A/N: Hey everybody, here comes a new chapter and I really, really hope that you like it *is pretty insecure*
And since two reviewers pointed out that it has been a long time between updates, I think I should say something about it: Well, I can't promise that I will update regularly, because my real life is everything but easy, but I can promise you that I will finish the story *smiles*
Comments for this chapter would be most appreciated *puppy dog eyes*
And please keep in mind that English is not my native language and that I'm not a doctor, so please forgive any mistakes in that area *smiles sheepishly*
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Of course thank you to RogueStorm84, Stendan4ever, dr3, Kiba515, Whiteiris, Velandrae, Elura The Strange, garnettac, Serenityhimesheppard, fireball1012, tannerose5, Guest I, Guest II , SurvivorCat, Guest III, omgnotagain, Lover of Emotions, anonymous, reelingthoughts, didile, Lil-half-rainbow, KayRaineMariahAkari, Iserith, Dr. Monster, fro-chan, masterstalker, sweetteetwo, RachelNicole523, LaRieNGuBleR, Nic, HeartKnight31320, silverwrym, animelvr16, sixty6sixyahoo, Pamikae, Guest IV and Silverspeare for all your kind words *hugs you all* They always mean the world to me *smiles*
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Warnings: slight non-con (but definitely not in detail, merely mentioned)
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Disclaimer: None of the CM characters belong to me… I just borrowed them for this little story… my OC'S do belong to me though… this story doesn't mean to offend anybody… this is just for fun… and not for money either...
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Chapter 4
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Reid slowly opened his eyes and the first thing that registered in his brain was the pain and the nauseous feeling, shortly followed by the revelation of "something's not right".
"Spence," a concerned voice sounded and Reid slowly turned his head to his left, careful not to turn too quickly, so he wouldn't get sick. He found JJ sitting by the side of the bed, a bed Spencer didn't remember getting into. And JJ looked pale and from her red eyes it was obvious that she had been crying.
"What happened?" Reid asked, swallowing nervously when he heard how raspy his voice sounded. JJ leaned a little closer to the bed and tried to smile at him, but it was only a small twitch of her lips, and so the smile was wary and sad.
"We're at the hospital, because you collapsed," she explained softly and Reid's eyes widened for a second and he immediately tried to sit up, panic in his eyes. He knew he couldn't stay here, because that would only cause problems and questions would be asked. But Spencer fell back against the pillow again when a wave of nausea washed over him and it took all of his willpower not to throw up.
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"Why did you take me to the hospital?" he questioned, wondering if she already knew about what had really happened and why he had collapsed, but then again, probably not, because she would have already asked him about it if she did.
And JJ right now just stared at him as if he had gone crazy.
"Because you collapsed and you're running a high fever and I was worried," she stated, her voice harsher than she had probably intended. This time it was Reid, who just stared at her. He hadn't realized that he had also had a fever. Sure, he had realized that he wasn't feeling well and that the most sensible action would have been to go and see a doctor, but he hadn't realized that it was that bad and he had hoped that he'd be able to cope with it on his own and just wait it out.
And for the first time since he had woken up, he became aware of all the IV's he was hooked up to.
"Does the rest of the team know?" he questioned timidly, shortly followed by "When can I go home?"
Now JJ looked incredulous.
"The doctor hasn't said when you can go home, but not until your fever breaks I'd think," she explained to him, before she added: "Of course the team does know you're here. And they'll be here any minute now. JJ's worry grew when she saw Spencer pale even more, not that she had thought that that was possible.
"Have they... have they told you about what's wrong with me?" Reid then asked, not sure if he wanted an answer to that question and relief flooded him when JJ shook her head.
"They've been running tests until a few minutes ago. So I don't know anything."
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JJ was about to say more when the door to the hospital room opened and a nurse entered, probably called by JJ when Spencer had shown signs of waking. She was followed by the rest of the team, who all crowded into the small room. Reid looked at all of them and he desperately wished that he'd be able to just disappear between the sheets.
The nurse smiled gently at him and busied herself with checking Reid's vitals.
"It's good to see you're awake. A doctor will be with you shortly," she informed and then hesitated for a second, before adding with a meaningful undertone: "About your injuries."
Reid just flinched. He was a profiler and so he knew what that look meant, had seen it countless times before, usually from the other side. He swallowed thickly and avoided looking at anybody, because he was afraid they would be able to read the truth on his face.
"I'll be back with the doctor in a few moments," the nurse then said and patted his leg. Then she turned towards the team.
"Don't stress him too much. Mr. Reid needs his rest," she demanded.
"Dr. Reid," the whole team corrected almost automatically, well except Reid himself, but then again, he seldom did. The young genius was more concerned with the question what kind of test the doctor had actually run. A doctor was trained to look for bruises and they'd probably know what the bruises marring his hips, abdomen and legs mean. So they would have drawn some conclusions if they had seen said bruises. But since he was in a hospital gown it was more than likely that they had. And for now Reid was just glad that they had obviously not told JJ anything about what they had found.
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"How do you feel, Reid?"
Hotch's voice brought Reid out of his musings and he looked at his boss with wary eyes. The young genius knew that Hotch wanted a honest answer and would look for any signs of a lie, so he decided to settle for the truth. Or at least the part of the truth that wouldn't reveal more than necessary.
"Tired and a bit sore," he informed, shifting a little in the hospital bed, careful to keep the blankets tight around his bare legs.
"Why didn't you tell us that you were sick?" Hotch then questioned and Reid just shrugged.
