The Keeping of Words | Spencer Reid

30| Like Gravity

It was four hours before they landed at McCarran International Airport, though due to the time change only one hour had passed since takeoff. He purchased another coffee on their way out of the terminal, and took a cab to the hotel they had booked for the weekend. Bianca wanted to go straight to see his mom, but he insisted on dropping their bags in their room first.

"Besides," he added, as they walked into the lobby. "It's just now 10:30 AM. Visiting hours won't start for another thirty minutes, and it's going to take at least that long to get over there." She relented, and he took the time to dump his clothes from his satchel onto the bed in order to lighten the load. He had booked a room with one bed, the cheapest option, but the concierge had informed him they had made a mistake, and this was the only room available.

After unpacking what little they had brought and shedding the sweaters they no longer needed in the Nevada heat, they finally caught a taxi to the Bennington Sanitarium. "Just remember that she might be having a bad day. She might be seeing things, or she might be agitated, and she's always wary meeting a someone new for the first time, so it's nothing personal, and -"

"I know," she said. "You've told me about her before. It's okay." Still, Reid couldn't help but notice the way she anxiously smoothed down the edge of her skirt, but she told him that was just because she was meeting his mother, and not because of her condition.

An orderly at the front desk asked first who they were there to visit – "Diana Reid," he answered, as the woman's eyes scanned the list - and then for their IDs.

After a brief inspection, she passed them back across the counter. "You're on the list, but she's not." The orderly gestured at Spencer and then Bianca in turn.

"It's okay," he assured the stern-looking woman. "She's my fiancée." Bianca waved at the woman with a smile, the band of the engagement ring visible on her hand. With physical evidence, the woman allowed them in.

They were led by a nurse with close-cropped dark hair, who introduced himself as Kenneth, down the hall to the large room where patients were beginning their daily routines. In an armchair facing the window, he immediately spotted his mother, gazing out over the grounds of the facility. "There she is. If you need anything, just let me know," Kenneth said, before leaving them. He swallowed hard, preparing himself for whatever state his mother might be in, and it was Bianca's hand who grabbed his this time, squeezing gently in silent encouragement.

Reid stepped forward, leading her towards Diana, but instructed her to wait for his cue before coming into the woman's line of sight. Gingerly he made his way in front of the person who had raised him, careful not to startle her. "Mom?" he asked softly. Her blue eyes came to life at the sound of his voice, and she turned to greet him.

"There you are," she said. "They told me you would be coming. It's about time." He felt like a child again, being scolded for missing curfew.

"I'm sorry. You know how busy my job is. If I could get more time off, I would... it's just sort of unconventional. "

"That's because you're working for the Feds. They keep you close so they can spy on you." She narrowed her eyes at him, and he knew that convincing her otherwise was impossible. Besides, there were more important matters to attend to.

He knelt down beside his mother. "It's okay, my friends take good care of me. Actually, uh, part of the reason I came here today was so I could introduce you to someone." She raised a skeptical eyebrow, and he pressed on. "I've been wanting to do this for a while, but things kept getting in the way." Things being breakups, unsubs, and drug relapses. "She's very special to me."