What You Say vs. What You Mean

Chapter 6

I'm sorry it took me so long to update. This is quite the emotionally taxing story to write, and when you have an emotional event in your own life (don't worry, it's nothing traumatic, just some work BS!) sometimes you just have to step away for a while and breathe.

"The injuries we do and the injuries we suffer are seldom weighed on the same scales." Aesop

Sit. Stand. Pace. Sit. Cross legs. Uncross legs. Stand. Drink disgusting complementary coffee. Pace.

This was Morgan's pattern as he suffered in the waiting hall of the emergency room at St. Gregory's Regional Medical Center. They had long sense kicked him out of the exam room while Reid was checked by doctors as well as an investigator from the police department. The ER staff had been required by law to report Reid's injury and Reid, to Morgan's shock, agreed to submit a formal statement and report the incident as a sexual assault.

Male victims of sex crimes are 43% less likely than female victims to report the crime, Reid had told him. I'm not letting Ethan use that, too.

Ethan had already used Morgan's absence. He had used Reid's trust. He had used the fact that Reid had never been able to judge when enough was enough when it came to alcohol and make himself quit drinking before he was too drunk to care.

And so thinking on that note, Morgan waited. And waited. And –

Morgan almost jumped with a start when his phone rang from within his back pocket. He answered it without bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Ohmygod, Derek, what happened?!" cried a familiar and panicked voice. "There's crime scene people here and they won't tell me anything. Are you okay? Is Spencer okay?"

"Calm down, Garcia," he stopped pacing and slumped down in an uncomfortable chair and ran one hand across his bald head. "What are you doing there anyway, Baby Girl?"

"I stopped by on my way to Ashley's to ask you and Boy Wonder if you guys wanted to double date with us at the culture expo, but apparently something has come up. I demand to know what's going on this instant, Derek Morgan!"

Morgan held his breath trying to come up with something honest yet evasive to tell Garcia, but the technical analyst on the other end of the phone was loosing what little patience she had. "Morgan, please, I –"

"Reid's been…" Morgan hesitated, "…hurt. I came home from the trip with Rossi and found him a trembling mess. We're at St. Greg's and he's getting patched up right now."

Morgan heard a horrified gasp followed by an angry nonsensical yell. "Ooooh! Let me at'em, Morgan let me at'em! I'll track down the low life who hurt my genius boy and by the time I'm done with his credit scores he won't get approved for a mother-loving library card!"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Morgan actually chuckled. Even angry Garcia could always calm him. "I'm sure Reid would appreciate your efforts PG, but the hacking will have to wait. Right now I need a favor."

"Anything, Choco-Doll. Anything."

"When CSI leaves, can you go inside and pack a change of cloths for him and bring them to us? Make sure it's something lose and comfortable."

"Of course, Love."

"Baby Girl, you have no idea just how much this –" Morgan stopped when he saw the doctor, a small blonde woman with sparkling emerald eyes who looked way to young to have been thru medical school, entered the waiting hall. "I have to go, PG."

"Okay, bye. Love you!"

Morgan hung up and stood, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Hello Agent Morgan," the young doctor greeted professionally. "I'm Dr. Fielding. Your partner is going to be just fine. When you brought him to us he was severely dehydrated. The chest wound itself required six stitches and the early signs of possible bacteremia were already present in his system."

Bacteremia. Morgan was sure; no he was positive he had heard that term before. It was the proper medical term for…

"Blood poisoning? I didn't know it could happen that quickly."

"Normally it doesn't," Dr. Fielding confirmed. "However, in this instance surface bacteria rode in on dead blood cells from dried blood re-entering his body thru the open wound. He's already responding well to antibiotics. He was given a local injection of Amoxicillin and a 10 mg oral dose of Bactrim that he will need to take every eight hours for the next four days. He's also on IV fluids to re-hydrate his body and we've had him drinking lots of water."

Morgan nodded slowly and let his mind absorb all of the things the doctor had said. He felt a small amount of tension lift now that he knew Reid was, at least physically, all right.

"What about the, um…" Morgan wasn't sure exactly how he should phrase that question, but the doctor seamed to understand.

"The forensic examiner isn't quite finished with him yet," Fielding explained.

As if on cue, another female doctor entered the waiting hall. This one was taller with a strong but still feminine build, dark brown hair pulled back in a tight bun, and a serious gray-eyed face that seamed as though it hadn't the capability of a smile at all. Morgan judged by the gold DCPD logo on her navy blue scrubs that she was the forensic examiner.

"Agent Morgan, I'm Dr. Clark," was her stoic greeting. "Dr. Reid has consented to a rape kit." The brunet doctor paused when she noticed Morgan's eyes widen. "I wish all sexual assault survivors were as willing as your partner to go thru with this process. It most likely comes from spending his career on the investigative side of these cases, but that obviously doesn't make it easier for him to do. He's a fighter."

"Damn right he is," Morgan's voice cracked and he clenched he jaw tight enough to hurt his teeth. He was determined not to cry again. After the way he had treated Reid it the wake of all of this, he didn't feel he deserved the luxury of crying. He had to be strong for Reid; at least until he knew he was forgiven for lashing out.

That is, if he was to be forgiven.

Morgan pushed those thoughts aside. "Can I see him?"

Dr. Clark gave a single sharp nod. "As a mater of fact, he asked to see you. He said he needed to talk to you before we complete the S.A.E. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to him."

"I've learned that waiting is the most difficult bit, and I want to get used to the feeling, knowing that you're with me, even when you're not by my side."Paulo Coelho

Unfortunately for everyone who despises our (least) favorite scruffy-faced piano player, Ethan will not be seen again in this fic, but I'm already planning on making a series out of this. Perhaps eventually we will see Morgan, as Morgan_ReidismyOTP so poetically stated, introduce his fist to Ethan's face. Silverwrym can't wait to see Morgan kick Ethan's butt, and Sandylee007 wants Ethan's head on a stick. MidwestDreamer also awaits when Ethan has to face the music…and not the piano kind. Thanks guys for your continued support, and everyone else on ff dot net and AO3!