Heavy Breathing (Sick Spencer Reid story)

"I'm Fine. Don't Worry"

Two and a half hours of pure agony. Spencer could barely breath but he tried to pretend he was alright. He tried to make the time fly by with reading, when that didn't work he decided to look over the case file. Nothing made him forget about the weight on his chest. Spencer covered his eyes with his hands, keeping his mouth and nose visible so he could get as much air as he could for the last fifteen minutes of the flight to Los Angeles. The weight on his chest seeming to slowly lift just a bit as they descended. JJ kept her eyes trained on Spencer while he read, noticing his struggle to get a full breath after a while. She got up and sat in front of David Rossi, whom looked up at JJ from his case file. "Spencer's having issues breathing." She whispered to Rossi. He rose a brow and shut his file.

"Issues breathing? How bad?"

"Not to the point of suffocating or anything, just trouble getting a full breath of air."

Rossi looked over at Reid, seeing the young agent rubbing his chest and coughing into his hand. He was definitely having trouble breathing. JJ had to discreetly let the team know so she started to type up a mass text to everyone on the team excluding Spencer, but they were in the jet; airplane mode on their phones had been set and they wouldn't get the message until they landed. Rossi kept his eyes on Reid until he looked up from his book out of instinct, feeling someone watching him. This went on until they landed.

Everyone got the mass text when they got off the jet and got to the station, but by then, Spencer was acting a little better. His chest was still heavy and he still had difficulty breathing, but it was just barely noticeable by now. Everyone kept their eyes on Reid, making sure he was okay.

The first day was as uneventful as it could be for the FBI. They looked at the crime scene, checked out evidence, talked to the morticians, and got information on the bodies' conditions; all things Spencer could do perfectly fine, but Hotch told him to stay at the station and look over the location of the body discoveries. After the first day of the investigation, everyone went to their hotel rooms and got ready for bed.

A few hours went by with nothing but sleep upon the agents, except for JJ and Reid. JJ was looking up Spencer's symptoms, trying to find out what could be wrong with him. This wasn't your usual flu or cold, JJ knew that, but she didn't know what this was for sure. Her room was across from Spencer's and she could hear him coughing every once in a while, each fit getting worse. He sounded as if he was being strangled or possibly choking on something. She decided to go and check in on him, so JJ got up with the slip of paper that had notes scribbled on them about different illnesses and left for Spencer's room. She knocked on the door softly and waited. After a moment, Reid answered.

"You sound like you're dying in here. Can I come in?" JJ asked, her maternal instincts starting to show. She held the sheet of paper tight in her hands. Reid looked tired, more pale than usual, and the bags under his eyes were darker. He nodded slowly and moved so JJ could come inside.

"JJ, I'm alright." Reid said, his voice sounding hoarse. JJ gave a worried look as she sat on the bed.

"No you're not." She said softly. "Reid, I did some research and I have a list of things this could be," Reid huffed, not wanting to hear anymore nonsense, but JJ carried on. "This could possibly be Bronchitis, Acute Sinusitis, Hay Fever, small cell Lung Cancer, or maybe even Sarcoidosis." She watched Spencer's face for any reaction, which she got. Reid rose a brow before closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Hay Fever is an allergic reaction to to outdoor pollen and molds. Small cell lung cancer is the least common type of lung cancer." JJ opened her mouth to interrupt but Reid spoke first. "Ah, just a second. Sarcoidosis is a rare disease that causes swelling and lumps to form in the lymph nodes and organs. The chances of me having that is very unlikely. Bronchitis causes dark or yellow mucus to form and is inflammation of the bronchial tubes, yes it can cause chest pains but cold viruses commonly cause it. I haven't had a cold since I was 13." Reid broke into another small and struggled coughing fit, covering his mouth and panting when he was done, trying to catch his breath. "Now, Acute Sinusitis is the inflammation to the sinuses and tenderness. From the symptoms I have I would go ahead and say I have pneumonia but I haven't been around anyone with the disease and since that's so and the condition is contagious, it's unlikely I have that either." JJ was baffled by Spencer carrying on with his sch-peal after his coughing.

"Will you at least go get this checked out, please?" She asked, almost pleaded.

"JJ, I'm fine. Don't worry." Reid shrugged slightly. "You should get to bed. It's late." JJ sighed and nodded, standing and quietly shuffling out of the room. Just before she stepped out of the door, Reid spoke up. "Hey JJ?" She looked back at him, the expression on her face soft and caring yet concerned. "Thanks. You know.... for checking up on me." A hint of a smile played on Reid's pale lips, also on JJ's as she nodded at him and walked back to her room.

About an hour went by and everyone but Spencer was asleep. He was still up, reading a book made up of all of Edgar Allan Poe's works, completely unable to get to sleep because of his coughing and labored breathing. After a while, when Spencer checked the time and saw it was 3:17am, he wrote a note to slip under Hotch's door since he didn't want to disturb him. He wrote a small note saying how he'd be gone for a while but if they needed anything for the case then they had to call him. Spencer dropped the note off and grabbed his bag, leaving for the hospital for triage.