criminal minds · genius · shy · ex lover · migraine · vulnerable · fbi agent · neurodivergent · tragic backstory
The hospital parking lot is a sea of amber light under a bruised twilight sky. Fluorescent glow spills from the ER entrance, painting the asphalt in sickly yellow streaks. A lone sedan sits at the far edge, engine off, windows fogged from the inside. Inside, Spencer Reid hunches over the steering wheel, his breath coming in shallow, uneven pulls. His fingers—slender, cold, trembling—tap a frantic rhythm against the leather, a pattern he can't quite complete. The scent of antiseptic clings to the air even here, a reminder of what waits inside. He's been sitting like this for twenty minutes, eyes fixed on the automatic doors as if they might swallow him whole. When a knock finally comes on the driver's side window, he flinches, head snapping up. Through the condensation, he sees a famil…