AN: As promised, a quick upload as this chapter was originally a part of the lest chapter. So, not a whole lot to say at this point.
Thanks: As always, thanks to EVERYONE who has read this story and and even BIGGER thanks to those who have reviewed it! The reviews make my day! So thanks to all of you.
Aaand... yeah. Read and enjoy!
Emily Prentiss had an odd relationship with hospitals. It was common for people to hate them, especially people with jobs like hers where they constantly find themselves in them, be it for a victim, a friend or even themselves. But Emily didn't loathe them. She didn't like them, but she didn't hate them either.
For her, they were life contained in small buildings. Life began in them and life ended in them. Major choices were made in hospitals, choices that could change a person's life forever, for better or for worse. Here, the filthiest of the criminals were both patients and the reason there were patients, and they were in the same building with some of the most selfless people who would give their own life for another. Hospitals housed humanity at its worst and at its best. To hate hospitals altogether, to Emily, would be to hate humanity.
Still, she didn't always like them. For example, she didn't like them now when two of her coworkers and closest friends were stuck in them, recovering from unfortunate incidents. Hotch's wounds were more mental than Reid's more physical ailments, but nonetheless, they were both in pain. In cases like these, Emily wished there was no need for hospitals.
Regardless, they existed and she was currently in one. It was early, only around nine in the morning, and she realized that no one else from the team had shown up yet. She didn't exactly know their plans but given that Straus had granted the team the rest of the week off at least, she knew they'd be showing up sooner or later.
Emily made her way to the section of the hospital where both Hotch and Reid were being temporarily housed and momentarily considered where to go first. She wasn't sure if Reid was even allowed visitors yet, but if he was, she really wanted to see him.
On the other hand, she could just go see Hotch for a minute to check on him, and then see if Reid was allowed visitors. She decided that was the best idea and immediately made her way to Hotch's room.
It was always strange to see Hotch in a vulnerable state. It happened very rarely and when it did, it had everyone on edge. Any of the team being hurt was never good but when it was Hotch, it affected them all in a different way. He was the stony glue that kept them together; he was the foundation.
As she passed into his room, she was pleased to see that he was still asleep. She walked in closer and observed him for a moment and was further pleased to see that his face was not as tight with pain and worry as it had been every other time she'd seen him.
After a moment of her standing there, however, he began to stir.
"Prentiss," he said softly, obviously still tired.
"Good morning, Hotch," she said cheerfully. "You look better today."
He didn't reply, just nodded slightly.
"Heard anymore about Reid?"
Emily shook her head but wore a smile; of course one of the first things he'd ask about was Reid's condition. "Nope, not since last night," she replied. "I was going to stop by though after I came by here…"
Hotch nodded and closed his eyes for a moment. "Go see what you can find out."
Emily waited for a moment, feeling like she needed to say something else. "Can I get you anything?"
Hotch opened his eyes and looked at her. "No, but thank you." Then, after Emily nodded, he added, "Now go see how Reid is and let me know."
"Yes sir," Emily replied before turning and heading for the front desk.
Once she got there she asked the woman behind the counter, "Where is Spencer Reid's room and is he allowed visitors?"
The woman consulted her computer for a second before looking up at Emily. "It says he is currently allowed visitors, after speaking to his doctor, and he is in room 115. But if you would like to have a seat in the waiting room, I'll let Dr. Lansley know you're here to see him."
"Thank you," Emily replied then found a nearby and sat down. Dr. Lansley did not make her wait for very long at all and Emily assumed it was because the hospital was oddly empty. Not even ten minutes had passed before a young female doctor was walking towards Emily.
"Are you here for Dr. Spencer Reid?"
Emily stood and replied, "Yes I am."
"Okay," the doctor began, checking a folder she held in her hand. "The surgery was successful and after doing another test about an hour ago, it would seem they did in fact get everything repaired the second time around. He's resting now and will be very sore for a while. We will need to keep him under observation for another day or two, after that we may hold him a little longer, just to be sure he's healing properly, but we do expect a full recovery and he should be out of here within a week."
Emily sighed a sigh of relief. "That's… excellent news," she said with a big smile. "May I go see him?"
"Yes," the woman replied, "but we are keeping it down to one person at a time and only for fifteen minutes or so. But we will most likely apply our standard visitation rules by the end of the day. It's standard protocol to keep visitation limited for about 24 hours after a major surgery, especially since he just underwent two of them."
"I understand," Emily said, her spirit a little dampened by the reminder of what Reid's already frail-looking body had just endured.
"Alright, he's right this way."
Emily followed the woman down the hallway towards Hotch's room but made an addition turn down a separate hallway.
"He's been waking up quite a bit," the doctor said as they slowed down in front of room 115. "He asked to keep the narcotics down to a minimum and as a result, the pain is keeping him up. I try not to question wishes such as that but because of it, I may end up being more lenient with visitors sooner than I normally would; loved ones help keep the patient's mind off the pain which will obviously make him more comfortable."
Emily nodded, only briefly thinking about how much she hated Reid's refusal of helpful drugs, but the thoughts were pushed aside when the woman gestured for her to walk in.
"I'll have a nurse come by in about fifteen minutes, give or take," she said before walking away.
