CHAPTER 13
Three days later...
Reid's muscles twitched as though small electric shocks were running through them. He tested each finger at a time. Slowly, he forced his eyes open. He could taste something hard and plastic in his mouth. A steady beeping sound filled his ears. There was also another sound... Tapping? He couldn't prevent the groan that escaped his throat. The tapping stopped and Garcia appeared in his line of sight. She was wearing neon pink glasses with a matching hair bow and dress. She beamed at him. Reid felt himself want to shift as he didn't feel comfortable. He was lying on his right side and was being propped up on his side by pillows. Garcia gently stroked his face and pushed some hair out of his eyes. The bruising was less dark now, taking on more of a yellow/green hue.
"Hey, baby boy. Welcome back to the land of the living. You had us all scared!" Reid tapped on the bed to get Garcia's attention, the waved his hand to indicate that he wanted to write. He was never any good at writing with his left hand. Garcia quickly understood and shoved a notepad on to the mattress next to his hand and a fluffy pink pen in his hand. Reid frowned as he looked at the pen, then back at Garcia. He immediately scribbled onto the paper.
What happened?
"You had some bleeding into your lung from one of the wounds caused by the cocaine. They had to put you back on the ventilator and put a drain into your lung to clear the blood." Reid closed his eyes in thought, then started writing again.
I'm sorry.
"Why are you sorry, my dove? It's not your fault. It's those bastards Shaw and Sanchez who's at fault. Luckily one's dead and the other won't see light of day again." Garcia thought for a moment, then it was as if a light bulb lit up in her head. She moved to the other side of the room and grappled with her bag. She pulled out some long purple knitted arm warmers and large baggy socks. She quickly disconnected the IV in the back of Reid's left hand, slipped the arm warmer on and reconnected it. She then slid the other one onto his right arm. Reid furrowed his brow in confusion. Garcia eased the blankets back to reveal Reid's cast legs. She eased the socks over the casts and then lowered the blanket again. As she appeared in Reid's sight again, she pulled the blankets up to his shoulders.
"Sleep, junior G-man. I'll be here working my magic from my laptop." Reid nodded and closed his eyes, quickly falling back into slumber.
When she wasn't working on research for the team, Garcia was sat with Reid at the hospital. She would read to him, or when he became upset or distant, she would lay with him on the bed and cuddle him in close. He now lay on his back but the tube remained down his throat. He became increasingly frustrated with it. He was tired of being in hospital, tired of the tubes, tired of being tired... He couldn't speak, he couldn't eat and he couldn't drink. He was fully aware and conscious but was still stuck with a machine forcing air into him. Garcia picked up a small sponge on a long stick and dipped it into the tray of water. She brought it to Reid's lips to moisten them. Reid squeezed his eyes shut as a single tear leaked out and ran into his hair. Garcia wiped the tear away with her thumb. Dr Musgrove knocked and entered the room with a smile on her face and clipboard in hand. She made note of the readings on the monitor. She noticed the man in the bed silently crying.
"Dr Reid?" she asked cautiously. Reid picked up the pen in his right hand and began scribbling on the paper.
Frustrated.
"I understand you're frustrated about the tube, Dr Reid, but it's really important that you stay on it a little bit longer. Your lungs aren't quite strong enough yet." Reid closed his eyes in defeat and slammed the pen down on the paper. With a swipe of his hand, he sent the notepad and pen scattering across the room. Garcia looked at the doctor, her eyes fully of apologies. Dr Musgrove simply smiled again and left the pair alone. Garcia turned back to Reid with a scolding stare. She put her hands on her hips, fury crackling around her.
"Spencer Reid! What was that? She's just trying to help you!" Reid returned her furious stare with an icy one of his own. Garcia visibly backed down. She dropped into the seat and folded her hand over his, "Reid, you know this is for your own good. The logical part of you knows it." Reid simply groaned in response.
