Prompt: a parachute - Thanks to brittanydelko4ever for providing me with the prompt.
"Maybe now would be a good time to search his apartment, Derek," Dr. Eric Rollins suggested to his friend over the phone.
Morgan shook his head, even though Eric couldn't see the gesture. "It wouldn't help matters any. I need him to face his problem not convince myself there is a problem. At this point, I don't have any doubts. Not after the behavior I've seen from him today. He's on something," Morgan told him. "Though, at this point I'm just speculating as to what," he added, as he glanced through the open door of Reid's bedroom.
Reid was currently sprawled out on his bed, asleep. He had headed there as soon as the two of them had walked through his apartment door four hours ago. Morgan figured avoiding him had been part of Reid's motive, but as the kid had slept for awhile now, he had to concede that exhaustion was part of the reason too.
"Well, the first thing you need to do is convince him that he needs help, and as hard as that's going to be, it isn't always the hardest part of the recovery of an addict. Depending on what he's on, detox could be rough. I can help you find a treatme . . ."
"There is no way I'm going to be able to convince him to enter a treatment program. Even if there wasn't a chance of him and others losing their jobs over this, he'd never go for it."
"Derek, if he's using Dilaudid, which considering the hypotheticals you've been posing I'm inclined to think that's what you think your friend is on, a cold turkey detox can be very painful if the abuse of the drug has been extensive or long term, dangerous even."
"I know. You've told me. Eric, I don't know what else to do. I'll try to talk him into a detox program but I know he won't go for it and I'm not about to lose him to this drug. I almost lost him seven weeks ago. If I need to help him through detox on my own, then that's what I'm going to do, no matter how hard it is."
"Call me if you need me. For anything or anytime. I'll even help you through an unofficial detox if that's what he insists on."
"Thanks Eric," Morgan said, his attention diverted to a groan from the bedroom. "I got to go. I think he's starting to wake up."
"It's been about what five hours since that bar fight?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, from what you told me about the fight, I've got a feeling he's going to be in some pain from that even if he isn't starting to feel withdrawal symptoms. The pain itself might be enough to want him to take more of the drug, so keep an eye on him. Also, given the amount of time that's past since we know he hasn't taken anything, it would be okay to let him take some ibuprofen to help with the pain. I'll probably be at the clinic for a couple more hours. See if you can't convince him to come see me here and barring that, see if he's receptive to me stopping by there," Eric said, his training as a doctor coming through.
"Got it," Morgan said, even as he got to his feet. He ended the call and clipped his cell phone to his belt as he walked into the bedroom.
The light from the lamp next to the bed allowed Morgan to see that though he was starting to get restless, Reid was still asleep. Another groan escaped the younger man's lips. ~What ever the kid is using, it's probably at least most of the way out of his system by now. I have a feeling he's going to regret taking on those guys at the bar,~ he thought.
Morgan left the room and headed for the kitchen to put a fresh pot of coffee on, having made himself some earlier. As it started to brew, Morgan headed back to the bedroom to find Reid slowly sitting up on the edge of the bed, his movements slow and stiff.
"How are you feeling now?" Morgan asked.
"Like I jumped out of a plane and forgot my parachute," Reid remarked, his right arm going across his mid-section almost protectively.
"Yeah. Even I don't go mouthing off to three guys who are that big," Morgan commented, as he sat down on the bed next to Reid. "Now that you're thinking a little straighter, are you ready to talk?"
Reid groaned slightly as he placed his elbows on his knees and let his head come to rest in his hands. "You're not going to let this go are you?" he responded.
"I think I might have let it go too long already," Morgan told him, reaching out to place his hand on Reid's back. He felt the younger man tense up, but didn't draw his hand away. "Reid, I've got a friend who's a doctor, he could . . ."
"I might have a problem but I'm not going into rehab. I don't want to lose my job over this, nor do I want anyone else to lose their jobs."
"He helps run a free clinic. Just let me take you down . . ."
"Get out!" Reid said suddenly, getting to his feet, and pointing in the direction of the door. He immediately regretted the movement as it shot a new wave of pain through his bruised mid-section. With a groan of pain Reid sank to his knees, one hand back across his mid-section and the other on the bed for some support.
Despite the outburst, Morgan didn't even consider leaving. Instead he moved to kneel down beside Reid.
"Not this time, Kid," Morgan told him quietly. "Not unless you want me to call someone else to be with you because I can't in good conscience leave you alone in this condition."
"Like anyone would come," Reid replied, tensing as Morgan put an arm across his shoulders but not trying to pull away.
"Any of them would, Reid. We hate to see you like this, but we've just been unsure of how to help you."
