So I've recently found out that when a fanfic gets to this point, far too many writers tend to kill off our dear Spencer and I read one that made me cry so I'm writing and crying and this whole thing's a mess but I hope you enjoy it! (Also, thank you for the reviews, they give me a lot of joy!)
So this one shot is turning into a multi chapter story! Chapter 3 is half written and I've got plans for Chapter 4 so stay tuned kids!
There's a serious note at the bottom that everyone needs to read.
The ambulance was speeding down the suburban streets, swerving around cars, blue and red lights dancing on the windows as it races past. Drivers stared on in despondency at the vehicle, the news of the disappearing kids made everyone wary and after the local radio had reported that a government agent had been shot, they knew who was most likely in the back of the van. The siren hollered and wailed on the path to the hospital as Spencer Reid fought for his life on an uncomfortable gurney.
The paramedics hands flew across the young doctor's chest, attaching wires connected to monitors that he could name disassemble and reassemble in a matter of minutes, a gauze was pressed tightly against his chest and an oxygen mask covered his face. He was calling out numbers to the other paramedic who was writing them down frantically before helping to stem the blood that was leaking onto the gurney. He tried to take off the mask to talk to Hotch who had jumped in the ambulance with him - he silenced the EMTs with a look when they tried to stop him from joining them on the way to the hospital - but Hotch gently grabbed his hand and encased it in both of his to stop him from trying again. Reid turned his eyes to Aaron, watching the paramedics dart in and out of his vision was making him dizzy, "Hey Hotch?" he murmured "Did you know that only 4.4% of people with gunshot wounds to the chest survive? And out of that 4.4% only 0.02% have a fast recovery period that is less than 4 months?" he gasped, it was hard to breathe let alone talk but he didn't like listening to the numbers that were being shouted around the ambulance.
"In fact, the mortality rate for gunshot wounds to the chest has actually risen by 58% since the 1970s as it used to 36.8%, however the development of guns during that time period has allowed to wounds to become more fatal and therefore increasing the-" he gasped and the paramedic pushed harder on his chest which made his eyes slide into the back of his head and his chest jolt upwards, his hand slipping out of Hotch's and clenching tightly. The pain in his chest had skyrocketed and he couldn't feel his hands or see anything, he panicked and felt his hands clenching and his nails digging into his skin. He heard people speaking urgently and hands pushing pillows under his neck, he felt a hand gently unfurl his fingers and slip into his own grasp. The comfort and warmth he felt from the hand grounded him but he couldn't breathe and his body was so taught it hurt. His mind went blank as he crashed back down to the gurney, black crowded his vision and he felt himself start shaking, his already strained muscles screaming in agony at the overextension and in turn spasming out of control. Reid's left leg jerked forward and hit the rail of the gurney with a sickening pop and he felt wisps of hair brush against his hand before he passed out.
The paramedics were jarringly calm as they assessed the unconscious man's leg and determined that the partial seizure and following spasms had dislocated his knee and the doctor had passed out from pain and a lack of oxygen. Hotch watched as they gently adjusted the oxygen mask back into Reid's face and he grasped the kid's hand tightly, dipping his head forward to rest in them and send a silent thankful prayer that the seizure hadn't been worse.
Hotch's face was pale and panicked as he watched the EMT's movements get faster as they repeatedly checked the monitors on the wall of the ambulance that started going haywire, their words began to bleed together and deafen his ears but he caught the odd phrase as he kept his eyes glued to Reid's lax and scarily pale face.
"Hemothorax-"
"-e needs a thoracotomy"
"It's filling up with blood, he-"
"-ainage tube now!"
"He's not breathing!"
Hotch forced his brain to focus, Reid needed him, the team needed Reid. He was their glue, they'd almost lost him once before and he wouldn't lose him again.
One of the paramedics cut off the rest of Reid's FBI vest and shirt and started wiping away the blood and disinfecting the side of his chest. The kid was skinny, Hotch knew that, he rarely saw Reid eat during a case and never saw him drink anything other than coffee but when the knitted vest and bloaf soaked shirt had been cut away the harsh reality of the kids need to put others above himself was stark. He said he was taking care of himself, the team just never realised that his definition of 'taking care' was buying a new book and putting one less sugar in his coffee. All too often he was at the gun range - especially after one of the team got hurt but no matter how bad it was, Reid was always there for the team, always comforting presence or a supplier of a witty fact when he knew they needed to laugh. Those days spent at the gun range and the unexpectedly high amount of running on the job had given his arms and legs some definition but the rest of his body barely had enough fat to rival a strip of bacon.
