Shampoo and Ice Cream
Eventually the plane landed Hotch, let everyone get off before he woke her up. That way she hopefully would avoid another attack and could quickly get off the plane. When he woke her up she gave him a confused smile.
"Where are we?"
"Home, we can get off the plane now if you would like, I will get your bags." He said as he helped her stand up.
"Where did everyone else go?" She said sleepily looking around.
"I thought it would be best to let you sleep till they left so you didn't have to wait. They all said to get well soon and get some rest. I told them you would call them when you were feeling up to it."
"Thank you, as usual you were right it is much easier to get out this way." She said walking slowly through the plane using the seats to help her walk.
"I will remember you said that and probably use it against you later on." He said with a smile. She smiled back at him as if daring him too.
When they reached the stairs he helped her down and when she was on the tarmac heading for the car she took a deep breath filling her lungs with fresh air.
"I think this is the first time I have actually been able to breathe since we left Connecticut." She said.
"Just think it could be months till you get back on the jet, no more flying till you get better."
"Yes doctor and just what can I do?"
"You get to sit on the couch and read books and watch some TV, I hear there are some great daytime television shows on these days." He said with a smile. "But no work, I will not bring files home for you so don't even think of asking, I don't care how much you pout." He said and followed it with a quick kiss to her nose which made her smile.
They had finally reached Hotch's car and he unlocked the door. Helping her in he said "Let's go home."
When they arrived at Hotch's apartment he realized that they hadn't really talked about sleeping arrangements. As though Emily knew exactly what he was thinking she said "Are you going to share your bed with me?" a smile grew on her face.
"Only if you want to" He responded.
"I would like to, knowing you are right there right next to me will make it easier to sleep. Though I will admit it doesn't matter where I sleep the couch will be just as comfortable as the bed because I have to sleep on my, back I can't sleep on my side till my ribs start to heal."
"I think the bed is a good choice and knowing you are safe and next to me will help me sleep better." He countered setting her bags on the floor. "I know you must be tired I did notice you nodding off in the car. Why don't you go lie down and take a nap I will run over to your apartment and grab a bunch of your stuff and we can get more later. I will grab whatever you think you need for the next few days."
"I guess that sounds good, I would have liked to go with you, but we both know I am not going to be ready for something like that for a few days. And I am certainly not up for it right now, the flight took a lot out of me and I slept most of the way."
"Yes it will be a little while before you will be up for going places and that is okay there is plenty of time to do everything including heal." He said rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her.
"So as far as what I want from my place" she said getting back to the topic at hand." Toiletries are on the top of my list, my toothbrush and toothpaste are two things I really must have you get, I know you have toothpaste but for some reason I really want mine. I haven't brushed my teeth in I don't know how long. And above all I want my shampoo and conditioner, I know exactly how long it has been since I last washed my hair and all I will say is that it has been way too long I desperately need it cleaned."
"That does raise the issue of bathing, we are going to have to figure something out to fix the issue, but I do have a plan to wash your hair that should work, so I will be glad to help you with that when I get back or tomorrow if you would like."
"That brings up another problem clothes, these scrubs are about twice the size of my normal clothes, I know I have some over sized T-shirts at home but all of my pants are going to be too small given the cuts on my legs."
"You are welcome to give my pants a try hopefully some of my sweats will be big enough."
"Wow first staying with you, sleeping in your bed, now wear your clothes what next." She said with a grin.
"I will leave that up to your imagination" He said with a devilish smile though once he said it he was afraid that he had gone too far given the fact that their relationship was very new. But that thought flew away the moment he heard her begin to laugh.
"Aaron Hotchner I can't believe you just said that, I always knew you had a dirty mind under that calm exterior."
"I think it is you Emily Prentiss who has the dirty mind." He said his smile getting bigger but it faded quickly when he saw her wince and cradle her ribs. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah laughing really hurts which sucks because it feels good to laugh again."
"Well I will try and not be funny for a few weeks."
"You better be joking because I like it when you make me laugh even if it hurts."
"I have a confession to make I really like making you laugh but maybe I will limit my jokes to the ones that are only mildly funny how about that."
"You have a high option of your jokes, how do you know they rise above mildly funny most of the time. But if you think you can manage that then I guess I can live with mildly funny for a little while."
"Though in all seriousness we do need to try and not aggravate you wounds."
"I know but you have to understand that sometimes my cuts and broken ribs are just going to get pulled and irritated."
"Yes but it does help to try and be careful."
"I know, by the way I want to thank you for letting me stay here and for letting me in. I know it seems like we are jumping into a full fledged relationship but after all the time I spent with you and Jack over the last nine months this feels natural." She said caressing his cheek with her hand.
"I was a jerk, it shouldn't have taken something like this for me to see what was right there in front of me all the time. I like to think that we are making up for lost time because I know I love you and I have for a very long time. This feels natural to me too believe it nor not." He reached up and took her hand and kissed it to prove the words he said.
"I never thought I would hear you say that sharing your house with me feels natural, but I am very happy I lived to see the day, I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that I lived to see today. Because I love you too."
"I like seeing you sleep and I like seeing you wake up and I like seeing you smile and I want to be there for you like you have been there for me for the last nine months. And all of the other stuff that goes along with a relationship, I am happy to wait for."
"Well I am glad you like me being around because now that you said all those incredibly nice things to me and about me I am not planning on leaving any time soon I was hoping to get fifty years out of you." She said with a huge smile on her face.
"I am going to hold you too that" He said giving her a gentle kiss on her lips. "So what else can I get from your apartment?"
"There should be a bunch of books on the bedside table and I would really like my mail. The key is on the key chain in my purse. And maybe some of my Dvds, your collection is a bit sparse the majority of them are Jack's and I think I will be avoiding those for right now."
"You are trusting me to pick Dvds for you?"
"Yeah I am very curious to see what you pick." He just laughed at her response.
All the while they had been talking Hotch had proceeded to help Emily into the bedroom and helped make her comfortable on the bed.
"Okay is there anything else you can think of that you would like me to get for you from your place?"
"No I think we covered everything at least for the next few days."
"Is there anything else I can get you before I go?"
"Could you get me some water please, flying always makes me thirsty."
"You are still a bit dehydrated too remember, so liquids are a very good thing and I would be glad to bring you all the water you would like, anything else?"
"Yeah can you grab my Ipod out of my go bag I would like to listen to some music while I fall asleep."
"I will be right back." He got a bottle of cold water from the fridge and grabbed both Emily's Ipod and her cell phone from her bag.
When he returned he could see that she was fighting to stay awake. "I brought your cell phone too in case you need anything while I'm gone. I am going to run to the grocery store too and get some food."
"Can you get some chocolate ice cream?" She asked before he could ask her.
He laughed a little because he knew that she would want something specific after what happened to her this past week, but ice cream was a very girly thing to want. But at least it wasn't something like bacon. She wasn't up for real solid foods yet, what food she had at the hospital had been simple soups so he was pretty sure that bacon and eggs weren't going to be on the menu for a while.
"Yeah I can get you chocolate ice cream. Now get some rest and I will be back as quickly as I can." She nodded in response as sleep took over her, she never even managed to turn her Ipod on. He bent down and kissed her forehead."
"Sweet dreams sweetheart."
A/N I hope you enjoy the chapter, I am sorry for the late updates but I have family visiting so the next few chapters will be up a bit late too, sorry again. I love all your reviews and thanks to everyone for continuing to reading the story I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Thanks to all and I hope you are all having a great weekend.
