Spencer Reid/Derek Morgan
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. Any characters or related settings are not mine and belong to CBS and Jeff Davis unless otherwise stated.
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"Where's my Junior G-Man? Derek, what's the news?"
Derek looked up as Garcia came rushing around the corner followed by the rest of team, and he only just had time to push himself to his feet before the blonde whirlwind threw herself into his arms. The tears from her eyes ran down his neck, and he could feel the makeup smudging against his skin as the pair clung to one another.
He took comfort from her embrace as he thought about Spencer's most recent update. He had flatlined twice in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, but when they had arrived, he had been mumbling Derek's name. He'd been taken straight into emergency surgery, but wasn't expected out for some time, so now it was a waiting game, and one that Derek didn't want to play. He had never been the most patient of men, but when he was helpless and scared, he was almost insufferable. He had been shouted at by three nurses so far for constantly asking for updates, and would have been banned from the waiting room if it wasn't for JJ smoothing things over for him. In the end, he had Henry to thank for his eventual distraction; halfway through yet another bout of pacing, the little boy had called out to Derek, and asked him to read him a book the nurse had given him. Derek had been about to look to JJ to get her to take over when the little boy had told him that usually Spencer was the one to read to him, but would Derek read to him until Uncle Spence could? The scared-but-hopeful glint in the little boy's eyes had broken Derek's heart, and with a soft sigh, he dropped down in the chair next to Henry and waited for the little boy to drop down on his knee before he opened the book and began to read.
Penelope's sniffles drew his attention back to the present, and he realised he had never given them an answer. As he relayed the news of Spencer's condition to the others, he was their faces become paler one by one until they all lowered themselves into the hard plastic chairs of the waiting area, each lost in memories and fears for their friend and team member. After a moment or two, Derek himself joined them, and they all settled in to play the waiting game that nobody knew how it was going to end.
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"Agent Morgan?"
Derek startled awake at the soft voice that came from beside him as a hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see a pretty blonde nurse leaning towards him, a clipboard in the crook of her arm as she waited for him to fully focus. She nodded towards the door of the waiting room, and it took him a moment to realise that she most likely had an update on Spencer's condition. He moved to stand but paused when he became aware of the weight against his shoulder, and when he looked down, he saw Penelope asleep on his shoulder, makeup streaked down her face in tear tracks.
Being careful not to wake her, he gently eased her up and over to Emily who sat on her other side, her head tilted back against the wall as she slept. With nothing more than a gentle stir, the bubbly tech settled back down to sleep, and Derek made his way over to the edge of the waiting area with the nurse, passing a sleeping JJ on the way. She was asleep in one of the chairs with Henry curled up on her lap after the little boy had refused to go home until he knew that his Uncle Spence was going to be okay. Will had called before they had managed to drop off to sleep, telling her he would be with them by the morning, and since then, the blonde Media Liaison had been visibly calmer and more collected. Still, her arms were still wrapped tightly around her son as they slept, and she looked tense, a small frown coming together between her eyebrows as she stirred minutely in slumber.
The only other person in the room that was awake was Hotch, who sat in the corner staring at the clock beside a sleeping Rossi who was quietly snoring to himself as he slept. Derek and his boss shared a nod and a small, strained smile as Derek slipped from the room with the nurse, and he took a deep breath before he looked up at her, a weary gaze in his eyes. She gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I know it's been a long time since anyone spoke to you, so I thought I'd come and give you an update on Spencer."
Derek rubbed a hand over his head, suddenly wishing he had hair to pull in frustration.
"Spencer was brought in at noon. It's now, what? Two AM? How long was he in surgery?"
The nurse looked sympathetic. She laid a hand on his arm as she sensed his buried frustration, and she smiled again, but her smile was the last thing Derek wanted to see. The only smile he wanted to see, the only smile he needed to see, was Spencer's, and Derek didn't think he could properly breathe again until he saw it. He levelled his gaze on the nurse and crossed his arms, one thumbnail finding its way to his mouth as he waited for the news. He didn't have to wait long.
"Spencer was in surgery for five hours after he was brought in and he's been in intensive care ever since, but he's woken prematurely due to the fact that we didn't use any narcotic medication on him. We've been trying to call you at home for the last couple of hours before we realised you were all still in the waiting room. Spencer's surgery repaired the damage that the bullet did to his right lung, and he needed blood transfusions to replace fluids he lost before he arrived at the hospital, but everything went okay; we didn't lose him again on the table, so the doctors are very hopeful for a full recovery. I came to find you because he's come to and he's asking for you, but he probably won't be awake for long; he's still very weak, and he needs as much rest as he can get."
