Chapter 37: The Donaldson brothers

Lina's POV

I can't believe it, I'm moving in with Spencer. I stare into blank space, thinking about living with Spencer. I've always loved his apartment, the decoration, the books, the dim lights.... Everything about it is perfect.

"Earth to Lina!" a voice yells, waving a hand in my face.

I snap out of my thoughts. "What?" I turn my head and see JJ grinning at me.

"I asked, how do you think the UnSubs are controlling everyone at the hospital?"

"Probably used a gun," I reply absentmindedly, still daydreaming about Spencer and I living together.

JJ notices. "What's on your mind?"

"Um, nothing."

"C'mon, I know you better than that. Is it Spencer?"

"Actually, it is." A small smile escapes my lips.

JJ looks intrigued now. "Tell me, tell meee!"

I giggle and lean closer to her ear, lowering my voice. "Spencer asked me to move in with him."

She gasps and hugs me. "That's amazing! You said yes, right?"

"Of course I did."

An hour later, the jet lands and Hotch assigns us tasks. "Morgan, Reid, and Yang will go to the hospital. See if you guys can find any small details that were missed. Rossi and JJ, go to the coroner's office to determine an official cause of death. Prentiss and I will coordinate with the local police."

Everyone nods and heads to their respective locations.

On the ride to the hospital with Spencer and Morgan, I can't help but notice what good friends those two are as they chat. They're just like brothers, always looking out for each other.

"We're here," announces Morgan as he turns off the engine.

Spencer rushes to my side and opens the door for me. "Milady."

I giggle and punch him playfully in the arm. "Thank you, sire." Stepping out of the car, I place a kiss on his jawline.

Morgan pretends to gag. "Hey, hey! Get a room!"

Spencer and I chuckle in each other's embrace.

The three of us enter the hospital, which is surrounded by police and coroners. They are still bagging bodies and rolling them into vehicles. We flash our badges and duck under the police tape.

A woman walks up to us. "Hi, I'm Officer Amy Choi. You guys are from the FBI?"

"Yes, we're here to check out the crime scene," I state, shaking her hand. "I'm SSA Lina Yang. This is Agent Derek Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid."

"Doctor...." Choi looks up and down at Spencer and grins. "Come on, I'll let you guys know more of the details." She gestures for us to follow her.

"Did you see that?" I whisper to Spencer and he nods.

"Looks like Yang's got some competition," Morgan jokes.

I roll my eyes and grab Spencer's hand tightly. "You're mine," I say playfully.

"I'm yours." He boops me on the nose.

"As you guys already know, only the doctors had their, well, intestines tied around their throats," states Choi.

"Mhm." Morgan steps over a pool of blood.

"Where's the wall that had 'liar' written on it?" Spencer asks.

"On the ninth floor," answers Choi.

We take the elevator up and when we arrive, "This is an eleven-storey hospital, so why the ninth floor?"

"Maybe the number nine means something to the UnSubs," suggests Morgan, rubbing his beard as he inspects the wall.

I walk over to one of the corpses that is still laying on the floor. "What happened to the patients?"

"They've been all relocated to another hospital," Choi answers, pacing around.

Spencer bends down near a pool of blood. "There's a footprint here."

"Yeah, we found seven of them in total. They came from three different shoes."

"Clearly the UnSubs aren't very organized then," I observe.

After that, we leave the hospital and drive back to the police station where the rest of the team is gathered.

"Did you guys find anything?" Hotch asks as the three of us walk in.

"We found footprints that belong to three different people," Morgan replies. "And also the officer over there has the hots for Reid."

As if on cue, Choi walks in with papers in her hand. "Here's the pictures of the footprints and the official medical reports." She drops it on the table and leaves.

Morgan raises his eyebrows. "That's her."

Hotch smirks and shakes his head. "Well, apparently the COD was a single gunshot to the heart. The slashing and tying the intestines around the throat was done postmortem."

"But what about the word 'liar'?" JJ crosses her arms. "We still need to figure that out."

An idea sparks in my head. "This is kind of a long shot, but what if the UnSubs lost a loved one at the hospital due to malpractice by a doctor? And perhaps it happened on the ninth floor?" Everyone stares at me.

"You may be onto something, Yang." Rossi scratches his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah. Perhaps the doctor lied about what happened to the patient, then the UnSubs found out so hence the word 'liar' is written," Spencer adds.

"Morgan, can you call Garcia?" Hotch asks.

Morgan dials his cellphone and it rings once. "Hey, Doll Face."

"How can I be of service, Chocolate Thunder?" Garcia teases.

He smirks and clears his throat. "Can you look up recent deaths that occurred in the hospital? Approximately... a month ago since this kind of killing takes planning."

