Gifted | | A Criminal Minds Fanfic

19.) 121 Days

*~Omniscient~*

Rossi was on his way into the precinct, feeling a bit fuzzy, due to lack of sleep seeing as how he spent the night tossing and turning. His mind was soley on Marci and how he regretted never telling her how he felt about her. He had plenty of opportunities to do so, but after his previous failed marriages...he wanted to take things slow. Fourteen years...slow...yeah.

"I promise, Marci...I'm going to get Melanie back and I'm going to take care of her. You have my word." He murmured to himself. He took a deep breath, preparing to head inside and get to work, but halted in his steps when his phone started to ring.

"This is Rossi." He answered.

"Hi, David Rossi? My name is Kim, I'm a nurse here at Valley Regional Medical Center, and I was given your number from one of our patients, a Ms. Marcia Pratt. She was brought in last night, with a gunshot wound, and she is asking for you." The nurse said.

"Marci's alive? I'm on my way." He didn't wait for a response, he just got back in the car, and headed towards the hospital. He called Hotch on the way, telling him that Marci was alive, and Hotch told him to be with her while the rest of the team focused on finding Melanie.

"Maybe she knows where Melanie is, so if she's up for it...ask her some questions. I'll send JJ up there and some extra police, just to be on the safe side." Hotch said, before they hung up. When Rossi arrived at the hospital, he hurried inside, meeting with the nurse he had spoke to on the phone.

"A couple found her on the side of the road, with a gunshot wound to the shoulder, and brought her in late last night. She went into shock and lost a lot of blood, but her surgery was successful and she'll make a full recovery." The nurse said.

"Did she tell you about what happened to her?" He questioned.

"No, when she woke up, the first person she asked for was you. She said I needed to call you and get you down here as soon as possible." When they arrived at her room, he thanked the nurse before stepping into the room, feeling relieved when he saw Marci.

"Dave..." She spoke, as he took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Melanie...he has her..."

"I know and we're doing everything we can to get her back." He grabbed her hands and kissed them. "Can you tell me what happened? I came home and found blood everywhere, I thought...I thought the worst."

"All I remember is that I was making dinner for you and Mel, when I heard a knock at the door. I went to answer it and there was a man in a mask, who rushed in as soon as I opened the door. I tried to fight him off, but he shoved me into the bookshelf and I blacked out. When I regain consciousness...I was in this god awful barn, face to face with the man that killed my daughter. He told me he didn't plan on killing me, but I knew better. I'm just lucky that he couldn't aim a gun correctly, otherwise I wouldn't be here right now."

"I thought I had lost you. Melanie...she thinks your dead and that asshole is taunting her about it, but I promise you...he won't get away with this." He assured her. "But Marci...can you tell me anything about where he could have her? The clock is ticking and if we don't find her, he's going to kill her. Tomorrow."

"Oh God." She whispered, as the tears filled her eyes. "There's this old...rundown barn, drop dead in the middle of nowhere, which is where he shot me. I'm not sure if he's still there, but it's a pretty secluded area." It wasn't much to go on, but it was better than nothing. Unfortunately, they still had a lot of work to do.

~~~

Back at the precinct, Spencer was standing at the coffee station, watching the coffee as it brewed. He felt so useless and as much as he tried to force himself to focus...he couldn't. Melanie was out there somewhere getting tortured, and he had no way of helping her. Or so he thought.