Chapter 33: Prying Eyes

Spencer and I arrive at the restaurant. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and I can't believe that it's a restaurant and not an extension of the Louvre or the Met. I am lightly holding on to Spencer's left arm as we approach the hostess. She looks up and smiles at the both of us, but especially Spencer. I try not to notice. Spencer smiles back at her, most likely oblivious at the special attention the hostess is paying to him, and says "Good evening, I have reservations under Reid for 2 at 7?" The woman briefly diverts her eye contact to me before looking down at the book in front of her and hums briefly before saying "yes, sir, I have you right here. If you both will follow me, please." She's again paying special attention to my boyfriend and it irks me. She leads us through a few different dining rooms to one smaller than the others, but still not totally private. After the hostess leaves, finally, Spencer pulls my chair out for me and pushes it in to the table like a gentleman. He smiles as he sits in his chair in front of me. I smile back and decide to not bring up the flirtatious hostess and spoil our night. Spencer asks "so what are we drinking tonight?" I rest my chin in my palm and look up, humming, and say "why don't you pick tonight, Dr. Reid. I trust your judgment and knowledge of wine more than my own." He smiles and nods. I ask "what are you getting for dinner, Spence?" He hums and says "I would be torn between the salmon and the lobster, but I still want to be able to kiss you tonight." I hum, happy to know he really does remember my shellfish allergy, and say "good choice, baby." He asks me what I want. I say "I think I want the baked ravioli and a side salad." Spencer nods and agrees that the entree sounds good to him as well. Just then our waiter approaches the table and fills our water glasses. He looks between the two of us before settling his eyes on me and says "good evening, I'm Eric, I will be your server this evening. Would you like to begin your meal with a cocktail or some wine?" Spencer clears his throat, the man finally breaking eye contact with me to look at Spencer. Spencer says "we will take a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, please." The man nods and glances at me again, looks down, and then looks back up at me before leaving. I look down to see if I had something on my dress or something, why was he looking down at my dress so much? I look up at Spencer to ask if I missed something and notice he is seething. I tilt my head to the side and gently grab his hand "Spence, what is wrong, baby?" He's breathing heavily and says "he couldn't keep his eyes off of you." At first I am going to ask if I spilled something and then it finally dawns on me why Spencer is so angry - the man was staring at my dress because he was checking me out. I don't know what to say to make this better. I wore the dress for Spencer, not for some random young and dumb waiter. I say "Spencer, I'm going home with you tonight. Not him." Spencer is still seething and says "he didn't even acknowledge me." I chuckle slightly which pisses Spencer off more. I notice quickly and say "Spencer, the same thing just happened with the hostess who showed us to our table. She only had eyes for you." Spencer shakes his head and says "she was not eyeing me like that man was eyeing you." I laugh a little bit too loudly and say "Spencer she was eyeing you like you were on the menu for this place. You just didn't notice. I didn't notice that he was eyeing me that way. I was checking my dress to make sure I didn't spill anything on it before I noticed how livid you were." Spencer is in shock and doesn't say anything. I look at him and gently say "let's not let some strangers ruin our night, okay? After we get our food we won't have to see either of them for a while." Spencer nods and breathes deeply. I tell Spencer my official order after a while so he can order for us, and assert his dominance I guess, when the waiter comes back. The waiter comes back and pours a tasting glass for each of us. It tastes amazingly crisp and dry to me so I nod at Spencer and Spencer nods to the waiter. Spencer orders for us as I sip my wine and look only at Spencer, smiling. After Spencer gets a glass of wine in his system he's visibly more relaxed. We talk and laugh, fully enjoying each other's company without fear of either of us being called away to work. Between the two of us we finish the bottle shortly before the food arrives. Our food arrives and the waiter asks us if we would like another bottle. I shake my head no at Spencer and he tells him we are fine with just water for now. The food is delicious, and it damn well should be at the prices on the menu. I eat a small amount of my dinner before all the wine hits me and I have to take a trip to the ladies room. Spencer tells me to not be too long as I stand and make