Chapter Sixteen
02/07/2019. 03:33 hours. Virginia Hospital, Arlington, Virginia.
Sarah always hated working the night shift. There was something eerie about hospitals at night that triggered her Spidey sense. Perhaps she had heard too many ghost stories. Her turn to cover the night shift had come around way too quickly for her liking. Neurology was almost always a doozy to work at night. She would do a walkaround once an hour to check on her patients, and then spend the following hour noting and then playing a game on her cell phone. A new patient had been moved to the ward earlier in the day, and so far the staff had reported that he had been the perfect patient. He took his medication without argument and graciously allowed them to complete their checks. Sarah had just sat down to complete her charts when a choked cry startled her. She glanced over the nurses' station and peered through the window of the room ahead of her. It was her new patient, Dr Spencer Reid who was bathed in the soft light of the lamp above the headboard. His hands were twisted in the blankets and his face was scrunched up in distress. His head rolled from side to side on the pillow. Sarah crept towards the room as quietly as she could, cursing when her shoe squeaked against the tiles. She stilled, eyes closed and her bottom clasped beneath her front teeth. The young man did not appear to hear her. Tears were streaking down the sides of his angular face.
"Please, no…. Don't do this…. Stop….." Sarah opened her eyes at the sound of his shaking voice and reached a hand towards Spencer, then retracted it again.
"Dr Reid? It's just a nightmare, sir. You're safe."
"Stop…. I didn't pass the sentence… Don't shock me again…."
"Dr Reid? Wake up, please."
"The train… Get off the train…. No…. NO!" Just as Sarah tentatively placed her fingertips on Spencer's shoulder, his eyes blew wide open and he sat up with a start, panting hard and sweat beading his brow. With a trembling hand, he pushed his sweat soaked curls out of his face, his hospital band sliding down his arm. Sarah carefully withdrew her hand. She had read that he had the potential to lash out so they had to take care, only the man in front of her was terrified, not angry.
Spencer's hand remained in his hair, holding it away from his face as he tried to ground himself. His other hand felt around the blankets. His breathing began to slow and the tears stopped falling. Feeling the tickle of the tears on his cheeks, Spencer quickly brushed them away. He dropped the hand from his hair to the blanket and glanced to his right to see a young, blonde-haired nurse wearing pale blue scrubs. Her green eyes were wide and she looked uncertain about what to do.
"Did I hurt you?" asked Spencer, his voice quivering. Sarah's mouth gaped.
"No, not at all. Just gave me a scare is all. You were having a nightmare."
"Sorry about that. Could I have some water, please?" Sarah smiled softly.
"Of course." She grabbed a plastic tumbler from the bedside unit and filled it from the water jug placed on the bedside table. She handed the cup to Spencer who gratefully accepted it and sipped the contents. The cool water was refreshing against his parched throat.
"Thank you. Could I perhaps have one of my books? I think I'm going to read a little." Sarah slid the uppermost book from the pile that had been left beside Spencer and handed it over. It was War and Peace in its original Russian. Spencer offered her a smile and placed the cup down on the table. He set the book down on his lap and opened it to the first page.
Sarah could not help but watch Spencer from behind the nurses' station in fascination as he read, his finger tracing quickly down a page before moving to the next. He had made it through a sizable portion of the book when he straightened up, the bones of his spine cracking as he did so. A single page was gripped between his thumb and forefinger. His heavy-lidded eyes were fixed straight ahead of him. Sarah frowned as she noticed blood seeping from his nose and over his lips. She pushed against the desk to stand from her seat and approached her patient.
"Dr Reid? Are you okay?" Spencer did not respond. He appeared to be caught in a trance. "Dr Reid?" Sarah cautiously placed a hand on Spencer's shoulder. The man did not respond to her touch. She glanced down to see the blood dripping onto his navy FBI-issue t-shirt and his fingers gently plucking at the page. She immediately knew that he was having a complex partial seizure, having seen many whilst working in neurology. She carefully slipped the book away and set it down on the table. Spencer's fingers continued to bounce rhythmically against his leg. She watched, using her fob watch to time the seizure. After three minutes, Spencer's hand stilled. He blinked sluggishly, his confusion palpable. Sarah gently pushed him back into his pillows by his shoulders and grabbed some tissues, holding them to his nose.
"You're okay, Dr Reid. You're safe."
"What happened?" slurred Spencer, his voice sounding slightly nasal from the blood clotting in his nose.
"You had a complex partial seizure. You're safe." Sarah pulled the bloodied tissues away to see the flow of blood had stopped.
"I'm, uh…. I'm…" he looked as though he was struggling to find the word he wanted to use in his haze. "Tired…. I'm really tired."
"You can sleep. I'll be here." Spencer's eyes drifted shut and his head tilted to the side. Gentle breaths left his slightly parted lips. Sarah brushed his long curls out of his face and returned to the nurses' station to document recent events.
02/07/2019. 05:00 hours. Virginia Hospital, Arlington, Virginia.