Garcia was typing at her laptop and speaking with the team through her earpiece when an alarm sounded. She snapped her head up to see Reid trying to disconnect the ventilator. She threw her laptop down into the arm chair and rushed over to the bed. She gently took Reid's hands into her own. His face was stricken with tears. Nurses swamped the room. One connected a syringe to the IV. Reid tried to wrestle his hands away from Garcia to swat the syringe out of the nurse's hand. The medicine got to work quickly, sending Reid into a deep slumber. Dr Musgrove reconnected the ventilator. She turned and nodded to the other nurses with a silent instruction. They pulled some padded cuffs through the gap in the bedrails and looped them around Reid's wrists before securing them tightly so that his arms were straight down at his sides. They hooked the other cuffs around his casts and secured them. Garcia had completely forgotten that she was still on the line with her team. Her mind was racing at what had just happened but was snapped back to reality at the sound of Emily's voice through the ear piece.
"Garcia? Garcia! What's going on?" yelled Emily. Garcia trembled as she tried to get her words out.
"Reid. He tried to take the ventilator out. They've sedated him and strapped him to the bed. Em, he looked so scared!"
"Oh, jeez. Stay with him, Garcia. Keep us posted. We'll be flying back to DC in an hour." The call ended with a click. Garcia picked up her laptop and sat back down in the armchair, resting the laptop on her knees. She stole another glance at Reid's sleeping form before she returned to her laptop.
Reid felt tears stinging his eyes as he wrestled them open. He could still taste and feel the plastic in his throat. He went to move his hand to wipe a tear from his eye but found it wouldn't move. He looked down to see soft cuffs securing his wrists to the sides of the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut and threw his head back into his pillows, a wail trying to rip through his throat, his veins exposed in his neck. Tears spilled from desperate eyes. Garcia pressed her hands to either side of Reid's face and tried to wipe away the tears that continuously fell.
"Shh. Look at me, Reid." Reid's glossy eyes opened. They were ringed with red, "Shh. It's okay. It's only for a little while longer. Please," begged Garcia, tears falling freely over her own face. Reid hiccupped as he tried to pull himself together. Garcia lay on the bed next to the genius and pulled his head close to hers. He nestled into the waves of her long blonde hair.
Emily was staring out of the window of the jet as she nibbled on her fingernails. Rossi sat in the cream seat opposite her and swirled the glass of scotch in his hand. Emily either did not hear or just simply did not acknowledge the older man's presence.
"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Rossi as he sat back and took a sip from his glass.
"Hmm?"
" I can hear the cogs turning from here. What's eating you?"
"Reid. They've got him tied down and he's going to be so scared."
"It's only precautionary to stop him trying to take his tubes out again. If Reid was thinking logically, he would realise this. I think it would be good for both of us to go and see him, and to give Garcia a break." Emily nodded in response and curled her fingers under her chin, "I've been thinking about when the kid gets out of the hospital. He's going to need some help. I'd like to take him in for a while to help him get back on his feet." Emily glanced at him.
"You like your space, Dave."
"That's true, I do. But you forget – I live in a mansion" responded Rossi with a smug smile, "I have plenty of space so I get my peace and he will get his peace watching Dr Who or something." Emily gave a small chuckle in response and looked back out of the window.
When Rossi and Emily arrived at the hospital some two hours later, Garcia was still lying on the bed next to Reid. Reid was awake, his eyes fixed to the ceiling as he shuddered. Emily gave Garcia a gentle shake to wake her. With bleary eyes, Garcia looked around for the source of her disturbance.
"Go home, Pen. Me and Dave are here." Garcia didn't have the energy to argue. She sat herself up and dropped to her feet, then moved over to the armchair to pack her laptop away. Emily and Dave stood either side of Reid, looking down on him. Reid's eyes moved from the ceiling to Rossi, then over to Emily. His bottom lip quivered as tears brimmed on his lashes. Emily ran a hand through Reid's hair. Rossi gently squeezed his arm.
