Chapter 23: Holding On
Bella was in and out all night. She would wake up and just stare at Chloe sleeping or at the walls until she was out again. Around 5 she woke up and felt like couldn't sleep again. She couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened that day. She couldn't stop thinking about the screams and Emily laying on the ground hurt.
She walked out of the room and went to the living room in search of a book. She figured that could help. She walked around the place and found one close to the fire place.
"Serial killers. Great" she said in a whisper as she saw what the book was about.
Suddenly she saw a little pile in the corner and was glad to see it was for kids. She grabbed the top one and walked back to the room and started reading the book. She read for a while and then fell asleep. Her sleep finally cached her around 7.
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Derek woke up at 8, made breakfast and sat to eat. Suddenly Penelope walked in.
"Are they still sleeping?" She asked.
"Yes" Derek said. "I made waffles" he said.
"Looks good" Penelope gave him a small smile and say to eat.
Once they were done they sat in the living room.
"Do you think she's doing alright?" Derek asked Penelope. The woman had never seen him so insecure.
"I think so" Garcia said. Derek just nodded. "I know what it's like and I'm not gonna lie to you... the pain is... it's horrible. But I made it this far and she will too" Penelope said. "She's the strongest kid I've ever met" Garcia said.
"Yeah" Derek said with a small smile.
Penelope smiled back.
"I think I'm gonna stop by my house to get a few things. Are you okay to stay with them by yourself?" Garcia asked.
"Yeah" Derek said.
"Alright. I won't be long" she said and left.
.
Sometimes later Penelope got back with a suitcase and they just watched tv till the girls woke up around 9:45.
"Good morning" Chloe told Bella but Bella stayed quiet.
"Are you in pain?" Chloe asked worried.
"A little bit" Bella said.
Chloe gave her a small smile. "Are you hungry?" Chloe asked and Bella shook her head no.
"Hey you can't stop eating again" Chloe said a little worried.
"I know." Bella said. "And my mom wouldn't want that" she added.
"Yeah" Chloe said and they just stared at each other.
"Are you feeling sick again when you eat?" Chloe asked.
"No" Bella said. "I thought I would but I'm not"
"That's good" Chloe smiled. "And if you ever feel like that just tell me. Maybe I can help like last time"
Bella nodded and said "I will".
"You're my best friend you know that?" Chloe said.
Bella tried to give her friend a little smile but she couldn't. Her best friend wasn't Chloe, it was Emily.
"I love you" Chloe said.
"I love you too" Bella said low pushing her tears away. They hugged for some time and then Chloe said
"We should go eat"
And to the kitchen they went.
.
"Look who's awake" Derek said as he saw the girls walking to the kitchen.
"Good morning" Chloe said.
"Good morning girls" Penelope said. "Uncle Derek made waffles" she said with a smile.
The girls walked to the table and sat to eat. Penelope and Morgan sat with them. Both adults were impressed that Bella was eating alright. They knew how the girl was and when they took her home they thought they knew how the food battle would go but they were wrong.
"It's really good" Bella said, her voice still lower than usual. "I didn't know you could cook" she added and everybody smiled, everybody but her.
A while after they finished breakfast, Jeremy showed up.
"Did you have a good night?" He asked wrapping Bella in his arms.
She nodded. He let go of the hug and gave her an understanding look.
"How are the babies?" She asked.
"They're good. Getting big" Jeremy smiled and she gave him a little smile back. He felt so good seeing a smile on her face even if it was small. "They'll be out soon so you can play with them" he said.
"I'm not gonna change poopy diapers. Ever!" She said still low, and Jeremy laughed.
"I'll take care of that part. Don't worry" he said.
"Do you want to start the other puzzle?" Bella asked.
"Sure" Jeremy said.
So they sat, together with Chloe and Garcia, to do a new puzzle.
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Around noon, they were still sitting around the center table with the puzzle in front of them, when Hotch called Jeremy.
"I'll be right back" Jeremy said when he saw who it was and walked out. He went and sat on the front porch.
"Hello?" Jeremy said.
"Hi. It's Aaron" Hotch said.
