timeless, spencer reid [ 1 ]

123. demons

"Spence, baby, hey, eyes open." Bedelia tells him. His eyes stay open for a few seconds, appearing to look off to the side. Bedelia cradles his neck, keeping her hand pressed over his hand. "Come on, baby. Stay awake."

"We need a medic now!" Blake yells. "There's too much blood! Hey. Hey, you're doing great, all right? Yeah. You gotta stay right here, okay? Eyes on me. Eyes on me." Spencer weakly nods. "Yeah." His eyes shut.

"Baby." Bedelia's voice cracks.

"No, no. Ethan. Ethan." Blake calls. Bedelia's too distraught to worry about being confused. "Open your eyes." She orders. "Hurry! Hurry!"

"Baby, baby, hey. Hey, baby, th-think of Theo. Hmm?" Bedelia says. "She-- Theo needs to see you again, remember? So ju-just keep your eyes open. Please."

Bedelia walks along the gurney as they wheel Spencer towards the ambulance. They load him up and she quickly gets in, sitting by him.

"Okay. Hey. Hey, Spence, I'm right here." Bedelia holds his hand, gently squeezing it. "I'm right here, baby." Spencer lets out a quiet, weak hum, his face scrunching in pain. "It's okay, baby. I'm not going anywhere." She combs her fingers through his sweaty hair.

Derek gets in the ambulance, one medic starting to tend to his arm while the other medic handles Spencer as they go to the hospital.

"The sound is like a tea kettle." Spencer drowsily says. "Do you hear it?"

"Spence?" Bedelia calls, her hand resting on his forehead.

"What?" Derek asks.

Spencer's eyes start to close.

"Spencer. Hey." Bedelia squeezes his hand with a bit more force making him open his eyes.

"Reid." Derek calls.

"Pressure's dropping." The medic says. "Pulse is thready. Starting large-bore IV."

"Reid!"

"Spence, come on. Stay awake. Stay with me, honey." Bedelia pleads, cupping his cheek. "Hey!" She raises her voice a bit when his eyes close.

"Agent, you've got to sit back." The other medic tells Derek.

"You gotta help him, man." Derek tells the medic taking care of Spencer. "Kid, come on, now. Stay with us. We're right here." Spencer's eyes continue to fall shut until he opens them.

"No. No, hey. Spencer, look at me." Bedelia orders. "Look at me. Keep looking at me. Stay with me, baby." She practically begs.

"Reid. Reid!" Derek calls. "Stay with us."

+++

Bedelia is in the waiting room, her blood stained hands digging into her scalp.

Blake walks in, carrying the bag full of Spencer's stuff and she sits down.

"Anything yet?" JJ asks, walking in.

"No." Blake answers.

"Spence would have read, like, two books by now. Maybe three." JJ says.

"It should have been me." Bedelia quietly says, letting out a heavy breath.

"Or me or any of us." JJ says.

"No." Bedelia argues. "He pushed me out of the way. He-- he was just trying to protect me and he-- if he--" She looks at her red hands, "fuck." She whispers, burying her face in her hands.

"He'll make it." JJ promises.

"He has to." Blake says. "He's just-- he's too young."

"Yeah, there's still things for him to do." JJ says. "He still has to raise Theodora with you." She tells Bedelia.