FINDING ABSOLUTION

Ch 14: Looks Can Be Deceiving

DISCLAIMER – I own nothing of Criminal Minds, storylines or characters. I only own my Original Characters & Original Storylines.

"The next thing Reid knew, he was propped up against the bed while sitting on the floor, with Savanah taking his vitals and Morgan using a cool rag to wipe off his forehead. Confusion was becoming a new state of mind to the young doctor and he definitely didn't want to make it a new norm."

As Reid began to become more aware of his surroundings, he suddenly felt very nauseous and tried to stand to get to the bathroom before vomiting. Wobbling as he stood, the room started to spin and he lost all muscle control of his legs, causing him to fall in to Derek, who was holding on to him as he tried to ease Reid back to the floor.

Panic was rising inside of the older profilers chest, not clearly understanding what was happening to his friend and why. With one look from Savanah, Morgan was able to subside his fears, as she quietly conveyed a look of complete calm and yet she had a slight puzzled gaze at the same time. Morgan grabbed the nearby trash can for Reid as he dry heaved in to it. Spencer violently shook after he finished and was also soaked from sweat. The biggest concern was how he was absently scratching his left elbow area; initiating an inspection from Derek, as he looked for needle marks from Reid using Dilauid again. Much to Morgan's surprise, he couldn't find any evidence of Spencer shooting up again, at least not in that location.

Once Spencer had finally stopped dry heaving, they helped him get back into bed. He was still shaking, but immediately curled into a ball, trying to comfort & warm himself. Derek told Spencer that he would be right back with some clean, dry clothes for him to put on. Savanah also told Reid that she was going to go get some medicine for his headache and stomach cramps. Reid just nodded an acknowledgement to their statements, as he quietly whimpered to himself.

In the hallway outside his door, Savanah gently grabbed Derek's arm sternly pulling him to a stop. "Alright mister. Give it to me straight, and tell me now. What is he on? I have seen plenty cases of withdrawals to know that he is coming down off of something. I can't help him properly if I don't know which drug it is. I saw you checking his arm for track marks, telling me it is a liquid and not a pill form. So what is it…? Heroine? Cocaine? Morphine? Amphetamines or Meth?"

Morgan just stood there dazed, not believing any of this was happening… AGAIN, but glad that at least this time he would be around to help Reid go thru it. He thought carefully how to reply, and then informed her "it's most likely Dilaudid, but I don't see any marks. Baby you need to understand, it's not like you think. Years ago… Reid was kidnapped, beaten & tortured by an unsub. The unsub name was Tobias, and he also injected him with Dilaudid as a way to control him and then Reid became addicted to it after he got rescued."

Savanah stood there, with her mouth agape, slowly shaking her head in disbelief. "I know how dangerous your job can be, but this… that's crazy Derek! You think of people in our job fields getting addicted to things because of the pressures of the job, as a way to deal or to ecape; but not from somebody doing it to you." Derek stood there nodding in agreement and then reached out gently holding her shoulders. "He has worked so very hard to stay clean for so long now; I hate to see him this way. I can't even say for sure that he's using again… it's just that he's clearly showing signs again. I swear… sometimes this damn job seems like it wants to take everything good in his life away from him. I have to help him. He's like my little brother and I can't stand to see him lose his job over this. Is there anything we can do to help him here IF he's going thru withdrawals? So it's not being reported to anyone?"

Savanah looked long into her mans' loving, deep, dark eyes and sighed. "Yes. You know he can detox without being admitted into a facility; BUT… if… that is what's going on; it's safer to be monitored and have immediate medical help available. Let's get our stuff and get back in there so I can PROPERLY assess him now. There are many reasons for his behavior that don't include drug use. I just need to re-examine him to find out or rule out causes. I will do everything I can to help him… & do it from here ~ don't worry."

Upon reentering the room, Morgan came over to his friend and knelt down to get to eye level with Reid. "Hey kid. I've got a change of clothes for you to put on whenever you're up to it." He wasn't sure if Spencer had heard him at first, because it took him so long to reply; but after a few minutes, Reid's eyes opened, and his head nodded a very slow yes. Morgan helped him to sit on the side of the bed and change out of his clothes into the clean ones. Derek noticed how badly Spencer was shaking again and how he wouldn't look him in his eyes. "Reid. Hey look at me. I know something is going on with you and all I want to do is help. After all this time, all these years of being friends and sharing our lives… don't you know you can trust me with anything? … WHATEVER, NO MATTER WHAT… whatever it is that is going on?"

Reid continued to sit there & shake. He was about to speak when Savanah came back into the room; startling him briefly, and making him uncomfortable with trying to talk to Morgan. Savanah offered Spencer some Gatorade, IB, and a cool wash-rag. "Here, take these Spencer and put the rag on the back of your neck. It should help a bit." She explained to Reid that she needed to re-examine him before he got settled for the night, since he was clearly having strong symptoms still. After doing a more in depth examination on him, she looked to Derek and told "them" he was fine and she was going to bed; and to just let her know if Spencer needed her thru the night. She took Reid's hand in to hers and said her goodnight & that she would check on him in a little bit. Then Savanah left the room so the "boys" could talk in private.

Reid sat on the side of the bed, holding and nervously fidgeting with the clean clothes from Morgan. He knew this was a conversation that was going to happen, but there was so much going on in his brain at the minute; that the thought of even trying to decipher it all to have a meaningful talk with his best friend… almost seemed impossible. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about any of it, he really missed having these talks with Morgan; but right now he desperately just wanted to change his clothes, climb into bed and try to sleep for a while… again.

It was strange, but Morgan could almost read the clear thoughts in Reid's head, just by reading his body language & facial expressions. As he looked at his friend, the thing that was sticking out most in his mind was how exhausted Spencer looked; so Derek decided to keep it short… if possible. He hated keeping him up to talk about it, but figured if it could at least be spoken about… then maybe it would be enough to let Reid sleep for a while. "Hey man, get those dirty clothes off & I'll throw them in the hamper while you change into the others… ok?" Reid complied and waited for Derek to return from the hamper in the bathroom. Trying to get comfy under the blankets, Reid slightly winced when his head rested on the pillow. Morgan placed a soft ice pack under Reid's head wound and got a relieved look of appreciation as the coolness started to alleviate the discomfort.

Morgan gently sat on the end of the bed, shifting his body to face Reid; trying how to get the young genius to open up – comfortably - about such a traumatic subject, without causing him more distress. "I know you're tired & hurting so this won't be long; you need your sleep so the healing process can begin. But… you said earlier that your dream was 'kind of' about the warehouse & Diane. Care to elaborate?" Meaning it more of a statement and not actually asking it as a question, because this was just too important to not be discussed.

Spencer shifted nervously, cleared his throat, took in a deep breath & sighed it out slowly before he began…

***** A/N ***** SO VERY SORRY for the delayed update. I've been dealing with a lot here of late and then injured my knee, preventing me from getting to finish & post this. HOPEFULLY, it will all be getting back on track soon. Thanks again for all of you who have been reading, watching for a new post, and following. I appreciate each & every one of you ! enjoy & please review