Disclaimer: I promise I don't own Criminal Minds.
The drive to the hospital was mostly silent as the team let the information sink in. Morgan was so lost in thought and guilt that he didn't even realize the SUV had stopped until Reid tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to his right and saw Reid getting out of the car. Before he could react his own car door was being opened by the cop who had driven them. So he got out and met the others on the other side. They barely even glanced at each other before automatically going towards the door.
If someone had looked at them all at that moment they probably would have thought that they were going to a funeral. They looked depressed, miserable, and, in some cases, on the verge of tears. Reid had his hands in his pockets and was starring straight forward, JJ was next to him looking deep in thought, and Emily was simply walking with her head tilted down slightly with Rossi to her left and Hotch on her right, both of whom were trying not show emotion. Then there was Morgan. He was walking by himself behind the others trying to calm his nerves, but he still looked the saddest of all.
Together they made their way to the front desk were Hotch showed his badge before asking for Garcia's room number.
"Ah, yes, Agent Hotchner. Director Malloy said you'd be by soon." An elderly looking nurse said. "Were you friends of Miss Garcia?" She asked as she came around the counter.
"More like family." JJ answered sadly.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear." The nurse replied. "You do know that she's…"
"Yes." Morgan answered not wanting to hear the word coma again.
Hotch shot him a look that clearly sad 'be nice' before turning back to the nurse. "Could we speak with her doctor?" He asked.
"Yes, of course, I'll have him paged right after I show you to Miss Garcia's room." She answered with a warm smile.
"Thank you." Hotch replied before following her up stairs to Garcia's room.
"She was just moved to this room about four days ago. Before that she was in a special secured room, but it didn't have any windows or chairs, so when Director Malloy cleared everything we moved her to this one." The nurse explained as they approached Garcia's room.
They stopped in front the door and Hotch showed his badge to the guard standing beside it. Once the guard nodded and moved aside the elderly nurse opened the door and let the team file in. Morgan was the first inside and didn't even stop before heading straight to Penelope's side. He reached out to take her hand, but hesitated and let his hand drop back when he saw her hand was wrapped. The others entered the room after him and saw Derek standing over the bed. They walked in more so that they could see around him and stopped. No one said a word as they watched Penelope.
They watched her chest rise up and down slightly thanks to the machines keeping her alive. Tubes were running everywhere, including one in her mouth that went down her throat. She was pale which made the bruises down her arms and on her face stand out more. They also noticed that she looked slightly thinner then the last time they saw her and her right hand was wrapped up. She had a bandage around her head, her left eye also had a bandage covering it, and her right shoulder was padded. She was lying so still they wouldn't have even known she was alive if it weren't for the rhythmic beeping in the background.
At that point the weight of the situation sank in. Reid moved to her side with worry etched on his face, followed by JJ who didn't even bother to stop the tears falling down her face. Hotch and Rossi moved to Morgan's side who was starring down at Garcia. Emily was frozen. She wanted to go to Penelope's side and tell her everything would be ok, just like Penelope had done for her on countless occasions, but her feet wouldn't move. So she stood at the foot of the bed as a tear escaped.
Hotch was worried not only for Garcia, but also for Morgan. He was standing completely still and staring blankly down at Garcia. Hotch knew what this was probably doing to him. He just hoped that Garcia would wake up before it was too late.
They didn't know how long they stood there quietly before there was a knock on the door and a man came in. The man was in his forties, had dark brown hair, and small glasses. As he came in Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss turned toward him as JJ and Reid walked around to the other side of the bed, but Morgan didn't move an inch.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Clarkson." The man said with a kind smile and held out his hand.
"Agent Hotchner." Hotch said as he shook the man's hand. "This is my team; agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Reid, and Jareau."
"Is Ms. Garcia a friend of yours?" Dr. Clarkson asked.
"Yes, but she's also another member of our team." Emily answered.
"Oh, I see. Well, I was actually hoping you were family so you could sign some things." He said and looked down at a chart in his hands.
"She doesn't really have any family except us." JJ stated.
"I'm on her next-of-kin list." Morgan said sadly as he turned around to face the doctor.
"I believe we're all on it actually." Reid added.
"Let's see…" The doctor said as he flipped through some papers. "Ah yes, you are." He said with a smile. "Well, in that case if one of you could sign some paper work when you get a chance that would be helpful."
"Doctor, about Garcia…"Rossi began.
"Yes, I suppose you'll want to know the facts." He said sadly with a sigh. "Well, she's been here for about two months now." He began.
"I realize Miss Garcia doesn't look too good, but believe me when I say that she looked much worse when she first got here. She had a gun shot wound in her knee, two stab wounds, several lacerations, some were just scratches and some were quite deep, and bruises were begging to appear all over. Her left ankle was broken, her right shoulder dislocated, and every bone in her right hand was broken. Unfortunately we haven't been able to put a cast on her hand due to an infection from a cut, but we should be able to by tomorrow." He said. "Also she had a concussion and her skull was severely cracked. The damage to her head along with loss of blood is what caused her to fall into a coma." The doctor explained. "Most of her injuries have healed, though her ankle, hand, and shoulder are still in the process of healing, her head is still damaged, she still has some cuts, and of course bruising, though a month ago you couldn't even see her face because of the number on bruises and swelling."
"What about her eye?" Reid asked.
"I'm not sure what caused it, but when she got here her left eye was bleeding profusely and extremely swollen. We cleaned it up and bandaged it, but we've been more concerned with her head trauma and other injuries."
"Has she been in a coma the whole time?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, she was awake when she arrived or at least somewhat awake, but she crashed about four hours after getting out of surgery and fell into a coma. I am sorry; it's obvious you all care very much for Ms. Garcia."
"Is there any chance she might wake up?" JJ asked quietly.
"It's not very likely for someone who's been in a coma as long as she has to wake up. Her brain activity is almost nonexistent and the only reason she's even alive right now is because of the machines working for her." He explained. "If relatives didn't show up soon we were actually going to pull the plug." He added apologetically.
"What!?" Morgan said walking forward, but Hotch and Rossi stopped him. "You got to be kidding me?"
"I'm sorry agent Morgan, but it's been almost two months with no change. Now that you're here it's up to you, but it's not doing her any good." The Dr. Clarkson said before nodded to the others and leaving.
"Calm down Morgan." Hotch said after the doctor left.
"But he…" Morgan started.
"I know, but it's his job." Hotch said and gave him a look that said to let it go.
Morgan didn't say anything; he just looked around at the others before pulling up a chair next to Garcia and sitting down completely ignoring everyone in the room.
The others glanced at each other before Hotch rubbed his eyes and spoke.
"I'm going to talk to the director and see if we can get her transferred back home." Hotch said.
"I'll talk to her doctors and make sure she can be moved." JJ said as she looked at Garcia one more time before heading out.
As the others got comfortable in chairs Hotch walked up to Rossi. "Keep an eye on Morgan." He whispered. Once Rossi nodded slightly Hotch pulled out his cell phone and left the room.
Morgan brushed a strand of hair out of Garcia's face before gently laying his hand on her arm. He didn't want to hurt her, but he just had to touch her so he'd know she was still with him. This wasn't how he'd wanted to see her after eight months. He wanted to hold her in his arms, tell her how much he loved her, and never let her go. It was killing him to think that he might never be able to do that now. While he was in New York something was missing. When he'd got back to Quantico and found Penelope gone his heart had broke, but now it was shattered and the only thing that could make it better would be to look into Penelope's eyes and see her smile at him like she used to.
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