Hotch was drawn out of his thoughts when he heard Reid choking, blood coating the inside of the oxygen mask and one side of his chest was almost deflating. One of the paramedics had a scalpel to Reid chest and was pushing it in with a surgical detachment that Hotch hated. The paramedic, the badge on her uniform might've read Jackson but Hotch couldn't even remember the day let alone a name - ripped open a package and grabbed the sterilised tube from the plastic, gently inserting one end it into Spencer's chest and connecting the other to an IV bag with another tube coming out of it. Hotch watched as she connected it to a small handheld pump and squeezed it 3 times until the blood started flowing into the bag. She took a stethoscope from the open cabinet behind her, put the buds in her ears and the chest piece just below the gauze on the agent's chest. She breathed a small sigh of relief when his chest started rising and falling, she took out a small pen light and pulled his eyelids up lightly, shining the light into them.
"Sir? Sir? Can you hear me?" she questioned. It made Hotch irrationally protective and angry, this woman knew nothing about Reid, she didn't know that he had never been called Sir, it was always Doctor. Gideon had made sure to always introduce him as Doctor so that people didn't undermine him or think he was a kid out in the field. Hotch had made the team carry on the tradition, they all might joke around with him but they never made him feel subpar than the rest of them.
"Reid. Doctor Reid. His name is Doctor Spencer Reid, not Sir" he announced as he caught her eye, making sure she understood.
Their small family could call him kid but not her, not anyone who wasn't part of the team, not anyone who didn't know him.
She continued checking his pupils and blood pressure, but Hotch became wary when she started talking to the paramedic driving the ambulance.
"He's breathing but he's hypotensive, emergency thoracotomy and chest drainage in place. He'll need to go straight to the OR and get a transfusion"
"ETA is less than a minute, we're 3 blocks away"
A ringing phone sounded out in the cramped vehicle, Jackson stared at Hotch with expectant eyes but he was zoned out with his focus on the odd breath that would fog up Reid's oxygen mask. It reassured him that he hasn't lost him yet. He couldn't afford to lose another member of the team not after Gideon and Elle.
She cleared her throat loudly and gave a pointed stare at Hotch's pocket when she gained his attention. He muttered an apology under his breath and declined the call, pushing his cell back into his pocket and taking hold of Reid's hand once more.
The ambulance came to an abrupt stop and Hotch was left lurching when the EMT's whisked Reid away on the gurney, beckoning him with a "Agent?" as he followed them through the monotone halls. They're joined by a doctor and 2 nurses whilst they race down the halls and they're calling out to each other, repeating all the things Jackson said in the ambulance.
A hand pushes against Hotch's chest and Reid disappears through a set of double doors with the swarm of hospital staff and he almost goes to break it before realising it's a nurse.
"I'm sorry Sir, you can't go in but there is a waiting room around the corner if you'd like to stay. Your friend is going to be in surgery for at least a couple of hours and it's a 2 hour wait after the surgery for immediate family to visit, but you're more than welcome to wait" the nurse assured him
"I'll wait, thank you" Hotch States and nods to the nurse. He walks around to the waiting area the nurse directed him to and is handed a form to fill out by the woman behind the desk. He pulls out the FBI healthcare card and fills it in before going on to fill out the rest of Reid's information. A useful part of being in charge of the team is knowing their details and medical history. He memorised their information just in case something ever happened. It's how he cares for them without being as outwardly affectionate as Garcia or JJ.
He handed the form back and slumped down in his chair, pulling out his phone and checking the missed calls from earlier:
4:38pm: J. JAREAU 2 missed calls
4:42pm: P. GARCIA 5 missed calls, 4 messages
4:43pm: D. MORGAN 2 missed calls, 1 message
4:50pm: D. ROSSI 1 message
He heaved a heavy sigh and dialled the 3rd number on his speed dial.
"Hi, it's Hotch,"
"Aaron, how's Reid? Derek just told us what happened" Dave's voice crackles through his phone
"They've uh… They've just taken him into surgery" Hotch replies shakily
"And how're you?"
