daylight (jemily)

Chapter Four

It had been about half an hour since JJ had shut herself in the bedroom. After forcing herself to calm down completely, Emily went upstairs to check on her. She knew she would do no good if she lost her temper again.

Emily knocked on the door lightly. "Can I come in?" she asked, cracking the door open.

When JJ didn't answer, she pushed it open fully. She saw JJ laying in bed again, the blankets pulled up high.

"Jen? You awake?" Emily asked her. She took a seat on the edge of the bed next to JJ.

Emily noticed her laying there awake with her eyes open, but she wasn't moving. "I'm sorry I raised my voice with you. I shouldn't have done that."

Emily ran her thumb across JJ's cheek. She hadn't even reacted in the slightest. "Can you say something, baby? Can you talk to me?" Emily practically begged her.

JJ just kept staring at the same spot on the wall. Emily was beginning to get worried. She hadn't moved an inch. It was like her whole personality had faded away.

"Jennifer," Emily said again. "Did you take something? Did you take a pill?" She pressed her hands to JJ's cheeks, trying to get her to make eye contact.

She pulled the blanket off JJ's body and started to look for any kind of injury. She checked her breathing and her pulse, it all seemed normal.

Emily pulled out her phone and called Penelope. "Pick up, pick up," she muttered under her breath.

"Emily?" Penelope said on the other end of the phone. "What's up?"

"Something's wrong with JJ. She's not moving," Emily said, for a lack of better words to phrase the problem.

"What?!" Penelope practically shouted. "Why the hell are you calling me? Call an ambulance!"

"She's not dead!" Emily protested. "She was upset after Mia got taken. We started fighting and then she stormed off into the bedroom. I just came in here and she's not talking or anything. It's like she completely shut down."

"Are you asking if you should take her to the hospital?" asked Penelope. "Yes," Emily replied. "If I take her to the hospital she'll get committed to psych. If I do that and she snaps out of it, she'll be pissed. I don't even know if they'll let her out before the three weeks is up, and it'll get reported to Hotch."

"I don't know if I'm the best person to help you make this decision," Penelope sighed worriedly.

"I asked you because you help counsel victims' families. Does this ever happen when people are grieving?" asked Emily.

"I mean it's not unheard of," Penelope started. "I would say give it a day, maybe two. You're right, she could snap out of it. Especially with a history of mental health issues, all the stress she's been under could've just pushed her over the edge. Her body shut down because her brain needs to recover."

"So I should wait?" Emily clarified. "I think so. Trust your gut. If you even start to think she needs to go to the hospital, take her. You know her the best, it's your call," Penelope said.

"Alright. Thank you, Pen," Emily sighed. "I'll talk to you soon." She hung up the phone.

Emily went back over to the bed. "Jen, do you need anything?" she asked, combing through her hair. "Can you hear me?"

JJ's hand moved to grab Emily's t-shirt, tugging on it lightly to get her to lay down. Emily smiled, at least JJ could communicate what she wanted.

"Okay, yeah, we can do this," Emily said softly, laying down and wrapping JJ in her arms. JJ held onto her tight and rested her face in her shoulder.

"You're going to be okay," Emily whispered to her. She gently rubbed JJ's back under her shirt. "I'm always going to be right here. I'm always going to take care of you." She pressed a soft kiss to her neck.

___

JJ slept for the majority of the day, dazing in and out of consciousness. Emily was by her side for most of it, scared that something would happen if she left JJ alone.

"JJ," Emily whispered, shaking her awake. She opened her eyes, but didn't react to her voice.

"It's time to get up," she said, putting her arms under JJ's and pulling her upright. "You need to take a bath."

Emily took JJ's hand and helped her stand up. JJ walked on her own, but Emily had to guide her in the right direction.

Emily filled the bathtub with warm water and helped JJ take off her clothes. When it was full enough, she had JJ sit down in the tub.

Emily helped clean her up, using a cup to rinse out her hair. She took JJ's hand and held it face up. She poured some water onto it, letting it splash back down into the bathtub. "Feel that?" she asked, letting her hand down.

"This water feels warm. It's different than the tile on the wall. That feels cold. Can you tell the difference?" Emily took her hand again and pressed it up against the tile wall.

She was attempting to use what she'd learned in her profiling training to help JJ reconnect with herself. Stimulating the different senses helps ground people.

Emily drained the tub and helped JJ step out, grabbing some pajamas as well. She got JJ dressed and had her lay back down.

She went to the kitchen and grabbed what she'd made for dinner. It was just plain white rice, because the simpler the food, the easier it would be to get her to eat it.

She brought it upstairs and sat JJ up again. "It's white rice," she said, letting JJ feel the bowl in her hands.

Emily scooped a little bit of rice onto the spoon, and placed the spoon in JJ's hand. "I know that you're hungry. Try and eat it," Emily coaxed.

JJ didn't move. Emily took the spoon and all but shoved it into JJ's mouth herself. She watched JJ swallow it without chewing. "It's not too bad, right?" Emily tried to convince her. "You like white rice."

Emily took another spoon and tried to put it in her hand, but JJ dropped it instantly. "You have to eat. It's not optional," Emily told her, picking up the spoon again.

Before she could do anything, JJ yanked the bowl out of her hands and hurled it at the wall. It smashed into tiny pieces on the ground.

JJ looked at what she did, watching the glass pieces scatter across the floor. She started to breathe heavily, feeling panicked.

"Hey, it's alright. It's okay," Emily said, taking JJ's hands in hers. "You didn't want it. I understand."

In any other case, Emily would get on JJ's ass about throwing a piece of glass in their house. But in this situation, it just didn't seem necessary. JJ already seemed upset with herself for doing it, and she wasn't really in the right state of mind.

JJ's eyes darted around the room, not really looking at anything. She seemed distressed. "You're okay. It was just a mistake. People do things they don't mean when they're mad. You weren't trying to hurt anyone," said Emily.

After a couple moments, she got JJ to calm down. Emily knew for sure that JJ was listening to her, even if she wasn't responding.

When she felt comfortable leaving JJ alone for a few minutes, Emily went downstairs to the kitchen. She pulled out some frozen fruit and milk, pouring everything in the blender.

She made the smoothie and poured it into a glass with a straw. She brought it back upstairs to JJ, sitting in bed behind her.

"It's a smoothie. You just have to take a sip," Emily told her. She held the glass firmly in her own hands, guiding the straw into JJ's mouth.

Even if it was just a smoothie, she felt better that JJ was actually getting some food in her system.

Luckily enough, JJ drank half the glass without protesting. Soon after that, she curled up in Emily's arms and fell asleep again.