A/N: I have come to the realization that writing happy stuff is not my strong point… (Not that what is happening to Reid is happy...) I am sorry that the medical parts are not all medically accurate, but I hope you enjoy it anyway! I apologize for my long pauses between chapter updates. I have made my New Years resolution to get these stories finished and keep myself limited to one or two stories after this! I have 7 active stories! Craziness for me! (I just realized it's been 9 months since I updated this! Eek!)
ChocoboMuffins: Sorry this has taken me so long to continue! I hope you continue to read, but thanks for your review!
jltmysterylover: I apology for the huge gap between the chapters. Finally have an update for you and thanks for reviewing!
Andi: Criminal Minds is so much better with the team the way it was! Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Sue1313: Thanks for the review. This might clear some of it up!
JJ looked around the nursery that Reid had slaved over for weeks. She remembered loaning him one of Henry's play pens for Haley to sleep in until Reid had finished the nursery he had had to plan and finish on the spur of the moment. She was awed with how perfect the nursery was. The walls were painted a soft baby blue and the ceiling was painted midnight black and dotted with tiny lights so that Haley could always see the stars. The crib, dresser, and changing station were made of white cedar. Reid had also had custom made letters spelling out Haley mounted on the wall. There were pictures of her everywhere. The goofy grin that Reid walked around with was captured in several of them. Fatherhood had allowed him to loosen up while maturing at the same time.
She smiled down at the baby girl who was sleeping, cradled carefully in her arms. She carefully sank down into the plush white rocking chair. Haley's favorite stuffed giraffe, nicknamed Raffi, was clutched tightly in Haley's arm, recovered from the remains of the car. Her favorite soft pink blanket covered the little girl as JJ rocked slowly back and forth, awed by how much she resembled her father.
"Any changes?" Morgan asked, dropping his voice as he walked into Reid's room. Reid had been moved to ICU after he spent a few hours in Post-Op. Emily looked up from the book she had been reading while curled up in a chair. Rossi was snoring softly beside her, a blanket thrown haphazardly over him. Morgan held back a laugh. Rossi's hair was standing up all over the place.
"Nothing." Emily whispered back, folding her blanket. The team had split up so someone was always watching Haley and Reid and the others were getting some sleep. Haley had been discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health and they didn't want her first memories to be the hospital. They had brought her into see Reid, hoping her gurgles would reach him in his sleep, but Reid hadn't moved. Haley had gotten so upset that her daddy didn't wake up,
"He's gonna wake up." Hotch's voice startled the two agents. He was standing in the doorway, his usual suit and tie traded in for jeans and a pull-over sweater. "Go home, get some sleep." He said to Emily. Emily nodded and tapped Rossi's arm. Rossi would sleep better in his own bed. He would regret if he spent the rest of the light with his head bent back at the angle it was.
"Shift's over." Emily said, her voice taking on a normal tone. The doctor had told them that talking in a normal voice could help Reid and they had quit whispering around him unless people were sleeping in the room. "See you guys later." Rossi nodded goodbye to his team members as he left the room.
"He still looks like a teenager." Morgan was the first to break the silence. He always liked to tease his best friend about his boyish looks, but lying so still in the bed, it was even more blatantly obvious how young the genius really was. "Reid, you need to wake up man, we need you." He moved the chair closer to the bed as he settled in for the night.
"It's been five days, Reid. I hate seeing you like this, please wake up!" Garcia fought hard to keep the tears from escaping every time she saw Reid. Today she had brought her laptop and had been reading passages from different books she remembered Reid mentioning at one point. She wished Reid would wake up and give some long winded explanation on how to say some of the unfamiliar words she stumbled through in the books and tell her the story behind the pronunciation and the word origins.
The rest of the team had had to go back to work, but she had set up a mobile command post here and could communicate with the team if they needed her help. They had decided to drop Haley off at the day care, to try to keep her as close to her routine as they could.
