Retribution, A Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 17. Oddities in Blood and Bed

By morning, Ana was chafing at the bit for her release.

When the attending physician got to her room as part of his regular rounds, he found her dressed and pacing. Her husband was keeping close as he talked on the phone, tracking the doctor’s every move.

“You’re looking much better this morning, Mrs. Reid. Although, you should have waited for me before getting into your street clothes.” Holding a clipboard, the doctor flipped through several pages, reviewing the previous day’s test results. He hesitated over one page, frowning.

Reid noticed his expression. “Rossi, can I call you back? The doctor’s here and I want to be sure everything’s good.” Nodding at the response on the other end of the call, he closed the connection and gave his full attention to the perplexed man reading Ana’s chart.

“I’m Dr. Spencer Reid. Is something wrong with my wife’s lab work, Doctor?

Reid’s laying claim to the title ‘Dr.,’ made the man glance up, but he returned to studying the columns of numbers on the printout in his hand before responding.

“Uh, no…not really. Just…,” he flipped the page, scanned more data and then returned to the set that had originally captured his attention. “…It’s just some of the blood chemistry is a little…odd…I guess you could call it.”

“May I?” Reid reached his hand toward the clipboard.

Reluctant to hand over official records to a stranger, the doctor chose to relate the findings himself. “When your wife arrived yesterday we drew blood and ran a full analysis. There were elevated levels of…well,…lots of things, apparently. Lipids, oxygen, various amino acids. Some of these are normal to pregnancy. Some are indicators of intense activity.” He looked at Ana. “But she wasn’t engaged in anything that could be called strenuous. …There could have been a mix-up in the lab, I suppose, but…. These look like neurotransmitters and something else…I’m not quite sure what….”

Reid had kept his hand out. As the doctor gave his wife a considering look, Reid pulled the clipboard from his grip, encountering only token resistance.

Looking at the data, Reid’s eidetic memory drew instant, accurate cross-references with the data he’d seen on the lone flash drive that Rossi had saved for him from Dr. Carol Bescardi’s lab around two years ago; the data that showed changes in blood chemistry whenever his or Ana’s psychic abilities were engaged. He’d found the implications fascinating and had meant to pursue them, but building a life with Ana had sidetracked him and relegated Bescardi’s experiments to a back burner in his mind.

While numbers tumbled in Reid’s brain, the doctor gave his patient a cursory examination.

Spencer! He’s looking at me like I’m some kind of freak. Say something!

Cognizant of the fact that he’d never specified exactly what type of doctor he himself was, Reid dove in and did some verbal tap dancing for Ana’s sake.

“Ah. I see what’s going on here.” The doctor looked at Reid, skepticism and the desire for a logical, quantifiable explanation warring in his eyes. “When my wife was brought in she was suffering acute pain and fear. I’m sure you know stressors like that, if of sufficient duration and extremity, render the blood-brain barrier permeable. Your lab technicians are extraordinarily efficient. They should be congratulated for drawing the sample and performing the analysis with such alacrity, before her body’s natural processes compensated and returned her to standard levels.”

Reid took a mental breath and hoped the doctor would accept his glib reassurance. “I appreciate what you’ve done for us, Doctor. It’s good to know there’s someplace we can rely on in an emergency. Thank you.” Reid gave the clipboard back and again extended his hand, this time for the purpose of shaking the doctor’s, signaling the end of this meeting.