Derek felt a smile creep across his face, and he let a small, breathy laugh escape before he buried his face in his hands and then ran them back to rub furiously at his head. The relief bubbling through him was so great that he had to restrain himself from shouting in the quiet halls of the hospital, and he instead compensated by letting out a long shuddering breath as the nurse smiled widely at him. With his hands covering his mouth, he slowly turned in a circle, staring up at the ceiling as the stress and worry from the night before dropped away and left him feeling lighter and more positive than before. She motioned down the hall, and he jumped at the chance to follow her through to Spencer's room, a smile on his face the whole way.
When they reached the intensive care ward, the nurse stepped back and let Derek in before leaving, and just inside, he was handed a plastic apron to put on before being led to a small side rom with the name 'Spencer Reid' on the clipboard at the door. Knocking quietly, Derek closed his eyes in thankful relief at the scratchy "Come in" that sounded from inside. The sound itself was horrible, as if Spencer was forcing his voice through grated vocal chords, but at the same time, it was the most beautiful sound that Derek had ever heard.
Pushing the door open, he peeked around the frame and felt a small smile lifting his lips when he saw a very tired yet expectant Spencer lying in the bed on the other side of the room. Slipping into the room, he closed the door behind him quietly and hurried to perch on the edge of the mattress beside Spencer's hip, one hand coming to rest on the slender waist beneath the thin covers.
A tired smile crossed Spencer's face as weary eyes came to rest on Derek's face, but no words passed between them for a few moments as they stayed watching one another's faces, just memorising the details that they had thought they would never see again. Then Derek lifted his hand to rest against Spencer's cheek, where his darker skin stood out more starkly than normal against the pallid tone of the younger man's skin, and his thumb stroked gently across his cheekbone.
Words and tears caught in his throat, and as he blinked, he felt the burn of a tear released, quickly followed by the gentle coolness of the drop sliding down his face, and couldn't even bring himself to regret his tears. He had held them back for hours, ever since he had seen the bullet hit Spencer in the park, and now they needed to be released, his eyes slipping shut as they did so.
Opening his eyes, he saw the lines of pain etched into Spencer's face and lifted both of Spencer's hands to his mouth to gentle kiss the backs of them before leaning down to ever so gently kiss the young genius on the mouth, all the while being careful not to hurt him. His tears dripped down onto Spencer's cheeks, and he wiped them away with the gentle caress of his thumb before he let out a small, tearful laugh that Spencer echoed quietly so not to aggravate his chest. The two stared at one another for a full minute before Spencer took a small breath to speak. When he did, it was quiet and hushed, and Derek could hear the tears behind his words.
"I'm so sorry, Derek."
Derek shook his head defiantly, determined that Spencer was not going to blame himself for what had happened. He squeezed Spencer's hands again and spoke quietly.
"Don't. Don't ever apologise for being yourself. I know you did what you did to protect Henry, and you did, Spence. It worked. I just wish you hadn't got hurt because of it. But that wasn't your fault; the fault lies only with the men that held those guns. You've got nothing to be sorry for."
"But I nearly left you behind. I didn't want to."
Derek's heart almost broke at the shattered, fearful tone of Spencer's voice.
"I know you didn't want to, Pretty Boy, but you didn't leave me, Spence. You're still here, and that's where you're going to stay, you hear me? I won't let you go anywhere, I promise."
His words seemed to calm Spencer some, and he smiled a little before tilting his head up for another kiss, one that Derek gladly gave him. A yawn from Spencer caught them both by surprise, and Derek leant back with a small smile. He slipped from the bed into the chair beside it and pulled it forward until he could lean his arms on the mattress beside Spencer. He leant forward to brush Spencer's hair out of his face and let his hand rest on the younger man's cheek.
"Go back to sleep, Pretty Boy. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."
Spencer smiled and shifted slightly to grasp Derek's hand with his own, squeezing gently before he slid into sleep with a mumble.
"Love you, Derek."
Derek smiled.
"I love you too, Spencer."
As he watched Spencer slip back into sleep, Derek finally let his nerves show. His hands took on a slight shake, and his breath hitched, but when he looked back to his Pretty Boy sleeping peacefully next to him, his hand a light yet reassuring weight in his grasp, he could feel the nerves being battled back by hope and determination. His Spencer would be okay.
He had to be.
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Did you really think I could kill off Spencer?! Never! The story's nearly finished, guys; I'm just trying to think of a good way to wrap it up, but it'll be up as soon as possible! Thank you so much for your reviews, guys! They mean so much!
*Note – I wasn't 100% sure about some things, like surgery times or how long it takes to wake up from major surgery, so I mostly guestimated! Hope I wasn't too off! *
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