"Erin! What are you doing?"

She let out a small gasp and turned on the stepladder, throwing off her centre of balance. She wobbled for a few seconds, trying to regain her balance, only for her foot to slip off the step, sending her crashing to the ground. Immediately her arm began to throb painfully, and she blinked back tears as she tried to focus on David's face. "I, I was looking for a new book to read, and one of the titles caught my interest," she managed to gasp out as he rushed over to her side and gently helped her to sit up.

"I could have gotten that for you."

She shrugged with her good arm, hissing a little as he accidentally brushed her bad arm. "I didn't want to bother you. And I would have been fine, if you hadn't startled me. But I think I broke something. There's too much pain."

Erin began to feel nauseous, and she swatted David away to try and get to her feet, only to fall back onto the floor when her ankle wouldn't support her. "It's more than your arm." She rolled her eyes before nodding in agreement, and then David was whipping out his phone and calling 911. "Yes, hello, my partner fell off the stepladder, and I know that she's broken her arm, but may have also injured her ankle. All I know is that I don't want to move her, in case I make things worse."

The pain began to dull her other senses, but Erin was almost certain that she heard her partner tell the operator their address before he hung up and knelt down at her head. "Would you get me some water while we wait for the paramedics to get here? And a pillow for my head?" she asked, hating how tiny her voice sounded.

"Of course, bella. And who do you want me to call? I will be reaching out to Hotch and Director Shepperd, but is there anyone else?"

"Alex, and the kids. I don't know. Everything just hurts."

He nodded before pressing a quick kiss to her forehead. "I can do that," he said as he got to his feet once more. Erin slowly turned her head to watch him grab a pillow off the sofa and bring it to her, placing it beneath her head with the utmost caution. It felt good to rest her head against it as she watched him leave the library. When he came back, he was on the phone with someone, carrying a glass of water with a straw. "The paramedics said they'd be here in fifteen minutes, since it's not that much of an emergency. Because she's lucid and didn't lose consciousness, I guess. Thanks, Hotch. Let the others know, I still have to call Alex and our kids."

He ended the call before setting the glass down near Erin's mouth. She managed to get the straw into her mouth and sucked a sip of water as she watched him sink down next to her once more. "I hope this is just a sprain and a bruised arm bone, I can't afford for it to be anything more."

"Whatever it is, I'll take care of you, Erin. If I have to hire a nurse, I will." He gave her a crooked smile before looking down at his phone and taking a deep breath. "On to Alex." He brought the phone to his ear and reached out to stroke her hair with his free hand. "Hey! Erin asked me to call you directly, though Hotch might also call. Erin's taken a bit of a fall off the stepladder and we're waiting on paramedics to take her to hospital. I'm certain she'd love that, if you want to touch base with Kitten. Of course, I'll keep you updated. Talk to you soon."

She could only wait a moment before jumping in to find out what he had just allowed Alex to do with Penelope. "What will I love?"

"Having Alex and Kitten come over and clean up this room and maybe make a few things for us to eat while you are in hospital. We have no idea how long you'll have to be there, and I know that I won't want to cook after waiting for you to be diagnosed. I don't like hospitals, and I don't like waiting. Especially since the last time we were in hospital together, I thought I was going to lose you."

"Oh," she murmured, and he nodded, tugging on a piece of her hair. "I can see where that might be upsetting for you. I'm not really looking forward to going, either. Bad memories?" He nodded before looking down at his phone once more. "Call Tabby, she'll be the most likely to answer on a Saturday afternoon."

"All right," he said as he tapped at his screen before holding the phone between them. Erin listened to it ring until Tabitha answered

"Dave! What has you calling on a glorious Saturday? I would have thought that you and Mom would be at your cabin, out on the lake."

"That probably would have been a better use of today, sweetie. No, we were going to have a casual weekend here at home before heading back to work on Monday. It was a long week."

"So I heard. Mom also mentioned something about having to introduce us to our older brother?"

David shot her a look, and she shrugged. "I did tell Tabby, yes. They have to know at some point, after all. And introductions might have to wait a little while longer, since we're waiting for the paramedics to arrive."

"Paramedics?! Mom, what happened?"

"David startled me as I was reaching for a book, I misjudged how much room was on the step and lost my balance, and came crashing down. Right now, my arm throbs and my ankle smarts, but I'm hoping that it's nothing too serious."

"Do you need me to come over and do something? Anything?"

She let out a soft chuckle as she gave a tiny shake of her head. "Alex and Penelope are coming over to clean shortly, and make a few frozen meals for when I'm home. I think that they'll have everything under control. But if you want to tell your siblings about what's happened, I'd really appreciate it."

"I can do that, Mom. And we'll be over tomorrow to help Dave out. Because that's what family does. I love you!"

"Love you, too, sweet girl. And I hear sirens getting closer, so I think that's our cue to get off the phone. I'll see you tomorrow, if we're home. Make certain you call, okay?"

"Okay. Bye?"

"Bye, Tabby." After David ended the call, he slipped his phone into his pocket before getting to his feet. "Going to meet the cavalry?"

"Something like that," he replied with a quick wink before he left her alone with her thoughts once more. This was quickly turning into quite the production over a simple fall, and she knew that she'd have to bear through it all, since her friends really did care, even if they were a bit overwhelming at times. "She's in here," Erin heard David say as the sound of many feet clomped to where she was laying, and Erin took a deep breath as she prepared herself for what was to come.