"Is everything okay?" Jeremy asked worried.
"I need to talk to you. It's important. Could you come to the office?" Hotch asked.
"Yes of course" Jeremy said.
"I'll be waiting for you" Hotch said.
"I'm heading there now" Jeremy said. "Bye" he said and hung up. He walked inside and told everyone that he had to stop by the office to talk to Hotch but he would be back.
So to the office he went.
He met Hotch at his office.
"Please sit down" Hotch said and Jeremy sat in front of him.
"What's wrong?" Jeremy asked. He just knew something was up.
"I had to do something in order to protect your sister." Hotch started. "You might not agree with this. But it's the right thing to do right now" he said.
"What do you mean?" Jeremy said confused.
"Look I never planned on telling you this now but she insisted I do" Hotch said.
"She... Who?" Jeremy said.
"Emily" Hotch said.
"She's... She's alive?" Jeremy said in shock.
"Yes" Hotch said and Jeremy just stared. "She's stable at a hospital in Boston and we'll be moving her to a safe location once she's cleared to travel." He explained.
"Who else knows about this?" Jeremy asked.
"Just Jennifer and I" Hotch said.
"You can't lie to my sister like this. Don't you see how much pain she's in right now?" Jeremy said.
"Jeremy, I know this is hard to understand but we cannot let Doyle know that Emily is okay. If he finds out He'll come back for her and who knows what he will do to your sister. We did this, I did this to protect them. Both of them. And I am so sorry that Isabella has to go through this but there's no other way. We need to make sure both of them are safe" Hotch explained.
"Can't we tell Bella? I'm sure she can lie. It's just not fair" Jeremy said with tears in his eyes.
"Jeremy she's 9 years old. It's too big of a responsibility for her. And we don't know if he's watching, and if he is he'll know. It's too risky. We cannot risk their safety" Hotch explained.
Jeremy nodded. He understood Hotch. "And how is she? Emily?" Jeremy asked.
"She's stable right now. JJ will keep visiting her and making sure she's okay" Hotch said.
"Did she agree to this?" Jeremy asked.
"Not at first. But she understands now and she knows Derek and Penelope will look after Bella until we have Doyle" Hotch said and Jeremy nodded.
"Look. You cannot tell this to anybody. Not even Marley. This stays between you and me. That's it" Hotch said.
"I won't tell anyone" Jeremy said.
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At Derek's house the girls had finished the puzzle and were watching Masterchef when Jeremy got back from the office.
"Is everything okay? What did Hotch want?" Penelope asked as he walked inside.
"It was just um... Isabella's papers" Jeremy said. "I just had to sign some things" he said.
"Look who's back" Penelope smiled walking inside the living room with Jeremy.
He walked to Bella and gave her a hug. A little tighter than usual.
"I love you" he said.
"I love you too" Bella whispered and let go of the hug.
"Are you gonna be okay with them?" He asked.
"Yes" Bella said so sure of it. He smiled and said "good" then hugged her again and kissed the top of her head.
"Wow look at that" Penelope said as a beautiful dish appeared at the tv screen.
"That makes me hungry" Jeremy said.
"Well, lunch is ready" Penelope said and they all went to sit around the table. The girls sat while the three grownups took everything to the table. The lunch went great. They were putting the dishes away when Hilary stopped by to get Chloe.
"Hi Bella" Hilary said when she saw the girl. She went and hugged her. Isabella's eyes filled with tears but she didn't cry.
"Can you come tomorrow?" Bella asked Chloe as Hilary let go of the hug.
Chloe looked at her mom and Hilary said "of course she can"
Bella gave her a little smile and Hilary smiled back. She thought the girl looked way better then she expected.
They said their goodbyes and left.
"Let's watch some tv now?" Jeremy asked and Bella nodded yes. They watched tv till it was time to take Bella to the doctors.
"Bella" Morgan said sitting up straight next to her. Penelope and Jeremy were sitting on the other couch. Bella looked at him.
"Princess, today we have to change the bandages on your back so you won't get sick" Derek said and the girl just looked really sad. She knew it would hurt.