my way to the ladies room towards the front of the restaurant. After I've quickly done my business and fixed my lipstick I leave the restroom. As I'm walking back I quickly get grabbed and thrown into a nearby wall. At first I'm hoping it's Spencer just playing a joke on me, but I'm proven wrong when I look up and see Eric the waiter standing in front of me. He looks at me and says "don't say a word," as he begins to grope me. I shake my head and thrash saying "get off me! Don't touch me!" I go into survival mode and try to kick him but I can't get my leg back enough to kick him with enough force. I decide to use my stilettos for good use and take my foot up and stomp hard on his foot. He cries out in pain but still doesn't release me. I'm thrashing and telling him to let me go but he doesn't. He says in my ear "you don't have a ring, so you're fair game to me even if you are with that weakling." I shake my head and begin to say something before I hear the cock of a gun and Spencer say "FBI get your hands off of her!" The man spins me around, using me as a human shield. He says to Spencer "why is she with you any way? I'm so much hotter than you are." I laugh loudly at that and say "you must have a fun house mirror at home then." The man throws me back into the wall, I hit my head pretty hard, but don't pass out. As soon as the man moved from using me as a human shield, Spencer and some police officers I hadn't noticed come in go to arrest the man. As soon as Spencer was sure he was arrested and not getting free he rushes over to me. I grumble in pain as I grab my head. Spencer is holding me in his arms and asks frantically "are you okay, Annie?" I nod and say "yeah my head just hurts really bad." Spencer nods and says "let's get you to the hospital." Everything is a blur as Spencer carries me through the restaurant and out the door to a waiting ambulance. He sets me down on the stretcher in the ambulance and tells the paramedics "25 year old female, possible concussion, allergies to amoxicillin and shellfish, no chronic health conditions." They nod and thank him for the information as they start their work up on me as we begin our drive to the nearest hospital. I grab Spencer's hand and squeeze tight. He squeezes back and says "you're gonna be okay, Annie, it's okay, I'm here. I need you to stay awake, baby, please." I nod and try to stay calm and awake, but everything is going fuzzy and I soon feel myself slipping into unconsciousness.

•••••

I come to in a hospital bed, Spencer is slumped in a seat next to the bed. I'm hooked up to machines and hear the beeping pick up as I start to freak out. Spencer wakes up and stands to calm me down. He says "hey baby, it's okay, you're okay." I feel the tears flow and I ask him "what happened?" He calms me down and says "you were assaulted at the restaurant, you just have a concussion and some bruised ribs, you're gonna be okay. You didn't need surgery, you just passed out once you were out of danger." I nod and can feel the two places where he hit my head from the two times he shoved me into the wall. I ask him "why did this happen?" Spencer sighs and says "based on the information I was given I think he is a serial rapist and possible murderer. Apparently he had numerous sexual harassment claims filed against him by coworkers and patrons of the restaurant." I look at Spencer in shock "why was he still working there?" Spencer sighs and says "they never had any proof." I shake my head "I bet if they search his place they will find proof." Spencer nods "they have probable cause now." I laugh incredulously "after a woman gets assaulted in public after multiple allegations, yeah now they have probable cause." A doctor and nurse come in the room and smile softly at us. The doctor says "Hi, Miss Winters, I'm Dr. Weston. I'm so sorry for what happened tonight, how are you feeling? Physically and emotionally." I chuckle and say "well physically I feel like I was thrown into a wall. Twice. Emotionally I feel like I was thrown into a wall. Twice." The doctor laughs and says "it's good that your sense of humor is still in tact. Now we don't usually do this for mild head injuries but I want to get a CT scan because there are two pretty big injuries on the front and back of your head." I nod and say "okay I agree. Let's do it." The doctor looks at me and says "okay we will get that set up and as soon as we get the results hopefully we can get you sent on your way. No chance you're pregnant, right?" I look at Spencer and then again to the doctor and nurse "uh...I...well I have the Skyla IUD." The doctor nods and writes something down. He says without looking up "just to be extra safe we will have you take a pregnancy test just to be sure before we put you under radiation." A lump forms in my throat as I nod. Spencer squeezes my hand, trying to be reassuring. As soon as the doctor and nurse leave the room I turn to Spencer "what the fuck why do I need a pregnancy test?" Spencer chuckles "it's mainly just to jump through legal hoops because if they put you in a CT pregnant and then your baby has birth defects the hospital could be sued for a lot of money. I'm sure the IUD is working, it's nothing to worry about." I think to myself "what if it isn't?" The nurse comes in with equipment for a blood test and not a urine test like I was expecting. She comes in and says smiling "Dr. Weston ordered a blood test because it will be the most accurate." I nod and give her my right arm to take the blood. I'm used to blood tests and don't have any issues with needles. Spencer still holds my hand anyway, probably more for his sake than for my sake, as the woman quickly takes my blood and secures it for testing. I don't say anything for a few minutes and Spencer gets worried. He asks "Annie, are you in pain from the injury or are you worried about the pregnancy test?" I grimace and say "a little bit of both." He nods and says "you do know even if you are pregnant that I'm not going anywhere and we will have that baby together?" I give him a small smile and nod. He chuckles and says "you did say if you get pregnant with the IUD then it was meant to be." I roll my eyes and nod "that's when I wasn't waiting for a pregnancy test to come back." About an hour or so later the doctor and nurse come back into the room. The doctor says "good news, you're not pregnant, now let's get you down to CT." I let out a sigh of relief and I see Spencer do the same thing. They roll me down to CT in a wheelchair, without Spencer. If I'm being honest I'm more nervous for the CT than I was for the blood test. They get me in the machine and I lay still as they instruct me to and I wait for the thumping sound of the machine to stop and for them to pull me out before I move again to make the whole process as quick and painless as possible. The nurse is pushing me back to my room and says "you're honestly one of the easiest patients I've ever had." I chuckle and say "I work in a hospital so I know how some difficult patients are and I don't want to be that." She chuckles and says "well you definitely made my night easier than I thought it was going to be." I smile softly and think that I would rather be out dancing with my boyfriend than in the hospital following an assault. Once I get back in the room with Spencer he is smiling and happy to see me. He stands and helps me out of the wheelchair. Before he helps me into bed he says "I uh went down to the gift shop and got you some sweat pants, a t shirt, and slippers. I figured they'd be more comfortable than the hospital gown and your dress." I smile warmly at him and thank him as I walk to the bathroom to put on the clothes. I shut the door and have my first moment of privacy since we left the hotel. I look at myself in the mirror and see the bruise on my forehead for the first time all night. I touch it and feel pain shoot through it even at the softest of contact. I feel myself tear up at the sight and the feeling. I try to cry quietly so I won't worry Spencer. I take too long though and Spencer knocks asking "everything okay?" I swallow the lump in my throat and say "yeah Spence I'm fine. Just needed a minute." I quickly take the gown off and get dressed in the clothes Spencer sweetly got me. I get dressed and open the door and find Spencer waiting right outside. He looks at me and says "I promise I wasn't eavesdropping I was just worried you would pass out or something and I wouldn't know." I don't say anything I just hold my arms out to him and gesture for him to come closer. I wrap my arms around him and pull him tight to me and walk backwards into the bathroom. I say quietly into his chest "can you shut the door? I just want a moment alone with you?" He does as I ask and as I hear the door click I let the tears fall as I hold onto him tight. He holds me tight and rubs my back and makes quiet shushing sounds and comforts me. I say without looking up "why did this happen, Spence?" He shakes his head and says "I don't know, Annie, I wish I could've stopped it. I should've gone with you." I shake my head and say "Spencer it wasn't your fault." He says "I know, I'm just so sorry." I nod and return my face to his chest. We stay there in each other's embrace for I don't know how long before we separate and I move to leave the bathroom. I don't want to sit and opt to stand and pace the room a bit. Shortly after the doctor comes in and say "your scan looks clear. If anything you have a very mild concussion, but it doesn't even look to be like it will be a long term issue. Most likely just a bad headache for the next day or two. You should be feeling better by Christmas." I smile and nod as I move to leave and sign the discharge papers. Spencer follows with a bag of my things and I sign the discharge papers at the nurses station before Spencer and I leave hand in