Aaron watched as Spencer began the seemingly hard fight for consciousness, his hands twitching and his eyes moving rapidly underneath his eyelashes. All three of the team members then watched as Spencer's brow wrinkled before he slowly began to open his eyes, his eyes immediately landing on JJ, who was standing at the foot of his bed. Aaron could see the panic on the child's face from where he sat by the side of the bed, and he immediately put the half-empty box of take-out on the floor before scooting closer to the panicking boy. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Aaron asked gently, immediately directing the boy's attention to him and watching as the boy's panic slowly dispersed as a look of recognition appeared. "Are you in any pain?" He asked a few moments later, and Spencer slowly began to shake his head.

"Wh-where am I?" Spencer asked, his voice sounding small and weak, weaker than it had before. As soon as he finished speaking, he winced and his hand moved up to his throat, and Aaron glanced behind him and towards Morgan, seeing that the other was already moving. In the same minute, Aaron was being handed an unopened bottle of water, and he opened it quickly before handing it to Spencer. The child looked cautious to drink it, as though he thought that it was poisonous or something of the sort, but after glancing between Aaron and the bottle a few times, he began taking tentative (but much needed) sips.

"You're in a hospital now, I told you that I'd protect you didn't I?" Aaron said, and Spencer nodded his head, attempting to sit up a few moments later, although he failed and ended up stopping with a slight wince and a flash of pain taking over his features for a few moments. "Spencer, you shouldn't move around so much. You're very badly hurt, and the doctors want you to stay as still as possible so that you can get better soon." Aaron said, trying to be careful with his wording so that the child could understand him, whilst also trying not to upset him and cause him to panic more. It would be good for the child to understand that he was in a hospital and that he was now safe, but he also didn't want to scare the child in the process. It was actually the last thing that he wanted to do.

"I'm… Dehydrated right? And emaciated, severely bruised, I've got a broken foot, and some of my ribs are broken, right? That-that's what the paramedic said at least…" He said trailing off as he played with his hands, and Aaron stared in shock at the boy. Had he really been able to understand and process everything that the paramedic had said? Since the child had almost no records, they doubted that he had any sort of education and assumed that he would be a bit slower than most his age. Yet the way he spoke about his injuries proved that he had understood the woman's words and had remembered them enough to recite them almost verbatim. That proved that the child had received some sort of education.

"Yes… That's right, and because of these injuries you'll have to stay here for a while so that the doctors can be sure that everything will be okay." Aaron said, still treading carefully with his words.

"What about my mom? Did you guys find her yet?" Spencer asked, and Aaron looked to JJ and Morgan, who appeared to be as equally confused as he was.

"I didn't receive a report on anyone else being inside the house." Aaron said as he turned his gaze to JJ once more, since she was the easiest to look at out of the two.

"There was no one else. It was just him, William, and Angela inside that house." JJ said, and Aaron nodded his head in affirmation. He believed her, but he also didn't think that this kid would be talking about his mom still being inside the house if she weren't there. It would be too strange of a thing for any kid to lie about, especially for a child raised like Spencer.

"Spencer, do you know where she is inside the house?" Aaron asked, and the young boy nodded his head.

"She's inside the floorboards of the living room… Dad put her in there a few years ago and she's been there ever since." Spencer spoke slowly and sadly, and immediate alarms were ringing inside Aaron's head. William had been hiding the victim's bodies inside the house? How was Diana there though? Her body had been discovered a week after she died, there was no way that- oh. Aaron suddenly remembered that Diana's body had been headless when they discovered her. That must've been what was in the floorboards. A chill went down his spine at the fact that an eight-year-old knew that the head of his deceased mother was inside of the floorboards of the place that he lived and slept every night. "I wanted to get her out, but I'm hardly ever allowed in the living room so I couldn't. Can you get her for me?" He asked, his big, brown eyes looking up at Aaron, and it seemed as though the child was asking for a toy instead of his mother's head. Aaron could hear Morgan sigh softly to himself, and he didn't blame him either. No one should ever have to ask for this.

"Yeah buddy, we'll get her for you." He said, his voice coming out a bit sadder than he intended for it to. "JJ, Morgan, you two head back to the police department and interrogate Reid. I want to know if he has any other bodies hidden anywhere. I'm calling Rossi to update him on the new information and have him get Diana." Aaron said, and immediately the two nodded before leaving the room. Aaron then pulled out his phone and stood up to step out the room, not wanting Spencer to hear the conversation that he knew was going to end up being terribly morbid (although most things in this field of work were).

"Where are you going? Please don't leave." Spencer said, and Aaron turned around to smile at the boy, his hand hovering over the call button.

"I'll be right on the other side of the door, I'm not going anywhere." He said, and immediately Spencer began fervently shaking his head, his brown locks flying everywhere as he did so.

