Chapter 36

Scarlett shifted carefully in the bed, making sure she didn't jostle Spencer. They'd spent the last hour talking quietly, until fatigue began to take it's toll on him. He'd tucked his head against her chest, listening to her heart beating while she talked and she noticed as his weight became heavier as sleep took over. She smiled softly, dropping a kiss to his brow and continued running her fingers through his hair.

When the nurse stopped in to check on her, Scarlett raised a finger to her lips. The older woman smiled and nodded as she came over to check the read outs on the monitors.

"Are you comfortable?" she asked Scarlett quietly, indicating Spencer's head laying against her chest.

Scarlett grinned. "More than..." she replied.

"Dr. Allred will be in shortly to talk to you," she stated, writing something down in the clipboard. "We were able to set your tests up for this afternoon..."

Scarlett nodded. "Whatever it takes to get me out of here faster," she shrugged, brushing a piece of hair off Spencer's face. "I just want to go home..."

"Don't push it, sis..." she heard Morgan's voice at the door. Penelope moved close beside him, going directly over to Scarlett's side to give her a hug.

"Shh," Scarlett told them, indicating Spencer with a glance. "He just finally fell asleep..."

Morgan scowled. "And you?" Scarlett grinned.

"I slept enough," she told him. "I feel fine, D, seriously..." she rolled her eyes when he looked over to the nurse for confirmation.

"Everything is showing good with her heart monitor, O2 levels are fine... I was actually going to disconnect the monitor, but..." the nurse smiled and looked down at Reid's head resting over the wires. "I'll just wait," she said quietly, looking at Scarlett. "Is there anything else you need? It's past time for your pain medication..."

"No," Scarlett shook her head. "I am totally fine," she told her. "I do need something though," she said to the nurse.

"I want to know the dosage of Haloperidol that was given to Dr. Reid," she stated.

The nurse considered something for a moment, then nodded. "I'll find that out for you."

Scarlett met Morgan's questioning gaze.

"He's already worrying about withdrawals," she told him, looking down into Spencer's face. "I just want to know how much his system is going to be handling."

Penelope bit her lip. "It was pretty bad, Katy-bird. JJ stayed with him after he dropped like a rock."

Scarlett scowled. She knew the drug was potent, but to knock him out, it must have been a higher dose than she'd imagined. Given his past predilection towards such drugs, he may very well go through withdrawals.

"I need to get home," she muttered. "I don't want to deal with this here..."

"Scarlett, you need to listen to the doctors. Your health is important too," Morgan told her.

"I'll listen to the doctors, Derek... but everything is fine," she stressed, "and when they confirm that, I am getting him home. I can follow their instructions from there."

"Alright, baby girl... I'm not going to argue with you. If the tests all come back fine and the doctors say you can go home, I'll drive you there myself," Morgan said.

"But," he qualified, "if they say you stay... you'll stay," he said as he looked down at Reid. "He'll be the one making sure you listen to them, not me."

"Right... fine, can we not worry about it right now?" Scarlett smiled up at her brother.

"There's nothing to worry about... you wouldn't hurt him by not taking care of yourself and I know he'll be on my side..." Morgan shrugged.

"Oh, ouch..." Penelope wrinkled her nose. She looked at Scarlett. "He's right though, Scarlett. Reid won't be happy if you try to walk out of here AMA..." Morgan snorted.

"That's putting it lightly. Pretty boy will pitch a fit," he laughed.

"About what?" Spencer mumbled against her chest. Scarlett sighed and brushed his hair back.

"Shh, baby. It's nothing," she said and kissed his head. She looked up at Derek. "He's talking in his sleep..." she explained quietly.

"I'm not sleeping..." Reid protested, but didn't open his eyes.

"How can you be sure?" Morgan chuckled.

Scarlett pointed towards his feet. When they moved slightly, she looked at Derek.

"He twitches in his sleep. It's almost like his brain can't rest all the way. His feet, his legs... even his hands sometimes. He's like a puppy," she teased.

Spencer curled up closer to her. "Not a puppy," he grumbled. Morgan laughed.

"Alright, now. Stop it before you wake him up," she told her brother. She looked over at Garcia. Her friend was pulling stuff from her large bag at her feet.

"What'd got there Pens? Anything good?" she asked, watching her drag out some knitting needles.

