They get almost all the way up the stairs before Dave’s prediction fulfills itself and Aaron stumbles, tipping backwards and nearly falling. Dave catches him from behind just as Morgan grabs the front of his shirt, and they work together to ease him onto a step.
“Hey, take it easy, kiddo,” Rossi urges, moving to crouch in front of Aaron as the rest of the team hovered awkwardly. “Look at me.” Aaron’s staring straight ahead, eyes wide and scared, looking like he hasn’t even registered that Dave’s there. “Hey, come on, Aaron, give me something.” He puts his hand into Aaron’s line of sight, hoping to get his attention without startling him. If his ears are ringing, he may be physically unable to hear Dave, not just mentally checked out.
Big, deer-in-the-headlights eyes snap up to meet his, and Aaron frowns, open-mouthed, for a moment before whispering, “Wha… Dave, what happened?”
Morgan shoots him a concerned look, holding his phone up. Dave shakes his head, then points to the door. “Go tell the E.R. staff to get ready to take Hotch in again.” When only Morgan moves for the door, he snaps, “All of you. Out.”
As they clamber the rest of the way up the stairs and out into the hospital proper, he turns back to Aaron, who’s listing dangerously to one side. “You were in an explosion, Aaron,” he says, putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Aaron, instead of straightening up, leans into him further. “Do you remember?”
Aaron nods, relaxing a bit more into Dave’s awkward half-hug, but then tenses. “Kate. I- Kate was there. Where is she?”
Oh, lord help him. How was he supposed to explain to his fucked-up, concussed, half-deaf kid colleague that it was very, very likely that Kate wouldn’t make it out of surgery? As always, Aaron was determined to find new and interesting ways to break his heart.
Dave takes a deep breath and puts his free hand on Aaron’s leg. “Aaron,” he says, being sure to enunciate clearly and speak loudly enough for Aaron to hear him. “Kate’s in surgery right now. She’s lost a lot of blood. You can’t see her yet, but I’ll let you know more as soon as I find out, alright?”
Aaron sits for a moment, clearly trying to push through the fog and process what Dave had told him, then, all at once, he springs into motion, gasping as though everything’s become clear and pushing Dave’s hand off his leg.
“I have to find her,” he exclaims, leaping to his feet and starting up the stairs. His voice has cleared right up, no evidence of the tired slurring of moments before.
“Aaron, wait-” Dave climbs to his feet, reaches out to stop him, but he’s already gone, the door clanging shut behind him. “Damn it.” He’s always been like that, at least as long as Dave’s known him, quick to recover when someone needed him. Unfortunately, it’s all adrenaline, and the crash is always terrible. All Dave can do is trail behind him and pick up the pieces once he’s done.
He finds Hotch bent over Kate’s body in the surgery room and nearly walks right back out. It’s too much, he can’t deal with this right now.
But he’s not the one who knew her. He’s not the one who’s hurt and exhausted and grieving and confused, so he makes his way over to Aaron, being sure to come in from a wide angle so as not to startle him.
“Aaron,” he prompts. “Aaron, I think you should go and see a doctor again.”
“I’m fine,” Aaron demands, a statement which he immediately undermines by taking a step back and tripping over his own feet.
It’s experience that has Dave grabbing him around the waist and pulling Aaron’s arm over his own shoulders to walk them back to the E.R. They’ve done this dance many times before, but it never gets any easier to have his kid lean on him like this, to see him so totally helpless and hurting. Aaron very rarely asks for help, and by the time he does, it’s usually much too late to really do anything, so Dave has learned to step in early.
“Yeah, ‘fine,’ my ass,” Dave scoffs as he helps Aaron to the door. He stumbles, dragging his feet, and by the time they’re to the nurses’ station, Dave’s practically carrying him. Aaron doesn’t say a word until the nurses are coming to take him back to his room.
“No, I’m fine, I’m fine,” he protests, but his volume is all over the place and he’s swaying even braced against Dave. The team is watching concernedly from the seats in the corner.
