Chapter 29
Penelope re-entered the room, dragging Reid's surgeon behind her. She saw Morgan standing guard over his sister while Spencer was on the phone, barking orders at someone. She looked to the bed, seeing Scarlett now sleeping peacefully and shuddered in relief. Seeing her friend so far out of control and not being able to help her had hurt…
Spencer disconnected his call, pleased that their doctor had said she would make the trip up to the hospital. One problem solved… he eyed up the other doctor who was still insisting on giving Scarlett anti-psychotics.
"Her OB is on her way… You can leave. My wife is no longer under your care," he said icily.
"You can't just bring in outside doctors to this hospital!" the man blustered. "You have to get clearances and permission…"
"Maybe I can help with that…" the surgeon who had operated on Reid's leg stepped forward, looking over the situation.
Spencer eyed him up suspiciously. "I'm sorry- you are…?" he asked.
The surgeon extended his hand. "I didn't have the opportunity to introduce myself before your surgery…"
Spencer took the man's hand.
"I'm Dr. Thorne, chief of emergency surgery. I'll get your OB the clearances she needs to treat her patient while she is here," he told Reid levelly.
"I'm also the director in chief of the ER… I met your wife when she came in to the emergency department with her labor pain," he said, throwing a look over at the OB doctor.
"Which makes her my patient first- I believe you were dismissed, Dr. Edmonds…" he told the man cockily.
Reid looked between the two men and saw a brief battle of wills. The surgeon won.
Edmonds scowled at Spencer. "Fine- if any of the staff gets hurt any further, it'll be on your heads…" he stomped out of the room.
Reid let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said to the surgeon gratefully. He saw the man give him a familiar smile. He tilted his head slightly, studying the man.
"Anything I can do to help you or your wife, Agent… Doctor, I mean," he nodded.
"As I said, I didn't have time to introduce myself before you were taken into surgery, but my son had called me, explaining what had happened and that you were heading here… so I took over your case," he looked over at the bed. "And your wife's, also… I'm more than happy to do anything that can help…"
Spencer's eyes widened a little. "Dr. Thorne- James is your son…"
The man nodded. "Yes sir- and I am in your debt… You protected mine. Now let me help with yours…"
Reid felt relief wash over him. He moved back, staggering slightly and sit down heavily in the chair.
"Thank you," he said again, feeling slightly weak.
"No need for thanks," Dr. Thorne said. "We are both just doing our jobs," he responded.
"Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to see what damage you may have done to my earlier work…" he grinned, nodding towards the blood that stained the leg of the sweatpants.
"Yeah," Reid grimaced. "Right…"
Thorne stepped out of the room briefly, re-entering with some scrubs and a nurse close behind him.
"You're going to have to change out of those…" Thorne commented, handing him the scrubs.
Spencer turned bright red, looking over at Garcia. "I, uh, didn't exactly think to grab anything other than the sweats when I ran down here," he admitted.
Penelope moved from Scarlett's side to turn her back and look out the window.
Spencer rolled his eyes when he heard her chuckle.
"I didn't figure you to be a commando sort of guy, pretty boy," she teased, giving him some privacy of sorts. He could see her grin reflected in the window. She averted her eyes as he tugged on the string at his waistband.
"Shut up," he blushed harder, shucking out of the now ruined sweats, balling them up over his lap to cover himself. He sat down on the edge of Scarlett's bed and let the surgeon check out the stitches on his thigh.
"Nothing has torn," Thorne said, his voice sounding reassuring. "The extra pressure just caused the bleeding. I'm going to have to ask you to stay off the leg and keep it elevated as much as you possibly can until it heals a bit more…"
Reid nodded, pulling on the scrub pants. He watched Thorne move over to the computer at the side of the bed, pulling up Scarlett's files. Reading over his shoulder, Spencer felt relieved at the changes Thorne added, removing the other doctor's orders, adding his own instead. He turned back, meeting Spencer's eyes.