"I don't like it when you leave. Please don't go." Spencer pleaded with large puppy eyes, and Aaron sighed before giving in, sitting back down in the chair next to Spencer's bed. As he looked at the boy's small smile, he couldn't help but feel like Spencer knew exactly what he was doing, but he also couldn't help but smile back at him, one of his eyebrows raised. He then glanced down at his phone and decided to just send Rossi a text, telling him the situation, his orders, and the reason as to why he had to do it over text instead of over the phone like he usually did. It was a mere few moments before he got a response (part of which teased him for beginning to grow attached to the kid enough to take orders from him), and afterward, he put his phone back into his pocket, glancing up to see Spencer staring at him.

"Will you be with me the whole time I'm here?" Spencer suddenly asked, and Aaron was once again left surprised at the child's sudden question. He honestly didn't know whether or not he would, as they had more cases back home, and he usually wasn't supposed to stay with the victim for long after a case had been completed (there was no actual protocol or rule against it, but it had kind of just become an unspoken thing between the team after a while). All that he did know was that he didn't want to make promises with the child that he didn't know whether or not he'd be able to keep.

However, before he could even open his mouth to answer, a male nurse entered the room, carrying what appeared to be a needle and a clipboard. Aaron looked over curiously, his entire body tensed, as he hadn't expected anyone to walk into the room. He wondered if they were supposed to be giving him more medication so soon, as it had only been an hour or so since the child had even woken up. What did they need to pump into him now that they couldn't have done whilst he was asleep? Spencer watched the nurse with large, fearful eyes as he came over and began to connect the needle to the child's I.V. "What is that?" Spencer asked cautiously as he pushed himself up a bit, although this time Aaron didn't say anything about it. Instead, he kept his gaze on the nurse who rang multiple warning bells in Aaron's head. He knew that the man appeared to be suspicious, although why he wasn't able to tell. Perhaps it was because he didn't see many male nurses, or maybe it was because of the bored look on his face (his patient was a child, Aaron was sure that the man was supposed to at least try to be friendly towards him).

"Just some carbenicillin." The male nurse spoke without glancing up, his voice as dull and monotone as his face was. It was almost as if he were talking to an adult instead of an eight-year-old. Aaron then noticed that Spencer's face immediately paled, and Spencer reached forward to stop the nurse's hands, although his attempts did nothing what with being weaker and much smaller than the man. Aaron then watched with furrowed brows as he leaned forward in his chair, ready to leap into action if he needed to, although he hoped that wouldn't be the case.

"I can't have carbenicillin. I'm severely allergic to beta-lactams! I could die from it!" Spencer sharply cried out, desperately pulling at his I.V when his attempts to stop the nurse's hands were proving futile. He looked to Aaron with a panicked expression and teary eyes before suddenly kicking his casted foot at the nurse, sending the needle and the clipboard to the ground with a loud bang. Aaron immediately stood up at Spencer's outburst, and as the nurse bent down to grab the knocked down materials, Aaron could see a gun in the waistband of his pants, causing him to immediately unholster his own and point it towards the man. He then inwardly cursed when he remembered that his handcuffs were in his bag along with his clothes and that he had left his bag by the door, which was too far away to grab and then walk back to handcuff the man.

"Put your hands in the air!" Aaron shouted loudly, and the man froze before slowly reaching for the gun in his waistband. Spencer had successfully ripped out his I.V and had scrambled to get behind Aaron, holding on tightly to the back of his shirt. Despite Aaron not wanting the child up and disturbing his injuries, he also knew that Spencer was safer behind him than he was in the bed, where he was in reach of the imposter of a nurse. "Don't even think about it. You'll be dead before you even touch your gun." Aaron warned, and the man's hands immediately flew up and above his head, and he turned around with a panicked expression plastered on his face. That was good, the very last thing that Spencer needed to see was another dead body.

Plus, a bastard that was willing to kill a child wasn't worthy of such a merciful death as being shot, he deserved to rot in prison until he slowly died a much more painful death (after all, prisoners hated those who were in jail for hurting a child. Those prisoners always received "special" treatment from the others). Aaron took a few steps forward and pressed the button on the side of Spencer's bed to alert a real nurse to come, and moments later one was walking through the door, oblivious to the entire situation. "Mr. Hotch- oh my god!" The nurse cried out (most likely at the sight of someone being held at gunpoint), and Aaron hardly glanced at her, not wanting to take his eyes off the armed man and risk anyone being hurt.

