Chapter 11
Setback
Catalepsy - It is essentially an extreme form of resistive stupor, generally considered to be a defence against the environment or reality. (Farlex Dictionary definition)
Spencer woke up the next morning when the birds were welcoming the new day. His chest was hurting him, and he wondered if maybe he'd overdone things the day before. He unwound his arms from the still sleeping Aaron and went to the mirror. He undid the buttons on his shirt, and examined the dressing on his wound. He was concerned that blood had soaked through, and there was even some on his jacket. He felt as if he had been punched in the chest, and bruising had come out around the dressing. With his hand on his chest, he walked painfully back to the bed.
The dawn chorus was one of his favourite sounds, and he wanted to share with Aaron. He knelt beside him and looked over his sleeping lover. Bending down to kiss him, he shook him gently.
"Aaron, wake up, Sweetie." Aaron opened his eyes, but he made no other movement. "Turn onto your back now, Love." He put his hands around his chest, and helped him turn over in the bed. "Listen to the birds singing!" Spencer couldn't tell if he heard or not. He watched Aaron's eyes, hoping to see a spark of recognition. Spencer reached for the eye drops.
"Babe, tilt your head back, I will wet your eyes for you." Aaron's deep dark eyes stared at the ceiling, and Spencer anointed them. "Ok, now blink." Aaron did. It broke Spencer's heart to see him with no self will. It was as if his life force was drained, leaving a shell of the man he had been.
"I know you will come back, Sweetheart. If there's any way you can contact me, I'll be here." Spencer lay down next to him with his arm across Aaron's chest. He felt exhausted, the pain in his chest was giving him a sick headache. He reached for the buzzer with shaking hands and called for the nurse.
He suddenly had a wave of nausea flow over him. He lay still, willing it to pass, knowing that throwing up would really hurt.
The nurse came in. "Are you ok, Dr Reid?"
Spencer was starting to have trouble breathing. "Chest...hurts..." he gasped. He reached for Aaron's hand and squeezed. "C-can't...breathe."
"I'll cal the doctor."
She ran back to the nurses' station and paged the cardiac surgeon, and ran back to Spencer.
He was lying on the bed, gasping for breath, his hand on his chest, the other hanging on to Aaron's hand. His lips were turning blue and his eyes were wide with fear. The doctor crashed through the door. The nurse stepped back and he tapped Spencer's chest.
"Haemothorax!" he said. "Notify OR I'm bringing him up. Find me a gurney." He looked into Spencer's terrified eyes. "Hang on; we're going to help you. I think your aorta is leaking. We need to take a look."
The nurse hurried in with a gurney, and went to the phone on the wall to call the OR. The doctor pulled Spencer across onto the gurney, covered him over, and rushed out of the ward with him.
The nurse put down the phone and turned to Aaron. His hand was hanging out of the bed where Spencer had been pulled away from him. She gently lifted his hand and placed it under the covers.
"Don't be afraid, Aaron. He'll be back soon."
At least, I hope so...
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Morgan called the girls room and they arranged to meet in the foyer of the hotel in an hour. Rossi was in the shower, and Morgan was dressed.
"I'm going down to get something to eat!" he called through the door. "Meet you down there."
He sat on his own for ten minutes, then Emily came and joined him.
"Have you called the hospital?" she asked. When Morgan shook his head, Emily got her mobile out and made the call. Morgan watched her face become frightened as she listened.
"We'll be there as soon as we can." She finished the call and turned to Derek.
"Reid's back in theatre." she said. "Something's gone wrong. We need to be there."
Morgan called the waitress over. "Cancel breakfast, please. We have to go." He called Rossi's mobile while Emily called JJ.
Another stressful drive in the SUV to the hospital. Derek left it in its usual place, and the four of them ran through the reception area to the lifts.
The nurse was expecting them. "Dr Reid has got a bleed into his pleural cavity, putting pressure on his lungs. He is in theatre now, but I expect the doctor to insist he goes into ICU afterwards." she said. "He was very lucky this time. He's been overdoing things."
Morgan was furious. "Why was he left alone to care for Hotch?" he asked. "You knew he was at risk, and yet you left him!"
Rossi put a hand on his arm, and led him to some seats. "Calm down, Derek. We don't want to get thrown out."
Morgan stepped away from Rossi. "I'll go and sit with Hotch."
Aaron was still lying on his back staring towards the ceiling. Derek sat by him and took his hand.
