A/N: Just so you know, I've started writing my progress for each chapter in the "Updates" section of my profile. For example, I may write when a chapter is half-way or three-fourths finished. That way, you can have an idea of when the next chapter is coming. If there is no update for the chapter, I likely have not started writing it yet.
As always, I didn't re-read. Enjoy! (…or not…)
Chapter 12
"Morgan, you go around the back. Dave and Prentiss, check the sides. I'll enter the front. Officer Lowski, with me." Hotch said hurriedly as he reached for his weapon. "Let's go."
Within seconds, the small house was flooded with FBI agents and local cops. For a minute, everything was silent. Hotch cautiously made his way through the kitchen, ready to attack, if necessary. Two additional officers entered the house, following Hotch into the dark hallway. Suddenly, there was a loud thump from another part of the house, causing everyone to momentarily pause. The sound of a gun being fired was heard, and everyone soon sprang into action, running toward the source. As Hotch approached the garage, he saw Prentiss walk out, securing her gun.
"We got him, Hotch." She said, pointing behind her.
Rossi appeared with a local cop next to him as they push the handcuffed man in front of them. Rossi stopped next to Hotch as other officers guided the man out the house. Hotch could hear Lowski saying "Dennis Wheatley, you are under arrest for the murders of Melisa Moore, Juliana Thames…."
As they all went outside, they passed Morgan, who was exiting the shed. The agent saw the bullet wound in the UnSub's shoulder. "What happened?"
"He had a knife at Rossi," Prentiss offered. "He didn't see me, so I took the shot. He should just be thankful I went for his shoulder." The agents watched as Wheatley was stuffed into a police car. He looked at Prentiss with resentment. She could see him swearing at her from behind the window.
"Well," Rossi said, trying to ignore the foul-mouthed UnSub. "Looks like we finished the case sooner than expected."
Prentiss nodded. "Guess that means we can be back in D.C. by tonight. Good. Those have to be the hardest hotel beds we've had to sleep in since that case in Cleveland." She absentmindedly rubbed her neck.
Morgan was about to answer when his phone rang. He smiled slightly upon seeing the caller ID. "We got him, Baby Girl. Thanks to—"
"REID'S IN THE HOSPITAL!" Morgan would have winced from Garcia's shriek, but he was in momentary shock.
"What? What do you mean Reid's in the hospital? What happened?" The other three agents immediately looked at Morgan with a questioning and concerned look.
"I-I don't know what happened. I mean, the last time I talked to him, he said he was fine, but I knew he was lying, but I didn't do anything to try to help him, and now he's hurt, and—" Tears were filling Garcia's voice at an exponential rate.
"Garcia, Garcia, calm down. Garcia. Listen to me, all right? Whatever happened is not your fault. Do you understand me? You had nothing to do with this."
The distressed woman sniffed. "I know, I know, it's just that—"
"Hey, hey, hey. I won't have you blaming yourself, you hear me? Now, tell me where Reid is and we'll go to see how he's doing. Can you do that, Garcia?"
Morgan heard a few more sniffles as Garcia tried to compose herself. She took a deep breath before saying, "He's at Trinity Memorial Hospital. I've sent the directions to your phone."
"Thanks, Baby Girl." Morgan said, hurrying to the SUV with the others in tow. "Now, I need you to call J.J. She's at the station; let her know what's going on and tell her to meet us there."
"Yeah, all right," she said with another sniffle.
"Hey, Garcia? Are you going to okay?"
"Yeah, yeah… Just…promise me you'll make sure he's okay."
"I will. You know I will. I'll call you later once we know what's going on." Morgan turned on the engine as Prentiss shut the final door.
"Okay. Morgan? Be safe."
"I will. And I don't want you worrying too much, got it?" He began pulling out of the yard that the SUV had haphazardly been driven into.
"Yeah, got it. See you later." She said softly before the line was disconnected. "Oh, Reid…" she whispered to herself. "Why do you always have to get hurt?" She took a moment to calm down before dialing the number to J.J.'s phone.
"Garcia? What's up?"
