Selcouth | Criminal Minds | Spencer Reid

Chapter 6

"She Was A Breathtaking Mosaic Of All The Battles She Won"
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"SHE LOST a lot of blood, but we still can't explain why she's in a coma, " A garbled voice sounds from above me.

I want to open my eyes, I want to be part of this conversation, but they just won't open.

I can feel my legs, but they won't kick. I feel as if I'm trapped inside my own mind, something I dread.

"Did you run a full tox screen?" Hotch gruffly questions.

"It came back positive for muscle relaxants and that's about it," The doctor sighs and I feel him pull my eyelid open, allowing me to see into the room.

I'm able to see Spence's tear stained face, JJ's bloodshot eyes, and Morgan's worry seeping into the room.

To be honest, it's the worst torture an unsub's ever inflicted on me.

He shines a light into my eye, blinding me. I want to blink away the pain, but I can't.

"I don't understand, she seems to be reacting to stimuli, but this is something I've never seen a patient in a coma accomplish," The doctor exclaims, dropping my eyelid shut.

"Then what could this be if it's not a coma?" Morgan questions curiously from the front of the room.

"I don't know, all I know is that your friend is awake and aware, so I'm going to run an extensive tox screen to find what may be causing this," The doctor rushes and soon his footsteps fade from the room along with another set.

"Nat, if you can hear me, we're all here for you, ok?" JJ murmurs from above me.

I want to answer her, but I can't move anything. Or is that so, because suddenly, I'm aware of my finger moving.

I curl my finger, attempting to get someone to notice it.

"JJ, look, she's moving her finger!" Spence yells excitedly from beside me.

"Hey, Nat, can you curl your finger twice for yes and once for no?" Morgan asks.

I force myself to curl my finger twice, grinning inwardly when it works.

"Nat, do you know if you were drugged?" Morgan questions.

I think back and instantly regret the move, the painful memories flooding back like a dam bursting.

"When your friends come, they'll never know because I won't give you a chance to squeal," Jillian chuckles in my ear darkly as she plunges the syringe filled with an amber liquid into my arm.

"W-What was that?" I question her.

"My own personal elixir, you'll be happy to know it won't kill you, but it wil send you to your own personal hell," Jillian spits out.

I curl my finger twice, attempting to banish the memories from my head.

"Do you know what it was Nat?" Morgan presses on.

In all technicallity, I know what it was, because I knew it wouldn't kill me. That wouldn't be wrong, right?

I curl my finger once, but then halfway.

"What did that mean?" I can hear Morgan whisper to someone in the room.

"Was that a maybe Nat?" Spence whispers in my ear.

I curl my finger twice, but a feeling of grogginess inside me nags at me to sleep.

I attempt to wave it off, but soon I realize what Jillian meant by 'my own personal hell'.

"You're so stupid, you know that?" My father screams, stalking towards me with crazy in his eyes.

He grabs his belt and I cower into my corner, attempting to shield myself from the inevitable.

"Stand up," He growls through his yellowed teeth, but I ignore him, even though I know it will be a hundred times worse.

"Papa please, I'll clean it up!" I scream, in reference to my cup of milk I spilled.

Sherrie watches me from the other side of the room, just a child herself at 4 years old.

"No!" I cry as the belt licks my skin, a fire in and of itself of pain.

"Hey, Nat, no!" Spence yells from above and I realize my whole body is convulsing with what seems to be a seizure.

"Natty, mommy's home!" Sherrie whispers to me as I cower under my bed.

As if the crashing and crying from the next room hadn't alerted me to that already.

I pad out of our shared room, barren of toys and down the hallway cautiously.

"Nathan, stop, please!" My mom cries, peering up at my father from the slick puddle of blood on the floor erupting from her hand.

"Where were you?" My father huffs, raising the knife above his head again.

"NO, MOMMY!" Sherrie cries from beside me as I usher her through the house and to the back door.

We sprint across the lawn, not ever looking back, the blood already soaking my raggedy t-shirt from the cut in my shoulder.

I pound my fist on my neighbor's door and she pulls us inside when she notices the blood flooding my shoulder, holding her handkerchief against it.

"What happened?" The raven haired woman questions, wincing when she notices the welts erupting from the belt.

"Daddy hurt mommy!" Sherrie cries, hugging the woman's torso.

As she calls the police, the gunshot that rattles the whole neighborhood erupts next door before all goes silent.

My eyes fly open as I let the tears fall, sobs shaking my entire body. Spence being the only person in the room, notices it all. Not a word is spoken as he sits beside me, holding tight to my hand.