1 out of 150//Spencer Reid

34. Still alive

Y/N sustained 3 stab wounds and a gunshot wound. The moment she was wheeled through the emergency room doors, everyone could see that she was in dire need of medical attention. It also helped that she was still wearing her FBI bullet-proof vest, which signalled to the doctors and any other staff that she was a top priority patient.

The vest was ripped off her body and placed somewhere safe while she was undressed and put into a hospital gown. Within 10 minutes, she was in surgery. Each wound was just as bad as the next. One wrong move and everything would go downhill. They needed to work on one wound at a time, while still keeping the other wounds from getting worse. In the history of the hospital, no patient had ever been surrounded by more than 5 people while in the operating room.

Spencer was either pacing, sitting down and overthinking or talking to Alyssa. Not even one of his favourite books could distract him from the anxiety and nerves he was feeling right now.

Spencer and Penelope spent 4 hours waiting for some sort of answer to the question they were thinking. Was Y/N okay? Considering no one doctor or nurse had walked toward them so far, they assumed that Y/N was going to be okay. It was usually bad news when a nurse or doctor came out to speak shortly after the patient went into surgery. Having waited 4 hours, Spencer was slightly relieved to know that if it had been this long without any contact, Y/N was more than likely to be alive.

45 minutes after the 4 hour mark, a doctor walked out, his hands clasped together.

"Y/N Y/L/N?" The doctor said her name. Penelope tapped Spencer's shoulder, pulling him out of his overthinking. He turned to the doctor, his heart racing.

Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead.

He watched as the doctor exhaled.

"Miss Y/L/N's injuries were extensive, and we needed to treat every single wound with the utmost care. We did have a few minor set-backs, but I'm happy to say that we were successful in removing the bullet from Y/N's shoulder, as well as closing up the three stab wounds that she sustained." The doctor smiled.

"So, she's alive?" Penelope asked. Spencer was clearly freaked out enough that he was speechless.

"Yes. I'm happy to say that she's alive. She's currently in a private hospital room. She's stable, but the anaesthesia knocked her out, so she's most likely going to be asleep for a while." The doctor nodded.

"She's just down the hall and last door on your left." The doctor informed Spencer and Penelope before walking off.

"I'll call the team and let them know. I'll also go and let Alyssa know." Penelope almost started crying, due to how happy she was.

Spencer ignored Penelope and headed straight for Y/N. He moved his feet but his walk quickly turned into a run as he rushed toward her room. He felt like he was the flash, running at the speed of light.

The moment he reached her door, he stopped, unable to prevent the tears in his eyes from falling down his cheeks. She looked so peaceful - considering she had been shot and stabbed only hours ago. The blood that she had been coughing up hours ago was wiped away and the tear stains were dried up. Spencer moved slowly. Every step he took was careful and quiet. Even though she was asleep due to the anaesthesia, she feared that if he stepped too loud, maybe she'd wake up.

He got closer to her bed and picked up her medical chart, quickly reading the information provided by the doctors who operated on her. Was it his place to read her medical chart? No. But he didn't care.

He quietly pulled a chair close to her bed and held her left hand. She was okay. She was alive. She was laying in the hospital bed, recovering from her injuries. He had to blink a few times just to really force this fact into his mind. Even though she was right in front of him, his mind was still trying to convince him that she wasn't there. He had been filling his head with doubts for hours, and those thoughts were taking over. He was unintentionally convincing himself that he was dreaming - that Y/N had died on the operating table, while he sat on a chair sitting next to Alyssa, waiting for the doctor to announce the bad news.

He placed a kiss to her hand, trying to erase the doubts from his mind. He was kissing her hand to not only show that he was supporting her, but that she was real and alive. It wasn't until Penelope quietly walked into the room that his doubts had disappeared. Seeing her in Y/N's room, looking at the same frail woman that he was, his doubtful thoughts were debunked. He knew for a fact that everything was going to be okay. All he needed Y/N to do was wake up. It would be any time now that she opened her eyes, or moved her hand - anything to show that she was awake and responsive.

"The team is on their way here now. As for Alyssa, one of the doctors is going to wheel her here as soon as Y/N has woken up." Penelope smiled, setting her bag down. She sat down next to her young friend, placing her hand on his shoulder.

She knew that he wasn't a big fan of people touching him, but she couldn't help it. He had suffered a lot during the past few weeks, not only being threatened, but his girlfriend ending up in the hospital. He needed as much support as Y/N was getting from him.

Penelope proceeded to rub gentle circles on his shoulder, expressing her support for Spencer. At first, he flinched at her touch, but after a while, his tense shoulder loosened and relaxed. Penelope took this as a good sign.

"Y'know, Y/N and I met during my very first lecture at her college. She was so interested in my rambling and I knew just by looking at her that she was different. My confirmation came when she was one of the 75 students who had returned to continue my course in Behavioural Analysis." Spencer chuckled, talking barely above a whisper.

"When did you start catching feelings for her?" Penelope asked, curious.

"I guess...when she joined us on one of our cases as a Probationary Agent. She handled the case very well, and she really had put the topics in my classes to use. I was...proud of her, like a boyfriend would be proud of his girlfriend for an achievement." Spencer admitted, glancing between Penelope and Y/N.

"Here's the real question. When did you realise you were in love with her?" Penelope asked, holding his hand. She wanted him to know that no matter his answer, she would have no judgment. Others would have shamed Spencer and Y/N's relationship. They met as professor and student. Now they were co-workers. It didn't help that Spencer was 4 years older than his girlfriend.

"The day that her Probationary Agent period ended. To be honest, the day that Strauss asked for a performance review from each of us, I panicked. I panicked about writing the letter and I panicked about the interview. The last thing I wanted was for Y/N's hope of joining the BAU to be crushed. I did everything possible to prevent Strauss from figuring out that I was falling in love with Y/N." Spencer exhaled, leaning back. He had never imagined revealing all of this to Penelope, who couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of his and Y/N's relationship.

Spencer and Penelope continued to look at Y/N, waiting patiently for her to wake up.

Little did either of them know that she had just heard everything they were talking about. She wasn't awake, at least, not fully. She was half asleep. In her brain, she was still asleep and dreaming, but the conversation between Spencer and Penelope was occurring in her dream. As much as she believed that she was dreaming, she had no idea that every word in her dream had actually come from the real world, from her boyfriend and her BAU bestie.