hand. Spencer calls an Uber for us and we wait only a few minutes for him to show up. We get back to the hotel around 2 am, 7 hours after our romantic night was supposed to begin. I'm sad it didn't work out like we planned, but still relieved it wasn't worse than it was. We silently make our way to the hotel room. Once inside I tell Spencer I want to shower which he is perfectly fine with. I hesitate and Spencer gives me a quizzical look. I try to start my sentence multiple times before landing on "can I ask you kind of a weird favor?" Spencer smiles and nods his head "of course." Again I struggle to find the words and eventually say "I want to shower alone but I'm scared to be alone right now. Could you wait in the bathroom while I shower and talk to me so I don't freak out and have a panic attack or something?" Spencer nods and says "of course, baby." I tell him "just wait for me to get in the shower first. I haven't really looked at my body since before the attack and I would like privacy to do that." Spencer nods "I totally understand. If you need anything I'm one shout away." I smile and nod. I make my way to the bathroom and start to remove my clothes. In the hospital I really only looked at the bruise on my forehead. I look down and see bruises on my abdomen and on my arms from where he gripped me so tight and threw me into the wall. They are fairly superficial and will heal quickly, but they're still hard to look at. They're reminders of the attack and I wish I could forget the whole thing. I turn the shower on and once it's piping hot I hop in and yell to Spencer "okay I'm in, you can come in now." Spencer comes in and leans against the counter. He says "so the restaurant comped our bill." I am honestly surprised and ask "really?" Spencer shrugs "I mean we left without paying so we could get you to the hospital and I'm not going back to pay after their employee assaulted my girlfriend." I chuckle and say "I think that's fair. I barely ate my food even. The only thing we fully consumed was a bottle of wine." Spencer laughs in agreement. After a beat of silence I say "hey at least I'm not pregnant. That would've been one hell of a way to find out." Spencer laughs again and says "that's very true. I would've been even more pissed if he hurt you and my unborn child. He's lucky I didn't shoot him as is." I tell Spencer "I'm pretty sure I poked a hole through his foot with my stiletto, so you can feel better knowing that." Spencer says "holy shit, Annie, that's where the blood was coming from?" I'm confused and ask "there was blood?" Spencer scoffs and says "yes that's the main reason why I took you to the hospital because I thought it was your blood." I chuckle and shake my head "no I stabbed him in the foot with my stiletto because I didn't have the range of motion to kick him in the balls." Spencer winces, remembering the time I accidentally kicked him in the balls. He then says "you were fighting back the whole time, I was kinda proud, but you have to know it's better to play along with their fantasies most of the time." I tell Spencer "my fight or flight kicked in and fight it was at the time. I didn't think I was going to die I was just angry. I also knew you'd probably come looking for me after so long or somebody walking to the bathrooms would hear." Spencer says "you're right. This time. Just please promise me if something like this happens again you won't agitate him and will let me handle it." I chuckle and say "I'll try Spencer. Hopefully this never happens again." That's good enough for him as I finish up my shower, feeling refreshed, like I've washed off the entire encounter. I open the shower curtain and grab a towel. Spencer sees my bruises for the first time and I see his knuckles go white from how tight he's gripping the bathroom counter. I decide to try to make it light hearted and say "you should see the other guy." Spencer's mouth turns up briefly in one corner, but I can tell he is still livid. He doesn't say anything for my sake. I don't know what to do I just want to make it better. Spencer says "let's get you in bed, I'm sure your headache is bad let me get you some medicine, too." Spencer gets me some heavy duty headache relief medicine given to us by the doctor at the hospital. Spencer says "this will probably make you drowsy so hopefully you will at least sleep well after the night you've had." I nod and then realize Spencer is leaving. I start to panic and ask him to stay. He says "I just need to make a few calls." I start to cry and tell him that it can wait "please just hold me, I don't want to be alone right now." Spencer nods and climbs into bed with me. I curl up into his chest, feeling safe for the first time in hours. I let the tears flow and Spencer comforts me as best he can, rubbing my back and shushing me to try to calm me down. Eventually I cry myself to sleep and give in to the medicine's drowsy effect.

