A/N: Not too many chapters left! Ahhhhhh!

Chapter 29

"I wish I could stay," I muttered after the others gave me and Emily some alone time. Derek and Pen already said their goodbyes to her. I hated the way she looked in that lonely bed of hers. She looked exhausted and empty. Like she had stopped herself from feeling the pain she had experienced in the past week.

She still wouldn't look at me. Her eyes were always on something else like she tried to pretend like I wasn't there. Or maybe, she knew, that if I looked into her eyes, I would know exactly how she was feeling.

"You have to go," She told me. "It's fine. Besides, I'll be home in no time, too."

It seemed so… fake. Like she thought she was telling me what I wanted to hear. I hated that she thought that she had to lie to me.

"What's the first thing you are going to do when you get back in DC?" I asked her, trying to get her to talk about something. Something real.

She smiled at the thought that came to her mind. "I'm gonna have a date with my hot tub. I miss it."

I grinned at her. "It is a nice hot tub."

Her smile faltered as if it hurt her to remember the times that we spent in her apartment.

"Wine, bubbles, a day off from work, what could be better?" Emily asked as we both laid back in her hot tub.

I laughed, letting the warmth soak my skin. "I should come here more often. These would be great after tough cases."

"You can come whenever you want," Emily told me, her eyes dazzling as she looked at me. I hadn't remembered a time when she looked happier. "I'm always in need of your company."

My stomach fluttered at her words, but I pushed back the feelings. I didn't allow myself to feel anything about her. We were colleagues. Friends. The times we had sex, it was just to feel better. It was to relax. It was…

I watched as she dunked her whole nude body into the water. Her body disappeared, but I saw her dark hair spread in the water. She stayed underwater for a period of time. It felt too long to be normal. After about a minute, I grew worried. I went over to her and tried to pull her out of the water.

She came out of the water and said, "You worried about me, Jareau?"

A breath of relief escaped me. I hit her arm playfully. "Don't do that to me, Prentiss."

A light laughter fell out of her mouth. A happy laughter that made my smile grow. "Did I scare you, Jennifer?"

She did. The thought of her dying… it was unimaginable. I leaned over and kissed her wet lips. It was slow but extremely intense. Kissing Emily was different than all the other kisses I had exchanged with other people. It wasn't necessarily softer (Em and I had a sort of hard passion thing going on), but it was more mind-numbing. Like if for a second, all my pain had vanished. She took away all my hurting.

I wanted to tell her how I felt. How I wanted to be with her. How I had done things so wrong. "Em-"

"Jennifer, thank you for staying," She said curtly, obviously wanting me to leave. "But I'm very tired."

My chest hurt hearing her lies. I simply nodded and replied, "Get some rest. Please, Emily. Sleep. I know you haven't been. Sleep quickens the recovery."

She didn't reply and I knew it was my time to go. So I did, with tears in my eyes. Because I didn't get to tell her how I felt. She didn't want me to.

Emily POV

"Emily, please consider staying with someone as you recover," My doctor told me as I put my clothes on. I was finally getting discharged after being in the fucking hospital for a week and a half.

"I already have to go to a physical therapist and a shrink," I lied carefully. "And my friends aren't going to leave me alone. Believe me, I won't have a second to myself."

She rolled her eyes. I liked the doctor. She was quite entertaining and yet annoying with how intuitive she was. "Somehow, I just don't believe you."

"Smart," Reid said as he came into my room. "Don't worry, Doctor. I've got her covered. I won't let her out of my sight. I'll make sure she goes to the PT and takes all the right medication. She likes to suffer through the pain, but I won't let her."

"Good," She replied, looking reassured. "She's lucky to have someone like you. Even if she doesn't know it yet. I signed your papers. Someone will come here with a wheelchair so you can go home."

"Thank you," I muttered grudgingly. "I don't know how you put up with me. I'm not so good with hospitals."

She snorted, "I've noticed."

I even smiled for real at that statement. I didn't know it was possible for me to even do that.

Reid forced me into a wheelchair. After I cursed at him for five minutes, I finally relented. I hadn't realized until that moment how stubborn Spencer Reid was. I was learning new things about him every day.

"You know," He said as we rode to the airport in a cab. "Hotch might not let you go back into the field."

"So what, I get stabbed and a concussion and now this? That would be worse than the whole injury. Ugh, sitting at home or in the office all day. Disgusting."

He rolled his eyes. "What I mean is, he won't let you kick down doors and take down UnSubs. I'm sure he'll let you travel with us. He might just make you stay at the stations. I can teach you more about geographical profiles."

I smiled at him. I didn't want to tell him that it was the breaking down the doors and taking down the UnSubs that I liked about the job. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"You sure that you don't want to stay with me? I have enough room…"

"I appreciate the offer, Reid, really. But we'll just end up driving each other crazy. But trust me, if I need something, you'll be the first person I go to."

I know things are a little slow right now, but things will speed up next chapter. More Jemily to come, guys. I promise!

Thank you so much for reading! Reviews are appreciated!