A.N. What better to do on a snow day.

Before I Sleep

Chapter 36

"Moommmyyyy!"

Morgan and Reid shared a look of alarm, and then Morgan started heading toward the doorway again. But motion in his peripheral vision stopped him. Reid was trying to get out of his bed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Reid was huffing, and seemed flustered by the entanglement of his monitor leads with his IV line and oxygen tubing. "That's Henry!" He was panting with the exertion of movement and the uttering of just those two words.

Morgan headed back to him. "Oh, no, you don't. You stay in that bed. What the hell are you thinking….you're gonna get hurt!"

It was pretty clear that Reid wasn't thinking. It wasn't his brain that was guiding him in the moment, it was his heart. He was reflexively going to the aid of the little boy he loved so much.

"But…Henry!"

Morgan did his best to untangle things and get Reid back into the bed. He was pretty sure one of the leads had come loose, but that couldn't be helped.

"Stay here! I'll see what's going on with Henry."

Reid was still puffing heavily. "Morgan…" He had to rest after even the one word. "Bring…him…"

"Just stay in that bed and I'll see about him. Agreed?" Morgan stood in place, clearly not intending to move until he had Reid's promise. So Reid gave it to him, reasoning that he could always get up again after Morgan left the room.

"Okay."

Satisfied, Morgan headed back down the hallway, where the shouting seemed to have faded and was now replaced by the sound of a child's cry. He stopped outside JJ's room, and was brought up short by the scene inside. Sandy Jareau was seated at JJ's side, rocking a sobbing Henry back and forth in her lap. With her back to him, Morgan was unable to see the look on her face. But he could see the one on Will's. JJ's husband was standing on the opposite side of her bed, looking daggers at his mother-in-law.

Morgan wasn't sure he should intrude on the family tableau, even as troubled as it appeared. But he was afraid that, if he didn't, he would be hearing the sound of Reid dragging his IV pole down the hallway. So he gave a brief knock and entered.

"Is everything all right in here?"

Henry's head shot up at the sound of Morgan's voice. The familiar profiler's presence seemed to signal to the youngster that this was more than a family circumstance. More than an immediate family circumstance, anyway. Because a member of his extended family had just appeared. Which might mean….

With his words interrupted by the sup-supping of his chest, Henry asked, "Uncle Spence? Is Uncle Spence here, too?"

Sandy had turned to Morgan's knock as well, and he could now see the tears streaming down her face. She looked stricken to have been the cause of Henry's distress.

"He's upset because Jennifer didn't wake up for him. He's frightened." And it's all my fault.

"Aww, there's no need to be scared, Henry…." Morgan started. But his words were drowned when the little boy opened his mouth again.

"Uncle Spence!" Henry started calling for his godfather.

Will moved around the end of the bed and reached for Henry. "It's all right, Buddy. I've got you."

Henry allowed his father to lift him from his grandmother's lap, but he kept up his search for Reid, certain that he would be just behind his Uncle Derek. When Reid didn't appear, Henry called for him again. And again. And again.

Henry loved both his father and his godfather. But, as young as he was, he understood how very different they were. In Henry's mind, his father was the person who played ball with him, and took him fishing, and drove around with him on a Saturday morning, running errands. And his godfather was the one who solved puzzles, and showed him magic, and unlocked the mystery of words and books. Which was precisely the kind of expertise Henry thought was called for, in this situation.

Henry had gotten louder with each bellow, making Morgan concerned again about Reid's wanting to answer his call. He poked his head out the door to make sure his little brother wasn't collapsed in the hallway. Satisfied, he turned back to JJ's family.

"I can take him to see…." Nodding his head in the direction of Reid's room, but not wanting to say the name, in case it wasn't what Will and Sandy wanted. Sandy actually started to object, concerned that Reid wouldn't be up to it, but Will agreed to the plan. He wanted some time alone with Sandy. They needed to talk.

"Okay, then, little man." Morgan reached for Henry's hand when Will lowered the boy to the floor. "There's somebody down the hall who really wants to see you. C'mon with me."

Henry was still hiccoughing. "Is it Uncle Spence?"

Morgan smiled what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "It is indeed. But, let me tell you something, my man." He squatted so that he was closer to Henry's height. "Your mom is just a little sick, that's all. She needs to sleep, so that's what she's doing. And your Uncle Spence is a little bit sick, too. So he's in bed. But he's awake, and he sent me to come and bring you to him."

