Author's Note: So, I'm certain that some professionals out there are cringing at events that have occurred in the story thus far. Don't worry, I know. A lot of mistakes have been made by the profilers' so far, and now they're going to be chastized for it. Thanks to littlegreenbottle and brynnifer for beta'ing this and making it a lot better. Also, I will warn again, please mind the rating this chapter is a little heavy.
Sitting in the hospital room, Emily placed her hand gently on JJ's hand, trying to calm the obviously terrified woman. Hotch stood patiently outside. Derek had quickly extracted himself, claiming that he would pick up Penelope himself and tell her the news. Emily was well aware, however, that he would likely be having a long talk with his therapist on the way there.
Emily felt her heart break as JJ desperately looked for any way to escape. When the short light haired male doctor that looked almost too young for his profession other than wisps of grey speckling his temples approached, JJ bit her fingernail nervously. "Good morning Jennifer, I'm Dr. Robert Nielsen," he glanced at Emily with understanding before looking back at JJ and speaking softly, "I have been briefed on what happened."
"No offense doctor," Emily spoke up, noticing JJ pull away slightly from the man who appeared completely harmless, "but JJ might be more comfortable with a woman—"
The doctor smiled kindly as he answered Emily's concern but directed it toward his actual patient, "I understand that you might feel that way, JJ. But I'm afraid some of these injuries need to be treated right now. We can talk about having a different long term doctor look after you, but—" He hesitated as JJ slowly slipped off the exam table and shrank back around Emily to the corner of the room, "But we need to start treating you immediately" He winced slightly as he could easily see the fear crossing his patient's face.
"JJ," Emily tried to force a patient tone into her voice, "JJ come sit on the table."
"Can I call you JJ?" Dr. Nielsen smiled at the trembling blonde and sat on a chair on the other side of the exam table that JJ had abandoned, "We're just going to look over some of the injuries. I heard those sores on your back probably hurt a lot."
JJ looked at him with wide eyes, apparently calculating the threat he posed to her. Suddenly, he surprised her as he smiled and repeated previous comment in Spanish, adding the simple instruction, "Can you come sit on the table?"
Seeing that JJ was on the verge of acquiescing, Emily remembered the blanket she had stashed in her purse. "JJ, if you come here," Her voice caught at the childish tactic, "I'll give you the blanket."
Reluctantly, JJ inched her way toward the table, doing anything she could to avoid catching the gaze of the doctor. Dr. Nielsen smiled patiently, nodding his approval with each step she took. When JJ reached the bed she made a weak attempt to step up to the exam table. Dr. Nielsen grimaced as he immediately noticed her displaced hip.
Emily quickly tried to help JJ up onto the table, but as she tried to lift JJ's nonexistent weight and avoid the numerous sores she had seen while she helped JJ redress, the task proved nearly impossible.
Slowly, Dr. Nielsen approached the struggling women. "JJ, I'd like to help you up on the bed, is that okay?" He asked, and then repeated the question in Spanish.
JJ bit her lip and nodded reluctantly. Dr. Nielsen quickly scooped up the trembling woman and placed her gently on the exam table. He waited a moment for her to get settled before speaking softly in Spanish and instructing, "Alright, first JJ, I need you to lift up your shirt so I can take a look at those injuries."
JJ grimaced as she slowly lifted the back of the medical scrubs she was wearing. Her own fear of hospitals was heightened by the memory she had been fighting in vain to keep at bay.
She followed Manuel slowly into the small well-kept home, using her crutches as fast as she could to keep up with his strong strides. "Go to the basement." He ordered her in Spanish.
She didn't bother to hesitate before reluctantly retreating to the one haven she could count on. Pulling herself down the stairs, she grimaced. Today, one thing was certain: She was going to be punished.
And it was going to be bad.
What felt like an eternity later, Manuel gradually descended the stairs with a bubbling liquid in his gloved hands, "Alejandra—" He started, shaking his head. For a moment, she felt her stomach lurch at the sight of the disappointment in his eyes, "they almost found you."
She ducked her head, her face flushing at his obvious disappointment. "I'm sorry." She murmured, hoping that her Spanish hadn't contained any imperfections that might add to her deserved consequence. She fingered the new cast on her leg, realizing that this could be even worse than she originally thought.
He sighed reluctantly, "If they find you, I won't be able to protect your family anymore—that little boy on the news—it would be a shame to see something happen to him."