"Please go get security and have this man arrested and interrogated as quickly as possible." Aaron said, and when he glanced behind him a few moments later the nurse was gone, meaning that she had done what she was told. At least he hoped so. He briefly noted that Spencer was trembling harshly against his side, and he wanted to comfort the boy, but he couldn't do that as long as this man was here, so he'd have to wait. Luckily for him, two security guards and the same nurse from earlier came in a few short minutes later and arrested the imposter, causing Aaron to sigh in relief as he put his gun away, his arms having begun to get tired and the man probably having begun to grow bolder as the time passed.

When security left with the man it was just Aaron, the nurse, and Spencer left in the hospital room, and the latter was still trembling harshly against Aaron's side, seeming unaware of what was transpiring around him. Immediately, Aaron picked up Spencer and began rubbing soothing circles in the small child's back. He then sat down carefully on the edge of the hospital bed, Spencer burying his head in the crook of Aaron's neck, and his feet on either side of Aaron's legs. The child clutched his shirt tightly, slight whimpers falling from his lips, although he didn't cry, and Aaron could tell that he was holding back from how harshly his body was shaking. "Hey buddy, it's okay. He's gone now, don't worry. Besides, I wouldn't have let him do anything to you. I'm your protector remember. No one will hurt you while I'm here, okay?" Aaron said as he ran his fingers through Spencer's soft hair, slowly rocking the two of them back and forth as he did his best to calm the frightened child.

Spencer continued to sniffle and shake harshly, but he refused to let any of his tears fall, as if he were just as afraid of crying as he was of the nurse. Aaron didn't understand why he suddenly didn't want to cry though, as he had cried when Aaron had picked him up the first time and carried him out the room. "Spencer, it's okay to cry you know. Everyone cries sometimes, you don't have to hold it in." Aaron said gently encouraging him not to hold back, and as though a dam had been released, Spencer started to cry. Loud sobs wracked his small body and Aaron felt his shirt being soaked with tears and snot (reminding him of when he had first found the boy mere hours ago).

Spencer didn't stop crying for a long time, and Aaron continued to whisper soothing nothings into his ear, remaining patient and gentle towards the child. Eventually, he had run out of energy, and he had cried himself into a deep sleep that Aaron was sure that he needed. Just then, the nurse cleared her throat and Aaron glanced up, having completely forgotten about her being in the room. She had a small smile on her face, and Aaron was glad that she had been patient and quiet while Spencer cried. "Is he your son?" She asked him quietly as Aaron stood, going to put the child properly back on the bed so that he could sleep more comfortably.

"No, but I'm kind of taking care of him for right now." Aaron said just as quietly as the nurse came over to re-insert the I.V into Spencer's hand as gently as she could. "Do you think you could have a guard posted outside of this room from now on? I don't want anything like this to happen again." Aaron said, and the nurse immediately nodded her head.

"Of course, I'll get that done as soon as I leave. I just want to check and make sure that nothing re-opened while he was crying." She said, and Aaron watched as she briefly checked over him for injuries. "It's so sad to see all of these injuries on a child. What happened to him?" She asked Aaron sadly, and he sighed softly.

"His father was abusive." Was all he said, as he didn't want to dive into the details of everything at the moment. It would be a hell of a lot to explain. Luckily for him, the nurse seemed to think that explanation was all that she needed, and she nodded her head before turning it back down to look at the boy.

"Did you guys catch him?" She asked moments later, and Aaron nodded his head. "Good. I hope he gets put away for a long time." She said as she looked at Aaron with anger in her eyes, although Aaron knew that it wasn't directed towards him.

"Same here." He agreed, and it was silent for a few moments before the nurse began moving again.

"Well, I've got some things to attend to. I'll be back, later on, to check on him and make sure that he's comfortable." She said before leaving, closing the door gently behind her. Aaron stood up from where he had been sitting on the edge of the bed, although before he could even take a step away, a small hand was reaching out towards him and pulling at his shirt.

"Don't go." Spencer pleaded, sleep heavy in his eyes as he looked up at Aaron. He wondered what could've woken the child as he sat back down, a small smile on his face.

"I'm not going anywhere." Aaron promised, and Spencer pouted lightly.

"Lay down here then." He said before moving over in the bed a bit before patting the empty space next to him as though the bed was originally intended for two people instead of one. Aaron chuckled to himself before he sighed and got into the bed, being careful not to disturb the boy too much. As soon as he had stopped moving, Spencer basically pounced onto his chest, curling into a small ball with practically his entire body on Aaron. Before Aaron could even think of protesting, the boy's breathing evened out again, and he knew that he was stuck, both figuratively and literally. "Goodnight Spencer." He whispered quietly before kissing the top of the child's head and relaxing himself, since it wasn't like he was able to move. He guessed that he wasn't going to be able to finish his take-out as he had originally planned. Oh well. Food could wait, especially something as simple as take-out. After the events that transpired, he didn't feel hungry anymore (though who would after a child had just almost been killed?).