daylight (jemily)

Chapter Twenty Four

Emily and Derek got to Collins' house and approached the door. There were still forensic workers inside and out, combing the scene for any DNA that they missed.

Emily walked in first, and turned to the left. Immediately they came to the living room. That's where JJ and James had sat before he attacked her.

There was blood dripping from the coffee table down onto the hardwood floor. The puddle was marked as evidence.

She noticed something shiny under the couch. She knelt down and picked it up. It was JJ's wedding ring.

Emily twirled in her fingers for a minute, and then stuck it in her pocket. "That's evidence, you can't-" Derek started to talk, but Emily gave him a look that shut him up quickly.

They moved on and went into the bedroom. Emily picked through the stuff. It was clean and neat, not abnormal for a stalker.

She opened the dresser drawer and noticed something else. A pink hairbrush. The same pink hairbrush that JJ had "lost" last week.

She felt sick. This guy had been stalking her. He had either broken into their house, or their hotel. There was also a piece of film. A photo.

Emily pulled it out and looked at it closer. It was a picture of her and JJ. It was from a photo booth at an amusement park. This was what JJ was using as a bookmark. This was what he'd stolen from her.

There were other objects too. Things that they hadn't even noticed were missing. A half used stick of chapstick, a CD out of the collection that they never used, a dirty makeup brush. He had been inside their house, and they hadn't even realized.

She wanted to vomit. Derek had saw what she found, and called Hotch to tell him. That meant officer's were being sent to Emily and JJ's house. They needed to figure out how this guy had gotten in and out without leaving a trace.

Emily couldn't even stand the thought. Had he been in their house while they were home? Lurking in a closet while they slept? It was like an unbearable sense of fear and guilt overtook her.

She decided to drive back to the hospital. JJ would be waking up soon, and she wanted to be there.

She got back to JJ's room only a couple minutes before JJ started to stir. Right on time.

Her eyes opened and she was confused again. It took her a second to remember where she was. The doctor from the night before came into the room quickly.

"I'm Dr. Rollins, I was one of your doctors," she explained. "I want to try and take that tube out of your mouth and see how well you can breathe on your own. Does that sound okay?"

JJ blinked once for yes, not like there was really another answer.

"Alright, great," she said, clapping her hands together. She had a bright personality, and it brought up the mood of the sullen room.

"I'm going to count to three, and on three I want you to cough as hard as you can," she said, untying the tube from her mouth.

JJ blinked, showing her understanding. "Okay, 1, 2... 3!" she said, all but yanking the tube out of her throat.

JJ gagged, feeling terror bubble up inside of her. She couldn't breathe. It felt like she was dying.

She wanted to scream and cry and tell them that something was wrong with her, but she couldn't.

Emily was sitting on the side of the bed next to her, propping her upright. Dr. Rollins stood in front of her, and didn't seem to be freaking out at all.

"I know it feels like you can't breathe, but you're actually hyperventilating. That's a good sign. Your body can breathe on its own, it just needs to remember how to do it normally," she told her. "Try to take slow and deep breaths."

Emily gently rubbed her back. "You're okay. Slow down. It's alright," she soothed.

When she realized that she actually wasn't dying, JJ was able to calm herself down. She inhaled as slowly as she could, and eventually got it under control.

JJ was shaking and her throat hurt. Emily had her arms wrapped around her gently. "There you go, good girl," she said softly. "You've got it. You're okay."

"Your lung function is looking really good. You're breathing on your own. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is. This is already improvement from yesterday," Dr. Rollins told them.

JJ opened her mouth to talk, but nothing came out and her throat burned. "Don't try and talk. Your throat is damaged, it's just going to hurt," Emily told her.

Dr. Rollins made sure everything was okay before leaving the room again. JJ tugged on Emily's sleeve. "What?" Emily asked her.

JJ made a writing movement with her hand. She wanted something to write on.

Emily got up and looked around the room. She found a little white board and pen, handing it to her.

She sat back down next to her while JJ scribbled something down.

baby?

Her heart stopped. JJ didn't know yet. How could she forget that nobody had told her?

Emily's eyes watered a bit. "The baby, she didn't make it. She died," she said softly.

JJ looked at her, horrified. She couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. It wasn't true. There was no way it was true.

Her hands came up to feel her belly. It ached when she touched her skin. Her belly was flat. The baby was gone. Where did she go? How was she just gone?

JJ felt like she might pass out. She couldn't breathe again. She got dizzy. If Emily's arms weren't holding her tight, she thought she might just float away into the sky.

She sobbed silently. Her voice couldn't make a noise, but she cried. She threw the whiteboard at the wall, breaking it in half.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Emily murmured, rocking her back and forth. "You've got to keep breathing. I know it hurts, I know."

She discreetly pressed the call button as JJ continued her meltdown. If she could, Emily was fairly sure she'd be screaming.

It was hard watching JJ suffer so much, and not be able to say anything. She couldn't say how she felt. She couldn't say that she was sad. She could barely even cry about it.

A nurse came in quickly. Emily placed her hands over JJ's ears like a little kid. JJ didn't even fight it.

"You have to give her something. She can't- you need to give her something," Emily told the nurse.

She nodded, pulling up JJ's chart. She gave her the same sedative that she'd gotten last night.

JJ's crying died down a bit, and within 10 minutes she was limp in Emily's arms.

Emily didn't move. She sat in the awkward position with JJ laying back into her. She held her and whispered sweet nothings in her ear, even though she knew that JJ couldn't hear her.