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The very first thought that went through Aaron Hotchner’s head as he slowly came round was oh my god. How am I still alive.
As he slowly came back to the world of consciousness, his mind strangely took him back to memories of him helping with Jack’s homework just a few evenings prior. His son had to create a piece of descriptive writing using the five senses. They had both come up with a story set on a beach. They wrote about smelling the sea air, hearing the waves crash, seeing the seagulls fly above their heads, and so on.
So since his brain still couldn’t quite come to terms where exactly he was, Aaron attempted to focus on his senses.
Smell. It reminded him of woodlands. Maybe where he and Sean used to go camping when they were younger.
Taste. Blood? That wasn’t a good sign. He hoped it was just a bitten tongue rather than coughed up blood.
Hearing. There was silence. But then…was that a quiet whimper beside him? He wasn’t quite sure, there wasn’t enough energy in his body yet to investigate. Before he could even attempt to muster up enough power to force his heavy eyelids back open, Hotch slipped back into unconsciousness.
“A-aron?”
“Please.”
“Aaron.”
Weak taps of a hand on his arm welcomed him back, alongside the croaked begs of his name. “Please. Wake…wake up.”
Then for a good few minutes, it was silent.
The curiosity was enough to force Aaron to come around again. His eyelids slowly fluttered open to reveal bright light. It took a few more moments for his eyes to adjust and slowly, the sight of a smashed windscreen came into view. It was right then when it all came flooding back.
Him and Spencer had been in pursuit of their unsub on the icy roads of Minneapolis. They had been interviewing a suspect in the middle of nowhere when she had suddenly bolted out the house and into her car. They had immediately followed her but then their SUV veered off track and straight down the steep verge into the snowy woodlands. He remembered the sensation of the car continuously rolling over and over again before finally coming to a stop with a bang. He supposed that it was then that he was knocked out cold.
“Spencer?” Aaron finally managed to croak out. Very carefully, he turned his head to the passenger seat to catch sight of his co-worker, and long-term boyfriend, next to him.
He almost wished he hadn’t.
The windscreen of the SUV had been completely shattered by a large tree branch forcing its way through. Aaron’s sluggish eyes followed the tree branch all the way through the window to where it ended…
Currently impaled into Spencer’s lower stomach.
“Oh god. Fuck.” He gasped out. His trembling hands attempted to pull at his seatbelt still wrapped around his body but the tugging at it only made it go tighter. Eventually, with a few deep breaths, Aaron’s brain finally came to the conclusion that he actually had to undo it by the buckle.
It came off with a click and he then had the freedom to turn in his seat to have a proper look at his partner. He didn’t even know where to start. Especially as he was currently abandoned in the middle of a forest with no supplies and nobody to help.
After a quick attempt on the car door, he felt sick as he found out it was jammed, stuck in place due to the damage to the vehicle. There was nobody to help him out.
But then of course there was.
He wrenched out his mobile from the pocket of his suit jacket. To his delight, despite a very cracked screen, the phone came to life. Hotch then dialled the number that he knew would get him some help the quickest.
“G-Garcia? It’s Hotch. We need help. N-now”
Penelope had shrieked down his ear as soon as she picked up, claiming that the team had been out for ages looking for the pair of them. Both of their phones had died so she had been unable to trace them; however she promised that assistance would be there as soon as possible. Knowing what Garcia was capable of, Hotch knew she would live up to that promise.
“Spencer? Spencer, love, please wake up.” Hotch begged as he finally brought his attention back to his partner. He had managed to get hold of Spencer’s scarf, which had earlier been flung onto the backseat as Reid had realised how warm the SUV’s heating could get, and was now stemming the extensive bleeding coming from Spencer’s stomach wound.
The other hand was pressed against Spencer’s neck where there was a very, very slight pulse thrumming underneath his fingers.
“You need to hang on for me, okay? Help is on its way but I need you to hold on until then.” Hotch begged. He ignored the warm tears which had begun to roll down his cheeks as he came to terms with the seriousness of the situation. “Please, baby. I can’t lose you.”
An extremely quiet groan sounded in response. So quiet that if Hotch hadn’t been solely focused on Spencer, he wouldn’t have noticed it.
“Spencer?”
“Hm.” Reid managed to grunt out. His face began to distort in pain as he gradually came round. Aaron almost felt guilty for wanting Spencer to be conscious as he realised how much pain his partner would be in. Maybe it would have been better for both of them if he had remained blissfully unconscious and unaware, until their wounds were treated.
“The team are on their way. An ambulance will be here for us shortly, don’t worry.” Aaron assured him. He moved his hand away from Spencer’s neck to push away the long curls that had fallen into his partner’s eyes. He knew how much Spencer hated it when that happened.
“You…you okay?” Spencer slurred. His head lolled to the side as he slowly opened his eyes to look at Aaron.
“I’m okay darling. Don’t worry about me.”
“Wha? What happened?”
Aaron continued to brush the hair back away from Spencer’s face as he tried not to focus on the fact that the scarf had now become so sodden with blood that his hand was starting to slip.