Jennifer Jareau marched into the emergency room with the force and fury of an army. She went directly to where an administrative registration clerk was helping a middle-aged woman.
"That's Feller," said the woman as she watched young nurse write down her information. "F-E-L-L-E-R. You got that?"
"Yes, ma'am. Now I need to know your—"
"Excuse me," J.J. interrupted as she pushed passed Ms. Feller. "I need to know if a friend of mine is okay. His name is Spencer Reid. He was brought here about two hours ago."
"Excuse me!" Ms. Feller gave J.J. an irritated glare. "I was here first!"
"I'm sorry, miss," the red-headed clerk said as politely as she could, "but you're going to have to wait in line."
J.J. impatiently whipped out her credentials and all but shoved them in the woman's face. "Look, I am an FBI agent, and I need to see Spencer Reid this instant."
Ms. Feller took a step back as she suddenly noticed the firearm on J.J.'s hip. The nurse, however, was not impressed. "I'm sorry, agent, but unless this is an absolute emergency and you have clearance, I cannot show you any special privileges." She then turned back to Ms. Feller who was looking more than a little worried.
"Listen, lady," the clerk looked at her with rapidly decreasing patience. "My friend is in here. And if you think I'm going stand around patiently without even knowing what happened, then you'd better—"
"J.J.!" The blond stopped mid-sentence as she turned to see Prentiss rushing toward her.
"Emily!" The two ladies hugged for a moment. "Do you know what's going on?"
"No, not yet. A doctor should be coming soon to tell us what his condition is. Apparently, a member of the cleaning staff of the hotel found Reid unconscious in the bathroom. She called an ambulance and he was brought in almost two hours ago. That's all we know so far."
"What do you think happened to him?" J.J. whispered.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out. Come on," Prentiss put a hand on J.J.'s back as she guided her to the southeast corner of the waiting room. "The rest of the team is this way."
Hotch, Rossi, and Morgan looked up as Prentiss approached with J.J. She was all too familiar this scene. It was what she saw every time Reid was in the hospital. Hotch and Rossi held a stoic look. It took trained eyes to see the worry and guilt behind their eyes. However, they dared not let it show, for they had to be strong for the rest of the team. Morgan did not try as hard to conceal his emotions. The pain, anger, and fear he felt were obvious simply by looking at his face. Prentiss also attempted to be stoic, but J.J. knew that she often struggled to keep her emotions hidden. As for J.J., she would allow herself a moment to express her emotions before composing herself.
It was a familiar scene to all of them. In fact, it almost felt routine by now. J.J. sat down quietly next to Prentiss. Rossi handed her a cup of coffee that had been reserved for when she arrived. They sat in silence, occasionally taking a sip of coffee. The wait lasted several more minutes (what felt like hours to them) before a doctor finally came out.
"For Spencer Reid?" The doctor was a man around Spencer's age with "dirty blond" hair. His eyes were a pale green color.
"We're here." Hotch said, standing up. The doctor made his way to the corner, and glanced over the five agents who looked at him with questioning eyes.
"Hello, I am Dr. Louis. I have been in charge of examining Spencer Reid. Are you family?"
"No, I am Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner," Hotch held up his credentials as the other agents quickly pulled out theirs. "These are S.S.A.s David Rossi, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and Jennifer Jareau." Hotch motioned to each agent as he introduced him or her. "We work with Dr. Reid."
"I see. I'm sorry, but—" They all knew what Dr. Louis was going to say next. They've heard it several times. Because they were not related to Reid, there was certain information they could not know unless his family agreed to it. But having gone through this more times than he'd like, Hotch knew what to say to allow them access. He explained to the doctor that the only family Reid had was incapable of giving consent and that they were as close as family as he had. For good measure, he told a small fib, stating that Reid was a vital part of the case they were working on. Eventually, the doctor agreed to let the team see Reid. He asked them to follow him to the young agent's room on the third floor.
"So what happened?" J.J. asked the doctor as they walked toward the elevator.
"The paramedics brought Dr. Reid into the hospital, unconscious." The six men and women boarded the elevator. "We have completed initial checks to determine any physical issues. From what we have gathered thus far, Dr. Reid had not been attacked by another person." The elevator dinged and everyone walked out onto the third floor of the hospital.
