Work Text:
Christina sleeps through the MRI, which is probably for the best… But it still worries all of them to see just how out of it she is. Reid watches her through the window the entire time, while Victor and Jeremy continue trying to get in touch with Bobby.
Minutes after Christina is wheeled back into her room, followed by Reid on-foot, a doctor comes in with the results. "We definitely found evidence of some brain inflammation." Victor sucks in a breath.
"We're gonna start her on broad-spectrum antibiotics… I'd also like to do a lumbar puncture. She will need to give consent for that though." Victor looks down at the still-unconscious Christina, wondering how they're going to accomplish that.
"One of you is allowed to be with her during the procedure. You can let her choose, but whoever it is needs to have a cool head. It's basically an OR and we don't need someone freaking out while we're trying to perform a delicate procedure," the doctor explains sternly before leaving them to try and coax Christina awake.
"I'd like to think all of us are up for it," Jeremy says when the door shuts. Reid averts his gaze. "Yeah…"
Victor can tell immediately that he's already panicking internally— he is as well, but Reid's been through far too many situations like this before. He can't imagine the memories this experience is causing to resurface in his mind.
"It's up to Christina then," Victor concludes, turning towards her. "Nana…" Jeremy murmurs, gently touching her shoulder. Her eyes flutter open as soon as he says her name.
"Mmm?" She looks right at Jeremy for the first time all day, which is a good sign. "They need to do a lumbar puncture on you," he starts, rubbing her shoulder soothingly.
"I don't feel good," she informs him in response. "I know. They have to do this so they can figure out how to make you feel better." Christina squints at him against the bright, white hospital lights before giving up, the meager exertion seeming to make her migraine worse. "Okay…" she concedes, closing her eyes again.
"Hey, hold on a second… we need you to answer a question." Jeremy says quickly and she very reluctantly looks up at him again. "Only one of us can be with you during the procedure. Who do you want in there with you?" Jeremy asks slowly.
She lifts her head to survey the cluster of people in the room. She thinks for a few seconds before she decides, "Ike…"
"Okay," Jeremy smiles at her before turning to Victor. "I can do that," he confirms with a nod.
—
Christina appeared small in the hospital bed before, but that's incomparable to how she looks right now: curled up in the fetal position on her right side as instructed by the doctors. "You're doing a great job…" one of the nurses says kindly.
Christina hums in response and looks up at Victor. "You're okay," he reassures her. "Can you hold my hand?" she whispers, tears forming in her eyes.
He looks to the doctor for permission before taking her hand. "Just keep it there and stay completely relaxed." The doctor tells them both.
They numb and clean the area and it's clear that Christina's working herself up. "Hey… why don't you try to fall back asleep?" Victor suggests, but she shakes her head. "I can't… I'm…" she trails off, blinking back tears.
"I'm scared," she admits quietly. It breaks his heart, but he can't let her see how much this is killing him so he decides to try a different approach. "What do you always say?"
"Do what scares you…" she mumbles, "But that doesn't include medical procedures!"
"And why not?" he asks sincerely. "I…" She doesn't have an answer. A few tears roll down her face involuntarily. "You can do this, Tina… and I'll be right here the entire time."
She nods, clamping her eyes shut. He squeezes her hand reassuringly, and the doctor makes sure that she's numb before beginning the procedure.
As soon as the needle hits her muscle, she seethes. "Ike…" she whispers, her voice breaking. "Breathe… just breathe… in and out." He runs his thumb over her knuckles. Usually, that sentiment doesn't help at all, but in this scenario, he can tell that it grounds her a little.
The needle component of the procedure goes relatively quickly and as soon as it's done, Christina noticably relaxes. "You did it…" Victor tells her with a smile. The one she returns looks more like a grimace.
"Can I sleep now…?" she asks groggily. "Of course, Tina…"
—
It's been just over twenty minutes since Christina and Victor left for the procedure. Jeremy's spent most of that time trying to clean the vomit off his shoes. After a good stint of scrubbing at the bathroom sink, he decides that they're probably a lost cause— although he did manage to get them dry, and the nurses gave him a pair of fresh grippy socks to replace the old ones.