•••••

"Hotch, I want to be sure this man never sees the light of day again." I hear Spencer on the phone in the living room as I wake up from my deep sleep. I check the alarm clock and realize it's 10 am Vegas time so it's 1 pm DC time. I stand and groan slightly as I walk towards the cracked door to the living area of the suite. I look up and see Spencer on the phone as I suspected. I walk into the room towards Spencer who is sitting on the couch. He turns and makes eye contact with me, trying to give me a brief smile before continuing his conversation with Hotch. I hear garbled chatter from the other end of the phone as Hotch is telling Spencer some information. Spencer nods and says "okay Hotch, Annie just woke up so I'll call you later. Thanks for your help." Spencer hangs up the phone and looks at me. He honestly looks upset. I look at him and grab his hand "what is it?" Spencer shakes his head and looks down before saying "the man who attacked you has been linked to multiple cases of missing women throughout Las Vegas. Most of them were last seen on dates with long term partners at upscale restaurants on the strip. Nobody made the connection of a waiter who was hired and fired across multiple different restaurants because his time at each was so brief and they definitely should have." I don't know what to say. I eventually land on "that's awful that they didn't catch him sooner, but it's good that we caught him now." Spencer nods and says "I just can't believe it took me almost losing you before they did catch him." I nod and say "Spencer, it wasn't intentional, I'm sure there's a lot more criminals on the street just on the Las Vegas strip and it's not your responsibility or the BAU's responsibility. You can't save everybody and that sucks, but you did save me and probably a lot more women who he would've attacked in the future." Spencer nods and pulls me in for a hug, holding me tight. After a minute of him holding me we pull apart and I see that his eyes are watery. Immediately it dawns on me "Spencer, you must've been so scared. Nobody took care of you or asked you how you were. How are you handling this?" He chuckles and says "Annie I should be taking care of you." I shake my head and say "I'm okay for now. Tell me how you've been feeling about all of this, baby, it must have been very scary for you, too." He nods and says "I swear I felt the pain of when he slammed you into the wall. I had to move fast to pull him off of you after his moment of enraged stupidity." I nod as I caress his hand, trying to comfort him. Spencer continues "when you were talking after the fact I thought that we were home free and you were going to be just fine. But there was blood and I didn't know where it was coming from and then you fell unconscious." I nod and say "the blood wasn't from me and I only had a mild concussion at most. The doctor told me later that I probably passed out from a combination of the pain and from a drop in adrenaline after it spiked in the altercation." Spencer nods but doesn't say anything. I continue "and we found out for sure that my IUD works." Spencer chuckles and nods but again doesn't say anything. I say "okay, Spence, what's going on in that big genius brain of yours." He chuckles and asks "were you really that scared that you were pregnant?" I furrow my brow and ask "what do you mean?" He sighs and says "do you not want to have my baby? You just seemed so terrified last night that the test could've come back positive." I shake my head "Spencer, no, I want to have your babies, just not right now. Even if one day we end up trying for a baby and the test comes back positive I'm going to be terrified because babies are forever. It's not that the babies come from you, that might actually be their only saving grace one day, but it's that they'll be my responsibility that scares me." Spencer chuckles and nods "they'll be our responsibility, not just yours. I think deep down I knew it wasn't about me, but in my state of worry that insecurity crept in." I nod and say "Spencer, I want your babies, just not this soon. I'd also prefer to be married first so my entire extended family doesn't throw a shit fit." Spencer chuckles "my mom would just be happy to have a grand child I think." I nod and don't say anything. It's now Spencer's turn to pry "what is it, Annie?" I give a tight lipped smile and say "do you want your mom to stay here in Vegas forever? I'm sure we can find her a nice assisted living facility in DC where we can visit her multiple times a week instead of once a year." Spencer stiffens slightly and just says "I just don't want to take her from her home." I nod and grab his hand and say "Spencer, you are her home more than Las Vegas. Her books and little things that make up the mosaic of her is her home. Not sin city." Spencer laughs. I continue "Spencer, we don't have to move her now or any time soon, but if you're serious about having children one day it's not fair of us to leave her in Vegas when she could have a relationship with her future grandchildren. Just think about it. I know change is hard, but I'm here every step of the way." Spencer nods "man, what was in that shower last night where you woke up so smart and wise?" I scoff and say "Spencer, I am always smart and wise you just don't always listen."