Henry reacted to the news with visible trepidation. "Uncle Spence is sick too? Did he have to get a shot?" Henry's measure of the severity of one's illness.

"I don't know, Buddy. Why don't you ask him?"

They'd arrived at Reid's door, from which Morgan could see Nurse Carla fussing with Reid's attachments, seemingly at Reid's direction.

"That okay?" she asked.

"Great. Thanks." Still huffing a bit, and looking agitated. Apparently he had heard Henry calling his name. Now he heard it once again, in a very subdued tone of voice.

"Uncle Spence?"

Reid turned his head and his heart clutched at the sight of the still-distressed little boy that he loved. He did his best to lift outstretched arms in that direction, which was all the invitation Henry needed. The little blonde dropped Morgan's hand and ran to Reid's bedside. Where he stopped abruptly, staring at all of the wires, and tubes, and machines.

Reid read him correctly. "It's nothing to be afraid of, Little Man. In fact, most of it is pretty cool. Want me to tell you about it?"

As a child, so often the target of both the well-intentioned and the ill-intentioned, Reid had never been able to stand up for himself physically. Being six or more years younger than your 'peers' tended to have that effect. Any successes he'd won had come about because he'd used his wits. He'd long since learned the truth of the adage, 'knowledge is power', and he'd even begun to teach it to Henry. Today, they would both conquer Henry's fear with knowledge.

The little guy still seemed uncertain, but Reid patted a spot beside him in the bed. "See, Carla made room for you." She'd moved as much as possible over to one side.

So that's what you were fussing about, thought Morgan. He looked down at Henry. "Want a lift?"

Henry looked from Morgan to Reid and, considering, nodded. Morgan swooped him from the floor and deposited him in the clear space at Reid's side. "There you go."

He may have agreed to get into the bed, but Henry couldn't keep the fright from his eyes. Reid opened his arms again, and Henry climbed into them. Morgan watched as the two clutched at each other, a little bit jealous of the love between them, even if it was called out by such an unfortunate circumstance.

Reid stroked Henry's back and did his best to keep up a mantra of "It's all right. Your mom is all right," without getting too breathless in the process. After a few moments, Reid pushed Henry back, so he could look at him.

"You were scared, weren't you? When you saw your mom?"

"She wouldn't wake up, Uncle Spence! I called her, and called her, and she wouldn't wake up!"

"It's all right, Buddy. She's just very, very tired. She got sick, and she had to work really hard to get better. That's why she needs to sleep so much. Don't you remember when Toby gave you that virus and you slept all day?"

"I was throwing up. I hate throwing up. Was Mommy throwing up?"

Reid smiled. "I hate it too. But this is a different kind of virus, so….no throwing up. But that's how tired your mom is."

"Oh." That made some sense. But then Henry thought of something. "Why aren't you sleeping, then?"

That's my boy. "Well, I was, just a little while ago. But then I woke up. Just like your mom will wake up, when she's ready." Please, God, let me not be lying to him.

"Oh."

The hiccoughing had resolved, and Henry seemed to have recovered himself enough to give in to his curiosity. For a while now, he'd been staring at the cannula in Reid's nostrils. Now he tugged at it.

"What's this for?"

"Ouch, not so hard. This is called an oxygen nasal cannula," using the full title to obfuscate the meaning of its use. "It gives me extra oxygen….air….to breathe."

"Why?"

"Because…..because it helps me get better faster."

"Mommy doesn't have one. Maybe you can ask them to give one to her, so she can get better and wake up."

Good thing I'm a genius. Albeit a slow-witted one, right now. Reid was aware he wasn't at his best. But he did have an answer for Henry.

"Oh, she has something even better. You see, when somebody is that tired, the doctors decide that they will let them completely rest, so they don't even have to breathe for themselves. Because breathing can be pretty hard work, when you think about it." Like now, for me. "So the doctors are breathing for your mom, through a tube that's in her mouth."

"Oh." More thinking. "Did you and Mommy have to get a shot?"

Reid pointed to his IV line. "They gave us these, so the medicine can go in through here. So, no shots!"

