Reid and Reid Ship Oneshots

Gardner-Diamond Syndrome

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Reid walked into the bullpen area of the BAU. He headed straight to the conference room, because he had gotten a text message from Garcia saying they had a case.
He was anxious. He didn't want to come in today, he was actually planning to take a few days off, but it sounded urgent. He had no plan, and didn't really want to have to explain himself when everyone saw him.

When he entered the room, no one looked up from their tablets, which he was thankful for. He sat down as quietly as possible, and kept his head down on his file to avoid Garcia's eyes.

"All of these men were very muscly." She said, pressing through multiple photos of the victims. "But they were all beaten to death."

"So this guy has to be the bodybuilder of the century to take all of these guys." Morgan sighs.

"Body building is actually not an accurate gauge of strength, because the sport is more for aesthetic purposes than the actual the building of strength. Most Olympic bodybuilders have a dangerously low fat percentage so they're often mildly malnourished from lack of vitamins." Reid ranted, still looking down at his files.

They looked over to him in shock, as some of them didn't even know he entered the room.

"Right." Garcia smiled, "But someone is still strong enough to kill four jacked guys."

"Alright." Hotch stood up from his chair, "Wheels up in thirty."

"I'm sorry, where are we going? I came in a little late." Reid looked up from his file subconsciously, announcing his question to the room.

They turned to him, worry and shock on their faces.
Reid immediately understood their reactions, and looked down in shame.

"Are you all right, Reid?" Emily asked.

"Yeah." He said reluctantly, ready for the questions that were going to be thrown at him.

"Did you get in a fight?" Morgan chuckled.

"No, the bruise just showed up there. It was there when I woke up yesterday." Reid tried to make strong eye contact, but it was hard.

"Oh ok." JJ said, obvious skepticism in her voice.

They began to walk out of the room, but Reid knew this wasn't over. He had to tell them now or it'd go on forever.

"Psychogenic Purpura!" He shouted, looking down at the ground in embarrassment.

"Huh?" They all sounded, turning around. They did not know what that was.

"It's more commonly known as Gardner Diamond Syndrome." Reid said quietly, looking back up.
Once he saw that he held everyone attention, he stuck his right arm out, palm up, and pulled his sleeve up to his elbow.
"It's a rare clinical syndrome of recurrent bruising or bleeding. I'm the third known case of a male having the condition." He explained.

A massive brown and black bruise covered the entirety of his forearm.

"Oh my god!" Garcia gasped, startled by the sight. "Does that hurt?"

"The tenderness of a normal bruise comes from the collection of blood under the skin from broken capillaries, so yes, it does hurt." Reid sighed.

"Should you take some time off?" Hotch asked, just as concerned as everyone else, but not showing it.

"No!" Reid urged, "I'm fine. I've been on cases with it before, just never on my face." Reid raised his hand to cover the harsh bruising on his chin and right cheek. It wasn't necessarily swollen as if he had gotten it from an injury, but it certainly looked odd, unprofessional at the least.

Morgan patted his back, and led him out of the conference room with everyone else.
He didn't know what to say, because he had no idea how long this was happening or why; he couldn't really offer any advice.
Reid seemed to pick up on this through his silence, and assured him he was ok.

"I'm fine. The bruising should clear within the week." Reid said hopefully.
In reality that was a lie. It takes normal bruises anywhere from a few days to months to clear up, and this was on a large scale and not from injury. Just going by experience with passed large scale inflammation, this would clear within the month. The facial marks were a different story though. He had never had any before.
He knew that reactions regarding Gardner Diamond Syndrome had to do with physical strain and emotional stress, but what was he stressed about?
Reid chalked it up to lack of sleep, and his bodies immune system being compromised from the lack. He needed more sleep. He'd get some rest on the plane today then.