Chapter 2

Morgan pushed with each step, walking down the bland colored corridor until he stopped at Reid's room. This place was damn near silent, but he could feel the quiet chaos that seemed to roam the empty halls. It was as if there were souls in limbo surrounding him, disembodied from their vessels. He tried to shake it off, not believing in that type of thing… He closed his eyes and took a second to breathe and calm his senses. After all, this was going to be the first time he'd seen Reid since Reid's… It was painful to even think about it. Why did this happen? Morgan opened his eyes and turned around, hearing someone approaching.

"Can I help you?" the pretty nurse with the southern drawl offered.

Morgan glanced her up and down without meaning to. He'd hoped it came off as a professional observation more than anything, if she'd even noticed. "Yeah, my name is Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI. I came to see my partner? Uhh, Dr. Spencer Reid?" Morgan was nervous.

"He's right here," she smiled warmly and confirmed the room they were standing next to was his. "I was about to give him his medications."

"Oh…" Morgan instantly felt like he was interrupting. He looked all around the door way, avoiding looking through the 8x8 inch window at Reid and then gave her an unsure smile. "Sorry, they said I could just come on back."

She smiled warmly again. Morgan got the hint that she was throwing some sparks his way. "It only takes a second. Come on in…"

Morgan intently watched, standing behind her as she unlocked Reid's door and gulped down some emotional tension, then he leaned his head left and right to stretch his neck muscles, trying to relieve some physical tension. He just didn't know what to expect.

"Doctor?" she announced. "It's Ida Bell. How are you today?"

Morgan smirked the tiniest bit after hearing her name; deep southern roots on that gal. When she moved off toward the left, Morgan could see the back of Reid's as he sat in a chair, facing the window. He stayed back, standing in the doorway, quiet…

"Hello, Ida Bell." Reid's voice sounded normal, maybe just a little more soft spoken than usual. "I'm, I'm actually doing pretty good today. I…" and then Reid just stopped talking.

"Doctor, are you ready for your medications?"

Morgan could hear that she was speaking louder, like she knew she had lost his attention.

"Do you smell that?" Reid suddenly asked.

"Smell what, Doctor?"

"Who's here?" he nearly whispered.

"Doctor, take your medication."

Morgan watched attentively as Reid downed several pills from tiny paper cups and then drank a full glass of water.

"Who's here?" Reid repeated, sounding nervous himself.

"Your partner? Derek Morgan from the FBI?"

Reid slowly nodded.

Morgan watched the nurse give Reid's shoulder a gentle squeeze and then she began to head back to the door where Morgan stood. She pulled him outside of the room and held the door nearly closed. "Just speak to him like you normally would. He's doing great. He's responding the medication with little side effects." Something changed in her eyes as she held Morgan's gaze. "He could really use your company. He talks about you all the time."

Morgan nodded, clearing his throat as it tightened.

Ida Bell could see how nervous he was. "He's not dangerous. If you should need anything, I will be in the room just across the way."

She opened the door for him again and he stepped inside and he looked back as the door clicked shut. He rubbed his hands together as he very slowly walked over to Reid. He stood next to where Reid was sitting and the two remained silent as they looked out the window.

Morgan's eyes began to grow curious after a small while and he started to glance around. He could see Reid had been keeping up on his reading. He was happy to see that. He saw notebook on the window sill and decided to open it, but what he saw frightened him and he closed it immediately. The same words were written over and over and over. He could tell the notebook was full of this.

"I had a seizure yesterday," Reid said out of the blue.

Morgan's eyes immediately trained on Reid. "What?"

"That's what they tell me anyway. I don't remember anything."

That sunk a boulder into Morgan's gut and it left him speechless. Supposedly Reid was getting better… but that didn't sound like it to him. Was it the medications? Was his brain misfiring from the schizophrenia? This was terrifying.

A few minutes had passed before either of them chose to speak again.

"You don't have much to say…" Reid remarked out loud, not making eye contact with Morgan.

"What the hell am I supposed to say?" Morgan wasn't mad at Reid. He was begging for an answer.

Reid hesitated, "That I was right?"

"No," Morgan refused.

"I was afraid this would happen."

Morgan couldn't even respond to that. He had no idea how to react or what to say about any of this. He turned his back to Reid and stared out the window, letting his eyes go out of focus as he looked at his parked car from two levels up. Then his eyes focused in on the security bars on the window.

When he turned around, Reid seemed to be off in his own world. He could see Reid's eyes moved left to right and slightly up and down as if he was solving an equation in his head. The fingers on his right hand seemed to be assisting his thoughts, like he was playing on piano keys in the air. He continued to watch as Reid's head twitched and then his arm also made some sort of involuntary movement and that scared Morgan. It was so hard to see Reid not in complete control of himself.

After another moment, he raised his brow, wondering where Reid's head was. Maybe he could get his attention back, "Hey…"

Reid's thoughts seemed to calm down and he looked back at Morgan like he hadn't slipped off anywhere. "How is everyone?"

Morgan sighed a little. "We miss you, kid."

There was a telling silence that lasted until Reid smiled faintly. "I miss you, too," he told Morgan looking directly into his eyes.

Morgan's Adam's apple bobbed inside of his neck and he clenched his jaw tightly. Fresh tears stung at his eyes and he tried to blink them back. Next, he cleared his throat and pulled the chair that was by the bed over to where they were in front of the window. He sat down and relaxed his arms on the armrests and they sat together in silence for a minute.

Morgan wondered if Reid would ever come back to the BAU. He wondered how long Reid would stay in this place. How long will he have to take the medication? The rest of his life? Those tears squeezed their grip around his throat again and he let out a heavy breath, trying to conceal it. This was tough. There was so much he wanted to say to Reid. The last year of their relationship had shaped into something he couldn't even begin to understand, but… what now?

"Are they treating you okay in here?" Maybe a change of subject would help.

"Yeah, actually, it's been nice. Almost a vacation… but… I get restless sometimes and…" Reid's voice trailed off.

Morgan felt what he was gonna say… like being restless was never good.

"Ida Bell says I can be quite a pill when I'm irritated." He laughed a little bit. "Who knew? But yeah, lots of books, old movies, the food is edible, I can fall asleep in the bed provided; I really can't complain."

"When are you getting out?" Morgan asked very abruptly.

Reid frog faced, really kinda sad-like. "I'm sorry, Morgan… I don't know."

Morgan felt those tears coming again and looked off to his left, away from Reid and took a deep breath. Then he felt Reid's warm hand take his and that was it; he lost the battle with his worries and fears and broke down in front of the man he loved so deeply. He covered his eyes and bowed his head and let his tears fall as Reid squeezed his hand tight.

I'm not sure that I'll continue this one. I wasn't even intending on writing this chapter, so we'll see. Thanks for reading! :)