As usual January was a busy month for me. All the classes were booked solid and we even put on a few extras to keep up with demand. It seemed like serial killers were also having a busy month though which wasn't so great. It was not only unsettling and sad, but it meant that Spencer was off every few days to some other part of the country. I missed him of course, but it was nice that I was busy as well to keep my mind off my lonliness.
It also gave me time to set up a little 'pre class' practice for the other teachers at the studio and myself. With Spencer away the appeal of laying in bed until I absolutely had to get up was somewhat lessened so about halfway through January I suggested us teachers meet before the first class started at 7:30 and get in some of our own practices. Usually we were able to keep a good balance between teaching and our own yoga time, but with our days being so packed, I knew all of us were neglecting our practices despite having a long list of things we were trying to improve.
Everyone agreed it was a good idea so we started meeting at about 6:30 every day to have our own time. Towards the end of the hour we would come together to help each other with things we were struggling with or perhaps share some tips we'd picked up and overall it was working wonders for our mental health and our classes.
One of the main things I was working on was handstands. Melissa, another teacher at the studio, had mastered it long ago and watching how she worked them into her flows was something I envied and was determined to do myself. I was able to do a headstand even though they weren't the most stable part of my practice, but I'd always struggled to get up fully onto my hands. With Melissa's help though it was definitely getting easier. I started against a wall, focusing on engaging my core to pull my weight off the wall and fully onto my hands for a few seconds before leaning back against it and eventually built up enough confidence to try independently with no wall for support as long as Melissa was there to spot me.
I was improving quite fast so one day, about mid-February, I decided to try it on my own as Melissa had skipped our little practice session and wouldn't be in until her classes that afternoon. The other women I teach with, Annie, Janae and Rose, were doing their own things around the room as I took a deep breath and kicked up into my handstand.
At first I wobbled slightly, but I engaged my core and managed to steady my legs. I felt a rush of pride as I realized I was doing it before I felt my center of gravity shift and my legs tumbled to the side before I could stop them. I landed in a heap on the ground, the sound of an unsettling pop echoing in my ear. I heard people calling my name, but I was dazed and all I could focus on was the searing pain in my shoulder.
"Mickey? Mikayla? Mikayla, are you okay?" I heard Annie ask me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I instantly felt tears fill my eyes as I realized that I wasn't sure how to answer that.
"Hey, don't cry," Rose cooed, squatting down beside me. "What hurts, Mick? You landed really hard..."
I opened my mouth to answer, but Janae cut me off.
"Look at her shoulder..."
I heard a quiet gasp come from one of them and frantically turned my head to see if I could see. I didn't have a great view, but there was definitely what looked like a bone sticking up under the skin. It hadn't broken through, but it was bulging in a place there hadn't been a bone bulging before.
"Is it broken?" I cried, adrenaline still running through me. "It hurts so bad!"
"No, no, it's not broken," Rose assured me, her voice soothing and calm. "It just looks like you dislocated it."
"Well relocate it!" I practically shrieked earning a giggle from my colleagues.
"I'm not gonna do that, honey," Rose informed me. "I know that you can do more harm than good trying to do that if you don't know what you're doing, but I don't have any classes until ten so I'll take you to the hospital, alright?"
"But I have my class," I groaned, trying to think clearly despite the extreme amount of pain I was in. "I can't go to the hospital."
"I'll cover it," Janae piped up. "We'll figure it out for a few days while you get yourself fixed up."
I nodded as they helped me to my feet and led me to the door.
Four hours later I was finally on the mend. After plenty of waiting and massive amounts of painkillers, x-rays and an excruciating, but also incredibly satisfying resetting of my shoulder, I was ready to go home. However, the nurses were reluctant.
"You need to call someone to pick you up," One of them informed me, her hands on her hips like she was scolding a child. My head felt woozy from the painkillers and muscle relaxants they'd given me, but I mustered up enough strength to roll my eyes. "Don't give me that, young lady. We can't release you until those drugs in your system wear off or you have an escort. It's your choice."
"I'll take the bus," I insisted, hopping off the gurney I was sitting on, the sling on my arm keeping my shoulder in place. "No, wait. We're right by my house. I can walk from here. Easy peasy."
"No," The nurse said firmly. "You either call someone or you rest until the drugs have worn off a bit."
"Fine," I groaned dramatically, pulling out my phone.