"Hello Mrs. Garcia!" Tabitha, one of the day nurses stepped into the room. She had gotten used to the eccentric looking women before her. The group of people who came and sat with the young patient were some of the most dedicated people she had ever met. It was obvious that the man meant a lot to them. She could see in their eyes the hope they were still holding onto and she found herself hopeful that the man would wake up too.
"Hello." Garcia looked more dejected than she had the previous day. All she wanted was for her favorite resident geek "How's he doing?"
"I'll have a look. The doctor should be in before too long." Tabitha tried to keep her voice cheery. She had watched many families loose hope on their family members. She hoped that this young man would wake up soon.
"Thanks." Garcia gave a sad smile before reaching to stroke the young man's hair, "He's a single father." Tabitha couldn't believe what she was hearing. The man in the bed looked so fragile, so innocent. While she had seen his age, he had an almost childlike look about his face. He just didn't seem old enough to have a child of his own.
"Wow." Tabitha replied in shock. She didn't know what else to say. Another nurse had told her that the man lying before her was an FBI agent who had more degrees than she could count on one hand.
"He's one of the sweetest, caring guys you have ever met." Garcia said wistfully. She missed the quirky facts that the young genius was apt to utter at the most random of moments. He looked incredibly young. The man definitely had obviously been though a lot, more than she could ever imagine.
"I bet he is." Tabitha said quietly as she checked the man's pupils. She looked at the readouts form the monitor. "Everything is still in the normal range. I'll make sure the doctor stops by soon."
"Thanks Tabitha." Garcia managed the haunt of a smile. She turned back to look at Reid. She wanted more than anything right now for him to open his eyes. He was so still, a rare phenomenon for him. He was always bouncing on the balls of his feet, or using his hands to make some statement. They all knew he inhaled sugar but it kept him going and made him who he was.
"His vitals are stable. Everything is healing well. I know you would like me to put a time on how long it is going to take Dr. Reid to wake up, but I simply can't." The doctor said after he examined the chart, read-outs, and checked all of the equipment Reid was hooked up too.
"Is there anything that we can be doing?" As much as Garcia wanted to scream at the man that this wasn't enough, she knew that he was doing all that he could. She wanted to give Reid a good shake and force him to wake up. She hated that there wasn't anything she could do for the youngest member of the BAU.
"Keep talking to him. Make sure he understands he's missed. Read his favorite books to him." Doctor Fisher nodded to the book that was lying on Garcia's lap. You guys are doing great. Just hang in there, any other questions?"
"Nothing, thanks Doc." Garcia said, reaching to grab the book again as the doctor shut the door behind him. "Reid, we're dying out here without you. Haley knows something is wrong." She waited, hoping for a reply, but deep down, but knowing Reid was still lost in the black abyss of his mind.
Three Week Later
"Reid, I wish I could order you awake, but I can't. I just want you to remember, there are a lot of people here who miss you. Your daughter misses you. The team misses you too. I, uh, I miss you." Hotch lowered his head down onto his hands. He wasn't one to show his emotions, but it was taking a huge toll on him. He had been sitting with Reid for the past six hours.
"Wish you could order him awake." Emily said quietly from where she was leaning in the doorway, two cups of coffee clutched in her hands. She felt like all of the nurses knew her by name now and being a regular in the hospital was never one of her life ambitions.
"Me too." Hotch answered so softly, it could barely be heard over the rhythmic sounds of the ventilator. Emily took a seat next to Hotch, handing him the cup of coffee he was rarely seen without.
"Agent Hotchner, Agent Prentiss, how are you guys doing today?" The doctor asked as he stopped in the doorway, knocking to alert the agents of his arrival. He could see the devastation in their eyes. He did a lot of work with patients that were in a vegetative state, but he didn't know
"Fine, thanks, you?" Emily asked before trying to stifle a yawn. She felt like she had been sitting in this chair for a year. She wanted Reid to wake up more than she could express in words.
"I'm good thanks." The doctor replied, giving them a tight smile. He hated watching the hope slowly dying in their eyes. They were stupid and they did their research. They knew that with each passing day, the chances of Reid waking up grew slimmer and slimmer.