Only a Human (spencer reid x oc) ✅

good signs

Spencer's POV

"Good morning, Doctor Reid."

"Good morning, Bridget."

"Nurse Joy should be finishing her morning checkups."

"Thank you."

Five days. Ariel had been in the hospital for five days. I have been visiting her for the last five days.

The nurses all know me by name and I know all of theirs'. I spend about 12 hours by her side and then go home for the night. I wake up and start the whole process over again the next day.

I entered the room and watched as Joy finished doing her examination. She picked her head up and smiled once she saw me. "Good morning, Spencer."

"Hello. How is she doing?"

"She's doing well. No problems throughout the night and she seems to be stable. Let me know if you need anything." I smiled at her as she left the room. Then I slowly made my way over to the chair next to the hospital bed. "Hi, love. It's Spencer," I announced my presence.

Over the last few days, I had been doing a lot of research on comas and what I could do to help. One of the main suggestions was to talk to the person like things were normal. Announcing who you are and talking about interests helps the whole healing process.

"Today is Tuesday. It's been five days since you've been here. Delilah is going to come visit later on today. She's so excited."

I reached over and pulled her hand into mine. It was cold, too cold to be the hand of the woman whose touch was always warm and brought you comfort. I moved my other hand to turn on the small speaker on the bedside table. Another one of my findings was that playing their favorite music was helpful to coma patients. 

"I'm trying to mix up the music every once in a while so you don't get annoyed. So today, we've got Queen."

Ariel had many favorite songs and favorite artists, but she had such a deep appreciation for Queen. She could ramble about their music and all the stories behind each song and I could listen for hours.

She had gotten some color back these past few days, but she still didn't look like herself. I found myself wondering if it was really her in that bed, that this is all a sick dream and this lifeless person wasn't really my wife. But reality is not that kind.

"The nurses are all saying that you're doing really well. I know this can't be easy, but I'm so proud of you." I could feel myself start to get choked up. I tried not to cry when I was here. But when I'm at home, it's like the floodgates open and all I can do is curl into myself and sob.

"I've gotten a few messages from the team. They're wishing the both of us well and want to help out in any way they can. It's really sweet of them, but there's not much they could do to make this whole situation any better. Unless they magically have a cure to waking people up out of comas."

I reached my hand up to brush some stray hairs from her face. Even in a place like the hospital, her hair still manages to be so soft and tangle-free. I'm sure I get funny looks from the staff for my declining hygiene and I'm the one that's awake and functioning.  

A few hours later, Brent and Cheryl came in, Delilah practically dragging the two of them into the room. She ran to me first, jumping into my lap and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, daddy."

"Hello, angel." I gave her a quick squeeze before carefully placing her on the bed. "Remember to be gentle, Dee."

She nodded and curled up next to her mom in the little space available on the bed. "Hi, mommy. Brought something." She pulled out little origami figures and placed them on the table next to the bed. "Grandma taught me how to make paper animals. I made you some."