Scorned Pt. 2

Scorned Chapter 5

Sam rushed down the hall and out of the hospital; he wanted to run out of sheer terror of being found out. He’d parked on the far south side of the hospital and was kicking himself for it now. When he finally made it to his car, he slammed the door shut and sat behind the wheel trying to regain his composure. It was several more minutes before he realized that his fists were pounding against the steering wheel and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. He wondered what others would think if they happened upon him at that moment.

Sam noticed the picture frames strewn about on the passenger seat; he looked at the reminders that Penelope was in love with Derek and shooting him and leaving him for dead would not change that. Angrily, he removed each picture from its frame making a small pile on his lap and then discarding the frames on the floor. He hated Derek Morgan and he hated Penelope for choosing Derek over him.

Hotch, Dave, Reid, and the two Morgan sisters watched Sam rush by; they all were surprised to see him. No one said a word but nonetheless the oddity of his presence was not lost on anyone. Dave looked at Hotch. Hotch knew what the older man was thinking and nodded his consent. Dave followed Sam far enough behind not to be seen without losing sight of the man. He stood just out of sight as Sam hurriedly jumped in his car and sat without starting the car...then the screaming began, which drew Dave closer.

One by one, Sam ripped each picture of the couple into tiny shreds. It wasn’t fair, he was tired of losing out to the Derek Morgan’s of the world and he’d had enough. Now he had done something that would ruin his life if he didn’t finish what he’d started. Quickly, Sam gathered the tiny shreds of what used to be photographs and the frames, he jumped out of the car and threw them into a nearby trash can. Not bothering to see if anyone was around, Sam got back into the car, started his engine and sped out of the parking lot.

Dave stopped and found cover behind a small motorhome. Sam stepped out of the car tossing something into a trash can and quickly got back into the car. As Sam sped away, Dave rushed over to the trash can and looked inside.

“Damn you Sam!”

ICU –

“Penelope, who is Sam?”

“He’s my ex-boyfriend; the one I broke up with so that I could be with Derek.”

“Oh, well it looks like he’s not quite broken up with you.”

“No, he isn’t, but I’ve made it clear that it’s over between he and I.”

“What does he have to do with my son being here, lying in that bed?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean, Penelope. Tell me why your ex-boyfriend is here with you when Derek is here fighting for his life?”

“Fran, I’m so sorry! Sam came by my office to return some things and Derek saw us...him...it wasn’t what he thought, and he wouldn’t answer my calls...”

“Penelope...”

“Please forgive me, I didn’t want this to happen, it’s my fault and I know you will hate me, I don’tblameyoubecauseIblamemeand...”

“PENELOPE! Stop, please...just...stop...”

Fran watched the tears drench Penelope’s face; she was hysterical fearing the worst and unable to make sense of anything that had happened.

“Come with me.” Fran ordered gently pulling her toward two nearby chairs.

“Sit.”

For the next several minutes, the two women sat silently while the noises of the hospital hummed around them.

“I can’t lose him Fran, because this is all my fault. I have to explain...it wasn’t...”

Fran took Penelope’s hand in hers and squeezed firmly.

“I need you to breathe, slow down and tell me what happened; tell me what you are blaming yourself for.”

Penelope inhaled and exhaled slowly and glanced toward the room where Derek lay unconscious.

“Sam came by my office; he never comes by my office. He said he wanted to return some of my things. It was odd but I just thought he was trying to be nice I don’t know.”

“Sounds like he was hoping you were having second thoughts.”

“Yeah he wasn’t ready to let go and I didn’t know how to tell him to leave me alone without being cruel. I know I hurt him; I should have never gotten involved with Sam.”

“Why did you get involved with Sam?”

“I just wanted to be happy. I wanted someone to want me and love me.”

“What does any of this have to do with Derek being here?”

“Sam hugged me. I didn’t know he was going to do it; I was stunned, I didn’t know what to do. Derek saw it and before I could explain, he ran off.”

“So again, what does that have to do with Derek being here?”

“I tried calling and I went to every place I thought he would go. I went to his house he wasn’t there at first. Then later on I went back to his house...that’s when I found him. Fran, I thought...I thought he was dead. Oh my god!”

“I can’t imagine walking into his house and finding him.”

“I’ll never get the sight of him on that floor out of my mind, the blood, him so still; I’ll never forget that sight!”

“Penelope, this isn’t your fault. Derek wasn’t shot by what he saw between you and Sam. Someone came into his house and shot him.”

“But if he hadn’t seen what he saw, Derek would have been at work or with me or the team, not at home alone. This is all my fault!”

Fran pulled Penelope into a tight motherly hug and rocked her lightly.

“Oh baby, what am I going to do with you two.”

Dave rushed back into the hospital and rejoined the others. Hotch, Reid, Sarah and Desiree gathered around him as he caught his breath.

“What’s going on Dave?” Hotch asked.

“Sam’s our shooter!”

“No way, are you sure?” Reid didn’t want to believe it.

Slowly Dave opened his hand to expose the shreds of what used to be pictures. The others looked in shock trying to take in the fact the Derek’s assailant was within inches of him and could have at any moment finished what he had starter earlier.

“Reid, find JJ let her know what’s going on and neither one of you let Penelope and Derek out of your sights.” Hotch ordered. “I’ll call and have the local police department put out an APB on Sam. We need to stop him before he tries again.”

“Sam is an arrogant son-of-a-bitch!” Dave began. “I want him! I want him to rot in jail for what he’s done to Derek!”

“We all do, Dave. We all do.”

Fran and Penelope sat quietly within view of Derek’s room. Fran had tried her hardest to convince Penelope that none of this was her fault, but she knew she had failed. The two sat clinging to each other for dear life praying that Derek would survive and that he and Penelope could go on with their lives together. But they were a long way from that; the doctors had given them news that was grim, his chances were sixty-forty and not in his favor. Fran knew her son and like his father, he was a fighter. He’d beaten the odds before, and she needed him to beat the odds again.

“You can see him now.”

Fran and Penelope looked up at the young nurse who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Both noticing her smile they hoped it meant good news.

“Is he awake?” Penelope asked.

“No, not yet but his vitals are stable.”

“That’s good news, right?”

“Of course, it’s good news!” Fran responded.

The nurse nodded in agreement and her smiled broadened.

“The longer his vitals remain stable, the better his chances. We’re hopeful and I must admit that wasn’t the case an hour ago.”

“Thank you...” Fran began.

“Beatrice; my name is Beatrice and I’m going to be one of Mr. Morgan’s nurses while he’s here.”

“Thank you, Beatrice.” Said Penelope.

“You’re welcome and if you need anything, please let me know.”

JJ had purposely stayed out of sight giving Fran and Penelope a moment together. She watched the two enter Derek’s room holding onto each other for dear life. He had to pull through, he had to. If he didn’t, she wasn’t sure that Penelope would survive.

Sam had regained his composure; he wasn’t a quitter. He had to finish what he’d started the night before. Yes, it was true that shooting Derek hadn’t been very well thought out, but he wasn’t sorry. The only thing he was sorry about was that Derek Morgan was still alive. No, he wasn’t a quitter and he would not stop until Derek’s body was stone-cold dead. He also would not give up on Penelope; she was and always would be his. She was confused and had obviously fallen under the charms of a nefarious playboy, but Sam would fix that and before long Penelope would be back in his arms and back in his bed.

...to be continued

*Disclaimer: The Derek Morgan Chronicles is fan fiction based on the CBS Crime drama, Criminal Minds. We do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.