"Hey, Hotch. It's Morgan. Rossi's outside, and Em and JJ. They'll come in in a moment." Morgan felt the familiar tears, and wondered how things could have got this bad. Scarson had been found guilty of eight counts of first degree murder, and Hudson was dead. But it all seemed unfinished somehow. No-one had been arrested for the sniper shot, the ballistics had come up with nothing. He had nothing encouraging to say to Hotch. He rested his head on the bed and cried.
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Reid began to wake up half way between recovery and the ICU. He looked up at the nurse who was pushing the bed. "What happened?"
"You had a slow aortic bleed. That means bleeding from the artery in your chest. Through the night, blood collected in the chest cavity. It pressed on your lungs, and you couldn't breathe. They drained your chest cavity, and fixed the aorta." She smiled down at him. "You must be one of the luckiest guys alive!"
"Unluckiest, I'd say!" Spencer said ironically. "You taking me back to be with Aaron?"
"You're going to ICU, Dr Reid. We need to keep an eye on you."
"But I need to be..."
"I'm sorry, Dr Reid. You could easily have died, you know. If you had an aneurism and not a slow bleed, you would have died right there in the ward. You wouldn't have had time to even call a nurse." She pressed the button for the lift. "The good news is that Aaron is going to be allowed to sit by your bed."
Ok, that's fine then. We'll still be together, Babe. I'll still be with you...
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Spencer had to lie down, and was threatened with restraints if he didn't comply. He seriously doubted that they would restrain him, but they really meant what they said, so he lay back and worried about Aaron. What help could he possibly be lying flat on his back? They told him it was going to be a little while before they could bring him up to sit with him, so he should get some sleep first. He was tired. Maybe not such a bad idea.
He closed his eyes, and gradually the monitor beeping and other hospital sounds merged into a comforting murmur, and he drifted away.
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It must have been an hour that Morgan sat there, holding Aaron's hand and crying, when Rossi came in.
"He's out of theatre now. He's going into ICU. We are going to be allowed to take Aaron there. Reid was right; they'll both recover more quickly if they are together."
"Hey, Hotch! Did you hear that? We can take you to see Spencer very soon." He got up and got the folded wheel chair from the corner of the room, and brought it round to beside Aaron. "Ok, mate, time to get up!" He lifted an unresisting Hotch into a sitting position, swung his legs off the bed and stood him up.
"Now Buddy, sit in the chair." Morgan turned Hotch around, and he sat. "Good man." Morgan put a blanket over his knees, and wheeled him out of the room, followed by the others.
Aaron seemed to be looking at his bandaged hands. "They hurting, Hotch? I'll see what I can do about getting some pain meds for you."
Rossi, Emily and JJ went to the cafe to get coffee. They couldn't all go into the ICU. Morgan would take Aaron to Spencer, and then join them.
In the lift, Morgan bent down so that he was level with Hotch. He tilted his head and looked into his dull eyes. "Hotch, you're going to get better. You know that, don't you? This is not permanent." He squeezed his hand. "We're all with you in this, Hotch."
The lift stopped, and Morgan pushed Aaron to the ICU main door. He was looking down at his hands again. "It's ok, Boss-man. I'll get that sorted for you."
He was met at the door by an ICU nurse who was waiting for them.
When they arrived at Spencer's bed, he was asleep. Morgan put the chair as close as he could next to Spence.
"Right, Hotch. I have to leave you here now. Think you'll be ok?"
"I'll watch him. He'll be fine." the nurse said.
Morgan thanked her and left. She looked at the man in the wheel chair and the man on the bed, and said a little prayer in her heart that they would both recover.
"I'll be right over there if you need me, Aaron." Very briefly she stroked his soft hair, and went back to her station.
Spencer was dreaming, and it wasn't a nice dream. Aaron was out of reach and calling to him for help. In his sleep, he became agitated and distressed. He moaned softly as he fought against invisible barriers to reach Aaron. Tears washed his face and his hands searched for comfort. Very slowly, Aaron lifted his head, and his eyes opened in the truest sense.
"Spencey?" His voice hardly more than a breath of air. He reached out his hands to him. Gradually, he stood up on shaking legs. The blanket fell to the floor as he pulled back the cover and slipped into bed beside him.
Spencer instinctively turned onto his side, and Aaron pressed his body into the familiar outline of Spencer's body and nuzzled his hair. He reached an arm around him.
"Don't be afraid, Spencey. I'm here." he whispered softly. "I love you."
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END