Hardest To Catch A.H.

Chapter 4.

TW: blood, stabbing, hospitals??

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AARON'S POV:

When he saw her lying there in a pool of her own blood, her unconsciously, lifeless body on his kitchen floor, he froze. He had no control over his own body. He kept muttering to himself, "it's all my fault, she's going to die and it's all my fault." Only when the paramedics ran into the room from behind him did he finally move. He had no idea how he had beat them there.

Rossi came running in behind them, doing exactly what Hotch did. He stood and stared at her, the girl who was almost like his own daughter. Her skin looked blue and lifeless. The paramedics told them that she was breathing, but Hotch was convinced she was dead.

As the paramedics started to carry her out of the apartment on a stretcher , Rossi shoved Hotch in their direction. All he said to him was "Go." Hotch didn't question it. He ran down the stairs to meet them on the first floor and jumped into the back of the ambulance to the hospital.

On the way there, she stopped breathing. It took nearly 2 minutes to get her back. By this time, Hotch couldn't stop the tears from running down his cheeks. He held her hand for dear life up until the point where the doctors took her across the red line into the OR Bay. He nearly collapsed on the hospital floor before he saw the remainder of the team running up to him, asking a million questions a minute. None of which he could answer. This all felt like a dream, a really bad dream and he couldn't make himself wake up.

As the team sat in the waiting room, no words were spoken. JJ and Emily sat on a two-seater together, hands interlocked, with Emily laying her head on JJ's shoulder. Penelope and Derek sat across from them, Penny trying to choke back her sobs. Rossi was pacing back and forth around the room, unable to sit still. Everyone feared that if one of them spoke, the world might crash down upon them.

As for Hotch, no one had seen him in almost 45 minutes, they just figured he needed to think. Little did they know, he was sobbing to himself in an empty stairway. He wouldn't let anyone see him this way. He left too weak, too vulnerable. He sat there for what seemed like an eternity, too afraid to hear the doctors say Y/n didn't make it. There was no way he could survive losing her. She was his entire world, entire universe. His love for her filled his senses.

Hotch finally got up once he got a text from Rossi saying the doctor had an update for them. He practically ran to the waiting room, dread filling his entire being. When he looked through the waiting room windows, he saw the team standing around a younger-looking woman. She almost looked like Y/n.

"It was touch-and-go for a while. She had lost a lot of blood before she arrived and coded twice on the table, but we were able to stabilize her for the time being. The next 24-hours are extremely crucial. She's lucky she got here as fast as she did or she wouldn't be here with us now."

"Can we see her?" Penelope asked, timidly. She was the first to speak among them.

"She's in the ICU now so there can only be one visitor at a time. I can take someone to her now if you'd like." The doctor responded while looking around the group.

Rossi turned to Hotch and said, "Aaron, you should go first. Just sit with her for a while. Maybe talk to her."

He didn't respond, only followed the doctor through the hallways. He had yet to say a word to anyone. He wasn't even sure his words would be audible to anyone.

Walking into the bright, white room, Hotch nearly collapsed at the sight of her. She had a tube down her throat to help her breathe and wires hanging everywhere. All he could do was sit on the chair next to her and cry.