Making this as short and sweet as possible; I need to sleep now! Consider this a birthday prezzy for Matthew's 31st! :D
I don't own Criminal Minds!
….
The pen is mightier than the sword. ~Benjamin Franklin
The next fifteen minutes after he awoke, Reid's bedside was overwhelmed by doctors and nurses, poking, prodding and asking questions. But Reid wasn't paying attention; his eyes were drooping and his body was only semi-alert, yet he still answered the questions to the best of his ability. But eventually, he closed his eyes, falling back to sleep.
::::
Every time he opened his eyes, there was a member of the team present.
First it was JJ; she smiled tearfully at him, taking his hand as he awoke. He managed to stay awake for a full minute, thankfully, before his tired body eased his equally tired mind back into sleep.
::::
Rossi was there the next time he opened his eyes.
"How are you holding up, Kiddo?" he asked.
Reid shrugged. "Alright, considering the circumstances," he admitted quietly. Rossi patted the younger man's shoulder, his eyes glancing at the bed-ridden man.
"You should see the way the nurses dote on you," Rossi joked, gesturing toward the nurses' station across the hall. "I'm convinced this one nurse, Cindy, wants to adopt you."
Reid nodded; his eyes drooping as he once again sank into unconsciousness. "I'll ask her about that," he slurred as darkness took over.
:::
Reid awoke that evening to see Hotch reclining in the chair, staring out the window for a moment, watching the sunset while he spoke on the phone.
"Yeah…" he said. "It was hard for all of us… We're all ready to come home… I've missed him, too, Jess… I'll call later so I can talk to him; I want to do something first," Hotch said suddenly as he glanced toward Reid. "Okay… Yeah, I'll call you then. Bye." He shut the phone, staring at Reid for a moment.
"Are you okay?"
Reid sat up in the bed. "I've been better."
Hotch nodded. Neither of them spoke again for a moment.
It was Hotch that broke the silence.
"I shouldn't have let you go there alone," he whispered. I should've seen the signs earlier."
"Hotch…"
"It was all there in the profile, in the victimology; If I'd seen it sooner… If we had seen it sooner…"
"Hotch," Reid cried. "It wasn't your fault; if James Riley hadn't taken me, he probably would have taken another victim, and we would have had another body on our hands. It was no fault of yours. If anything, it was mine."
Hotch shook his head. "Reid, you have no blame in this; you didn't even think that the UnSub may have taken you; we didn't even think that there were multiple UnSubs to begin with."
"But you did figure it out," Reid pointed out. "And you did it without my help."
Hotch sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just wish we'd done it sooner," he admitted crossly. "It would have saved you a hospital visit."
"JJ told me," Reid replied, leaning back into the pillow as sleep came to him again "They're keeping me overnight for fluids plus another night for observation."
Hotch opened his mouth again, but Reid silenced him with a glare. "It wasn't your fault, Hotch. Stop trying to blame yourself for it, because it won't change what happened. If you want to blame someone, blame James Riley and his motley crew for seeking me out in the first place. I don't want you beating yourself up over this; it's over, I'm here… Everything's going to be fine."
And with that, Reid dropped back to sleep, leaving Hotch with his thoughts.
:::
Reid was startled from sleep by a nightmare. The events of which still haunted his waking mind.
"How're you doing, Reid?" came Emily's voice from somewhere in the darkness. It was night and Spencer was sure that the hospital was silent save for the night staff and patients like himself.
"Alright," he whispered. "You?"
"Right now, I'm just glad you're alive," she answered. "You've been in and out of consciousness all day."
Reid felt a tiny smile come to his face. "I haven't exactly been at a four-star hotel," he joked to his friend. There was a quiet chuckle.
"There's the Reid we know and love," she whispered. "I just didn't expect to see you cracking jokes."
"Just trying to diffuse the tension," he explained.
She took his hand, squeezing it gently. "Just don't go losing an ear in the process. And consider going to sleep; Garcia's going to be here first thing in the morning."