"I'm adding your name in on her case, Dr. Reid, along with your OB- that way you'll have access to her care…"
Spencer swallowed and nodded. "I appreciate that. I'm not a medical doctor…" he started to say but Thorne interrupted him.
"I looked up your credentials, Doctor. Your BA in psychology gives you medical clearance enough to be on Agent Ryan's case, especially since you've made it clear she won't need any access to controlled substances," he added.
"No. No drugs," Spencer scowled. "Scarlett wouldn't want them…"
"Then we are good here…" Thorne looked over at the clock. "I've got to get to surgery…" he turned to shake Reid's hand again.
"If you need anything else, please tell the staff to have me paged. I'll be back later to check on you both…"
Spencer gripped the man's hand. "I appreciate everything you're doing…"
Thorne nodded. "And I appreciate what you did for my boy…" he glanced down at Reid's thigh.
"This could have been a much different type meeting if you hadn't gotten him out of the way," he shook his head a little, meaning he understood that Reid could have been notifying him that his son had been murdered.
"So, I'm grateful and at your service," he said with conviction, clasping Spencer's hand a moment longer.
"Take care of your wife…" he said, turning to leave the room with a nod to Morgan and Garcia.
"Thanks," Reid said quietly.
Spencer moved back to Scarlett's bedside, pulling the chair closer and took her hand. He looked across the bed to where Penelope now sat holding the other one, Derek right beside her.
"Thanks for staying with her," he said to Garcia, seeing the tears in her eyes.
"I couldn't stop her," Penny choked up little and blew out a stressed breath. "I tried, I knew it wasn't her… that something happened- but I had no idea what it was…"
"You stayed with her, Garcia. That was important," Spencer told their friend, reaching over to clasp her hand under his. "She needed you and you stayed…"
Penelope laid her head back against Derek and closed her eyes.
"I was trying to talk her down; I could see that she was making things worse by getting upset over being in labor. They said the sedative would help her relax and allow the other medicine to work better. She was starting to listen to me, but then the nurse came in the room…" she shuddered.
"It was bad, guys. Real bad… she hurt two of the nurses. They weren't expecting her to be dangerous with her bare hands- I tried to warn them!- but she was intent on getting to that other guy… she threw them out of her way. One hit the wall and the other…"
Penny cringed. "I think heard a bone break; she got a hold of his arm…" she said quietly. "I knew she wouldn't want to be responsible for hurting someone, so I put myself in between them…"
Morgan wrapped her tighter against him. "She might have hurt you, Penelope…" he buried his face in her hair.
"I knew she wouldn't… I swear I saw her look at me- that she saw me, if just for a minute… but then she lost it again. I didn't realize that the other nurse looked like Rowan- I would have gotten him out of the room first. Maybe she could have pulled herself back in if she hadn't been staring one of her biggest fears in the face…" Penny stated. "But, I didn't know…"
"You had no way to know, baby girl," Morgan reassured her. "You couldn't tell what her mind was seeing… that's her own personal hell," he scowled, looking at his sister's sleeping face.
"Between being worried about the baby, learning she was in labor… Reid getting shot and losing that college kid to a head shot this morning- it was just too much for her mind to fight off..." Derek said. "It would have been too much for anyone's, let alone hers…"
Reid looked over at the monitor that was connected to the baby. He didn't want to think about what had happened in Scarlett's mind. Worse- that he hadn't been with her to help her through it…
"She isn't in labor any more. The drugs did work, they stopped it…" he commented, relief clear in his voice.
"Thank God," Garcia said, looking at Scarlett's face. "Hear that baby girl. Your little beastie is fine…" she told Scarlett, leaning closer and patting her hand.
Spencer saw Scarlett's lips twitch. "Little beastie?" he raised a brow at Penelope.
"Hey, that's what she nicknamed him, not me," Penny chuckled. "She said since he was a Samhain baby, he was going to be a beastie…"
Spencer shook his head at her. Gently laying his hand across Scarlett's stomach he spoke to the baby.
"You stay put for a while then little beastie… It's not Halloween yet. You gave me and your mommy quite a scare…"
He smiled softly as he felt the baby move under his palm.
