I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Forty:
Reid sat in a chair in the hospital room with Iris and watched TV.
"So, you and Gwen are really taking a break?" she said.
"I see how tired she is when she sees me," he said. "I see the longing and the frustration. I can't let her continue to suffer from her attachment to me."
"You've been an ass to be around for the past week and a half," she said. "Now that you've mellowed, maybe you can restart things."
"It started before the injury," he said. "The fact that she has to keep things from me as she is worried it will upset me. She's been put through a lot."
"Have the bosses decided what they're going to do with you?" she asked.
"They offered to let me decide: Transfer with Juno, or stay until second week of August as planned."
"And?"
"I want to go back," he said. "I don't want to go back to that rec room stained with blood ever again, but I want to finish what I started there."
"Good," she said. "I hated the idea of you leaving anyway."
"I will eventually," he said. "We both will."
"How long are you going to be stuck here for?"
"Until tomorrow," he said. "They can do the PT at the institute and I am making leaps and bounds in terms of progress without the Abilify."
"How's your mood though?" Iris asked. "It is risky going off that drug."
"Down," he said. "I still don't feel very motivated. But I'm fighting. I'm afraid of what is out there, but I am anxious to see it, if that makes any sense."
"It makes perfect sense," she said.
"Can I touch your left hand?" she asked.
"Sure," he said.
She gently touched it.
"What does it feel like?" she asked.
"It feels like you're touching me through a rubber glove."
"Weird."
Reid sighed.
"I was so mean to everybody lately. I don't know how anyone tolerates me anymore."
"It's called being a family," Iris said. "You let it go in one ear and out the other."
"You didn't run when I snapped at you on Saturday."
"I've never seen you so angry," she said. "It was kind of fascinating actually."
Reid let out a slight laugh.
"Only you, Iris," he said.
"The one and only," she said with a smile.
"They're going to pick me up soon. Everyone is debating how an assassin got into Evans, the place Blake was transferred to. It is a step below incarceration in terms of how the place is locked up. Your ex is clever."
"She's not my ex," he said with a sigh.
"Cat Adams acts like one," she said.
"I try not to think about her," he said. "I've got enough on my plate."
"That, you do," she said.
A counselor appeared.
"Come on Iris," she said.
Iris sighed.
"Yes mommy," she said sarcastically and got up.
"See you soon," she said and waved at him.
Reid waved back.
…
He was reading is his bed when he heard the running of feet.
Henry and Max burst in.
"Hey guys!" Reid said with a broad smile.
"Uncle Spencer!" They both shouted.
"Can we hug you?" Henry asked. "I know what germs are and that you don't like them."
"I'm not afraid of your germs," he said.
Reid put his legs over and hugged them both.
"Oh, it is so good to see you guys," he said. "You're both so big!"
"Mom says she sent us to camp because she couldn't afford to feed us anymore," Max said.
"You're growing boys, I bet you eat hundred twenty dollars, worth of food each week."
"Right on the money as always Spence," J.J. said.
Reid made eye contact with her.
"You're not mad at me?"
"I could never stay mad at you Spence," she said.
"Why would you be mad at Uncle Spencer, Mommy?" Max asked.
"Because he said my cooking was awful and he looked forward to never eating it again!"
The boys laughed.
"Your mom is good at simple recipes," Reid said.
"Like you do any better," she said.
"I once made tandoori chicken and it was only slightly burnt."
"It stunk up the apartment for weeks afterwards."
They laughed.
"So, what kind of camp are you at?" he asked.
"Baseball!" Henry said.
"Soccer!" Max said.
"I like baseball better," Reid said. "But soccer is fun too."
"We used to beat you bad when you came to our house," Henry said. "When are you coming back?"
"Soon," he said.
"What is soon?" Max asked.
"You'll see," Reid said.
"What is 'you'll see?'" Henry asked.
"I don't know exactly," Reid said. "But I promise it will be sooner rather than later."
"I still don't know what that means," Max said.
"Remember how I said you could have ice cream last night?" J.J. said. "I said you'd have to wait for the ice cream to thaw, it's kind of like that with Uncle Spencer."
"Okay," Max said.
Henry hugged him again.
"I've missed you, Uncle Spencer."
"I've missed you too, Henry."
"Mom says you went through some bad things and needed to stay at a special place to get better. What kind of bad things happened to you?"
"Henry," Reid said. "Do you know that feeling after you wake up from a nightmare where you still think it is real for a second before you fully wake up?"
Henry nodded.
"I went through that constantly," he said. "That's what it was like."
"It sounds scary," Max said.
"It was, but I'm getting better. Your letters and drawings have helped me so much. I have taped them up all over my room."
"Good," Henry said. "I thought something bad had happened and that you would never come back."
Reid hugged him.
"Oh, Henry. As I said in my letters, while I was gone the only thing, I dreamed of was seeing you, Max, your mom, and dad, and the rest of the team family. I'll never leave you again."
"Promise?" Henry said.
"Promise," Reid said.
"We brought you more drawings," Max said.
"Great!" he said. "I love them all."
"We better get going," J.J. said.
"It was great seeing you guys!" Reid said.
Reid nodded to J.J.
"Thank you," he said.
J.J. smiled.
"I want you to be happy again Spencer."
"I will be," he said.
She walked over.
"Can I hug you?" she asked.
"Please," he said.
They held on tight as all the anger and sadness of the past week melted away. Their bond could not be broken by silly arguments and stress. They were friends forever.