This was it, Agent Hotchner decided as he put down the hospital room phone receiver after calling Haley. Penelope Garcia was going to drive him insane. Maybe if he threatened to have her drug tested, she'd stop her pacing. Even with the curtain drawn, she was still managing to annoy him.

He pulled the curtain aside. "Garcia. It's 5 am, you can not possibly have this much energy."

"Boss Man, how could you possibly leave the radiology department without seeing Reid?"

"There was no point, Reid was already in the MRI machine and that test takes almost an hour."

"Which means he should be here by now! Don't tell me they found something? They're doing more tests because they found something wrong with the genius baby!"

"The baby genius is fine!" a groggy, shaky voice interrupted the argument.

"REID?!"

Two sets of eyes turned toward the door as a hospital bed was rolled in.

Garcia turned on her heels and ran across the room. "Reid?"

Garcia rushed to his side - drinking in the beautiful sight. His hair had been washed and combed. His face was free of dirt and blood. He looked healthy, even better, he was laying down on his back and not crying in pain. Garcia noticed how still he was. He wasn't making an effort to move - at all. Reid was usually a bundle of energy. Him being awake and this still was a paradox. She reached out to touch his face only to feel a chill go up her spine."Are you...?"

"I'm alright. I feel fine"

"Fine? You're freezing?"

"I feel like a human icicle, but no pain."

"No pain?"

"No pain. Dr. Baker covered my injuries with ice packs to help treat the inflammation. They had to be removed for the MRI."

"I see that genius brain has been rebooted."

Reid turned his head, surprised to hear Hotch of all people make a computer joke, only to stop short at the sight of his unit chief walking slowly towards them, dragging along an I.V. stand and sporting the very unfashionable hospital attire. "You're hurt?"

"Bullet in the vest. I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He took the seat nearest Reid's bed, opposite Garcia. "I'm sure they'll let me go when they see my normal chest x-ray. They've got me on Ibuprofen, that's it."

"You were shot? I'm sorry."

Well he was talking more than he had all night and his breathing seemed stable. "Reid, calm down. I'm fine. Why are you sorry?"

"I named you. You were shot because I named you."

"No, I was shot by a delusional killer who thought 7 team members was too many. It wasn't your fault. If you hadn't named someone you would have been killed. You were trying to stay alive, I can't hold that against you. You made it, I'm proud of you. You know that?"

"I do now."

"Now, I believe there was something you were trying to tell me back at the cabin?"

Reid smiled for the first time all night. "I knew you'd understand."

Hotch wanted to ask Reid why he had confessed when he was so close to rescue, but kept his mouth shut. Happy thoughts, keep him on happy thoughts. "We weren't about to give up. You solved the case. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Hey, Reid!" Garcia had to interrupt before depressing topics came up. She did not want to talk about the cabin. She did not know what happened. She did not want to know. "You know, I never pegged you for a Bob Dylan fan."

"I'm not." Reid smiled. Smiling was very addicting when pain suddenly disappeared. "My mom is. I kept thinking about her - about what would happen to her if I didn't make it. I needed that reminder. Thank you."

"So, it helped? I helped?"

"Yes, you did."

She made that girly squeaky noise and leaned to hug him. Reid normally preferred his personal space un-invaded, but he was more than willing to return this one.

"Gently, Garcia," Hotch admonished. Reid was going to be in enough pain tomorrow without broken ribs.

"Do you want a blanket? Let me get you a blanket, you are too COLD!" Two seconds of contact was all she could handle. He need warm things...what kind of warm thing could she get him? Blankets, coffee. He loved coffee, maybe hot chocolate with those little marshmallows...

"Ice treatment, Garcia. It feels great."

Garcia could tell he was lying. Being that cold could not be fun, but it was a decent trade from the mind-bending pain so she decided to drop it. "So if you're not a Bob Dylan fan, then what do you like?"

"Knock, knock," a familiar accented voice came from the doorway. "I hate to break up the party, but duty calls."

Hotch could tell from both sets of body language that Reid and Dr. Cheng were not going to enjoy this little talk. "Garcia, I think it's a good time to return Hankel's truck."

"Oh he won't miss it!"

"Garcia! I think the team will appreciate an update."

"But I can -" That darned glare. It was Hotch's 'don't mess with me glare.'

"...text," she finished sullenly. "Okay, but I need a non-icky picture to show the team."

Dr Cheng was more than willing to take the chair that Garcia vacated. She leaned over the bed guard rail and smiled on the count of three. The flash went off.

"So, Reid, what kind of jello do you want tomorrow - sorry, this afternoon?"

"Strawberry."

"No, I do not need a scare of thinking you have a throat infection. Pick another."

"Blueberry."

"Blueberry it is. Hotch?"

"I'm fine."

"Aaron Hotchner, you are in the hospital. All hospital patients get jello - and no blueberry. I can't have you eating all of Reid's."

"Lime." Whatever got her out of the room and wasting less of the good doctor's time was fine by Hotch.

"Okay, I'll be back."

"Garcia!"

"Yes?"

"Let the team know I do not want to see anyone before noon."

"Got it!"

As soon as the bubbly tech was gone, even the air seemed quiet. Reid looked tense, like he'd been dreading this.

"So what news?" Hotch broke the awkward silence.

"Well we'll start with the good news."

That meant there had to be bad news.

"I took a wound culture which won't be back for a couple of days, unfortunately. The STD panels were negative, but will need to be repeated in three months to confirm. MRI showed a mild concussion, but it should heal on its own. Dr. Reid will need to keep his activity level to a minimum but I don't expect it to cause further damage."

He hated when people spoke about him in the third person, but he supposed she was talking to Hotch more so than to him. After all, post-op patients weren't the most lucid people in the world.

"The bad news is that the tox screen is back."

