reid swallowed hard. "If he survives. . . I mean when he wakes up. . ." He sighed. He figured it was better to resort to the facts he knew he could rattle off. "The amygdalae have in two distinct roles and processes, emotional memory and the evaluation of emotional stimuli. Studies suggest that the amygdalae are important in interaction with fear stimuli. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for cognitive analysis and abstract thought, and the moderation of 'correct' behavior in social situations. The prefrontal cortex takes in information from all of the senses and orchestrates thoughts and actions to achieve specific goals."

They all heard Rossi's ragged breathing as his sobs got worse with Reid's explanations. Blake got up and put a hand on his shoulder. She wanted to tell him that Hotch would be fine, but she couldn't. They wouldn't know that until he woke up. If he wakes up, she thought darkly.