Santa Barbara, CA, 1977

Madeline held her two-week old son in arms, rocking him gently. Shawn was sleeping, despite the oxygen cannula that was taped to face and all the wires monitoring his heartbeat. Shawn had yet to leave the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the two weeks he's been alive.

"He looks so peaceful," Madeline said. "Poor thing doesn't know what's happening."

"Dr. Adams said that he has high hopes that everything will be fine," Henry assured his wife. He didn't believe a word of what he was saying, and he was sure Madeline didn't either. His newborn son was about to have open heart surgery to repair a rare congenital heart defect. The doctor hadassured them that things should go as planned, but Henry still couldn't help but worry. If, no when, Shawn made it through the surgery, he would not be out of the woods just yet. Dr. Adams remind Madeline and Henry that Shawn's heart problems may persist into childhood and adulthood.

A nurse entered the room, signaling to the nervous parents that it was time to prep Shawn for surgery. Madeline kissed her son's forehead, and passed him to Henry. Henry held Shawn in his arms, one last time, before he went to surgery. Shawn was so tiny in his arms, he couldn't imagine how tiny his heart was.

Santa Barbara, CA, 2008

Juliet's hands shook as she searched for a pulse on Shawn. "Someone call an ambulance now!" She yelled. "He's got a pulse! It's weak, but it's there."

"On it." Lassiter whipped out his cell phone.

Gus knelt next to Shawn, anxiety plastered all over his features. "He wasn't looking right this morning," he said. "He was hot and sweating, he couldn't walk up the stairs."

Shawn's eyes fluttered open slowly. He blinked a few times, his eyes bleary. "Jules?"

"Don't talk Shawn," she said. "You collapsed. An ambulance is on the way."

"It's my heart," he mumbled.

"I know," Jules said. "It's going be okay. You're going to be just fine."

"You're worried about me," Shawn said, his signature smirk appearing on his face.

Juliet couldn't help but smile. If Shawn was smiling, that had to be a good sign, right? Shawn closed his eyes again, but Juliet kept her hand on his chest to monitor his heart beat. Her eyes lingered to the long scar going down his chest.

"I've always noticed the scar on his chest, but I never said anything about it," Juliet told Gus.

"He doesn't like to talk about," Gus said. "He had the first surgery when he was a baby, and another one when he was fifteen. He used to be self-conscious of his scar when we were in high school. He used to button his shirt up all the way to his neck in freshman and sophomore year, even in the summer."

Shawn's eyes opened slowly. "It's not nice to talk about someone when they're laying on the floor, half conscious."

The paramedics came and quickly assessed the situation. "Male, early thirties, collapsed eight minutes ago," one of the paramedics said. "Has he had a history of heart problems before?"

"Yes, he has a congenital heart defect. It's called um," Gus stopped to think, kicking himself over the fact that he couldn't remember what his best friend's heart defect was. "I can't remember."

The paramedics loaded Shawn onto the stretcher and carried him off. "Can I ride with him?" Gus asked.

"Sure, but we're leaving right now," the paramedic answered.

"I'll meet you there as soon as I get done here," Juliet said, forgetting for a moment that she had a crime scene to investigate here.

Shawn was loaded into the ambulance and Gus followed suit. The paramedics immediately hooked Shawn up to a heart monitor and placed an oxygen mask over his face. Gus held Shawn's hand, offering him whatever support he could. Shawn gave no indication that he was aware of Gus's presence, which scared Gus even more. Gus held onto Shawn's hand until the paramedics arrived at the hospital and Shawn was wheeled away to a hospital room.

Gus sat in the waiting room, wringing his hands together. He knew what he had to do next.

Henry hurried into the hospital doors, clad in a red shirt, cargo shorts and flip flops. He had been polishing his boat when he received Gus's call. Gus only called when something was wrong, so Henry had headed to his truck before he even answered the phone.

Henry sat down next to Gus. "What happened?"

Gus explained everything. "I knew there was something off with him this morning. I should have insisted that we skipped this case."

Henry crossed his arms over his chest anxiously. "He's always been so damn stubborn. He wouldn't have listened to you anyway. Has there been any updates?"

"I asked a nurse a few minutes ago, but she told me she would get us as soon as she heard something."

As if on cue, a nurse came out from the back. "Family of Shawn Spencer?"

Henry and Gus jumped up immediately, following the nurse as she led them back to Shawn's room. "You can sit with him," the nurse said. "He's resting now. The doctor will be in to give you more information on his condition."

Shawn was laying in the hospital bed, eyes closed. The oxygen mask had been replaced with a nasal cannula, and he was hooked up to the all too familiar heart monitor. An IV had been placed in his arm.

Shawn woke up when Gus and Henry came in. "Hey buddy," Shawn greeted when he saw Gus. His face fell when he saw Henry enter in behind him. "You called my Dad?"

"I had to," Gus said.

Shawn braced himself for the lecture he knew was coming. "How long has this been going on?" Henry asked.

Shawn tried to move his arms, but felt constricted from the IV's. "Maybe two weeks."

Henry's eyebrows shot up. "Two weeks? And you didn't think about seeing your cardiologist? Shawn, I expected you to be more proactive."

"I didn't think it was going to get this bad," Shawn admitted. "I thought maybe it would go away."

"This isn't something that's going away Shawn. You've had this since birth. You knew this day might come."

"Don't reminded me," Shawn muttered.

A doctor Shawn had never saw before entered his hospital room. "Hello Shawn, I'm Dr. Williams. When you came in, you were bradycardic and had low oxygen levels, which is why you passed out. Your heart was beating too slow. We've managed to increase your heart rate now, so it's beating at a normal rate. I reviewed your medical history, so I'm familiar with your heart defect. Unfortunately, I do have some bad news."

Henry was taken right back to the time when Shawn was born, when the doctor told him and Madeline about Shawn's heart defect. This was too familiar.

Dr. Williams continued. "I ran an ECG and a chest x-ray when you were brought in. After further inspection, I noticed that you have pulmonic regurgitation."

Gus looked at Shawn's face, looking for any change in emotion. He was sure that Shawn didn't know what that meant.

"Pulmonic regurgitation is common in adults who were diagnosed with Tetralogy of the Fallot when they were babies. Pulmonic regurgitation happens when the pulmonic valve doesn't do its job, and causes blood flow from the pulmonic artery into the right ventricle of the heart."

Shawn wringed his hands in his lap. He was embarrassed to admit that he didn't know what any of this meant. The only thing he understood was that his heart was weak.

"The treatment I recommend is valve replacement," Dr. Williams said. "I'm afraid your heart won't get better without it. I'll discuss the different types of valves that we can use, but right now, you need to rest. I'll be back later to talk with you."

"Thanks doctor," Henry said, taking a seat next to Shawn's bed.

Shawn let what the doctor had said sink in. He would need another surgery. A third open heart surgery. This couldn't be happening. He loved his life. What would this mean for his lifestyle? Would he have to give up riding his motorcycle? Would he have to stop consulting for the SBPD?

"Shawn," Henry started. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Shawn shook his head slowly. "No, not right now." The three sat in silence for a moment, feeling the life drain out of the room. "Can you give me a minute?" Shawn said.

"Yeah, no problem," Gus said, sensing his best friend needed some time to collect his thoughts. "We'll be back later."

Shawn waited until he heard Gus and Henry's footsteps disappear down the hall. When he knew they were out of earshot, he finally let his walls down. He couldn't keep his emotions in any longer. Shawn Spencer, started to cry.