Sadly, there is but one chapter left after this :( This chapter doesn't really have much but the team talking with Reid...I know not the most interesting, but I couldn't not stick it in there.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Tales Exchanged

"Family of Spencer Reid?" All six BAU members rushed up to her, causing her to look up in surprise.

"Um…family only?" she asked, eyeing each and every one of them.

"I'm Reid's emergency medical contact, but whatever you tell me, I'm going to turn around and tell them, so you might as well just save us the time and tell them too." The poor woman looked slightly flustered, but after a minute of stammering, managed to get herself together.

"Um, well, it's a little unorthodox, but I suppose…yes, alright. Well, first of, we found some older injuries that seem to be healing well…" she trailed off, silently asking them for an explanation.

"Dr. Reid works for the FBI and was recently injured on the job," Hotch said dismissively.

"Alright…" she said unsurely, but continued nonetheless. "Well, as you're probably aware, Dr. Reid was shot in his shoulder. The bullet went through cleanly, so no severe damage was sustained in that sense. Both wounds should heal with only minor scarring. The blood loss sustained was far more worrisome, but we managed to get him stable and, with a few blood transfusions, he'll be fine. The other, more severe injury sustained…"

Everyone paled. There had been more? They hadn't seen anything else but the gunshot injury…what else could have happened that was even worse than that?

"The bullet nicked the edge of his clavicle, the collar bone, giving him a minor clavicle fracture. Because it wasn't major, no surgery was needed at the moment. About 90% of clavicle fractures are successfully healed with non-operative treatment, and we're pretty sure this will be the case with Dr. Reid. The current practice for treating a clavicle fracture is a sling, pain relief and x-rays every week for a few weeks to make sure things are healing correctly."

Everyone exchanged a couple of glances, thinking the same thing so Hotch spoke up about it.

"Dr. Reid…prefers to not use pain medication."

"Sir, you have to understand, a clavicle fracture, no matter how small, is incredibly painful."

"Yes, I realize that, but Dr. Reid doesn't use any form of narcotic under any circumstance," he said, hoping the woman would get the hint and just accept it.

She seemed to catch on, but was still persistent. "We can give him a lower pain medication that isn't as strong, but is a non-narcotic," she said, looking understanding.

"Thank you."

"Also, I was informed that Dr. Reid wasn't breathing when the EMTs arrived. Lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain can lead to brain problems. However," she said quickly when she saw all the distressed faces before her pale with worry. "We don't believe this is the case with Dr. Reid, though he may have trouble recalling some events from last night."

"Can we see him?"

"Yes, of course, follow me," she turned down the hall and led them a little ways to a room. "Visiting hours don't technically start for a few more hours, but I'll let it slide. They do, however, end at 8 p.m. and you may not stay past that," she said warningly before leaving. They quietly pushed open the door and were rather surprised to see Reid looking at them tiredly from the bed. His left arm was in a sling and there were bandages around his shoulder, but besides being pale, he looked pretty good considering.

"Hey, man, how are you?" Morgan asked as he took the seat closest to Reid before anyone could protest. Reid's first thought was 'like I want to get out of here' but figured that wouldn't go over well. Despite his deep hate of hospitals, he still seemed to find himself in them more than anyone else on the team. At the rate he was going, he should get a frequent visitor discount or something. He had to be the insurance company's least favorite person.

"Okay," Reid said truthfully. "Honestly," he replied in response to a few raised eyebrows. After a few moments of silence, Reid asked the question that had been burning in his mind ever since he'd woken up in the hospital. "What happened after you guys showed up? I don't really remember much." Reid got a little nervous when a few glances were exchanged.

"Why don't you tell us as much as you can about what happened to you before we showed up, then we'll tell you what happened after?" Hotch said reasonably.

"Alright, well uh, where should I start?" he asked himself, more than them.

"Why don't you start with the beginning?" Hotch suggested. The beginning? The beginning was the note, but Reid wasn't going to tell them about that. He would be in so much trouble for not reported a threat to his life to his team immediately. Especially one that had a high chance of actually being carried out.

"Well, I woke up this morning, probably around one-ish and May was…there," he finished lamely. "She had my gun and, um, made me call Hotch to gather the team," Reid said, glancing over at Hotch, who nodded. "Oh!" Reid exclaimed as he suddenly remembered something else. "My key, she had the key to my house, that's how she got in." Everyone looked shocked except Rossi and Hotch who were both impassive as usual.

"How'd she get your key?" Prentiss asked.

"She took it when she kidnapped Morgan and I, I think. Don't ask why I had it on me in New Hampshire," he added as Morgan opened his mouth to ask just that.

"Morgan, Reid, you are both to have the locks on your doors changed as soon as possible," Hotch said without missing a beat. After getting two nods of confirmation, Hotch signaled for Reid to continue.

"Then she, uh…told me a bit more about her life and eventually she told me that she could hear her brother in her head, convincing her to take revenge."

That time, not even Hotch or Rossi could control the shock that temporarily overtook their features.

"Then she, uh…um…" Reid strained his memory to remember what happened after that but couldn't draw anything but a blank. It was strange not being able to remember. He had never, ever not been able to remember. Well, except for when he was high, but that wasn't a memory road he wanted to stroll down at the moment…

"It's okay if you can't remember, Reid, you-" Hotch started.

"Wait, hang on, there's…she said…something about her father…he abused them or something like that. Told her intelligence wasn't important…" Reid trailed off as he tried to remember what came after that.

Morgan, however, took his pause as a self-doubt.

"Reid, man, that's ridiculous, intelligence is incredibly important-"

"I know," Read assured him. "Well, I'm not sure what exactly happened after that, but at some point she shot me in the shoulder then everything after that is very hazy," Reid summarized.

"Not much could have happened because we arrived shortly after you were shot," Morgan said, basing his estimate off the amount of blood Reid had lost when they arrived, feeling slightly disturbed as the images once again flooded his brain of Reid lying bloody and un-moving on the floor.

"So what did happen with you guys?"

"Basically, after you called me the first time, I got everyone together, as you , or rather Mayella, requested. Then we called the second time. Once Morgan figured out it was Mayella and Garcia figured out she was at your home, we went there. JJ insisted she come along," Hotch shot a look at the JJ who was grinning guiltily. "A few people tried to see in your living room window to figure out what was going on inside while the rest of us went upstairs, making sure to cover all the different exits from your floor. Then I talked Mayella into opening the door and eventually I saw an opening and shot her in the shoulder. After that…" here Hotch faltered for the first time. He couldn't say it. Couldn't bring himself to remember all the horrid feelings that had been going through his mind when he discovered Reid wasn't breathing, wasn't living.

"Then what?" Reid asked apprehensively.

"You stopped breathing," Prentiss said sadly.

"I died?" Reid asked, looking from face to face for confirmation. Garica's eyes were so wide that Reid was worried they might fall out of her head, however illogical a thought it was. He got the feeling she hadn't known that tiny detail.

"Yeah, they had to do CPR and stuff until the paramedics got there and they finally managed to bring you back," JJ said solemnly.

"Wow." Reid could think of nothing else to say.

"Wow is right," Morgan added.

TBC…

Next update will probably be on Sunday or Monday. Thanks and please review!