Hotch couldn't descend the stairs fast enough, taking them two at a time to reach Reid at the bottom of the stairs.
He has to be alive. He just has to be, Hotch thought. Throughout this ordeal, his mind had strayed to the thought of what would happen if Reid didn't make it. But he had forced himself each time to dismiss the thought, because he just couldn't imagine the world without Spencer in it. He made the team what it was. Reid probably didn't realize it, but he was what brought them all together. Their protectiveness and fondness of the genius was the one thing that they all had in common.
As Hotch reached the bottom of the stairs, his FBI training kicked in and he quickly scanned the room with his gun. Finding it empty save for Reid, he holstered his weapon and bent down next to his fallen friend.
Hotch felt for a pulse, terrified that there may not be one to find.
But it was there. Weak and irregular, but Reid's heart was still beating. Thank God.
Hotch reached down to flip Reid over onto his back. The younger man's torso was a mess. Covered in blood, welts, and the deep stab wound, Reid had definitely seen better days. He was unconscious but Hotch could see his chest rise and fall with shallow breaths.
Hotch knew he needed to apply pressure to the wound to try to stop the bleeding. Seeing nothing around to apply pressure with, he used his bare hands to impede the flow of blood. I hope those medics aren't far behind us, he thought. Reid wasn't going to make it much longer without serious medical intervention.
Hotch heard a chorus of "all clears" come through his earpiece, and moments later heard the three other agents approaching. As they reached the landing of the stairs, gasps escaped their lips. They quickly made their way down the stairs and into the room.
Hotch automatically took control of the situation, doling out tasks. "Emily, I need you to go wait for the medics and lead them down here when they arrive. JJ, can you find something to apply pressure with?" He looked down to see that his hands were covered in blood already. "Morgan, keep your hand on his pulse and make sure that it doesn't stop." Morgan and Hotch shared a look filled with concern. We've just found him, and I'll be damned if I'm going to lose him now, Hotch thought.
Emily and JJ sprinted back up the stairs, while Morgan leaned down and did as Hotch said, reaching for Reid's pulse and feeling relieved when he found it. He used his free hand to brush the hair out of Reid's face. "Hang in there, pretty boy," he said softly.
At the top of the stairs, JJ and Emily split up. Prentiss headed outside towards the approaching sirens. JJ ran into the bathroom in the hallway. She quickly found a stack of hand towels and ran them down the stairs. Wasting no time, Hotch lifted his hands so JJ could put the towels on Reid's wound, and then continued to apply pressure. He knew that this was the only thing that had a chance of helping to keep Spencer alive at the moment.
JJ found herself at a loss. She wanted to do something to help, but the only thing that would save her friend right now was getting him to the hospital. She settled for holding his left hand with both of hers, and talking to him. "Spence, hold on, okay? We're all here for you. Just hang in there, the medics will be here any second." At that moment as she heard the front door open, and several footsteps headed through the hallway.
Two paramedics appeared at the top of the stairs and made their way down with their equipment, Emily behind them. Morgan, JJ and Prentiss stepped out of the way, but Hotch continued putting pressure on Reid's wound.
The sudden burst of action in the room was jarring. The medics wasted no time in establishing Reid's airway, checking his pulse and putting an oxygen mask on his face before making their way to the abdominal wound. One of them addressed Hotch. "Sir. I need you to remove your hands now. We have it from here," he said. Hotch nodded and stepped back to let the medics do their job. They quickly loaded Reid onto a stretcher and made their way with him up the stairs.
Hotch turned to his team. "I'm going with him. You guys can follow." He turned to Morgan. "Call Rossi and Garcia and tell them to meet us at the hospital. Have the local PD stay here until forensics arrives." With that, Hotch ran up the stairs to catch up to the medics loading Reid into the ambulance. Morgan, JJ and Emily stood looking at each other in shock.
"Hey mama. We got him. He's being transported to the hospital now. Meet us there, okay?" Morgan was driving, sirens blasted to keep up with the ambulance ahead of him. The remaining members of the team had wasted little time in snapping out of their shock and ascending the basement stairs. He never wanted to set foot in that place again.
Morgan heard a frantic voice on the other end of the phone. "You found him? Oh thank God. Is he okay?" It sounded like Garcia was a little winded. She was no doubt rushing around grabbing her things before rushing out the door to meet them.
Morgan sighed. "We don't know much yet. The doctors will hopefully be able to tell us more. But he was still breathing, so that's a good thing. He'll make it, he's strong."
Rossi could now be heard over the line. "Ya no kidding. Thanks for the update Morgan. Drive safe, we'll meet you at the hospital shortly."
