Chapter 4
The ambulance came and Rossi, Reid, and JJ could only look on as the badly burned Unit Chief was rushed to the nearest hospital. Would Hotch make it the whole team wondered. If he did survive, would he ever be the same? Meanwhile, Prentiss and Morgan were chasing Nathan Arnold through the woods.
"Nathan Arnold, STOP!" Prentiss yelled. Their guns were drawn and Morgan's scowl was a scowl of pure contempt.
"Oh, he's not gonna make it. What's it to you?" Arnold taunted.
"He's my boss and BEST FRIEND!" Morgan yelled, ready to take aim.
"Morgan," Prentiss warned.
"He'll never make it," Arnold sang, in a creepily jovial voice. He then took off.
"HEY!" Prentiss yelled, "you mess with one member of this team, you mess with all of us!" She took after him.
"Prentiss, wait!" Morgan exclaimed. Too late. It was a game of cat and mouse. As the sadistic killer ran into his basement to hide, he didn't look where he was going. There stood the can of sulfuric acid he used to douse Aaron Hotchner. Arnold tripped over it and screamed, "AHHH!" Prentiss and Morgan rushed into the basement and found nothing but a puddle of what once was Nathan Arnold.
"Well, if that ain't karma, I don't know what is," Prentiss quipped.
"Come on, Emily. Let's go to the hospital."
"Do you think he'll make it?" the normally composed Prentiss asked.
"He's a fighter," Morgan said, "he'll make it. Come on, I'll call Garica."
"Hey, babygirl," Morgan said solemnly, "we got the unsub."
"Oh my god! Who's hurt?" Garica asked frantically.
"Babygirl-" Morgan started.
"No! Don't you 'babygirl' me! I may not be a kickass profiler, but I can always tell when a member of my family is hurt and I swear to God, if you don't tell me Morgan I'll-"
"Penelope, it's Hotch." Garcia's lower lip trembled.
"Hotch? What happened?"
"The unsub sprayed him with sulfuric acid. He's burned badly, Penelope. We're going to the hospital right now."
"He's gonna be alright?" Garcia asked, "the burns are just temporary? He'll live, right? Morgan, say something!"
Morgan was caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't lie to his baby girl, but then again, he didn't want her to know everything that had happened.
"I don't know, Penelope. I don't know."
"NO!" Garica yelled, "my liege has to survive! He HAS to!" Morgan could hear a keyboard being thrown from the desk.
"Penelope..." Morgan tried to reassure her.
"I'm coming there," Garcia said.
"Penelope, you should stay-"
"No, Derek," Garcia said, "my Bossman is hurt. I'm coming to the hospital right now. I'm already out the door and you can't stop me," she said, her voice shaking.
"Family of Aaron Hotchner?" a nurse asked.
"That would be us," Rossi answered. The nurse looked perplexed.
"We're his team," Rossi explained.
"Agent Hotchner has been wheeled into emergency surgery. I don't know the prognosis yet. Frankly, he's the worst burn patient I've ever seen. What this man did to him was indescribable. Please tell me you got this guy."
"We got him," Rossi answered.
"Good. I'll keep you guys up to date." Now, it was a waiting game.
"Agent Rossi?" the nurse asked.
"Yes?" The whole team stood up.
" The good new is that Agent Hotchner will survive. I'm telling you. He's a fighter. Y'all are lucky to have him as your boss."
"The bad news?" Reid asked.
"Agent Hotchner suffered multiple burns to his face and hands."
"But you corrected them in surgery, right?" Prentiss asked.
"I'm sorry," the nurse responded grimly, "no amount of surgery can fix this. The burns are permanent." The team gasped. They looked across the hall into Hotch's room. The team held hands and cried on each others' shoulders, preparing themselves for what Hotch would look like when he woke up.
"Will he ever come back?" Reid asked.
"I don't know, Reid," Rossi shook his head, "I just don't know."