Here it comes. It was like waiting for the guillotine to fall. Reid closed his eyes at those ominous words. He knew he needed the information that Dr. Cheng was about to give. That didn't mean that he had to see the disappointment in Hotch's eyes as the details were unraveled. He doubted Hotch would still be proud of him after this lecture. He was glad Garcia had been dismissed. He didn't want to be the reason for her smile vanishing.

"The Dilaudid and LSD levels are off the charts, there's no doubt that's what caused the seizure and cardiac arrest."

So that's what Hankel had given him, well that explained a lot.

"Now, most post-op patients get narcotic pain relief, but that won't be the case here."

What? No more pain relief?

"I'll need to have the numbing wear off so I can check his nerve impulses."

All of this wonderful pain relief was going to be gone?

"Dr. Reid, are you listening?"

"You're going to take away the Happy Juice?" He didn't care that he sounded like a whining child. Damn it, he wanted his pain meds!

Dr. Cheng smiled, you always knew Dr. Baker's patients. "He'll bring you some more after we can confirm that you haven't suffered any nerve damage."

A full exam? Wouldn't screaming in pain be enough of a clue?

"But the drugs cause an even bigger problem. We have Dr. Reid on a blood transfusion because we believe the drugs have destroyed most of his platelets. The number is bordering on deficiency and since Ibuprofen thins blood, it would be dangerous to give him any, but we need inflammation control, which is why my nurses are going to be in shortly to draw more blood and reapply the ice packs. He will also be getting Tetanus and Hepatitis B vaccines. Once the numbing starts to wear off, we're going to give Dr. Reid Gabapentin and Tylenol with Codeine -"

That's it!? Reid made a strangled noise of disbelief. I have back surgery and all I get is Tylenol? That doesn't even help my headaches!

"Once the drug levels go down to a non-lethal level, then we can give him something stronger."

Now that was more like it.

"You're going to give him more?"

"He will need it. It's going to take more than a day for the drugs to drop to a safe level -"

A whole day on just Tylenol? The two hours between his back injury and the Happy Juice had been bad enough.

"But when they do, I will recommend that he be given a narcotic pain killer, but in the form of extended release pills-."

"Why in pill form? I.V. administration - "

"Would cause your numbers to climb back to dangerous levels."

"I was going to say, it would work faster."

"That may be true, but narcotics are addictive..."

Wow! Really? I had no idea!

"And given how high these numbers are, I'm more than a little worried about you developing a dependency."

"It was only three days." Three days of Hell yes, but still only three days...

"Three days of continual use, according to the tox screen. The withdrawal is going to be highly unpleasant. Its actually quite dangerous to quit this stuff cold turkey which is why I'm going to recommend tapering off with a mild dose. It should ease the experience somewhat. The 'good news' is that LSD addiction is psychological, not physical which means you'll suffer the effects of it while its in your system, but it won't cause withdrawal symptoms. Dilaudid on the other hand..."

Hotch noted that Reid refused to look at either of them as Dr. Cheng listed off her unpleasant expectations for the rest of the day and maybe tomorrow as well. First there was the LSD which was expected to cause insomnia, hallucinations, tremors, convulsions, sweating and anxiety just to name a few. Then there was the Dialudid, the physical withdrawal of which included a lot of the same -minus the hallucinations - in addition to irritability, rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure, diarrhea and vomiting, muscle pain... Yeah, Reid was going to be in a world of pain. He had been assuming that sheer exhaustion would lead to Reid sleeping through most of the withdrawal but now he wasn't so sure, especially since most sleep aids contained alcohol which was out of the question.

He took the medication list from Dr. Cheng. Tylenol with Codeine, Gabapentin for nerve pain, Zofran for nausea, Metaxalone for a muscle relaxer, activated charcoal for the detox, iron pills for anemia. Ibuprofen listed with a note of "when safe".

"I know none of this is going to be pleasant, but keep in mind that the worst of the danger has passed. My new concern is the fact that he's dehydrated prior to the detox. We'll be running tests every two hours: urine and blood tox screens as well as cmp and cbc counts. I'm waiting to hear back from his PCP about his most recent blood work to see how much of his abnormal labs are attributed to the drugs. With levels this high, we would normally refer our patients out to a rehab facility -"

Rehab? It didn't matter if he had to throw a tantrum worthy of a two-year-old, he was NOT going there! That was too close to a sanitarium for his liking.

" - but Agent Hotcher tells me he's not seen any sign of previous drug use, which is supported by the fact that the only tox screen levels that came back positive were the ones also found in the vials. Therefore, I'm going to recommend to your non-ER doctor - Dr. Lawrence Wilson, who will be on shift at 7 - that you be kept in-patient for the duration of the detox. Your back will be in pain for some weeks to come so I will also be recommending physical therapy and pain management referrals for when you are back in D.C. Any questions?"

"When can I go home?" This place sounded like it was run by an unsub. Maybe he could get Garcia to do a background check.

"It would be advised, but not medically necessary, to stay for the duration of the detox which can last anywhere from 3-6 days."

6 days?

"He'll stay," Hotch promised before Reid could interrupt.

The nurse came in a few minutes after Dr. Cheng left. Hotch watched as Reid's blood was drawn and the vaccines were administered - as if he hadn't had enough sharp things in his skin already that night. With the bandages on and the ice repacked, Hotch closed his eyes, hoping that Reid would be able to do the same. He trusted the doctors to wake him if anything horrendous happened...and by horrendous, he meant heart attack or seizure. Anything less could wait until noon. He only hoped that the rest of the team could get enough sleep to be of help to Reid later because he was going to need all the help he could get.

Okay, so apparently I'm dragging it out. I'm on a roll and loving it. Please review. I know there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but the explanations took longer than I thought and this seemed like a good stopping point.