"So there's no physical damage?" Prentiss inquired.
"Well…no, I wouldn't say that."
"What do you mean?" J.J. asked, worry building with every step they took.
Dr. Louis stopped walking and turned to look at the five agents behind him. He sighed lightly. "Well…normally, this sort of information would be reserved for family only, but since Agent Hotchner has explained the circumstances, I suppose it is acceptable for you to know his current condition." Each agent stiffened upon hearing the word "condition".
"Just give to us straight, Doc," Rossi said, no longer a fan of the suspense. "What's wrong with him?"
Dr. Louis took another sigh. "You see…Dr. Reid has—" The doctor was interrupted by a sudden beeping. He briefly looked down at his hip before jogging down the hall with the agents in tow. He came to a halt at room 329, where a young nurse was looking frantic.
"Patricia, what happened?" Dr. Louis questioned, looking into the room before settling his eyes on the nurse.
"I-I-I-I don't know, Doctor. I just came in to check on him and-and-and—"
"Patricia, try to calm down. I'm sure it isn't your fault."
"But-but-but I've never had anything like this happen before. Am I going to get fired? I-I-I need this job; I'm still w-working my way through c-college. Oh, no, I'll never get my d-degree if I'm in jail f-for murder. I can't—"
"Shh, it's okay." Dr. Louis motioned to a nearby doctor to help the nurse before she went into a panic attack.
"That doesn't look too good," Rossi commented as he watched the doctor and the nurse walk down the hall. "What happened?"
Dr. Louis swallowed before taking a deep breath. "Agents…I am sorry to tell you this…but I'm afraid that Dr. Reid…"
"What is it, man?" Morgan rushed over to the room and looked inside. No one was there.
"Dr. Reid has gone missing."
At those words, the heart of each agent sunk a few inches deeper…
A/N: There you go! A nice, long(ish) chapter for you. I must admit that I don't know anything about medical or hospital procedures, so if I got something wrong, please forgive me. The next chapter will be either from Reid's or the team's point of view; I haven't decided yet. Also, for those of you waiting, the next bit of self-harm is coming SOON. It will appear within the next 3-6 chapters. The story is about to have a huge turning point coming up, so be prepared for that. That's all I can say for now without any spoilers… Onto the reviews!
REVIEW RESPONSES:
Guest: Yes, I think you're right that he would not need a passport (I wouldn't know…I've never been on a plane before…or on any mode of transportation that wasn't an automobile or a bike). Your review does sound like a good and plausible idea. I wish that I had time to consider it before writing Reid passing out in the last chapter. I know absolutely nothing about anything legal or medical, which is why I am cautious about how much information I include. I want to include enough to make the chapter seem more realistic, but not so much that I upset someone by getting it all wrong. And I can't trust myself with the internet too much because I will end up doing a thousand other things online before finally remembering that I had a story to write (yes, this is part of the reason why it can take me a while to update). I just hope this chapter was accurate and believable enough…
Guest: Thank you. (Flattered). I appreciate you taking the time to leave a review!
Joey Danny Ketail: Heehee, more flattery. (=^_^=) tyvm.
Doclover: Yes, I do love Hotch/Reid Father/Son moments (there really is not enough of them in the show). I'll definitely be sure to include scenes with Hotch having a talk with Reid. And I'll see about the purging bit.
Also, I took a look at your profile (mainly because I thought you chose your name as a Doctor Who reference. I was slightly disappointed) and I found some interesting stuff on there about how our minds interpret words. I was able to read both, so I eagerly added them to my profile! ^_^
miyuki. asaba: Hopefully this was long enough to satisfy you for a while. I'm going to feel a bit guilty during November because I may not be able to write as much (I'll explain this in the A/N in the next chapter, hopefully).
cordelia. watsinhimer: Haha! No, no, there was no sick psychopath in this chapter. But if you want one, I can include one in a later chapter. Though, I must warn you that it won't do Reid any good (but that means more angst for us).