I was trying to hide the worry in my face by burying it in my phone, texting with JJ and Dave who were still waiting for us at the station.
"How long has it been?" Morgan yawned and looked at his watch.
"About thirty-two minutes," Reid never looked up from his magazine.
I sighed and suddenly heard a loud curse and something being thrown from down the hall, immediately knowing which room it was coming from.
I rolled my eyes, "I'll go." I got up and walked down the linoleum hallway to Evan's room.
"God dammit, I said I don't want any!" I turned the corner and saw her trying to pull the IV tube out of her arm, a few nurses trying to fight with her.
"What the hell is going on?!" I stormed in and closed the glass door behind me. "I'm Agent Hotchner, I'm with the team that brought her in. What's happening?"
Everyone looked around the room in frustration and exhaustion. There was a long moment of silence before a nurse mustered the courage to speak up,
"She's refusing medication," they started and rolled their eyes in Evan's direction. "We have to take her back to the O.R. to remove the bullet and get a few stitches but we need to sedate her. Some fragments went pretty deep-"
"I said to just give me locals! I don't need-!"
"One of the fragments is right next to the bone!" Another nurse argued and gestured to the x-ray on the wall, "we're gonna have to dig pretty far-"
"No." I finally understood what the issue was, seeing the panic in Evan's face at the mention of 'pain medication' and 'sedation'. I saw a small sigh of relief in Evan's shoulders, "If she's refusing medication you have no right to give her any. She's in sound state of mind and she's not a threat," I gave her stern look, "she's making the decision. I'm sure she understands what that means."
"Yes," Evan glared at a nurse, "she fucking understands what that means."
"She knows it's going to hurt and she would probably be more comfortable with medication..." I glared back at her, the thought of her being in that much pain making me nauseous and my hands began to sweat, "let me talk to her for a minute. Alone, please."
"Sure," they all filed out of the room and closed the door behind them, I'm sure, relieved that they had a break from the mess in the hospital bed.
She stared at me with tired eyes, unwrapping another tube from her arm and tossing it to the floor.
"Evan-"
"Don't fucking start, Aaron."
"They're just trying to do their job. Do you have to be so difficult?" I crossed my arms and watched her pick at the sicky residue from the bandage she just aggressively ripped off of her arm.
"I've been shot at before and didn't need any medication. I think I can handle it." She reminded me of the scar on her ribs where she was grazed before by a stray bullet, on a case before she came to my team.
"That was a little different," I argued, "they didn't have to dig around your ribs, Evan... there are pieces practically in your bone." I walked over to the x-ray and counted all of the fragments that they would have to remove, the shards of metal making my own arm throb with empathy.
"So, what," I heard her mumble under her breath, her fear loud and clear.
"Evan, god dammit!" I felt myself becoming angry with her obstinacy. I know what she was afraid of and I didn't blame her but this was a bit dramatic. Even for her. "If you're afraid that you're going to relapse because you need to take something to get through a surgery..." I shook my head, still wondering why I had to scold her about something this serious, "you're stronger than that. I know you are."
"Aaron, I haven't even taken a fucking Advil for headaches in years. I'm not going to fuck it up because some asshole shot me in the arm."
"You're lucky that asshole had terrible aim and didn't shatter the bone!" I started to shout, my anger and frustration boiling. "Or worse! He could have killed you, Evan!"
She opened up her mouth to argue but nothing came out. She bit her lip and her anger quickly faded into something else, her shoulders dropping and that frown in her forehead disappearing. "Aaron," she started and took a deep breath, "is that what this is?"
"What?" I was taken aback by her sudden change in mood, my face still hot in frustration.
"I'm not..." she got up from the bed and took a few steps to me. I could see her trying to think of something to say, the wheels in her head turning and her teeth digging into her lip. "I'm okay, you know. Like, yeah, this hurts like a bitch but I'm alright."
Sometimes, I forget that she's a damn good profiler. I sighed and tried to fight the emotion that was welling up in my eyes. "I'm just sick of the people I love getting shot at."
A silence fell over the room and her breath caught in her chest.
"Y-you love me?" she reached out for my hand and wrapped a finger around mine.
