I do not own Criminal Minds and my thanks to Dragonsmaiden for being my beta reader in this. Also thank you all who had added me to their favourites and story alerts

Chapter #18

Ashley heard a knock on the door. It was then opened revealing Paul standing with a duffle bag and a plastic bag in his hand. Ashley held up her index finger up to her lips and pointed outside. Paul nodded his head and quietly closed the door.

Ashley carefully crawled out of bed trying not to wake up Reid. He only stirred for a moment as she pulled the covers over him.

She walked out of the room with her right hand closing the gap behind her gown. The last thing she wanted to do was to moon her boyfriend or Paul. The hospital robe was neatly folded in a chair, close to the bed where she tried to put one of her arms through. Her back ached as she stretched her other arm in the the other armhole.

She saw Paul standing out in the hallway.

"Hi," she said, "I didn't want to wake Spencer. He is completely exhausted."

"That is ok, I won't stay long. Here, let me help you," he said. He put the bags down on the floor and helped Ashley with her robe.

"Thank you," she said tying the belt on her robe.

"I heard what happened. Are you ok," he asked showing concern.

"I'm fine, but the doctor said that I will have to stay another day for observations."

Ashley tried to shrug her shoulders, but realizing that she couldn't without feeling pain. "I don't know. I just would just like to get out of here, even if I have to be put on bed rest at home. Speaking of which, are you sure that it is ok to stay with you."

"Sweetheart," he said, resting his free hand on her shoulder, "It will be fine. Don't worry about Rose, I will be there all the time. And I can get Mary to set up a room for Spencer if he wants to stay with you."

She nodded touched by the gesture, "Thank you, but we'll see what he says."

"Anyway, the police let me pack a bag for you, but I had to get them washed beforehand. It really stink. I was able to picked up a few things from the drugstore, like magazines, hairbrush, toothbrush and contact solution. I bet your eyes are drying out from wearing those contacts for so long," he said. Ashley nodded. "Call me when you get discharged," he said, handing her the bags.

"Thank you," she said, before kissing him on his cheek.

"As to your house, it is fine. It's still structurally sound. There is a hole in the wall, which has to be fixed and you'll have to get a new stove and counter top. The windows shattered during the explosion, so they'll have to be replaced, but other than that, the damage is minimal. When the police are done with the investigation, I will arrange to have your things moved to storage, alright?" Ashley nodded, not sure of how to react to the news. She still couldn't remember what happened.

"Actually, Spencer has a friend who knows a few good contractors, he is going to ask for their names. I really hate to ask this," she said hesitantly.

"Go ahead," he encouraged.

"Can I borrow a few dollars? I want to buy a couple of sodas for Spencer and myself later and I will need change to call you. I will pay you back as soon as I can, I promise."

"Don't worry about it," he said, as he handed a couple of dollar bills to her.

"Thank you," she said. Paul kissed her cheek before he said goodbye and left her.

Ashley put the money in the pocket of the bag before picking both of them up with one hand. She winced in pain, dropping it back down. She really didn't want to wake up Reid to help with the bags, but she couldn't just leave them here.

"Shit," she quietly cursed. She took the bags in both of her hands and push the door back with her body.

Reid was still sleeping when she came into the room. She dropped the duffle bag down, and brought the plastic bag to the small white table. She found that Paul did indeed buy her a couple of magazines. One was about scrap booking while the other one was a gossip magazine. Well at least that one would be up to date.

Reid rolled on his side, facing her. He opened his eyes, looking at her.

She smiled at him, "Hi."

He smiled back, "How long was I asleep?" She tried to shrug her shoulders, forgetting that she couldn't.

"At least a hour," she said. He looked at the bag on the table and then saw the other bag on the floor.

"Paul came by to drop off some stuff. He said that he can set up a room for you if you want to stay with us. His family doesn't believe in premarital sex," she explained as she pulled out the hairbrush and removed it from the package.

"Go back to sleep," she said after a while when he didn't answer.

He shook his head, "I'm fine," he said before sitting up. "May I," he asked, holding out his hand. Ashley gave him the hairbrush and turned around. Reid gently brushed her copper brown hair, being extra careful to detangle the knots in her hair.

"Please don't blame yourself," Reid stopped brushing and Ashley turned around to face him.

"If I didn't stop at the gift shop, I would have been here earlier, I could have stopped him."

Ashley tried to look at him in his eyes, but he avoided her, finally she gently laid two of her fingers underneath his chin and gently forced him to look at her.

"So if you hadn't decided to be the best boyfriend who flew here in the middle of a case, despite my objections. If you didn't buy me this adorable elephant," she said as she picked up the elephant. She placed it underneath her chin, giving him her pouty face, "Knowing, it would bring a smile to my face. And if you didn't stop the doctors from giving me a sedative and get me through my anxiety attack or holding me while I was covered in his blood, not knowing if he was HIV positive, which by the way, he's not. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't done all of those things. None of this is your fault, alright." She set the elephant down on the table.

"How in the world would you have known that this would have happened? Do you have a crystal ball in your bag or something?" He closed his eyes, shaking his head.

"I know that if you had known ahead of time, not only would you have been here sooner, but you probably would have had the whole swat team with you."

He smiled and nodded, then, holding her face with one hand while holding the brush in the other he said, "How can you be so calm about this?"

She smiled, "Honestly, if I lose it again, they will never let me go," she answered. He kissed her forehead before pulling her in. She laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"How is that I have the IQ of 187, but you are the one who is smarter than me."

"I have no idea," she said, before she giggled.

Reid finished brushing her hair as she was rubbing her eyes, "Your contacts, have you been wearing them all this time," he asked.

She nodded. "I think my glasses are in the bag," she said. Reid got off the bed and picked up the bag.

Meanwhile Ashley dug out the contact solution and case from the plastic bag and removed her contact lens. She found her glasses in the bag.

Reid sat down on the couch, "So if I tell you that you don't have to stay here, you are not going to leave?" Ashley asked; Reid shook his head. Part of her was happy that he was staying, but the other part of her felt guilty, she knew he was still tired. "Do you want to go and get some coffee or something in the cafeteria?" He agreed.

"This is ridiculous, I can walk perfectly fine," she said as Reid wheeled her into the cafeteria.

"I know, but it was the only way the nurses would allow you to leave your room," he said as he kissed the top of her head.

He stopped at a table, setting the brakes on her wheelchair, "Now what you would like?"

"Cheese fries and hot fudge sundae with strawberry milkshake," she joked. "Now ask me what my stomach can handle right now, probably some toast with jam, and tea with sugar, please," she answered.

Reid ordered the same thing for himself, but switched to coffee instead of tea. He still didn't understand of how she could not like coffee. As he waited in line, he called Hotch.

"Agent Hotchner," he answered.

"It's me."

"Reid, Garcia told us what happened. How is she doing?"

"She's holding up, but I know she wants to go home soon. I would like to stay with her until she gets discharged. I can work on my report from here," he said.

"That will be fine, I will send someone to drop off the paperwork. But there is something else, isn't there Reid?"

He let out a sigh as he set the tray down at the cashier, "Ashley told me that the man wasn't HIV positive."

"She knows who it is."

"Yes, and I think it relates to the accident at her house that put her here."