Chapter 9: Nurse Annie

I get home, completely forgetting about Prentiss and Garcia, and walk in the door to an excited Ryder and concerned looking women. I pick up Ryder and try to avoid his face kisses. Emily speaks up first and says "hey, how did everything go? Also this is Penelope Garcia, you haven't met yet but I'm sure you've both heard of each other." I smile lightly and nod. Penelope then stands and hugs me and says "oh sweet cheeks I hate that this is how we ended up meeting, but you do have the cutest little doggy so I'm not entirely unhappy with it." I smile and say "well, thank you. This wasn't how I thought I would meet you either, but it could've been worse." She nods and says "chocolate thunder texted me and told me you and Spencer are now official though! Something good came out of a gun shot wound, yay!" I give Emily a confused look and she mouths "Morgan" to me. I lightly laugh and say "yeah I guess if you stick around after a gun shot wound that's pretty indicative of a relationship. I'm happy to take care of him. Would y'all mind staying just a bit longer so I can take a shower and not worry about Ryder for just a few minutes longer?" Emily and Garcia nod in agreement, Emily says "of course, take your time. We have the day off any way." I go into my room and shut the door, then walk through my room and shut the bathroom door. I strip out of my scrubs that I've been in for over 24 hours and turn the shower on to a scalding hot temperature. I get on the shower and let the water hit me. I finally let my guard down and let myself cry. I feel my body become wracked with sobs and try not to be too loud. I'd rather not discuss my feelings with the girls outside. I just need a few minutes to feel my feelings in privacy and I'll be okay. God, it was so terrifying finding out he was shot. I had to keep my cool for his sake, but now all the feelings I suppressed are coming back with a vengeance. I'm scared and I'm angry. I feel the full force of the fear when I found out he was shot and I feel the full force of the anger I had when I found out he did it protecting a victim. I know he was only doing his job and doing the right thing. I just wish those weren't part of his job. I finish my shower and feel 10x better. I get dressed in a pajama set and go out to the living room. "Thanks for helping me out. It really means a lot," I say to Penelope and Emily. Penelope smiles and says "any time, my sweet. I might just have to steal that sweet pupper of yours, he's just so precious." I laugh and say "he's a home devil sweet angel, you haven't seen his sneaky side yet." She laughs and says "still cute, sneaky or not. I've already remotely programmed all of our numbers into your phone, don't be afraid to call any of us for anything, okay?" I smile and nod, Emily adds "we mean it. If there's anything we can do to help all you have to do is ask." I thank them for their help and for their time and they make their way out of the apartment. I'm thankful for their help but I'm also thankful for the alone time. It's 2 pm now. My plan is to sleep for a few hours and go back over to Spencer's. I call my neighbor, Emma, a 17 year old girl who usually babysits and dog sits in the building for extra cash and ask her if she can stay overnight with Ryder tonight in my apartment for me because something personal has come up. I make arrangements with her. She's going to get here at 8 and take care of Ryder for me. I text Morgan and tell him my plan.

Anneliese Winters

Hey Morgan, I'm home and I've showered and I'm about to get some rest. I'm going to come back over for the night afterwards if that's okay with Spence and help take care of him. I'm also going to pick up some groceries for him on my way especially since he's going to be stuck in D.C. longer than he's used to. Let me know if I need to change any of my plans.

Derek Morgan

Okay sounds good. Thanks, baby girl. I'm sure he will appreciate it. Get some rest and I'll hold down the fort until you get here.

And with that I close my blackout curtains, turn on the fan and the tv to a random Netflix show, and get into bed with Ryder. I fall asleep very quickly due to how physically and emotionally exhausted I am.

