Hotch sat in the waiting room with the rest of his team, examining them. A lot of his job was keeping an eye over them, and making sure the job wasn't affecting them too much. He had failed with Elle. He knew something had been wrong, but he didn't help her. She ended up running away. The same happened with Gideon. He was determined not to let that happen again. He looked over at Morgan and saw his wrapped up hand. He knew Rossi had already talked to him, so he let it be. JJ was taking this hard, but Hotch knew she didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't feel the need to push his team just yet, they were going through enough as it is. He took a sip from his coffee and slowly stood up. He made his way over to where Emily's doctor was.
"Can I see her?" He asked.
The doctor checked Emily's vitals on the computer and then nodded, "She is still sleeping, but you may see her."
Hotch walked into her room and took the seat next to her bed. Silently he stared her. What he could see of her mostly covered body was filled with bruises. Prentiss was one of the best agents he had ever had, actually one of the best he had ever seen. Also one of the strongest, she never let their cases get to her. He knew she kept those feelings bottled; it was part of being a profiler. He should have put a protection detail on her as soon as he knew Bate's knew where she was.
A nurse then walked into the room, "Oh I'm sorry sir, I didn't know anyone was in here." She apologized.
"It's okay," Hotch assured her. "Do you know if anything had changed on her condition yet?"
The nurse looked at the chart she was holding and shook her head, "I'm sorry, we have not learned anything new yet. I just need to change her bandages quickly." She moved over to the other side of Prentiss's bed.
"I was just leaving," Hotch said getting up from the chair and returning to the waiting room.
"Is there any new information?" Rossi asked him as he entered.
Hotch grimly shook his head. "I'm going to make another coffee run, does everybody want some?"
The whole group mumbled yes's and thank you's. They all continued to sit in silence. They didn't know what to say, or what to talk about. It was easier just to stay locked in their own thoughts and stare at the wall. JJ was playing with the cap of her empty coffee cup, when Emily's doctor came over, "Are you JJ?" He asked.
"Yes. Why?" She answered.
"Emily just woke up and she is asking for you." He smiled.
JJ jumped up from her seat and nearly ran to her room. She slowed as she opened the door and walked in. She saw her friend's eyes were open and she was sitting up.
"Hey Emily." JJ smiled.
"Hi." Emily weakly answered.
JJ walked over to her bed and sat down in the chair. Tears slowly slid down Emily's face.
"I'm so sorry," JJ whispered. She took her fingers and wiped the tears off of her face. Emily awkwardly slid over in her bed, and patted the space next to her. JJ sat down next to her and tentatively put her arm around her shoulder. She didn't want to cause her any more pain then she was already in.
"What happened back there?" JJ slowly asked.
Emily shook her head, tears continued to fall down her cheeks. Her hands shook as she raised them to wipe her face. JJ rubbed small circles in her shoulder. They sat there in silence, Emily trying to control her tears, and JJ trying to keep in her own. She hated seeing her friend like this.
"It's my fault." Emily suddenly broke the silence, turning her head away from JJ.
"Look at me." JJ commanded, " Emily Prentiss, look at me."
Emily slowly turned her tear streaked face. "This is not your fault." JJ sternly told her, "What this bastard did is nobody's fault but his own. And he paid for it." JJ said, but didn't quite believe what she said. If only she had noticed something was wrong earlier, she might have been able to prevent this. She then looked into Emily's eyes and saw more. She saw a deeper pain.
"I should have stopped him." Emily sputtered out.
Stopped him… JJ thought, "Emily did he…?"
Emily turned her head away again, and JJ pulled her into a hug.
"You need to tell me Emily," JJ whispered into her ear, "Did he rape you?"
A silence hung in the room, only broken by soft sniffles. Finally Emily found her voice. It sounded like a small child's. It was filled with so much pain. "Yes."
Oh, God, JJ thought. Emily tucked her head into the nook of JJ's shoulder and she held her there. Emily had finally dropped her barrier. She couldn't handle to hold it up anymore and she felt safe enough around JJ.
"Have you told the doctor?" JJ asked.
She could feel Emily shake her head.
"Oh Emily, you need to tell them."
"Can you?" She asked.
"Of course I can Em." JJ answered. Emily then sat up and JJ pressed the call button next to her bed. Within seconds the doctor was in the door way. JJ got up from the bed and walked over to him.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Not really," JJ sighed, "Emily was raped." She had to hold in tears and anger
"Oh dear," The doctor responded. He walked over to Emily and JJ followed.
"Emily," He said sorrowfully, "We are going to have to do another examination."
She nodded, with tears spilling out of her eyes.
"Em, I'm going to leave for this, but I will be back in a few minutes." JJ hugged her friend.
"Are you going to tell the team?" Emily asked.
"Only if you want me to."
Emily thought about this and finally she nodded.
"Okay, I'll be back in a little bit, remember it's going to be okay." JJ soothed, delicately smoothing her hair.
Emily gave her a weak smile as she left the room.
As soon and JJ was alone she leaned against the wall. How could this have happened? She asked herself. She was filled with so much anger, she felt like she was going to burst. How could someone have done this to Emily? She felt tears leak out of her eyes despite her attempt to hold them in. She slid down the wall so she was now sitting on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. She hit her hands against the floor and closed her eyes.
"Jayje?" She looked up and saw Morgan standing there holding two cups of coffee. Morgan got on the ground and sat next to JJ.
"I thought I was the only one who liked to punch things when I got mad." He smiled, gesturing to his wrapped up hand.
JJ tried to smile, but it wouldn't make it past her sullen expression.
"What's on your mind?" He asked, handing her one of the cups of coffee. She took it graciously and took a gulp. She shook her head. "Morgan, I should have stopped her at the police station. I knew something was wrong. But I let it go and look what happened."
"JJ, you can go over all of the should of's or could of's but it won't change anything. You know as well as anybody else that this is Bate's fault and solely his." Morgan told her.
Morgan looked at her and knew she wasn't convinced. Another tear slipped down JJ's cheek. She quickly wiped it away, but not before Morgan saw it.
"Hey come on now, there's no reason to cry." He tried to cheer her up, but she just looked away from him. Seriously he asked, "What aren't you telling me JJ?"
"Morgan," JJ looked at him with sad angry eyes, "Emily was raped by Bates."
It took a second for the news to register to Morgan. "You're kidding me." He almost begged for this to be some sick joke.
JJ sadly shook her head. Morgan's fists clenched tight, he forgot everything that Rossi had talked to him about. He jumped up from where he was sitting. JJ understood what he needed to do, and nodded at him. Anger fumed from him as he walked towards the nearest set of doors leading outside. If Bates weren't already dead Morgan would have beat the shit out of him. He looked at the brick wall in front of him and pictured Bates, and took a punch. He saw what he did to Emily. He raped her. Why God why? His mind screamed. Why her? He would have rather he was taken. Physical pain was so much easier then the pains of seeing his friend suffer. He took another hit at the brick wall, brining pain to him. The pain was comfortable, he could control physical pain. What he couldn't control was his sadness, his anger, his confusion. The question of how any God would allow this to happen. He took another punch at the wall.