Paranoia - s.reid

Alone

Spencer and Liz watched Diana walk into her brand new elementary school, worried smiles etched on their faces. "She'll be fine, right?" Liz breathed.

"She'll be fine."

The team were crowded in the conference room, discussing the disappearance of Samantha Wilcox. 

"The AMBER alert is expanding," Hotch took a deep breath. "Every hour. Excuse me." He gasped collapsing.

Everyone broke out into their own worried yells and phrases, calling an ambulance.

Within no time, Liz was in the shaky vehicle with a nurse and an unconscious Aaron Hotchner. The nurse shined a torch directly at his eyes. "Mr. Hotchner, can you hear me? He's not responding, pulse is thready. Starting lactated ringers, wide open. Systolic's dropping. BP's 90 over 60. Stay with me Mr. Hotchner, okay?"

The nurses began doing their thing, unfazed by the rocking of the ambulance, unlike Liz who desperately clutched Aaron's hand, inhaling and exhaling to calm herself down and not puke on everything she saw.

They got to the hospital, immediately rushing him into a room as he stabilized.

Liz could only think of one thing- one person. She caught the nurse's attention. "I want Dr. Bundy. Please." The nurse nodded, paging her sister.

Minutes later, Rose sprinted in, getting to work with only a kiss on Liz's cheek. The brunette had no idea what to focus on, what to do, so she zoned out until Rose gave her the prognosis and left, allowing her to call the team and Haley's sister. "He's bleeding internally."

"Bleeding internally from what?"

"They think it's probably all the scar tissue. Torn adhesions from the stab wounds. George Foyet returns from the grave. He's stable right now. My sister did an ultrasound, but she can't seem to see exactly where the bleeding was coming from."

"He'll need an exploratory laparotomy."

"Does Jack know?"

"Not yet. I talked to Haley's sister Jessica. We didn't want to worry the little guy. When him, Lyle and Dee get home from school they'll have a play date to keep him occupied."

"What about Beth?"

"I left a message, but she's on a business trip in Milan. We're all worried, but you've got to focus on the case. You guys get to work, I'll stay here." Everyone agreed, shifting their attention elsewhere. Spencer didn't, his eyes were still trained on the stressed imagine of his wife.

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"You, too. Don't get shot. I love you."

"I love you, too."

It was minutes before Rose and the nurses were guiding Aaron to an OR, Liz following behind. They reached a point where Liz could no longer proceed. "He's going to be okay, right?"

Rose gave Liz a look the brunette couldn't quite decipher, hurrying along.

-----

Aaron found himself in a suit, following a red balloon through the quiet eeriness of a movie theatre. He walked down the rows, his eyes meeting a figure he never thought he'd see again. Haley. She smiled up at him. "Hi, honey. I saved you a seat." 

He reluctantly sat down, taking her hand. "You look beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself."

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes. "I miss you."

"I know." The lights dimmed. "Oh, it's starting."