Sarah had been feeling the pull of tiredness for the past hour. Her eyes drooped, desperate to pull her under. Her hand slipped as her head dropped, a black penline scrawled across her page. She awoke with a start, her heart thudding against her ribs and glanced around with bleary eyes. She prayed that no one had seen her doze off. She looked down at her page and groaned in exasperation at the line she had drawn across the paper. Her head snapped up at the sound of rustling to see Spencer shuffling in the bed, one leg hanging over the side of the bed and his hand peeling his blankets back. Sarah approached the room and rapped gently on the door with her knuckles.
"Dr Reid? Is everything okay?" asked Sarah, watching as he slid his other leg over the side of the bed. His toes brushed the cold floor.
"I need the bathroom." He still sounded exhausted.
"You should have used the nurse call and I would have come."
"I can manage," snapped the young man, taking Sarah back slightly. Spencer's shoulders slumped in realisation. "I'm sorry for snapping. I know you mean well."
"It's okay, I understand." Spencer smiled softly at her. With his right hand tightly gripping the bed rail, he eased himself up onto shaking legs. He barely made a step before his knees buckled beneath him. Sarah instinctively reached out to grab him. Expecting to be batted away, she was taken by surprise when he reached for her arm, using the bed rail to help him prevent him from falling.
"Sorry. Sorry," mumbled Spencer.
"It's okay. Are you alright?"
"Yeah. I still just feel weak."
"It's to be expected, Dr Reid. You've been through a lot recently."
"Please, call me Spencer."
"Okay, let's get you to the bathroom, Spencer." Spencer nodded weakly. Sarah draped Spencer's arm around her shoulder and slunk an arm around his waist to support him. Once his feet found purchase against the floor, Spencer released his grip on the bed rail and found himself walking shakily with the help of Sarah. Being able to walk unencumbered felt freeing, though his tentative steps felt akin to a fawn learning to walk for the first time.
"You certainly woke me up," chuckled Sarah. Spencer turned his head slightly to gaze at her through his curls.
"How so?" He genuinely appeared amused with his lips pulling into a mischievous smile.
"I was falling asleep at my desk, and then Bambi decided to get out of bed." Spencer quirked an eyebrow at her.
"Bambi?" Sarah's mouth gawped in shock.
"No. Don't tell me you don't know who Bambi is!" Spencer shook his head in confusion. "Bambi? The baby deer in the movie Bambi? With spindly legs and can't walk properly?"
"Did you know that baby deer are known as fawns? The licking from the doe stimulates activity in the fawn and then they struggle to their feet. Given that they usually weigh between one and two kilos at birth, spindly is a fair assessment." Sarah paused and stared at Spencer in disbelief.
"Exactly how do you know that?" Spencer shrugged.
"I like to read." The pair approached the bathroom and Sarah supported Spencer to lower his trousers, before setting him down on the toilet. She frowned at the deep bruising marring his thighs.
"So, a doctor, huh?" Spencer curled in on himself to maintain some dignity in a compromising position and nodded, his hair falling over his face.
"Yeah. I have three doctorates in mathematics, chemistry and engineering. I also hold bachelor's degrees in psychology and sociology."
"That's awesome. So, what do you do?" Sarah folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the door frame, her eyes fixed to the genius in intrigue.
"I'm a profiler. I work for the Behavioural Analysis Unit at the FBI. Every one hundred days I work in the field, I spend thirty days teaching."
"Wow. Do you enjoy it?"
"I love it. It triggered a lot of my trauma but I love it and my team is my family."
"That's amazing. I bet you've seen some stuff." Spencer let out an amused huff.
"More than you'd believe. Unfortunately an eidetic memory means I live with those images every day. But knowing that I do good out there, that I help people. Save people. Call it a God complex if you will, but it gives me a sense of belonging, accomplishment. Do you ever feel like that as a nurse?"
"Oh, every day. I wouldn't change being a nurse for the world. Watching people get better and walk out of those doors is an amazing feeling. It's also pretty honourable to be able to hold someone's hand and offer them reassurances as they take their last breaths." Spencer lifted his head slightly to meet Sarah's kind gaze.
"You do an incredible job. Nurses deserve the world." Sarah felt her cheeks flush. "I'm done."
"Come on, Bambi. Let's get you back to bed." Spencer snorted and shook his head.
"You're incorrigible," responded Spencer in amusement.
Every muscle in his body ached as he returned to his bed and lifted his lanky legs onto it. His skin bristled with the cold. Unable to suppress a shiver, Spencer pulled the blankets over his legs and tugged it up as high as it would go. He lay back into his pillows with a sigh. Sarah grabbed another blanket from the small linen cupboard in the room and draped the scratchy material over his upper body. Spencer tucked it under his chin, the coarse hairs of his stubble brushing against the back of his hand. The warmth surrounding him like cocoon was soothing and he felt himself being pulled under.
02/07/2019. 10:12 hours. Virginia Hospital, Arlington, Virginia.
Spencer had lost himself in the fantasy world of J.R.R Tolkien when his peace was disturbed by a knock on his door. He glanced up to see JJ with a pink-haired woman just inside the doorway. He offered JJ a wide smile as he closed his book delicately and set it down on the bedside table. He wasted in no time in holding his arms out to her. JJ darted over to him and pulled him into a firm hug. His thin arms wrapped around JJ's waist, hands clenching the fabric of her pale purple v-neck t-shirt in tight fists. He buried his face into her shoulder.
