Spencer stirred awake on an unfamiliar bed, almost groaning when he shifted and his ribs hurt. Then, he remembered why he was here. He remembered his uncle beating him real bad, and collapsing at school, and telling the doctor everything.

He wouldn't go back to uncle John would he? Maybe there'd be foster care or some other relative he never heard...

Derek.

Derek was sitting in a chair right next to him, with his head lolling to the side as he slept. Spencer squinted and reopened his eyes after mentally counting to ten.

Hallucinations. That's all this was. The doctor said he had a concussion... do concussions cause hallucinations? Spencer couldn't remember. All he could tell is that Derek Morgan was sitting a chair, close enough for Spencer to reach out and touch if he wanted to.

Not that he did, of course. He hated Derek Morgan right then. Hated him almost as much as he hated Uncle John. He just walked out of his life and abandoned him with some stranger, never even bothering to check on him like he'd promised. Which Spencer wouldn't mind, he was used to being abandoned, except for him promising to visit and not he thinks he just come waltzing back to him again and play the hero...

Well, that wasn't going to happen. Just because Derek had some hero complex and liked to try and save Spencer, only being there after everything had happened, never just in time, didn't mean that Spencer was going to fall for it again. He was tired of being left behind.

But still, Spencer couldn't stop staring at him. It seemed so strange that he was there. Close enough to almost touch. A sleeping angel. After so long of holding out, just wondering when Derek was going to come see him, dreaming of his face at night to keep himself sane. He'd given up all hope of seeing him. It was like a death... and now, here he was. Right there.

"Mmgnn," Derek groaned lightly, as he stirred awake. He sat up and stretched his arms above his head, and his back popped.

He rubbed at his eyes and tried to remember where he would be that would make him wake up so stiff and uncomfortably.

Slowly, Derek opened his eyes as they adjusted to the bright light of the hospital...

The hospital! Spencer!

He sat bolt upright, immediately awake. Spencer was sitting up in the hospital bed, silently of course, glaring right at Derek. His arms were crossed over his chest and his face had hostility writ all over it. Derek was suddenly nervous. The idea that Spencer might hate him was ten times scarier than looking down the barrel of their last UnSub's gun.

"Hi, Spencer," he said quietly, after they sat in silence for a while. Spencer's stoicism didn't change at all.

Derek cleared his throat and tried to think of something to say. Somehow 'how's it goin' didn't seem right, but neither did, 'so, I'm sorry the uncle I left you with was a bastard and that you're now mute, in the hospital, and can't trust anyone, but how about we put that behind us and you can come stay with me. Again.'

He settled on smiling gently (bitterly) and patting Spencer's leg affectionately. Well, he would've, if Spencer let him. Instead, the boy jerked his leg away from Derek's hand, and, somehow, managed to intensify his glare.

"Sorry," said Derek quietly, lifting his hands in a slight surrender.

They sat in silence for a while longer, Derek trying to think of something new to say and Spencer making his hostile feelings very clear without saying a word.

What felt like an eternity to Derek (though it was probably only about ten minutes), a nurse came in to the room. She did some stuff with Spencer's IV and seemed completely oblivious to the tension in the room. She was humming a song under her breath and, once she finished whatever it was that she was doing, handed Spencer a dry-erase bored, a blue Expo marker, and an eraser, "Just in case you want to say something, sweetie."

When she left and had closed the door behind her, Derek looked over at Spencer again.

"I really am sorry, you know," he said again, hoping Spencer understood his meaning. Sorry about, leaving you, sorry about breaking my promises, sorry that you got dealt such a crappy hand...

Spencer looked at Derek. I'm sorry? He apologized? Like somehow Spencer thought that would mean something. That it would fix everything. Oh, you're sorry? Well then, I guess I forgive you. No. Not happening.

Spencer pursed his lips and glanced down at the dry-erase board sitting on his lap. For the first time in a long time, he really had a desire for someone to know what he was saying, but he also wasn't sure if he was ready. He didn't know why, it just felt like giving up.

Screw giving up, thought Spencer I wanna give Derek a piece of mind.

He grabbed the marker and board, angrily pulling the cap off wrote his message as quickly as possible.

'Sorry doesn't fix it.'

Derek looked strangely hurt. Like it somehow affected him.

"I know. Trust me, I know, and I wish that somehow, sorry could help," said Derek.

'Please, please, stop lying,' Spencer wrote. He was sick of the fake kindness and persuasive words. He wasn't some UnSub to profile and then talk down or someone that was going to be convinced to forgeti everything that this man had done to him.

"Lying?" asked Derek. He almost sounded genuinely confused.

Spencer erased his previous writing on the board and started a new one.

'I know you don't really want me. You dumped me with my uncle, and that wouldn't have been so bad if you didn't leave with tears and false promises of not really wanting me gone. You must have, else you wouldn't have broken your promise. You SAID you would visit or call or see how I was. You LIED and now you're back and acting like that never happened and you think that I'm too stupid to see past you're lies.'

