It's Okay To Need Help (Criminal Minds One Shots)

Sick

Spencer Reid pulled his coat closer around him as the chill of the open air grew colder. It had to have dropped at least two degrees. When the light at the crosswalk changed, he walked across with the two other people that had been standing there, rubbing at his eyes. He had woken up with a headache and since it was a Saturday and he didn't have to work, he went to one of his favorite places in the world. When Reid arrived at Barnes and Noble, he headed straight to the back of the store. The bookstore had joint with a Starbucks a while back, and Reid was grateful. Once he got his coffee, Spencer went up to the checkout. He let a small smile slip onto his face as he saw the familiar face of Julie. She turned around and smiled when they made eye contact. "Doctor Reid!" She said, flashing her perfectly white teeth. "I was wondering when I'd see you again." Reid rubbed his eye. "Yeah, I've been kind of busy with work." He explained. "So uh, you have any new releases for me?" Julie pulled four books from underneath the counter. "Reserved especially for you." She said with another smile. Reid thanked her, paid for the books, and headed back to his usual spot. A big, comfy, old chair sat next to a side table. It was Reid's favorite spot because he had a great view of the whole store, and he could see whoever came in or went out. Reid pulled the sticky note off of the first book in the stack and put it in his pocket. They always said the same thing, but Spencer still appreciated the gesture. Julie liked him, he knew, but he wasn't ready for and didn't have time to make a steady relationship work. As Reid opened the book, his headache increased. He took a sip of coffee, and was happy that it numbed the pain a little. He tried to read, but he could go nowhere near as fast as usual. Eventually, the words started swimming on the page, and Spencer put the book down and focused on his headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose for several minutes, drowning out all surrounding noise and people. "Doctor Reid?" Julie's voice cut through. Spencer looked up to see Julie looking at him, concerned. "Sorry, what?" Reid said, somewhat disoriented. "Your phone has been ringing for several minutes." Julie explained. "Are you okay?" "Yeah, yeah. Just um, lost in thought." Reid said. He looked over to his phone on the table, which was still vibrating. He picked it up and answered before Julie could say anything else. Luckily, her manager started calling her and she had to get back to the register. "Hello?" Reid answered. "Reid, I've been trying to call you for almost ten minutes." Hotch spoke through the phone. "Sorry Hotch, I just um, I zoned out." Reid said. "Well we have an emergency case in California. Plane takes off at 8:00." Hotch explained. He hung up after that, and Reid looked at his watch. It was 7:40. He quickly walked out of the store, saying a quick goodbye to Julie, and got a taxi back to his apartment. By the time his Go-bag was packed, it was almost 7:50. He sighed, but realized he had no other option but getting a ride. "Hello?" The voice on the other line spoke. "Morgan." Reid answered. "Listen, I'm at my apartment and the subway would take too long. Can I get a ride?" "Sure Pretty Boy." Morgan said without thinking. "I'll be there in two minutes."

***CM***

As soon as the seatbelt light clicked off, Reid unbuckled himself. "I know I woke you all up early for a Saturday," Hotch started. "Let's just do a quick overview and then we can all rest for a while. It's a long flight." Garcia's face appeared on the computer screen and the team got started. They were looking at the folders while Garcia explained what was happening. Her voice blurred into the background as Reid looked at the file. He rubbed his forehead while looking at the crime scene photos. When he got to the actual case report and the words started swimming again, Reid got up and went into the bathroom, ignoring the looks he was getting from Morgan.
In the bathroom, Reid splashed cold water on his face, feeling how hot it was. He stayed there for a while, and he probably would've stayed there longer if it wasn't for the knock on the door. "Hey Kid," Morgan said when Reid opened the door. "You alright?" Reid nodded, but Morgan could see the sheen of sweat covering Spencer's face. "Reid, you know you can tell me if you're not feeling good, right?" He said. "I'm fine Morgan." Reid replied, walking past Derek and sitting on the couch. Soon after that, he switched to laying down. He watched Morgan, JJ, and Hotch play Poker with pretzels, and he politely declined when asked to play. Reid slept for most of the flight, about two and a half hours of it. Morgan watched Reid for that time. He wanted to make sure that if Reid had any nightmares, he would be there to stop him. "Morgan," Aaron said. "Wake Reid up. We're landing in thirty minutes." Morgan nodded and went over to the couch. "Reid." He whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly. Derek knew something was wrong with his friend, so he wanted to be quiet about waking him. "Reid, wake up." Spencer stirred, notifying Morgan that he was close to being in a conscious state. "C'mon Pretty Boy." Morgan said softly. "We're landing soon." Reid sat up and ran a hand through his hair. Morgan caught sight of the redness that was coloring Reid's pale face. He also saw the way Reid kept an arm by his stomach as he stood up to get coffee. At the police station, Morgan saw Reid push his coffee away after one sip. After seeing Reid work all day, push away an offer to go out for lunch, and look incredibly ill all day, Morgan decided enough was enough. When the team was deciding who was rooming with who in the hotel, Derek said he would room with Reid. Spencer didn't look phased at all, almost like he hadn't heard him.
Reid changed into gray sweatpants and a red t-shirt and climbed into bed, eager to just sleep his pain away. After Morgan changed into his black sweats and a white t-shirt, he sat on the bed near Reid. He was going to talk to him and convince him to take it easy, but to his surprise, the kid was already out like a light. Derek chose in that moment to go to bed and confront him in the morning. "Besides," He thought. "He might feel a bit better in the morning."

