.Finally a Mother.

.Five.

**TRIGGER WARNING - mention of sexual abuse, physical abuse, hospital, nightmares, self harm, eating disorder**

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*at the hospital*

A young blonde haired woman walked in to Eva's room and introduced herself as Dr. Robbins. Emily stood up and shook her hand. "I'm SSA Emily Prentiss. This is my daughter Eva." Eva looked at Emily when she said the word 'daughter' and smiled ever so slightly for the first time in a while.

"Agent Prentiss, could I have a word with you outside please?" Dr. Robbins asked. The two women excused themselves to the hallway. Derek and Spencer stayed in the room with Eva. "So, Eva's ultrasounds came back clear which is good. That means she's not internally bleeding. However, the MRI showed a concussion, which we suspected. She will have some nausea from that, which we can give her meds to help with." The doctor took a breath and Emily butted in.

"What about the X-rays? What about her leg and ribs?" Emily asked, feeling herself get more and more anxious for the little girl.

"The X-rays from her leg show a small fracture in her left ankle. We can supply her with a brace and she will be healed in no time." Dr. Robbins informed Emily.

"And her ribs?" Emily asked, starting to get impatient.

"Her ribs took the worst of the damage I'm afraid. She has two broken ribs on the right side and one fractured on the left side. Those will require lots of rest and some Tylenol or Ibuprofen to help with the pain she has breathing and moving. She's very fortunate that her lungs weren't punctured. There is two other things though," Emily looked at the doctor with a confused look on her face. "It seems as if Eva has been self harming." The doctor told Prentiss about her daughter's cuts.

"Yes, we've been working on different coping skills for her. She also is anorexic. She hasn't had too much control over her life, so she feels the need to self harm and not eat. That's her form of control. I'm working on helping her with those things though." The doctor looked at the dark haired woman with understanding eyes and told her to keep up with Eva and to monitor her eating and self harm. "When will she be allowed to go home?" Emily looked in to her daughters room only to see her sleeping. She looked so peaceful she thought.

"Well there is one other thing. We need to make sure she wasn't sexually assaulted." The doctor informed the worried parent.

"I understand. Can I be the one to tell her? I think she'll take it better from me." Emily asked.

"Of course you can be the one to inform her. You're also more than welcome to come back with her when we do the exam. After the exam we will get her some meds and her brace and you'll be free to take her home." Dr. Robbins told Emily.

"Thank you Dr. Robbins. I'll go in and tell her now." Emily said without taking her eyes off of Eva. She walked in to her daughter's room and told Spencer and Derek about her injuries and that they would be able to go home soon. Emily sat down in the chair next to her daughter's bed and placed her hand on top of Eva's and rested her head there too. "I'm so sorry Eva. I should have found you sooner." Emily whispered under her breath. The child started to stir in her sleep.

"No! Please! Don't hurt me!" Eva mumbled. Emily lifted her head from her hand and looked at her daughter's face. She could tell that Eva was in pain, which probably wasn't helping her nightmare. "Oh, owww." Eva woke up to find Emily beside her. "Mommy, my ribs hurt." Eva started to cry but it only hurt her injured body more.

"I know sweetheart. I'm so sorry that I let this happen to you. If I could take away all your pain I would do it in a heartbeat." Emily admitted to the young child. Eva just looked at Derek and Reid and then back to her mom. Emily looked at them and they understood. The two male agents excused themselves to the hallway to call their team and update them on Eva's condition.

"Mommy, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault." Eva said squeezing Emily's hand. The two just stared at each other with pain in their eyes.

"I love you my sweet child." Emily looked at her daughter with her dark sad eyes and placed a hand on Eva's cheek.

Eva leaned in to her mother's touch. "I love you too Mom. Is it okay if I call you that?" Eva asked her. Emily wiped a tear from her eye before it had the chance to fall down her cheek.

"Yes, of course it is. It's my honor. But I don't want you to feel like you have to, because you don't." She assured the young girl. Eva just half-smiled at her and nodded.

Out of no where Eva changed the subject. "I wanna go home." Eva pleaded with her mom.

"I know sweetie. The doctors just have to do one other test and then get your meds and the brace for your ankle. After that we will go home." Emily assured her.

"What other test? I thought we were done with them. They all hurt so much." Eva looked into Emily's eyes which were tearing up just like her own.

"They need to do a sexual assault exam. Do you know what that is?" Emily asked the small, fragile little girl.

"Yes. But I wasn't assaulted. I promise! Mommy please don't make me do this. I can't do it." Eva started to cry. She winced in pain. Emily let a few tears fall for her daughter and her pain.

"I know you don't want to Sweetheart, they just have to check so it's on your hospital record, okay?" Emily looked at her daughter waiting for her response.

"Mommy, will you stay with me? I don't want to do this alone." Eva pleaded to her mother.

"Of course I will my child. I will be by your side the entire time, I promise you." Emily held on to Eva's hand. That's when she realized just how small and fragile the girl was.

Suddenly Eva started speaking. "Can I ask you something?" Eva said, avoiding eye contact with Emily - which she noticed.

"Of course, you can ask me anything. What is it?" Emily replied.

"Does your team hate me? They think I'm bad, don't they? Is that why you never told them about me?" Eva asked, playing with the edge of her hospital blanket. Emily was speechless. She didn't know exactly what to say since they did all think she was a killer.

"No Sweetheart, they don't hate you. They thought you were the one killing those women, but I told them it wasn't you. It's just because you fit the profile. But sometimes multiple people fit the profile. That doesn't mean they think you're bad. They know now that you didn't hurt anyone. I knew, Sweetheart. I told them. They just had to know for sure. That's all." Emily poured out to her daughter. "I'm sorry Eva, that they thought that. I told them over and over that it wasn't you." Eva nodded her head. Still playing with the stitching on the blanket.

"Why didn't you tell them about me?" She asked, finally looking at Emily straight in the eye. Emily sighed.

"I didn't want them to judge you for what you'd been through. I also didn't want them to judge me for taking you in and working at the same time. They knew I was just doing desk work. They didn't need to know why. I wasn't ready to tell them." She admitted. Remembering to be completely honest in order to build trust between her and her daughter.

"Will I get to meet them all? Your friends I mean." Eva asked seeming unfazed by what her mother had just admitted.

"Yes. As soon as we get you home and rested up. Only if you want to." Emily said with a smile.

"I would love to meet all of them." Eva smiled and squeezed Emily's hand.

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Word count: 1397