I swallowed hard, realizing that I had actually said that word out loud. I had thought it a million times between now and when I met her, but never had I said it. "Of course, I do." I leaned down to kiss her dirty hair, "I've loved you since you walked in with Dave and pissed me off in just the right way. You just scare the shit out of me sometimes, Evan."
"I'm sorry," she let me kiss her, my arms wrapping around her body and holding her gently, feeling just how fragile she really was. "I promise to be around to piss you off for a long time."
I laughed, not drawing any attention to the fact that she didn't say it back, "then please don't make me worry about you."
She groaned into my chest, "I'll take one fucking Tylenol."
"And locals?"
She narrowed her eyes, "you're really pushing it."
"If you want to be around to piss me off, you're gonna have to learn to listen once in a while."
"It's like you don't know me at all, Aaron Hotchner."
"I know you well enough to know that you'll be fine. You won't...'fuck it up'," I smiled against her sweaty cheek and tried not to squeeze her too tightly. "I'll stay with you if you want me to."
"Wouldn't that look a little weird? You standing there holding my hand?"
"Not any weirder than me standing here, holding you like this."
I felt her smile against my neck and rub her lips across my skin, "I'll be okay."
"You better be or I'll shoot you in the other arm."
"Excuse me?" she pulled away with a loud laugh and gave me a playful punch. "Did you just make a joke?"
"Your sarcasm is wearing off of me," I kissed her quickly and walked her back to the bed. "I'll be right out there with Morgan and Reid if you need me."
As if on que, there was a knock on the door,
"What did we decide?" one of the nurses carefully peeked their head into the room.
"I talked her into locals and a Tylenol."
"Just one?"
"Don't push it," I stopped the nurse before Evan could start up again. The nurse just nodded silently and handed Evan one little white pill that was in her mouth and gone before she was even offered any water.
"Let's do this thing."
"We'll be waiting for you," I gave her one last smile before I left the room and headed back to the waiting area, neither one of them had moved.
"What happened?" Morgan lifted his head as I sat back down with a heavy sigh.
"Nothing, just... Evan being Evan."
"Poor nurses," he laughed and leaned his head back on the wall.
I sank in my seat and waited for what seemed like forever before a doctor came down the hallway and cleared his throat in our direction.
"Are you guys with Evan James?"
"Yes," I jumped up from my seat, seeming a bit too eager. I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants, "Yes, we are. What happened?"
"We managed to get all of the fragments out without any complications. The bone wasn't injured at all...stitches should be healed up in about two weeks. She should go to her local doctor around then to have them checked on and removed."
We all sighed in relief that she was alright and I tried not to sound overly excited that she didn't give them any more trouble.
"That's great, thank you so much," I shook his hand and tried to remember to breathe. She was going to be fine. "Anything else?"
He paused and looked at all of us with a look of confusion and concern, "You know, I was just wondering, is she always like-"
"Yeah, yes, she is." All three of us immediately understood what he was trying to ask and we all nodded in unison.
"Okay, well then she's fine," he nervously chucked and shook his head. "She can go home anytime."
"Is she okay to fly?" Reid asked one last question.
"Yeah, that should be fine but since she's still gonna be sore and a bit bruised up, I wouldn't let her drive or anything. Maybe a few days of not getting into trouble would be good for her."
Morgan let out a loud laugh, "yeah, sure."
"Thank you, so much," I shook his hand again and let him be on his way, the rest of us heading down the hall to her room.
"You still alive?" Morgan's deep voice echoed though her room and made her smile.
"So far," she got up from the bed and slid her foot into her boot. "Can we please go home, now?"
"We still have a few things to finish up at the station but, yeah. We'll be able to leave soon," I reminded the team that we still had fugitives to deal with. "You going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine, as long as I can drink the scotch on the plane."
"I'm pretty sure you aren't supposed to mix the medication with alcohol," Reid looked to me with concern.
"What medication? You can't drink with Tylenol?"
"You're saying that they dug out five fragments of a bullet from your arm without having to sedate you?" Reid gave Morgan the same look.
"I used locals," she shrugged her shoulders, "didn't feel a thing."
"Girl, you are tougher than me," Morgan shook his head and headed out the door, not before Evan gave him a good playful punch to his shoulder. "Damn!"
"Is she okay?" Reid asked me as she practically chased Morgan down the hall and to the front doors.
"Is she ever?"