I'm back before the two weeks are up! Yay! Also, while I was away for a bit this story hit TWO HUNDRED reviews?! What the heck!? You guys are amazing, and this story has gotten more reviews than any of my other ones have. I truly appreciate it, because if I'm being honest, this one's slowly becoming my favorite. I know it's not perfect, but I do find that I love delving into this little universe so much more than I thought I would. So a huge thank you to every single one of you that have reviewed! Especially so those that review every single chapter, you don't go unnoticed!

Days passed. Emily wasn't exactly sure how many. Each one seemed to fade into the next one. Hotch and the team caught a case in Rhode Island, so Emily hadn't been in touch with them very much, not wanting to distract them from working. Each if her friends had texted her at least once, asking how she was doing and how her mother was doing. She didn't want to worry anyone, so she said that everything was fine.

But the truth was that she wasn't fine at all. Emily hadn't left the hospital once. If she wasn't sitting with her mother, she was in the big, lonely cafeteria or sitting in the waiting room. She vaguely remembered George bringing her an overnight bag with clothes and other essentials in it when he couldn't talk her into coming home. Elizabeth's room had a little bathroom attached with a small shower that Emily had been using, just so she wouldn't have to be away from her mother.

Ever since the doctors had had to sedate Elizabeth, she had been doing worse and worse as the days dragged on. She could hardly remember anything; she couldn't do anything for herself. This was different than anything Emily had ever seen; it wasn't like before, when Elizabeth was convinced she was still an active ambassador and Emily was just a child. It was like she'd lost all sense of who she was. She hardly ever recognized Emily, and several times a day Emily or George would have to gently remind her who they were and why they were there. It was exhausting for all three of them. Elizabeth needed constant care and constant watching over. Emily was there every second that she was allowed to be. Elizabeth wasn't really aware one way or the other, but Emily wanted to be there regardless. Just in case Elizabeth had one small moment of clarity; just in case she started to remember again.

Although, Emily was becoming more and more aware that Elizabeth may never have a lucid moment again. The doctors had told her that various times over the past few days, but she'd let herself believe that they were wrong; that somehow everything was going to get better and that she could have one more comprehensible conversation with her mother.

Elizabeth's condition since her stroke had gone consistently downhill. No matter how many times Emily heard that the stroke and Elizabeth's declining memory had nothing to do with each other, she had a very hard time believing it. She'd spent the time she wasn't right by Elizabeth's side looking up as many articles as she could on her phone, trying to understand as much as she could about Elizabeth's situation. Despite reading enough to potentially qualify as a neurologist, she didn't feel any calmer. For days, Emily had felt like she couldn't take a deep enough breath; like her stomach was in a perpetual knot.

George stayed with Emily as much as he could, but unlike Emily, he was making sure to take care of himself. He would bring Emily her favorite foods from all her favorite places, but Emily couldn't make herself eat more than a few bites of whatever it was. At night, George would go home and get some rest, but Emily knew she would just lie awake all night, staring up at the ceiling. So she sat in the waiting room when the doctors didn't let her sit with Elizabeth during the night. Sometimes she managed a short, uncomfortable cat nap.

The older man was worried about Emily, but he knew that pressuring her into doing anything would only make it worse. He knew that no matter what, Emily would be alright in the end. She always was; it's part of what has kept her so strong and brave for as long as he could remember.

XxxX

Currently, Emily was sitting in a chair in Elizabeth's room, a book open on her lap, but she wasn't really reading it. Elizabeth was sleeping, something she did a lot more now with the new medications she had to take. Emily kept glancing over to the pictures that still remained on the bedside table in Elizabeth's room. Elizabeth asked about the pictures sometimes, and Emily was always happy to try and explain it to her. For those moments, she was able to put her focus on those good memories, not the present situation that had her on edge.

Emily was pulled out of her thoughts as her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She reached for it and saw JJ's name flashing across the screen. Quietly, Emily stepped out into the hallway to answer it.

"Hey," She said, trying to sound cheerful but frowning at the tiredness she noticed in her own voice.

