As the severity of the situation hit him, Reid felt like he was going to vomit. The room gave the illusion he was spinning and drowning at the same time. "She's… missing?"

"No," Hotch said. "Riley was brought in last night after having been attacked."

"Oh my God," Emily exclaimed. "Is… is she-"

"She's okay," Hotch assured. The sound of exhaling relief was heard through the group, including from Reid. "She's conscious, she doesn't have any severe injuries but… he did beat up pretty well."

"What happened to her?" JJ asked. Reid felt her hand discreetly pat his back. Her intuition knew he was upset and he appreciated the support.

"They didn't get the whole story. All they do know is she was alone on the street last night around 9, someone attacked her just three blocks from her apartment. She was found sitting on the street some time after, nursing a head wound."

Reid felt awful. This was his fault. He'd been so angry, he didn't even consider the danger lurking out on the streets. Riley could have been killed.

"Could it have been the Undertaker?" Emily suspected.

Rossi spoke up, "I'm sure it was. It seems a little soon for another victim, even now, but she seems like his type. Any idea why she was out alone last night, Reid. You were the last one with her, correct?"

Reid didn't know what to say. He didn't want to divulge what happened between them, he was a liability to the case as it was. The heavy weight of his insides began distorting into excruciating knots again. Sometimes stubborn was a good thing; if Riley hadn't been as willful as she was…

The group was staring at him, awaiting his answer. Unable to unstick his throat, Reid shook his head.

"Alright, Morgan, Emily, get down to Seattle Mercy. Get the evidence the doctor's collected." His eyes met Reid's gaze, debating the outcome of his next decision. "Reid… you're the closest one to Riley. Go with them and interview her."

"I don't think… she would want to talk to me, Hotch." Why would she? Not only were the last words he said to her out of anger, but she was nearly killed because he was so selfish.

"That wasn't a suggestion, Reid." Hotch clarified. "For someone who cares so much about her, I would think you'd be most concerned about this."

"I am concerned," Reid said. His guilt lessened, replaced with fury.

"When you guys are done at the hospital, bring her here. She's the first of his victims to survive, he might not be willing to let that go. The rest of us will work with the detectives and follow up on leads."

Without a second glance, Hotch headed off in the opposite direction, with Rossi close behind. JJ remained with her friends, each one dying to know the facts.

"What happened last night?" JJ said to Reid, her tones hushed.

Choosing not to answer, he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes, hating himself more and more. "I can't believe this."

"It makes you wonder, though, why stuff like this happens to her." Emily pointed out. "What makes her so special?"

"I'll be in the car," Reid announced. They were wasting time. Despite the remorse, despite the circumstances, Reid was anxious to get to her. Just to make sure she was alright. He stormed off, not bothering to wait for the others.

"Reid," JJ called before he reached the exit. He reluctantly stopped, turning to see what she had to say. Instead, she ran up and put her arms around him comfortingly.

"It's going to be okay, Reid," she said, patting his back. Reid embraced her in return; they may have been nosey, but he knew his friends did it because they cared about him.

"Thanks, JJ," he said. He didn't know what he'd do without them.

The hospital was busy and chaotic. Emily, Reid, and Morgan waited outside of the ER, waiting for some attention from someone responsible for taking care of Riley. Twenty minutes went by with no result, Reid growing further impatient. He stood up to start pacing.

"Reid, you need to chill." Morgan said, sitting relaxed with his legs crossed. Emily sat a few seats away, looking just as calm.

"This is all my fault." He finally admitted.

"How is this your fault?" Emily asked, disbelieving.

"Are you with the FBI?" an intern interrupted, approaching them.

"Yes," Emily said, standing up. "I'm Agent Prentiss, theses are agents Morgan and Reid. We're here about Riley Parker."

"Yes, her attending is Dr. Matthews. He's not here right now, but I can answer your questions."

"Why isn't he here?" Reid demanded. "Are you a doctor?"

"Yes, agent. I'm an intern, but I assure you, I'm fully capable-"

"Her attending should be here with her. What if she's in pain or has internal bleeding or-"

"How is Riley's condition?" Morgan asked, silencing the all but hysterical young genius.

The young intern looked over a chart, reading Parker, Riley on the tab with serial and room numbers. "She's alright. Riley was brought in after 9 last night. She wasn't a priority case, so we didn't get to her until early this morning."

Reid rolled his eyes, unbelieving, muttering "priority case" under his breath.

"She has mostly superficial injuries. The most severe was the head wound, she lost a good amount blood, but there's no long term damage. We ran a CAT scan and an MRI and then stitched it up. She's going to be weak for awhile. The biggest thing was the bruising; she took a good beating, along with a twisted ankle and a hairline fracture in her hand."

"What about evidence from the attack?" Emily asked. "We were told that was collected."

"We took what we could, there wasn't much. At first we thought Riley had lost more blood than she did because her coat was covered in it. It wasn't hers, which makes us believe she did some damage of her own to the guy. We have the coat in evidence for you. There were some orange, brown chips surrounding a bruise on her cheek. We took a sample of those. There wasn't any evidence of rape, but we did a kit anyway just to be safe."

