Disclaimer: See last chapter
Hotch gripped onto her hand as tight as he could as tears ran down his face. He didn't bother wiping them away as he stared at her deathly pale face, he watched the machine next to her – helping her breath. Before letting his eyes settle on her chest, the soft rise and fall of it comforted him because it meant that she was still alive, she could be okay.
He didn't blame her for giving up, he could never blame her for that. He would have done the same if he was locked in that tiny room for nine months with nobody to talk to and nothing to do. He would have gone out of his mind, as he was sure JJ did.
He smiled down at her and kissed her hand gently as he brought it to his lips. She always liked to have something to do, she liked to be busy. That place must have driven her to the edge. He looked down at her whole body, remembering everything the doctor had told them about the extent of her injuries.
He remembered sitting there, looking at the woman he loved and shaking his head, repeating it over and over in his head. She was raped, more than once. He bit down on his lip as he thought about it again, that man had raped her almost every night. He shook his head mostly in anger this time as he thought about what it would feel like to wrap his hands around that guys neck and squeeze the life out of him. If only he would be able to do that.
"It's going to be okay, we are all going to help you through this when you wake up. I know it's going to take a long time for you to recover from this but I promise you that I am going to do everything I can to make sure that you are alright again." He whispered, hoping that somewhere in there JJ could hear him and she was longing to open her eyes to let him know that she was going to be okay.
He waited for a moment, sighing when there was no movement from her and letting his head rest on the bed, he closed his eyes and tried to think about the time when they were happy – before all of this happened.
One man had ruined their lives and Hotch had no idea how he could help the woman laying there right now, he had no idea what to say to her when she woke up. How could he assure her that it was going to be okay, when he had no idea what she had been through? He could never even imagine having to go through that, none of them could.
He bit down on his lip as more tears fell down his face, he had never cried so much in his life as he had these past nine months. He had missed her, he blamed himself for not looking after her properly. And now here she was, after nine months, and he had no idea if she was ever going to recover from this.
- - - - -
Garcia grabbed Emily's hand as they both sat outside, they wanted to be in there but they knew that Hotch needed to be alone with JJ right now. They looked at each other for a moment, both of them turning away to face the white wall opposite them.
They knew that JJ was going to need so much help to get through this, they knew that they would both have to be strong enough to help her. They knew that she needed them.
"We are going to be able to do this right?" Garcia whispered to Emily, looking her in the eye for the first time in months,
"I hope so, we need to.. for JJ's sake." Garcia nodded in agreement, biting down on her lower lip as she thought about her best friend being locked in that room for nine months, at the beck and call of some psycho who could have done anything to her at any point – if only they had gone from the bottom of the list.
- - - - -
Reid didn't bother looking up at anyone from his position on the floor as he leaned against the wall. He wondered if he would be able to help JJ more than the others here because he knew what it was like to be taken away from everything he loved – he could only hope that JJ hadn't picked up any bad habits while she was there like he had.
He bit down hard on his lip as he thought about the state they had found her in. The blood dripped down her wrist and he had found himself wondering if she was actually going to make it.
He had looked around the room, or the prison cell was a better name for it. There was a grubby mattress which was covered in blood and dirt in the corner of the room with a small blanket covering it. A small desk was on the other side which looked brand new, there was nothing else in the room but JJ laying there in the middle of the floor – about to die.
He knew that was one image he would never be able to get out of his head.
- - - - -
Morgan looked over at Rossi as they both sat down, he respected the man for being able to be so level headed about the whole thing but he just wished he would show some emotion for the woman Morgan had always thought of as a little sister.
He shook his head and looked down at his bleeding fists, he had punched a wall earlier after he found out what that psycho had done to JJ. He couldn't believe it, their JJ, she was so strong and so feisty – he had honestly believed that she would make it through this. But now doubt filled his mind, he wondered if anyone could actually make it through something like that. He could only hope that they would be the lifeline that JJ was able to cling onto for as long as she could until she felt a little better, he could only wish that they gave her all the hope she had lost.