He finally settles down next to Reid with a heavy sigh. Reid doesn't even look up. He's completely engrossed in something on his phone. Jeremy leaves him alone at first, figuring he's found a way to entertain himself.
But then he notices how anxious he seems. His leg is bouncing up and down, which is usually something that Jeremy catches himself doing… but never Reid. He gently places his hand on Reid's knee until he looks up questioningly, before suddenly realizing what he's doing.
"Sorry," he apologizes, stilling his leg and releasing a shallow exhale. "It's alright…" Jeremy's still incredibly confused. Obviously, they're all worried about Christina, but she's in good hands now. It's not like she's undergoing major surgery.
But Reid's been acting weird all day… so maybe there's something else going on? After a few minutes of wracking his mind for possible explanations, Jeremy decides the best thing to do is to just ask him directly. "Reid-"
Reid jumps slightly at the mention of his name. He recovers quickly and looks over at Jeremy. "Are you okay?" Jeremy asks, a laugh just under the surface. "Yeah." He replies much too quickly for it to be true.
"Are you sure? You've seemed off all day and now you're… jumpy…" he says, for lack of a better word. "I'm not jumpy," he defends immediately.
"You literally just jumped when I said your name… and when I opened the door… and when the door shut behind Ike and Tina…" Honestly, he could go on, but Reid starts to shake his head.
"Okay, maybe I am jumpy…" He opens and closes his mouth a few times, clearly unsure of where to take the conversation from here. "Why?" Jeremy prompts gently.
Reid averts his gaze, looking out the window instead of at Jeremy. "Reid… it's okay," Jeremy coaxes with a slight frown. Reid doesn't say anything. Suddenly, it clicks in Jeremy's mind: how did it not occur to him sooner?
"You're thinking of Carroll." Reid freezes, which confirms to Jeremy that he's hit the nail on the head.
It all makes sense now… every little thing he's picked up on throughout the day relates back to this. He's terrified of watching someone he loves suffer so immensely again. It's killing him to see her this way.
Jeremy gently places a hand on Reid's shoulder. He flinches, but doesn't pull away or turn away from the window to face him. "Christina's gonna be okay."
"Mmm," he hums in response. Jeremy doesn't need to see his face to know that he's crying. "Do you want to go for a walk? Get some air?" Jeremy offers, suspecting that perhaps being confined to a hospital room is contributing to his distress.
Reid's quiet for a few seconds before he shakes his head. "Okay… do you-" Before Jeremy can finish the question, Reid suddenly turns around, leaning heavily into Jeremy's side.
He interprets this as an attempt at initiating a hug, so he just wraps his arms around Reid who wordlessly buries his face in Jeremy's chest. A single sob escapes and Jeremy rubs a hand up and down his back. "It's gonna be okay," he says softly.
They sit in silence for a while before Reid takes a deep, shuddering inhale and pulls away. "I'm sorry." He wipes his tears away quickly. "Reid…" Jeremy shakes his head, momentarily lost for words, "And you're always telling me that I say sorry too much."
Reid laughs a bit at that, "Thank you for that though… I- I needed that."
"Of course… Is there anything else I can do? Maybe you should go home and get some rest," Jeremy suggests hesitantly. "No, I can't leave…" Reid shakes his head definitively. "Are you sure? Tina wouldn't mind. She'd just want you to do whatever you need to do to feel okay."
Reid hesitates for a few seconds before responding, "I want to be here… at least until she starts feeling better."
Jeremy nods, "Okay… but if that changes-"
"I'll tell you." He promises confidently. Jeremy still feels like there's more than he could be doing to make this easier for Reid, but he does trust his friend to ask for help if he needs it. And all things considered, he considers that a win in of itself.
—
"How did it go?" Reid asks as soon as Christina and Victor return to the room. "She did great," Victor tells them honestly as the nurses transfer her back into her hospital bed. She hasn't stirred at all since falling asleep after the procedure.
"Did she sleep through it?" Jeremy asks, pursing his lips. "No, she was awake… she was kind of freaking out, but she still did a great job."
