She had fallen asleep, stretched out on the couch with her heavily bandaged arm propped up on Prentiss' coat, almost as soon as the FASTEN SEATBELTS sign had been turned off. That had been several hours ago, and most of the team was now dozing themselves. Only Rossi, editing his latest manuscript, and Reid, nose deep in a book, remained awake.

"You okay, kid?" Rossi had come to the end of a page, breaking his focus long enough to notice the slightly drawn look of the younger man.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine."

"You know how I know you're not fine? If you were fine, I'd have had to call your name three times to get your attention."

Reid shifted uncomfortably in his seat and unceremoniously pushed his ever-lengthening hair out of his eyes. Unfortunately, Rossi noticed the quick glance Reid shot the small figure on the couch.

"I can see your wheels turning. Come on; out with it."

"Rossi, did you know the wrist is made up of eight small bones? They're put together like puzzle pieces! Not to mention the radial artery and all the nerves needed to move the hand! She's lucky-"

"Spencer," Rossi cut him off before he could work himself into a frenzy, waiting a moment for the doctor to take a deep breath before he continued. "Do you remember the first time you were injured on a case?"

Reid sat back in his seat, looking out the window on the moonlit clouds below.

"Rossi, the first time I was injured on a case I was kidnapped, tortured, and drugged."

"I'll admit that's a far cry from a clean shot to the arm, but think: the next day, how did you feel?"

Reid couldn't bring himself to look his friend in the eye.

"Exhausted and hollow and…" he swallowed hard, "guilty."

"And what do you wish your friends had done differently?" Rossi asked gently.

The two sat in silence for a while, Reid lost in thought.

"I wish…" he whispered finally, "that they had…acknowledged it. Once I was released from the hospital it was like it had never happened."

His reverie was suddenly interrupted by a soft, repetitive chime emanating from Reid's pocket, which intensified when he hastily dug his phone out of his cardigan. He stared at it for a moment in panic before tossing it to Rossi.

"Do you know how to turn that this off? I don't want to wake anybody up."

"Have you never used a phone alarm before? It says 'stop' right on the screen!" Rossi shook his head incredulously, silencing the cacophony easily. "Are you sure you should be going through her bag like that, kid?" he asked, looking back up to see the young man's head stuck almost completely into their team member's backpack.

"She won't mind."

"Maybe so, but can I ask what you're doing?"

"She's almost due for her pain meds," Reid explained, finally emerging with the small orange bottle and replacing the notebook he had removed during his search. "If she doesn't keep up with them, she's not going to be very comfortable when we land in an hour." He moved to get up, but Rossi stopped him.

"You know what, Spencer?"

"Hm?"

"I think she's going to be just fine."