MEDICINE ➤ SPENCER REID

FOUR

"From the moment I was born, I did not care that I was sick or that I was dying. I was going to be okay. And that's just how it was going to be. And if anybody wanted to fight me on it, I'd fight them back." - Clare Wineland.

* * *

Louise sat on the side of her bed, foot tapping against the wooden panels. She heaved breathes of air, feeling as if her lungs were throbbing; yet the girl pushed back the slight pain under her ribcage.

Earlier that day her father, Jim, had visited her small apartment, alongside her younger brother, Christopher.

They had stayed for lunch, and could've easily stayed for dinner - but got the message when Louise tried her absolute hardest to make them leave after she had taken her regular medication.

Medication; pills, lots of them.

You could say she were embarrassed of taking medication in front of anyone; even her family. It made her feel weak.

Taking medication also was a daily reminder that her body were dying.

Now, after her family had left, Louise sat on the edge of her bed; heaving coughs and looking out of her bedroom window, a book lazily sat between her legs.

She watched people walk past below her, for her apartment were on the second floor of a small apartment block, seeing as cars raced past and strangers continued their day.

A smile formed at Louise's lips, and she broke her gaze from the window back down to her book.
She picked it up in her hands and dramatically leaned backwards onto her soft bed, feeling the duvet covers and blankets flatten underneath her.

The softness of her bed brung Louise comfort, and she rested her head onto a large pillow, an arm propped up so she could read her book from her position on her back.

Her chocolate irises moved up and down each page slowly, as if she analysed each printed word in a story of its own. A smirk were now planted on her lips as a word she found amusing arose in this one page, a slight giggle hitching at her throat.

It was funny how the slightest things meant so much to Louise; and she thought it were quite trivial how even a line in a book could make her chuckle. But nothing is trivial, is it?

Louise moved her legs around the fabrics of her bed lazily, feet entangling with the covers and bare skin brushing against the soft fur that felt like Heaven.

For it were such a hot day in Washington, DC, Louise had opted on underwear and a tank top after her father and brother left.
Louise's bare legs had felt instantly cooler once she tugged off the jeans she previously wore.

She turned to her side on the bed, book still in hand, and giggled to herself. The story she were reading were a comedy one, which was strange seeming Louise never really purchased 'comedy' books.

Ring!

Louise almost jumped out of her skin, the book in her hands dropping to her bed in a heap. She felt her heart stammer as her phone rang on the tops of the bedside table beside her.

Turning over and heaving her legs over the side of her bed, Louise placed her book beside her and reached for her phone.
It rang an unknown number, which caused Louise to freeze in place.