Chapter 2
Eleven days ago…
Late in the day on Monday, Spencer sat at his desk just staring at an open file rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"Reid!" He looked up suddenly as a familiar voice called him back to the present.
He looked at Morgan simultaneously realizing that Morgan had spoken his name more than once.
Moving his hands to the desk he asked "What?" on the end of a sigh.
Morgan raised his eyebrows and spoke slowly, "I asked, are you working on the Hansen file?"
Spencer quickly looked down and looked back up. "No. I don't have it."
"Okay." Morgan said and looked back down at his desk and began to shuffle files looking for the one he wanted. Stopping in his search he looked back at Spencer. Spencer could see a quick assessment before he spoke. "Are you okay? You look tired."
Spencer frowned slightly before grimacing a little, "Yeah. I actually, kinda feel like I'm coming down with something. I ache a little and the last few days I just feel really tired." At the wary look he received from Morgan he quickly continued, "I mean I don't think I'm contagious or anything. I don't have a cold or anything like that. I just feel drained even though the last couple of weeks have been pretty quiet."
"Well," said Morgan, "I bet you need to put that never quiet brain of yours to sleep at the same time as the rest of you." He followed with a disarming smile to contradict the serious statement.
"Maybe so." Spencer gave a nod and a smile and then looked down at the open file with renewed concentration. At the same time in the back of his mind, he began to consider that maybe he did need to check into things when he finally admitted to himself that he really hadn't been feeling well a lot longer than a few days.
Preset:
Spencer recognized the upset figure in the door as the woman from the store the day he had met the young girl, whose name apparently was Elizabeth. Elizabeth was almost a miniature duplicate of the woman except for green eyes versus brown eyes. She didn't look truly angry but Spencer could see she was exasperated as well as embarrassed that her daughter was so blunt with a stranger.
Elizabeth looked at her mother and asked, "Why are you mad Mom? We were just talking. We met him at the store that day I was sick and we got me some lime Jell-O and 7-Up." Without stopping she turned back to Spencer and said, "She doesn't remember meeting you because I was sick and she has a lot going on these days. Hey, what is your name anyway?"
Spencer's eyes darted back and forth between Elizabeth and her mother feeling both overwhelmed and worried that this woman clearly didn't remember him and might even come to the conclusion that he was potentially some kind of pervert preying on little girls in the store when their mothers weren't looking.
He took a fraction of a second to gather himself and compose his expression. He then met the little girl's eyes and spoke, "My name is Spencer Reid. It's nice to meet you both." He then looked at her mother and met her eyes with a quick smile and nod making sure his expression was as pleasant and as non-threatening as possible.
Her mother gave a blink and shook her head as if to start over. "Hi. I'm Eleanor May. I'm sorry about Elizabeth disturbing you. I'm sorry. I don't remember meeting you."
His instincts to include a child in relevant conversation kicked in as he spoke to both Eleanor and Elizabeth, looking between both. "We were in the store on the corner of South 5th Street and Thomas Avenue 17 days ago in the evening at about 7:20. We were both in line, Elizabeth said hi, and I said hi back. You were preoccupied for a moment looking for your debit card."
"Oh." said Eleanor as she searched her memory but clearly came up blank. Her expression changed to one of questioning. "17 days ago at 7:20 in the evening? Well, um, Spencer is it? Have a nice day." Not able to find anything else to add to the conversation which was becoming more awkward, she gave Spenser a polite but contrived smile and then addressed her daughter, "Elizabeth, let's get going. We have a lot to do today and I'm sure there are other people in line to get their blood drawn."
Elizabeth stood up with a put upon sigh and spoke to Spencer, "I guess I have to go. Will you be okay?"
His heart seemed to skip a beat as he replied, "Yes, I will. I'd better get going too. Bye Elizabeth."
As Elizabeth turned and walked to her mother, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Bye Spencer. My name is Elizabeth but I go by Bittsy. Mom's just frustrated with me right now. I can be a handful." She added a small wave to the lab technicians and a cheerful, "Bye guys. Behave!" took her mom's hand and continued walking to the waiting room.
Eleanor gave Spencer a small shrug and a smile that was more of a grimace as her daughter led her out of the room.
The lab technician met his eyes, and all he could say was, "Wow."
Both technicians looked at each other, smiled, and looked back at him. The woman who had drawn his blood chuckled as she said, "You have no idea." Spencer chuckled mainly to himself, stood, smiled, and gave his own small wave, turned and left, but with a warmth inside that hadn't been there for 11 days.
