I do not own Criminal Minds and thank you to Dragonsmaiden for being my beta reader.Chapter #16
It was after midnight when his flight landed in Quantico. Reid drove straight to the hospital. He knew that the visiting hours were long over, but he didn't care. He tried to call Garcia on her cell, but all he got was her voicemail.
"Damnit," he softly cursed. He used his FBI credentials, like Garcia had, to get the information about which room Ashley was in. At the moment, he didn't care if he got into trouble with Hotch about protocol.
"She's sleeping," he heard Garcia as he stepped out of the elevator. He turned around to see her sitting in a chair close to the elevators, knitting something. He was surprised that she was still here.
"You're here," he said. "I thought that you went home."
"Nope," she said, shaking her head. "I knew that you would be here, despite the hours."
He smiled sheepishly. "How is she doing?"
"She's ok, she doesn't remember what happened. But she did ask me one of the most peculiar questions. She asked me if Darcy sent me," Garcia answered back.
"Darcy? The only Darcy that I know is one of her close friends, but we haven't meet." Why would she be thinking that Darcy sent Garcia? Granted, Ashley had never met Garcia, but still. This was getting more and more confusing.
"What are you thinking in your genius mind?"
"Huh, sorry. The explosion for one thing. Harry told you that she was safer if she stayed in the hospital and he wasn't willingly to take her in and take care of her. Is she still in danger? I can't get a hold of Harry to ask."
Garcia put her knitting in her big purse and stood up. "Come on G-man, let's go home. There is nothing that you can do now. Get some sleep and you can see her in the morning." She wrapped her arm around his and led him to the elevator.
The next morning, Reid let out a yawn as he walked into the hospital. He'd only gotten about three hours of sleep the night before, his mind was still racing in regards to the accident. Garcia told him that she would check it out for him when she got to work that morning.
He called the hospital before leaving his apartment; they told him that she was doing good, having breakfast at the moment. He finally got a hold of Harry and Harry told him he would meet him at the hospital in a few hours. Harry told him one of the bartenders hadn't show up for work, and his waitress called in sick so he'd had to cover for both of them until he could find replacements; that was why he hadn't been able to return Reid's phone calls. But he did agreed with Reid that the explosion wasn't an accident, but he didn't want to speculate until he had checked out a few things. Reid assumed he was going to ask his former biker buddies some questions.
Reid stopped at the gift shop on the first floor, trying to pick up a gift for her. He chewed on his lower lip, wandering up and down the aisles, looking at stuff animals and flowers. He wasn't good at buying gifts, for anyone, let alone for a girl that he was dating.
His cell phone interrupted his thinking. He saw Prentiss's name on his screen.
"Reid," he answered, expecting Prentiss to run a theory by him.
"It's me, how's Ashley."
"I went to see her last night when my flight landed, but she was sleeping. I'm at the hospital now."
"So how is she doing?"
Reid turned away, finding a private corner to chat. "I called the hospital before I left and she was doing good, but . . ." he started to say.
"But?"
He cleared his throat, "I'm at the gift shop and," he said then he whispered in a quiet voice, "I don't know of what to get her."
"Oh, well flowers are always nice."
"I know, but which ones. Red roses mean love, courage, beauty and respect. Pink roses mean thank you, but what am I thanking her for? Iris means passion or your friendship means so much to me, which it does. And yet, tulips means perfect lovers. I could get her a stuff animal, but she makes them. Wouldn't that be strange?"
"Am I hearing you correctly? You, the one with the three PhDs, is completely stump," she teased. He could Morgan laughing in the background where he turned completely red.
"Well," Reid said, "Um yeah." He could read 20, 000 words a minute, do a profile of a person within minutes of meeting the person, but buying a simple present was really hard for him. But he was grateful that Prentiss wasn't laughing along with Morgan, but he suspected that she would have a good chuckle when she hung up.
"Well, what kind of flowers do you give your mom?"
"She is not allow to have flowers in the sanitarium. I usually give her books. I don't think I should give Ashley a book right now, with her concussion. Her headache is going to last a few days."
"Oh well, Ashley probably doesn't keep anything that she makes. Just go with something simple, alright."
Reid looked at the display of hand lotions, body creams and foot creams. He knew that she like having her feet rub, especially after her concerts or a hard day after her classes.
"Alright, how is the case going?"
"We're done, we are on our way to the airport. We should be home in a few hours," she answered.
Reid picked up one of the bottles, looking at it. "Well I'll check into work in a few hours then," he said.
"All right Reid, remember, something simple," she said. Reid had just put his cell phone back in his pocket when he found the perfect gift for Ashley.
He held his present close to his chest as he let out another yawn. He is going to have to splash some cold water on his face and pick up coffee with a double shot of espresso before going into work.
He stepped off the elevator, hearing a man's scream. Suddenly a man dressed in black, ran out of the room, knocking a nurse down. He ran down the hallway, pushing people away.
"Stop that man," Reid heard someone yelling. He dropped his present and followed the stranger. He stopped at the room where he came out, seeing Ashley on the floor, covered in blood, crying.
The nurses ran into the room, "Is she ok," he asked.
"Yes," one of the nurses said whom Reid met the night before. "Go, get him," she said waving her hand towards the man in black.
Reid set his hand on the hilt of his gun as he quickly dialed his cell phone. "This is FBI Agent Dr. Reid. I am requesting back up at Prince William Hospital. I am in pursuit of a Causation male, six feet tall, blonde hair," he said as he ran down the hallway. He hung up his cell phone. He pulled out his gun and followed the drops of blood on the floor they led him around the corner. As he turned the corner, the stranger stood at the door of the stairwell he had the gun pointed at Reid.
