Reid shuffled to the edge of his bed and stood up on legs that shook a little. He licked his lips and scanned the room that he thought of as his prison. He saw a wooden cabinet at one end of the room and was in the act of walking carefully in its direction when his nurse entered the room.
"Oh good, you're up. How do you feel?"
His nurse, Kevin, was a large man with, blond hair and eyes the color of the summer sky. He smiled widely and said, "The doctor's taking you off IV meds. Also, it's time for breakfast. What do you want?"
"I want my clothes and I want to get out of here."
The nurse merely smiled at him. "Dr. Chilton wants a neurologist to check you."
"I don't need a neurologist. I'm fine. I'm awake and I want to get out of here."
"Now, Dr. Reid, you know you've had a rough forty-eight hours. Dr. Chilton wants to be sure you're fit to be released."
Spencer decided to change tactics. "I know you're only doing your job, but I really do feel fine. Can I please talk to Dr. Chilton?"
Kevin studied him for a minute. "Alright, but until then I suggest you relax."
"I'm bored," Reid said in his best whiny voice.
Kevin clapped him on the shoulder. "Let me take out your IV port and I'll see if I can find you some reading material. Would that be okay?"
"I'd appreciate it."
He sat and watched as the nurse removed his IV. He gave a breakfast order he didn't intend to eat and sighed when the nurse left. He got back to his feet and went to the cupboard. There was a white bag with his watch, his wallet and keys, but his clothes were missing. Damn it! He had to get out of this psych ward.
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Detective Sutton entered the conference room with a large mug of coffee and a very irritated expression on his face. "What's this I hear about you talking to some lab geek without me," he directed at Hotch.
"Detective Sutton, you've been nothing but antagonistic to us since we landed in Las Vegas. I'd like to know why?"
"It wasn't my idea to call in the Feds," Sutton began. "We have a perfectly good suspect and –"
"If you're referring to Dr. Spencer Reid, you're wrong."
Sutton's face twisted into a mask of anger. "I know what my eyes tell me. He was on the scene. He had her blood on his clothes –"
"He was drugged and incoherent. We've established that he was under someone's hypnotic control –"
"You fell for that," Sutton interrupted. "I thought you big shot profilers knew all the tricks. He may not have killed her, but he's someone's accomplice and I will not have you screwing up my case."
"If you interrupt me one more time, I will have you thrown off this case." Hotch said with such deadly calm, JJ flinched. He'd gone cold and his eyes were black with fury.
"Now you wait just a minute."
"No," Hotch continued. "I will not have you railroad an innocent man into jail. We don't force a profile to fit a suspect, Detective. You've seen for yourself that Dr. Reid's behavior doesn't fit the profile of this killer."
"I still say a profile's no substitute for honest police work."
Sutton stood down a bit, but Hotch stared at him until the detective drew in a long breath and said. "Look, the LT is breathing down my neck and the mayor's on her back. I wanna get this guy, whoever he is, but I don't wanna let an obvious suspect slip through because the case is circumstantial, for now."
"I appreciate your position," Hotch said and his eyes lost their anger. "We want to work with local police, not step over them."
Sutton nodded. "I'm sorry I blew up. I want to be kept in the loop."
"Next time, don't barge in with a chip on your shoulder and we'll keep you in that loop," Rossi put in.
"We talked to Harold Sharp and he's definitely hiding something. Sit, and we'll fill you in. I'd like your opinion." Hotch said.
When Hotch finished his summation of the interview with Sharp, Sutton whistled. "You think he's got the hots for Dr. Donovan."
"Oh definitely," Rossi said. "Whether that has anything to do with anything remains to be seen."
"I think we should bring her in again for another chat. After all, she did happen to stumble on the right words to bring Dr. Reid out of whatever state he was in and now a lab drone has the hots for her that she supposedly doesn't return."
"I hate to say it," Morgan put in. "I think he's right."
"Morgan," Emily interrupted. "You can't think she's involved in this. What woman would participate in such a thing?"
"Amber Canardo," JJ said.
Emily gave her a look. "Is that a relevant comparison?"
"I'm just saying that some women are more ruthless than men. This makes more sense if he has help." JJ went on.
Emily looked over at Sutton who was grinning at JJ. Her friend was ignoring him which made Emily smirk at him. He went pink in the cheeks and climbed to his feet. "I'll send a couple of uniforms to pick her up."
"Hotch," Emily began when he left the room. "You can't think –"
"I don't," he cut her off. "I do agree that we need to speak with her, and this time we need to shake her up a bit."
Emily sighed and shook her head. "You're right. I'm letting my emotions cloud my judgement."
"You like her," Rossi said.
"Yeah, I could see her as a friend." Emily admitted. "I know," she turned her gaze to Hotch. "I can't lose my objectivity. Don't worry, I'll deal with it."
"I have no problem with empathy," Hotch said to all of them, "Just remember why we're here and remember that we have a job to do."
"Yes sir."
JJ saluted him and they all laughed. Hotch let his mouth turn up in a smile before his eyes shut down again.
Another knock at the door pulled their attention to a pretty blond police officer with file folders in her hands. "Agent Hotchner, you said you wanted to know if we found any homicides in the area that could fit the profile."
"Yes, what did you find?"
"I have two unsolved case from six months ago. They're both prostitutes and neither of them was beaten or tortured, but they were cut and strangled. No sign of rape."
"Thank you, Officer…"
"Newberry, sir."
"I'd like you to bring us up to speed on the cases and get me the names of the detectives assigned to them."
"Yes sir." Her green eyes sparkled as she opened the first folder.
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An hour had passed since his nurse had left with the promise that he'd ask Dr. Chilton to speak with him. He paced around the room in his hospital gown and wished for a phone. He looked around and for the first time, realized there wasn't a hard line in the room.
"Of course not, this is the psych ward."
He went back to his bed and sat on the edge. Something wasn't adding up, but he couldn't think of what it was. They'd said he'd been present at a murder scene, but he couldn't make it come clear in his mind. He had an eidetic memory, so why the difficulty in recalling something so horrible?
Ten minutes later, Dr. Chilton finally entered the room. "Dr. Reid. Kevin said you wanted to speak to me."
"I want to know when I can leave."
She pursed her lips and stuck both hands in the pockets of her white lab coat. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to leave before tomorrow. I'd like to do another CT scan and more tests before I release you."
"I feel fine," he said sharply.
"Dr. Reid, I know it's not pleasant for you to be here, but you just went through a huge emotional trauma and shock to your system."
"Dr. Chilton, believe me when I say that shocks to my system are pretty routine. I'll sign out AMA if that makes you feel better."
She relaxed her stance and sat on one of the hard plastic chairs. "I'm not concerned about the legal end of this, Spencer. I'm concerned for your wellbeing. The FBI and the police think you're involved in a murder."
"All the more reason for me to be discharged. I want to prove to them, that I had nothing to do with the murders."
"I'm not sure what you can do to help the police. You're not a trained law enforcement officer."
"True," he agreed and watched her eyes watching him. "Still, I'd like to leave as soon as possible."
Dr. Chilton sighed. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to leave this facility."
"Why? My vital signs are normal. I don't have injuries that warrant a stay in the hospital."
"That's is true but -"
"I haven't been involuntarily committed by the police nor am I under a 72 hour watch, isn't that correct."
"Yes, but –"
"Excuse me," said a voice from the door.
Reid looked to the door and froze in utter surprise. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