"He stopped breathing in the ambulance, they said he was drowning because there was blood in his lungs. He almost died and I-" Hotch cuts himself off with a sharp breath "I'm fine, but Reid's in bad shape"
"He'll be okay Hotch, he's our boy genius, we need him too much for him not to be okay and he knows that. The kid will pull through" He was thankful for Dave. He's one of the few people Aaron can always depend on, they've seen each other through the worst situations and the BAU brought them closer. He couldn't talk to anyone else in the team right now, if he did, he would have to compartmentalise this whole situation and he couldn't do that right now, he thinks. He was too deep in his thoughts and Reid could be dying through a set of double doors and he didn't want to push back his emotions for once.
"Which hospital are you at? Morgan couldn't remember which one was closest"
"We're at Parkland Hospital on uh-" he searches around for an leaflet on the table beside him that has a map of the hospital and the location of it on the back. He pulls the pale blue leaflet out of the pile and flips it over before finding the small map. "It's on Harry Hines Boulevard. The nurses said I can't see him for at least 4 hours because of the surgery but…"
"We'll be there in 20"
"Thank you, Dave"
"He'll be okay Aaron,"
"I know"
"See you in 20"
Thank god for David Rossi, Hotch thought.
15 minutes later the team of agents hurried through the doors of the hospital, following the signs and colours lined to get to the waiting room. JJ took in Hotch, his forehead was resting on his index fingers and his hands held together as if he were praying, His eyes were closed but she knew he was zoned out because he hadn't even moved when they'd called out his name as they entered the waiting area.
She took a step away from the group towards Hotch and gently squeezed his shoulder, his head shot up, eyes wide and almost lost.
"Hotch," she asked quietly, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry. They took him into surgery about half an hour ago and I haven't heard anything since."
Penelope looked at Morgan with worry and sadness, she knew he felt guilty because he didn't protect their boy wonder but Derek being Derek, she knew he wouldn't talk about it, nor while Reid was on the table. She loved Reid, not in the way that she loved Derek or Kevin, she loved him like a brother or a kid. He'd been through so much in his life and he flourished in the BAU, he held together their little family with his giant brain and brilliant quirks. She'd almost lost him too many times because of his need to save people which was so typically Spencer and she couldn't lose him again. Penelope fought back the tears as she tried to catch Morgan's eye but instead he slung an arm around her shoulders, kissed the top of her head and rested his chin in her hair. Her arms snaked around his waist and hugged him tightly. No one was okay but now wasn't the time to talk about it. They needed their Junior G-Man, they would fall apart without him.
The team sat down in the bland blue chairs around Hotch, he had taken place on the second chair in from the door - it had a direct line of sight to the doors Reid had disappeared through. JJ was on the seat opposite her boss and Emily next to her. Penelope and Derek took the chairs 2 seats down from Hotch that that snaked round the corner, facing them to the window to the corridor to the OR and Dave walked between his team, taking the seat next to Hotch. Between the six of them they were taking up the entire the waiting room, the air was tense and fragile, one wrong word would shatter the facade that they'd put in place.
They sat like that for an hour.
Emily got up to get everyone coffee.
Derek held his until it got cold.
JJ called Will and told him she wouldn't be home tonight.
Hotch called Jack to tell him goodnight.
Penelope held Derek's hand.
They sat like that for another 3 hours.
10 hours later at 3:37am, an exhausted doctor walked towards the waiting room. She pulled her pen out of her breast pocket and spoke quietly to the nurse behind the desk who handed her a clipboard with several papers clipped to the top. She started flicking through the papers and scribbled her way through 4 pages before putting the pen back in her pocket and making her way into the waiting room, capturing the attention of 6 anxious and exhausted agents.
"Family of Spencer Reid?" she looked up at the agents, their eyes were trained on her like greyhounds to a rabbit.
"No, but I'm his incase of emergency contact, and as his superior in the FBI it gives me the same rights to his medical information as family" Hotch declared, he kept her eyes with a steely assertion, like he was daring her to challenge him.
"Very well, Mr?"
"Hotchner"
"Okay Mr Hotchner, if you'd like to follow me we can discuss Doctor Reid's condition."
"Can my team join us?"
"Unfortunately not, but it'll only take 10 minutes tops, then once he's in his room I'll send a nurse to take you all to him after the nurses have finished post-operation assessment" She explained, somehow she looked clinical and sympathetic which is a feat few doctors achieve. She turned and started to walk out the door, knowing the agent would follow her.
