Hi! Merry Christmas! I don't know when I'll post again as I am (voluntarily) working Christmas eve.
Chapter Six:
Prentiss knocked on Reid's door early in the morning. Reid opened it, appearing in a gray Caltech sweatshirt and pants. Looking frustrated, he tried closing it, but Prentiss held firm.
"I have a ticket to go to Denver," she said showing him the ticket on her phone. "First class even."
"Did you all get them from the same website? Rossi dropped by last night, and Simmons texted me a picture this morning. You just missed Tara by about five minutes."
"Reid, I don't like leaving you!"
"Emily, no," he said firmly. "The Messer Street soup kitchen is looking forward to having me help out. That is my final answer."
"It just feels so unfair!"
"This isn't my first Christmas alone. I couldn't visit my mom after I had her put in a facility as she was still too angry at me. Blizzards canceled trips to go home for me twice before I was close enough to J.J. to spend the holiday with her. This isn't that big a deal Emily."
"How did you cope?"
"The way I will now. I've got a dozen books I want to read over break. Garcia gave me a nice gift card to my favorite bookstore, so I'll go out after Christmas for more."
Prentiss sniffed the air.
"Why does it smell like lemons in here?"
"Furniture polish."
"You're already that bored?"
"Goodbye and Merry Christmas Emily."
Prentiss rushed forward and hugged him. "Merry Christmas Spencer."
"Merry Christmas."
Reid closed the door on her.
Prentiss briefly stared at the door. She and the team had done everything they could. J.J. was arranging for a fruit basket to be sent tomorrow. What else was there to do?
…
Reid wasn't religious, but he didn't want to spend the evening alone. He chose to go to a Christmas service at a nearby church.
Sitting in the back to avoid offending regular church visitors, Reid reflected on what he'd seen. Santa saved a drowning boy. A reindeer saved his student. A bright light led him to a baby. A camel helped him find an injured man. What would come next?
Life hadn't been easy for him. He'd been shot, tortured, turned into a drug addict, and imprisoned. He'd lost women he loved. He loved the team. They were his family, but none thought about him until it was too late. Teaching was a pleasure, but the quality of the students was going downhill fast. Was this all there was for him?
The service began. It was a Catholic mass, so there were lots of sitting and standing. Then the children appeared to read the gospel. The little kids were dressed as animals, while the older kids played the adults. Phones were thrust to get the best pictures of the kids. The baby Jesus was a doll. The was lots of oohing and laughter. Reid appreciated the pageantry as he craved children of his own.
Toward the front of the church, Reid saw a man with a gray head of hair stumble down.
A woman screamed. "HELP!"
Reid ran down the aisle.
"Call 911. Everybody, step aside!" he shouted. "Make room for me."
"He's been ignoring the feelings of chest pains for the last few days," the woman said. "He wanted to see Andy perform as Joseph!"
"Is he on any heart medications?" Reid said as approached the man.
"No," she said.
"Are you a doctor?" a nearby man asked.
"I'm trained in CPR," he said as any other answer would be a waste of time.
The man on the ground looked ashen-faced. There was no pulse. Reid opened his jacket and started CPR.
"DAD!" someone shouted.
Reid kept doing compressions. The man didn't have a pulse.
"Do you have a defibrillator kit here, Father?"
"It's never been used," the young priest said.
"Someone, get it for me!"
"Are you sure you want to use that? The same man asked. "Do you know how to even use it? Maybe wait for the EMT."
"Paramedics are ten minutes away," the woman Reid assumed was the daughter, said.
"Grandpa!" a child cried.
An altar server appeared with the kit.
The same obnoxious man appeared in his line of vision.
"You could electrocute him."
Reid thrust out his FBI credentials at the man.
"Get out of my way or watch me find a reason to arrest you!"
The man stepped back.
Reid started work with the paddles. It didn't work the first time. The second time, he got a pulse. The wife cried when Reid smiled.
The EMTs appeared five minutes later. Reid informed them of the man, whose name he learned was Gabriel, his last pulse numbers.
"Were you the one who found an injured guy in a dumpster yesterday?"
"Yes," he said sheepishly. "It's been a weird few weeks."
"Oh, I know. Halloween and Christmas bring out the weird stuff."
Reid let the men work.
The boy dressed in a brown sheet for Joseph hugged Reid's legs.
"You save my grandpa!"
The wife was going over medications with the EMTs.
The priest stepped forward.
"Thank you, good man!"
"All in a day's work."
"The Lord's work," the priest said.
Reid walked out of the church. He was eager to go home before the adrenaline rush wore off.
"Sir!"
Reid turned around. It was the daughter. She had bright blond hair and was dressed in white.
"Your thanks are enough," he said.
"You're an angel you know that?" she said. "The way you told off that man and leaped into action. You strike me as someone who used to do that sort of thing. I don't think you know how grateful the world is to you."
"Thank you for the kind words," he said and walked past rows of cars.
There was a box on the hood of his car the size of an oversized suit box. Wrapped in shiny red paper, Reid opened it.
It was his messenger bag confiscated as evidence in Mexico. Reid had loved it and was sorry to part with it as it was a gift from his Uncle Daniel when he first graduated from Caltech. There was a tag indicating it had been released from evidence signed by an "Engerl Bengerl" which Reid knew was the name for Santa in Austria. Another mystery gift to add to his collection.