"Is she…?"
"She's okay; she been dying to talk to you all day. Morgan and Hotch had to drag her from the room after visiting hours. I volunteered to stay behind, in case you woke up."
Reid nodded settling back into his pillows. Neither of them spoke for a moment; the room filled with the stillness of their breathing. It was about five minutes before Prentiss spoke again.
"Are you sleeping, Reid?"
"Nope," Reid admitted. "It's… um… it's too dark."
"…Nightlight?"
"That, and a good book to read before I sleep."
She sighed softly, a smile gracing her features. "Lucky for you, I have both," she quipped, taking out a book-light and a small hardcover book.
"I'm sorry, but I'm almost done with it, and I didn't have time to run to a bookstore…"
"It won't take much to send me off," he admitted. "I'm barely awake now."
Okay," she replied, turning on the light and opening the book. Reid fell to sleep before she was halfway done with the first sentence. "'Gatsby believed in the green light….'"
::::
Sunlight streamed through the window, throwing light on Garcia's already sparkling self when next Reid awoke.
"How's my Junior G-Man?" she whispered softly.
"Better than I was yesterday," Reid admitted, attempting to stretch his limbs; he groaned as his bad leg throbbed its displeasure from the past few days of non-usage, combined with the effects of kneeling and being shoved to the ground to support the weight of its owner.
Garcia caught the wince he made, despite his attempt to hide it. "Want me to get the nurse?" she asked soothingly.
Reid shook his head. "I'm fine, Garcia," he whispered, glancing around the room to find…
"Garcia," he gasped. "Wha- How- Did you get all this for me?"
The whole room was lined with shelves of stuffed hospital store toys, flowers and boxes of chocolate.
"Some of it was Emily, JJ and Derek?" she replied unconvincingly.
Reid felt a smile come to his face as he slipped back into oblivion.
::::
Garcia's cheerful face was replaced by Morgan that afternoon.
"Hey, Dorothy," Morgan greeted cheerfully. You back from the land of Oz?" The older man's cheerful tone became a bit more serious as he continued. "You took quite the bump on the head, Pretty Boy."
Reid nodded, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Actually," he corrected. "It was a series of bumps on the head over the course of four days as I was beaten by delusional UnSubs who believed they were pirates."
Morgan nodded; Reid saw the grim, stormy look on the man's face but chose to ignore it; Morgan was beating himself up already with Reid's kidnapping, and didn't need the reminder that the profile had been off looming around his head.
"Garcia said it was all four of you who cleaned out the gift shop," he injected.
Morgan stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter, an action that Reid felt seemed forced, more for his benefit than true humor. "…Yeah… about that…"
"I knew it," Reid exclaimed, a grin on his face. "I didn't actually believe it, but now that I see your face, I can tell!"
Morgan raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay… You win, Pretty Boy."
Reid sank back into the bed, his eyes fluttering closed; those last few conversations had completely drained him.
Morgan clapped him on the shoulder. "Sleep tight, Kid," he whispered, watching his younger friend sleep.
::::
Reid slept through the entire day and long into the night. No one disturbed his slumber; he deserved it.
::::
All children, except one, grow up. ~James M. Barrie
...
A/N: I hate to say it, but... Two more to go! :(
Thanks to my awesome reviewers: Noel Ardnek, 68luvcarter, Tinkerbell220, danicalif80, the-vampire-act, GoddessSumizofVenus, SSAFunbar, zannabanana, HannahlovinCM, PottyandWeezlbe89, Reidemption, Laurella, darlene10104, lastbloom and SayidRocks! Thanks, guys!
Laurella: Oh, I like that, running an episode AND the move at the same time. I actually just bought the DVD about a week ago or so, and I love it! It'll be around my favorite DVDs for a while! :D
Please leave me some reviews; I love hearing feedback!
And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER! ;) I have a Tumble post for it now, too. I'm bookwurm32191 (Same as my Twitter, in case you're wondering).
*~N_CBAU~* :D