Aaron nodded and stood up, sending a curt nod to Dave before following her down the hall. They walked down too many halls before coming to a small consulting room just outside the ICU. She nodded for Hotch to sit down as she closed the door and sat behind the desk, placing the open file infront of her.
"So Agent Hotchner, as I'm sure you're aware Doctor Reid's state was very fragile when he arrived, he had a dislocated knee, a GSW to the chest which tore a hole in his lung and broke his rib, but the bullet lodged against the back of that same rib. Because of this, blood was draining into his lung so they performed an emergency thoracotomy and chest drainage in the ambulance - which you saw - to remove the blood and help him to breathe, however between the gunshot wound, the hole in his lung and the surgery to repair the damage, Doctor Reid suffered major blood loss and had to be resuscitated 3 times on the table. We gave him a blood transfusion which he is still currently on and we were able to repair the damage to his lung and chest cavity as well as taking out the splinters from his broken rib that had shifted on the way to the hospital. We X-rayed his knee and thankfully no bones were broken when it dislocated during his partial seizure. But because he stopped breathing several times, we're worried the lack of oxygen may have made Doctor Reid's condition worse and we think he might have brain damage. He's in the ICU now and he's under constant observation but it'll be around an hour and a half before you and your team can see him" She finished sympathetically. Hotch hated the pity in her eyes. He didn't need sympathy, he needed to see Spencer.
Hotch hung his head, he needed to think. Reid could lose one of his greatest assets he could lose his job, the team could lose Reid. How was he supposed to tell them that they could lose a part of their family?
"What are his chances?" the man uttered with a blank gaze as he stared at the doctor.
"Excuse me?" She seemed stunned, was that a bad question? Was he thinking too darkly? Hotch started to panic internally. Was he thinking about the end when that wasn't in sight?
"Is that not-"
"Sorry, no I- I wasn't expecting that question most people jump straight to the denial stage." She smiled, it wasn't to reassure him and he appreciated that.
"I'm not going to lie to you, his chances aren't great but they're not terrible. After the intense trauma his body has been through its going to take longer to heal, especially if there is brain damage but the chance of that is low because he was resuscitated quickly each time but your boy's strong, he made it through 6 and a half hours of surgery, he's a fighter."
She had an honest face, it was a rarity in both lines of work that they saw anyone with a truly honest face. They both dealt with death and hurt on a daily basis, it was hard not to be weathered by the things they'd seen but she somehow managed to remain compassionate and not get desensitised by the storm of her profession. She was lucky.
"Come on, I can take you to the window of his room but I can't let you in yet" she offered with a smile.
The agent followed her down the hall and through a set of double doors and came to a halt outside the window of Reid's room.
"Agent Hotchner, I have to warn you… the monitors and IV's connected to Doctor Reid will be very overwhelming so if you need a minute, I'll be just over there" she points to another room just down the hall and walks away with soft footsteps.
Aaron clenches and releases his fists repeatedly to ground himself. He screwed his eyes shut and let his head hang forward, seeing Reid was going to be hard, he just didn't know how much. He can feel his breathing speed up and his heart hammering in his chest. When he looked up, his heart stopped and the rest of him followed suit as he stood infront of the window, stock still in shock.
The young Doctor was lying impossibly still on the hospital bed, ventilator tube down his throat, a nurse was adjusting the IV that were inserted into the back of each hand. His chest was swathed in bandages, there were smudges of blood on his face and he was so pale, like one of the victims they'd see on the round table screens. His knee was bandaged tightly his leg was immobilised from thigh to shin with a large black brace. He had drainage tubes taped to the side of his chest and too many monitor pads on his chest for Hotch to count. There were at least 20 wires coming off the kid and the heart rate monitor beep slowly. He looked dead. And he wasn't breathing by himself. Hotch half expected his hand to come up and tuck the stray piece in hair that was resting on his cheek behind his ear. But he didn't move, the nurse was the only thing in the room that moved and she hadn't even registered the doctor and agent standing at the window.
Hotch couldn't take it anymore and walked backwards into the chairs behind him. He wasn't Reid, he was a body that looked like Reid. Where were the statistics and facts that they relied on? The boyish grin that made them forget the horrors he'd faced? The crinkled brow that and muttered ideas that would help solve a case or the hesitant expression when he wanted to input but didn't want to disrupt anyone? Their Reid wasn't there, but his body was lying basically comatose on the hospital bed, drowning under wires and monitors, having a machine breathe for him.
