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Chapter Thirty Five
Spencer and I sit across from each other at the kitchen island. He's decompressing and saying random things. I'm pretty much piecing it together. They had an unsub who was a schizophrenic. The profile and the way that the team handled it rubbed him wrong. His headaches have become unbearable. When I suggest going to a doctor in the morning he snaps at me before quickly apologizing. So I just sit across from him for the rest of the night and listen to him vent. Eventually when he sees the sunrise he starts brewing coffee.
"If I go see a doctor will you take a nap afterward? I don't like you staying up all night Ashleigh, you really need your rest."
"Spencer, there's a lot to do. I still have to work. And I have school work too."
"What if you didn't work?"
"Okay, now you're talking crazy."
"I can support us both just fine."
"Can we discuss this later? We've both been up all night, and no offense but you're as grumpy as I am." Not to mention how emotionally raw we both are.
"Okay." We take turns showering and I make him an appointment with a PCP. Probably something he hasn't done in years. I manage to get him in first thing so we leave pretty quick. They do blood work and run some routine tests. The doctor decides to have him come back in a week to check his blood pressure again, but he's pretty sure it's hypertension. When we get back to the car, it finally hits me how exhausted I am. By the time we get home I'm leaning my head on Spencer's shoulder as he's driving, halfway asleep.
"We're home."
"Looks that way," I mutter sleepily.
"Do you want me to carry you?" He sounds amused.
"That'd be nice."
I bury my face in his chest when he picks me up and I feel his breath hitch. He carries me up the stairs with ease and I breathe him in. When we get to the bedroom he lays me gently down and starts to turn away but I grab his shirt and stop him, pulling him down on top of me instead.
"I want you."
"You need to sleep."
"All the more reason for you to wear me out." I smile at him defiantly and he relents, smothering me with kisses.
...
I am sprawled across Spencer's chest and he's playing with my hair.
"I need to get up and do some work."
"Okay..."
He gets up and slides some sweat pants on before he goes into the living room and I toss and turn for over an hour. I finally get up out of bed and slip his discarded t shirt. I go out into the living room and bend over his shoulder, wrapping my arms around him. He puts his pen down and tugs on my arm, pulling me around to sit in his lap. I keep my arms draped around his neck and kiss the corner of his mouth.
"Come to bed."
"Ashleigh..."
"Please...I miss you so much when you're gone and it's just...I need you to hold me."
"Okay," he whispers and gives me a chaste kiss before picking me up and carrying me back to bed. I curl into his chest and he wraps his arms tightly around me before kissing the top of my head.
"Sleep, sweet girl. I love you so much."
"I love you too. So so much." I kiss the crook of his neck before resting my head there and closing my eyes.