Disclaimer: I own nothing except Grace and the rest of my original characters.
Reid paced the waiting room at the hospital. The whole team was there, waiting for news on Grace. She had been in the OR for four hours and they were all on edge.
"Sit down and stop beating yourself up, kid." Morgan said.
"I can't."
"None of this is your fault."
"Yes it is." Reid said.
Morgan shook his head then answered his phone before it even rang.
"No, Baby Girl. No news yet." he said.
"What's taking so long?" Garcia cried.
"We don't know." Morgan replied. "I've told you fifty times now, I'll call you when we know anything."
"I'm going to get on a plane and fly up there right now if I don't hear anything in sixty seconds!" she threatened.
"Calm down, Penelope. You will be the first person we call when we know anything."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
He said goodbye and hung up the phone.
A nurse came to the waiting room and stood awkwardly in front of the team. Another nurse joined her two seconds later.
"Anything?" Reid begged. "How is she?"
"We were just about to ask you that." the blonde nurse said.
"We went to school with Grace. I'm Lauren, this is Kass." the brunette said. "What happened?"
"Stabbed by her ex." Prentiss answered.
The girls both lowered their heads. They understood completely.
A doctor came down the hall toward the team. They all eagerly stood up, waiting anxiously for whatever news he had.
"She's going to be alright." the doctor said. "She's in a lot of pain though. She's refusing all painkillers."
They all looked confused.
"Dr. Reid? She's asking for you."
Reid took a deep breath and walked down the hallway to Grace's room. He opened the door slowly and stood there, staring at his girlfriend.
"Grace..."
She smiled. "Spencer."
"I'm so s-"
"Don't you even dare say you're sorry. This isn't your fault. He planned this. We just didn't see it soon enough."
"But I should have." he protested.
"Spencer, I'm too tired to fight. Please just kiss me."
He smiled, leaned over her bed and kissed her.
"Why did you refuse painkillers?" he asked.
Grace sighed. "In my coat pocket."
Reid walked across the room and grabbed her coat off of a chair. In the pocket he found a coin almost identical to the one he carried in his pocket.
"Three years." Grace said proudly.
Reid went back to her bedside and reached into his pocket, pulling out his.
"Spencer..." Grace was speechless.
He reached for her hand. They stared at eachother in silence for a moment.
"What were you on?" Grace asked.
"Dilaudid." Reid replied. "What about you?"
"Everything, but by the end of it, heroin was my favourite."
"So that explains the tattoo?"
Grace nodded. "It's a reminder of how far I've come."
Reid squeezed her hand then kissed it.
"I didn't know how to handle life. I needed an escape."
"You don't have to talk about it, Grace."
"I want to though."
"You should probably rest." Reid said.
He wasn't ready to talk about his addiction and he figured Grace had re-lived enough pain in the last twenty-four hours.
"Thank you, Spencer." Grace said. "Thank you for catching him."
"Grace, we didn't actually catch him."
She looked at him in confusion.
"I killed him, Grace." Reid said. "I had to, he was just going to keep stabbing you if I just stood there."
"Thank you, Spencer. Thank you for saving me."
Reid wiped the tears from her eyes. "Grace, please don't cry."
"It hurts, it hurts so much."
"I know." he said, stroking her hair.
"I'm going to try to sleep now."
Reid nodded.
"Stay with me?"
"I will, but I'm going to go tell everyone you're alright. Oh yeah, your friends Lauren and Kass are here."
"Tell them to come in."
"When you wake up."
Grace pouted.
"When you wake up."
When Grace awoke, she saw Spencer had fallen asleep in the chair beside her bed. He hadn't even let go of her hand.
"Spencer?"
He opened his eyes. "Good morning."
Grace blushed. "Morning?"
"Uh.. yeah." Reid said. "You've slept for twenty-four hours."
"Where's everyone else?" Grace asked.
"They waited as long as they could, but there was a case." Reid said apologetically.
"That's alright," Grace said. "I understand."
"Lauren and Kass said they'd come see you after their shifts were over."
"So it's just me and you?"
Reid nodded.
Grace motioned for him to join her on the bed. He got in, careful not to touch any of her wounds.
"Are you feeling any better?" he asked.
Grace shook her head.
"I wish he had've got me."
"Spencer, please. I don't need any sympathy. I'll be fine."
He kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Grace. I just can't stand to see you in this kind of pain."
"The pain of the mind is worse than the pain of the body." Grace said. "Publilius Syrus." She paused. "There's no pain in my mind, Spencer. Just the opposite, actually. I feel great. I feel like I'm finally free, and I have you." She kissed him on the lips. "I'm so happy that I can't even feel my wounds."
He kissed her back.
"Spencer?"
"Yeah?"
"What's going to happen to Josh's girlfriend and their baby?" Grace asked.
"Well, she's going to prison since she's an accomplice." he replied.
"But she was a victim, he had her locked up in the basement." Grace insisted.
"Grace, our job is to catch and stop these people. We've got no say in what happens after."
Grace sighed. "I don't know how it works in the states, but here, a woman can take her children to prison with her. If she isn't charged or convicted, she's going to raise that kid to believe his father was some kind of hero. Either way, that kid is screwed."