"Everything okay?" JJ asked concerned.

She inhaled sharply and blew out a breath slowly. She could easily fake it over text messages, but she knew that now, hearing JJ's worrisome voice, there was no way she could lie.

"I don't know." She said honestly as she headed down the stairs and to the main floor. "How's the case?" Emily asked as she walked outside to the front of the building into the warm afternoon air.

"We got back home this morning around 7," JJ replied, knowing not to press her for the moment. "I was awake long enough to tell Henry good morning and then I kind of passed out for 6 hours," JJ explained with a laugh.

"How is Henry?" Emily asked her genuinely.

"He's great, he told me this morning he made you a card to put in your mother's room, if you want." She told her.

Emily felt tears welling in her eyes; a mixture of legitimate happiness and absolute exhaustion creeping over her. "That's so sweet," She said, blinking the tears back and hoping her voice didn't crack. "I'll have to come and get it from him soon." She cleared her throat, willing herself back into composure as she kicked at the sidewalk absentmindedly.

"He'd love that." JJ mused. After a moment of comfortable silence between them, she spoke again. "How is your mother, Emily?"

Emily sighed. "She's…not doing the best." She said honestly.

Sensing that Emily wasn't going to delve into this now, she got an idea. "Why don't you come over for dinner? Henry would love to see you and he could give you his card. And you know Will and I are always happy to see you."

Emily bit her lip. It would be the first time in days she actually left the hospital. Elizabeth would probably spend the rest of the day sleeping, normally she was awake for a bit until midafternoon and then she slept for the remainder of the day and night. Emily had to admit that seeing her friends and Henry would probably do her a world of good. She was tired of feeling so helpless all the time.

"Okay," she agreed finally. "I'll be there."

"Good," she could hear the smile in JJ's voice. "Come by around 6?"

"I will," Emily promised.

XxxX

At exactly 6:00 that evening, Emily knocked on JJ and Will's front door.

Seconds later, she was greeted with Henry's smiling face, Will standing a few steps behind him. And for the first time in days, Emily let herself smile too.

"Emily!" Henry exclaimed excitedly as he launched himself into Emily's awaiting arms. She picked him up and spun him around a few times, causing Henry to giggle.

"How are you, buddy?" Emily asked him as she finally set him down and bent down to his eye level.

"Good! I missed you, Emily." Henry said seriously.

"I missed you too." Emily smiled, ruffling his hair.

"Henry, why don't you go tell Mommy that Emily's here?" Will suggested. Henry happily agreed and hurried off in search of his mother.

"It's good to see you, Emily." Will said sincerely as he hugged her tightly. They had always genuinely liked each other, but ever since Emily's last case before she transferred to London, when she and Will almost blew up, their friendship had changed. There was an unspoken bond, a trust in the other that would always be there.

"You too," Emily replied with a light smile.

Seconds later, the sound of Henry and JJ's laughs filled the room as they came to join Will and Emily.

JJ immediately enveloped Emily in a tight hug, hanging on just a little longer than she normally would. She could tell by looking at Emily that she wasn't sleeping well. But she also knew that she wasn't going to talk about anything just yet, so she hoped the embrace was enough to let Emily know that she was there for her.

"I'm so glad you decided to come!" JJ said honestly, a smile gracing her lips.

"Well," Emily said, looking to Henry, who had taken to playing with a toy car, running it across Emily's feet. "How could I say no, when a certain little boy has something to give me?" She asked jokingly, earning a toothy grin from the five-year-old.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back!" Henry said as he dashed toward the direction of his room, obviously having just remembered the card he had made for her.

"Has he grown since like, two weeks ago?" Emily asked.

JJ chuckled. "I think so, sometimes I still feel like we just brought him home."

Emily smiled, not exactly sure what to say since she didn't actually know that feeling.

"Found 'em!" They heard Henry call from somewhere in the house. Moments later, he appeared in the living room again, two cards in hand.

"Why don't you show them to Emily while we finish dinner?" Will suggested with a smile.

