The next morning at about 6:00 am, when Spencer had pulled through the worst of the systems and was sleeping peacefully, Morgan called Chelsea. He had wanted to call her the night before after they had solved the case and Spencer had been given the antidote, but Hotch said he could not call until Spencer was officially able to see visitors. With the media and family information blackouts they needed to follow the protocol.

Morgan made sure that Chelsea knew Spencer was fine before he mentioned he was in the ICU at Walter Reed Medical Center in DC. It really was a special isolation ward, but he did not want to mention that, especially over the phone.

Before she left, Chelsea asked JoAnn to stay and let the closet company into the apartment. All three closets were empty and ready to have the new system installed. She told JoAnn she could leave as soon as they arrived. She apologized for leaving so early, but she needed to get to Spencer. JoAnn had planned to leave just after breakfast, but agreed to stay as long as needed.

Chelsea had remained calm while talking to Morgan. She was digesting the information, but when she was relaying the information to JoAnn, she started to break down. JoAnn was supportive and helped her pull it together so she was able to drive.

On the way to the hospital, Chelsea was listening to the radio and heard news that there had been many deaths from exposure to a natural gas or chemical leak at Quiet Hills Park in Annapolis. She also heard that the survivors had been transferred to Walter Reed Medical Center yesterday morning. As of the radio broadcast only 4 of 25 infected people had survived. People were trying to get answers to what had happened, but the hospital staff only said "No Comment." There were unconfirmed reports that the CDC was involved. When Morgan had called, he had told her that Spencer was fine, but her heart was racing and would not feel better until she could see him. She had a very difficult time staying even close to the speed limit; she wanted to get there as soon as possible.

Taking deep breaths she tried to stay calm and digest what she was hearing on the radio. According to the broadcast, the park incident had happened at noon two days ago and the first deaths were reported in the early hours of the morning yesterday. Spencer had been with her that morning when JJ had called him in for a local case. Now thinking about his call yesterday afternoon, was he trying to say goodbye? He had told her he loved her twice during the conversation, but he usually ended the conversation with that. Had she been distracted by JoAnn's company and didn't really listen to what he was saying?

Chelsea's mind was racing as she tried to remember the exact words Morgan had used earlier. He had said he was admitted to the hospital at 7:00 the night before, so if he was exposed to the same toxin, it wasn't at the same park. He had been infected someplace else yesterday. She hoped Morgan hadn't been calling to let her see him for the last time. She was starting to hyperventilate again and knew she had to regain control of her breathing. Getting in an accident wasn't going to do Spencer any good.

On the phone, she had tried to question Morgan, but he had been very evasive. Remembering that and now hearing the radio reports of possible CDC involvement with their "No Comment" answers, she started to believe it was some sort of national security event. By the time she arrived at the hospital at around 7:45 am she had calmed herself down enough to make the decision not to ask questions about what had happened. She was sure she would not get any answers or at least not a truthful one anyway, but she wanted to find out how he was and if he was going to be OK. What had happened was not as important to her as how he was feeling.

As she was walking in, Penelope was leaving. She ran over to hug Chelsea and said, "I wanted to call you last night, but they wouldn't let me." She continued to ramble, "I should go, and I'm probably not supposed to talk to..." she stopped mid-sentence worrying about protocol.

Chelsea hugged her back "I promise I won't ask any questions other than is he OK?"

Penelope smiled and relaxed a little saying, "Yes, he's good and he's really strong. I made the doctor promise me that she knew he was going to be OK before I'd leave."

Chelsea felt much better. She didn't realize she had been holding her breath waiting to hear Penelope's response. "Thank you. Have you been here all night?"

"Yes, Morgan is still up there, he sent me home to get some rest. You know all of the team didn't sleep well knowing he was here, but they would only let two of us in there at a time. There was no way that Morgan wasn't going to stay," she smiled as she said the last part.

"That doesn't surprise me. I'll go relieve him and let him get some rest also. What floor am I going to and do I need to sign in with someone?" She was extremely anxious to see him but was feeling better for the first time since she had received Morgan's call.

Garcia told Chelsea where to go to sign in and told her that Hotch had added her name to the visitors list. Chelsea hugged her again and whispered another thank you for staying with Spencer all night. Garcia left with a smile thinking that was a lot easier than she had thought it would be when she had seen Chelsea walking in.

When Chelsea arrived at the floor she could see Spencer through the glass partitions lying in bed with his head slightly elevated and talking to Morgan. He still had an oxygen tube under his nose and an IV in his left arm. Otherwise he looked well. She had been afraid of what she might see. As she approached she saw a female doctor leaving his room.

She looked at her nametag and addressed her, "Dr. Kimura, hello, I'm Chelsea Lozano, Spencer Reid's girlfriend." She preempted any protocol speech by saying, "I'm not going to ask any questions about his illness, but I would like to know how he is doing. Specifically, will any of his motor functions or mental facilities be affected? I want to know what to expect when I go in there." She paused a minute and before Dr. Kimura could answer she continued, "I guess you know his special abilities and if any of that were to be diminished because of this illness he would like to know about it."