"Oh, Spencer," said Derek, sounding all but heartbroken, "You don't really think that, do you?"

'Why wouldn't I?'

"What if I told you I did try to visit you? I got your uncle's phone number and called a few times and tried to get up there when we had cases in Washington or even Oregon, but I couldn't get a hold of you or your uncle," Derek tried to explain.

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows. Is he telling the truth? It sounds plausible...

"And I don't think you're stupid. You're one of the smartest people I've ever met," Derek continued.

Spencer raised an eyebrow skeptically and all but scoffed.

'How can I be one of the smartest people you know? You don't know me.'

Derek physically winced at that. He stumbled for words, trying to respond, but couldn't. He hadn't seen Spencer in four years and only knew him for a few months. He didn't know that well. The realization felt like knife to the heart for Derek.

Spencer smirked at Derek and wrote, 'thought so.'

Derek's face drew in more, looking somehow more hurt than before. Spencer wanted to take joy in the expression. He wanted to revel at his victory, but couldn't. He made himself continue to smirk and look cocky, but inside he felt sick to his stomach.

Oh, God, he thought, I really am awful. I'm a fucking sadistic bastard trying to take joy in Derek's pain and even when I realize I can't, I continue trying to make him think I am.

Spencer felt the tears well up in his eyes lip began to quiver. He felt the cocksure smirk fall from his face and tilted his face upwards to try and stop the tears from coming. He glanced around the walls and tried to focus on anything but the tears and sadness and pain welling up in him, but he couldn't. They came falling down his face. His shoulders shook violently and his hands quivered.

He felt Derek's arms try and circle him, to comfort him, but Spencer was still too pissed for that. He shoved to older man off him. He just wanted to cry in solitude.

Strange keening noises seemed to be coming from him, scratchy low from misuse. He tried to hold them back, but couldn't.

Derek ran his hands over his bald head in confusion and frustration. He couldn't just watch while Spencer broke down like this, but he couldn't comfort him either.

Finally, as if coming to his rescue, Dr. Terry walked into the room.

He saw Spencer crying and Morgan standing by helplessly.

"Spencer?" he asked gently, not sure how to respond to this situation. "Are you alright?" Are you alright? He wanted to smack his head into the wall for that one. Of course he wasn't alright. Stupid question.

Spencer nodded shakily, however the tears continued to fall.

Dr. Terry decided not to push him before he was ready. "Do you mind if I borrow Derek here for a bit?"

Spencer's unsteady hands came up and signed the words, "Please, take him!" The doctor's eyes narrowed, both at the unexpected use of ASL and the words.

"Spencer," he said very seriously, "has Derek ever hurt you? Tell me now, before we let you go anywhere with him."

"No," he signed again, "I'm just mad at him." Dr. Terry almost sighed in relief. That's what he thought was going on, but he needed to be sure. Derek's pain for the child seemed to be too real to fake.

The doctor could see Derek's eyes narrowed in confusion at the exchange. He would tell him in the hall, away from Spencer.

"Come with me, please," he said clinically. Derek started to follow, then stopped, looking back at Spencer.

"It's fine," said Dr. Terry. "Come on."

Derek followed him to the hallway.

"Spencer seems to be doing fine physically," Dr. Terry started when they reached a place that nosy ear's could hear. "As we've already informed you, his injuries are minor and will heal on his own. We also did a CAT scan yesterday while he was in and ran some other tests to check for brain or vocal cord damage. We found none, which brings us to the conclusion that his muteness is purely psychological although given his use of sign language while I was in there today and communication with you through writing, he seems to be willing to communicate again. I'd like to send him to a physical therapist to get him started on using his vocal cords again because they're so out of use."

He paused for a moment to give Derek a chance to ask questions. He said nothing, so the doctor continued.

"I'd also like to keep him for a few days for observation and have him speak with an on-site psychologist before he leaves. I also suggest continuing therapy when he gets back to Virginia with you. And lastly, I have some paperwork for you. This," he said, getting a stack paper from the clipboard he'd been carrying, "is from the hospital about medical records and basically background information. This," he said again, but handing a new stack of papers, "is school records and what not. Just fill them out and go to the school. They'll be able to explain better than I can."

"Thank you," said Derek with a genuine smile.

"Now, do you want to explain to Spencer what's going on, or should I?" the doctor asked.

"He's pretty pissed at me, so you should," said Derek reluctantly.

"Alright," said Dr. Terry, walking back to Spencer room. Derek hoped he was prepared for the fit he knew Spencer would throw when he realized he would have to extend his stay in the hospital and talk to a therapist.

Oh, and if Spencer using Sign Language in there confused anyone, I'd just made the assumption that because Spencer is a genius and can learn things so quickly, he would have picked up on the sign language they'd tried to teach him.