Chapter 23

All of the woman's clothing- most of which was stained with blood- had been sent to the closest lab to be analyzed. She now lay unconscious, chest rising and falling ever so slowly as monitors and tubes surrounded her. The hospital staff, including the EMTs who had brought her in, had no idea who she was. When they arrived on scene, the only thing she had been able to say, over and over and over again, was 'BAU'. By the time they had gotten her to the hospital, deciphered what she was saying, and contacted the Unit, Jane Doe had been placed in a medically induced coma. JJ, Emily, and Hotch had listened to the doctor's detailed report on her injuries with earnest concern. She was severely malnourished and dehydrated, sported uncountable bruises, suffered a concussion, six broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, and a nasty case of road rash all down her back. After being given the suggestion by Agent Prentiss, the doctor agreed to order a rape kit which, unsurprisingly, came back positive. Now, JJ and Emily sat on either side of the woman's bed, staring at her unmoving features. The women had agreed to stay with her, not wanting her to wake up alone. They had sent Hotch back to continue working on the case and decided to take shifts sitting with her. Soon, Emily would leave JJ alone with the woman who had been assigned to be her surrogate and return to the team. The situation was beyond frustrating, especially for the blonde. So many answers lay in the bed before them- so close, yet completely unattainable. JJ was fidgeting uncontrollably, picking at her cuticles and shaking her leg as if the more she moved, the faster Jane Doe would wake up. After an hour or so, Emily left, giving her friend a tight hug and a few quick words of encouragement. The blonde offered her a kind but fake smile in return as she sent her on her way. When she was finally left alone with the woman, JJ couldn't help but take her immobile hand into her own. The tears she had been holding back finally fell, dripping onto the sheets beside their joined hands as the agent lowered her head. She found herself apologizing profusely to the woman who had suffered so much on her account. The more she spoke to her, the faster and easier it was for the tears to come out. For the first time in over a year, JJ let out all of her feelings about Parilla and the nightmare he had caused without being interrupted or told that it wasn't her fault. She knew, rationally, that it wasn't. Despite the truth, constantly being reminded by the team, Will, and even Leila had become overbearing. What she needed, more than almost anything in the world, was to spill her guts to someone who would do nothing but listen. When she was done, JJ wiped at her eyes and straightened herself slightly. Letting out a sigh of borderline relief, the blonde cleared her throat.

"I don't even know if you heard any of that," she admitted aloud, "but either way, it helped. Thank you." Several seconds of silence passed as JJ tried to phrase what she wanted to say next. "I need you to wake up. Please. I have to find my sister. I know that it's so much better to stay asleep rather than face all of this- trust me, I know- but please," she implored, "I can't find her without you. I'm begging you, open your eyes and say something- anything that'll help us catch him." JJ held her breath, squeezing the woman's hand as she pressed it against her own heart. For a moment, she could've sworn that she saw the woman's eyelids struggle to open. The air was stolen from her lungs until the passive blonde remained motionless for several more seconds. Disappointed, JJ released the breath she had been holding and dropped back into her seat.

"Agent?" a high voice caught JJ's attention as a nurse came in. "I'm Patty and I'll be the nurse on call until 7AM. Do you need anything?"

"If you could have a cot or even just a pillow brought in, that would be great." JJ took in the older woman's pity-filled eyes and fought hard to ignore it as she nodded once and walked away. Regardless of what happened, JJ knew that spending even a single second away from their Jane Doe would cause her more anxiety than it was worth. She wanted- no, needed- to be here when the woman woke up. She needed to hear for herself that Leila was as alright as she could be given her current situation. As Patty reentered rolling in a comfortable looking chair, a pillow, and a blanket, JJ let go of the woman's hand for the first time in hours. She thanked the nurse blindly before settling into her new bed, pulling on the lever to open it up so she could stretch out. Moments like this, she was thankful for her short stature. With the day she'd had, it didn't take long for the agent to fall back asleep, her hand poking out of the blanket and resting on top of Parilla's newest victim's.

Emily returned much sooner than she and JJ had planned on. There was almost nothing to do at the station and sitting around waiting for a lead to plop into their laps was simply depressing. Besides, she wanted to check up on the blonde- both of them. It was 9AM and she knew that JJ had most likely spent the night in the hospital. Turning the knob ever so slowly so as not to wake the woman, Emily poked her head in and took in the dark room. No one had come to open up the blinds since they knew that the single occupant wasn't exactly going on a morning run and the sun barely managed to slide through a handful of cracks. Emily waited for her eyes to adjust before making her way to JJ's side. Placing a soft hand on the woman's shoulder and squeezing slightly, the watched the blonde regain her senses.

"Anything?" the shorter woman asked as she tried to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes. Emily only shook her head in response. "Nothing here either." Emily went to flick on the light as soon as JJ had began to stand. The sudden invasion of light caused the blonde to cringe.

"I'm sure she'll be able to help." Emily tried to be positive. "They just want to make sure she heals enough before they wake her up." JJ nodded, already knowing how and why the woman had been placed in a coma. "We'll still running her picture through local missing persons but honestly, I don't think we'll get a match."

"How come?" JJ graciously accepted the steaming cup of coffee her friend handed her as she pulled the blinds open.