Morgan hung up the phone and applied all of his focus on the vehicle in front of him. It held his best friend, who he hoped was still hanging in there. Come on Reid, you have to make it.
Hotch sat in the back of the ambulance, staring at Reid while the medics worked around him. Hotch had quickly grabbed their names – Allison attended to Reid's wound, ensuring he didn't continue to bleed out. Scott was monitoring Reid's vitals.
Ignoring the blood on his hands, Hotch held Reid's left hand tightly in both of his. Normally he would have let one of the others go for the ride along, but he just couldn't let Reid out of his sight. He needed to be here for Reid, and for his own assurance that the man was still alive.
Scott had wasted no time in setting an IV line up for the young man, while Allison applied constant pressure to Reid's abdomen. Hotch was relieved to see that the blood flow had slowed, but he knew Reid was far from out of the woods. He had lost a massive amount of blood, and every second that passed was dangerous for him.
Hotch felt Reid's hand tighten on his own, and looked up to see his eyes open, just a sliver. Hotch squeezed Spencer's hand back and put on his best fake smile - the one he used when he reassured Jack. "Hey Reid, you're going to be okay. Just stay with me, alright?"
Reid looked like he wanted to say something, but then his grip went limp and his eyes closed. Scott jumped into action. "V-fib. He's going into cardiac arrest. Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back." Hotch moved to the back end of the ambulance, giving the medics space to work on his friend. Allison was giving compressions as Scott prepared the defibrillator.
"Clear!" Scott said before shocking Reid. Allison stopped the CPR as the paddles were applied to Reid's still bare chest. The man's body lifted slightly from the stretcher with the electricity.
Hotch could barely process what was happening in front of him. Just a second ago Reid had been awake, and now he was in cardiac arrest. He hoped that wasn't the last time Reid's eyes opened.
The ambulance came to a stop and the back doors opened up. Hotch was pulled out of the ambulance, and the doctors and medics wasted no time getting Reid into the hospital. Hotch tried to keep up with them, but a nurse grabbed him by the arm. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to wait over here while we take care of your friend." She guided him to a waiting room and pushed him into a seat. He nodded and the nurse turned to leave.
Hotch realized he needed to let the nurse know something. "I'm Spencer Reid's medical contact."
The nurse turned back around. "I'll make sure someone brings you the paperwork to fill out. And we'll update you after we've finished assessing your friend, okay?" Hotch nodded and the nurse exited the room.
Not a minute later, Morgan, JJ and Emily entered the room. JJ was first to speak. "Hotch, how is he?"
Hotch looked down at his bloody hands. He couldn't face his team in this state. He wasn't his usual 'put-together' self at the moment "I don't know. The nurse said someone would update us. He… went into cardiac arrest as we pulled into the hospital. They were resuscitating him as they brought him in. Excuse me." Hotch rushed to the restroom and made a beeline for the sink. He spent several minutes washing his hands, trying to get all of the blood off of them. When he was done, he turned off the tap and leaned on the counter, looking in the mirror. He looked pretty awful - lack of sleep and an incredible amount of worry and stress will do that to a person. Hotch splashed some water on his face before heading back to the waiting room.
When he arrived, Garcia and Rossi were there. They had clearly been briefed by the rest of the team, because they didn't ask him any questions.
As they all made themselves comfortable in the waiting room seats, a hospital administrator entered the room. "I'm looking for an Aaron Hotchner?"
Hotch stood immediately. "That's me. Do you have an update for us?"
The woman nodded. "Mr. Reid..."
Hotch cut the woman off. "It's Dr. Reid, actually."
She smiled and continued. "Dr. Reid needs blood transfusions and surgery. I need you to sign these forms for consent."
Hotch nodded. "Yes of course. Please do everything you can for him." He took the pen and immediately signed on all of the spaces indicated by the woman.
"Thank you Mr. Hotchner. We are going to take Dr. Reid up to surgery immediately. It could be a couple of hours, but the surgeon will come update you when he's finished."
Hotch said "thank you," and the woman exited the room.
An awkward silence filled the room, broken by Garcia a few seconds later. "So that's good right? They were able to resuscitate him and now the doctor is going to replace his blood and sew him back up. I'm sure he'll be good as new when they're done with him." It was clear that she was trying to convince herself as much as anyone else in the room.
"I hope you're right, baby girl," Morgan said from the seat beside her. He draped an arm around the woman.
Hotch took his seat and fell into his thoughts, as did the rest of the team.
They all sat there in silence, hoping and praying that Reid would make it through the night - and it was going to be a long night.