Unavoidable

Chapter 24

I wake up to harsh fluorescent lights and a faint beeping. I blink slowly to let myself adjust and groan weakly at the brightness. I move my head side to side to try and orient myself. I see my team surrounding me in various seats with Emily sitting up by my head. I try to sit up and weakly push myself up. Emily stirs at my movement and her eyes snap open once she sees me awake. 

"Holy shit," She murmurs. "You're awake?" 

"Yep," I rasp. She quickly reaches onto the cupboard behind her to grab the water pitcher and a cup with a straw. Emily holds up the cup to my mouth and I take a small sip to clear my throat. She reaches behind me to press the call button and then smiles at me softly. 

"Hi baby," She says, grabbing my hand and pressing a kiss to it. 

"How long have I been out?" I ask. My voice is still gravely from lack of use. Emily's face takes on a pained expression for a moment before returning to a small smile. 

"About five days," Someone says and I turn my head towards to voice. A tall, dark haired man in scrubs and a white coat says, "I'm Dr. Radcliffe and I've been treating you these last few days. You sustained a lot of injuries to your head and abdomen. You had a severe concussion, two broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and internal bruising. We treated all of this and you're going to need to be here for a few more days just for observation before we discharge you." I nod and notice that all of my team members are awake. 

"Thank you Doctor," Emily says.

"Of course," He replies. "Someone will be in to check on you later." He leaves. The team gathers around me and I can see Pen and JJ wiping away tears. 

"Hey precious," Derek says.

"Hi honey," Penelope says taking my free hand. "We were so worried about you. Emily was going out of her mind with it." Emily scoffs and blushes before giving my hand a squeeze. Everyone greets me with various well wishes and gentle hugs. I feel insanely loved and like a weight is being lifted from my body.

"So what happened?" I ask. "After you guys got me."

"Well," Hotch says. "We grabbed Julius and he's going to jail for a long, long time. Penelope was able to take down their network and shut down their interface. We have agents getting some of the buyers we could find before they went underground. All in all, Lilith, you're safe now. He's gone, for good this time." I feel myself tear up and don't even try to stop the tears from flowing. 

"Lilith, it's okay," Spence says. "You're safe."

"I know," I say through tears. "That's why I'm crying. I'm so fucking happy that I'm finally safe." Emily squeezes my hand again and subtly wipes a tear away. 

After a little while, the team finally leaves. Emily and I are finally alone and I scoot over in the bed so she can join me. She curls around me protectively and strokes my hair gently. I nuzzle my face into her neck as she gently squeezes me. 

"Hey Em," I say softly. 

"Yes love?" She replies. 

"I was thinking about it while I was captured and I need to say this," I swallow. "I love you. Life's short and I need you to know that I love you so much. You saved my life and you make me so fucking happy. I love you, Em, you're the love of my life." She kisses my forehead and I feel a tear land on my cheek. I don't know if it's mine or hers but I don't care.

"Lilith," Emily says. "I love you so much. I would do anything for you. You're safe. I will always protect you. I love you. I love you. I love you. You're the love of my life too." We both cry tears of happiness and squeeze each other as tight as we can in my battered safe.

For the first time in almost three years, I truly feel safe. Here in Emily's arms, I know that I'm loved and nothing can hurt me. I sigh and allow myself to drift off into sleep in the love of my life's arms. 

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Author's note:

Oh my god!! Unavoidable is finally done! Thank you guys so much for reading my work and supporting me. Sorry for all of the absences and lack of updates, but I wanted to make sure I got the ending just the way I wanted it. Thank you again. Love you shawties!!