Hey, everyone. Here is the next chapter for you all. I'm so sorry for the delay in updating this but it was either take my time checking everything and posting it or trying to fit it into a small space of time and stress myself out. I haven't had the easiest week or so but I feel lots better and I'm feeling like I have more control over my life. There's going to be some action in the next chapter so prepare yourself for that! Enjoy and I look forward to hearing from you all.

Thank youso much for all the wonderful reviews and they have really kept me going. Thanks!

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All mistakes are my own

Next Morning

"Ahhhh," Reid screamed in his sleep. Garcia and Emily rushed to the bed and tried to stop him from thrashing as he continued to scream. "No! Please," he sobbed as the nightmare wrapped its cruel fingers around his mind.

Blake tapped his cheek and called for him to wake up. "Reid, wake up. Come on, it's just a nightmare."

"Spencer Reid, wake up!" Emily yelled. Reid opened his eyes and struggled against them as they held him down.

"Please don't hurt me," he pleaded. "Please."

Emily gently cradled his face and stared into his eyes. "Reid, it's just us. He isn't here and we won't let anyone hurt you. Calm down."

Blake and Garcia stepped back when they noticed that Reid stopped struggling against them. Emily wiped the tears from his cheeks and stroked her hand through his hair. Reid closed his eyes and took a moment to calm himself down. "I'm sorry."

"There is not need to apologise," Garcia soothed. "You were having a very serious and painful nightmare. Do you want to talk about it?"

"He was using the cattle prod on me," Reid almost whispered. "It was like every nerve on my body was on fire. I couldn't breathe and the pain was unbearable. I thought it was over but then he just started to beat me. He had fun watching me bleed."

"Oh, dear," Blake gasped as she stared at Reid's stomach. "I think you ripped open the stitches on your stomach."

Garcia, Blake and Emily looked down at his stomach to see blood slowly spreading across his hospital gown. Reid went to touch his gown but Emily took his hand and held it. "Leave it alone. Blake, can you get a nurse?"

"I'll be back in a moment."

"I'm sorry," Reid apologised as the blood continued to spread.

"It's not your fault," Garcia assured him before going around to his side of the bed. She reached her hands to take up the hospital gown but Reid tried weakly to stop her. "Honey, I need to see how bad it is. I'm not going to see anything you don't want me to see."

Reid reluctantly brought his hand away and allowed Garcia to lift the gown up at the corner. He winced as the bandage stuck to the gown and came away from the wound. "Oh, honey."

A young nurse walked in and took over. She put on some gloves and peeled the bandage away from the wound where Emily was able to see that a few stitches had torn quite severely. "I'll need to get the doctor."

Malachi stayed in the shadows as he waited for the key to all his plans. He had picked this one out due to the fact he seemed such a loner at the hospital. No-one would noticed a change of a picture on a name tag. He was being tested by his father and wanted to pass the test without incurring anger from the man whom had showed him the path he was destined to take. The path of blood and pleasure.

Everything had become so clear when he had truly thought about what his father wished. He would make him proud by finishing the agent his brother had failed to kill and use to free their father. The BAU team loved Spencer Reid the most and he would make them feel unimaginable pain. Malachi knew it wasn't going to be easy taking the agent from the hospital but it had to be done. The thought of using all the tools in his van made a shiver of pleasure run up his spine. He would record every scream that the agent would make and send it to his father in prison.

He stayed in the shadows but held the knife in his hand as he watched the nurse walk down the path. In one swift moment, he grabbed the male nurse and shoved the knife into his back. Malachi grinned as blood gurgled from the man's mouth.

"Don't worry," he whispered in the nurse's ear. "I could have made this pain last a lot longer."

Dropping the nurse to the floor, he knelt and watched as the light left his eyes and swiftly grabbed the badge from his pocket. Malachi grunted as he pulled the body towards the dumpster and heaved it into it.

Emily laid next to Reid on the bed and held the paper up in front of him as they completed the crossword puzzles that Blake had brought to them before leaving for the police station. They both grinned as they tried to beat each other to finding the answers but Emily knew he was a little slower than usual. The doctor had cleaned and re-sutured the cut that had opened up and had advised that Reid have help when sleeping to prevent such violent nightmares. Reid had refused the sleeping pills. There was still someone out there that could hurt him and he didn't want to be in a deep sleep if something happened. Garcia had gone out to make a visit to the gift shop again and to get some more food for them all.

"Emily, he chose me because he thought I was a loner type," Reid sighed. "He was right. Since Maeve and since being shot, I've distanced myself from everyone. It's just hard to be around everyone sometimes. They all have families or relationships to go home to. I feel that if I'm with them then I'm holding them back. Am I holding up everyone by making people stay here?"

"What do you mean?

"Garcia hasn't left here to call her boyfriend and I haven't seen Blake call her husband either. Am I keeping them from their lives?"

"Don't let what that bastard said to you mess with your mind," Emily said before turning on her side. "You are not holding anybody back in their lives and deep down you know that. You're part of a big family that feared they would never see you again. I can tell you that everyone would fall apart if you were gone. Imagine your knitting, Reid. The team are the wool but you're the one that stitches the wool together and makes it into something beautiful. You are the centre of the BAU family because you're the youngest and also the strongest. We're protective of you but we also depend on you to keep us from going down some dark paths. Reid, you have an amazing ability to make people see the truth about themselves."

"I like how you described the team as wool," he smiled. "Thank you, Emily. The thought wouldn't stop circling in my mind."

Reid couldn't stop the shiver that came over him. His hair rose up on his skin as it became marbled with goosebumps. Emily frowned and rose up into a sitting position. "Are you cold?"

"I am," he said.

Emily touched his forehead and felt the warmth radiating from his body. "Reid, you have a temperature."

"I don't feel so good," he moaned. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"Just hold on," she said before jumping off the bed and calling for a nurse. Reid's doctor came into the room and came to the side of the bed. He brought out a thermometer and quickly took Reid's temperature. He frowned at the result.

"His temp has spiked to a high level," the doctor said. "Spencer, how do you feel?"

"Sick and cold," he admitted before trying to reach for a blanket. Emily brought the blanket over his arms but knew she couldn't overheat him. The doctor began to check all of his wounds but couldn't find any signs of major infection.

"Spencer, how is the pain in your legs?" he asked.

"My right leg hurts more than the other," Reid coughed. He let out a small cry of pain as his broken ribs sent a wave of pain through him.

"Spencer, I want to take you back into surgery so we can take a look at your legs. I'm worried that where the bone pierced the skin on your leg, you might have developed an infection called osteomyelitis. This needs to be treated quickly but I need to know if we need to remove some skin and how bad the infection might be. Are you okay with this?"

"Yes, but can someone come to the surgery with me. I know I'll be asleep but I don't want to be alone with strangers."

"If I clean up and follow all your protocols, can I sit in?" Emily asked. "He needs this."

"I'll arrange it but you'll have to stay back and allow us to work without interfering."

"That's fine."

Rossi watched as Hotch came off the phone and didn't miss the concerned look on his face. "Hotch, what is it?"

"Reid is going back into surgery. They think where the bone ripped through the skin that he is developing a serious infection."

"He just can't catch a break," Rossi shook his head. "We on the other hand have a had a break on the case."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked.

"There was some trouble at the prison with Carey and we now have a recording of the other unsub. JJ called me with the information," Rossi said. "I'll explain on the way."

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