In all honesty, I have yet to decide if JJ will die or not. Yes or no's would be helpful!
Thanks to all who reviewed! Please continue to do so
This chapter is short, but I left it where it is for a reason. I think it is the perfect chapter break.
I have been at her side now for hours, my watch shows she has about seven hours left, looking at her, I am not sure how she can possibly make it that long.
"Jim." I plead for my mentor to come to me, I am not sure what to do; if there is anything I can do. We are alone now, she has been dumped here in an abandoned apartment complex, left to die on a filthy concrete floor. Even though she is unconscious, she is shivering, an effort her body is making to warm herself up- the bad part comes when she stops shivering.
The floor is the least of her problems, where she is dumped is atrocious. Drug paraphernalia litters the ground, exposed needles are in no short supply, there is no insulation inside to protect anyone from the outside elements. And on this cold December day, it is below freezing outside. All the windows are gone allowing the wind and snow to break into the supposed shelter. Broken bed frames, old food, feces, all are abundant in this hell hole. And apparently, this is where this respected, loved FBI agent will spend her final moments.
I glance down at her again, wishing I could cover her with anything to make her last few hours a bit more comfortable; the last thing she should have to worry about is being cold. I have to turn away as she continues to shake, blood is dripping from various wounds on her body, most notably the stab wound in her stomach. It didn't hit anything fatal, but if she doesn't get help soon, the stab wound combined with the bullet wound will be lethal.
She has no clothes on, so the impact of the freezing temperatures are wreaking havoc on her body. The men took them from her after their violent assault. I have no words to describe what transpired besides never wanting to see anything like that again. The last one, while still tormenting her, took a knife from behind him and savagely stabbed it into her stomach before pulling out the gag and waltzing away.
They left after that, didn't make any effort to help her up, to end her suffering. Just left her there- obviously knowing she wouldn't be able to get help herself. They knew she wouldn't last much longer.
That was five hours ago, and she is still fighting. She is decompensating quickly, her periods of unconsciousness are becoming fewer and she is less alert every time she does open her eyes.
The last time she did, I held her hand and whispered to her, promising that I was there, that she wouldn't die alone. She smiled at me and slipped back unaware of the sirens being heard across the city. They are looking for her.
She has three hours left to live, and I can only hope that these men don't come back for her. One time she asked me where her team was, if they were looking for her. I promised her they were, that a lot of people were looking for her.
Now, as I look down at her, I wipe a tear from my eye. I hope her team makes it in time, they won't be in time to save her life, but make it in time for her to say goodbye. I think that is what she is holding on for, for those she loved to show up one more time.
Suddenly, I hear her cough and her eyes shoot open. "Shh," I soothe her and watch as she struggles to roll over onto her side. She coughs and groans again in pain, broken ribs I guess. She vomits up blood before collapsing back down onto the concrete. "Alright, it's alright." Nothing about it is alright, nothing at all.
She makes eye contact with me and smiles. "You're.." she has to pause between every word now. "Still. Here?"
I nod happily and take her hand. "'Till the end kiddo." I use the pet name Jim gave me, and find it has a comforting aspect to it. I sit and talk to her, I talk about how I remember her being the agent who did so much for my family, how I owe her so much.
We are down to less than an hour when I notice she isn't waking up anymore. The shivering has stopped all together, and her face is so pale. "Jennifer?" I speak hoping for a response. There isn't one and I know we are nearing the end. I glance out the windows wishing for those black SUVs to come barreling in, but no such luck.
I pace and rub my hands together, and then it occurs to me, Jim never came at my call. "Jim?" I try again. Nothing. It is me and "JJ" and she told me to call her. I think she knows she won't make it out of this alive, I think she knows my role but I cannot be certain.
Her breathing is getting shallower now, her pulse is barely there. Even if the team did show up now, I am not sure they would make it up to get her before..
"JJ." I speak to her again. "It's okay, you can let go now, you will be safe, there will be no pain. It's okay." I get no response, but her breathing begins to slow, she takes a deep breath that sounds like a sigh of relief and then there is nothing.