"You don't think she'd give him up?"
She shook her head. "She told Josh to kill six women just so her baby could live. She's not going to give him up." She sighed again. "Give it twenty years and we'll be back here again."
"I'm sorry, Grace," Reid said. "But there's nothing we can do."
"I know." she whimpered.
He kissed her on the cheek. "Grace, Hotch knows about us. We have to talk to him when we get back."
"Oh no, Spencer, are we going to get fired?"
"I don't know. I want you to know that if it comes down to it, I'll choose you over my job."
"Spencer, no! You can't do that, they need you."
He looked hurt. "So you would choose the job over me?"
"No, I would choose you. This job, I'm not good at it. They all hate me. I'm the useless new kid."
"Grace, you know none of that is true. You just haven't been hardened by the job yet. You get emotionally involved in every case. Hotch is only so hard on you because he knows that your emotions can be dangerous to the team, potential victims and yourself."
"So I should just quit." Grace said.
"No, you're good at your job. If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have caught Elliot Stone or Josh Peterson. You're so passionate, it's one of my favourite things about you, but maybe you should focus your passion elsewhere."
Grace raised an eyebrow. "Is that some kind of hint?"
Reid grinned. "Maybe."
Grace pressed her lips against his. They lost track of time as they kissed eachother, held eachother and stroked eachother's hair.
"Grace! You never told me about him!" Lauren interrupted.
"Lauren! Kass!" she exclaimed.
The two girls went to the bed to hug their friend.
"Guys, this is Dr. Spencer Reid." Grace said.
Lauren laughed. "I see you've finally followed my lead and found yourself a doctor."
"He's not that kinds of doctor."
Reid listed all his PhDs and BAs to Grace's friends.
"Geez, don't scare them, Spencer." she laughed. "So, you and Stan are finally a thing? What's it been like seven years?" she asked Lauren.
"Not exactly." Lauren replied. "He works here though. I see him on my breaks."
Kass rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's just like Grey's Anatomy around here."
Grace laughed.
"So how's the new job?" Kass asked.
"Well, it's exciting." she said, gesturing to her wounds. "The best part is getting to see Spencer every day."
"How much time do you get off?" Kass asked.
Grace thought for a moment. "Well, I haven't taken any time off yet, but I mean, if there's a case, that kind of cancels any vacation."
Kass reached into her purse and pulled out a small, white card. "Well, if you can, I'd like to see you at my wedding."
"Oh my god, Kass! Congratulations!" she took the wedding invitation and looked it over. "Three days before Macy's wedding?"
"Your sister's getting married?" Lauren asked. "Isn't she like, twelve?"
Grace gave her friend a stern look.
"Sorry," she said. "I just can't wrap my head around how old she actually is."
"So you'll book it off?" Kass asked.
"Yeah, I've got to anyway for Macy and Ty's."
A look of disgust appeared on Kass's face. "That dirtbag?"
"Kass, that's not fair. They love eachother, that's all that should matter." Grace protested.
"He's a pervert if he wants to be with her. I told you you should send her away."
Grace stood up. "Kass, there is nothing wrong with my sister!"
"You're in denial!" Kass shouted.
"No, you're being ignorant!"
"Whatever." Kass said, walking out of the room. "You should ditch this freak and get back with Kris, you were a while lot nicer then."
Reid put his hands on Grace's shoulders. "Grace, sit down, you don't have the energy for this."
She turned around and cried into his chest.
Lauren stood up and put a hand on Grace's back. "It's OK, Grace." she comforted her friend. "You guys will be fine again in a week, just like the million other times you guys have gotten in fights."
"It's not fair though. I've done nothing to her, but she thinks she has the right to freak out whenever I do something she doesn't like."
"You know she just wants what's best for you." Lauren said. "She just doesn't know how to show it."
"She has no right to talk about Spencer like that!"
"It's alright, Grace." Reid said.
"No, it's not! I can't believe it's been seven years and she's still going on about Kris."
Grace's head began to spin and she thought she was going to collapse. Reid caught her before she fell and helped her into bed.
"Grace, I've got to go." Lauren said. "It was nice seeing you. Get better soon, OK?"
"OK, I'll call you next time I'm back here."
"Bye Grace. Nice to meet you Dr. Reid, take good care of her, OK?"
"You too." Reid said. "And don't worry, I will."
Reid kissed Grace when Lauren left.
"So, is everyone around here crazy?" he laughed.
"You don't know the half of it." Grace laughed, falling asleep.
Grace's phone began to ring and Reid answered it before it could wake her.
"Hello?"
"Uh... hi. Who's this?" a woman asked.
""I'm Dr. Spencer Reid."
"Is Grace there? Do I have the right number?"
"Yeah, she's sleeping right now though, can I take a message?"
"Yeah," the woman said. "Can you tell her to call Charlotte when she wakes up?"
"Alright."
"Thanks. Bye."
Grace stirred from her sleep. "Who was that?" she groaned.
"Someone named Charlotte." Reid said. "You can call her after you get some rest."
A/N: Another cliffhanger!
I hope you all enjoyed this one. It may not be the greatest chapter so far, I've been in bed with a migraine all day.
Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!