***CM***

A shuffling noise woke Derek at 2:00 in the morning. He turned to see Reid getting out of bed. "You okay?" Morgan asked. Reid gave a slight nod and said, "Yeah, I'm fine." Morgan caught a glimpse of Reid's face and he was obviously not okay. "Reid..." Derek said, dragging out the word. "I... I don't feel great, okay?" Reid admitted. "So what are you doing?" Derek asked. "I'm going to the bathroom." Spencer said. "My stomach hurts." Morgan just nodded and Reid disappeared into the bathroom. The older agent then got up and searched through his go bag. "I know I brought some with me." He thought. When he found what he was looking for, he sat on the bed and waited for Reid to come out of the bathroom. When he did, Spencer appeared more disheveled and exhausted than before. "C'mere." Morgan said, gesturing next to him. Reid made his way over to the bed and lay down next to Morgan. "Lift your shirt up." Derek ordered. Reid shot him a confused look, but all Morgan had to say was "Trust me.", and Reid complied. Morgan took out the hand warmer he had gotten earlier from his bag and activated it. Once it was warm enough, he pressed it down on Reid's bare stomach. Spencer visibly relaxed as the heat made contact with his skin. "Relaxes the muscles." Morgan said. "My mom used to do this for me all the time." He then proceeded to move the hand warmer around, pressing down on various spots, making Reid the most comfortable he had felt all day. The heat alleviated the cramps and within minutes, Reid was asleep.

***CM***

Morgan woke to someone knocking on the door rather forcefully. With a groan, he got up and opened it. "Hotch?" He said, voice thick with sleep. "Morgan, why are you still sleeping?" Hotch asked. "I sent you a text an hour ago saying to meet us at the police station." Morgan thought back and he vaguely remembered ignoring an incoming message on his phone and going back to sleep. "Sorry Hotch," Morgan apologized. "My phone was turned off." Hotch just nodded. "You and Reid head to the new crime scene, call Garcia for the address." Morgan nodded and shut the door with a sigh. When he turned around he saw Reid sitting up in bed. "Hey Pretty Boy," Morgan said. "You think you could eat something?" Reid shook his head slowly. "Reid, I really don't want you going out there today having not eaten anything." Morgan told him. "You think you could try something bland like oatmeal or a bagel?" "I could try a bagel." Reid said, his voice rough. "Okay." Morgan replied. "I'm gonna go down and get breakfast."

***CM***

Reid sat at the table in the police station with his head leaning on his hand feeling incredibly ill. He felt that if he moved at all he would release a concoction of stomach acid and half a bagel on whatever was in front of him. Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Prentiss had left to question a possible suspect- Morgan had stayed behind. He sat down next to the genius. "How bad is it?" He asked. "Bad." Reid stated. "You gonna throw up?" Morgan questioned. Reid nodded. Derek carefully helped the young genius to the bathroom, afraid that any unexpected movement would cause him to vomit. Once inside, Morgan settled Reid in front of a toilet and began running cold water in the sink. He then soaked a washcloth in the water as he heard Reid start to heave. He placed the washcloth on the back of Reid's neck and rubbed his back as he was sick. Reid vomited for almost ten minutes, to which after he found Derek handing him a bottle of water. He took one sip to rinse his mouth out with, and one sip to drink. "You feel any better?" Morgan asked. Reid shook his head as tears began to slip down his face. "I wanna go home." He said, his voice cracking. "I know Pretty Boy, I know." Morgan replied. Morgan pulled out his phone. "Hotchner." Aaron answered. "Hey Hotch, was it our guy?" Morgan asked. "Yeah," Hotch started. Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. "You and Reid head to the airport. We'll be there in about twenty minutes." Morgan hung up and patted Spencer on the back. "C'mon." He said. We're going home."

***CM***

Reid layed down on the couch as soon as he and Morgan got on the jet. Derek sat in a chair, watching him. "Morgan?" Spencer said after a few minutes. "Can you do the thing with the hand warmer again?" Derek chuckled. "Sure Kid." Morgan started to perform the process with the heat warmer again. Hotch and Rossi shot the two a weird look, but ignored it mostly. Reid eventually fell asleep, as did Morgan, and by the end of the flight, Garcia had lots of pictures.

A/N: Alright guys, thank you so much for reading, please vote and comment if you enjoyed, and remember, prompts are open!