A/N hello again! I'm posting two in one day, hope you enjoy it!
Again, I don't own Criminal Minds! If I did Jemily would be real!
What a Difference a Day Makes
Chapter Six
It was rainy here, the type of rain that drizzles and drips for hours on end, never quite stopping, and you start to forget when it even began. So was the same with Emily's condition. We had landed six hours ago, and I had tailed the waiting ambulance to the hospital nearest to Quantico. As soon as we got in they had taken Emily off to surgery, hoping to repair things that they didn't have the equipment to do back in Syria, like skin grafts for her burns on her leg, and surgery to repair her ruptured eardrums. So I waited, stuck in a drab waiting room on squeaky plastic chairs, staring at the faded print of a flower hanging on the wall. She had come out of surgery just fine, which left me here, sitting in her hospital room staring at the rain. The team was due to come, though they were flying back from a case in Florida so they'd be a while. I was alone with Emily for a few hours more, and I was planning on spending the time here like I had spent all the rest of my time with her, begging her to wake up. My head was drooping under the weight of exhaustion, I had been up for almost a day and a half already, but I refused to give in.
"I promise Emily, I won't leave you alone in this, you don't have to fight this alone, just wake up…" I slurred, pitching forward as my eyes drooped closed for a second. I jolted back awake when I felt my forehead smack the railing on the hospital bed, and I looked around in embarrassment, hoping that no nurses or doctors saw.
"you've always been clumsy…" a raspy voice sighed, the words were so faint that if the rain was any heavier, I wouldn't have heard them at all, but I did, I heard them loud and clear.
"Emily!" I cried, leaping up to face her. Her brown eyes were barely open, her chocolate brown irises were hazy with sleep and from the drugs, and her voice was barely a whisper, like wind against sand, but it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. She sighed, struggling to stay conscious against the cocktail of sedatives and painkillers in her system.
"Jayje…Where is she… did I-did I save her…?" she mumbled almost incoherently. Who is this she? What is she talking about, is this a side effect of the drugs?
"Who is she?" I asked, but she had already fallen back asleep. "Emily?" nothing.
"Hey sunshine! How's my sweet pea doing?" Garcia announced, sweeping into the room. I yawned, not entirely hearing her.
"I thought the team's still on the jet back from Florida? What are you doing here?" Garcia chuckled but it sounded far away, almost like I was underwater.
"Wow Jayje, you seriously need this!" she placed a large cup of coffee in my hands and I found myself gulping it down, not caring that my throat burned, just looking forward to the rousing effects of the caffeine.
"Pen, you're a lifesaver!" I moaned dramatically. My mood was greatly lifted by Emily's short moment of consciousness, and this was just the icing on the cake.
"Aww, thanks cupcake, I'm flattered! So now that you've returned to the land of the living, how's Emily?" she was flitting around the room, and the neon pink and orange color of her dress was so bright and distracting I felt a headache coming on.
"I'll tell you, but sit down please! I've been awake for almost thirty-six hours and the bright colors are killing me!" I snapped irritably, and I thought I heard my name mumbled along with the phrase "grumpy-pants" while she made herself as comfortable as possible in the sterile, faux-fabric chair. "She's doing better, she came through surgery, and I swear that she was awake for a second or two before you arrived, though she didn't make much sense. She's doing fine all things considered." I left out the information about her mom, hoping Garcia wouldn't ask.
"So where's her –" she began to ask the question I was dreading to answer when the rest of the team appeared at the doorway, Rossi holding a particularly large flower arrangement, and Morgan holding a cat carrier.
"Morgan, don't tell me that you brought Sergio" I sighed, trying to keep the smile out of my voice.
"Well… uh, yeah." He stuttered, "the poor little guy misses his momma, and then Pretty Boy over here started listing off all these statistics about animal companions speeding healing times of patients…" he broke off as Reid piped up with his information.
"Therapy animals have been proven to reduce a patient's need for medication and lower anxiety. No one's quite sure why, but it's proven."
"Thanks Spence, but how did you guys get him in here? I mean he's not a licensed therapy animal, and the hospital doesn't allow random pets in here." I was still sceptical, and I didn't want to get in trouble for bringing in an illegal cat.
"Well, Morgan started flirting with the nurse at the front desk, which apparently was a good enough distraction, and when we ran into another nurse in the hallway we told her it was a cake, but we just didn't have a cake carrier to put it in, she gave us a weird look, but let us go." Rossi explained before giving us a lopsided grin and I let out a throaty laugh. They may be some of the brightest minds and best profilers in the world, but I worked with a … "special" group of people. Morgan took a quick peek outside before shutting the door to the hospital room. He laid a blanket over Emily's sleeping form, and let the little black cat out. He immediately curled up on Emily's abdomen and fell asleep, eliciting an "aww!" from Garcia.
"So how's she doing?" Hotch asked, showing that rare smile again.
"Better, she's recovering from her surgeries nicely, and she was semi-conscious for a short period of time." Everyone in the room visibly brightened up at that statement.
"And the Ambassador?" Hotch continued. I shook my head no, unable to get the words out of my throat. The team was silent, wordlessly mourning the loss of life. After a minute or so, Morgan cleared his throat.
"JJ, you can head home for the night, I'll stay with her tonight so you can get some rest." He offered, and the sentiment of his offer touched me, but I refused to leave her side.
