Author's Note: Hello everyone! It has been quite a while, but with the start of a promising new season, I couldn't resist visiting my favorite team and, yes, putting adorable Dr. Reid through the ringer. It's what I do, as wrong as it may seem. Anyway, so I think I have a relatively new and interesting idea here so hopefully I can execute it properly but that's a part of the fun, I suppose.
Warning: There will certainly be some spoilers in here, all of which are of former episodes and the only questionable thing is that this is supposed to be set a few months after the season 7 opener so it mentions briefly what I think the team's reactions to Emily's situation might be. So, while not a future spoiler, there is a brief amount of speculation based on what we already know from the season premier. So, apart from that, there are a couple mentions of past episodes.
Set-Up: As I mentioned in the 'warning' section, this story is set a few months into season 7 - basically I wanted our rightful team here and while the season seven premier definitely adds a little more depth and drama to what's going on in my story, it is in no way a major part of it. So, season 7 and everything is canon.
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, sadly. I just liked to borrow them and play tea party from time to time. Now...
Without further ado, I present:
The Lucky Ones - Chapter 1 (Introduction)
Sterile.
That was the first word that popped into Spencer Reid's frightfully hazy mind as the smell of cleaning supplies along with the hard-to-describe scent that Reid had only ever smelled in hospitals and clinics filled his nostrils. The only way he could really express the overall odor was with one word: sterile.
And, seeing as how scent was the sense most closely linked to memory and he had never experienced this aroma in any place other than a medical facility, he could conclude with great certainty that he had landed himself in a hospital.
With this, more confirming details of his surroundings began to flood his senses, the first being pain. He was hurting quite literally, all over. Some places, like his head for instance, stood out from the general aching and throbbing that engulfed his whole body but for the most part, none of it was necessarily incapacitating.
Next came the sour taste in his mouth that he had only ever experienced after being held in that cabin with Tobias Henkle where he was drugged, not permitted food and certainly was unable to brush his teeth. It was, of course, most unpleasant. Despite all of this, however, the most telling sign that he was definitely in a hospital were the sounds. The beeping of monitors was the most notable of them but in the distance he could also hear people walking and talking in somewhat hushed voices.
Oh yes, there was no doubt in his mind that he was in a hospital of some sort and, based on his level of pain, he clearly belonged there. Still, he had absolutely no clue what had happened to get him to this point. Which is what scared him the most.
As he began fighting his unbelievably heavy eyelids, he broke into a cough against his dry throat and heard the beeping of the monitor beside him increase. And, just as he won the battle with his eyes, he saw a nurse come into his blurred vision.
He coughed a few more times before allowing her to bring a straw to his mouth and relished the cold water sliding down his sore throat. After breaking away from the straw, which had already drained him significantly of what little energy he had, he took a deep breath and blinked a few more times before his vision cleared.
It was only then he noticed that his eyes, and apparently other parts of his face, were rather swollen from some sort of impact. With every new detail such as this, a little more panic filled his mind.
"Take it easy, sir" the middle-aged nurse said kindly. "My name is Maggie and I'm your nurse. How are you feeling?" she asked as she looked over his monitors and charts.
Reid clenched his eyes shut, still flustered by the fact that he had no idea what was going on.
"Sir? Can you hear me?"
Reid, confused by the fact that she kept calling him 'sir' instead of his name, took a deep breath and replied, "I'm… okay."
The nurse smiled warmly and soon after, a man entered the room who was clearly a doctor.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Parsa," he greeted rather loudly and Reid was immediately able to deduce that this man had some notable degree of narcissism in him. "It's nice to finally see you awake."
"W-what happened?" Reid asked, the pain in his head getting the worse by the moment.
"We were hoping you could tell us that," the nurse replied sweetly, her hand now on his forearm. Reid, though appreciative of her kindness, was certain he registered her using a tone that would normally be suitable to utilize with a child or perhaps someone who was not in their right mind. This only served to startle and frustrate him more.