Henry nodded and grabbed Emily's hand. Emily allowed Henry to lead her over to the couch, sitting next to him and smiling when he crawled up in her lap.

He sat one card next to them, and kept one in his hands. It was made on a folded piece of red construction paper, and Henry's messy penmanship scrawled across the front.

"It says 'Get Well Soon!'" He read happily. "Daddy had to help me spell it, but I wrote all the letters by myself!" She informed her proudly.

"It looks beautiful, Henry." Emily told him, willing herself not to cry.

He opened up the card to show a picture that he had drawn; Emily hoped he was going to explain it to her, because she couldn't exactly make out what it was supposed to be.

"It's a dog, and a tree, and a bird. Mostly because that's all I know how to draw besides people. But my Mommy said that your Mommy was sick so I thought this would help." Henry said softly.

"I'll give it to her first thing in the morning," Emily promised, surprised at how even and calm she was able to make her voice sound. Henry had never even met her mother and he had made her such a nice card, it amazed her how caring children could be.

"This one's yours," Henry told her as he picked up the other card, this one drawn on light blue paper. On the front, he had drawn a purple heart, and on the inside he had drawn a stick figure version of the whole team, including Emily, himself, and Jack.

"This is so good, honey." Emily said as she kissed Henry's head. "I'll keep this forever." She told him with a smile, her vision a little blurred from the tears she was refusing to let fall.

"Even when I'm like, 20, and you're like…90?" Henry asked.

For the first time in a long time, Emily laughed. Actually laughed. The kind of laugh that resonates from the pit of your stomach, that you can't seem to control.

"I'll keep this even when I'm 90." Emily promised finally, after she'd managed to stop laughing.

Henry, completely oblivious as to why his question was so funny, seemed to accept that answer and crawled out of Emily's lap. She and Henry played with some of his toy cars until JJ and Will told them dinner was ready.

"It smells amazing in here," Emily said as she and Henry came into the kitchen.

"Hope you like lasagna," Will said as they all sat down at the island and dug in.

Emily didn't eat very much, but more than she had remembered eating at one time in the past few days. She knew she wasn't taking very good care of herself, she knew she would feel infinitely better if she would force herself to eat and sleep properly; but she just couldn't. When she was worried, she couldn't find the energy to care about such menial tasks. It was a bad habit she just couldn't seem to shake, no matter what she tried.

Dinner with the LaMontagne's was nice, and Emily was so glad she accepted JJ's invitation. She had almost declined it, but something told her she should go.

"How are you, really?" JJ asked later that evening, while Will was getting Henry ready for bed and the two of them were left sitting side by side on the couch in the living room.

Emily sighed. "I'm just…worried. All the time." She admitted.

JJ reached out to put her hand on Emily's shoulder comfortingly.

"I don't blame you, I would be too." She said sincerely.

"I've never seen my mother like this," Emily confided in her friend. "I've never seen anyone like this." She amended. "I mean, it's so different, seeing people go through hard times on TV or movies. To see people get so sick that way is so different from actually living it." Emily's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm sorry." JJ told her, moving to pull her friend into a hug. JJ felt so helpless, she knew there was nothing that could be said or done to fix this; that Emily was going to feel this was for a very long time, but that didn't make it any easier.

"I'm sorry," Emily parroted. "I'm sure you don't want to hear me complain all night."

"Emily," JJ rolled her eyes good naturedly. "You're not complaining, you're telling me how you feel. That's not the same thing."

Emily bit her lip. "I don't even know how I feel, really. It's like sometimes I feel everything all at once, but then the next second I feel nothing."

"That's pretty normal." JJ sympathized. A few minutes passed, and JJ tried to change the subject to something lighter. "So, hey, have you talked to Hotch lately?" She asked, raising her eyebrows in question.

Emily smiled. "Why do you say it like that? He's my friend; of course I've talked to him." He had been texting her throughout the day since he has gotten home, just to see how she was doing. She left that part out, not wanting JJ to get any ideas.

JJ chuckled softly. "You guys just seem pretty close lately, that's all I'm saying."