They needed help
right now.
“My bad driving, that’s what happened. We’re going to be okay.” Aaron continued. “This is why we shouldn’t come to such snowy places, next time we’re accepting a case in Hawaii.”
Spencer gave him a quick smile. Aaron ignored the fact that there was blood staining his teeth.
“That would…that would be…nice.”
“I was actually thinking Hawaii for our honeymoon if we ever get married.” Aaron murmured, his eyes still full of tears.
“You hav-haven’t proposed to me y-yet.” Spencer replied. His eyes flickered up to meet Hotch’s.
“Maybe I should ask you now.” Aaron gave a wet laugh. “Although let's not tell the team or Jack how it happened, they will never forgive me for getting down on one knee.”
Spencer coughed but then gave a short laugh in response. “I think, I think it’s okay.”
Very briefly, Hotch had a flashback of the last time he proposed to someone. He had been the most nervous he had ever been as he got down on one knee in front of Haley (and the entire Italian restaurant that they were having dinner in) and asked her if she would do him the honour of being his wife.
Aaron wasn’t sure if it was the shock and the gravity of the situation that they were currently in or whether he was just so sure that Spencer Reid was the one, but he didn’t feel nervous at all as he moved the hand away from Spencer’s forehead to grab his slightly lax hand.
“Dr. Spencer Reid, will you marry me?”
A single tear ran down Spencer’s cheek, making a track as it paved its way through the blood staining his face. “I will.”
Hotch also felt his eyes fill with tears as he pressed a soft kiss to Spencer’s forehead. “I’ll do it properly when we get out of here-”
“Hotch! Reid!”
Hope bloomed in Aaron’s chest as he heard the familiar shouts of Morgan and Rossi. Looking out the smashed window, he could see waves of flashlights and there…just in the distance…the beautiful sight of the red flashing light of an ambulance.
Without even realising what was happening, Hotch felt his hands be shoved out the way from Spencer’s stomach as they were replaced with those of an expert. “Please. Please help him.”
“He’s in the best care now, Aaron. Let’s focus on you.” Hotch heard Rossi say in his ear as the car door was wrenched open by a fireman armed with a crowbar. “Relax. You’re both in safe hands.”
That was the only thing Aaron had to hear as he allowed himself to fall once more into unconsciousness.
When he came around for the second time, he was incredibly disorientated. He even began to go through his senses again. This time, it only took him the strong stench of anaesthetic and bleach to work out he had made it to the hospital.
“Spence? Spencer?” Aaron gasped out, panic suddenly taking over as he realised he was no longer in sight.
“He’s okay. He’s a couple of doors down. He’s just came out of surgery but he’s going to be okay.”
Aaron glanced up to see Prentiss stood above him and Rossi also lingering by his bedside.
“He’s alive?”
“He’s alive.” Rossi confirmed with a small smile.
Aaron let a long, deep breath of relief escape him as he relaxed back into his pillow. He had been terrified to the core that he would have to be forced to say goodbye to another person he loved before their time. That he would have to explain to Jack once more that a part of their family wouldn’t be coming back ever again.
That wouldn’t be the case this time. Somehow, by some sheer luck, they had made it.
“Dave?”
“Yes?”
“I need you to do me a favour.”
“Sure. Anything.” Rossi replied as he took a step closer to Hotch’s bed so he was in his eyeline.
Aaron gestured with his head to the clear bag sitting at the end of his bed that he knew contained his clothes and belongings. “Take my credit card and buy an engagement ring. I trust you to pick out a nice one.”
“A ring?” Emily gasped, a large smile growing on her face.
“A ring.” Hotch confirmed confidently. “I don’t care how much.”
With a knowing smile and a nod, Rossi took the leather wallet out the bag and shoved it in his pocket. “I’ll be back shortly.”
When Spencer Reid woke up, he was greeted by the usual sight. Morgan was sitting in the corner, eating red jello. JJ was next to him, talking quietly on the phone, saying goodnight to her boys.
Then, on the other side of his bed, the curtain had been pulled back to reveal the room next to his. His partner, Aaron, was sat up in bed, scribbling down the answers to the crossword from the Sunday newspaper that was in his hand. It made Spencer smile, he knew how much Aaron enjoyed doing the crossword when he didn’t have him looking over his shoulder giving him all the answers immediately.
His gaze then flittered over to his bedside table. There, waiting for him, was a black velvet box. It didn’t take a genius to realise that it was a gift from his fiancee.
“I promise I’ll do it properly. Thought that might do in the interim.”
Spencer looked back up to Hotch who was now watching him with a slightly nervous gaze. Maybe he thought that Spencer wouldn’t remember or would maybe regret saying yes.
As if.
“I don’t need anything else.” Spencer replied warmly, with a slight slur to his speech as he still slowly woke up. “I love you.”
He managed to hear Aaron repeat the words back to him before he was pulled under once more, but he fell asleep with a very large, warm feeling in his chest as he realised how loved he was.