Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
A/N: I am going away for a week at Christmas. I am going to upload the chapters so I can still post them daily from my brother's computer, however I might not be able to answer reviews until I return. Happy Holidays everyone.
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Spencer was the last to get into the shower. He'd hoped the water pelting against his skin would wake him up but it didn't appear to be working, probably because human beings weren't meant to be up at this ungodly hour he thought. He wasn't looking forward to today. In his father's condition, he likely didn't need the stress of the two of them being in the same room together, not to mention Evan, Allie and Joanna thrown into the mix. Hotch had called shortly after he and Evan had gotten in last evening telling him to take as long as he needed. Reid hoped he wouldn't be away long.
When he sauntered into the living room he found Joanna cooing happily in her carrier. The early hour didn't seem to affect her. Allie was showing Evan the pictures their father had sent. Spencer crouched down in front of Joanna who squealed with delight at her father as her arms and legs all moved in different directions simultaneously. "Hi my little princess," he said as he leaned in and kissed the baby.
"There's coffee," Allie told him, "but I thought we'd eat breakfast at the airport."
"These are cool pictures of you big brother. Allie likes the one in the swivel chair. Where was it taken?" Evan asked.
Spencer hadn't looked at the pictures with the exception of the one with him and his father at the chessboard. He took the picture in his hand and looked at it. The small boy twirling in his dad's chair, smiling over his shoulder didn't even seem like him. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He handed the picture back to his brother. "That was taken at Dad's office at the university."
"You were such a cute kid honey," Allie said. "Look at you doing this magic trick with a cape and your little top hat. It's so darling." She turned the picture toward him.
He smirked slightly as he looked at the boy in the picture. "I loved that magic set. It was a birthday present. Mom wanted to get me books but Dad…" He handed the picture back, "You said there was coffee?" He turned and headed towards the kitchen.
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United Airlines flight 659 touched down in Kansas City four and a half hours after it had left Dulles. Joanna had been very good during the flight but the descent did not sit well with her and she began to wail loudly as the plane landed and continued while the foursome made their way through the airport. Spencer and Allie took turns trying to comfort the baby while Evan followed behind with their luggage. They received various looks from people in the concourse, some irritated, some understanding and sympathetic and some that said "better you than me pal."
"I think we better go to the hotel first," Reid said when they reached their rental car. "We can't go to the hospital when she's like this."
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Reid sat on the edge of the navy blue and cream colored bedspread in the hotel room JJ had booked for them. He watched Allie while she sat on the bed and nursed Joanna who had finally settled down after the flight. He surveyed the room. The bedspread met cream colored carpeting at the floor. Black nightstands sat on either side of the bed, although one side of the bed was blocked by the crib that had been added to the room at JJ's request. A table in the same black and two swivel chairs upholstered in the same navy and cream swirled fabric as the bed covering sat in front of a large window. The desk and chest of drawers that also housed the mini fridge and television sat opposite the bed. A door to the left of that led to an identical adjoining room that Evan would occupy. The door opened and Evan walked into the room, saw Allie and covered his eyes. "Jeez sis, you should warn a guy when you're gonna be doing that." He sat in the chair by the window and looked through the glass, keeping his eyes averted from the nursing mother.
"That's what you get for not knocking," Spencer said as he moved closer to his wife, thus obstructing Evan's view.
Allie finished nursing the infant and handed her to her father. "Why don't you take Joanna to Evan's room? I'm going to pump so I have something to take to the hospital." Evan was on his feet and almost running out the door before Allie finished speaking. Spencer chuckled at someone else's discomfiture for once and followed his brother, closing the door behind him.
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After a quick lunch that Evan had picked up for them at the hotel's coffee shop while Allie was pumping and a short drive, they arrived at the Midwest Medical Centre, a large building or, more accurately, a grouping of buildings connected by windowed walkways. Reid pulled the dark green Acura into the parking lot across the street from the hospital and the group made their way up the circular drive to the front door. Joanna was now contentedly saying "Ah…ah…ah," as she shook the rattle enclosed in her little hands. The hot August sun that beamed down on them was intensified by the fact that there wasn't the slightest hint of a breeze. The electronic doors parted to allow them entry.
Evan sniffed. "Hospitals have a smell all their own," he said. "You feel it as soon as you walk in the door, even if it's just the lobby." Allie turned and looked at her brother-in-law. "I was in the hospital so often when I was younger, I should know."
"Does it bother you to come to the hospital, even to visit?" Allie asked.
"No, not too much but you know how they say smells can trigger memories, it's true and none of them are good."
Reid mentally kicked himself. In his mind he had gone through how Allie, Joanna, his father and even he, himself might be affected by this visit but he hadn't stopped to consider Evan. Evan didn't like hospitals. They brought back bad memories just like moist earth and dead leaves did for him. When he had mentioned that their father was in the hospital, Evan's immediate response had been to be there for their father with no regards to his own feelings. Evan was a better man than he was, Reid thought.
They rode in the elevator to the fourth floor and turned right as the receptionist had instructed until they came to a sign that said ICU. They had to ring a bell to gain admittance. A nurse answered the bell and Reid identified himself and the others saying they were there to see William Reid. The nurse pointed to a waiting room and said she would check with his nurse and would make sure the patient was ready to receive visitors.
The three sat in the drab chairs in the waiting room while Joanna continued to babble from her carrier. No one spoke or looked at the outdated magazines that sat on the tables. Allie held Spencer's hand. The door was soon opened again and a different nurse in pink scrubs introduced herself as Peggy, Dr. Reid's nurse. She would take them to see him now.
The ICU consisted of twenty units housed in cubicles that had a half wall going halfway up, giving the nurses visual access to the patients at all times. There were only two rooms in the ICU that were totally enclosed. They were most often used for patients who required isolation for a communicable disease or, as in the case of William Reid, prisoners.
A Leavenworth guard sat outside the door. He inquired as to who they were and wrote it down on a clipboard. He asked them for their wallets, cell phones, Allie's purse and Joanna's diaper bag. Allie was allowed to remove one bottle. If she needed anything else, she was informed, she would have to exit the room. They opened the door and went in.
William Reid lay on the bed, his gray hair mussed, and his skin sallow in appearance. He seemed to look thin and weak, Spencer thought. An IV was infusing into his left arm while nasal prongs delivered oxygen. Wires from electrodes on his chest connected to a monitor that showed a steady rhythm of seventy-two beats per minute. A catheter bag hung at the side of the bed. The side rails were up. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be sleeping.
"Should we wake him?" Evan asked.
William Reid opened his eyes and saw the three people standing at the end of the bed. Alarms went off as William's monitor showed a dramatic increase in his heart rate. The nurse rushed into the room. "Out, now," she said.