"And you?" Reid asks, tilting his head. "I'm okay…" Victor's tone is… less than genuine.
"Ike," Reid presses gently. "I hated seeing her like that…" he admits, settling down on the couch next to him. "I've never seen her look that small before…" Reid and Jeremy don't say anything, but Reid places his hand on top of Victor's.
"I think you were the right choice." Reid says after a few minutes of silence. "I hope so…" Victor responds with a wince. "I think either of you would have been more comforting…"
"Maybe, but I don't think that's what she needed in that moment… I think she needed someone calm and grounding. You're amazing at that. Better than I'll ever be," Reid counters.
"And I'm sure she'll tell you that when she wakes up." Jeremy quickly adds. Victor wants to protest, but instead, he decides to take their compliments to heart for once…
—
Hearing that Christina does, in fact, have meningitis is terrifying, but it's also incredibly reassuring to know that since this is considered an early catch, she should make a full recovery.
Victor's still nervous, but when Christina improves drastically over those next few hours on the right antibiotics, it's like a flip is switched. She's finally able to stay awake for longer than a few minutes, she's able to hold conversations, and in those conversations, she seems a lot more like herself.
Before, it was almost as though they were speaking to a completely different person. All of the qualities that make her Christina were gone: but now, they're slowly returning and according to the doctors, that's a great sign that she won't have any lasting side-effects after her course of antibiotics has been completed.
"Thank you guys…" she says after she finishes a bland, hospital-provided dinner. "For what?" Reid asks.
"Saving my life… and also just taking care of me in general… I don't know what I would've done if I was alone," she murmurs, looking down at the blankets as her voice breaks.
"Aw, Nana… we're happy to take care of you," Jeremy replies without hesitation. "Still…" She trails off, clearly trying to avoid crying for the millionth time today.
"Jeremy's right… Whether you have a cold or fucking meningitis, we're here for you," Reid adds.
"That means a lot… really." Christina can't help, but swipe at her eyes a few times.
Jeremy's the one who initiates the hug. He's very careful of her sore back as he wraps his arms around her. She turns her head down into his arm and grips the other to keep him in place. Reid and Victor do their best to join in on the precarious embrace.
It's not their best group hug, but it gets the job done. When they all finally pull away from each other, everyone's crying a mix of good tears and bad tears.
—
Bobby finally calls Reid back around 1pm. Christina's asleep and they'd very much like to keep it that way, so Reid stands up and makes for the door. Jeremy notices how much his hands are shaking and he quickly makes the decision to follow him.
"Hey, is everything okay?" he asks, closing the door behind them. Reid shows him the name flickering across the screen. He doesn't need to say anything for Jeremy to understand why he's a little apprehensive.
"Why don't I answer?" Jeremy offers. "Thank you…" Reid sighs, placing the phone in Jeremy's open hand.
He quickly slides the answer call button across the screen and raises the phone to his ear, making sure he's not blocking the hallway. Reid stands a few feet away for the entire duration of the call, mercifully only able to hear Jeremy's steady, reassuring side of the conversation.
Jeremy does his best to answer all Bobby's questions, and assures him that Christina will be in good hands until he is able to get to the hospital. Then, he hangs up and hands the phone back to Reid.
"Thank you," Reid murmurs again, staring at the floor. "It's not a problem at all…" Jeremy wants to try and dig a little deeper, and maybe have an actual conversation about all the feelings this is bringing up, but he recognizes that this is probably not the right moment for Reid to dive into all that… not unless he starts it.
So instead, he just asks, "Are you ready to go back?", gesturing towards the door leading to Christina's room. "Yeah… actually, I might get some food from the cafeteria?" He says it as though he needs permission from Jeremy to leave.
"Sure, do you want me to come with you?" he asks, a touch of confusion in his voice. "Only if you want to." That's definitely Reid's way of saying yes, so Jeremy agrees, citing being hungry himself— which certainly isn't a lie by any measure. They let Victor know where they're going before making their way downstairs.
They don't talk about Christina or Carroll, or any of today's events while they eat. Instead Jeremy steers the conversation over to something he knows Reid likes talking about: American sports.