Happy New Year!!! Thank you very much for the wonderful reviews. I'm so glad you find this interesting. So here's the first chapter of 2010. And the adventure continues...
DISCLAIMER: Can I tell you a secret? CM is not really mine. Shhh...
Have fun!
Chapter XI
"You've reached SSA Derek Morgan. Leave your name and phone number and I'll call you as soon as I can."
Beep
"Morgan, it's Hotch. I thought to let you know that you have to call Garcia as soon as possible. She's going crazy because you haven't answered her calls all day. I hope to see you and Reid tomorrow morning. No excuses." Hotchner hung up the phone.
Looking at his son Jack sleeping with his head on his lap, he quietly said: "They better not tell me that they're too tired after their free day."
He had to admit that he was a bit worried after having been unable to contact Morgan and Reid all day. But he put those worries aside thinking that they deserved a relaxed day, free of phones and gruesome cases, once in a while.
Hotch then carefully lifted the sleeping boy in his arms and took him to Jack's room. Upon tucking him into bed, he went back to the living room to clean it up before calling it a day.
** ** ** **
"You've reached SSA Dr. Spencer Reid. I can't answer right now. Please, leave your name and phone number and I'll call you as soon as possible. Thank you."
Beep
"Hi, Spence. I guess you are still not back from your fishing trip. Could you please call me as soon as you get back? I just want to make sure you are OK. And tomorrow, I want to hear all the dirty secrets of your free day. Bye." JJ hung up her phone and remained sitting on her couch for a couple of minutes before going to Henry's room.
She silently entered her son's room and stood by Will, who was singing a lullaby to the boy. Will gave her a smile grabbing her hand. After their son was asleep, they left the room and went back to the kitchen, where they would enjoy a cup of coffee together.
"Still nothing?" asked Will, sitting at the kitchen table. JJ placed a mug in front of him and grabbed one for herself before sitting next to her husband.
"No." JJ took a sip and continued "I know that if they don't answer their phones soon, Garcia will kill them tomorrow." She had a small smile on her lips, but Will knew she was worried too.
"They're probably enjoying themselves. They're grown men," said Will, trying to reassure the mother of his son.
"Yeah, I know. It's probably nothing" uttered JJ before kissing Will. "Let's go to bed now, OK?"
"Sure."
The couple left their mugs in the sink and turned off the lights before going to their bedroom.
For some reason, JJ felt the following day would be an eventful day. Little did she know how right she was.
** ** ** **
"Hey! Stop!" He shouted. "Please, stop!"
SSA Derek Morgan saw the headlights of the patrol car growing bigger and bigger. He kept jumping, yelling and moving his arms above his head. If the car didn't stop, it would have to run him over. He was a desperate man and would certainly take desperate measures in order to save his friend.
The officer in the patrol car turned on the lights and started slowing down to the side of the road.
Before the car stopped completely, Morgan run to the officer's door and screamed "Call an ambulance!"
The officer got out of the car and said "Sir, calm down. Tell me what's going on."
"I'm telling you! Call an ambulance!" "What's wrong with this man? I don't have time for his stupid questions!" thought Morgan, anger taking hold of his whole body.
"Look, I'm an FBI agent. I'm SSA Derek Morgan. Another agent had an accident and he needs help urgently. So now, please, call the damn ambulance!" His words were tumbling over each other.
The police officer looked at him with a hand on his gun, but something told him that crazy man, covered in sweat and dirt, was not in the middle of the road for nothing. It was clear the man was in a back-to-the-wall situation.
"Come on, man, hurry up! We have no time!" Morgan would have grabbed the radio himself to make the call, but he knew the officer was still looking at him with distrusting eyes.
Derek was breathing with difficulty due to the stress of the day. He felt he would need a week to recover from that one day. But he knew he couldn't think about resting till Reid was out of danger.
"Hang on, kid. Help is on the way" said Morgan in his mind when he heard the officer requesting an ambulance to where they were. The dispatcher said the ambulance would be at the scene in 10 minutes.
10 minutes are nothing when you're relaxed at home, with a beer in your hand. 10 minutes are nothing when you're watching the game and your team is winning by a considerable amount of points. 10 minutes are nothing when you're waiting for your date to get ready before heading out. 10 minutes are nothing when your friend is not injured, standing next to you, and not laying on the floor of the forest, fighting with all his will to remain awake because he promised you he would. In fact, in their situation, those 10 minutes were the difference between life and death.
"10 minutes?! Hell, no!" Morgan forcefully grabbed the radio from the startled officer's hand and screamed to the dispatcher "Listen to me. An FBI agent is struggling for his life, so you better send the ambulance sooner!"
"Agent, you need to calm down. The ambulance will be here sooner if you stop yelling at the dispatcher" said the police officer, trying to take the radio from Morgan's hand.