"Penelope and I thought it would be best if we take you to see a doctor so they can do it" Derek said.
"No" Bella said and started crying. She couldn't help it.
Derek pulled her to his lap.
"Princess, I'm sorry but you have to" he said.
"No, it's gonna hurt" she cried.
"Bella, it won't hurt like last time. It's healed a bit now. I promise you it won't be like last time" Jeremy said.
"No! I don't wanna go" Bella cried.
"I'm sorry princess but you have to" Derek said. He felt really bad.
"No! I'm not going!" Bella cried sounding angry.
Derek looked at Jeremy and both knew someone would have to carry her and just go.
Derek stood up with Bella in his arms. She started crying more and screaming saying she didn't want to go and that she was fine and didn't need to do anything to her back. But Derek just carried her to the car. Penelope and Jeremy went on the back with her while Derek drove. As he drove she calmed down a bit, but cried the entire ride. When they got there Derek picked her up and they walked inside and sat to wait.
"Please Uncle Morgan, I don't want to" Bella whispered still crying.
"I know princess. I don't want you to have to do it but you do. I'm sorry" he said truly sorry.
"Bunny, you're gonna be okay. We're gonna be right there." Garcia said.
"It's going to hurt really bad" she cried.
"We'll be right there with you" Penelope said not knowing what else to say.
They waited for a while and then got called in. So they went to the doctor's office.
Morgan placed Bella on the exam table and she refused to let go of him.
Doctor Sarah Sullivan, that had taken care of Bella when the girl had pneumonia a few months earlier, walked in.
"Hi sweetheart" she said with a smiled. "I heard you hurt your back" she said and Bella just tightened her grip on Morgan.
"So she's here for a bandage change?" The doctor asked Morgan.
"Yes" he said.
"Alright we'll get everything ready and we'll start in a little while" she said and went out.
Bella still had tears streaming down her face. Morgan wiped them and said "it's gonna be okay"
The doctor walked back in with two nurses. From the girl's current state she knew they probably would have to hold her down.
"Alright. Can I take a look on your back, princess?" The doctor said and Bella just looked at Morgan.
"Come on lay down. We are right here" he said.
Bella laid down on her tummy.
"Hold my hand tight" Derek told her grabbing her hand.
The doctor took the bandages off and Bella tightened her grip on Derek and flinched a few times.
"It looks better" Derek said when he saw. It wasn't as red as before and there were no blisters.
Jeremy felt his heart race when he saw her back.
"Is there a way to remove that?" Jeremy asked when he saw the clover.
"First it needs to heal and then we can look at the options" the doctor said and he nodded.
"Alright Bella, are you ready?" The doctor asked. "We're just gonna clean it now" she said and Bella squeezed Derek's hand.
"I'm right here" He told the girl.
The doctor started from the top and Bella just cried and cried in pain.
"Just cream now" Sullivan said and put it on. She put a new bandage on the top one and moved to the middle of the girl's back. That was the part that hurt the least. Bella just cried because she was scared but that part didn't really hurt much.
"Alright last one now" doctor Sullivan said.
When she started cleaning around the clover, Isabella started screaming and moving a lot. The two nurses held her down and the doctor kept going.
"Ahhhh stoooop! Noooo! No" Bella cried and begged as it stung very badly.
"Almost done." The doctor said and went as fast as she could.
It hurt so much that Bella could not control it and ended up peeing.
"Just cream now" a nurse said.
Doctor Sullivan closed it up and said "all done" as Bella just kept sobbing. Derek helped her sit up and the doctor saw what had happened.
"Oh sweetheart" Sullivan said and Bella just cried embarrassed.
"Sweetie, it's okay. It's okay, it happens. It was just an accident" the doctor said feeling bad.
"Come on let's get you cleaned up" Penelope said. Derek helped her down and the girl took the woman's hand and started slowly walking to the bathroom with Garcia and a nurse. Her back was hurting a lot now.
Bella was so embarrassed. Suddenly she remembered what Emily had written on the letter.
"I want Derek" Bella said remembering that it didn't matter how embarrassing that was that she could trust him.