•••••

I sleep very deeply and wake up to my 7:45 alarm. I quickly pack an overnight bag. I had set up a grocery pick up time from 8-9 at the Kroger between mine and Spence's apartment before I took a nap. I quickly change into shorts and a sweat shirt and put on some sneakers. I've brushed my hair and I'm just wearing my glasses. If he can recover from anthrax and a gun shot wound in front of me then by golly I can go to his apartment without makeup on. My mom can probably feel it thousands of miles away but I don't care. Emma arrives to take care of Ryder and I spend some time loving on him and tell him what's happening even though he doesn't understand. It makes me feel better if nothing else. I tell him I'll be back tomorrow some time. Emma has to go to school in the morning, but after she walks him in the morning she can just crate him and I'll take it from there when I get back tomorrow morning or afternoon. I tell her I've just changed the sheets in the guest room and she's welcome to sleep there or in my bed for the night and help herself to whatever is in the kitchen. I also tell her to text or call me if she needs anything tonight or has any questions and I'll Venmo her in the morning. I pick up the groceries at Kroger and head towards Spence's apartment. I call Morgan when I'm outside to see if he can help me with the groceries. He answers on the second ring "hey, Annie what's up?" I say "hey I'm downstairs? Could you help me with the groceries? With your help we should only have to take one trip." He says "of course, I'll be right down." I get out of the car, being wary of my surroundings, and grab my overnight bag from the middle seat. By the time I make it to the back of my car Morgan is already in sight. He helps with the groceries and we make our way upstairs. We get into Spence's apartment and he greets us on his crutches. "Hey, Annie, you didn't have to get groceries for me, I could've figured it out." I smile at Spence's remark and say "Spence, you weren't going to go grocery shopping on crutches and I know you don't like to use technology so you probably wouldn't have been able to easily get your groceries delivered." He nods in agreement, admitting defeat. Morgan helps me put away the groceries and then heads home for tonight. I go to sit with Spencer on the couch, the tv is on some sitcom I've only seen commercials for or random episodes of when I was in the hospital break room. I give him a quick peck on the lips and sit down next to him. "Hey, baby. How was your day with Morgan?" He smiles and says "not too bad despite the endless teasing about me finally having a girlfriend." I chuckle and say "finally? Am I your first girlfriend?" He laughs and says "no I've had girlfriends in the past, but really only one serious long term girlfriend. I met her on a case in LA a few years ago and had to be her personal body guard, basically. She was actively being stalked and needed protection. While I was protecting her we, um, ended up in her pool and we um kissed." I let out an incredulous laugh saying "'ended up?' What, did you both fall in?" He laughs and says "she went in willingly and then pulled me in against my will." I nod and say "sounds like she had a plan that worked out perfectly." Spencer nods and says "we dated long distance for about two years before we agreed it wasn't working anymore and decided to go our separate ways. It ended amicably. We don't talk anymore, but I told her if she ever needed help from the team she just needed to give us a call." I mentally note that he said the team and not him. That's good right? "Since we are on the topic, what about you? Any crazy exes I should know about?" Spencer asks me. I laugh nervously and say "I had one relationship very young that lasted about a year, but I haven't had a relationship since then that didn't last more than a few months. They never really got very serious." Spencer nods in understanding. He furrows his brow a bit but doesn't further the topic. I take the opportunity to check in with him "are you doing okay? Are you in any pain?" He visibly stiffens just slightly and says "I'm fine, considering everything, I'll be okay. It's not as bad as yesterday." I nod and grab his hand, interlacing our fingers, he seems to relax a bit at that. Spencer is set up with his leg propped up on a big ottoman, a pillow under his knee. I adjust the pillows on his side by the arm of the couch and the ones behind his back and neck. I decide to go get an ice pack for him and bring it back with me and gently place it on his knee, hoping it will help alleviate some pain. He grimaces slightly when I adjust it a bit but I see him relax after I'm done moving the ice pack around. He says "thank you, that actually helps a lot." I smile and grab a blanket, sitting on the couch next to him. I curl into his side as gently as I can and he wraps an arm around me. I take the remote and ask him if he wants to watch a movie. I feel him nod and he says "why don't we watch the next Harry Potter movie?" I smile and tell him that's a great idea. As I start the movie he begins to caress my hair, sending shivers down my spine. I wrap my free arm around his waist lightly and gently rub circles into his side. I feel his stomach muscles tense, but they relax after a second as he lets out a content sigh. I watch the movie with him, happy to enjoy one of my favorite series with one of my favorite people. We watch the movie and Spencer tells me random facts about the movie production, the novel, the author, and more. Some I had heard before and some I hadn't. I just enjoyed the sound of his voice and the information he was giving me. He slowly grows quieter throughout the movie and I can tell he's getting sleepy. By the end of the movie he's asleep with his head rested back against the couch, his hand still in my hair but stationary now. I gently move away from him and try to quietly move to set up his bed in a way that he can sleep comfortably without hurting his knee any more than it already is. I get a glass of water and set it on the night stand. I go to kneel on the floor next to him and gently shake him awake saying "hey, Spence, we should move you to your bed. Sleeping on the couch probably isn't good for you." He furrows his brow and says "no I can sleep on the couch, you sleep in the bed." I look at him with an incredulous expression, "that is probably the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say. You sleep in the bed and I'll sleep on the couch. I'm not the one with the gunshot wound in my knee." He gets a bashful expression and says "or you could sleep in bed with me? I honestly slept the best I have in years on your couch with you." I blush and say "are you sure? I don't want to accidentally hurt you." He smiles and pushes a hair behind my ear and says "you won't. Now let's go to sleep." He goes to stand and I help him get his crutches. He had already changed into pajamas when Morgan was here. I look at him and say "you probably need to go to the bathroom before bed, do you need help?" He laughs and says "no thanks I got it," and he crutches off to the bathroom. I go to the kitchen and clean up a bit and fix Spence a new ice pack. I go get more blankets from the living room to take to his bedroom in case he needs more support on his back or his legs. I hear Spence leave the bathroom and come towards his bed. I help him into the bed and make sure he's comfortable. I offer him a new ice pack which he gladly accepts and I climb into bed next to him. He opens his arms and says "come here, you're like a whole continent away from me." I giggle and say "oh no, not a whole continent." He's laying on his back and I lay on my left side with my right arm draped across his stomach. He intertwines his left hand with my right, drapes his right arm around me and says "good night, Annie." I say "good night, Spence." In the warm embrace, we both drift off to a much better sleep than we did in the hospital room the night before. My last thought as sleep is encompassing my mind and body is "I could get used to this."