•••••

It's Christmas Eve morning. We are visiting Diana one last time before leaving this morning for the airport. Spencer and I received weird stares as we walked to Bennington and I know it's because the bruise on my forehead makes me look like he abuses me. It's already healed a lot since the injury but it definitely got worse before it got better. We make our way into Bennington and hear from the nurses that it has been a good morning so far. We make our way to Diana's room and she is excited to see us. She is horrified at the bruise on my face and Spencer explains what happened to her and she is even more horrified after hearing the whole story. I shake it off and say "Diana, I'm fine, it looks worse than it is and we took a suspected killer off the streets. The good outweighs the bad, I promise." Diana nods and says "that's a good way to look at it, Anneliese." I chuckle and say "Diana, you can just call me Annie." She shakes her head and says "your name is so beautiful I can't imagine calling you anything else." I smile and nod "well, thank you." I spent the day before resting and not straining my head per the doctor's orders. Spencer read the rest of the book The Turning of the Screw to me as I rested my head and my eyes. We spend the majority of our hour with Diana discussing the book and our theories and opinions regarding it. It was a very enlightening discussion. It also felt very intimate and it was so relieving to be welcomed into the conversation and relationship between Spencer and his mother. We make our way to the hotel after saying goodbye to Diana and grab our bags before checking out and ubering to the airport. In the Uber Spencer grabs my hand and smiles as we sit in comfortable silence for the entirety of the car ride. I'm honestly grateful for the silence. We check our bags and slowly make our way through security with an hour to spare to wait at our gate. Before we left the hotel I tried to cover up the bruise on my head with makeup, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Spencer and I stop to get something to eat and on the way to the gate I notice a shop with different hats. I look at Spencer and then walk into the shop and decide to buy a Las Vegas cap to wear so people will quit staring. Spencer nods with a tight lipped smile, affected by the staring as well. I buy the cap and immediately put it on after taking off the tag. Spencer says quietly "I hate that all these strangers think I would hit you." I shush him "Spencer they don't know what happened so they have no room to judge. It's none of their business." Spencer nods and we make our way to the gate to wait on our flight to Nashville. I look at Spencer and say "I never told my parents about what happened. Do you think I'll have to?" Spencer scoffs and nods "yes please do so they don't think you brought a domestic abuser home for Christmas." I laugh and nod "it's definitely something I would rather tell them in person so I'll just wear the cap until I can talk to them about it." Spencer nods in agreement. We get called to board early as first class, again. We get comfortable in our seats and pick out a movie to watch together. I'm excited for Christmas Eve at home and I'm also excited to show off Spencer to my family over the holidays. I just hope my wild family doesn't scare Spencer off. However, if he stayed with me through all we've gone through, hopefully a few off color comments from some of my quirky family members won't be enough to scare him. I've tried to prepare him as best I could and told him who he could be real with and who he should be more guarded with. Luckily he has an eidetic memory but whether or not he heeds my advice is up to him entirely.