"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them." –Dion Boucicault

Stella's POV

Two long days passed and Spencer gradually got better. He was still in a drug-induced coma, but he was breathing on his own without any aid from the ventilator. I stayed by his side at every moment, only leaving to use the bathroom for a few minutes. The team brought me three meals a day, but they barely got touched. The only thing that I consumed on a regular basis was caffeine, the only thing that kept awake. Every now and then, I'd drift off to sleep for about ten or fifteen minutes, but I'd quickly rouse myself and drink some more coffee or another soft drink.

On the fourth day, I decided to walk down the hall a little ways to clear my head. To get out of that room. I kept waiting for Reid to wake up, but the doctor's kept him heavily sedated so that his body had time to heal.

Derek met me on my way back. "Good news, Stella!" he exclaimed, hugging me close. "They're not giving Reid anymore drugs. He'll be awake soon!"

Relief spread over my body in a wave. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. "That's great, Derek," I breathed. "That's wonderful." I stood on tip-toe and kissed him on the cheek, then walked past him.

Suddenly, the exhaustion caught up with me. I felt dizzy and weak as my vision began to blur. I began to sway from side to side, and then I just collapsed, my head striking something hard.

Morgan's POV

Morgan turned around just in time to see Stella crumple to the floor in an undignified heap, striking her head on the nurse's desk. "Stella!" he exclaimed anxiously, rushing to her side and scooping her limp body up into this strong arms. "I need help! Somebody help us!" he shouted loudly, looking around for a nurse anxiously.

Rossi, Hotch, and Emily came rushing out of Reid's hospital room to see Derek holding a pale, unmoving Stella against his chest.

"What happened?" Emily demanded to know, rushing towards him as a couple of nurses knelt beside him.

"I told her that Reid was gonna wake up and she just collapsed," he explained, reluctant to let the nurses take Stella away from him.

"She's exhausted," Rossi remarked, standing out of the way wisely.

Emily knelt beside Derek and the nurses and Hotch was right behind her, his hand on the small of her back comfortingly.

"It's okay, Emily," he told her quietly. "Let them take care of her."

"Sir, we need to take her to get checked out," one of the nurses told Derek, trying to pry his hands away from Stella.

"Morgan, let them do their job," Hotch gently ordered him.

Reluctantly, the handsome FBI agent let Stella go and the nurses eased her up onto a stretcher and wheeled her away.

"I'm going with her," Emily insisted, following them. Hotch was right behind her, his arm still around her waist. Derek and Rossi just watched them.

"Have we missed something major between those two?" J.J. asked from the doorway of Reid's room.

"I'd say so," Morgan replied, still standing in awe of his superior with his arm around Emily Prentiss. It was more than he could handle in one day and he actually had to sit down.

Stella's POV

When I awoke, my head was pounding and I found myself lying in a hospital bed, an IV hooked to my arm.

"Emily?" I mumbled weakly, trying to sit up.

She was by my side in an instant. "Take it easy, Stella. You'll pass out again," she informed me.

I leaned back and put my hand to my head, feeling a neat row of stitches just above my eyebrow. "What happened?" I wanted to know.

"You fainted in the hallway and hit your head on the nurses' desk," she told me, sitting down on the side of the bed. "They had to give you several stitches and decided to get some fluids inside you with an IV, since you were dehydrated."

"What about Spence? Is he awake yet?" I asked anxiously. Surely I hadn't struggled this long only to miss it when he first woke up.

Emily smiled. "He should be waking up soon. I'll go get a nurse to take the IV out of your arm so that you can go see him."

In no time at all, I was free from the restraining tubes and Derek walked me to Spencer's hospital room, keeping an arm around me for support since I was still somewhat lightheaded.

"Oooo!!" Garcia exclaimed, herding us into the room. "Hurry, Stella. He's waking up!"

I managed to sit down right beside him on the bed when his eyes fluttered open. It was the first time I'd seen those chocolate brown eyes in two weeks, considering that the team had been away on the case for so long and then I'd come to the hospital for four days when Spencer had been shot.

"Hey, Spence," I whispered, pushing some hair out his eyes tenderly.

"Stella?" he said hoarsely. " I thought I heard your voice while I was asleep. How did you get to Florida?"

"Morgan and I flew down as soon as we got the news," I explained to him, pressing his hand against my lips. "So did Garcia."

Reid's POV

Reid glanced around the room at all the people who were standing there. Hotch, Emily, Morgan, J.J., Rossi, and Garcia. Hotch had his arm around Emily's shoulders, which didn't surprise Spencer. He knew that they were a couple, but he did wonder a little at the fact that they were being openly affectionate in front of the team. Derek was standing next to Penelope, a smug grin across his face. Spencer, an excellent profiler, knew that he was trying to look casual and nonchalant, but that this was his way of showing how relieved he was. Garcia was smiling and crying at the same time, glad that she hadn't lost another one of her precious family members. J.J. and Rossi both looked happy and content, glad that death had not entered their lives once again.

Then, Spencer looked up at the beautiful young woman sitting beside him. Her green eyes were threatening to overflow and despite the dark circles under her eyes and the fact that her skin was a pasty white, Stella had never looked more beautiful to him.

"I love you," he told her quietly, for once not embarrassed that the team could hear his words of endearment.

"Though I haven't told you how much I care, how much you mean to me, it's not good to say that I don't value you. If you only know how much fear losing you then you'd understand how much I care."--Unknown