"I didn't feel bad so I saw no reason to tell you anything," he replied, shrugging his shoulders a little again and Hotch merely raised an eyebrow.
"At least you're not looking for an excuse for what you did to Morgan," the Unit Chief said, hoping to provoke a reaction from the younger man, no matter what the nurse had told them earlier. He had long realized that something was very wrong with Reid and he wanted and needed some answers. And he needed those answers as soon as possible. They had to concentrate on finding a serial rapist after all and he couldn't divide his attention between the young genius and the case, no matter how harsh that sounded.
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And he got a reaction from Reid. The young man again paled after he had just regained a little color in his cheeks and shrunk back against the sheets, still not looking at anybody. Before he could answer Hotch the door to the room opened again and the nurse returned with a middle aged man with dark hair, going gray in some places and a friendly smile. But that easy smile was immediately replaced with a frown when he saw that his patient was obviously nervous and uncomfortable. He looked around the room and gave a "Good day" to nobody in particular and then he walked to the bed Reid was lying in and gave the young man a reassuring smile.
"I'm glad to see that you're finally awake, Dr. Reid. We were getting a little worried," he started, before he introduced himself.
"I'm Dr. Lester and I have examined you," he said and earned himself a small acknowledging nod from the patient. Lester smiled again and then turned back to the other people in the room, who had kept in the background when the doctor had entered.
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"I need to ask you to leave while I examine and discuss some things with my patient," he stated, his voice firm.
"But," Morgan and JJ immediately protested.
"No buts," Lester shot back, ready to argue with the team, because he only wanted what was best for his patient.
"I'm his medical emergency contact. Doesn't that give me the right to stay and hear what you have to say?" Morgan asked, taking a step forward, trying to intimidate the doctor, who was about a head smaller than Morgan.
"And I'm his boss, I have a right to know too," Hotch added, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Dr. Lester just narrowed his eyes and then he looked at Reid, trying to found out if he was okay with the two men staying while he said what he had to say. But the young man looked everything but comfortable, so the doctor shook his head. Normally he would have let the two men stay, because they had a point, but since Reid was awake and coherent and their presence seemed to make Spencer uncomfortable, he held his ground.
"I don't see any reason why you need to stay, Agents. Dr. Reid is fully awake and lucid and will be able to perfectly understand what I tell him. So you don't need to stay unless it is requested by my patient," he stated, his voice still firm and he had his arms crossed in front of his chest by now too.
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"Reid?"
Hotch looked at the youngest member of his team, who still avoided his eyes, only fueling his worry and concern.
"I want to talk to Dr. Lester alone," he told them, before finally looking up.
"And you have a case to solve, so don't worry about me right now," he tried to justify his actions and it was partly true. He wanted the team to focus on the case to save innocent people, but then he also didn't want them present to hear what Dr. Lester had to most likely say to him.
"Spencer, please, we always worry about you," JJ hastened to say, wondering why Reid looked so doubtful at that statement, specifically looking at Morgan for a moment, before he lowered his eyes again, deciding not to comment on it.
Rossi, as he was most of the time, was the voice of reason and straightened his shoulders.
"Maybe we should leave and let Dr. Lester do his job and once that is done, then we can talk. And while the doc does his job, we can do ours and work on the profile," he suggested and even though the rest of the team was reluctant to leave they all saw the sense behind those words. So they left the hospital room to camp out in the waiting room.
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Reid sighed in relief when the door had closed behind them. Dr. Lester noticed of course and drew some conclusions of his own, his face softening, now that the team wasn't in the room anymore.
"Dr. Reid, I saw your file and have gotten a lot of information from Agent Jareau and so I know that you've been working with the BAU long enough to know what I'm going to say next, so I'm sure you'll appreciate it as much as I will that we're honest with each other," the doctor said, looking at the young man on the bed with an open and honest expression on his face so that Reid would trust him and open up a little.
The young profiler sighed and shrunk back against the pillows, but at least he nodded slowly. Dr. Lester counted that as a good sign and he looked at the file he held in his hand.
"First things first, Dr. Reid. You seem to have sustained a cracked rib a few days ago and that has become infected, so that explains your fever and then your body couldn't cope with the stress, emotional and physical. That's why you collapsed," he explained. Reid simply nodded. He had expected something like that.
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Dr. Lester sighed and took another look at his chart.
"We both know where all those bruises and injuries come from, Dr. Reid, so there is no need to sugarcoat this."
"Honestly, I was hoping that you wouldn't realize it," Spencer murmured and Lester's eyes widened a little.
"Dr. Reid, have you told anyone that you were..."
He didn't get to finish the sentence, because Reid interrupted him harshly: Don't... don't say that word..."
"... because if I say it, then it makes it real, am I right?" Lester asked, his voice gentle, much like the voice he, Emily and JJ and even Hotch, Morgan and Rossi used when they talked to victims. Reid stared at the doctor, eyes wide, his whole body language screamed panic and denial.
"Dr. Reid, you, of all people, should know that denying that it happened won't make it go away, And what if the person who did it, does it again?"
That got a reaction from Reid again and the young man stiffened, ignoring the pain from his rib and he lowered his eyes, but he didn't say a word.
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And suddenly the young man burst into tears, making even Dr. Lester watch on helplessly. He knew that the young man in the hospital bed had finally admitted to himself what had really happened and was reacting accordingly. He let the young man cry for a moment and waited until the profiler had got his emotions back in check, before he posed a question that had been nagging on him ever since he had observed Reid interacting with his team.
"Dr. Reid, did... did any of your team do it?"
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to be continued...