I quickly dialled Penelope's number, still under the watchful eye of the nurse and luckily she answered.
"Hey, gorgeous girl, what's up?"
"I need you to pick me up," I informed her, glaring at the nurse and choosing my next words for her benefit. "I know you have a case and you're probably super busy with your very important job, but I need a ride home."
"A ride? From where?"
"The hospital..."
There was a brief silence and I braced myself for the wrath of Penny.
"The hospital?!" She exclaimed so loud I thought my ear drums might burst. "Why are you in the hospital? Why didn't you start this conversation with that information?"
"I'm fine," I assured her. "I dislocated my shoulder, but it's all good now and they won't let me leave without an escort. One of my friends from work drove me here, but she had to go teach and they won't let me walk home because apparently dislocating your shoulder renders your legs unusable."
I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at the nurse who rolled her eyes at my sarcasm and realized that maybe the drugs were affecting me just a tad.
"No, no, stay put, little miss," Penelope instructed. "Text me which hospital you're at and I'll be there ASAP."
I mumbled a thank you before hanging up to text her my location. Satisfied that I'd followed her orders, the nurse asked if I wanted any water or anything to drink before leaving me alone to wait for ride and sulk.
Penelope arrived promptly as promised, but much to my disappointment she sided with the nurses.
"You shouldn't be alone right now, Mick," She insisted, loading me into her car. "You're high as a kite, your pupils are almost nonexistent and with your arm in a sling you'll need someone to help you."
"It's in a sling, not amputated," I mumbled. "I can still move it."
"Why're you so eager to get home anyway? Spencer's still on a case and you can't do any yoga for at least a week. You'll be bored in like an hour," She pointed out. "So come to the BAU with me and we can keep each other company while I save Texas from a serial killer."
"Fine, but I'm fine."
Penelope rolled her eyes, but knowing how stubborn I could be, she left it alone and after probably only five minutes of silence, I felt my eyes slowly drift shut.
I woke up just as we pulled into the underground parking at Penelope's office and went to rub my eye before I was reminded that my right, and dominant, arm was currently out of business.
"Hello, sleeping beauty," Penelope smiled. "How're you feeling?"
"Hungover," I admitted. "Maybe those drugs they gave me at the hospital were stronger than I thought."
"I think they were," She nodded. "But there's a big comfy couch in Hotch's office that I'm sure he won't mind you resting on."
"Alright," I yawned as we got out of the car.
As soon as I made it to the office couch she'd mentioned I fell back to sleep almost instantly. When I woke up again I felt more alert than I had the first time, but the pain in my shoulder was definitely more pronounced. I couldn't remember if they'd given me anything for it to take home from the hospital and I couldn't see my bag anywhere nearby so I figured it was time to venture out and find Penelope.
I wandered over to the little kitchen area of their bullpen before knocking on her office door. She was typing frantically as I pushed it open, but as she assured whoever she was on the phone to that she would get them the info they needed momentarily she looked up at me.
"How're you doing?" She asked, hanging up the phone, but still typing with purpose.
"I'm alright," I croaked out. "Do you happen to know if they gave me any pain meds at the hospital? Like ones to take home? Or a prescription for something?"
"They gave you some," She nodded. "Not as strong as what you had earlier, but they should take the edge off. Your bags just on that chair."
"Thanks," I mumbled, digging through it to find the little pill bottle before knocking it to the floor and sitting in it's place. "How's the case going?"
"Not bad," She told me, her focus still on the screen. "I just...need...to...send this address...to...Hotch and I'll be...all yours!"
With one final click, she spun her chair to face me, seeing me struggle to defeat the child lock on the pills with only one fully functional hand.
"Can you help?" I pouted as she giggled at my efforts.
"Of course," She smiled, taking the bottle from me and opening it effortlessly. "What happened to you anyway?"
I quickly popped two pills in my mouth before washing them down with water.
"I fell out of a handstand," I told her with a sigh. "I've been practising it for a while now and I thought I could do it without a spotter, but apparently I was very wrong."
"Silly girl," She shook her head. "Will you be out of commission for long?"
"Completely for at least a week," I nodded. "But after that I should be able to ease back into it. Maybe I'll take the beginner classes for a while, I don't know. I have to be careful though, they warned me I could need surgery if I repeat the injury."
"You better behave and let yourself rest then," She frowned. "Have you told Spencer?"
