Normal People - Strange Encounters Book Two

Chapter 23

Spencer was plagued with dreams, both good and bad. He had what he thought was a memory of Amelia shooting Alycia, although she hated guns so maybe that was a scenario he'd created in this sunken dream state. There'd been a dream where he'd taken Amelia to Vegas to meet his mom, who had loved her. In another, he saw Alycia shoot Amelia in the chest. In that one, she'd looked at Spencer as she'd bled to death asking why he'd let her do that.

Consciousness slowly started to grapple with Spencer's mind. He was aware of a faint beeping somewhere around him without seeing it, he sensed scratchy fabric covering his body up to his neck. He tried wiggling his toes, grateful he could a least do that. He tried wiggling his fingers.. left hand, working. Right hand.. he winced, numbness followed by pins and needles tickling his fingertips.

He slowly tried opening his eyes, a faint light hazy in his vision. He had to blink a few times before the blobs in his vision became fuzzy shapes, a few more times and he could make out the hospital room. He laid silently for a moment, wanting to have a second to himself before the craziness started when the nurse realized he was awake. He closed his eyes again, thinking back to what landed him here..

So Amelia had shot Alycia. He'd be dead, otherwise. That gun had most definitely been trained at his head, dead center. He grimaced, his poor girl hated guns. He hated that she'd had to do that.

The gunshot had hit him in the armpit, instead. He felt weak, didn't know what day it was. He wondered how close it had came to his brachial artery, how much time had passed.

Amelia had also been shot. Was she okay? That was enough for him to open his eyes again, take stock of the room.

His eyes immediately went to a lump on a cot alongside the window. She was facing away from him, toward the wall, but the long hair flowing off of the cot was a dead giveaway. He breathed a sigh of relief, thanking god that she was okay. He saw an IV stand next to her, and wondered what it was for. He heard the door creak open, his head lazily turning to see Derek walking into the room.

He tried to be quiet, placing a chair next to his bed.

"Hey, kid."

"Alycia.." He needed to know. He needed the threat to be over.

"Dead. Amelia.. she hit her in the heart. Lucky shot, considering the state she was in."

"What state? Is she-"

"Reid, she's okay. Well, she's gonna be okay. She was shot in the thigh, a few broken ribs, severe dehydration they're still working on replenishing. But she's gonna be okay. Physically.."

"She's not handling it well, is she? She hates guns, she should never have-"

"KId, relax, okay? You haven't even asked about yourself" Derek admonished him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well?" Spencer asked, closing his eyes as he put his head back on the pillow. He'd barely been awake for a few minutes but already was feeling exhausted.

"The doctors got the bullet out and kid.. Well, I'm more than happy to be having this conversation right now. It, uh, wasn't looking good for a while."

Spencer looked at his friend, noticed worry flash across his features before putting his tough-guy mug back on.

"But that brain of yours outsmarted your body and here you are."

"She should be in a bed.." Spencer whispered, looking at Amelia once again.

"You don't think we've been telling her that? She fought with the entire team, her doctor, and at least two nurses before someone finally caved and got her a cot in here. She hasn't left for two days."