A/N: Last chapter! I apologize for any and all cringe that may be present, I am really bad at writing any sort of romance. Please review!
Disclaimer: I never owned anything.
The surgery on Emily's leg went smoothly with no complications. Her ankle was now in a dark blue cast and the small cuts on her faces bandaged. The rest of the team crowded into the small hospital room.
"Oh Gumdrop, I was so worried!" Garcia exclaimed as she threw her arms around Emily. She chuckled.
"Hey Garcia," she said with a smile at her friend's behavior.
"Baby Girl, let her breath," Morgan joked from beside the bed. Garcia reluctantly released her.
"Hey Emily," Reid said quietly on her other side.
"Hey genius," she grinned. Reid just frowned. "Hey, don't do that. You couldn't have stopped this."
"It was like Cyrus all over again, except this time I was on the other side…"
"This isn't Cyrus, Reid. I'm fine, plus I've got this rocking new cast that looks quite blank," she said as she held up a Sharpie. Reid smiled and took the marker.
"Speaking of this cast, you get two bonus crutches to go with it," JJ warned from her spot at the foot of the bed.
"What? I have to use crutches?"
"You do now. Apparently, walking on a broken ankle does some damage Em." Emily groaned and threw her head back. She despised crutches.
"Hey Kiddo, this is just a free pass to get some of my famous Italian cooking," Rossi chimed in.
"So, when can I go back to work?"
"Not for at least 2 weeks, Emily. I doubt Strauss will even give you that," Hotch spoke for the first time since they had entered the room.
"2 weeks? But I'm fine. I don't need 2 weeks!"
"Well Kitten, on the bright side, we all get 2 weeks, so you're not alone," Rossi told her.
"Yeah Hopalong, we've got 2 whole weeks to fuss over you," Derek said with a wide grin.
"You are way too excited about this."
"I think that this is a perfect amount of energy for the situation."
"Absolutely not. Besides, I'm not going to burden any of you with that. It's just crutches anyways, I've been alone with worse. I don't even have a concussion like after Milwaulkee." Hotch grimaced. He still felt bad that he hadn't checked up on Emily at all after the Milwaulkee case. He just sent her home alone with a gash and concussion.
"Prentiss, someone is staying with you, and that's an order." She was slightly taken aback by the hostility in his voice. "Can Emily and I have the room please?" The rest of the team left. Emily raised an eyebrow at him.
"Sir, is there a reason you won't let me go home alone?" She said, a small amount of bitterness leaking into her voice.
"Emily… after the Milwaulkee case, you had a concussion from David Smith's father."
"Oh I remember, still have the scar."
"I didn't even check up on you. You could have slipped into a coma, and no one would have known. I didn't even call. None of us did. Even though we didn't have a close relationship, you were going to sacrifice your career and dream job to save mine. And I didn't even care enough to call." She could see the guilt in his eyes.
"Hotch, you have to know I don't hold that against you. I-"
"Yeah Emily, but you never hold anything against anyone! I was an absolute asshole to you when you first came into this team, and you didn't even ask for an apology."
"I didn't ask for an apology or hold it against you because I understood why. Don't dwell on the past, Aaron." Aaron, he thought. She's never called me that before. Take the leap, Hotch.
"Emily, would you like to go get lunch sometime?"
"I'd like that Hotch. I'd like that a lot."