𝘉𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘋𝘚𝘐𝘋𝘌𝘋 | 𝘈.𝘏. ✔️

• Four

"I didn't do anything?" you insisted, eyes fully open and looking straight into the unit chiefs brown eyes hovering over you. "I was getting ready?"

Hotch frowned and ran a hand through his hair, pulling a seat from the side over by your bed. "Y/N, you weren't getting ready, you were home after the party, Celia was there too, she is the one who called."

Instantly, you shot up in bed, ignoring the horrible pain in your ribs and abdomen. You gripped the middle of your torso with a sharp breath, your other hand on the bed railing. "I can't be here, I have to go home. Axel is probably worried sick."

"You can't leave Bella, you had extensive surgery. You're safe here now." Rossi replied from the other side of the room.

"B-but-" you shook your head in aggravation, "I was home Hotch! What surgery?!"

You don't know why you were so mad, maybe it was because of what Axel would do once you got back home knowing you were at the hospital or maybe the random stories Rossi and Hotch were feeding to you as you sat in a hospital bed.

"Axel, he hit you Y/N." Hotch said softly, going to place a hand on yours but you flinched away and threw the blanket off your body quickly, swinging your legs over the edge of the bed.

"Axel would never hit me! I don't know where you're getting these stories from. I just want to go home, please."

Tears pricked your eyes from the stabbing, pulsing pain. Rossi blocked you from getting up, surely putting his hands on your shoulder and putting you back in the bed. The bandages that covered you ran from your arms to your legs, some smaller than others but all pretty big.

"You had surgery to remove the glass from your liver," Rossi explained, "The nurse said you have to take it easy with your ribs. Believe us Y/N."

It seemed like a big misunderstanding. Your thoughts were in a ball of yarn and what they were saying just didn't seem correct. Sure, Axel did hurt you sometimes but he would never take it this far, he still cared about you and your well-being, that's why he allowed you to stay in the house. Sometimes the way Axel showed love was different from what the others think, your father taught you that after your mom died. They might yell and hit you but that's just because they want you to be strong.

"I can't believe you," you sighed, "Do you understand what you are telling me? I can't recall anything."

"Is there any place Axel would go?" Hotch asked suddenly. You turned to him with a hand on your forehead.

"Why?" you huffed, dropping your hand on the bed with an eye-roll. "He didn't do this, he's probably at the house so please let me go"

"Y/N," Rossi caught your attention, "Axel isn't at the house, he fled after he beat you."

You couldn't even begin to digest his words. It just didn't seem real, the pain was there and made sense. Neither of them would lie to you, you just don't want to admit how cowardly you seem staying with Axel because you let him take everything from you. Admitting he hurt you once again would put you back into that mindset. The mindset that you can't even take a single little hit or you needed your own money, it was selfish how much you relied on Axel for everything.

"He wouldn't do that, we know this," you continued to insist. "Rossi you know nothing about my relationship- just stay out of it."

"You don't have to cover for him anymore," Hotch says, his voice deep with anticipation on how the night would play out. Right now his main focus was making sure you were safe.

"He protects me- he didn't do this!" you lied through your teeth so easily just like the times before. Avery warned you about him long before his father died and you ignored her because you were naive and just wanted something to look forward to.