JJ froze. She had long ago given up on the notion that her team was going to find her, and Manuel had repeatedly reminded her that the only thing that protected Henry and Will from the monsters that Manuel couldn't completely control was her cooperation. "I know." She bit her lip, anxiously awaiting her punishment.
"Lift up your shirt." He instructed quietly. She had learned long ago not to mistake the softness in his voice for any type of weakness.
"Please, I won't do it again." She pleaded as he stepped toward her cowering frame. "Please Manuel—I promise."
He stopped and she instantly regretted her attempts to convince him to change his mind, "Are you questioning my judgment Alejandra?"
"No. I'm sorry." She answered quickly, lifting her shirt immediately to show her obedience. "I'm sorry."
He sighed overtly, "Alejandra, you almost let the hospital staff take you away. You know that. You know what you are supposed to do if you get taken to the hospital." He shook his head in obvious disappointment.
"I know, I'm sorry." JJ fought a tear as she mentally berated herself for how stupid she could have been. She knew better, no wonder Manuel was disappointed.
"What are you supposed to do?" Manuel asked condescendingly, giving her an opportunity to show she really wasn't so careless.
JJ shrugged, slightly afraid to answer.
"Answer me Alejandra. What is the rule?" Manuel asked seriously. "What are you supposed to do?"
"Anything I can to get out of the hospital." JJ shirked meekly.
"You have to do everything you can not to draw attention to yourself. If you get separated from me or one of my friends, you have to get away as quickly as possible. You say you know this, but you keep making mistakes." Manuel looked at her with cold eyes, "Do you think I like punishing you?"
"No." She replied softly, knowing how much he hated when she didn't answer his questions, but also knowing that if she said too much she would be undermining his authority.
"Do you deserve to be punished?" He asked, obviously frustrated with her inability to learn.
"Yes, sir." She was trembling now, and cursed herself at her weakness.
"So what do you want me to do?" He smiled kindly, and JJ knew the answer she needed to give. Somewhere inside her, something told her it wasn't the answer she wanted to give, but she also desperately craved Manuel's approval.
"Punish me." She glanced up at him reluctantly, seeing his cold glare, she added, "Please Manuel."
Nodding, he stepped toward her and exposed her lower back, "When they brought you to me, I allowed you to be marked as my property—something that I promised to take care of despite your inadequacies."
JJ nodded, watching his every movement with scared eyes.
"The way you are acting—" He shook his head sadly, "You have shown that you don't deserve that distinction. Maybe when you prove to me that I should protect you, I'll give you back my brand."
She nodded, tears rolling down her eyes as she came to understand what the bubbling liquid in his hand was for.
"Take the cup," He instructed, extending the glass cup toward her. "And pour it over my mark."
Resignedly, she took the glass and bit her lip with full realization of how badly this was going to hurt. Glancing up at Manuel for approval, she hesitated as she held the cup over her long-healed mark. Seeing Manuel nod slowly, she quickly tipped the glass in her hand rapidly pouring the liquid on her own back. She hissed at the initial contact, screaming once the fiery hot pain inflamed at her side.
Manuel watched as she cradled her new injury, the chemical bubbling and burning her skin to cover her previous mark. He paused, waiting patiently for her cries to subside.
As soon as she could think coherently, she winced as she noticed Manuel still standing over her. Sniffling, she glanced up at him. "Thank you." She murmured, "thank you Manuel."
"You're welcome Alejandra." He smiled softly.
"JJ—" Emily prodded softly as she saw JJ's face drain of color, keeping her voice low in an attempt not to scare her friend, "it will be okay."
JJ glanced at her, unsure of how she was supposed to respond as she felt the doctor gently apply a new bandage over her sore injuries.
Dr. Nielsen gently pulled JJ's shirt down. "I'm going to take you for a scan to look at that hip, JJ. It looks like it still hurts. But first, I want to give you this." He offered a small Staple's Easy Button which she took reluctantly. "I know you might not like talking right now, but I don't want you to get hurt. Now if at any time, you feel pain, or if you start to feel uncomfortable, I need you to let me know—do you understand?" He quickly repeated the statement in Spanish, knowing full well the woman could understand both languages but wanting to do anything he could to make her comfortable.
JJ nodded almost imperceptibly, glancing down at the item in her hands with mild curiosity.