Hotch took a sudden breath as tears fell down his face, he wiped them away quickly and steadied himself. Wiping his palms on his trousers as he stood up and shook his hands like he was shaking those thoughts out of his head. He nodded his head to the doctor, who was watching him from a doorway down the hall and he briskly walked back to his team. 'She's not a part of the team, she doesn't see these emotions,' he thought, 'the team is family and my family needs me'
Memories of Reid were flooding his brain on his journey to the waiting area; the first case he worked with Reid and how he grossly underestimated the young genius, some stupid joke Spencer made that had Gideon and Hotch almost crying in laughter and he kid with the proudest look on his face, celebrating 5 of Reid's birthdays in the round room, finding him in the cemetery… Spencer was family, he was family and Hotch relied on him more than he'd care to admit.
Penelope stood up when he walked through the double doors and the terrified look on her face snapped him back to reality, her hand was still reflexively clutching Derek's hand so when she stood up, the agent had to step quick around the back of Garcia's chair to her side to avoid breaking his wrist. "How is he?" she asked quickly and quietly like she was holding in a breath.
Hotch cleared his throat "He's alive, his leg is in traction after it dislocated in the ambulance and the uh- the surgery took longer than they thought it would because the bullet broke his rib then lodged against the inside of another. They took it out and fixed his lung and bullet wound but he…" he trailed off and looked to the floor. Taking a deep breath he looked back up at the team and continued, "He's not breathing on his own so they've intubated him and he's got drainage tubes in his chest to get the rest of the blood out of his lungs." He took a deep breath and steadied himself to admit the young doctor's harsh reality. "They lost him 3 times on the table and because he stopped breathing for so long, they uh.. They think he might have brain damage"
The room was silent as they all took in the news.
Reid wasn't okay.
Reid might have brain damage.
Spencer might not be the same when he wakes up.
That's if he wakes up at all.
Getting shot on the job is always a risk but they'd been nothing but lucky so far, taking a bullet to the arm or leg, never inflicting long lasting damage but this… The young doctor always got hurt worse than the rest of them like having a seizure and dying during his time with Tobias, being poisoned with anthrax, getting shot in the knee and needing crutches for months... He had the biggest heart of them all and wore it out in the open, not on his sleeve but like a crest emblazoned on his chest. It helped keep them sane and do their job. The fact that a pure genius could practically raise himself since the age of 5, take care of his mother, get several doctorates and BAs, survive kidnapping and torture only to come out stronger on the other side and still try to save people from their own minds was grounding. He saw the good in people, like Tobias. He knew it wasn't Tobias' fault for what happened to him, he only tried to help Reid but the years of abuse broke his brain and turned him into something he was never meant to be. Reid had been tortured physically and psychologically but he didn't stop trying to help people. And now he was lying in a bed, broken and maybe dying, because his heart was undeniably good.
They all sat back down on the chairs, lost in their thoughts and worried for Reid in their own personal bubbles, flitting through memories of Spencer, wondering what they would do if they lost him. One of the group stood up and ran to the toilets, followed by the dark haired agent next to her.
Rossi stood up and pulled Aaron to the opposite corner of the room and started talking to him quietly, Aaron would nod his head every few seconds, then started talking back quietly, looking back towards the ICU corridor every now and then.
Penelope and Derek sat back down and shoulder to shoulder on the seats, her head was down, her hand covered her mouth and tears rolled down her face and over her ring covered fingers. Her right hand was grasped tightly in Derek's left and he stared down the hallway that Hotch had just walked through, waiting for the nurse to appear and tell them they could see the kid. He looked angry and when Penelope looked close enough, he looked scared. His eyebrows were pinched with worry and Penelope could sense his guilt from a mile away. She rubbed her thumb over his hand to draw his attention and give him a look which he knew too well that said I'm scared, he drew her hand closer and kissed it lightly, I know he replied. She rested her head on his shoulder and he laid his chin lightly against her forehead, pressing a small kiss to it then sighing slowly. They didn't need to say anything to each other, the shared pain of being unable to help Reid was insurmountable and no words could help ease it. So they held each other as they fell into a hole of aching sadness.
Emily followed JJ as she ran towards the toilets, JJ was crying because her best friend was dying and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Everyone felt the punch to the gut when Hotch told them the news but JJ looked like she was going to break in two. That's why Emily followed her, because she knew if she left her alone, she would break irrevocably and Emily couldn't let that happen.
