27/07/2017. St Andrew's Hospital, Virginia. 14:08 hours.

Spencer stared morosely at the bowl of soup on the bedside table that had been dragged in front of him. The soup looked more like dirty dishwater than whatever the hospital was claiming it to be. He had been disconnected from the liquid feed, though the nasogastric tube remained in place taped to his nose and cheek and draped over his ear. His stomach churned as he swirled the plastic spoon through the foul liquid in the bowl. The doctors had released him from the cuffs but had threatened Spencer with them if he felt the need to lash out again like he had done with Derek. Spencer opened and closed the fingers of his hand cradled by the sling. His fingertips felt numb from his arm being held in one position. He dropped the spoon into the bowl and slowly brought his hand over his chest and rubbed his aching shoulder. A small knock sounded on the door but Spencer did not raise his head to acknowledge his visitor.

"Go away," mumbled Spencer as he continued to massage his shoulder. His fingers gripped the velcro strap holding the sling around his neck and tore it open, allowing the straps to fall over his chest. Gritting his teeth, Spencer slowly tugged his arm free of the sling and cast the navy material to one side. With more freedom to move, Spencer curled his right arm around his left upper arm.

"You're supposed to wear that for six weeks." Spencer turned his head to face his visitor. Emily lowered herself into the chair and crossed her legs. She folded her hands on her knee. She bobbed her booted foot.

"What do you want, Emily?" asked Spencer with a sigh. He grimaced as he tried to stretch out his arm.

"I thought that would be obvious, Reid." Emily craned her neck to gain a view of the untouched food on the table, "No appetite?"

"No."

"You should try or they're just going to tube feed you again." Spencer let out a long frustrated breath through his nose, then started to fumble with the tape holding the tube in place. Emily frowned as she watched her friend yank the yellow tube out of his nose, retching as he did so. He threw the tube to the bottom of the bed. A trickle of blood exited his left nostril and over his parched lips. Emily sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Now, what was that meant to accomplish, Spencer?" asked Emily darkly.

"Don't pretend like you give a damn, Emily." Emily's eyes flashed with anger. She used the arms of the chair to push herself to her feet and hovered menacingly over the stubborn man in the bed. With a shove, she sent the table skidding across the floor. Soup splashed over the sides of the bowl and on the lacquer table top. Spencer's eyes followed the table, then snapped up at the woman stood over him with her hands balled into fists. Emily forced the man down into the mattress with her palms pressed into his shoulders. Spencer yelped at the pain that shot through his injured shoulder.

"You need to snap the hell out of this, Spencer! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" Spencer struggled against Emily's hold.

"You're hurting me!"

"And you're hurting all of us! We spent every minute of every day sat here beside you when you were in a coma. So don't you dare say that we don't care!" Tears welled in Spencer's eyes, both with sorrow and with the sheer agony Emily was causing him.

"Emily, I should have died! I coded twice while I've been here!"

"And yet you're still alive! Stop moping around like a whiny little bitch and get yourself well enough to get out of here!" Spencer's chest heaved against Emily's soft hands, his eyes wide with terror. He never imagined that Emily would ever speak to him that way, let alone inflict pain on him to get through to him, "Don't make me regret saving your ass from that prison."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The logical part of his brain had finally won over the emotional part. He brought his hands up to his head and buried his face into his coarse palms. His hair hung limply around his wrists. Emily slowly removed her hands as she watched the genius crumble in the bed. His entire body shook with wracked sobs.

"I'm so sorry! I'm such an ass!" howled Spencer. Emily softened and perched on the side of the bed. Sometimes Spencer just needed a firm jerk back to reality. She brought the thin man into her arms and cradled him close to her chest. Spencer curled his arms around Emily's waist, his head buried into her shoulder. Emily soothingly ran her fingers through his curls.

"Shh. It's okay, Spence. I get that you're depressed about the whole situation. It's only natural. But you need to remember that you have a family out there who love you very much and want to take care of you." Spencer hiccupped.

"But I don't want to be a burden," sniffed Spencer.

"You could never be a burden. We all just want to help you. You have no idea just how much you mean to us. When we got the call to say you were on that train, we thought we had lost you forever. It almost tore us to pieces. Let us in, Reid. Let us help you." Spencer pulled back to look Emily in the eyes. His face was crimson with tears. The trail of blood from his nose had started to congeal. His voice cracked.

"I'm going to need help. I can't do this alone." Emily gave him a warm smile.

"You're not going to do this alone. Garcia has first dibs on you staying with her." Spencer sniffed again and ran the back of his hand across his nose, wiping away blood and mucus.