"No thank you, I'm fine Derek, I'll stay with her. I want to be here when she wakes up." His eyes flickered between me and Emily, and I saw that he knew something was up.
"Alright, anything I can get for you then?" he asked, his voice sincerely wanting to help with anything he could, but I could tell that he also wanted a chance to talk with me in a less crowded setting.
"My go-bag would be great, thanks; it's in the trunk of my car." I passed him the car keys, pointing to a button on the electronic key fob. "This one beeps it once and blinks the lights, you should be able to see it in the parking lot no problem." Morgan disappeared from the room, and I could tell everyone else was getting ready to leave. Reid was struggling to catch Sergio, who, as soon as he noticed he had to go back into the carrier, leapt off of Emily and hid under her bed. Penelope joined in, and after a short chase around the room, they finally got the slightly irritated feline back in his 'cake carrier' from which he eyed Spence with a glare of contempt that only a cat can pull off. Rossi left with Reid, Garcia, and the cat, leaving me alone with Hotch. He stood there, silent for a moment, and if I had to take a guess, I'd say that he's profiling me.
"What happened to the 'no inter-team profiling' rule?" I asked, not meaning to come off as harsh, but I could tell he already knew that.
"The rule doesn't account for situations like this. You can take vacation time as long as she's off, she'll need a friend around, and I don't want her left alone."
Neither do I, I thought to myself. "You can keep track of the investigation through Garcia, write up press briefings from home, and someone who's along with us can deliver them. I've already had to convince Strauss that you're vital to the team when she tried to make you go, it shouldn't be too hard to convince her you aren't." he didn't smile, but you could see the subtle humour in his eyes. "By the way, Strauss approved the funding for the Medevac, but it was only because I essentially told her that the plane was already in flight, and just simply approving it would cut down on a lot of inane paperwork for her. She's got a few choice words for you once you finally return." Meh, I can face the likes of Strauss, she isn't as tough and heartless as she likes to pretend she is.
"Thank you Sir." I knew I couldn't convey my complete gratitude to him with those three simple words, but it was a start.
"You're welcome, and JJ? You two are perfect for each other." He looked me right in the eye, and I felt both calmed and unnerved. How did he know? Is it really that obvious? I tried to hide my shock as he walked away, but couldn't believe it. Was that his way of giving us his blessing? Telling us he'd deal with the fraternization rules and Strauss, who enforces them like it's the only reason she was put on this earth? I couldn't help thinking that I was eternally indebted to Hotch now, for this day and all the other times he's made allowances. My thoughts scattered like feathers on the wind when Morgan reappeared at the door with my go-bag slung over his shoulder, and a questioning look on his face.
"Okay JJ, we're all worried about Princess, but there seems to be something going on between you two, something you aren't telling. Now I know what I think it is, but I'd like to know the truth." He placed the bag beside my chair and sat beside me. I took a deep breath, what was I worried about? Morgan was about the most easygoing guy out there, he wouldn't judge me or Emily, and he certainly wouldn't tell, not even to his Technology Queen, Garcia.
"While she was out there, after the explosion, before she collapsed, she wrote a message on the concrete. She wrote my phone number for the rescuers, and then she said she loves me." I sighed, she loves me! It sounds great just to say the words.
"And you don't feel the same way? Because I've seen the way you look at her Jayje, and it says a little more than friendship to me." So he has noticed, shoot, I should have been more cautious!
"I do, God Derek I do, but to see her like this, battered and bruised and burned and broken, it hurts. It hurts worse than anything I've ever experienced. I just want to hold her and close my eyes and pretend that none of this ever happened." I was crying again, feeling slightly self-conscious at my display of emotion, usually I preferred to maintain calm and collected in front of my colleagues, but they aren't my colleagues, they're my family. Family is there for each other, family lets each other know when they're hurting. We are a family, which is why I accepted the hug offered to me.
"She's hurt Derek, both physically and psychologically, she's really hurt and I'm scared for her." I murmured into his shirt, feeling my tears soaking the fabric. He just rubbed his hand in soothing circles on my back, teasing loose more tears while comforting me at the same time.
"I know Jayje, but she's strong, and she will pull through, and she has you to guide her way through it all, you're the light at the end of the tunnel for her, and she'll fight tooth and nail to be with you." He pulled away, keeping his arms at my forearms. I noticed emotion gleaming in his eyes, and I could tell he was struggling too; after all, he was her best friend.
"She'll be fine. She'll pull through." I feebly tried to reassure him, "Thank you, for everything Derek. Go get some rest, you look exhausted." He offered me a small smile before turning to exit the room as well.
"You too JJ, good night." After he left I dimmed the lights in the room and changed into the pyjamas I had in my go-bag. I recalled an earlier piece of our conversation,
"I just want to hold her and close my eyes and pretend none of this ever happened."
So I threw both hospital and BAU protocol out the metaphorical window, and curled up beside Emily on her hospital bed, stroking her hair softly with my other hand wrapped loosely around her waist. I relaxed, closed my eyes, and with the subtle vanilla scent of her hair soothing me into a state of peace, I imagined that none of the bad things had ever happened, and it was just Emily and I, together, like it should be.
"Goodnight Em, I love you." And I swore that in my half-asleep and exhausted state, I heard her say it back.
A/N and for those of you wondering, I'll be dealing with Will soon (insert evil laugh here). ;)
-Nightshade