Derek grabbed her hand and followed the nurse and Garcia to the bathroom. Bella entered and the two women took care of her while Derek stood at the door looking away.
"Here" a nurse said handing Derek hospital pants. Derek walked in to find Bella only in panties. She looked extremely embarrassed and scared. Penelope helped Bella put the hospital pants on and suddenly Bella said.
"The other day when I was there with them and the police came, it happened too" She said crying.
"You had an accident when the police came in?" Penelope asked and the girl nodded crying.
"When they shot him I got so scared and I couldn't hold it" she explained crying even more.
Derek kneed down and said "princess, it happens. There's nothing wrong with it, okay? It's an accident. It happens. You were scared, there's nothing to be embarrassed about"
Bella nodded still crying and he picked her up.
"Let's go home" he said and she rested her head on his shoulder. They walked out of the bathroom and Doctor Sullivan asked if the girl was okay.
"She'll be alright" Penelope said.
"Alright. Here, you can just call and I'll stop by at your house. Maybe that's better for her" the doctor said handing Penelope her card.
"Thank you" Garcia said and they went to the car.
Derek put Bella on the back with Penelope and she laid her head on the woman's lap. Jeremy sat on the front with Morgan and Derek started driving.
Bella started calming down and suddenly said "can we get ice cream again?"
Everybody smiled and Derek said "of course we can".
They stopped at an ice cream place and sat to eat. Bella stayed on Derek's lap the entire time. Once done they went back to the car and it was time for her medicine so Jeremy gave it to her and they went home. When they got to Derek's house She was asleep. Jeremy carried her inside and placed her on the bed. She didn't even move. The girl was out.
"I think I should go. Marley is alone in the hotel" he said.
"Okay" Derek said.
"Anything call" Jeremy said and left. He felt awful for lying to Bella but after seeing what the man did on her back he knew he couldn't tell her. He went to his hotel and Derek and Garcia just chilled in the house.
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Around 9:30 Bella woke up crying. She ran to the living room to find Penelope and Derek there.
"Oh princess" Derek said giving her a hug.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Penelope asked and Bella nodded yes. Both could see she was clearly scared.
"Can you hold me like mommy?" She asked Derek.
"Of course. Show me how" he said pulling Bella to his lap. She laid down slightly and put his hand where Emily used to put hers.
"Hold me tight" she whispered and Derek did. But she just kept crying.
"Does this help?" Derek asked.
She shook her head no and said "it's not the same" and just cried.
"Come here baby. I'll hold you" Penelope said sitting next to Morgan. Bella sat on her lap and Penelope wrapped her arms around the girl while Bella got into a comfortable position. "I'll hold you the Garcia way" Penelope said.
Bella just felt sad. She was scared and in pain and She just wanted her mother to be holding her. She needed her mom.
She kept crying until she finally fell asleep again.
After a while Derek carried Bella to bed and Penelope laid by her side. She felt horrible too. She missed Emily so much and she couldn't stand seeing the girl in so much pain. But she went through that too and she knew that being there and being strong for Bella would help.
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In Boston, earlier in the afternoon JJ had gotten a call from Will and decided to go home. She promised Emily she would be back soon.
Emily was in and out all day. Around 10 she woke up again and her head was hurting a lot. She looked around the room and a doctor walked in to check on her.
"Your vitals look good. I'm sure you'll be out of here in little time" the doctor said and Emily just nodded. She hated hospitals. She just wanted to be home with her daughter. She missed Bella so much.
When the doctor walked out she stared at the ceiling and started to think about what the girl was doing and how she was holding up. She didn't even realized she had tears streaming down her face till the doctor walked back in to get some of her blood for tests.
"What's wrong? Are you in pain?" The doctor asked.
Emily shook her head no and wiped her face.
"You'll go home soon" the doctor said.
Emily nodded and tried holding the new tears that were still forming in her eyes.
The doctor took some of her blood and went out.
"I'm so sorry" Emily whispered wishing that somehow her baby could hear her.
She felt stupid doing that.
But she just wanted her daughter to be okay. Okay with her, nothing else.
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