He quickly wheeled her bed down the hall, speaking softly both in Spanish and English along the way. Emily felt a surge of relief at how easily this doctor seemed to pacify JJ. He seemed not to even notice Hotch and Emily at his heels, but JJ also seemed moderately put at ease with the stranger.
Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.
Pushing quickly through the MRI doors, Emily was slightly surprised to see a professional middle aged woman already waiting for them. "Hi JJ, I'm Laurie Munroe. You can call me Laurie. Dr. Nielsen thought that all of these machines might be a lot to handle. Is it okay if I stay in here with you?" She quickly repeated her introduction in Spanish and smiled softly.
JJ looked at Hotch with trepidation. Hotch nodded slowly, reluctant to even moderately reinforce the idea in JJ's mind that she needed his permission—but that would have to be something he addressed later.
Right now, he had to make sure she was going to be okay.
JJ slowly shrugged noncommittally, and Laurie's smiled widened. "JJ," Dr. Nielsen spoke up, "I'm going to leave Laurie here to let you know what is happening, while your friends and I wait outside, is that okay?" He stooped down in an attempt to finally catch her eye.
After he gave JJ an adequate time to protest, he grinned softly. "We'll be right outside."
Holding the door open for the two agents, Emily was surprised to see the warm smile he had treated JJ with quickly disappear. "Agents." He gestured to the door he was holding open, leaving little room for argument."
"Agent Prentiss, Agent Hotchner" The doctor addressed her for the first time as soon as the doors closed behind him. She was shocked to see a coldness darken his bright blue eyes, "I won't beat around the bush, what the hell is wrong with you?"
"Excuse me." Hotch said coldly, startled by the doctor's abrupt change in demeanor. "I hardly think this is the time—"
"This is precisely the time." The young doctor spat, "That woman should have been brought here on a medical transport. We should have started treatment hours ago."
"We had a jet waiting." Hotch explained with calculated gruffness. "A medical transport would have taken too much time."
"Too much time for her to be treated by professionals?" Dr. Nielsen asked in disbelief, "So you forced doctors in a po-dunk clinic to go against procedure and release her into your incapable hands?"
"I don't need you questioning my judgment." Hotch bit out angrily.
"And not only that, but then you didn't even bring her in right away? You waited to bring her to the hospital? I ask again, what the hell is wrong with you?"
Hotch looked at Emily, a triumphant glint in his eyes as he gestured for her to attempt to explain her reasoning, "We felt it was best for her to get some rest—" Emily began to explain.
"Do you have any idea how sick that woman is?" He asked incredulously, "If you had brought her in any later, I would have called Adult Protective Services and reported both of you to the authorities."
Emily stepped back, slightly taken aback that this younger man was so livid with her and Hotch. Dr. Nielsen's nostrils flared angrily and a large vein began to bulge along his forehead. "This is neglect-"
"Neglect?" Emily said incredulously, "She's a grown woman, and we—"
"Neglect!" Dr. Nielsen looked at them in disbelief, "Jennifer Jareau weighs 92 pounds. 92 pounds!" He smiled triumphantly as Emily's jaw dropped in shock. "She can barely function for herself. Neglect can be against children, the elderly, or the disabled. Any doctor in their right mind would classify her as disabled."
Hotch rubbed the back of his head thoughtfully, thrown at the realization that JJ classified as disabled. Intellectually, he had just finished making the same argument to a judge before he had come to the hotel room, but to hear someone else confirm it—it was a little more than he could handle.
"This is neglect—pure and simple, bordering on abuse." Dr. Nielsen added for emphasis.
"Wait a minute." Hotch stepped in, unwilling to let the doctor's suggestion go uncontested. "I don't like the insinuation of abuse. We came as soon as we thought—"
"I could give a rat's ass what you care about." Dr. Nielsen spat, "That woman can barely function, and you delayed bringing her to a hospital. Tell me, do you think that as an FBI Agent you're qualified to administer for Ms. Jareau's needs?"
"No." Hotch admitted, his stoic face frozen in place at the suggestion that he hadn't made the decisions in JJ's best interest. "I hardly think—"
"And that's the problem!" Dr. Nielsen hissed angrily. Emily's jaw dropped incredulously as she saw him turn back towards the window looking into the MRI room and smile back at JJ who had been watching them nervously. As soon as his angry disposition had vanished, it was back again, "I don't care who the hell you think you are, but if you have her best interest at heart—it sure doesn't show."