At first Dr. Kimura was surprised. She had dealt with dozens of family members over the last 24 hours. They all continued to press her on the details of the illness and their loved ones deaths. She had seen Chelsea's name on the approved visitor list and assumed she either knew what had happened or had guessed enough to know it couldn't be talked about. "Most of the damage was in his lungs, but he is young and healthy so it should mostly heal and not cause him any long term problems. I know he is not a smoker, but he should also stay away from smoking areas for at least the next few months. He will have a horrible sounding cough for several days, but that is just his body's reaction to the damage. He also probably will have severe headaches for the next couple of days. We took a brain scan and nothing unusual showed up. He should probably have a scan done every few years just to ensure there is not a future problem, but I don't expect anything to arise."

"Thank you, doctor. Do you know when he will be able to go home?"

"I don't see any reason he can't be released this afternoon. We need to get him up and walking a bit this morning and after the final dose of an antibiotic that is in his current IV is done, we can release him. He needs to rest for the rest of the week and should be cleared for duty after that. Will you be able to stay with him for a few days? He shouldn't be home alone for at least a couple of days."

Chelsea smiled held out her hand and said, "Yes. I'll stay with him. I work from home, which also helps. I don't even need to leave. Thank you." She then went to see Spencer.

As Dr. Kimura watched Chelsea walked into Reid's, room, she realized that due to her exhaustion and the fact that Chelsea had not pressed her on any cause of the illness, she had let her guard slip and told her more details that she normally would have told a non-family member.

Morgan saw Chelsea before Spencer did. As she walked in he said "Hi, Chelsea" and watched his friend's eyes light up. Morgan had as big of a smile as Spencer did.

Chelsea went over to the bed and leaned over to kiss Spencer on the cheek. "I'm so glad you are OK. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you." She looked like she was almost ready to cry.

Spencer reached up and took her face in both of his hands and kissed her on the lips. "I'm doing great. I am so glad you are here." Turning to Morgan, "You called her?"

"Yep. As soon as I got the OK from the doctor and Hotch, I asked her to come in." He turned to Chelsea and started to apologize for not calling her sooner.

She cut him off, "I'm here now that's what matters. I ran into Penelope on the way in and she told me you both stayed with him all night. Thank you."

"Of course, nothing could have pried me out of that seat." He said smiling and pointing to what looked like a very uncomfortable chair.

Chelsea went over to hug him and said, "Go home and get some rest. You deserve it. I'll stay with him until I can take him home this afternoon."

"This afternoon, really?" Spencer sounded very glad to be able to leave.

"Yes, I just talked to Dr. Kimura on my way in and you can be released today. You just have to rest for a week and stay away from smokers." She had moved to his other side and sat down in the chair that Morgan had just vacated. She took his hand and brought it up to her lips for a kiss.

"I am tired. I'm too old to sleep sitting up in a chair." Morgan chuckled as he said good-bye. "The rest of the team plans to stop by around lunch time to check in with you."

Spencer squeezed Chelsea's hand, "I'm so sorry I couldn't call you."

"Shush, it's OK. I understand that you can't always call me." She again brought his hand to her lips. "I asked the doctor if there would be any lingering effects and she was sure there would not be. I don't know if you remember that they did a brain scan, but they didn't find anything. She suggested having another one every couple of years just to be sure, but she sounds confident that everything is normal."

"She really said I could go home today?"

"Yes. Probably not long after lunch and all your friends come to see you."

They talked some and sometimes sat in a comfortable silence. Spencer did fall asleep for about a half an hour twice. His body was still recovering and rest is one of the best ways to heal.

Around 12:30 in the afternoon Hotch, JJ, Rossi and Prentiss arrived at the door. Spencer had just woke up from one of his brief naps and was feeling good.

Chelsea stood up and went to greet everyone. Hotch put his hand on Chelsea's arm in a protective manner and started to say something. Chelsea was sure he was going to try and apologize also so she just smiled and changed the subject. She told them that since the hospital only allowed two visitors at a time, she would go down to the cafeteria and get some lunch to let the team see him in pairs.

Emily spoke up, "Why don't I go with you to get lunch. I'm starving and I always love hospital cafeteria food," she joked. "Hotch, maybe they will bend the rules and let the three of you go in together and I'll come back and visit with Chelsea in a little while."

Hotch nodded and said, "Thank you. I'm sure that will be fine. We'll see you in a little while" and the three of them went in the room to see Spencer.

Chelsea smiled and walked down the hall with Emily. "You love hospital food, huh? Next you'll tell me that your favorite dessert is in a vending machine."

"It is! Oreos. I LOVE Oreos and you can get them in almost all vending machines." She was now laughing. "I bet the food will be better than a protein bar."

Chelsea smiled at the memory of the first time she had met Emily and she had offered her a protein bar to help keep her alert for the case. "I don't know. I good protein bar is always appreciated."