Henry's eyes lit up a bit, and Reid pictured him asking for an IV at his next visit to the pediatrician. To distract him further, he introduced Henry to the various monitor leads and how they translated into tracings on the various machines that were beeping and whizzing. Henry thought it was all very cool, because it was all very electronic.

"Want to see something?" Henry nodded. Reid held his breath for as long as he could…which wasn't very long…..but it was long enough to set one of his monitors alarming.

"Pretty Boy!" Morgan was just about to point out that Reid's monitors were also connected to the nurses' station when Nurse Carla came running into the room.

"Are you all right?" She looked from Reid to the monitor, and shut off the alarm.

Reid managed to look pathetically sheepish and breathless at the same time. "Sorry. I was just giving a demonstration."

Up until now, he'd been a good patient. The look Carla gave him told Reid it would be wise for him to stay that way.

Unabashed, he had a request. One that came across sounding like a demand.

"Henry and I want to go across the hall."

"What?"

"We want to go and visit his mother. But it's important that we go together. Right, Henry?"

Feeling like there was at least one thing right in his world again, Henry nodded.

"Can you arrange it? Please?" Reid used the look that always worked when he tried to beg cookies from Garcia.

Carla looked from Reid, to Henry, to Morgan, and back again. "Oh, all right. But it will take a while to get organized."

Reid turned Henry and snuggled him against his side. "That's all right. We're not going anywhere."

They were still equipping a wheelchair to handle the IV, the oxygen and the monitors, when Morgan said a reluctant goodbye, needing to get back to the BAU. He ruffled Henry's hair and then decided to go ahead and do the same with his 'little brother'. He was almost to the door before he felt a need to turn and say one more thing.

"You're a good man, Spencer Reid."

Despite his pallor, Reid managed to blush.

A few minutes later, Kate made a quick trip up from the lobby, where she'd been waiting with Meg.

"I'm so glad you and JJ are both feeling better, Spencer." Knowing it wasn't entirely true, but obeying Morgan's strict instructions about any comments she might feel a need to make. "Henry, we're going to bring Meg home now, but she wanted me to tell you that she'd be really happy to play with you again later." When the adults figured out their plan for him.

"Okay!" Henry was still smitten.

Another twenty minutes, and they were ready. Carla helped Reid to the chair, and then Henry climbed into his lap. The nurse wheeled them the short distance down the hall and across.

As she turned the chair to go through the door, Henry called out, "Hi Daddy! Hi Meme!"

Will and Sandy had been sitting, silently, on opposite sides of JJ's bed. Reid would have sensed some residual tension in the air, if all of his attention hadn't become immediately focused on JJ. He hadn't seen her since Will's arrival to her hospital room nearly two days ago. Her appearance now brought his hand to his chest.

Sandy read the alarm on his face and hurried to assure him. "She's better, Spencer. Her color is coming back a little bit."

If this is better… JJ looked so much worse from when Reid had last seen her that he didn't want to imagine how bad she'd been if 'this' was 'looking better'.

Sandy made her way over to the chair, and laid a hand on Reid's arm. "Really. She's getting much better. Thanks to you," she added, as she lifted Reid's chin and kissed his forehead. Then she turned her attention to Henry.

"I'm so sorry if you were scared before, Henry. Meme didn't mean for that to happen."

Henry showed his forgiveness by allowing his grandmother to kiss him without making a face.

"It's okay, Meme. Uncle Spence showed me." With that, he delivered a first-grade level lesson on the various attachments that his mother and his Uncle Spence shared in common. "And that one," pointing to JJ's mouth, "is so she can breathe without getting too tired. But she can't talk."

Sandy looked her gratitude at Reid before finishing her apology to Henry. "Well, I'm sorry just the same. I just thought you might want to see your mother. And I thought she might want to see you."

Henry was practical. "But she's sleeping and she won't wake up. She can't see me!"

Reid had an idea. "Henry, do you remember when we were reading that book about the kids playing with the dinosaurs?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you feel like you could see them playing?"

"Yep! And I was playing with them!"

The adults were all heartened to hear the return of Henry's exclamation points.

"Well, it wasn't a movie, was it? You couldn't really see them with your eyes, could you?"

"No….I saw them inside my head."

"So, maybe if your mom heard you talking, even if she wasn't ready to open her eyes yet….maybe she could see you in her head."

