Monday Blues Chapter 11

AN – Couldn't leave you all hanging on the cliff hanger to long. A few faces in this chapter that people have been asking for. Thanks for your support!

The last few hours had been a complete blur; even the phone call seemed so vivid that it hadn't really happened at all. Yet now here she was walking through the halls of the hospital heading to her old life. A life she'd left behind, but one she couldn't ignore and when Rossi had called to explain what had happened Emily Prentiss couldn't stay away. Knowing her old boss, her friend, was fighting for his life. Of course she knew there was nothing practical she could do, but she had to at least be there. Moral support was something. The nurse had directed her to a family room and she knocked lightly pushing the door open.

"Emily!" Rossi clearly hadn't expected her to make good on her 'I'm coming there' promise.

"Hi." She smiled seeing the sadness in his eyes; her own gaze falling on a sleeping Jack Hotchner lying sprawled on a few seats. Jess sat nearby nursing a coffee and smiled politely. They'd met a few times since Haley's death and she immediately walked over and hugged Jess. "What you did was incredibly brave. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now. Just shock and a few bruise's nothing more. A few days rest and I felt better. " The profiler in Emily sensed something more, that Jess was holding back a little.

"Are you sure?" She reached out putting a gentle hand on Jess's arm.

"I... I feel so guilty that he's..." She couldn't finish her sentence, her hand came up to her mouth to mask the sobs.

"Hey, he's a fighter, if anyone can make it through this he can... He has so much to fight for and you know he won't give up."

"That's what I've been saying." Rossi joined the conversation. "He's the strongest man I know. It's nice that you're here for him" He nodded at Emily.

"Least I could do. For you all." She rubbed Jess's arm and sat down with her and Rossi. "How's Jack holding up?"

"Cried himself to sleep... but at least he is asleep. The doctors ran some tests scans on his abdomen and head and stabilised him long enough to get the results before rushing him into surgery but we haven't heard anything in a while. Thankfully he's slept through most of the waiting. The team are back at the office trying to get on top of things for Cruz, soon as we know anything their coming straight here."

She nodded and sat back finding herself stroking Jack's soft hair, Rossi joined her and Jess in a seat and together they began the long waiting game.

CM CM CM CM

Emily woke with a start when she felt someone shaking her and she looked up at Rossi who was shaking her arm. She hadn't even realised she'd fallen asleep but then she figured jet lag from suddenly dropping everything and getting and emergency flight out had taken its toll. Right now she wasn't even sure which time zone she was in. A quick glance at the time told her she'd been asleep for about an hour.

"Sorry. Jet lag." She offered as an explanation.

"Doctor's here." Rossi didn't need to explain further, she sat up straight and took hold of Jess's hand, and took Rossi's as well wanting to show her support to them both.

"I've been operating on Agent Hotchner, I'm sorry we couldn't come and inform you sooner but when we got the results of his CT scan we wanted to act straight away. It's a complex operation which is why he's been in surgery so long. Agent Hotchner suffered a small bleed called a subdural hematoma, the blood gathered beneath the skull and outside the brain. It was enough to because pressure on the brain which we're hopeful was the reason he was unconscious so long. We called in a top neurosurgeon to perform a Burr hole trephination, basically what've done is drilled a hole through the skull to get to the sight of the bleed and suctioned the blood out before repairing the damage to the skull." He paused seeing the upset and worry on all three faces. "I know this sounds horrific but the Doctor that performed the operation is one of the best in the field and is very happy with how things went during the procedure. He's confident that he's been able to eliminate the bleed and repair the damage."

"Will... Will he wake up?" Jess asked her voice breaking slightly.

"We're monitoring him closely in recovery and so far we're very optimistic of his chances. He's on life support at the moment and heavily sedated mainly so we can ease the pressure on his brain and allow his body to heal naturally. I'm sorry there's not much more we can tell you at the moment, now it's up to him. We'll come and get you when he's moved back to his room and you can sit with him. Really this has given him the best chance of pulling through."

He excused himself leaving the trio to come to terms with the information, a few moments of silence passed by before any one dare speak.

"Oh god." Jess sobbed her eyes fixed on Jack.

"They've relived the bleed, eased the pressure... That's very good news, and they are quietly optimistic. So we need to keep positive." Rossi moved to her other side and rubbed her back exchanging a look with Emily.

"Dave's right.. it must have been 14/15 hours since he took a turn for the worse by the time they had ran their tests, stabilised him and operated.. And now we've heard the words optimistic.. That's the best we could hope for." Emily tried to reassure.

"How do I tell Jack?" She sobbed looking at the youngster.

"Don't tell him anything until Aaron is off life support and there easing the sedation back. If he asks anything just explain he's banged his head a bit harder than we thought." Rossi's voice was strong, determined and caused Jess to smile and nod in agreement. That was the best option for now, at least until he was off life support and they knew which direction this brain surgery was going to take him.

Since the death of her sister, Jess hadn't really been a religious person; she'd turned her back on god for taking her sister, almost taking her nephew and putting her brother-in-law through hell. However now she needed him and she found herself praying that they'd finally turned a corner.

TBC.