Hardest To Catch A.H.

Chapter 17.

The team had been sitting around the hospital waiting room for hours waiting for any sort of update from Y/n's doctors. No one had heard a word since they first got to the hospital, making everyone on edge.

Derek let out a loud huff, practically knocking his chair over as he stood up. "This is completely ridiculous. We've been here for over 5 hours. If there's no update soon, I swear to god I'm going to walk into that OR and fu-"

"Okay, Morgan," Emily interrupted him before he could finish whatever was about to leave his mouth. "we get it. Everyone's worried, everyone's scared. Shut the hell up." Emily was sick of his complaining. Everytime one of them opened their mouths she was pushed more and more over the edge with worry.

"You know, it's a good thing." Spencer chimed in. "If they don't come out to give updates that means that they're working hard to help her. N- not that they need to work hardier to help her. It's probably an easy surgery for them because she's going to be fine- totally fine." He was trying his best to calm everyone down but he knew the odds were against her. He saw where she was shot. He saw how quickly she was bleeding. As much as he tried to push away his doctorly intuition, he knew it was bad.

Everyone's eyes turned to Rossi as he slowly stood up from his seat in the corner. "I'll uh- I'll go check on Strauss."

She had left almost 30 minutes ago to get an update and hadn't come back since. Rossi knew what she was really doing and knew there was no way she could do it alone; it was an impossible task.

While everything was happening, Aaron sat silently in his chair, not having moved in hours. The whole team could feel how much he hurt. They all knew that he loved Y/n with everything he had in him, even if he refused to admit it to himself.

Hotch didn't know how he could live with himself if she died. When he watched her get shot, he could feel his whole body go numb as if he were the one being shot. Time had stopped. He saw the fear in her eyes when she realized she might not make it out of there alive. He watched her come to terms with her own death right in front of him.

The worst part of it all: he didn't say it back.

'I love you'

He heard what she said before she was wheeled into the ambulance- he heard it loud and clear. Those words echoed in his head while he sat in the waiting room. There was no doubt he loved her. My god did he love her. Every second of every day, she consumed his thoughts. As much as he hated her, he loved her.

He was ripped from his thoughts when he saw Rossi slowly walk back in the room, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Fuck.

The team all stood up in unison when they saw him, holding their breath.

"Rossi?" Garcia's voice trembled as she spoke, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any minute. They all knew what his silence meant but refused to believe it. They refused to believe it up until Strauss came in behind him, tear stained cheeks. "Oh my god." There was no stopping the tears now.

"Y/n," he paused, trying to find a way to word the pain he was about to say. "Y/n died at 1:16 am."

A moment passed before he continued. The team had registered what he said. Garcia let out a sob while leaning into Morgan's chest. Emily and JJ found comfort in each other. Regardless of how she felt about Y/n, JJ had still lost someone close to her- they all did. Spencer was left staring at the ground in front of him, choking back tears. As for Hotch, oh god did he feel it. He felt all of it, all at once, all over his body, consuming him whole. All he could do was stand there. His body refused to move, to acknowledge the words Rossi had uttered moments before.

"The uh- the bullet hit her right gastric artery. The doctors said she had lost too much blood by the time she got to the hospital. They did everything they could."

Rossi and Strauss watched as the team fell apart in front of them. They watched as Hotch grabbed his coat and left the room in a hurry. They watched as the team embraced each other, looking for any form of comfort they could get.

Strauss took a hold of Rossi's elbow as a silent signal to follow her.

No one paid any attention to the pair leaving the room, all too consumed in their grief.

Finding an empty place in the hallway, they stopped.

"Thank you," Straussed said through a shaky breath. "I couldn't do it."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "It's alright. They'll understand eventually."

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Hmmmmm understand what exactly??? 

I understand that the chapters are rather short, but I prefer reading short chapters so I write short chapters. I feel like they're just easier to read and follow along with. Plus, shorter chapters means more chapters.