Chapter XXXII

"Any news?" Emily asked before anyone had a chance to even notice their arrival. Hotch was out of his chair immediately, offering it to the brunette who refused with a gentle wave of her hand.

"Nothing yet but it's only been 3 hours." He assured her with a hand to her back. Emily smiled up at him, partially forgetting the audience the two had until Reid spoke.

"How are you feeling?" He asked JJ, who rocked her head side to side.

"I've been better." She admitted and accepted the seat Morgan offered her with a smile. She closed her eyes for a moment and the team watched as her chest heaved in an attempt to draw breath.

"This is Doctor Monroe." Hotch introduced a rather tall, skinny woman with black hair and dark blue eyes. "She's going to take you for an x-ray."

"Is that an order?" JJ half-smiled at him and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Yes. Now go." Hotch demanded and JJ sighed as much as she could.

"Great." She groaned as she began to stand. Rossi leaned forward and offered her a hand. "Another woman gets to see me shirtless."

"When did this happen?" an overly-excited Morgan shot a look at Emily.

"Yes, Emily," Hotch turned to the woman beside him. "When did this happen?"

"You're all very funny." The brunette playfully nudged him with her shoulder.

"Agent Jareau, I'm Alexandra." Dr. Monroe held out a hand and JJ shook it as she righted herself.

"Considering how close we're about to get, you can call me JJ." JJ crossed an arm across her abdomen as she walked- or rather wobbled- away with Alexandra.

"Wow," Morgan called after them. "I got shot too." The team chuckled at his drooling expression.

"You know, wishes do come true, Morgan." Emily tapped her sidearm with a finger. "Speaking of wishes, you guys should see our hotel room."

"Room?" Rossi raised an eyebrow. "As in singular?"

"It's a master suite with a bed for each of us." Emily assured him.

"Damn." Morgan snapped his fingers in disappointment only to receive a smack on the shoulder from Emily. Instinctively, Hotch took a protective step closer to the brunette, not sure how he felt about the flirtationship she had with the dark-skinned agent. Emily sensed his discomfort and subtly leaned into him in an attempt to reassure him.

"Seems like the Bureau wants to congratulate us for a job well done." Rossi nodded in approval.

"I wouldn't count today- or yesterday- as a win Dave." Emily crossed her arms.

"Why not?" he questioned. "We got the bad guy, saved the victim and kept classified information out of a sociopath's hands."

"Speaking of the bad guy…"

"Hail's still in surgery too." Hotch informed her. "Don't worry, they're nowhere near one another, there are two guards with him at all times and he's handcuffed to a bed."

"Have they said anything about him?"

"Only that it doesn't look good." Morgan shrugged.

"Can't say I'm sorry." Emily admitted and received no argument from the others. One, two hours eased by slowly with no word from any of the three doctors. The team grew more agitated by the minute, craving information about any one of the three they had admitted.

"What is taking so long?" Morgan sighed and rose from his seat. He paced the room just like Emily had five minutes prior.

"Mackenzie and Hail's surgeries could take up to fifteen hours since-"

"But where's JJ?" Emily asked as she approached the nurses' station across the hall. "Excuse me, I'm looking for-"

"Agent Hotchner." The smooth voice of Dr. Monroe had every agent on their feet. "Sorry for the wait, we-"

"How's JJ?" Emily nearly crashed into the woman as she sped-walked towards her.

"She'll be alright." Monroe assured her. "When I was looking at her x-rays I noticed some faint scarring on her lungs. Has she been sick recently?"

"She spent an extended amount of time in a rainstorm a few days ago." Rossi explained.

"Did she have a fever?" Monroe frowned slightly.

"Yea, 102.4 at first but we brought it down to 101.6." Emily recalled the numbers by heart.

"She told me she was shot?" Monroe glanced at her notes before addressing the team.

"Point blank." Morgan nodded before realizing she might not know what that meant. "About 4 feet away."

"That would explain the bruising and internal damage." Monroe nodded as she jotted something down in her notepad.

"Damage?" Emily asked. "What damage?"

"JJ has 6 broken ribs; two of which almost detached from her ribcage completely, compromising her right lung which was already damaged by the cough she had." Monroe explained. "She was in some pain and was sporting a 100.6 fever so I gave her some sedatives. She's sleeping it off now in room 412. You're welcome to-"

"Which way?" Emily, Reid and Rossi asked in unison. Monroe smiled and pointed behind her.

"She's still resting." Monroe called after them. "Try not to stay too long!"

"Don't worry Doctor," Morgan took a step towards the woman. "I'll make sure they leave her alone."

"Yes," Monroe shifted her stance. "I'm sure you will. Well, I have to go finish my rounds."

"Thank you Doctor." Hotch shook hands with her before returning to his seat, leaving Morgan confused at the woman's reaction or lack thereof.

"God, she is so stubborn." Rossi sighed as he took a seat besides JJ's bed. "You know that the second she wakes up she's going to try to leave."

"I'm well aware." Emily took the seat opposite the man and stared at her best friend. "She tried convincing me it was just a bruise." As JJ's chest heaved, the purple and blue mass on her chest seemed to draw everyone's attention.

"How bad is it?" Reid asked, his face child-like in its innocence. Emily covered his hand with hers in a comforting gesture.

"It's about the size of Derek's hands." She explained.

"Both hands?" the man in question entered with a grin. "You know what they say about a man's hands…"

"Feel the need to overcompensate Morgan?" the brunette raised an eyebrow and Morgan chuckled.

"You let me know when you'd like me to disprove that theory of yours Princess." he winked at her. As Emily opened her mouth to continue the playful banter, she saw the face of her boss appear behind her partner and immediately shut it.

"We heard what Dr. Monroe said." The unit chief said and Emily inadvertently avoided eye contact with him. "Let's give JJ some peace and quiet and check out our room." Everyone but Emily nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

"Aaron, I'm-"

"Stay with her until I get NJPD here. No one without a hospital ID-"

"Gets in, yes I know." Emily reached out and grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for Prentiss." A look of hurt flashed across Emily's eyes but was quickly extinguished. She released him and took a step back before seating herself in the chair Rossi occupied, her back to him. Without a word, she listened to his footsteps as he left the room and crossed her arms across her chest, feeling an all-too familiar chill.

So my loves, I'm moving into college tomorrow morning & even though the previous chapter didn't get the amount of reviews I usually aim for, I didn't think it was fair to keep you waiting for too long. Please don't expect a speedy update since I have welcome week events that are mandatory and classes start on Monday. I want to focus on getting settled and organized with my classes and new life so I'll apologize in advance! Leave me some love!