"What about cases? Serial killers don't stop." Emily raised a hand to silence Spencer.

"Garcia can work from home." Spencer looked away guiltily.

"I need to apologise to Morgan. I remember fragments of him coming to see me and I think I might have hurt him." Emily shook her head, her ebony hair swaying.

"You didn't hurt him, Spence. You just took him by surprise is all."

"Do you regret exonerating me?" Spencer's voice was small and child-like. Emily tightly grasped Spencer's cold hands in her own.

"Never. Spencer, you didn't deserve to go to prison. You did nothing wrong."

"But look at what I've become." Emily sighed and curled her right leg underneath her.

"Reid? Now you listen to me." Emily used the pads of her fingers to tilt up Spencer's jaw. His hazel eyes glistened with unshed tears, "You are still the same Dr Reid that we all love. You're still the same doctor who saved me and a young boy from Ian Doyle. You're the same guy who was there for me when Mr Scratch almost killed me. We need you. I need you, Spencer." Spencer slowly nodded, the well of tears streaking his cheeks. Emily cupped his face in her hands and brushed the tears way with her thumbs.

28/07/2017. St Andrew's Hospital, Virginia. 11:03 hours.

Spencer was sat up on his bed, his right leg curled underneath him. His gown had been pulled up over his chest, obscuring the fading bruising on his ribs. The chest drain had gone, leaving him with a patched up hole. The cannula in his neck had also been removed, a large white dressing in its place. The oxygen cannula remained seated under his nose. The sling cradled his left arm again. He wore a pale blue dressing gown. He had a book open on the bed. His eyes scanned the writing as his finger traced down each page with speed. A gentle knock sounded at the door. Without looking up, Spencer spoke.

"Come in." JJ poked her head around the door and smiled at the sight of her best friend sat up, reading and just generally looking better. Spencer slowly raised his head and beamed at JJ. JJ skipped over to the bed and dropped herself on it in front of Spencer. He closed his book and set it to one side.

"JJ. I'm so glad to see you." Spencer curled his slender fingers around JJ's hand.

"It's so good to see you. And looking so much better."

"I'm getting there. They've started me on an SSRI to help my depression. The side effects are brutal right now. The nausea and vomiting is awful. Apparently it should pass after a couple of weeks." Spencer's mouth gaped as he realised that JJ was staring blankly at him.

"A what?" asked JJ. Spencer blushed.

"An SSRI is a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. It works by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. It blocks serotonin being absorbed back into the nerve cells, meaning that more is available."

"You've lost me, Spence." Spencer glanced away as though embarrassed.

"It's an antidepressant, JJ. They're treating me for major depression and PTSD."

"And that's a problem, how?"

"JJ, my brain is essential to my job. I'm scared that the drugs will take that away."

"They don't have to be a permanent fixture in your life. In fact, I have an antidepressant right here. No drugs required." JJ pulled her cell phone out of her jeans pocket an started a video call. She shuffled closer to Spencer. A pair of faces appeared on the screen. One boy was around the age of 10 and had blonde floppy hair and spectacles. The other boy was around 3 and was also blonde.

"Uncle Spencer?" asked the older boy. Spencer gasped.

"Henry! Michael! Oh my gosh! It's so good to see you both!"

"How you feeling, Uncle Spence?" asked Henry. Michael bashfully chewed on the collar of his t-shirt.

"I'm getting better."

"Wanna see you, Uncle 'Pence," said Michael softly. Spencer turned to JJ.

"Well, that depends on your mom." JJ smiled.

"Of course. How about I bring you guys by tomorrow and we could go into the grounds? I'm sure Uncle Spencer could do with some fresh air." The boys cheered. Spencer laughed softly.

"Sounds like a plan," grinned Spencer.

"Okay, say good bye to Uncle Spencer!" A chorus of the boys saying good bye sounded as JJ closed off the call. "I hear Emily got a little rough with you." Spencer shrugged.

"I needed it, I guess." JJ pressed her palm to Spencer's bruised cheek.

"I was so scared that I lost you on that train. I wanted so much to hear that you'd driven to work. I spent so much time figuring out how I'd tell the boys that their godfather was dead. I was so relieved when you survived. But when they told me that you were suicidal... I didn't know how to deal with that. I thought I was going to lose you all over again. I can't do this without you, Spence. We can't do this without you. Me, Will and the boys need you. The BAU needs you."

"I'm not that important," mumbled Spencer.

"Yes, you are." Spencer's eyes met JJ's pools of blue. He mouthed a thank you to her. JJ simply smiled in response.