Reid said something so low that Morgan didn't quite hear him. When he asked him to repeat it, the younger man just shook his head. Instead of pressing the matter, Morgan helped Reid to his feet and got him sitting back on the edge of the bed.
"I think that coffee should be ready," Morgan said, as he headed toward the doorway of the bedroom. He needed a few minutes to think out what he should do next.
Feeling like he was in over his head, Morgan went to the kitchen and prepared two cups of coffee. ~I feel like I'm just making things worse. I want him to accept my help not shrink further away,"~ Morgan thought pouring the dark liquid from the coffee pot into the mugs. He added milk and sugar to both cups, and, not feeling any more ready to deal with the situation, headed back to the bedroom.
The room was empty when he reached it. A glance at the bathroom revealed a closed door and a light coming from underneath the door. Morgan placed Reid's cup down on the night stand and then took a sip from his own cup. As the ceramic rim of the cup touched his lips though, a slight commotion from the bathroom drew his attention. Listening, it almost sounded as Reid was looking for something. Morgan set his cup down next to Reid's and walked across the room to the closed door.
"Reid, is everything okay?" Morgan asked, standing outside the door.
He got no answer. From inside he heard the sound of something light hitting something else, as if something was being dropped. He then heard the sound of glass breaking.
"Reid, open the door," Morgan called out, knocking on the door.
He waited a moment but got no answer. Within, he could hear sobbing as more glass broke. Reaching for the doorknob, Morgan was relieved to find it unlocked. Pushing the door open, he stepped inside to find needles along with some other common bathroom items scattered on the floor. Reid was now standing at the sink, hands gripping the side of it with his head bowed.
"Reid?" Morgan asked, concerned about his friend and still not quite sure what had been broken as the mirror was still intact. He approached the other man slowly.
Reid didn't respond, though his shoulders started to shake as he started crying harder. Reaching him, Morgan tentatively put a hand around Reid's shoulders. When the younger man didn't stiffen up or try to pull away, Morgan gently pulled him into a hug. The fact that Reid wasn't resisting the action told Morgan just how hurt and lost his friend was feeling right about now.
"Easy, Kid. We'll get you through this," Morgan told him softly, his eyes landing on the sight of several small broken vials lying in the bathtub. The profiler knew he had discovered the source of the broken glass sound.
Morgan wasn't sure why Reid had come into the bathroom. What he did know was that by breaking those vials, his friend had at least taken a step in the right direction. ~Now the trick is to keep him going in that direction,~ Morgan thought.
"Morgan, I need help. I've tried to quit on my own but I can't do it. I always give in. At first I just used the drug as a way to escape what happened down in Georgia, at least for a little while," Reid said, the words muffled a bit as Morgan still held him close as the younger man had made no attempt to pull away from the embrace. "I kept telling myself that I had it under control. That I could stop any time. That I didn't really need it. Now . . . I need the drug in order to function."
"No you don't, Kid. Admitting there is a problem is the first step. You can stop, you just need some help. We could still find a . . . "
Reid suddenly pulled away, backing away from Morgan. "No! After everything else I've put all of you through I'm not going to take any chance of one of you losing your jobs over this!"
"Okay, okay," Morgan said, reaching out and grabbing Reid's arm to keep him from continuing to back away. He wasn't sure Reid was aware of his surroundings and he didn't need him tripping over something and getting hurt."Forget that idea," Morgan said, holding onto Reid's arm. "You do know what your facing though, don't you?"
"I've read the literature," Reid responded seriously.
"At least let my friend help us through this," Morgan suggested, even as Reid started shaking his head in response. "Kid, hear me out. We'll keep all this quiet. My friend will come here, no records. We'll keep this all unofficial but he can help us through the process. Make it a little easier on you."
"I don't want to get anyone in trouble."
"You're not going to."
"I don't know. I hate to even get you . . ."
"I'm not leaving you like this, Reid, so don't even try to suggest that I let you deal with this alone. I should have probably gotten more involved before this," Morgan said, cutting his friend off. "You trust me don't you?" he asked. He watched as Reid nodded his head in response. "Then trust me when I tell you that Eric will keep this quiet. You don't need to worry about that. Okay?"
There was a pause before Reid finally nodded his agreement, wiping the last trace of tears away.
"Okay, there's coffee out there for you. Let me clean up in here and then we'll figure out exactly how we're going to handle this," Morgan told him. Reid's nod was barely noticeable.
Taking a couple steps toward him, Morgan gave his friend another hug. "We've got a rough patch ahead of us, Kid, but it's going to be okay. We'll get you through this."
The hug was brief, and as Reid walked back out into the bedroom, Morgan glanced around the bathroom. With a sigh he began to clean up the mess Reid had made, hoping that he hadn't just made a promise that he couldn't keep.