Truth and Lies

Chapter 42

** JJ's POV **

"Emily Elizabeth Prentiss, will you be my wife?"

The entire room was silent, and all eyes were on Emily. She was speechless for a moment, before she broke into a wide smile, running into my arms.

"Of course, JJ. I love you so much, of course I will marry you."

We kissed passionately as everyone clapped, and I swear I heard a couple of wolf whistles. Then, Garcia and Rossi reappeared from the kitchen with plates of food that were put on multi-colored plates and we were being congratulated by the rest of the team. Hotch was beaming, that's a first.

"Congratulations, lovebirds."

"About time." Rossi teased, handing us more drinks.

"Listen, JJ, I will always have feelings for you, I just want you to know that, but I really am happy for you." Morgan said as he came over.

"I know, Derek. Thank you." 

The baby monitor started making noise and I rolled my eyes, heading toward the stairs to go and calm Ciara down.

"I'll go." Emily offered, but I took her by the hand instead.

"We can go together."

After settling her down, Emily and I sat at the edge of our bed, just watching her sleep. Emily was amazing with her, even though she wasn't hers. To me, and to Em, that doesn't matter. She's family no matter what. We didn't realize how tired we were and both fell asleep within minutes, my head resting on Emily's stomach. I think it was around 11 pm, but it was so comfortable just lying next to her. Finally, we could be together without anyone telling us otherwise.

** Emily's POV **

I woke up to an ear-splitting shriek and then the sound of crying. JJ was writhing around on the bed, her eyes wide open in fear but she was still trapped in her nightmare. Ciara had been woken up and was hungry, she was balling from her crib. I picked up Ciara before settling back down at the side of the bed and gently nudging JJ awake. She froze, blinking rapidly before taking a deep breath and sitting upright, coughing and spluttering.

"JJ? Are you alright?" I asked her, rubbing her back whilst bouncing Ciara on my knee.

"Em, what happened?" She questioned, her eyes still filled with fear and anxiety.

"You had a bad dream, Jayje, I had to wake you up."

"I'm sorry, I thought they'd stopped." She said sheepishly.

"JJ, don't be sorry. After everything we've been through, I'm not surprised. It's natural to have these nightmares." I comforted her.

"I can't go back to sleep, Em, I don't want to see his face again. I don't want to feel his touch again."

"Who's touch? Talk to me."

JJ's demeanor suddenly changed, and she climbed out of bed. 

"I can't do this right now. I'm going to get a drink."

She disappeared downstairs and I sat with my knees pressed against my chest, worried about JJ. Why was she suddenly being so distant? I waited for her to return. First, five minutes past. Then ten. Then thirty. I was growing more and more worried, and decided to go and talk to her in the kitchen. 

As I headed downstairs, something felt wrong. There were no lights on, and no sounds coming from the kitchen or the living room. I felt around in the dark for the switch and turned the kitchen lights on. 

"JJ?" I whispered, looking around.

My heart stopped as I saw her on the floor, her head resting on her arm, no movement or sign of life.

"JJ!" I screamed, running to her side. "Please, JJ, wake up." I sobbed.

I turned her on to her side and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but extremely fast. Her pupils were extremely dilated and she tried to say something but it just came out as a moan, and her hand twitched slightly. With trembling fingers, I picked up my phone and dialed 911.

"Please, I need an ambulance, my fiance is sick. I'm not sure what happened, but she's just about unconscious, and she's starting to have a seizure. Quickly, please." I sobbed into the phone.

"Ma'am, an ambulance has been dispatched. Please remain calm. Can you tell me your name?"

"It's Emily. Her name is Jennifer, she's thirty one."

"Emily, stay on the line. Do you know what has happened?"

"I-I woke up because JJ was having a nightmare, and she was screaming and crying and I woke her up. She said she went to get a drink, but she didn't come back up so I walked down to the kitchen. I found her on the floor, but I don't really know why she's like this."

Just then, I heard the sirens arrive outside and yelled for them to hurry up. The EMTs rushed inside, carrying a stretcher. 

"Hello, Jennifer, can you hear me?" One of them asked, opening JJ's eyes.

She didn't move or respond. I watched in horror as she was carried to the ambulance, still lifeless. It didn't feel real.

"Ma'am would you like to ride?" The EMT asked me and I nodded dumbly, unable to speak.

The ride was quite short, and JJ looked so beautiful but unusually quiet. I've been to hospital so many times over the past year, but I still can't bear going there because a member of the team was injured.

JJ was rushed inside and the medics were all yelling different things as she was wheeled into surgery. I was stopped at the doors to the OR but didn't have the energy to fight. Ciara was still sleeping in my arms and I collapsed into a chair, falling into a deep sleep within seconds, hoping that when I woke up, it would all be a dream and JJ would be lying beside me, her hand in mine.