Morgan took a step back and put the radio on the officer's hand. He knew he was right, but he couldn't control his angry movements.
"The ambulance is on its way now. It should be there soon" said the dispatcher in a small voice. Morgan knew the woman on the other side of the line was on the verge of crying. "Hell, if the ambulance is not here in 5 minutes, I'll personally make sure she cries her eyes out!" thought Morgan, taking a deep breath.
Derek Morgan kept pacing back and forth in the road, unable to think straight. What should he do? Should he go back to his friend and wait for the medics there? Or should he stay and wait for them here? The paramedics didn't know where Reid was and they could waste too much time finding the right way to his injured friend. He couldn't afford that. He didn't have any other choice but to wait for them, hoping the kid would hold on for just a moment longer. He heard someone was calling him, but he didn't have the strength to acknowledge that voice, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Agent Morgan, do you need to call someone while we wait?" asked the police officer, offering the cell phone in his hand.
"Yes, please. Which is the nearest hospital?" said Morgan, taking the phone and dialing a phone number he knew by heart.
"Memorial Hospital."
"Thanks" said Morgan, closing his eyes, resting against the patrol car and waiting for an answer on the other side of the line.
"Hotchner"
"Hotch, it's Morgan. We have a problem" said the exhausted agent before explaining in a few words the whole situation.
"Fine, I'll call the team and we'll meet you guys at the hospital" said Hotch, already getting ready to leave. He knew he'd need to call someone to stay with Jack.
Before hanging up, he said "Morgan? Make sure Reid gets there alive."
"Will do, sir. Will do." Morgan snapped the phone shut and returned it to the officer.
It had been 5 minutes since calling for the ambulance, when at the end of the road, he saw it coming towards them, with lights and sirens on. "I guess I won't have to make the dispatcher cry after all" thought Morgan, moving closer to the medics who, as soon as they got to the scene, started gathering all the necessary equipment to treat their patient.
"Are you guys ready? We don't have too much time" said Morgan, urging them to hurry up and start walking to where Reid was.
On the way there, through puddles of water and trees, Morgan explained what happened. "We were attacked by a bear and then, he fell off the cliff. When I found him, he had a dislocated shoulder, which I fixed, some cuts and a huge bump on his head. He vomited and when I left him, he was sweating and shivering." Having to retell their whole nightmare, Morgan's mind sent him unwanted and painful images.
He remembered when he found the kid after the fall from the cliff, how motionless and lifeless he was. And he wondered how he would find him now. He started running faster, breaking apart from the medics. He just needed to get to Reid.
It was getting darker and darker, but thanks to the flashlights of the medics and the one the police officer gave Morgan, they managed to make out the way.
Morgan recognized a clearing ahead and ran with all his strength, he knew that behind the big oak in front of him, he would find his friend. The paramedics, with all their gear in their hands and arms, were almost a hundred yards behind him.
"Reid!" yelled Derek, begging in his heart to hear something back.
But he didn't.
Just like Morgan had left him, SSA Dr. Spencer Reid was sitting against a tree, head slightly falling to one side, eyes closed, face as white as the snow, body as motionless as a rock. His mouth was a bit opened. The bump on his head, with a reddish pink color to it, was bigger that the last time Derek had checked. Reid's right arm fell to his side, while his left arm was still restrained. His legs were spread in front of him.
Morgan ran to his friend's side, gulping nervously and breathing with difficulty. All his worries were plastered in his face. "Reid, come on. Talk to me." "Please, please, answer me" thought Morgan.
He pressed his fingers in Reid's neck and felt a timid heartbeat beneath them. He let out a sigh of relief and then, put one hand on the kid's right shoulder to shake him slightly.
"Come on, damn it! Wake up! You promised me you'd wait." Morgan was getting more desperate by the second. Tears were threatening to leave his eyes. Their nightmare seemed to be endless. He heard the paramedics were getting close to them.
"Reid, come on!" he yelled.
Without opening his eyes, Reid slowly said "You... came... back." His voice sounded tired and full of pain.
"Of course, I came back. I'd never abandon you. The medics are here and you'll be fine soon. Just hold on a little longer" said Morgan, stroking the kid's hair.
The paramedics got to where their victim was and started working, pushing Morgan aside.
Suddenly, Reid opened his eyes, looked straight into Morgan's and said "I'm sorry." Then, Spencer Reid gave in to the painless darkness.
Derek Morgan stood there unable to think, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to do anything, but remain in his state of utter shock.
"He's crashing!"
Oops... Can I say something before receiving the flow of "I hate yous" again? I wasn't planning this, it just happened! I'll try to be a good person and I'll start writing the following chapter right now. Please, be gentle with poor old me...
