Work Relations || Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 46

Aaron would stop walking back and forth in the waiting room at the hospital. Morgan kept telling him to sit down and take a breath but he ignored him everytime. "Any news?" JJ asks as she enters the waiting room with the others
"Not yet" Morgan answers "Hotch, let's just go out for some air" he suggests
"I'm fine" he answers
"No, you're not. The only thing you can do right now in order to help her and yourself is to stay sane. So you go outside for a second and you take some fresh air. I will let you know if there is an update" David says
"Fine" he finally says and he goes for a walk outside with Morgan.

"She is going to be fine" Derek says
"You don't know that" Aaron says
"I do. She wouldn't leave without proving me that she's right about UNO too" he says causing Aaron to smile "She is right actually but I was trying to not take the +4 but don't tell her that" he continues.
"When Jack was younger and we all would be out for a walk or something, he used to get scared sometimes by someone who would... I don't know, yelling or arguing from the other side of the road or when he saw another kid with a scary halloween costume. So when he was scared, he would squeeze mine or Jessie's hand twice. That was his sign for 'I'm scared'. Jessie squeezed my hand twice before she passed out. She was scared and I couldn't do anything about it. Instead I left her in that basement alone and now she's..." he says not being able to finish his sentence.
"Come on, Hotch, this isn't your fault. We both checked and cleared that basement as soon as we walked in" Derek says
"Exactly. I didn't search the place properly and I don't care if I get fired right now" Aaron says
"No one is getting fired and no one is leaving Hotch" Derek says.

When they went back inside, the doctor came. "How is she?" Aaron asks immediately
"The bullet on her side cut her superior mesenteric artery causing severe bleeding and normally she should have bleed out in the scene. She had already lost a lot of blood by the time she got here but I was able to stop it and the bullet in her left shoulder didn't cause any major nerve damage so we are expecting her to make a full recovery. Although you should know that the reason she didn't bleed out was because a pre existing blood clot was tamponade the cut on the artery. My guess is that at some point that blood clot came down and was caught there which probably saved her life. I'm gonna run some tests to determine what caused that blood clot in the first and I'll let you know when I know for sure" the doctor says and everyone could see the relief on Aaron's face and posture.

"Can we see her?" he asks
"Of course, follow me" the doctor says
"You go, we'll come a little later" David says
"Thanks" he says and follows the doctor. The doctor left him outside the door of my room and Aaron didn't waste another second. He went in and immediately his eyes got watery. He walked slowly to the bed and sat down on the chair. "You did it" he says taking my hand "You did it, you held on. Now you fight for a little longer to you open those beautiful eyes of yours and that's it" he says. His phone rings and Strauss' name pops up on the screen. But he just declines the call and lets the phone down. She calls again but this time he turns off his phone.
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I started hearing voices but at first they weren't very clear. But as time went by I eventually recognized Aaron, Derek and JJ's voice. I could hear them talking but I couldn't move or even open my eyes yet. I could also feel a hand around mine which I assumed was Aaron's since his voice was the one that I hear the closest to me. "This could have been her last case with us. She got a really good offer from Interpol to run the office in Italy and she was considering it but now because of her injury they may recall" Aaron says
"That's why she mentioned Italy before she fainted. She was going to leave? Why did she say anything?" Derek asks 
"She wanted to take a decision first and then tell you. The only reason I know about it, it's because Strauss told me. She had gotten another offer by Interpol before but never told anyone" Aaron says 
"And let me guess, now that Strauss knows about it she wants to take it like" JJ says 
"Yeah" Aaron says 
"Why would she want to send her away?" Derek asks 
"To seem good, like she did with me when she sent me to the Pentagon" JJ says.

"They want her answer by tomorrow. I told her to do whatever felt right to her and that either way we'd make it work. But I didn't really wanted to let her go. She said that she didn't want to leave either but I saw it in her eyes. She liked the offer, she wanted to take it, the deal has everything she wanted. If it didn't mean leaving, she would have taken it without wasting another second. Basically, she wanted to get it but didn't want to leave" he says
"Liked, wanted. Stop talking like I'm dead. I'm not dead! I think" I say and then I open my eyes
"And she's back!" Derek says smiling
"Welcome back. How are you feeling?" Aaron asks 
"Exhausted but I'm guessing that's normal" I say and he smiles. "So how long will I need to stay in this bed?" I ask 
"In this bed, a couple of days. In your bed, probably for a couple weeks more" he says and I frown.

Silence took over and I could feel all the eyes on me. "I'm not leaving. I didn't die and I'm not going to Italy" I say looking at all of them
"Don't stay for us" Derek says
"I'm staying because, like a wise man told me, I should do what makes me happy and staying here is making me happy. I have everything I need" I say
"I'm glad to hear that" Aaron says rubbing my hand and I smile.

"Agents..." the doctor says as he enters the room "Can I have some time with Agent Grey?" he asks
"Of course. I'll be right outside" Aaron says and kisses my head
"Ok" I say and they leave. 
"I'm glad to see that you're awake. Feeling any pain?" he asks 
"Just tired" I say 
"That's ok. I wanted to talk to you about something. In surgery we found a blood clot that probably made it's way to your stomach. So I ran a few tests to find why it was created and I just got the results. Pulmonary thromboembolism, or PE, which means that the blood clot was form in the deep veins of the leg or in the pelvic area and then it travels through the blood vessels to the lungs. And that condition was triggered by pregnancy" he says
"Pregnancy?" I ask 
"Yes. I know that your husband is right here but most women prefer to know first" he says
"Yeah, thank you" I say
"I would also recommend taking an ultrasound as soon as possible in order to make sure that everything is ok and then I will prescribe a low molecular weight heparin to treat the PE that is safe for the fetus and effective" he says 
"Is... is the fetus still alive?" I ask
"I can't know for sure until you get the ultrasound but the fact that you haven't miscarried yet is a good sign. I think I can page OB now for an ultrasound if you want" he says
"Yes, please" I say and he nods
"Ok, I will be back in a few minutes. Should I let your husband know and let him in?" he asks
"No, not yet" I say and he nods. 
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"Everything looks great! Fetus seems healthy, with a strong heartbeat" she says
"It's not ectopic or anything, right?" I ask with tears in my eyes
"No, it's not. He or she is as healthy as he or she can be" she says and I lay my head back. The first tears escape my eyes 
"How far along?" I ask
"7 weeks" she says and I nod.
"Thank you so much" I say wiping my tears.