She pushed open the bathroom door and found JJ sat on the toilet seat lid, with the cubicle door mostly closed and the sound of her friend crying echoing through the empty bathroom.
"JJ?" she knocked lightly on the door, the blonde nudged it open with her foot and wiped her face with a swab of tissues. Emily crossed her arms and lent against the frame of the cubicle.
"JJ, I'm not gonna ask if you're okay, because none of us are, but do you wanna talk about it?" she stepped through the doorway, grabbed JJ's hand and crouched in front of her.
"I know how much Spencer means to you, to all of us but he's gonna be fine. When has Reid never not been okay when you need him to be?" she asked with a small smile, JJ looked up at her, tears glistened in her eyes and mascara trails decorated her cheeks.
"Now. I need him now and he's not okay. He means everything to me Em, he's my best friend. After you... after Paris, I saw him every day for 10 weeks and got so close with Henry and god, Henry adores him - sometimes more than me and Will - hell, Will and him got so close he almost got Spence to go to a football game with him! I love Spence, he's my best friend, more than that, and if I lose him I-" she cut off with a sob and brought her hand to her mouth to stifle her cries. Emily slid in the cubicle and wrapped her arms around JJ, pushing the door closed with her foot and letting the blonde cry into her jacket. JJ's body was shuddering with every choking sob and Emily could feel the pain in JJ's soul. After Tobias, everyone saw JJ and Spencer get closer, it was never romantic but they depended on each other. They'd lost each other once, Spencer thought JJ had been hurt by Tobias when he was in the cornfield and JJ had to watch her friend get beaten, die, and get brought back to life while knowing that it wouldn't have happened if she insisted they didn't split up. They were fiercely protective of each other and even when it was a fight with a suspect or a paper cut, they would be there to patch the other up. The thought of losing Spencer again made JJ's heart wrench and crumble into pieces.
"I can't lose him again. I wasn't there for him the first time and I watched him die, I'm not about to do that again. Henry needs his godfather and I need my best friend" her voice was muffled by tissues but it was strong and Emily couldn't do anything but hug her.
A pair of bright pink and black heels sped down the hallway towards the toilets, a set of colourfully manicured nails pushed the door open with an unintentional force and strode towards the only occupied cubicle, opening the door, barely stopping to take a breath.
"Emily, JJ, get out here. Spencer just had a seizure but the nurse is taking us to his room now. We gotta go, come on" Garcia didn't even stop moving, nor did she wait for the agents to compose themselves as she turned around and marched to the waiting room. Her fellow agent's shoes rapped on the worn tiling as they hurried after her, tissues discarded and tear tracks wiped away. Penelope made a sharp turn around the corner and went straight to Derek's side, grabbing her bag and nodding at the nurse to take them to their doctor. The team walked stoically behind the nurse, each preparing themselves to see Spencer in his fragile condition, JJ and Garcia mere inches behind the nurses heels. They were surely intimidating the poor man but Emily wouldn't tell them to let off, especially not when he was taking them to Spencer who had been in the hospital for 11 hours. The blinds to his room were slanted so none of them could see in but it was clear the lights were dimmed. The lights from the monitors danced on the blinds and painted them in a way that was far too reminiscent of the ambulance lights on Derek's face for him to ignore.
The nurse stopped them all before they walked in, with a hesitant hand in front of him, "Before you all go inside you need to know that we did have to give him a small dose of pain relief medication to help him sleep so he won't wake up for the next 6 - 8 hours at the very least but if he does, you need to use the assist button that is on the left side of his bed immediately. The equipment that we're using to monitor his condition does look very overwhelming but I can assure you that every machine is helping him and if his condition improves, we can start removing them tomorrow. If anything about his condition changes, one of the night nurses who is assigned to this ward will be in here as soon as possible and if you have any questions about how he is, you can ask her, but we do ask that you keep the noise to a minimum because it is well past visiting hours" He stepped aside and opened the door for the team before leaving them to attend another patient.