Scarlett's hand moved to cover his, stroking his fingers as he held their son.
"He's impatient like his momma," she whispered quietly, not quite finding her voice through the drug induced haze.
Spencer leaned over, resting his forehead against her side. Her other hand touched his hair, stroking it.
"We're okay, farm boy…" she said gently.
"I thought you said this was my turn in the hospital," he tried to tease her, but the words stuck thickly in his throat. Tears of relief burned his eyes and he fought against them. She was coming out of the sedative without further issues from the flashback...
"Beastie had other plans, I guess," she breathed out the words, still feeling dazed. Scarlett looked at his eyes.
"He's alright?" she asked.
"He's fine, Scarlett. They stopped the labor…" he reassured her.
Scarlett turned her head to look at Penelope. She squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Pens…" she stammered, remembering some of what happened.
"It's okay, little one- it will be alright…"
"Did I hurt you?" Scarlett asked, worried. "Did I hurt any of you?" she closed her eyes, trying to remember…
"No- Scarlett… Look at me…" Reid felt a little twinge of panic when she closed her eyes.
Scarlett heard the anxiety and met his gaze quickly. He felt relief when her green eyes held his steadily.
"I'm here, Spence," she said softly. "I don't remember what happened…" she told him, fear filling her eyes. "I blacked out…"
Scrubbing his face roughly, Reid moved closer, taking her hand. "It's okay, beautiful," he said gently.
"I think I hurt someone…" she frowned, trying to recall some of her memories. "I… oh. My God…" her face blanched as the face of the nurse popped into her mind.
Spencer grabbed her hand as he saw her heart rate jump on the monitor. Morgan took her other hand.
"Oh, please… no…"
"Katy- don't… please… it is okay. We are here… right here. Just stay with us…" Penelope rubbed her arm above Derek's hand.
"I was trying…" Scarlett stammered. "I was trying to kill him… oh my god…"
"Sweetheart, it's okay… it's alright, he's fine. You didn't get to him," Reid told her. "It didn't happen…"
"That's not the point!" she cried. "I could've…"
"You didn't, sweet girl… that is the point," Garcia told her.
"You stopped me," Scarlett grabbed Penny's hand, squeezing it. "I could have hurt you…"
She turned her eyes to meet Spencer's. "You tried to hold me back… I bit you," she grabbed his hand, looking it over. There wasn't a mark there and she met his eyes again.
"I bit you… I remember biting you," she told him. Scarlett sat up in the bed.
Reid moved to sit alongside her. "I'm fine, crazy girl," he told her gently.
She scowled darkly, scanning him over. Her eyes locked onto the side of his neck and she pulled him closer. A red mark stood out on his throat, an impression of the outline of her teeth marring his skin. She traced her fingers over the spot.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, tears moving into her eyes. "To all of you, for putting you through all of this…"
"Katy, it's not so bad," Spencer touched her chin, lifting her face to his…
Morgan poked her side gently.
"Aw, come on sis… give yourself a break. I'm pretty sure Reid enjoyed it, anyways," he joked, trying to tease her out of worrying.
Scarlett threw him a dark look.
Spencer caught on to what Derek was trying to do and played along… he nudged her.
"Mmm-hmm, she knows I do…" he chuckled, catching her gaze. He nuzzled her ear.
Scarlett raised her brows in surprise at his comment. Spencer was being playful in public… with sexual overtones? She wrinkled her nose at him.
"Reid…" she huffed out his name and rolled her eyes at him. "Stop trying to distract me…" she told him. When he pulled the collar of his t-shirt aside, baring his throat to her, she growled lowly.
"Tease," she called him, seeing the grin threatening his lips.
Scarlett leaned over and scraped her teeth lightly over his neck, pressing a kiss to his adam's apple, and then moved to the mark, kissing it also…
Spencer stretched out beside her on the bed, wincing a little with the movement.
Penelope saw his grimace of pain. She left Derek's side and headed into the hall, coming back with extra pillows and blankets.