Emily took a deep breath and entered Reid's room. It was a standard hospital room, nearly identical to Hotch's. The only difference was Reid's bed was angled a little more away from the entrance, making her sight of him limited when she first walked in.
As she neared his bed, the first thing she noticed was that his eyes were open and they quickly found hers.
"Hey," she said awkwardly but with a smile. "I didn't expect you to be awake."
He shrugged tiredly and said, "Is that a bad thing?"
She laughed and came to rest right beside his bed. "Of course not. It was a pleasant surprise."
"Nice to see you too," he replied with a smile, then yawned. "How's Hotch?"
Emily frowned. She knew this would come up but she only wished she could enjoy seeing him awake and talking to him before bringing up the very unfortunate situation of their boss.
"He's… you know," she started, trying to find the best words. "Physically, he's really not too bad. He's actually probably better than you. Mentally…? Emotionally…?" she trailed off.
"But Haley and Jack are safe?" Reid asked.
"Yes," she answered. "They're safe but in the hands of the Marshalls now. That has to be worse than the stab wounds."
Reid nodded in agreement. "Men naturally undertake the responsibility of the protector and provider," Reid explained absentmindedly in the way he always did. The topic wasn't too pleasant but Emily loved seeing him act Reid-like in juxtaposition to his unnatural lethargy of post-surgery. "It's seen in the wild constantly. He, no doubt, feels as though he has failed his role as a husband, or I guess ex-husband, I should say, and father."
Emily nodded. Yes, Haley and Hotch were technically divorced but everyone knew that there was still love there. Haley just couldn't handle the demands of the job. Emily sighed as she thought about how the exact job she tried to escape from had put her in the protection program. That would, of course, only add to Hotch's guilt.
"I'm not saying he did fail those responsibilities, though," Reid added quickly, "Because I think he did the right thing. I was just saying…"
"Reid," she said softly, calming him down. "I know what you meant. None of us blame Hotch except for, well, himself."
Reid nodded sadly and they both fell quiet. Emily took the opportunity to look him over more. His skin was paler than normal, which was saying something, and he looked the very definition of physically weak. Add on the wires attached to his chest, the oxygen tube running under his nose and creases from pain around his eyes and she had the full image of a post-operative Spencer Reid. And she didn't like it. Reid was suppose to be the energizer bunny, sprouting out tons of useless information, most of which she didn't even understand be it from the big words or the rate at which he said it. Either way, that was not the Reid lying before her.
"So," she said, finally acknowledging what she felt was an elephant in the room. "I owe you an apology."
Reid frowned and looked genuinely confused. He stared at her for a moment with a look that made Emily feel like she was one of his little problems he was trying to solve. Apparently it was to no avail, however.
"For what?" he asked, still frowning.
Emily took a deep breath and stood up. "I don't know…," she started, trying to think of the best way to say it. "For leaving you and Barton there alone. I mean, I know it was Hotch but I shouldn't have left you and him there without any backup and…"
"Wait," Reid interjected, the rare harshness to his voice taking Emily by surprise. "You're apologizing for staying with Hotch?"
"I… well," she stumbled, trying to find the right words.
"No," he interrupted again. "Not only did you do the right thing by staying with Hotch as I'm sure it led to his family being found safe, the fact that you stayed also led to the discovery of what L.C. stood for and that was the only reason I realized the unsub was after Dr. Barton. So, with decision to stay with Hotch, you may have inadvertently saved at least three lives and helped out Hotch at the same time."
He said all of it very quick and as he did, Emily saw the most energy displayed than she had the entire visit. He was very serious about what he was saying and though it was a rather uncommon outburst for the normally passive Reid, Emily knew it was a display of the fierce loyalty he had towards his teammates. Spencer Reid was many things, but when it came to friends, Emily was sure he'd do anything for them, even if he didn't know the best way to go about it.
Emily smiled then as she thought about all of the times she'd known he had wanted to comfort or help one of them, but he just never knew how to do it. He could look at a person and analyze them down to their shoes, but when it came to making an emotional connection with someone, Reid had problems. It was certainly not from lack of caring, just lack of knowledge in that one area.
"Thank you, Reid," she said finally, knowing that even if she did still have doubts about her actions, bringing them back up would not help Reid's mood at all.
Reid nodded and relaxed into his pillows once again. Apparently, the little outburst had made him tired because Emily noticed that his eyelids were starting to droop. She watched him for a moment but was interrupted by a nurse.
"It's time for Dr. Reid to rest," the nurse said quietly to Emily.
Emily nodded and looked at Reid again who was visibly losing the battle against sleep.
"Stop fighting it and just go to sleep," she said with a smirk. "We'll be checking on ya throughout the day, so save your energy."
He smiled and nodded slowly.
Emily began to make her way out the door and with one last look before she left, considered the irony of how even though they all thought of him as "the kid" of the team, he had truly become a very strong, capable agent and person in general.
EN: Hope you all liked it. I really wanted to have Reid and Prentiss talk. They always interested me because they didn't get off to the best of starts, but ever since the "Minimal Loss" episode, there's been a certain connection. Anyways, I've saved the best interaction for last (hopefully) so read, review if you can, and come back for the last chapter! Thanks to all!