About twenty minutes later, Spencer started getting restless in the bed. Hotch got up from his chair and went to stand by the bed. Slowly, Spencer opened his eyes and blearily looked around the room. Then he raised his arm like he was reaching for something. Hotch grabbed Reid's hand, "What do you need?"

"Can I have a drink?" Reid quietly asked.

"Of course," Hotch poured a half glass of water from the pink pitcher on the rolling table and pulled out a new straw from the drawer.

When he saw how shaky Reid's hand was, he helped him hold the glass but let Reid take control. After a few sips, he pushed the glass away. "Is that all?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah."

"You should really try to drink more if you want to get your strength back."

Spencer looked around the room and raised his hand again.

Hotch was getting a little concerned about the flailing hand. Reid was typically awkward but this seemed different. "Do you want something else?" He watched Reid's brow furrow in concentration.

"Do you know where my glasses are?"

"I don't think you have them here. I can call Morgan and check and then he can pick them up on his way back if he needs to."

Reid sighed and pushed the oxygen mask back off his face. "No, don't bother him."

Hotch reached over and put the mask back in place. "You need to leave that on until they say you can go back to the other. And it's no bother to call Morgan."

He pulled out his phone and dialed quickly. "Morgan. It's Hotch. Do you know if Reid's glasses are here some where? Okay, well then pick them up on your way back. Yeah, sure. Just a sec."

"Morgan wants to talk to you." He waited while Reid pulled the oxygen mask off and took the phone.

"Where are you?" He rubbed the blanket between his fingers. "Fine. Just tired as usual." Reid blinked his eyes and then kept them closed. "Okay, see you soon." He managed to choke out the last few words.

Hotch took the phone back, "No problem. We'll see you in about fifteen minutes." He hung up and then reached over to put the oxygen mask back in place. Watery eyes looked up at him.

"It's going to get better." Hotch pulled the chair over closer to the bed and grasped the twitching fingers that were running over the blanket. He ran his hand over the top of the bony knuckles and gently up and down the forearm. Spencer had a hard time with physical contact but it was obvious that he needed comforting and while Aaron was known for stern expressions and a seemingly emotionless manner he was a father and right now he could see the scared little boy that Reid was at this moment. He prayed that everything would be okay.

***

As promised, Morgan strolled into the room fifteen minutes later. "Well, look who's awake." He sat down a small bag in the chair. And then reached in and pulled out Reid's glasses case. "Here ya go, kid." Morgan waited for Reid to put the ugly, old-time glasses on. "So, how does the world look now?"

Reid pulled the mask off, "They don't fit right with this thing on."

"Let me check with the nurse and see if we can switch that out."

Hotch smiled at the change that had come over Spencer when Derek came back. He was reassured that Spencer was at least letting someone in that wall he always kept safely around him.

***

Derek came back with a nurse behind him carrying new tubing. "Okay, Dr. Reid let's check your levels." She clipped the pulse ox on his index finger and watched the numbers. "We can try this again but we'll have to make sure that you don't start dropping again."

She lifted the mask up and over his head. He winced when it pulled some hair with it. "Sorry about that." Then she fitted the two prongs in his nose and wrapped the tubing behind his ears and under his chin. "I'll be back in about forty minutes with your next breathing treatment."

Reid then put his glasses on and tried to fix the ear pieces under the tubing.

"I also brought you a surprise." Morgan pulled out a six pack of blue jell-o. "And these," he then pulled out his Nintendo DS and the game with all of the word puzzles Reid loved to play when he was over at Morgan's "watching" the game with him. "There's a game on in an hour." He said smiling.

Reid smiled at him brightly and then his face fell. Morgan turned around and saw Dr. Kimura standing in the doorway.

"Dr. Reid, it is good to see you a little more alert." Dr. Kimura smiled at him.

"Just tell me." Reid responded in a scratchy voice.

"Okay, so no beating around the bush. The good news is that you get to go home tomorrow."

"But he's not even off the oxygen." Morgan interrupted.

"He gets to take that with him. This is an army hospital and they're really big on keeping civilians longer than they have to. All of the other anthrax patients have already been released."

Morgan watched Reid's eyes drop to stare down at his lap and he began fiddling with the edge of the blanket. He reached over and grasped the cold fingers in his warm hand.

"I know the news is not what you were hoping for. Typically, you would be moved to another hospital but as long as your O2 stays up for the rest of the day, you might as well go home until your appointment. We have already made an appointment on Tuesday with Dr. Rahaj. He is a respiratory specialist and they will do more testing on your lungs and he'll be able to tell you more about what is and is not permanent. At this point, the only thing I can say for sure is that your lungs are probably never going to be one hundred percent. But that doesn't mean that you won't be able to get to ninety-nine percent." She paused letting all of this sink in.

"So, he isn't going to be better when he goes home." Morgan stated quietly. Reid squeezed his hand tightly.

"We'll be sending him home on oxygen and it'll be up to Dr. Rahaj to determine if he should stay on it or not. A nurse will be in later to help you set that up. You'll also have to continue the breathing treatments three times a day. They will help you keep your lungs clear. The rest will be taken care of when you see the doctor. Do you have any questions?"

Morgan watched Reid continue to study the blanket.

"Agent Morgan, may I speak with you?" Dr. Kimura asked.

They walked into the hall and shut the door behind them. "What is it?" Derek asked.

"Since you have been here the whole time, I assume that the two of you are close."

"Yeah."

"Dr. Reid is going to need someone with him 24/7. I am having one of the nurses put together a packet for you to locate a couple of home-care nurses that can stay with him. But he is also going to need moral support. I am very worried about him slipping into depression from this. His regular doctor has been sent all of his medical files and will do the follow-up care. If you need anything before he leaves or even if you would like to ask questions after he has gone home, my door is always open."

Morgan took a minute to collect himself and then stepped back into the room. He was met with the very worried eyes of his friend and Hotch standing by his side trying to calm his twitching hands.

"Hey now. She was just telling me about the information they are going to give us to help us get everything you need. Okay?" Morgan watched the discerning eyes recognize that he wasn't telling the whole truth.

***