She types rapidly. "Unfortunately, that is a very long list of names of dead people."

"Try the ones that died due to malpractice," Spencer suggests.

"I have two names. Riley Wilson died because his surgeon nicked an artery. And woah...."

"What is it, Mama?" Morgan shifts his weight onto his toes.

"Rebecca Donaldson wasn't intubated properly by the anesthesiologist and she died during a colectomy." Garcia sounds sad.

"Colectomy? That's a surgical procedure to remove a part or all of the colon," I state.

"Ooh, her room was also on the ninth floor."

Spencer's eyes light up. "The doctors had their intestines tied around their throats. It's the UnSubs' symbolic way of saying 'she died during a colectomy because she wasn't intubated properly.' And like Lina said, they wrote 'liar' on the wall of the ninth floor because that was where her room was."

Everyone looks thoughtful as they process this new information.

"Guys..." Garcia starts. "It says here that the anesthesiologist, Dr. Phil Jackson denied that he made a mistake, even though the autopsy is clear that it was the failed intubation that caused the patient's death."

"So the stressor was Rebecca's death, and Dr. Jackson's lie was what triggered the killing," Prentiss concludes.

"Garcia—" Hotch begins.

"If you were going to ask who has personal ties with Rebecca Donaldson I can tell you that she has three older brothers," Garcia states cheerfully.

"Thank you." Hotch grins. "How much do you guys wanna bet that the footprints belong to these guys?"

"All their info has been sent to your cellphones." With that, Garcia hangs up.

Half an hour later, the team and I are outside the Donaldson brothers' house. Turns out they all lived together so we don't need to split up.

Hotch pulls out his gun. "Morgan and Prentiss, take the back. Reid and JJ, take the side door. Rossi, Yang, and I will go in from the front."

We all nod and take our places around the house. I look at Hotch and he nods at me so I kick the door open—maybe a little too hard because the entire thing crashed onto the floor—and Rossi raises an eyebrow at me, but I just give him a shrug.

"What the—" a man's voice says as we walk in.

I whip around and see a heavy-set man standing in the doorway, I recognize him as Tyler Donaldson, the oldest brother. "Tyler Donaldson put your hands up!"

"Hey! What's going on?!" A second voice comes from behind me.

"Patrick Donaldson, stay where you are. Don't move!" Rossi orders. From the corner of my eye, I see Spencer and JJ walk in slowly with their guns pointed.

"Where's Colby?" JJ questions, scanning the house.

Morgan and Prentiss come in as well, checking each corner.

But soon, we get our answer when Colby comes out from the kitchen, tackling Spencer and JJ to the ground. I quickly react and shoot him, but Colby is a big guy and it doesn't stop him from strangling my friends. JJ manages to squirm away but now he has Spencer in a headlock with a knife at his throat.

No, Spencer! Panic and rage flows through me when I see Spencer's face twist in pain. It takes all the self control in me to not lunge at Colby and strangle him.

Morgan tightens his grip on his gun. "Colby Donaldson, drop the knife!"

"You participated in mass murder in a hospital and attacked two FBI agents. You're going to prison for a very long time," I say through gritted teeth.

"No! That man who calls himself a doctor deserves to die!" Colby yells. Sweat runs down his forehead as he continues bleeding out. He presses the knife closer to Spencer's throat, drawing blood.

My heart lurches when Spencer whines in pain. At this point, he's turning purple from the headlock. I look at Hotch and he nods, giving me the signal to take a shot. Taking a deep breath, I calm my shaking hands and aim at Colby's head. If I'm even a centimeter off I can risk hitting Spencer.

You can do this! I fire my gun and shoot Colby right in the temple.

"Nooooo! Colby!" His two brothers cry in anguish as he drops to the floor, dead.

I rush to Spencer's side and apply pressure to the cut on his throat. "It's not deep, but you'll need stitches, okay?"

He nods weakly and jokes, "Thanks for not killing me."

I smirk. "I'm a great shot."

A little while after, we arrest the Donaldson brothers and Spencer gets stitched up at the hospital. I help him stand up from the bed.

"I can stand up by myself, you know." He grins.

I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tight. "I know."

Soon, the team and I are flying back to Quantico. After we land, I say my goodbyes and head home with Spencer.

"When do you want to start moving?" asks Spencer. He puts a hand on my lower back as I unlock my door.

"Hmmm... how about tomorrow? Since it's the weekend." I push open the door and throw my keys on the table.

"Okay. I'll call our friends for help." Spencer turns me around, facing him. Placing both hands on my hips he leans down and kisses my forehead.

I put my arms around his neck, staring deep into his warm hazel eyes that look at me with so much love. With a sigh, I nuzzle my head into the crook of his neck.

God, I want to marry this man.