Reid drove behind the corner just as the stranger fired his gun. "She is mine."
Reid looked up seeing the bullet hole in the wall, but most important, there was a mirror hanging up in the corner. He watched the stranger go out through the door.
Reid slowly walked through the hallway again, following the trail of blood. He pointed his gun in front of himself as he open the door. The stairwell was empty, but Reid could hear him running down the stairs. He followed, carefully looking around at every corner before going down the next flight of stairs. At the bottom of the stairwell, Reid heard the door opening and a light appearing on the concentrate floor, before disappearing. The door gave a loud click as it closed.
Reid still being careful quickened his pace as he made his way down the rest of the stairs. He opened the door, seeing he was now in the back alley of the hospital. He quickly checked both sides, only to find the stranger was gone. He found the blood trail and he followed it. The trail led him a few feet from the door, leading out to the street where it disappeared. He found tire tracks leading out to the street where the cars drove by him.
"Shit," he cursed as he stomped his foot. He put his gun back in his hoister as he made his way to the hospital.
He dialed the same number, "This is FBI Agent Dr. Reid again, cancel the back-up. Suspect got away."
He returned to Ashley's room, only to find the nurses and doctors gather around her.
"Miss. Cassidy, you need to calm down," Reid heard someone saying. He peered in her room, seeing his girlfriend pacing from one side to the next. In front of her gown was covered in blood and he also noticed that there was blood on her face. She was holding onto something tightly in her right hand.
"No, no, no," she whispered, shaking her head. "It can't be happening again. Eight fucking months," she said as she continued to walk side to side. She placed her left hand as she balanced herself. Reid quickly recognized that she was having a panic attack.
"I need ten cc of diazepam," Reid heard.
"No," he said, turning his head to face him. "No drugs."
"Excuse me, but this is none of your business," said one of the nurses.
Reid flashed his FBI's badge. "Ashley is a recovering addict," he said.
"And she is covered in blood where we don't know if it is hers or not and she is having a panic attack. She won't let anyone get near her to examine her," said the same nurse.
"Give me ten minutes to calm her down, please. Her sobriety is important to her and she worked too hard to keep it. Please," he begged.
The doctor looked past him to the nurse behind him. "Go ahead," he told the nurse.
Reid stepped in front of her, "May I remind if you give her the drugs against her will, you can and will be charged for assault. All I am asking is ten minutes, I can calm her down," he said coldly. He couldn't believe that he was actually threatening the doctor. Director Strauss would have a fit when she heard about this, but right now, he didn't care. All he cared about was Ashley; he'd deal with the consequences later. The nurses and doctor reluctantly agreed.
Reid slowly walked into the room, "Ashley, honey," he said.
She looked up at him, "Doc, I heard a gunshot," she said. "Course you didn't get killed or else, I would be talking to a ghost. I got too many of those," she started to ramble.
Good, keep talking, it will force you to breath, Reid thought. "Ashley, can you please stop and look at me," he whispered. Ashley shook her head, but she stopped with her back turned toward him. She bent down where she threw up on the floor.
Reid went up to her, he held her head in his hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist, support her. "It's ok," he whispered.
She lost her balance and Reid shifted his weight supporting her. He gently sat her down on the floor, away from the vomit. He wrapped his arms around her, gently holding on to her wrists.
"It's over now, you're safe. I need you to count ten steamboats," he whispered.
"Steamboats," she asked, not looking at him, only staring at the vomit.
"Yes, steamboats. Please. One steamboat," he started counting. He shifted his body where he sat in front of her, obscuring her view of the vomit. He pulled her close to him where she laid her head on his shoulder. Ashley didn't count with him.
"One steamboat, please. Honey, you are having a panic attack right now, just start counting with me, it will help you," he said.
He whispered in her ear, "Please, if you can't calm down and let the doctor examine you, he will be giving you a sedative and I won't be able to stop them. Please honey, just count with me." She closed her eyes, burying her head in his chest.
He gently laid his head on top of hers. "One steamboat," he tried again, hoping that she would join him.
"One steamboat," she softly repeated. He breathed out a sigh of relief. They slowly counted together but when he got to eight, Ashley started crying.
"It's ok," he said, stroking her hair back. He let go of her wrists whereupon she rolled onto her knees, and wrapped her arms around him.
Reid held her in silence, knowing that even though she was crying, at least the panic attack was over and she wouldn't have to be force to take drugs.
"The blood, it's not mine," she finally said.
"I know," he said. She pulled away, with her right hand clutched tight.
"All I wanted is a Goddamn normal relationship with you," she said.
"You still can," he assured her. She shook her head.
"Ashley, look at me, please." She looked at him with her green eyes. "Do you trust me," he asked. She nodded.
"I like you a lot and I don't want this to end either." He paused for a moment, realizing something.
"This has to do with the second part of the story, the part that I know you are terrified of telling me, doesn't it," he asked. Again, she nodded her head.
"Ashley, I am not going anywhere." She looked at him, knowing that he did leave her before.
"Ashley, I'm taking a few days off from work. Please let me help you," he softly begged." He could see tears rolling down her face, mixing with the dried blood.
"It's bad," she said, looking down at her closed hand.
"That's ok," he assured her.
"You need to put on gloves or get a bag with ice." Reid nodded his head. He gently set Ashley against the wall before standing up. One of the nurses who was standing in the doorway, watching them handed him a pair of latex gloves. He whispered his thanks as he slipped them on and bent down in front of Ashley, where she looked at him.
"Last chance to get out," she said.
He shook his head, "Please Ashley. You don't have to afraid anymore." She slowly opened her hand up, revealing a severed finger.