"No," I shook my head. "I was in so much pain I couldn't do anything. I'll wait until he's done the case so he doesn't worry."
"That's probably wise," Penelope agreed, suddenly avoiding eye contact which instantly gave away that she was hiding something.
"Why?" I asked, feeling my adrenaline kick in again. "He's okay, right?"
"Physically, yes," Penelope nodded, her face giving away how carefully she was choosing her words. "He's having a hard time with this case though. The unsub is a high school student who's taking revenge on people who bullied him. He can relate to what he's going through."
I frowned, my heart sinking at her words. I knew Spencer had a hard time in school, it pretty much went without saying since he was so much younger yet smarter than his classmates, but we'd never really actually talked about it. I was relieved he wasn't in any physical danger, but I also knew that sometimes the cases that hit home emotionally were worse.
"Should I call him?" I asked, but before Penelope could answer her phone rang.
Out of habit, she put the phone on speaker, her fingers poised on the keys waiting for a command.
"Garcia, I need you to get Prentiss on the line," Hotch's voice came through. I stayed quiet knowing that really none of this was something I should be hearing as a civilian. "He's going to return the necklace to Jordan at the station. Reid knew."
"On it," Penelope answered, putting the call on hold before dialling another number. When there was no answer, she went back to Hotch. "She's not picking up."
"Alright, we're almost there," Hotch sighed. "Can you get into the security cameras outside the police station? Get a visual on what's happening?"
"Absolutely," Penelope clicked a few buttons and a video stream appeared on the screen. Peeking over her shoulder I could see Spencer slowly approaching a young man with a massive rifle, his arms in the air. I covered my mouth to stifle my gasp as my heart rate picked up. "Oh god..."
"What?" Hotch asked. "We're two blocks away."
"It's Reid...He's confronting him."
"Damn it," Hotch mumbled as a black FBI SUV pulled up on the screen.
I watched, my heart still racing as Derek, Rossi and Hotch all poured out of the vehicle. The camera was a bit fuzzy, but I saw Spencer quickly check over his shoulder before adjusting his position.
"What's he doing?" Rossi asked, the other agents still on the line with Penelope as we sat in silence.
"He's blocking our shot."
I felt a flush of anger at Hotch's answer. I knew that Spencer's heart was in the right place, but he was being reckless. He was unarmed and approaching an unstable teenage boy with a massive gun. It didn't take an FBI agent to know that was a bad idea. He was good at his job and if anyone could talk this kid down it would be him, but it was a massive risk that I wasn't pleased he was taking.
I watched the tense stand off, waiting for the moment where the boy would turn his gun on Spencer and shoot before anyone could stop him, until finally he moved forward and placed the gun on the road between them. Spencer stayed close to him as the rest of the team moved in and I let out the breath I'd been holding. Penelope quickly ended the call and cut the feed before putting her head in her hands.
"I'm gonna kill him," I mumbled, feeling tears well up in my eyes. "I'm glad that boy didn't shoot him because now I can kill him myself when he gets home."
"No, Mickey. You can't," Penelope said firmly. "You shouldn't have been in here, you shouldn't have seen that. I could get in big trouble if anyone finds out that you did."
"What was he thinking?!" I continued, ignoring her words. "He risked his life so thoughtlessly. I mean, did he even think about me and what I would do if anything had happened to him?"
Penelope turned her chair to face me, a sympathetic look on her face.
"I know it's hard, pumpkin," She said, patting my knee. "But they take risks like that every day. Granted, they don't usually leave their guns behind, but every case there is a risk and a unsub who could hurt them."
"I don't know how you do it," I sighed, knowing she was right. "How you sit here and watch them in all these dangerous situations or hear about what danger they're facing while you're too far away to help. That was the most helpless I've probably ever felt."
"It's unfortunately something you get used to," She admitted. "But anyway, why don't we go get our minds off that horrible scene and get some ice cream? It always makes me feel better when I'm sick so I'm sure you could use some."
I smiled at her obvious change of conversation, but raised an eyebrow.
"I'm not sick, Pen," I pointed out. "I'm injured. There's a difference."
She shrugged as she stood up from her chair before holding her hand out to help me up.
"All the same to me!" She smiled. "And I promise we'll be back by the time boy genius is here."
I sighed again, but reluctantly took her hand knowing there was no point in me moping around their empty office all afternoon
