A Bulletin the Head
Douglas Adams once wrote: "I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."
She was curled up in a ball, her neck chained to the floor, and she wasn't moving. Hotch and Morgan were the two to approach her as the other officers kept their guns trained around the room. It was large and very open, but only one hallway with bathrooms and an office. Hotch knelt beside her and checked her pulse, it was there.
"Rylee?" he asked gently, placing a hand on her cheek, "Rylee, wake up."
Her blue eyes opened slowly, narrowing weakly.
"My name's Aaron Hotchner, I'm from the FBI, you're safe now. Is he here?"
"No." she muttered hoarsely, "No, he said he was gone to work." She said, forcing her voice to sound stronger.
He nodded slowly, "Alright, the paramedics are going to check you out and they're going to get you out of this thing, okay?"
She tried to nod, "Will you stay?"
"Of course." He said with a nod, "Morgan-"
"Got it." Derek nodded and exited the building, sending the paramedics in.
000000
"We're going to have to drill the lock, it should pop open after that."
"Is it going to hurt her?" Hotch asked looking at the firefighter that knelt on the opposite side of her.
The firefighter didn't answer, only nodded slightly, as he was handed the drill, "Miss Reid, this shouldn't be extremely painful. You're just going to feel a strong vibration and it's going to be very loud for a few minutes. It's steel, so it shouldn't take too long."
Hotch wordlessly took her hand and nodded at her when she looked at him.
The drilling stop and she shut her eyes tightly, tears quickly forming. She cried out as an exceptionally high squeal erupted from the drill, it was like having her teeth drilled. Her molars ached and the vibration irritated the already bruised skin beneath the metal collar. She gripped Hotch's hand tighter and bit down on her lip as hard as she could to keep from screaming.
Hotch knew that talking to her wouldn't do much good, since he could barely hear her cry over the screams of the drill. The first minute passed by with agonizing slowness, the second was much the same but this set of 60 made her openly sob. The collar popped near the end of the three minute mark and she turned toward him, her sobs silently echoing through the gym. The paramedic, a small young girl, but the only one in the town, gave her a quick check to make sure it was safe to lift her.
"Could you help me get her on the stretcher, she doesn't have any back or neck injuries that I can see but try not to jostle her."
Hotch nodded and gently scooped her up, placing her on the stretcher as gently as possible, "They're going to take you to the hospital, I'm going to send one of my agents with you to make sure you stay safe."
"Why can't you go?" she asked, her voice cracking, as the paramedic strapped her onto the stretcher.
"I have to catch the man who did this to you, I'll check up on you though if you want."
She winced as the sun hit her and she unconsciously took a deep breath, looking around as best she could. There were flashing lights, and people talking, and she thought she saw a camera flashing. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from the chaos.
"Reid." Hotch said, walking a few steps away from the stretcher as it neared the ambulance, "I want you to go to the hospital with her."
Spencer looked towards the ambulance, "Hotch, I don't-"
"Spencer, she may be put in ICU and the only people they allow in ICU are family. You're all she's got left."
Spencer looked towards the ambulance once more, then down at the little elephant in his hand, "Alright, but I need a laptop as soon as possible."
"I'll have JJ bring one to you."
"Thanks, Hotch." Spencer said with a nod, his eyes focused on the ambulance as he began to walk toward it.
"You one of them?" the paramedic asked as he climbed inside.
He nodded, "Yeah, I'm, uh, Dr. Spencer Reid."
"We don't have a hospital in town, at least not one with what she needs so I called in a helicopter. They said they should be here in ten."
He nodded and looked down at the stretcher, "Rylee, did you hear that?"
"Yeah." She whispered softly as the paramedic placed a piece of gauze to the open wound on her temple, "Your last names Reid."
"Yeah."
"So is mine." She said looking at him, before she forced a giggle with a cough, "I have glasses like that."
He smiled, "We have a lot in common, Oh!" he looked down at the elephant in his hands, "I found this in your room, I used to have one just like it. Thought you could use it."
She smiled as he placed in next to her hand, but was surprised when she reached for him instead, "My cats name was Spencer… My Dad named it." she said weakly, "I never thought you actually existed."
Spencer narrowed his eyes, confused, "What?"
"You're-" her words faded away as the paramedic pressed the drugs into the IV on her arm.
"Sorry," she began, "The pain killers will make her really drowsy-"
"No, she needs the sleep. I can ask her when she wakes up. I'm not going anywhere." Spencer said, gently running his thumb over her hand as he watched his sister sleep.
"Love Takes Up Where Knowledge Leaves Off." -Saint Thomas Aquinas