"Derek I know you're upset that Hotch won't let you work the case with us but you have to eat something.." JJ said, pushing a take out container towards him.
"I don't know how many times I've gotta tell you Jayge, I'm not hungry..if anything I feel like I'm gonna be sick." Derek sighed, rubbing at his eyes viciously.
Derek was exhausted.
It had been over 38 hours since he had last slept.
But thanks to the amount of stress he was under, he didnt even realize how tired he was.
"The reason you feel sick, is because you haven't eaten anything in days Derek." JJ said worriedly.
"Maybe at least try some dumplings? I know how much you love them."
"I TOLD YOU I'M NOT HUNGRY JENNIFER!" Derek shouted, slamming his hand down onto the wooden coffee table in front of him.
JJ blinked, her jaw clenched.
She didn't expect Derek to shout at her.
"I..um..I'm sorry Derek I shouldn't have pushed you..if you're not hungry then you're not hungry."
Derek sighed closing his eyes, feeling horrible for shouting at his friend when all she wanted to do was help.
"I'm sorry JJ.." he said softly, his tone low and sad.
"I just..this is all too much. My emotions are scattered all over the place."
JJ shook her head and set Derek's food
aside.
"No,..Derek there's no need to apologize. I can't imagine what you're going through.."
Derek frowned at her and fell back against the cushions of the couch.
"Still..I shouldn't have raised my voice at you.."
JJ got up from the chair she was sitting on and sat down next to Derek on the couch.
"Morgan..I promise you that were going to do everything we can to help Spencer okay? We will not rest until we're sure he's alright. Until we find out what happened to him." JJ promised, placing a gentle hand on Derek's knee.
"I know.." he said quietly, refusing to look at her.
"I just..I wish I could be in there with him..I want him to know he's safe." Derek croaked, JJ could tell he was crying.
"Derek I know you mean well..we all do. But Spencer..he's too traumatized to have any visitors right now. The doctors are worried he might become violent to protect himself." JJ explained.
Derek inhaled sharply, trying to fight back any more tears that threatened to come out.
He wiped his eyes and slowly turned to JJ.
"What happened to him Jayge?" He asked.
************************************
"You can come in. But right now we sedated him, so he's going to be out for awhile, especially considering how exhausted he was." A tall, gray haired man said, leading Emily and Rossi into the hospital room.
"My God.." Emily gasped seeing Spencer's beaten body lay still in the hospital bed.
Out of all the cases she had worked she had never seen someone beaten so horribly and survive.
She examined his body, her eyes scanning over the scars and bruises up and down his legs and arms.
She frowned seeing how sunken in his cheeks were.
He was attached to multiple machines, and there were so many wires sticking out of him that Emily was unable to count them.
Emily swallowed, feeling sick to her stomach.
How could a man treat an innocent human so horribly?
"It only gets worse.." the nurse said as he gently turned Spencer over onto his side with the help of another nurse, this one a bit younger and very beautiful.
"Are you talking about the cuts that the whip made?" Rossi asked curiously as the nurse pulled up Spencer's hospital gown, revealing Spencer's back that was covered in scars and bandages.
Emily hissed, eyeing the bandage that had dried up blood on the inside of it.
"How can someone be so..horrible?" She asked calmly, despite the fact she was raging inside.
"We work for the FBI, we're going to have to ask ourselves that every day Emily." Rossi said sternly, though his tone sounded sad.
"Still..." Emily frowned gazing at Spencer who lay there almost lifeless.
"It amazes me how disgusting some humans can be.."
"Anyone who does something like this isn't human..they're monsters.. " Rossi
corrected her.
************************************
Diana Reid sighed as she flipped through the channels of her TV, looking for something to watch, but unfortunately she was unable to find anything that peaked her interest.. that was until she stumbled across the news channel.
"BREAKING NEWS!" The woman on the screen said sternly.
The man next to her looked down at his paper and then back at the screen.
"We're coming to you live tonight with breaking news that a case from 6 years ago has been opened back up."
"That's right Phil, the case from 2004 was opened back up by the FBI last night when a man who went missing on the night of December 13th 2004 was found alive."
Diana sat up straight, her heart stopping as she listened.
The date sounded familiar, but for what reason?
"Spencer Reid, who at the time was a young teenager was abducted 6 years ago outside of a laundromat he worked at and was never seen again." Phil explained as he looked back down at the paper in his hands.
"The FBI closed the case after they were unable to find any clues onto where Spencer may have been taken or what may have happened to him. He was presumed deceased."
The woman looked down, holding her ear piece and then back up at the screen, her brows raised in shock.
"We're being told that Spencer is currently in critical condition and is resting in the Quantico Medical Centre in Quantico, Virgina."
Diana sat speechless, unable to move, her heart pounding against her chest so hard she thought it would burst through.
She remembered the night of December 13th 2004 like it was yesterday.
Spencer was late coming home from work, sending Diana into complete panic.
Usually a teenager his age would be found at their friends house or maybe even their partners house if they didn't come home at night.
But Spencer didn't have any friends therefore she knew something was terribly wrong.
She was told that Spencer was presumed dead after months of trying to find him and Diana spent years, grieving the loss of her son.
It was only until last year that she started to come back to reality, and started to feel better.
She had accepted that her son was dead and now she was finding out he was alive?
This was too much for her to handle.
Diana sat silent for several minutes, stunned at what she had just found out.
There was no way this could be real, could it?
Diana blinked, trying to wake herself up.
But then she came to realize, this wasn't a dream, this was real life.
Her son was alive.
Diana felt hot tears streaming down her cheeks and she could only muster out 2 words.
"My baby." She whispered.
_______________________________________
Hey guys! I'm so so sorry for the long wait.
I took a break for my mental health and wasnt sure if I wanted to come back.
But seeing all of you begging me to update I knew I had to, I didnt realize you all loved this story so much.
I also really hope you guys like the new cover I made for this book. I wasnt really a fan of the old one.
Thank you all so much. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.
Xoxo