Garcia walked into the room first, closely followed by JJ, then Derek, Emily, Dave and finally Hotch who shut the door behind him. Spencer looked horrific. He looked like a victim from a sadistic case they could've worked on. He was covered in a flimsy hospital gown with the pale blue bed sheets pulled up to just under his rib cage. The drainage tube was sticking out of the side of his chest and was surrounded by gauze and tape, there were 3 monitors connected to that side of his chest alone with an oxygen monitor clipped on his finger. 5 other wires on his chest linked to a small screen to the right of the hospital bed and the worst part was the almost see-through tube that went into the young Doctors mouth. Every few seconds the whoosh of sterile air was pumped in and out of his body, forcing the breath into his lungs. His face was pale and gaunt from the blood loss - and the fact that he rarely got more than 4 hours of sleep and relied on caffeine to keep him awake for 20 hours a day didn't help - and he had dark purple - nearly black - rings under his eyes. There was a smudge of blood on the side of his face and the shape of a thumb print and it made Hotch want to gag because he knew it was from the kid's blood on his thumb.
Derek didn't realise he was holding his breath until he let out a short stuttering burst of air which spurred agents around him to move. Hotch offered the chair to Reid's left to JJ who politely declined and instead she stood at the end of his bed like a vigil with Emily at her side. Rossi pushed Hotch down into the chair lightly and kept his hand solidly in the younger man's shoulder as a comfort for the both of them.
He leant his head back slightly and closed his eyes is if in prayer, "Buona salute e cuore ... Prenditi cura di lui ... Per favore …" he murmured under his breath and closed his eyes with a quick nod.
Penelope sat on the other side of Reid and pulled the chair as close to his bedside as she could, she went to hold his hand but stopped herself just before she picked it up because a large IV covered in tape dominated the top of his hand and Derek's hands rested on her shoulders from his position behind her chair.
The team brought colour into the overwhelmingly bland room, much like Spencer did to the bullpen with his constantly mismatched socks and vast array of vests, but it really didn't matter because he wasn't awake to see it.
The air in the room was stifling. It wasn't hot or cold or humid. Seeing the kid deathly pale and barely moving made the air they breathed feel forced, like it was being shoved down their throats in spite. Giving them life freely and without thought while the kid they fiercely fought to protect was having sterilised air pumped into his lungs because his body couldn't do it for him as he lay nearly comatose in front of his closest friends. The fact that Reid wasn't moving hit them all the hardest because although he was nearly always fiddling with something being it a pen or a book, he would only slow down when something was really wrong. Like whenever he got bad news about his mom or something about a case hit too close to home, he would react in the same way every time. His body would tense and his shoulders would sag, his hands would sto completely and then start clenching or fidgeting and his eyes would drop to the floor. He'd try and hide it around the team but it was always clear as day to them, but all too often the case would come first and they couldn't talk about it until it was over.
Now he wasn't doing anything, not even twitching in his sleep. He was just still. And it was scary.
The same nurse from earlier came in and let them know that only 3 people could stay overnight with their doctor. Hotch and JJ being the first choices to leave because of their kids at home, Rossi left with them, claiming "old age and a hospital chair wouldn't be a helpful combination to anyone" which garnered a few chuckles. Emily stayed for an hour before being given the keys to Garcia's apartment, going to feed Sergio and pick up coffee for the three of them, promising to be back in no more than 45 minutes. Leaving Derek and Penelope to watch over Reid as he lay so vulnerable in the hospital bed.
"He looks so small" Garcia whispered, "I mean he's always been thin but he's never been small. I heard his mom say once it's because of all the coffee he drinks" she said with a small smile.
Her hand came up to hold his on her shoulder, "Back when we worked the Fisher King case, when me and JJ stayed with her in the round table room and you guys went off to fight the bad guy, she showed us all of these old photos of Spencer. I don't think he knew she had them, they were in this tiny little book in the bottom of her bag, but she talked about him nonstop and the photos went from the day he was born to the last time he went to go see her. She was so proud when she talked about him..." Penelope felt the tears balancing eyelashes start to spill over on to her cheeks.
"She told us how her Spencer had been a boy genius from day one and how he wrote a letter to her everyday for the past 3 years about us and the BAU and all the people you guys have saved. Right before you all came back, she uh- she had to take her meds and I could see why Reid couldn't visit her as much because it was like we watched her change, you know? Like 10 minutes after she'd taken them, she had this glossy look in her eye and she started to space out every now and then. She started getting paranoid about being around us and in a government building... I mean, it was hard for us to watch and we'd only been with her for 4 and a half hours, and I couldn't imagine how much it hurts Spencer to see that happen to his mom. He told me once that he thinks the reason people tell him their secrets is because he has no one to tell them to but it hurts my heart that he doesn't realise that we tell him those things because we trust him, because even though he could tell the world that stuff, he'd go to the grave defending it. After I got shot and you guys caught... him, and after you stopped staying on my couch" she laughed and she felt Derek's rumble against her back as he chuckled "He came over every day, he bought me breakfast from my favourite café and we'd watch TV then drive to work in Esther and we'd go for lunch together if you guys were here. If you were on a case he'd text me some science joke instead and it made everything easier"
Tears were steadily making their way down Garcia's cheeks and Morgan knelt in front of her to wipe them away with his thumbs and cupping her face.