"We're her friends." Emily spoke up, "we—" The excuse died on her lips as she watched JJ lay on the slab for the MRI machine. While she appeared nervous, she was at least still lying on the gurney.
"Some friends." Dr. Nielsen snorted in derision.
"Agent Jareau is in federal custody." Hotch retorted firmly. "As soon as this test is done, we'll be taking her—"
"The hell you will!" Dr. Nielsen snapped, jabbing his finger in Hotch's direction, he spat "You may be a federal agent, but Agent Jareau is my patient. If I feel that she needs to stay in the hospital indefinitely for the remainder of her recovery, that's my decision."
"It won't be much longer." Hotch promised angrily. "We'll find her someone who is more suited for her needs."
"Good luck finding another bilingual orthopedic surgeon that specializes with victims of violence." Dr. Nielsen replied, obviously annoyed, "And until you do, this is still my decision."
"A decision I would more than gladly take up with your superiors." Hotch retaliated. "She was just rescued from what we believe is a Mexican drug cartel. She still may be in danger." He added the last part softly, smirking inwardly as he watched the doctor's face fall a fraction from its moral high ground.
Dr. Nielsen sighed resignedly, "I can't give you any information on her condition, but—"
Hotch interrupted him by shoving papers in his direction, "I was appointed her guardian this morning. When your lab called and confirmed the blood tests, I spoke to a judge and with the affidavits of the doctors that treated her in Arizona, he granted me temporary guardianship."
Looking through the papers, Dr. Nielsen fought the urge to groan. He didn't like handing this woman back over to her friends if they weren't going to take her needs into account, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Guardian?" Emily sputtered, looking at Hotch in horror. "How could you do that?"
Hotch rolled his eyes, but felt some need to explain in a hushed whisper, "Without one, who is to stop this Manuel character, or anybody else for that matter, from just checking her out of the hospital?"
"He's right" Dr. Nielsen sighed reluctantly, handing the paperwork back to Hotch. "Without these, he technically could not force her to be treated. She could walk out the door at any time."
Hotch nodded grimly, unable to ignore the similarity between his new role in JJ's life and the way JJ currently perceived him. But, he reasoned, his first priority was to help JJ get better. Everything else would come later.
The last thing he wanted was to force JJ to do anything—but right now, he wasn't sure she could make decisions for herself, let alone take care of herself.
Hearing JJ's state, the judge who owed him a favor had readily agreed.
"Right now, I'm checking the hip injury, but from just seeing her put a little weight on it earlier—it appears that it was dislocated and improperly reset. While we've got her in the chamber, we'll also check for any brain damage as a precaution." Dr. Nielsen informed cautiously.
"Brain damage?" Emily spoke up with concern.
Dr. Nielsen's begrudging attitude quickly disappeared and he looked to Emily kindly, "Like I said, it's just a precaution. Since she's not speaking, and according to what I've gathered from our" He looked at Hotch, who nodded in confirmation, "conversation earlier and the conversation I had with Dr. Martinez last night, we're still not certain what happened over the last three years. It would be foolish of us to not take a look, just to be sure that the cause is a purely emotional one."
Emily nodded, biting her lip as she fought to keep her emotions at bay. What more could go wrong?
"She'll need to be admitted for long-term care." Dr. Nielsen added, his words cutting both profilers as they realized the severity of JJ's injuries.
Hotch grimaced, but looked over at Emily in surprise as she spoke up firmly. "No."
"Prentiss, she—"
"Hotch, we don't know who's out there. She's been missing for three years." Emily bit her lip, knowing the words she was about to speak were below the belt, but were calculated to get her desired result. "But what happens when some janitor comes in claiming to be her master?"
Hotch's face dropped at the gentle reminder of his earlier colossal error. "She needs help Emily." Hotch uncharacteristically choked down the emotion that rose within him. "Where is she supposed to go?"
"I'll take her. We can help her, Hotch. I can take her to appointments. Strauss already gave me leave." She responded hopefully.
"There are security protocols to protect victims—" Dr. Nielsen attempted to explain, but Hotch shook his head decisively.
"We'll be taking her home as soon as possible." Hotch waved off the doctor's protests.
Dr. Nielsen grimaced, "You'll have to sign an AMA Waiver saying you understand you're signing her out against medical advice. She really should be treated in a hospital." He added, praying these agents would change their mind.
"We can handle it." Emily insisted, looking over Dr. Nielsen's shoulder to where JJ was stepping off the bed of the MRI machine. "We have to."