"I'm making a hat..." Penelope grinned, holding up a blue and gray ball of yarn. "And I grabbed my iHome, if you want to listen to your music..." she said, setting the unit over on the side table.

Scarlett smiled. "Sounds good, except I have no idea where my phone went... I left it back at the BAU..." she felt Spencer move at her side and looked down. He reached over and pulled out her phone from his front pocket.

"I knew you'd be looking for it," he told her, his voice still husky from sleep. Scarlett took it from him, handing it to Derek to hook into the player.

"I didn't mean to wake you up, Spence," she said softly. Sleep would offer the most comfort from the symptoms of withdrawing from the drugs. Scarlett had hoped he'd crash and sleep through the worst of it.

Reid turned his head into the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply. When he nuzzled closer and nipped at her neck, he smiled at her giggle.

"That tickles, farm boy... no shenanigans..." she teased.

"Mmm..." he stretched and kissed her neck again. "Shenanigans are fun..." he teased back. "And you didn't wake me... I wasn't sleeping," he told her.

Scarlett rolled her eyes. "No, not at all..." she smiled. He looked at her closely.

"How are you feeling, crazy girl?" he asked, watching her eyes.

"I'm great, farm boy... the doc will be in soon, they set my tests up and they are ready to disconnect me from this machinery..."

Reid sat up in the bed and looked over at the monitors, reading the numbers.

"They think its safe to do that, even before they get the test results?" he scowled.

"Yes, Dr. Reid... they wouldn't be doing it if they thought differently," she cocked her head at him, pushing a finger into his chest. "No second opinions, please..." she grinned.

"If you want to play doctor with me, we'll have to do that later, at home," she said, watching him blush as he looked from her to the monitor again.

"Seriously, Scarlett..." he pulled himself off the bed, heading into the bathroom to wash his face. He felt a headache beginning to pound.

"Seriously, Reid..." she mimicked his tone. When he came back into the room, she could read the pain in his eyes.

The doctor came into the room at the same moment, preventing her from asking him about it. Scarlett watched as the man moved over to the monitors, confirming the charted information. He looked down at her, smiling brightly.

"Well, you certainly recover quickly," he stated, taking her wrist to check her pulse. "The nurse told me you refused the pain medication?"

Scarlett saw Spencer frown and closed her eyes briefly, looking for patience. He was going to mother her to death if she allowed it.

"I didn't refuse anything- I didn't need it, so I didn't take it," she clarified for Spencer's benefit. The doctor looked confused for a moment, but then just shrugged.

"That's fine," he said. "You are the only one who knows if you are in pain..."

"Nope, I feel fine," she smiled.

"Okay, well, we are going to send you for an MRI. We'll use that information along with some functional tests to establish if there seems to be any concern about brain damage," he looked over to the read out on the heart monitor. "Everything seems perfectly fine with your heart function..."

"We will have you follow up with a cardiologist, who may want to do some tests..."

Scarlett sighed as she could see an endless parade of doctors, appointments and tests in her near future. She bit at the side of her thumb as the doctor continued discussing the follow up...

She felt Spencer at her side and looked up as he took her hand. He covered her thumb with his hand, blocking her from her nervous habit. The doctor looked at the couple as he finished his consultation.

"I don't feel that anything looks like it will present a complication. You are very lucky, Agent Ryan, considering..."

Scarlett nodded, feeling Reid squeeze her hand. "Thanks," she said, a little gruffly. "When can I go home?"

Morgan grinned at Reid. "She's got a bit of a one track mind..."

"You noticed?" Spencer retorted. The doctor looked back to Scarlett.

"Let's see how the tests fare before committing to your release," he told her nonchalantly. Scarlett frowned.

"We can disconnect the monitor, now..." he said trying to appease her. "And get you transferred out of ICU into a private room... At least you'll feel better about that," her doctor smiled.

Scarlett blew a breath out. "Fine," she pouted. She looked up at the IV hanging over her shoulder. "This can go too?" she asked.

"It's a quicker way to deliver medication..." he shook his head at her scowl. "And it helps so you won't get dehydrated..."

"I'll drink enough water..." she interrupted, holding her arm out. The doctor grinned and shook his head.

"Alright, we'll have the nurse remove it also..." he told her.