Chapter 02
Day 07
There was one ER in the area that could take a helo. By the time Hotch and Dave got free of the chaos downtown they found Morgan, JJ and Penelope waiting. Morgan was there because Hotch told him to be there, Penelope because she couldn't help downtown and JJ because she was too full of baby to manage more than a stately waddle these days. She was due in under two weeks, which meant any time.
But unable to move did not mean unable to think. She was coordinating everything at the hospital until Hotch got there. "How is he?" he asked.
"They took him down for an MRI." JJ replied. "And then he's going in to surgery depending on what they see."
"MRI? Head trauma?" Dave asked.
"They don't know. Maybe."
This was not something any of them even wanted to consider. What would their friend be like without his amazing mind intact? How would that affect his spirit? Did they want to know? "If not head trauma then why the surgery?" Dave asked.
"Fractured penis." Morgan said. "Yeah, I don't want to think to hard about that either."
There was nothing they could do but wait. So they waited.
An hour
Penelope got an e-mail. "So it looks like all the victims shopped at the same store." She said. "Spencer picked up some books there two weeks before he went missing."
"And somehow this gang decided he fit their parameters for a target." Dave said.
"All this over some books." JJ replied. "We have to teach him how to shop on Amazon."
Two hours
"What are we going to do if..." Penelope couldn't finish.
"We do what we can." Hotch replied. "This caught us out of nowhere."
Finally the doctor came to the waiting area. "Doctor Reid?"
The team gathered around, Hotch showing his power of attorney. "We're all family." He said. "What happened?"
"A lot." The doctor replied. She moved them to a private space to talk. "As far as major injuries go we're looking at broken bones and the genital trauma. We've had to splint both hands and wrists and reset his shoulder. He also has some cracked ribs. It looks like he took a boot to the kidneys; we're keeping an eye on that. The good news is that the surgery was textbook, he should be back to normal in that regard in about four to six weeks."
"How does that happen?" Morgan asked.
"In this case, blunt force trauma."
No, they did not want to think about that. "So the rape kit came back positive?" Dave asked.
The doctor sighed and nodded. "Multiple donors." This was not a surprise, but not a conformation anyone wanted. "Right now his condition is baffling. He's not showing any sign of head trauma, not even a black eye, and all the tox screens came back clean, but he's non-responsive."
"Non-responsive?" JJ asked.
"He's in a coma." The doctor replied. "And we have no idea why."
They filed into his room quietly. The room was filled with monitors, tracking every breath, every heartbeat. And in the center of it all lay their friend, breathing on his own at least, his eyes closed, not moving. He looked like he could get up at any moment, and likely be really irritated at the casts that covered him from elbow to fingertip. He looked like he would open his eyes and smile and be so glad to see them.
"Spence?" JJ called.
No response.
"Spency." Penelope said. She reached out and gently rubbed his arm above the cast where it wouldn't hurt. "You need to wake up. I made you cake."
Nothing.
"Hey, pretty boy." Morgan nudged a foot under a blanket. "Come on now."
Nope.
Dave nodded them out to the hallway again. "We should start taking shifts." He said. "Staying with him."
"I don't get it." Morgan said. "He was fine before the raid. We saw him through the window. It was only three hours until we got to him; he had to have spent most of it in that locker room."
"A lot can happen in three hours." JJ said.
"Yeah, but there was nothing in there that would have caused this. I mean yeah, we all know what they did, and he got a beat down, but any injury that would have caused this would have shown up somewhere."
"Drugs?"
"They didn't find anything."
"Yeah, but there were a lot of drugs there. It could be something not covered in the standard test."
"We need more information." Hotch said.
"Yeah, but how do we get it?" Morgan asked. "Everyone up there was either an Unsub or high as a kite."
"Petty Officer Johnson seemed like a good source." Dave said. "We'll contact NCIS in the morning, see if they can set up an interview. Maybe he knows something we don't. In the meantime who's staying tonight? Not you JJ."
"I don't know." She rubbed her stomach. "Closer to maternity here."
It was a joke, and a needed one. "I'll stay." Morgan said. "Baby girl, spell me in the morning?"
"Sure." Penelope said. "I'll bring coffee."
"All right." Hotch nodded. "We'll pick it up in the morning. He's safe tonight."
Late that night Derek Morgan sat and watched the man lying silently in the bed. For all he knew little brother was asleep. If he shook him he knew Spencer would open his eyes a slit, but wouldn't be looking at anything. But they said people like that could hear so maybe...
"Hey kid." Morgan said. "I don't know if you can hear me or not. Look, I know what you went through, all right? Maybe not exactly but I get it. I just want you to know that I am living proof that you can come out the other end and have a good life. It's not easy, I know that, and it's not quick but it can be done. And you don't have to heal from this alone. I'm going to be there the whole way."
Hope you heard me, Morgan thought, as he settled back for the night.