Reid remained silent, listening to the horrible things Riley went through, because of him.

"Where is she?" Morgan asked.

"She's resting, we gave her a room until you arrived. She didn't want to sleep; we gave her a sedative so she would rest." She flipped through the chart, looking for anything worth mentioning.

"How did you know to ask for Agent Hotchner?" Reid asked.

"We ran a search on her ID, found out she works for the FBI. We called their local offices which finally lead us to him. We couldn't find any family or emergency contact as it were… we're still trying to figure out who Spencer is, he needs to be notified."

Emily and Morgan both glanced at their friend. Reid felt like his chest was going to explode. "She was asking for Spencer?" Emily made sure.

"The EMTs said she was severely disorientated on the way in, she kept mumbling for someone by that name. Why, do you guys know who he is?"

It might not have been appropriate, but Reid gave a small smile. He raised his hand in an informal manner. "Me," he said.

The intern appeared both surprised and impressed. "Oh, well… you're probably anxious to see her."

"Yeah, Reid, why don't you go and talk to Riley. We'll get the evidence and meet you there in a few minutes."

Reid nodded. Without so much as a goodbye or thank you, he went in search of the elevators. Emily and Morgan went off with the intern.

"I didn't think agents in the FBI could date each other." The intern said once he was out of earshot.

Morgan smiled, laughing lightly "Dr. Parker's not an agent. And they're not dating."

"Really? I don't believe that." The intern replied.

"Try being in our place," Emily added.

The closer he got to her room, the slower Reid walked. He flashed back, hobbling down another hospital corridor, dragging an IV along beside him, and seeing the girl he coveted so, lying as a battered mess in a hospital bed. It had broken his heart to see his love like that. He had done all he could to save her, and she still had turned out like that. He didn't know if he could bear seeing it again and knowing this time it was his liability. She was going to hate him. Reid knew he deserved it, but he loathed the idea just the same.

Room 311. A private room. Cautiously, Reid peaked through the window in the door, taking in the scene that made his stomach contract and his heart pound.

Riley looked like an angel. Resting on the pillow, she was fast asleep. To be honest, she didn't look nearly as bad as before, but it was still a sad sight. There was a line of three stitches on her temple. A bruise on the opposite side sat on the apple of her cheek; purple surrounding a small cut. Her hand and ankle were both wrapped in ace bandages.

Careful not to make a noise, Reid opened the door and stepped in. Both hands rested over her stomach, rising and falling gradually with each of her serene breaths. She was still in her skirt and sweater. Reid felt a pang of guilt seeing a patch of blood on her shoulder below the stitches. Her shoes and nylons were removed, Reid's eyes lingering on her bare legs for several moments, three or four large bruises on each.

He didn't want to wake her. He set his bag down and took off his coat. Slowly, he made it over to the bed, trying not to disturb anything as he sat next to her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, watching her eyes flutter. As she exhaled, she sighed contently. After all she'd been through; at least she was sleeping with composure. He missed listening to the sounds she made when she slept. Every sigh, every moan. He missed holding her, breathing the scent of her perfume; roses. Riley loved roses. Reid reached over and rested her hand on his cheek, stroking it.

"Hmm… ," she mumbled, nuzzling into his touch, her eyes still flickering rapidly. It was too much to hope she was dreaming about him. He carefully leaned in, pressing his lips to her forehead.

With the impression of Snow White, Riley opened her eyes at the feel of his kiss. She gasped softly, seeing him hovering over her. Reid immediately backed away, afraid he had offended her. She sat up slowly, looking him over as if unsure this were still a dream.

"Hi," she finally whispered. Reid absorbed the feeling of those dazzling brown eyes once again; like everything he ever needed to know lay in those eyes.

"Hi," Reid repeated. "How do you feel?"

She moaned, discomforted. Her bandaged hand reaching to inspect the trio of stitches. "Sore..." her response was. She looked him over with question. Was he still mad?

His next words answered her question. "I am so sorry, Riley," he softly stated.

"This isn't your fault, Spencer," she said. Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Yes, it is. I got mad at you…. You could have been killed because I was so selfish."

"No, that's not true… I shouldn't have gotten upset. I shouldn't…" A few droplets trickled from her eyes as she caught her breath. "You had every right to be angry. If I had… I had been… treated like that… I probably would have left, too."

He wouldn't look at her, his eyes focused downward. Riley continued. "Please tell me what you're thinking."

A long pause with no answer, Riley finally leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. "Look at me," she said.

Reid's eyes finally traveled up to hers. They were pulsating, shimmering. "Riley… please just tell me the truth… do you love me or not?"

Riley hesitated. Breaking his heart was the hardest thing she ever had to do, and it never got any easier. "I care about you. You're a wonderful person and the best friend I ever had. But… I don't love you anymore."

He nodded, his tears falling. His hand traveled into her hair while his lips went up to kiss her forehead again. "Okay," he said, his lips against her skin. Riley felt horrible, clinging to him as her tears fell. She didn't like lying to him, but lying was the only way.