"We've always been good friends," Emily defended. "Okay…" she corrected herself. "When I first transferred to the BAU I thought he hated me for a little bit. But since that got cleared up we've been great friends."

JJ shot Emily a knowing look. Emily just shook her head with a smile.

"I guess you could say we've become a little closer lately, but that's because by sheer luck he ran into me at a flower shop and I couldn't exactly hide from him after that. So he knew about all of this first and was a really big help to me. But that's it." Emily stressed.

"Okay," JJ drawled slowly. "Whatever you say."

Emily grabbed a throw pillow from the corner of the couch and lightly hit JJ on the shoulder with it.

The two friends laughed, and continued to make small talk—Emily made sure to change the subject away from her and definitely away from Hotch—until Will came back from tucking Henry in to join them.

For two more hours, the three of them talked and laughed, something Emily didn't realize how badly she needed until it was happening.

Just as Emily was about to head back to the hospital, her phone started vibrating on the coffee table. Emily immediately grew concerned as George's name flashed on the screen. She had just spoken to him via a text message only an hour ago. Everything had been fine then.

Immediately, Emily grabbed it and answered it, too afraid to stand up from her spot on the couch. She didn't trust her legs enough to hold her up.

"George?" Emily asked, her voice small.

"Emily…you should come here. Now." George said quickly.

Emily sucked in a breath. "What's happened?"

George didn't say anything. In his silence, Emily found the answer to the question she'd asked.

"It's Mom, isn't it?" Emily asked, just hoping she was wrong. She forced herself to stand, slowly and carefully so that her legs wouldn't buckle underneath her. "Is she okay?" Emily practically begged.

"No, Emily, she's not."

"I'm on my way." Emily said as she hung up quickly, turning to face her friends.

"What do you need?" JJ asked without hesitation.

"I…I'm sorry…I have to go. My Mom…" she trailed off, what was she supposed to say? She didn't even know what was wrong.

"I'll drive you." JJ said. "You can't drive right now, look how shaky you are." JJ continued gently.

Emily couldn't find it in her to argue. She just nodded.

JJ wrapped an arm around Emily's shoulder and carefully guided her outside to the car. Emily had meant to tell Will goodbye when JJ had, but she just couldn't find any words. It was like she was mute. She wanted to say a million things all at once, but her voice just wasn't there.

"It's okay, Emily." She heard JJ say softly as they got into JJ's car. Emily didn't remember opening the door or climbing in. It was like her body was on auto pilot while her mind sailed to a thousand places.

"He wouldn't tell me what happened." Emily said so quietly that JJ barely heard her. JJ pressed the gas a little harder, knowing that couldn't be a good sign.

"Whatever it is, I'll be with you, okay?" JJ said, trying to assure her friend but knowing that nothing she could say would comfort Emily right now.

The rest of the drive was silent, except for JJ occasionally asking Emily which turns to make. Emily picked at her nails constantly, two of them started to bleed.

JJ got to the hospital in record time, parked the car, and helped Emily inside. Though she didn't show it, JJ was terrified. She had never seen Emily like this before. Emily had seen more horrors in her life than any one person should ever have to see, and yet JJ had never seen her practically frozen in fear like this.

Emily and JJ found George easily in the waiting room, there didn't seem to be many people there tonight.

"Emily," George said softly as he hugged her immediately upon seeing her.

"What's going on?" Emily asked, her voice flat and void of any emotion.

"Your mother died, sweetheart." George told her finally. And with those four words, Emily's resolve broke. She sobbed into George's shoulder, feeling incredibly shaky and weak. The world seemed to close around her, she couldn't breathe properly, and then everything went black.

I know it really sucks for me to come back and do THIS to all of you, but this has been in the outline of this story for, well, forever. I hope no one's too upset with me! I know it might seem like I'm doing this for shock value, or just to be mean but I assure you I'm not! This chapter took me so long to actually write because I didn't want to do the thing, but I had to for this to progress the way I want it to, so trust me, I'm just as sad as you guys might be! The next few chapters will be pretty emotional but everything will get explained! I hope you all stick with me to the end!