"I don't think she's local." Emily said simply. "I think Parilla never planned on New Mexico which means that when he took her, he would've taken her closer to where he's staying."

"So we find out where she's from-"

"We're one, giant step closer to finding him." Emily nodded in agreement. "Now if only they'd wake her up already."

"She must be in a lot of pain." JJ said, almost to herself. The blonde ran her fingers along the rim of her cup, having not taken a single sip since it had been given to her. Emily's concern for her friend increased by the second as she placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"She's strong enough to escape Parilla." Emily stated. "She's strong enough to push past it."

"What sort of luck does this woman have?" JJ shook her head in disbelief. "She escapes a serial killer only to get hit by a car just as she's about to be rescued."

"The shitty kind." Emily sighed. "The driver was a mess. He thought he'd killed her."

"He almost did." JJ frowned. "With all that damage to her ribs and the concussion, who knows-"

"Stop." Emily turned her friend around to face her. "We're not doing that. She's going to be fine and she's going to wake up and help us find that son of a bitch." JJ refrained from disagreeing, if only because she didn't have the drive or energy to argue.

"Will she walk?" JJ asked quietly, knowing that Emily had probably stopped to get an update from the nurses before she woke her.

"They can't say." The brunette admitted. "She shattered her hip when the car hit her but the nerve damage happened as she hit the ground. She's scheduled for another surgery later today and they said they'll most likely need to do a third."

"I can't believe how many lives he's ruined." JJ hugged herself.

"I know, Jay." Emily sympathized, pulling her friend in for a hug. JJ dropped her head against Emily's shoulder, letting the taller woman hold her up for a little. "Now you need to go get some real rest. Take a shower, eat a real meal." Emily dropped the keys to the SUV she had driven there into JJ's palm. "I'm not taking 'no' as an answer."

"Alright." JJ resigned. "But I'll be back in a few hours." Emily waved her hand knowingly, urging the blonde out the door before taking up the seat she had left behind and pulling a laptop out of her briefcase. If she was going to wait, she might as well help in identifying their Jane Doe.

Emily knew she was dozing off but didn't particularly care. Allowing her eyes to fall closed and her head to loll to the side, the agent fell into a not-so-restful nap. It didn't last long seeing as less than fifteen minutes later, alarms and loud beeping startled her awake. She jumped to her feet as nurses and Jane Doe's doctor piled into the room. Emily's eyes went wide as she watched the woman on the bed begin to convulse violently.

"What's going on?!" Emily cried, trying to get someone's attention. They all simply moved her to the side without so much as a glance. Emily watched helplessly as the hospital staff worked to stabilize the woman.

"She's rejecting the pentobarbital." Doe's primary doctor announced. "We've got to get it out of her." The nurses who weren't holding her down hurried to comply with the doctor's orders and Emily watched as they injected a serum into her IV. Several intense seconds passed where the only sounds were the incessant beeping of the machines and the woman's thrashing before finally, it all stopped. Emily peered over a shoulder and saw the woman begin to frown. The agent's heart almost stopped in her chest. She was waking up.

"I have to talk to her." Emily insisted. "Please, a girl's life is in danger."

"Just a minute, Agent." The doctor didn't even turn to acknowledge her. "Ma'am? Can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you understand what I'm saying." Slowly, slowly the nurses filtered out and Emily could finally see what was going on. While the woman's eyes were still closed, she noticed the slight movement of her hand as it squeezed the doctor's. As the doctor assessed her patient, Emily shot a quick text to the team, informing them of the news. She was sure JJ would want to be here as soon as possible. By the time the conversation had ended, the doctor had finished evaluating her and turned to Emily.

"She's in a lot of pain, Agent. You have less than five minutes before the morphine kicks in." The woman in white informed her and left curtly. Not wasting any time, Emily sat by the woman and got her attention. Half-open, blue eyes met hers as the woman struggled to find a painless way to breathe.

"My name is Emily." She began. "I'm part of the BAU, the unit you requested when they brought you in here. Do you remember any of that?" The woman nodded slowly, wincing as she did. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Robyn." The voice was quiet and harsh from lack of use and the tubes that had been down her throat for the past two days. "Robyn Langdon."

"Robyn, do you remember why you're here?" Emily was careful with her words, trying to avoid anything that would trigger a negative reaction.

"I remember," the woman released a trembling breath, "everything." Slowly, Emily reached out and took the woman's hand, swallowing hard before continuing.

"I'm sorry for everything's that happened to you." Emily said genuinely. "But we're going to stop him." Robyn nodded once, not trusting herself to speak, as she tried to adjust herself into a more comfortable position. A certain movement caused the woman to hiss in pain and her heart monitor to drastically pick up the pace. Emily could do nothing to help as Robyn simply dropped her body back into the same position it was in before, clearly struggling through the pain. Emily knew that getting information from the woman was important but she pitied her far too much to force her to sit through an interview. Reaching out, the brunette took hold of the patient-controlled analgesia. Just as she was about to press the button for Robyn, the woman's hand went over hers and pulled it down.

"No, wait." She breathed. "I have to help Leila." Emily nodded, letting go of the wire. "What do you need to know?"

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