A Time To Love | Spencer Reid

Chapter 21-Close Call

You woke up groaning and clutching your stomach. The pain was worse.

It brought you back to when Mike first stabbed you. It crushed you. Left you incapable of everything. It left you broken-in and out. Tears didn't roll down anymore, and the screams couldn't escape your quivering lips. Stupidly enough, you slowly tried to sit up. You quickly realized how futile it was when you had to bite your lip to keep from crying out. You didn't want Spencer to notice and wake up.

The pain was too much to bear.

You let out a big sigh which essentially caused you to cry. You could still do that surprisingly. You quickly wiped your tears when the bed moved.

"Hey are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine." Your voice cracked, giving you away.

"Okay, you're not." He sat up. "What's wrong?" He slowly rubbed your back.

"They won't give me any more pain meds okay! It's stupid I know." You didn't want to admit to Spencer that you needed this drug to help soothe your pain but he wouldn't stop pestering if you just ignored him. "This pain is just, ugh, it sucks."

"It's not stupid. Plus, I've been reading up on it and it says that warm baths help. An-and drinking water does too believe it or not." He caught himself rambling. "I can give you some aspirin. It's not much but you can't get addicted to those pills." He knew what it was like to be addicted to something so bad you would do just about anything to get it. He couldn't see you go down that path.

You slowly stood up and made your way to the bathroom. You took off your tank top and winced when you got it above your shoulders. You unpeeled the gauze revealing the scar that would remain on you for the rest of your life. It was a straight line where the knife entered and a jagged line protruded downwards where he pulled it. It was still purple and swollen but it looked awful either way. You hated how it ruined your body.

You stepped into the warm bath and soaked under the bubbles. The wound stung at first but you eventually got used to it. You closed your eyes and tried to relax. Spencer came in 5 minutes later with 2 pills and water. He also had mints.

"Are you saying my breath smells?" You joked.

"What- no! It's just that wh-if you take mints it can help an-" You shook your head and interrupted him.

"It's cute when you panic and start rambling." He stopped talking and stared at you. You took the pills with the cold water bottle he brought. "I love you." You told him after you popped a mint in your mouth. He smiled.

"I love you too." He kissed you, tasting a little bit of the mint.

"I can go to work or I can stay home. There's no case today and I'll do whatever you want."

You thought about it for a minute before answering.

"You can stay, I'd like that."

He left you to your bath and you laid back to relax. The aspirin didn't offer much help but it was better than nothing.

-1 week later-

  A week passed by and the pain finally subsided. It got bad the last couple of days. Cold sweats and shaking. It was hard but Spencer reminded you to keep fighting. And that was what you did. You fought. You were a survivor after all.

  You still didn't like how you looked in the mirror. The stitches had fallen out and the color lightened to your normal skin tone but if you stood talking distance you could see it.

  It was Saturday and you were set to return to work Monday. You both had the weekend to yourselves. You finally felt comfortable going out in public and Spencer asked you on a date. He wanted to take you to the art museum. Others would've thought it was lame but you both loved to analyze the art and learn about the history. Pretty nerdy but you loved it.