"Hey, Baby Girl," he tried to get her to look at him but her eyes remained stubbornly focused on her skirt. "Penelope, I need you to look at me" he prompted softly, "Reid knows that we love him. He knows because you and JJ stayed with his mom while he had to go on a case and because he could tell you about his doubts. Pretty Boy wouldn't say that stuff to just anyone and he knows we need him back alive and well, even though he may doubt it sometimes, that just means that we need to be here to reassure him that we do need him. Besides, who else is gonna spurt out crazy facts that break a case or put people to sleep?" Garcia giggled lightly at that which in turn made Morgan crack a smile. He stood up and kissed her forehead before dragging a chair over to sit next to her, holding her hand and waiting for Emily's return or for Spencer to move.
Whichever happened first.
Emily hurried in with 3 coffees in hand 32 minutes later.
The evening light faded away and the gal ring artificial lights coated the hospital.
Minutes rolled into hours and the coffee that Emily had graciously bought had been emptied and discarded within minutes of being recieved.
Many others took their place as the three agents took shifts in sleeping and watching over their friend and the bin in the corner would be piled high by the time daylight coated the room.
The nurse came by every hour to check Reid's vitals, he would walk in, smile, write things down on a chart, smile and walk out again.
After 6 visits, the male nurse finished his shift and an older woman with faded brown hair took his place. Penelope liked her, she had a warmer smile than the male nurse.
Derek woke up Penelope and Emily at 7am with a coffee pushed into their hands, he received 2 grateful smiles in return and they all settled back into the surprisingly uncomfortable chairs, waiting for the rest of the team to turn up again. At 9:30 Rossi, Hotch and JJ walked into the room with hopeful looks on their faces, and Emily felt terrible squashing their hopes that Reid had miraculously healed over night.
Almost 25 hours after the irreplaceable FBI agent was admitted to the hospital, Reid's heartbeat slowed down and the nurses forced the team outside into the hall, calling for a doctor to assist them. They watched in horror as they injected something into his IV, hurriedly psuejed buttons on one of the many machines in to room and started examining his chest, checking his drainage tube and pulse, measuring his blood oxygen levels. After a painfully long time, the nurses walked out and were bombarded with questions they were unable to answer from the team before hearing an assertive "Is he okay?" from the black haired agent in a crisp black suit. They issued a hushed apology before speeding down the hall to alert Spencer's doctor who arrived shortly after the nurse disappeared around a corner.
"I'm sorry the nurses couldn't give you any answers, they have to alert me of any changes to Doctor Reid's condition before they can let the family members know and, as I'm sure you've all guessed, his condition has changed. Spencer's heart rate slowed drastically which was most likely due to adverse reaction to the antibiotics we were giving him for his wound because the bullet was slightly rusted when it was fired and which lead to small mounts of rust being left aim the wound when we extracted it from his chest. But this reaction to the antibiotics, the trauma of the gunshot and his partial seizure has taken a strain on Spencer and I'm so sorry to say that he's slipped into a coma. Now while this sounds very severe, being unconscious is the body's way of protecting itself and focusing energy on healing rather than bodily functions or trying to wake up. We're not sure if or when he'll wake up but the second anything changes I will be here personally to check his condition" she finished sympathetically, she gave the team a nod and left them to process the information in peace.
One of their own might not make it out alive and there's a chance that they might watch him die.
Rossi's Italian means "Good health and heart ... Take care of him ... Please ..."
PLEASE READ
I know that most of us read fanfiction as a form of entertainment but on a serious note, what's happening now is horrendous and disgusting and even if you can't donate to charities that support the BLM movement you can still use these websites:
joincampaignzero
blacklivesmatter
M4bl
(everytime I try and upload the links, takes them down)
To give your support and help make a difference. People need out help so please do what you can. Sign petitions, go to peaceful protests if you can and stay safe