"You're okay, Reid. Just a little while longer and we'll have you off the ventilator. I know you hate it. Jesus, Reid. For a genius, you sure can be stupid," laughed Emily. Reid frowned at her and turned his attention back to the ceiling.
"We've been having a little discussion about when you get out of here, figlio. You're going to be spending some time at Palazzo Rossi." Reid closed his eyes and sighed. He hated to be babied.
"Reid, you know this is for your own good. If not, you'll have to go to a federal rehab centre. That'll be worse." Reid opened his eyes again and looked into Emily's eyes. She's right... Dammit Spencer why do you have to be so stubborn?... Reid gave a small nod of acknowledgement.
The group was interrupted by the door sliding open and both Dr Musgrove and Dr Caldwell entering the room. Emily and Rossi turned to look at the doctors and instinctively stepped back to allow them in to work. Dr Caldwell made a note of Reid's observations whilst Dr Musgrove took her stethoscope from around her neck and listened to Reid's chest. He involuntarily shivered under the cold metal.
"Sorry, Dr Reid. I wish they were warmer too," she responded warmly. She removed the stethoscope and looped it back around her neck, "Airways sound good. Slight wheeze but I think some steroids should clear that nicely. I think we can go ahead with the removal." Dr Caldwell nodded in agreement.
"Stats are all steady. Like we did last time, we'll disconnect the ventilator and see how it goes." He flicked the switch on the ventilator, sending the last puff of air through the tubing with a hiss. Reid gasped a little and looked at Emily for direction. She guided him with gentle breathing exercises as she had done a few days previously. Dr Musgrove glanced at the monitor.
"Oxygen levels stable at ninety three percent," she offered, picking up the clipboard and scribbling notes down, "Let's give it a few more minutes just to be sure." Emily smiled down at Reid.
"You're doing great, Spence." The few minutes felt like hours. Dr Musgrove checked her fob watch, then the monitor.
"Oxygen still stable at ninety three. Let's switch him to 2 litres oxygen by nasal cannula and remove the endo tube." Dr Caldwell prepared a new nasal cannula whilst Dr Musgrove started to loosen the strap holding the tube in place. With the new oxygen cannula in place, Dr Musgrove took a new syringe from the drawer and withdrew the plunger to remove the air from the balloon. Dr Caldwell pressed a button on the remote to move Reid to a ninety degree angle. Reid's wounds protested a little, making the young man wince.
"Okay, Dr Reid. I want you to take a deep breath in. As you exhale, I'm going to remove the tube. You ready?" Reid tapped once on the mattress.
"That means yes," confirmed Emily.
"Okay, start to take a deep breath in through your nose," Reid breathed in, filling his lungs as much as possible, "Three, two, one... Exhale." As Reid let out a slow breath through his mouth, the tube was slid out, making him retch. Dr Caldwell handed Emily a dish which Reid spat out the phlegm he had brought up into. Rossi twisted his face in disgust as he rubbed Reid's back. Dr Musgrove checked the monitor.
"Oxygen steady. Okay, let's get him started on some IV Prednisolone and some precautionary antibiotics. Dr Reid has a severe penicillin allergy so we'll go with Ceftazidime and Avibactam for eight hours. If all goes well, we can switch to oral antibiotics and steroids in a few days." Reid licked his lips and swallowed thickly. Emily poured a glass of water and held it to his lips.
"Just sips." Reid nodded and relished the feeling of the water over his parched tongue. Dr Caldwell reached down and unfastened the cuff around Reid's left wrist and ankle. Dr Musgrove repeated this action on his right. At this new freedom, Reid felt emotions welling up in his chest and searing his throat.
"Thank you," he managed to quietly rasp. He had forgotten what his voice sounded like. He had spent so much time over the past week either gagged or with a tube down his throat, he almost forgot how to speak. He shuddered and pulled the blankets further up over his torso.