CHAPTER 12
Luke offered to visit Reid so that Emily could catch up Section Chief Cruz on Reid's condition and get some much needed sleep. Luke expertly weaved his way around staff as he carried two disposable cups in his hands. As he approached the door, he could see Garcia perched on the left side of the bed, her body twisted slightly as she fed Reid. Luke smiled and used his pinky finger to push the button, allowing the door to slide open. Reid looked up at Luke with a smile on his face as some green jello dropped into his chin. Garcia giggled as she used a napkin to wipe Reid's chin.
"What's going on here?" laughed Luke as he handed a cup to Garcia. Garcia set the jello down on the bedside table and accepted the cup with both hands. Reid opened his mouth to respond but Garcia quickly cut him off.
"I thought it would be obvious, newbie, but I'm spoiling my junior G-man."
"She won't let- me feed- myself," panted Reid. Garcia pressed a finger to his lips, quickly silencing him. His eyes crossed as he looked down at Garcia's finger. He followed her finger as it moved away from his face.
"Just, shhh. You get out breath too fast."
"But it's only- jello," Reid winced and pressed his hand into his chest. His oxygen levels dropped slightly.
"Spencer Walter Reid!" Reid jumped and looked into the brown eyes of the colourful blonde technical analyst in front of him. God, I wish I'd never told them my middle name... Reid held his hands up in surrender and looked down at the blanket. His eyes slowly lifted until they fell upon Luke's face. Luke looked well rested and had an aura of peace about him. The chair scraped as Luke sat down next to Reid's bed.
"How you feeling, Reid?"
"Like I've been- hit by a- bus. Ow! My chest still- hurts. I'm sorry- Luke." Luke frowned and leaned forward in the chair, his elbows resting on his knees and the cup in his hands.
"What for?"
"Oh, my baby boy, you have nothing to be sorry for, " soothed Garcia as she placed a hand on his cheek. Reid drew his mouth in a straight line as he gave Garcia a small glare to tell her to be quiet.
"Reid, what are you sorry for?" asked Luke again.
"Shaw. He taunted- you. You had to watch- what he did- to me. He escaped- your transfer." Luke shook his head as he sat back in the chair and took a sip of coffee.
"None of that is your fault, Reid. I pulled the trigger on him. He's gone now. None of that matters now. We're a family and we look out for each other, no matter what." Reid sighed and gave a small smile as he reached for the jello. Garcia gasped and slapped his hand away. Reid's mouth gaped in disbelief.
"Dr Reid! It's my job as fairy godmother to take care of you." Relenting, Reid allowed Garcia to scoop up a spoonful of jello and put it in his mouth. Luke laughed again as he took another drink of coffee.
"Wish I could –" mumbled Reid, his voice distorted by the jello in his mouth. Garcia smacked him on the back of the hand with the spoon.
"Don't talk with your mouthful!" Reid quickly swallowed the jello.
"Sorry, mom." Luke snorted with laughter at the expression of horror on Garcia's face, "I wish I- could have some- coffee." Garcia rolled her eyes.
"Not until the doctor says so. And if you 'mom' me one more time, Spencer Reid, I swear to you I will hide all the coffee and ban you from having anymore of my cupcakes."
"Don't mess with the lady. That sounds like a punishment worse than death."
"Thank you, newbie. Now shut up and eat your jello." Now it was Reid's turn to roll his eyes as Garcia shoved another spoonful into his mouth.
Reid was dozing peacefully when Rossi arrived sometime later in the afternoon. His chest gently rose and fell. His upper body was positioned at forty five degrees to aid with his breathing. His head was turned slightly so that he faced the window where the blinds had been closed. Sweat beaded the sleeping man's forehead. His eyebrows were pulled together tightly in an intense frown. His fingers tightly gripped the blankets. A wheeze sounded between the genius' slightly parted mouth. Rossi quietly lowered himself into the seat that Luke had been sitting in earlier.
"What do- you want- from me?" panted Reid, the wheeze becoming more audible. His body tensed, "I don't- want it!" A tear leaked from the corner of Reid's eye. Rossi sat up straight and stared at the ECG monitor as the steady beeping quickened. Rossi rested a hand on Reid's forearm and have him a gentle shake.
"Reid? Reid. Wake up, kid. You're having a nightmare." Reid began to make some choking noises and an alarm sounded. His heart rate was now reading one hundred and fifty. His oxygen levels had plummeted to eighty two. Reid's eyes flew open and looked at Rossi in desperation. The alarm caused a swarm of doctors and nurses to rush into the room and bustle Rossi outside to watch helplessly through the window.
After around ten minutes, Rossi was able to re-enter the room. Reid was positioned further upright and a mask covered his mouth and nose that hissed loudly. Steam trailed out of the holes in the mask. The oxygen cannula remained in place under his nose. Dr Caldwell was making notes on the clipboard. Rossi turned to the aged doctor.
"What happened?" Dr Caldwell glanced at Reid, then looked Rossi in the eyes.
"He essentially had a panic attack in his sleep. With his already weakened lungs, it dropped his oxygen levels. We've got him on a nebulizer for now to try and regulate his breathing and oxygen levels. If this doesn't work, we may have to prepare to ventilate him again." Rossi nodded solemnly as he stared at the frail young agent in the bed.
Dr Caldwell was still completing some checks when a coughing and gurgling noise came from Reid. His eyes remained closed but his body bucked with each cough. Blood spattered the inside of the mask and surged over his parted lips. Dr Caldwell quickly approached the side of the bed and patted Reid's shoulders.