"Can you tell us your name?" the doctor asked.
Reid wanted to roll his eyes, knowing that these rudimentary questions were all a part of the process but he wanted answers, not silly questions.
"Reid," he said quickly, then thinking better of it, clarified, "Dr. Spencer Reid."
"You're a doctor?" the nurse replied quickly but the skepticism was not lost on Reid. He was used to people being surprised that he was a doctor at his age, but there was something in the eyes and attitudes of the people standing before him that made him think they were not buying it for a second.
"Yes, I'm a doctor and an FBI agent," he stated almost angrily, but immediately regretted it because if they thought he was crazy for claiming to be a doctor, they certainly weren't going to accept this new information.
"Right, well Mr. Reid," the doctor began with an amused voice that enraged Reid even more and increased the aching in his head.
"It's doctor."
"Dr. Reid," the man clarified with a grin, "Do you know where you are?"
"In a hospital."
"What year is it?"
"2011," Reid replied, still extremely annoyed by the situation.
"What state are you in?"
"Virginia."
He noticed the doctor first appear confused but he hastily returned to his smug grin.
"Right," Dr. Parsa said, "Because that's where the FBI headquarters is located."
Reid frowned. He could tell the doctor still didn't believe him and this last comment was yet another veiled stab at what the doctor thought was Reid's sanity or lack thereof. However, based on the doctor's reaction, Reid could safely say that he was not in Virginia.
"Wait," Reid said quickly. "Where am I?"
"You are in the hospital," the nurse said calmly, still as if talking to a child.
"I know," Reid said quickly, irritated because he knew there was something very important about where he was. "What state am I in?"
"You are in Jacksonville, Florida," the nurse answered, her concern and confusion growing. But it was lost on Reid whose mind was suddenly being flooded with memories of the case the team had been working on.
"How did you find me? What happened?"
The doctor and nurse, who both seemed confused now, looked at each other before the doctor continued.
"You were found in a wrecked van on the side of the road. There didn't appear to be a driver unless you crawled into the back after the accident."
"You were quite injured," the nurse continued, "And we wanted to call your next of kin but…"
"There was no form of identification," Reid finished, already piecing everything together in his mind. The nurse nodded in confirmation. Reid winced as the beeping of his heart monitor picked up its pace and the throbbing in his head amplified.
"Mr. Reid, what is going on here?" The doctor now asked, seemingly upset that something was going on that he did not have control over.
"As I tried to tell you before, I'm an FBI agent and the last thing I remember is working on a case that I have clearly become a victim of. A lucky victim as everyone so far has been found dead but never-the-less. How long have I been here?"
The two medical personnel, both rattled at this point, began fumbling with the chart and their own words.
"We've had you here since yesterday morning," the nurse began.
"So almost two days."
Reid winced again against the pain radiating through his body. "From Quantico to Jacksonville is roughly six hundred and eighty miles which would take about eleven hours depending on traffic…," he said aloud, calculating in his mind and visualizing a map of the east coast. "So, I've been missing for at least three days."
"This must be some sort of joke...? Your head injury has..." the doctor said with his smug smile.
With the pain reaching an almost unbearable level now along with the doctor's rude personality, Reid was on his last nerve.
"You can continue to question who I am, it really makes no difference to me," Reid interrupted, bringing his IV-free hand to his swollen face in an attempt to help his pounding head. "But the fact of the matter is, my team is looking for me and more importantly, you may very well still have a serial killer in your city right now, which, based on Jacksonville's crime rate, is certainly the last thing you need. Now, if you want to be of any kind of help to me at all, you will help me make a phone call. Right now."
EN: Oh... interesting! Or, at least I hope it was. It's always a little scary for me when I stray from tags and try to make my own storyline, but hopefully this one turns out okay. Either way, thank you for reading, reply if you have the chance/feel compelled to, but most importantly, please come back for more if you like it so far! Thank you :) P.S. - I'm from Jacksonville so I'm allowed to pick on it ;)