Chapter Twelve
-Shawn-
Just like I said, it was only a flesh wound. Yes, I was shot, but it's hard to puncture pure steel. After the doctor cleaned the small gash on my arm and stitched it, he set me free. He offered pain medicine, but I told him to keep it. I didn't feel anything.
When I walked through the emergency doors, the first person I saw was my dad. For some reason I was bracing myself for a lecture or something, but I as completely wrong. "Shawn," he said when he saw me. We walked to each other and he pulled me into a hug. "When I heard what happened I got here as soon as I could. Are you all right?!"
"Yah, dad, I'm fine. I wouldn't say that I was shot, though. More like… bullet scrapped." He laughed once before letting me go. "What's the news on Jules," I asked the small group of us that were there. The only ones in the waiting room where Gus, Lassie, my dad, and a few other people who weren't with us.
"No word," Lassie said. "Chief Vick and McNab had to leave to go to a bank robbery."
"There's never a rest in Santa Barbra," Gus said. I sat down next to him only to stand up again.
"Speaking of never resting," my dad said, "Lassiter, you haven't been married a week yet and you've only spent a few hours with your wife. Go home and…"
"Henry," Lassie said standing up. "I am not leaving my partner."
"You live five minutes from the hospital. There isn't much you can do for Juliet but go home and be with Marlowe. I'll call if something changes." NO one ever wins a fight against my dad. Trust me, I would know.
"Alright, but you better call." They continued to talk before he left, but I didn't pay attention. I started pacing back and forth in front of where Gus was sitting. I couldn't stand not knowing what was going on.
"If you keep walking like that, the hospital is going to bill you for ruining their carpet." I was going to say a sarcastic comment back to him, but another voice filled the empty room.
"Family of Juliet O'Hara." Gus and my dad stood up with me and the doctor walked over to us. "Hello, I'm Doctor Walker-"
"Is everything okay," I quickly asked him.
"Well, we can't be sure at this point. I've given her some antibiotics to try to counteract with the poison before we go into surgery."
"Surgery? Why surgery?" I felt myself start to panic.
"Her wrist is broken, but not as severely as it looks in the x-ray. That's the easy fix. We just have to go in and reposition the bones. It won't even take that long to heal. The hard part will be fixing her lung. Detective O'Hara has four broken ribs; one which slightly punctured a lung." He looked down for a second like he didn't want to tell us something. "Surgery is very risky. Before we got her stabilized, she had flat lined. Twice." My head got fuzzy and I fell back into the chair behind me. "As I said, in her state surgery is risky, but without fixing a punctured lung…well, you get the idea." He obviously didn't finish the sentence from the look on my face. "Now, before I can continue with surgery, I need papers signed." I knew that I was probably the last person she wanted to sign her life over into this doctor's hands, but I did.
After telling us that the surgery was set for 2 am, he left. I sat back down next Gus as my dad went outside to call Lassie with the news. I debated my next move. After mentally fighting with myself for a few minutes, I finally gave in. I took out Jules' phone that I had found at that house and looked up her mom's number. I called hoping that it'd go right to voicemail.
"Hello?"
"Maryanne? Uh.. hi. It's Shawn… Spencer."
"Oh. Hi Shawn! You sounded shocked that I answered."
"I am," I answered honestly with a laugh. "Isn't it like 4 in the morning in Tampa?"
"Yes, but I'm in England for a business trip right now."
"Do you have a second? I need to talk to you," I said as I tried to think of something to tell her. I didn't want to make a big deal out of and have her freak out when she was half way across the world.
"Yah, I'm on my lunch break. Shawn, is something wrong?"
"Well, sorta," I stumbled. Ever since the breakup I've had trouble with words. It was so frustrating because that was one of my best talents! "There was an… accident today and Juliet is in the hospital."
"What," she screamed. "What happened? I'll be on the first flight out of London."
"No, you're fine. Everything's fine." Why is lying so hard?! You lie all the time. "Juliet wouldn't want you to leave." At least that's the truth. "It's just a few broken ribs and a wrist that needs surgically repaired. You stay in London and do your job. She'll be fine."
"Well, I only have a week left here. Are you sure I don't need to come?"
"Yah, I'm sure. It's no biggy," I waved off as my hands were starting to shake.
"Okay, but let me know if something changes. I'll be there as soon as I'm done here."
"Okay." We said our goodbyes and hung up. I looked at Gus who was already staring at me. He looked about just as worried as I felt.
"Was that Juliet's mom," he asked pointing to my phone. I nodded.
"I had to let her know what was going on, but I didn't expect her to be away on a business trip!"
"What'd she say?"
"She'll be here in a week when she's done in London."
My dad came back in. The three of us sat in silence. 2 am came and went. So did 3 and 4. I sat and tried to keep myself preoccupied with different things. I downloaded an app called Find the Pineapple. After about five minutes I beat all 173 levels. These things were too damn easy. Chief called and asked for an update on Jules. I was happy she called Gus because I didn't think I'd be able to repeat what the doctor had said. At about 7:37 the doctor came out. We all stood up and waited for the news.
"Juliet is out of surgery and recovery. Everything went very well. A lot better than I had originally thought."
"So she'll be okay," I asked.
"I can't tell for sure right now." All the hope drained from me. "The next 48 hours are critical. If she makes through the next two days, I'm doubtful that we will have very many issues. Just to be on the safe side-and also to let her body heal- she's been put in a medically induced coma."
"How long will it be until she wakes up," Gus asked.
"Anywhere from seven to ten days." We nodded with understanding. "Even though she's not conscious, you may come back to see her one at a time."
"Go ahead, Kid," my dad said when I hesitated to move. "And take your time."
