A/N: *Smiles nervously* So I know I've been delayed updating and I – as SSACalliope-Prentiss put it – have 'pushed you out of the plane' and left you free-falling… so here's your parachute! (...sort of... you'll see...)

I realllllly hope you all like this one!

It had been five days since Emily had come back to the world of the living; fifteen days since she had been shot and Taylor stabbed. Two weeks, one day. …and Taylor still hadn't woken up.

Technically Emily had been discharged three days ago; but really she and the hospital staff both knew that she was still getting checked in on every few hours; however rather than being in her own hospital bed, she was permanently planted in the chair next to Taylor's. They'd given up trying unsuccessfully to keep her away from her girlfriend. After two days of Emily being firmly un-cooperative, they'd compromised. - 'We'll discharge you if you stay in the hospital.' 'Oh I'm not going anywhere I can promise you that.'

So that's how she'd gotten here – defiance and persuasion works, kids! – sitting for her third day in a row in her comfiest sweatpants and her FBI hoodie that Taylor had stolen many a year ago, until it stopped smelling so much of Emily and more of Taylor herself, prompting her to periodically return it to it's rightful owner for her to 'stink it up again' as she so nicely put it.

She knew that the team thought she was shutting down. But truthfully; she felt drained. She didn't have the energy to talk to them or act like she was interested in anything they were saying, because she wasn't. She couldn't care less that Hotch needed a statement from her about what happened. She just needed Taylor to wake up. So she could feel whole again. So she could breathe again. And maybe then she could face the world, because she'd be facing it with the one person she was destined to face everything with. But right now, she was very much alone; despite her BAU-family's best efforts.

She'd hardly acknowledged Derek's existence since the previous day. She knew that he was only looking out for her; that he was perhaps the one person who could even slightly relate to what happened to her, but that would mean admitting that it had happened, and she wasn't ready to entertain that thought yet. Not yet.

Sighing; Emily shifted in the uncomfortable seat, and continued to read Taylor's favourite book to her, in between the many minutes spent just looking at her and begging her to wake up.

Emily jolted awake yet again from yet another nightmare. She quickly sensed that she was not alone with Taylor in the room and turned to the chair next to her only to find Andrea looking at her with genuine concern; her hands raised as though she had been about to reach out and comfort her, until she'd second guessed her actions.

'I'm okay' Emily automatically threw out into the air, her defensive walls slamming down around her.

'Honey, you and I both know you're far from it' Andrea didn't press her, she simply let the statement sink in before closing the distance and pulling Emily from her upright position to lean against her shoulder. Initially stiff, Emily allowed herself to relax into the embrace, knowing she was safe with the one genuine mother-figure she'd ever had in her life.

'I'm sorry' Emily whispered.

'You also need to stop apologizing. You forget I know you Em sweetheart; I know your defensive streak and I know you push people away when you really need to be held close. So don't ever apologize for being yourself'

Emily remained in Andrea's embrace for a good ten minutes – however to Emily it felt like ten hours after the lack of safe intimacy she'd experienced for a good couple of weeks – before she slowly pulled herself back upright and turned to face Taylor's mother, holding her stare.

'Why don't you hate me?' Emily's face was the picture of tortured confusion and Andrea's heart broke a little more at the sight.

'Why would I ever hate you Emily?'

Emily sighed exasperatedly, running her hands over her face to calm herself down before replying harshly, her voice raising a few octaves in frustration. 'Because this is all my fault! Why won't anyone say it!? Why won't anyone just accept the truth and get angry at me!? YOUR DAUGHTER IS LYING THERE BECAUSE OF ME! IT'S MY FAULT! WHY ARE YOU SO FUCKING OKAY WITH ME? I-'

Emily was cut off by a fairly light but effective slap to the face. Her eyes went wide as she raised her hand to her cheek in shock.

Andrea decided this was a situation requiring full-on Mom-mode. 'If this was your fault Emily; do you think I'd let you anywhere near my daughter!?'

'I-'

'Did you know that by not telling your team this would happen? …well?'

'I…'

'Answer me Emily Prentiss'

'No' Emily's voice was little over a whisper.

'Did you ask that man to abduct Taylor?'

'No but-'

'Did you ask to be abducted yourself?'

'No but I-'

'Did you tell him to hurt her?'

'Stop it'

'Did you ask to be hurt?'

'I know what you're do-'

'Did you tell him to kill her?'

'Andrea-'

Andrea leaned slightly closer to Emily, meeting her tear-filled eyes with her compassionate ones. She took hold of her hands. 'I watched you ask to die over her Emily. I watched you take a bullet for her. You never asked to be in that situation. You didn't do this damage to my girl, he did. You sacrificed yourself for my daughter. If I was going to be angry at you for anything, it would be this, that you're blaming yourself. I don't hate you Emily. I thank God every minute that one of my daughters is sitting here with me. I'm just praying for the other to wake up and knock some sense into you.'

11:56 pm. Four more minutes until two weeks two days…

11:57 pm. Three more minutes until sixteen days…

Emily watched the hands go round on the clock way too fast for her liking. The longer Taylor stayed unconscious, the longer the logical part of Emily knew she might not wake up. The longer the hopeful part of Emily fought the logical part.

11:58 pm. Emily sighed, shifting yet again, leaning forward to rest her forehead against the soft skin of Taylor's left forearm whilst tightening her squeeze on her left hand.

Emily could've sworn she felt those skilled fingers squeeze back, but she'd learnt from her mistakes enough in the last couple of days to know it was probably just her imagination.

God that clock was so damn loud – Emily was becoming more and more certain she'd have to rid her home of all clocks in the future.

Then she felt it. Stronger this time. Surely that wasn't her imagination?

12:00 am.

She lifted her head up, and instantly she'd never been happier in her life.

On the sixteenth day, Taylor opened her eyes.

A/N: ARE WE HAPPY!? XD

I am! I've got this story planned out and I've been basically trying to get to this point because 1) I love writing Emily/Taylor, and 2) I have some ideas about how they cope with the experience that I can't wait to explore.

The next couple chapters will be equally short I think – we'll see – but I have some coming up which will have to be long due to how much I want to get in.

Please, please, please (!) let me know what you think? This is definitely the chapter I've been the least confident about posting, but it had to be done, so I really hope you guys liked it.