“You’re going to be fine, sir, but I need you to cooperate and come back to your room with me right now,” a long-suffering nurse explains. “You have a concussion and some damage to your eardrum, but we can get you on some painkillers and start you feeling better right away.”
Dave takes Aaron’s arm and tries to maneuver him into the wheelchair they’ve offered. “Come on, kid. You need to sit down before you fall down.”
“Dave, Dave, no. Don’ let them… don’t let them take me away,” Aaron murmurs, the disorientation and grogginess returning in full force. “I don’t want to-”
“Aaron, calm down. I’m coming with you, they’re not taking you anywhere. You’re hurt and they’re going to help you.” He pushes Aaron back down into the chair and motions to the nurses helping them. “You may need to sedate him if he doesn’t become lucid soon.”
A nurse with a needle full of what Dave assumes is a sedative. “Agent Hotchner, I need you to calm down.”
“No, no, I’m not going to-” Aaron lurches upright again.
“Morgan, come help me!” Dave grabs Aaron and steers him toward Morgan, who does his best to gently subdue Aaron.
“Okay, boss, I’m sorry, I have to do this. Sorry, sorry. I’m really sorry, Hotch,” he rambles as the nurse comes and sticks Aaron with the needle. Dave sighs as the drug hits Aaron’s system and he slumps to the ground, unconscious.
He’s reading when Aaron wakes up. He’s been out for almost five hours, and he doesn’t look much better off for the rest. The cuts on his face have been covered, but the white of the bandages only serve to make him look even more deathly pale than before. He’s been in and out of dreams, but Dave’s been able to keep him mostly calm.
Aaron’s mouth twitches and he exhales sharply. Dave looks up, thinking he might be having another nightmare, but then his hand moves and Dave knows he’s coming around. He sets his book down and leans over the bed, putting a hand on Aaron’s upper arm.
Aaron blinks several times, squinting into the light over his head before focusing on Dave. “Where am I? What happened?”
“You’re still in the hospital, Aaron. You started to get agitated and confused after you found out about Kate, and the nurses had to sedate you.” Dave had gone back and forth a few times about how to re-break the Kate news in case Aaron didn’t remember, and had finally decided promptness was best. Aaron would be straightforward with him, so he would return the favor.
Aaron closes his eyes again, a look of such enormous grief passing over his face that, for a moment, Dave misses a woman he never knew. “Oh. Right.”
“I’m so sorry it had to end that way, kid,” he says, squeezing Aaron’s arm gently. He lets the silence grow for a few moments, listening to Aaron’s slow breathing, before breaking it again. “How are you feeling? Can you hear any better?” Aaron hadn’t asked him to speak up, but he hadn’t been talking very softly, and he knew the kid could read lips, so that didn’t tell him much.
“I’m alright. My ears… are still ringing. But I can hear you, and I want to go home now.” Aaron opens his eyes again and gives Dave a pleading look that reminds him of his early days with the BAU, of the angry, skittish, desperate kid that Aaron had been. Dave sighs and rubs Aaron’s shoulder soothingly.
“I know, kid, but you’ve got to stay here a little longer. You said you were fine before, but then you damn near passed out on me in the stairwell and I think you’re all out of credit with these doctors.” Aaron looks away, apologetic. “It’s alright, you did what you had to do, but I’m just letting you know that I’m pretty sure they’re keeping you overnight. Even then, I highly doubt they’ll clear you to get on that plane.”
Aaron nods and lets his head roll to the side until it’s almost touching Dave’s arm. “I understand.”
“Just try to get some rest, okay?” He runs a hand through Aaron’s hair, just once, something he used to do when they were younger but hasn’t done in a very long time. Aaron closes his eyes and relaxes a bit. “I sent the team back to the hotel for the night, but I’m staying right here. Go to sleep and see how you feel in the morning. We’ll work from there.”
Aaron nods once more, and Dave smiles to himself as the worry lines start to work themselves out of his forehead. He rubs his knuckles against Aaron’s cheek and whispers, “Sleep well, kid.” Then, he leans back in his chair and takes his own advice.