"Hi, Spence. God, I've missed you so much."
"I've missed you too," murmured Spencer into JJ's shoulder. JJ pulled back, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears. She gently cupped the side of his face, the bruising turning into shades of yellow and green.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better than I was. I had a seizure last night but it wasn't too bad. Or so they say, anyway." Spencer averted his gaze to the other woman in the room. It took a moment for his brain to recalibrate to realise who it was. "Mel, right?" Mel smiled at him and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear that had fallen out of her ponytail.
"Hi, Dr Reid. It's good to see you again."
"Please, call me Spencer." Spencer's eyes absorbed her facial features. Her eyes, though a piercing green, had flecks of emerald in them. She wore a dainty silver ring in her right nostril. Several studs followed the natural curve of her left ear. Her lips were full and luscious andbeneath her bottom lip was another small stud. His eyes lowered and noticed that she was wearing a black federal correctional facility uniform.
He had not realised that his breathing had begun to come in stunted gasps. Nausea pooled in his stomach and sweat trickled down the sides of his face and the back of his neck. His entire body trembled. JJ's brow furrowed in concern. Spencer had visibly slipped into a flashback.
"Spence?" He did not respond to her in any way. JJ quietly shooed Mel out of the room and reached for his forearm. "Spence? It's JJ. You're safe."
"No… No… I didn't do it… I don't make the sentences… Please don't…." JJ flinched as Spencer's hands flew up to his head. He curled his fingers into fists and began pounding them against his head. "No! No! Stop!" JJ grasped his wrists and attempted to pull them away but he tensed against her.
"Spence, it's JJ. You're safe. You're not there now. Come back to me." Spencer threw himself back and tensed his arms at his sides as though he was fighting invisible restraints. He pressed his lips together tightly and made muffled sounds as if he was gagged again. JJ leaned over and pressed her palms to the sides of his face.
"Spence, I know it feels real, but I promise you, you're not there. You're free. You're not tied up. It's JJ here. Please come back to me." Spencer's head thrashed side to side making garbled noises. JJ moved her hands away from his face and carefully braced his shoulders against the mattress.
"Spence? What was the last project made for the science fair? I know you can remember. You helped him. Come on. What was it? Remind me." Spencer frowned and his thrashing began to slow. His face held the same expression as when he was thinking hard about something. JJ suspected it would work as she had seen David doing it so many other times.
"Come on, Spence. Tell me. What was Henry's project?" Spencer's lips parted slightly.
"V-volcanoes… W-we made a paper mache volcano… I lit a tealight candle inside for the smoke… He won the blue ribbon…"
"That's right." JJ began to draw a circle onto his shoulder through his t-shirt. "What am I drawing on you?"
"C-circle."
"Good. Are you coming back to me now?" Spencer's eyes fluttered open and his fingers relaxed against the blanket. His eyes darted around before falling on the blonde woman beside him.
"JJ?"
"Yeah, Spence. It's me. You're safe. Mel won't hurt you. She helped us find you. She doesn't work there anymore." Spencer slowly lifted his hands to see that he was not restrained. It felt so real. The cuffs, the gag… Everything had felt so real. His brain and his body felt like entirely different entities. He turned his gaze back to JJ.
"I'm sorry," said Spencer breathily.
"You don't have anything to apologise for."
"I scared Mel." JJ let out a small laugh.
"Spence, she's a correctional officer. There isn't much that can scare her. What I do know is that she cares about you." Confusion descended on Spencer's features.
"Why?"
"She works in a male-dominated environment. All they talk about is sports and most of the time she's ignored. You're the first person who listened to her. Plus, I suspect that the two of you will get along just fine."
"How so?"
"Let's just say you have some shared interests." JJ glanced over her shoulder at the sound of the Star Trek theme emitting from Mel's phone from outside of the door. Spencer followed her gaze.
"Mom, I've already told you that I'm busy tonight. I'm at work until nine and then I'm having a relaxed night on the sofa with a glass of wine and Star Wars. I'll come over at the weekend when I'm off, okay? Alright. Love you." Spencer felt himself smiling and warmth flushed through him. Perhaps JJ was right after all. It appeared that they did have shared interests. Mel slid her cell phone back into her pocket and re-entered the room.
"Sorry about that. My mom can be a bit overbearing." Spencer noted that Mel showed no fear in front of him. She looked relaxed, happy. Spencer pressed his palms to the mattress and pushed himself into a seated position.
"Uh, hi. We should probably start over. Hi, I'm Dr Spencer Reid, but you can call me Spencer." Spencer offered her a tight lipped smile and a meek wave of his hand. Mel let out a hearty laugh.
"Hi, Spencer. My name's Mel." The pair locked eyes with one another.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mel. Please take a seat and tell me a bit about yourself…" Spencer indicated at the plastic chairs beside the bed. Mel settled into a chair and crossed her legs. A coy smile danced on her lips.
"Where do I begin?"