"Dr Reid? Can you hear me?" The only responses were from the sound of blood splattering against the plastic and the shrill screech of the alarm from the machine. Dr Caldwell grabbed a metal bar underneath the bed which rapidly lowered Reid's head so that he was flat on his back in the supine position. He grabbed the pillows from under Reid's head and threw them over his shoulder. Rossi stepped outside as nurses darted into the room once again.
He watched as Dr Caldwell tilted Reid's head back and used a suction machine to remove blood from Reid's mouth. The crimson liquid glistened over Reid's chin and made its way along the suction tubing. Once he was satisfied that the blood was cleared, he placed a laryngoscope against Reid's tongue. A nurse handed him a tube which he lowered into Reid's throat. Another nurse placed the ear pieces of her stethoscope into her ears and placed the disc against Reid's chest. She nodded to the doctor who inflated the balloon on the port and used a Velcro strap to hold it in place once again. The nurse who passed the tubing squeezed contents from a syringe into Reid's IV which almost instantly relaxed his body. Dr Caldwell switched on the ventilator and connected it up to the tube down Reid's throat. Using gauze, they gently cleaned the blood from Reid's chin. Dr Caldwell lifted the ventilator and ECG monitor onto the bed and used his foot to remove the brakes on the bed. They wheeled Reid past Rossi whose mouth was wide open in horror.
"We're taking him for a CT scan of his chest. I'm afraid he may be bleeding internally again into his lungs. If you'd like to wait in the waiting room, we'll come and get you once Dr Reid is back in his room." Dr Caldwell dashed off at a jog after the swarm of staff wheeling Reid away.
Rossi made his way to the waiting room. Everything was moving in slow motion around him and appeared to be in a blur. Instead of sitting down, Rossi opted to take the elevator to the ground floor so that he could call Emily. He stepped outside into the bitter cold. It was dark out and his breaths escaped his mouth as small clouds. With numb fingers, he slid his phone out of his jeans pocket and dialled Emily's number.
"Prentiss," came the formal voice on the other end of the phone.
"Hi, Em. It's Dave. You gotta get over here."
"What's happened, Dave? Aren't you at the hospital with Reid?"
"Yeah, that's why you all need to come." Dave choked back tears.
"Dave, what happened?"
"He started having a nightmare. I tried to wake him but I couldn't. Next thing I know his oxygen levels are in his boots and his heart rate through the ceiling. They gave him a nebulizer but he just started coughing up blood. They had to intubate him again and they've taken him to CT." He could almost hear Emily press her hand to her mouth, "They think he's bleeding internally again."
"Stay there, Rossi. We'll be right there." The call ended with a click. Rossi pushed his phone back into his pocket and blew into his hands as he re-entered the hospital.
Rossi was seated in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting room staring at the linoleum floor when the rest of the team arrived. At the sound of heels, he came to his feet until he was face to face with Emily. He pulled her into a tight hug, his face nestled into her dark hair. Garcia and JJ were clinging into one another.
"Any news?" asked Tara as she stopped behind JJ and Garcia.
"They just took him straight to the OR from CT. That was about half an hour ago," replied Rossi as he took a step back to address his team mates.
"He was okay earlier. He was eating jello and we were laughing..." sobbed Garcia, tears streaking her mascara. Luke pressed a hand to his forehead, the other on his hip.
"I just want to bring the bastard back so that I can shoot him again. Reid doesn't deserve this." At the probability of a scene occurring, Tara led Garcia to the cafeteria to bring coffee for everyone. JJ plopped down into a seat with her head in her hands. Matt sat down next to her and wrapped an arm comfortingly around her shoulders.
The team were sat in stony silence when a different doctor approached them. This doctor was female. She had red hair that was hastily tied back into a messy bun. Her green eyes twinkled.
"Spencer Reid?" The team were almost instantly surrounding her, "Dr Caldwell already filled me in. I'm Dr Musgrove. I've just performed surgery on Dr Reid. You're his medical proxy, correct?" Emily nodded stiffly, "He's going to be okay. One of the wounds on his left lung ruptured, causing some internal bleeding. We've put a chest drain in and stitched the wound. We're going to keep him on the ventilator for a few days to give his lungs a chance to recover. You're welcome to go and see him. He's back in his room now." Dr Musgrove smiled and pointed them in the direction of Reid's room.
Reid lay perfectly still in the bed. He was now lying face down in the prone position, his head turned to the side. A thick tube drained blood away from his chest to a clear box that was clipped to the bedrail. Another tube ran up his right nostril and was taped in place which was connected to a bag of liquid feed. The ventilator hissed as it forced air into Reid's lungs. His arms rested by his sides. Garcia sobbed in horror. Dr. Musgrove appeared beside the group as she jotted down readings onto Reid's clipboard.
"Why is he like that?" asked JJ, her eyes reddened and threatening to spill more tears.
"The prone position is very good for people who are in ICU with respiratory issues. It will prevent infection and aid with breathing." JJ charged forward and pulled the chair up closer to the bed a that she could reach Reid's head. The ECG beeped steadily. She took his right hand into her left and stroked his curls gently. She eased his hair out from under the strap.
"I'm so sorry, Spence. The boys are so worried. They know their Uncle Spencer is poorly but I don't know what to tell them. They want to see you but I can't let them see you like this. We need you to get better. I need you to get better." Emily gave JJ 's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as the remaining team members filed out of the room. JJ gently pulled the blankets further over Reid as his skin felt icy to touch and he always hated to be cold. She rested her head on Reid's shoulder and closed her eyes, feeling his chest rise and fell with each mechanical breath.