Lockdown

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four

11/09/2019. 09:22 hours. Virginia Hospital, Arlington, Virginia.

Spencer blinked sluggishly as his consciousness returned, the white haze over his vision slowly dissipating. He could feel something soft against the back of his hand. An oxygen cannula sat just beneath his nose, the gentle pressure of the oxygen in his airways. He was lying in a partially reclined position. As the mist finally left his sight, Spencer found he was lying shirtless in a bed. A large bandage was taped over his abdomen, just below his ribs. His wrists were bandaged. His left arm was encased in a blue sling. His torso felt like it was aflame. He turned his attention to the monitors beeping steadily to his left. Blood pressure is perfectly normal. Pulse is a little high. Oxygen levels satisfactory. Spencer's eyes moved over to the bags of fluids hung above him. He narrowed his gaze to try and make out the lettering. Non-narcotic pain relief and post-operative antibiotics. The sheets rustled as he tried to shuffle his position slightly. Spencer squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth with the agony that flared throughout his torso. The soft sensation on his hand tightened. Taking deep breaths to ease the pain, Spencer cautiously opened his eyes to see Mel at the side of the bed. Her hair was rumpled at one side, and she had dark circles around her eyes. Spencer smacked his lips and tried to sit up. He curled an arm protectively around his abdomen.

"Please, be careful, Spence. You don't want to rip your stitches." Spencer fumbled around the bedside cabinet for his spectacles. Mel held them out to him. He accepted them with a small smile and slipped them on.

"What happened?" asked Spencer hoarsely.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Spencer averted his gaze to the blanket and scrunched his face in thought.

"I was chained up. Emily took off my tie that had been used to blindfold me, and JJ took the tape off my mouth. I don't remember anything after that."

"You stopped breathing. EMTs had to resuscitate you. You have electrical burns on your neck and lacerations to your wrists. The -uh- knife that you were stabbed with nicked your stomach and liver. They were easily repaired, but the damage to your spleen was extensive. They had to remove it as it was causing internal bleeding." Spencer nodded and gripped his abdomen, sweat beading his forehead. "Spence? You could have something stronger than Tylenol." Spencer shook his head.

"I can't. You'd hate me if you knew." Mel squeezed his hand in reassurance.

"Try me." Spencer swallowed hard and turned his head to truly look her in the eyes.

"Twelve years ago, I was kidnapped by an UnSub with DID. Dissociative Identity Disorder. He had three alters - himself, his father Charles, and the archangel Raphael. He held me captive for three days in which I was handcuffed to a chair, beaten and tortured by Raphael and Charles. Tobias forced injections of the Dilaudid into me. I-" Spencer's voice cracked in shame. "I became addicted to it. After Charles had made me dig my own grave and I killed him, I took Tobias' vials from his still warm corpse. I struggled to get clean. I was clean up until two years ago when Lindsey Vaughn drugged me with heroin and cocaine. I-I can't risk becoming dependent again."

"I understand. Really, I do. I had some dependency issues myself until about eight years ago. Mine was ecstasy. After I crashed my car whilst high, I realised that I couldn't keep going like that. I put myself through rehab and then trained as a corrections officer." Spencer raised his eyebrows.

"So, you don't hate me? I- I have a lifetime of trauma, I have a brain injury, epilepsy… I'm always being kidnapped…" Mel gave a snort of amusement.

"You don't say? Listen to me, Smartypants. If I hated you, I wouldn't be sitting here right now. I love you too, dumbass." Spencer's eyes glistened.

The pair were startled by a knock on the door. Spencer lifted his eyes to see Emily and David standing in the doorway. Emily had a small smile dancing on her lips, but Spencer could read the tension written into her face.