Sandy latched on to that as well. "That's right, Henry! You can talk to Mommy and I'll bet she'll know you're here." And I pray she'll want to come out to see you.

Will had been silent, but spoke up now. "Spencer. I'm glad you're feeling well enough to visit."

"Will."

"Thank you for….." He didn't finish.

Reid just shook it off, uncomfortable with being thanked by either of JJ's family members. It hadn't been an act of choice. And it hadn't been all that unselfish. To have lost JJ would have been to lose both his anchor and his safe harbor. In that respect, Reid and Henry were exactly alike. Neither could conceive of a world without JJ in it.

There wasn't a way to make room for Henry on JJ's bed, so Sandy helped Henry back onto Reid's lap and then wheeled them both next to the bed. She showed Henry where he could touch his mother's hand without displacing anything.

"Why don't you tell her about your camping trip?" suggested his godfather.

Henry didn't have to be invited twice. He'd not told any of them yet, not even his father, who'd missed half the trip. So he launched into an extended narrative that included tents, and campfires, and s'mores, and knot-tying, and both major and minor spats, and poison ivy, and hot dogs, and….

Will had walked over to the window, partially listening to Henry, partially caught up in his own thoughts. So he didn't see it. But both Sandy and Reid did. They immediately exchanged startled looks.

"Did she…."

"For a second…"

"But, is she….."

Reid nodded. He'd been watching JJ intently, looking at the rise and fall of her chest. And he was sure he'd seen a few that happened out of synch with her ventilator. He was sure she was initiating a few breaths on her own. And now, both he and Sandy had seen the flutter of her eyelids.

"Keep talking, Henry," his godfather encouraged him.

Reid had held back before, in consideration of Will. But the urge was too overwhelming now. He leaned forward and reached his non-IV'd hand over Henry's, joining him in grasping JJ's fingers.

Come on, JJ. I know you can hear him. I know you want to come out. I promise, you can sleep again in a little while. Just show him. Show me. Please.

Sandy called Will over, wanting him to see. "We think…."

The eyelids fluttered again…..and again…..and then JJ opened her eyes. Only a slit, but they were open. There was no mistaking it.

"Mommy! You woke up, Mommy! Meme, Mommy woke up!"

This time, Sandy kept the tears in check, the mother standing strong as she came to the aid of her child. Sandy leaned over her daughter and pushed the hair away from her face. Kimura had warned her that JJ might be disoriented when she regained consciousness.

"Hi, Sweetheart. It's your mom. I'm here with Henry, and Will, and Spencer. You're in the hospital. You've been sick, but you're getting better now."

JJ was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and she seemed agitated, sliding her arms back and forth on the bed. Will moved in and tried to comfort her.

"Cher, it's all right. You're just in the hospital, that's all."

But Reid understood what was really precipitating her anxiety. "JJ, you've been on a ventilator. That means you've got a tube in your throat. You won't be able to talk just yet. Don't be frightened by it. It will come out soon enough."

At that, her eyes opened all the way, and followed his voice. The wetness in his eyes blurred her appearance, but Reid knew she was looking at him. He held her gaze and smiled.

"Welcome back."

Word got back to Kimura, who excitedly joined them in the room. She listened to JJ's chest, examined a new set of numbers, and happily announced that she was pleased. That went over well with all of the rest, save JJ, who was already sleeping once again. She'd been in and out of wakefulness over the past hour. But she was breathing on her own, more and more frequently.

"If this keeps up..." began Kimura.

Will finished for her. "You can take out the tube?"

Kimura nodded. "Maybe by tomorrow. Maybe."

Will grinned at the news, ignoring the 'maybe'. "Did you hear that, Henry? Your momma will be able to talk to us tomorrow!"

"Yay!"

It heartened Reid to hear the familiar exclamation, even if he thought it wiser not to promise the boy anything. But the visit, and the emotion of all of it, had taken its toll on him. He was beginning to slump over in his chair, too worn out to remain erect.

The next time JJ became more wakeful, Reid took advantage of the others' distraction as they gathered close to the bed. They were each so intent on the promised recovery...that of the wife, and daughter, and mother... that they didn't even notice when Reid exchanged a look with Kimura, nor when she turned his chair and quietly wheeled him back to his room.