wasted times- s.r

TWENTY-SIX

The faint sound of a door closing in the room you're in is enough to make you slowly open your eyes. Your entire body feels weak and exhausted, and you feel like you can't physically move. You feel another presence in the room and loll your head to the side to see JJ sitting in the seat beside you, giving you a small smile.

"What happened?" You mumble groggily, trying to wrack your mind around how you somehow ended up in the hospital again, but your mind feels foggy. You vaguely remember ordering pizza, and something to do with Heather, but you can't seem to remember much no matter how hard you try.

"You were taken by Heather Williams, Spencer's ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend Jonathan. They injected you with a lethal dose of Ketamine and left you for dead. When the team found you, the medics were able to reverse the damage before it became worse, but you're expected to make a full recovery."

"Did you arrest the bitch?" JJ's expression drops, and she shakes her head solemnly.

"Her and Jonathon got away. They thought you were dead and they left you there before we showed up. We've got officers looking everywhere for them and we've locked down the perimeter of the city. Everyone is on the lookout for them. We'll get them, don't worry." You feel slightly worried and uneasy about both of them still being out there. Despite both of them thinking you're dead already, you're still worried about the possibility of them coming back to finish the job.

"Is Spencer here?" She glances over at the door, nodding her head, agreeing to go get him for you. She walks outside of the room, and you can hear a muffled conversation before you see Spencer's body being forcefully pushed into the room and the door is shut behind him. "He refuses to meet your eyes as he takes the seat that JJ was just occupying, fiddling with his hands in his lap out of nervousness.

"I'm glad you're okay," he whispers softly, still refusing to meet your eyes. You furrow your brows at him, trying to reach out and grab his hand, but he pulls away. You try to ignore the way your heart physically drops to your stomach and you retract your hand, placing it back on the bed beside you. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" You request.

"It's my fault this happened to you. She did this because of me, and I feel terrible for putting you in that position." He hangs his head low in shame and you resist the urge to laugh at him, deciding it would probably make the situation worse. How could he possibly think this was his fault?

"It's not your fault. If there's anyone to blame, it should be me. I should have known she would do something like this when I saw her that day-"

"You saw her? When did this happen?" You sigh, looking at him with a guilt-ridden expression. "I, uh, ran into her in the washroom that day we went for lunch. She saw us together and she followed me into the washroom and she told me a whole bunch of things to try and get into my head," you pinch your eyes shut at the thought, silently ridiculing yourself for underestimating her. "Then she, uh, told me about her boyfriend and how he recently got out of prison for attempted murder. I thought it was weird at the time, but I didn't think anything of it, I didn't really expect her to do anything. I just thought she was trying to scare me, so I forgot about it, and I didn't want to worry you if I said anything."

Spencer inhales sharply, his eyes fluttering shut as he runs a hand through his hair. "What kinds of things did she tell you?"

"She asked me why you hadn't asked me to be your girlfriend, and she also told me about your, um... drug addiction." Spencer completely tenses up as you whisper the last part softly, so quiet he almost missed it. "She was trying to get into my head and make me doubt you, but it didn't work."

"If you knew this whole time, why did you never ask me about it?"

You shrug, picking the loose threads on the hospital blanket. "I can imagine that it's a very personal thing for you, and it's most certainly hard for you to talk about. I wanted to respect your boundaries until you were ready to tell me about it on your own. The last thing I want is for you to feel pressured to talk to me about something you're not ready to discuss."