Reid shifted in the narrow bed; pulling Scarlett closer as Garcia tucked two pillows under his leg to elevate it, then threw the extra blanket over them.
"Thanks," he said to her.
"Don't mention it," Penny smiled, brushing some of his hair off his face. "The two of you should get some rest…" she told them as she reached for Derek's hand.
"We will go grab some food, leave you alone for a bit… so you can take a nap or something," she ordered.
"I don't think either of us are in any shape for 'or something'," Reid grinned. Scarlett rolled her eyes at him, poking his chest.
"I don't think that's what Penny meant, farm boy," she chastised him with a grin of her own. "Nice try, though…"
Spencer looked over her monitors once again, checking to make sure her vital signs were all still in the normal range. Tucking her into his side, he leaned over and kissed her lips.
"Then we will just have to settle for the nap, crazy girl…" he responded. Scarlett scooted up in the bed until her head rested in the crook of his neck. He turned his head so they were face to face on the pillow and watched her eyes.
Morgan patted Scarlett's leg as he followed Penelope out of the room.
"Call your mother and your daughter before you fall asleep," he mentioned to them. "I'd call them, but I'm sure they'd rather hear from you directly."
Spencer reached over to the side table, picking up his phone. "Got it," he told his brother. "We'll call them now," he opened the video chat app and held the phone above them so the screen held both of their faces in view.
Scarlett saw the screen open to Norie's face, pinched with worry.
"Daddy!" she squealed out. "Mommy! Oh my god, I've been so worried," she cried. "I was just going to call you…"
"Mama! Dad's on FaceTime! With Mommy!" she shouted into the next room.
"Thank God," they heard Frannie's voice over the speakers. "I'm coming…"
Fran scanned their faces on the screen. "You are okay?" she asked, watching them. "You are both okay. You're all okay," she let out a worried breath.
"Yes, mom- we are all okay, it's fine. The medicine worked, they were able to stop the labor- the baby is fine," Spencer answered her.
"Thank you, God," she said, hugging Norie to her chest. "We've been praying, baby girl…"
Scarlett nodded, her voice lost behind tears she felt burning her throat. Spencer held her tighter.
"Love you, both," she said to their images. "We are all alright now. I promise," she told them.
She felt Reid's lips press against her temple and leaned into the kiss, her family's love surrounding around her with warmth...
I hope everyone is enjoying the continuation of the 'Scarlett' series as much as I am enjoying writing about Spencer and Scarlett. There are several more chapters for me to finish editing and to post here- but I wanted to drop you all a quick note, because I realize it has been taking too long.
I have begun writing the next installment… although I'm not even certain of a title for it as of yet… it is in the works!
I apologize for the delay in the posting here, but between my own previously mentioned health issues (which at the moment are rearing up) I am dealing with a family health issue. My mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. At the time I write this, she has been battling for 15 months, already beating so many odds. She is in good spirits and God has been so wonderful by granting us this time with her, without her being in pain. So I have been spending time with her and my family.
Again, I apologize for the delay, I appreciate every single one of you all. Writing is my escape, so I am continuing, however posting is a bit slow, and I hope you all will be patient with me. I also believe that God is God of any name, so if you all could or would, send up prayers for Bonnie, you know that I would appreciate that also... any way you pray, any religion, and any belief system- its all the same to me if done with love and respect.
I am interested in hearing what the readers may want to see, so if you have any ideas or suggestions, even if it's for a case or prompt, feel free to PM me and I'll be sure to credit your suggestions with any I may use.
Also, feel free to offer me any song/artist suggestions… As you can tell, music is one of my biggest muses. If any of the readers would have any Reid fanvids to suggest or have the ability to put one together that fits for Scarlett and Spencer's story (I don't, I wish I did!) I'd love to see it and promote it!
Thank you all again for your reviews and support! Love to you all!
CatGurl- I am still thinking of you.
Rene- Thank you for your help.
Brightest blessings!
~Becky
LadyBJKD
