Paralyzed

Disclaimer: Don't own. Wish I did. Could use the money.

A/N: Don't know where this came from. Thought I would share. I am working on something that is actually being beta'd. Yes this has only been through my spell check and is a one shot.

Reid still couldn't believe that he had made it all the way to Vegas on his own. He was more than sure that the team knew that he was here by now, he just hoped he would have some more time before they showed up. He needed to prove to himself that he could still function.

He was sitting in his chair when Dr. Norman showed up to guide him to his mother's room. Dr. Norman knew the situation and assured Reid that his mother was having a good day today. Reid had been reluctant to see his mother, afraid that his condition would set her off. But there was still a little boy deep inside him that needed his mother to hold and comfort him.

"I'll be close by if you need me." Dr. Norman nodded to Reid before Reid knocked on the door.

"Come in." A woman's voice called from behind the closed door.

Reid turned the knob and wheeled himself inside. "Hi mom." He said, looking at the floor.

"Spencer." Diana Reid breathed his name as she saw him. "Come here baby." She opened her arms. Reid took that as an open invitation and moved himself over to the couch. "Can you sit next to me, or do you need help. I need to hold you."

Reid's only answer was to lock his wheelchair and maneuver himself to the couch. As soon as he was on the couch, his mother took him in her arms and squeezed. "My baby, what happened? Is this why you didn't write? Why didn't you tell me?" She cried as she held him.

"I will be okay mom."

"Is it permanent?"

"Yes."

"How bad?"

"Hips down. I was told I'm lucky, it could be worse."

"It could always be worse, baby. Now tell me what happened and don't try and protect me. You are hurting and I want to help."

Reid nodded and started to recount the story.

They had the place surrounded. The unsub in question was 32 year old Patrick Vennebush, a white male with a thing for young boys. So far, 7 boys between the ages of 5 and 8 had been taken. Three had been found beaten to death after they had been abused. As soon as one was found another was taken. And they didn't always appear in the order they were taken. It was a stroke of luck that an ATM camera caught a picture of a van dumping the last body. With help from Garcia they were able to back track the name to Patrick and his house.

Reid had the back with Rossi, while Morgan and Hotch had the front. JJ and Prentiss each had a side covered with some of the locals as backup. Once the first floor was cleared, the two groups of men split up. Hotch and Rossi, taking the basement, while Reid and Morgan took the upstairs.

Reid let Morgan take the lead going from room to room. But a scream piercing the air had Reid running to the last room down the hallway, not waiting for backup.

Adrenalin helped him knock the door down. Inside he saw a figure holding a thick chain, raised above his head getting ready to bring it down on a small cowering figure on the floor. Not even thinking, Reid ran towards the young boy and huddled his body around the much smaller one.

Looking back, he should have announced himself and pulled his gun. It would have saved him some pain and anguish in the long run. He justified to his superiors that he knew if he shot the man, the velocity of the bullet would have pushed the man to fall on the boy and crush him. That was why he used his own body to take the weight of the chain, especially his spine. It took two hits before Morgan had come into the room and pulled a gun. One more before Morgan shot him in the shoulder and made Patrick drop the chain.

By that time, the damage had already been done. Morgan had tried to move him from the boy, but Reid had commented that he needed a paramedic and was scared to move. His back was on fire and he couldn't feel his legs. Morgan radioed for medics and for the other team members before being able to process what Reid was trying to say.

In the end Reid had been right in his assumptions. The blows had done enough trauma to paralyze him. When he first woke up in the hospital, he couldn't feel anything from his abdomen down. The doctors, tried to encourage him to wait while they ran more tests and for the swelling to go down.

After three weeks, four opinions and countless tests, the results were paralysis from the hips down. At least he still had control over his bodily functions, that's what the doctors had said. He also saved a little boy who had drawn nothing but pictures of him and Reid since he was rescued.

As soon as the verdict about his condition was read, his team members, who had been staying with him on and off while he was in the hospital immediately started to crowd him with help and offers for him to stay with them. Being tired of the hovering he chased them out and left word with the nurses that he didn't want any more visitors.

After three days of moping, depression, and psychologists, he opened up the laptop that Garcia had left him. Two days of research and talk with his doctors he signed out AMA and caught a cab to the airport.

"So your friends don't know you are here?" Diana asked when her son finished his story.

"I'm sure that Garcia has my cards flagged to make sure I stay safe, but I didn't tell any of them where I'm going."

"What is the next thing on your to do list?" His mother asked, knowing how her son's mind worked.

"I don't know. I can't live at my place anymore, no elevators and the doorways are too narrow. I won't be able to go out into the field anymore. It feels like my life is over. I know I should be happy that I'm alive and that I saved someone's life, but at the moment I can only see the negatives. I was expecting to have to change my life eventually, because of being sick, but not like this." He started to cry.

Diana took her son's head into her chest and held him tight. Her poor boy. All he ever wanted to do with his life was help people. And this was the thanks that he got. She continued to hold him and rock him to try and calm him down.

Knowing Spencer the way that she did, he had not slept well as soon as he got the diagnosis. If she could get him to fall asleep, then she could take some matters into her own hands. Her baby was hurting, and no one hurt Diana Reid's son if she could help it.

When Dr. Norman walked in to the room an hour later he smiled at the sight before him. Diana Reid was sitting on the couch in her room. On her lap was her son's head, with his body curled up on the couch. His eyes were closed, and Diana had a hand on his head running through his long hair. "How is he?" He whispered not wanting to wake the boy up.

"He's hurt. Can you get me the number for Aaron Hotchner. I know you have it."

"I'll bring it in. Do you think talking to me would help?" While at times Diana Reid was a hard case to work with, she had been his patient for the past 10 years and they had become like family.

"I can suggest it to him, but I won't force him. Promise you won't lock him up in here? As much as I want to spend more time with my son, I don't want him stuck here like me."

"Only if he is going to do harm to himself." Dr. Norman, looked at the sleeping young man. "I'll also bring dinner for you too. I'm sure the sleep is good for him, but he also needs to eat."

Diana just nodded and went back to petting Spencer's hair.

Food arrived an hour later. Diana woke her son reluctantly. They spent dinner discussing mundane things, books and articles they have both read recently. Once the meal was over Diana broached the subject of her son talking to Dr. Norman.

"I'll think about."

Diana knew that was Spencer's way of ending a conversation and quickly moved it to another topic. "How long are you staying in town?"

"I don't know yet. I think I'm going to go find a place to stay for the night, and see how I do navigating around the city."

"Go site seeing, Spencer. Treat yourself to a day. Come by tomorrow night for dinner. I want to see you again. I miss you."

"I miss you too mom. I promise I'll be back tomorrow. I love you."

Diana Reid stood up and gave her son a kiss on the forehead and watched him wheel himself out of her room. Once he was gone she went to the phone that the patients were allowed to use and dialed the number on the piece of paper that Dr. Norman gave to her.