The BAU Badass

Chapter 9

Spencers POV

"Jo, Jo! Wake up, Jo! We need you here" Morgan shouted shaking Jo's head, fear taking over him

Fuck. Fuck. Who the hell would do this to her?? Why would anyone want to hurt her?!

I need to calm down. We need to help Jo and figure out who did this. FUCK.

The ambulance arrived and the medics went to check her pulse.

"Morgan, who the hell would do this?!" Anger rose inside of me.

The ambulance took her to the hospital, refusing to let me ride with them.

I called the team and immediately let them know what happened.

"Hotch, Jo's being taken to a hospital. Morgan and I found her unconscious, covered in bruises and cuts surrounded by shattered glass" I informed him, pacing back and forth worried about Jo.

"Oh my god" Hotch furrowed his eyebrows, "What hospital is she being taken to, we'll meet you there"

I told him where they were taking her and ended the call. I stood in front of the shattered glass, covered in some of Jo's blood, holding back a tear. I wanted to hurt whoever did this to her. I wanted to kill them. I don't even want to think of what could've happened if we hadn't found her.

Morgan came up to me, "Reid, there's no sign of a break in, I think she knew whoever did this"

"Oh my god" I noticed a jacket on Jo's living room couch. I walked over to the couch and immediately lifted the jacket, realizing exactly who it belonged to, "Mateo wore this jacket the day he was at the bar." My blood began to boil and I immediately realized what had been going on. The phone call she had in the office on our first case, the way Mateo talked to her outside the bar calling her a whore and unworthy of love, the way he was being overprotective and jealous when he met Morgan, the way she's scared of him but denies it every time I ask: this is a domestic violence case. He abuses her and manipulates her. He did this to her. Jo is so smart, she's so amazing, why would she think she deserves an asshole like him. Why would she stay in this relationship? Why protect him when I asked? Does she not trust me?? 

My heart shattered at the idea of how long this has been happening for, how long she was being manipulated and abused.

"Morgan, it was Mateo. I think he's emotionally and physically abusive to her; he must've gotten out of control and hit her until she was unconscious"

"Oh my god" Morgan realized, "When I saw her, I noticed some bruising on her ribs. I'm such an idiot! I should've known!" He yelled and turned to a wall, forming a first and punching into the wall with fury.

"Sociopaths like this are good at isolating and manipulating someone enough that the first time they hit you, you have nobody to turn to, and you believe them when they say it's your fault. It's not Jo's fault," you said to Morgan but also assuring yourself, "the first year of the relationship was probably perfect. This is what men like Mateo do. You can't blame yourself Morgan, neither can I. This is all Mateo's fault." I explained, still mad at myself for not being able to protect her from him.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him" Morgan rushed out of the apartment and I followed, we drove in silence until we arrived at the hospital where we met the rest of the team.

Back to Jo's POV:

It was hard to open your eyes, all you could see was bright lights above you, and loud machines kept beeping. You felt so much pain as you tried to open your eyes, realizing why– you had a swollen, black eye. This wasn't the first time he gave you one.

"Ms. Blaise? Jo? Can you hear me, I'm Doctor Dalton. You're in the hospital," a voice spoke.

A minute passed and you were adjusting to the light, you could only open one eye because the other was swollen shut. You cleared your throat, "H-How did I get here, I-I was at my apartment"

The doctor spoke up, "Do you remember what happened? How are you feeling?"

You knew exactly what happened, but every time you ended up in the hospital, Mateo was always by your side and told the doctors some made up excuse. "you were clumsy so you fell down the stairs and fractured your wrist" or "you were texting while walking and hit your head on a door," he had so many perfect excuses that wouldn't make the doctors think twice about how you ended up there.

"Um..." You scanned the room looking for Mateo, who was always there to make sure he wasn't blamed for the abuse, but you didn't see him. This time, you honestly didn't know how you ended up at the hospital. Mateo wasn't there and you had no idea how you got there.

"I don't know how I got here, but the last I remember, I-I remember someone breaking into my house, I think it was a robbery or something." You lied. Some part of you didn't want to admit the truth because you were embarrassed that you let a man constantly manipulate and hurt you. Some sick part of you also wanted to protect Mateo, you didn't know why.

The doctor wrote something on the charts in his hand, "Well it was a good thing your colleagues found you and called the ambulance. You were unconscious on the floor, beaten up pretty badly."

Confusion struck your face. "My colleagues?" you asked.

"Yes, they're in the waiting room. I'll go let them know you're awake and stable so they can come see you" He smiled at you.

"No, No!" you shouted before he had a chance to leave, "please, um, I don't want any visitors. Can you please tell them to leave?" you begged.

"Are you sure? They're really worried about you and you need a support system to recover, Ms. Blaise. You have broken ribs, multiple bruises, and need some stitches for the cuts."

"Yeah, um. I'm okay, really. I just don't want anyone to see me like this" you avoided eye contact with the doctor.

"I'll tell them you don't want any visitors right now and to come back later after you're well rested." Dr. Dalton smiled and left the room.

You were alone in the hospital room forced to listen to the loud machines beeping around you. Your head was pounding and your abdomen was killing you. Every breath you took hurt and you couldn't sit up. You stared at the ceiling thinking of how you ended up here. After everything you've been through, you thought you were strong. How did you keep falling for Mateo's lies, you're a profiler for fuck's sake. You have a degree in psychology and you know what a sociopath looks like, why couldn't you save yourself from this.

You were so desperate for love, you fell for Mateo. You had nobody in this world, you grew up with no parents and no friends, worked your ass off in school to get a job you liked and make enough money to live on your own, and you were alone through it all. But then you met Mateo in college, you dated him for a year and everything was perfect. You felt loved, understood, and cared for– you had never felt that before. Then the first time he hit you, you thought it was your fault. You were out late on a walk by yourself and came back to your apartment that you lived in together at 1AM. Mateo said he was worried about you and anger rose inside of him. He hit you and yelled. You apologized and told him you would never do that again, that you wouldn't ever want to worry him. 

A year later and you started ending up in the hospital. He kept telling you how nobody else could ever love you, and you believed him. The first time you ended up in the hospital, you tried to break up with him. A few days later, after running into him on the school campus, he apologized and told you he loved you... you got back together. This went on and on, you kept going back to him after constant emotional and physical abuse for years. Some of the break ups lasted months, some just a few days, but you would always end up back with him. This is honestly the last time, Jo. You will never go back to him, you told yourself.

"Jo?" You heard a voice whisper, immediately turning your head to see Reid standing next to your hospital bed.