BREAKING THE TEMPEST | cm

Chapter Three

Chapter Three: The Healing Process

     "Spence, wake up." 

As much as he didn't want to, Reid opened his eyes slightly. JJ's face covered the bright lights above him and she flashed him a sympathetic smile, tucking her blonde locks behind her ear.

"Doctor Reyes needs to change your bandages. She's only helping you, alright?" 

His eyes shifted from JJ to the brunette woman beside her, wearing a stethoscope around her neck. Then, they darted back to JJ, brows pulling together as if to say 'I don't want to do this.'

"I'm only helping, Spencer." The doctor assured, "If we don't change your bandages, you're going to get more infections."

Spencer shook his head, shutting his eyes again.

JJ's lips pulled into a straight line. She felt hopeless.

"Will you get them changed if somebody stays in here with you?" She asked.

His eyes opened once again and he immediately replied, "Emily."

JJ rubbed her palms on her jeans, nodding her head.

"I'll see what I can do."

She left the room and walked across the hall to Emily's. Hotch was holding her right hand softly, careful not to touch her broken finger. Emily was attempting to sleep, but she couldn't. JJ grabbed both of their attention as she entered the room. Emily's condition made JJ feel nauseous as soon as she saw her. She appeared just as broken as Spencer, in similar and different ways.

"Hey, Emily." JJ approached her with a delicate smile.

Emily's mouth hung open, eyes filling with tears. She wasn't sad, instead, she was incredibly happy to see JJ.

"JJ?" She asked, her sentence nearly inaudible due to the raspiness in her voice. Still, it caused JJ's grin to grow.

"Yes," JJ could tell she was handling touch a lot better than Spencer and placed her hand on top of her good hand's knuckles.

They could both tell she wanted to smile, but she couldn't seem to do it. It was nice to see the brightness in her eyes shine through, even if it was just for a few moments. It was better than nothing.

There was a sudden knock on the door, causing her to flinch. Morgan appeared in the doorway, grinning at Emily. He was shocked at her appearance but didn't want to upset her by reacting to it.

"Hey, Prentiss." He gently greeted.

Emily froze out of pure joy - an emotion she wasn't sure how to handle anymore. She raised her hand and waved it.

"How is everything going?" Hotch asked.

"We're working on it. We're taking a break right now." Morgan replied before turning back to Emily, "It's nice to see you."

She nodded, feeling as if she couldn't speak anymore. Her voice was stuck in her throat. JJ knelt down beside her.

"Listen, Spencer doesn't want to get his bandages changed. He said that if you were in there with him, he'd let them do it." JJ stated hushedly.