Chapter 11

Dr Samuals made his way solemnly down the long corridor to the waiting room, being met with the expectant looks of Shawn's friends and family as he approached. He shook his head sadly, this was the hardest part of being a doctor, "I'm so sorry." He consoled, as he saw the world crumbling around each of them.

Shawn's father was in complete denial, saying the word, "No...!" repeatedly, Detective Lassiter had awkwardly placed a hand on the older man's shoulder in an effort to comfort him, the young female detective was covering her mouth and shaking her head, unable to believe that Shawn could actually be dead, and his best friend just slumped forward in his chair, sobbing quietly into his hands.

Samuals felt a great aching in his heart as he witnessed their pain...

"No!" Dr Samuals shouted out, shaking his head, Shawn wasn't gone, not if he could help it. He broke free of the doctor's grasps and went straight back to his patient, starting compressions again, "I said I can save him!" He growled, not wanting the scenario he'd just imagined to become a reality, Come on Shawn! He begged inwardly, grabbing the paddles and calling out "Clear" as he shocked his patient once again.

"Damnit!" He cursed under his breath when there was still no heart activity, he was just ready to start compressions again when he heard it...A beep, and then movement on the heart monitor. Samuals breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Shawn was alive.

"You did it Doc." The younger doctor smiled, "You did it."

Lassiter walked back into the waiting room, handing Henry, Juliet and Gus a coffee. The three of them muttered their thanks and then went back to sitting in worried silence. The longer it took for them to hear anything on Shawn's condition, the more they were convinced the news couldn't be good.

All four heads shot up suddenly as Dr Samuals approached.

"How is he?" Henry wasted no time in asking.

"Your son's alive Mr Spencer." Dr Samuals replied, although from the grim expression he was wearing, they now knew Shawn's condition had to be bad, "Let's talk somewhere a little more private, shall we?" He suggested softly, signalling for them to follow him.

He lead the four of them into his office, and sat behind his desk, "Please, take a seat." The four of them sat down nervously, hearts pounding.

Once again, Henry was the first person to break the silence, "How bad?"

"Mr Spencer, your son's dangerously ill, his condition is critical." Dr Samuals had spent enough time around Henry over the past couple of days to know that he'd want him to get straight to the point, no matter how bad his son's condition was, "We are doing everything we can, but I'm afraid the prognosis does not look good right now." He continued, "At some point during Shawn's illness, he developed sepsis..."

"Oh my gosh...Blood poisoning!" Gus exclaimed, burying his head into his hands, and then looking back up at the doctor, asking, "Is Shawn in the ICU?"

The doctor nodded, then went on to explain a little about sepsis, for the people in the room who weren't familiar with the condition, "Now, there are three stages of sepsis, uncomplicated, severe, and sceptic shock." He explained, "Unfortunately, by the time we got Shawn back to the hospital, the sespis had already developed into the latter of the three..."

"Meaning organ failure and low survival rate..." Gus interrupted in defeat, his voice cracking.

"I'm afraid so." Samuals sighed. "So far only Shawn's lungs have started to fail, and we are doing everything in our power to keep it that way." He told them, although, unsurprisingly, it did nothing to extinguish their concern. "We've started Shawn on an IV with fluids and an aggressive dose of antibiotics to fight the infection. Right now Shawn's on life support due to his respiratory failure, which means we've put him on a ventilator." The doctor continued, "He's running a very high fever, so we're doing our best to get his temperature down. Now, I must warn you, Shawn has already crashed once, and there's a good chance it will happen again over the course of the next few hour especially...Maybe even the next few days."

The concern they were all feeling for Shawn increased tenfold at that information.

"What's his chance of survival Doctor?" Henry asked.

"Right now it's pretty slim," He answered honestly, "but, if I've learnt anything over the past week, it's that your son's a very stubborn young man Mr Spencer, so I believe if there's anyone who can beat the odds, it's going to be him."

"When can we see Shawn?" Gus asked.

"I can take you to him now." Dr Samuals stood up, and the four of them followed him out of the room and towards the Intensive Care Unit, "Shawn's heavily sedated at the moment, so you won't be able to speak to him," He told them as they walked through the corridors, "and even when he does wake up, there's a good chance he'll be very confused and disorientated."

"So you're saying there's a chance he won't even know who we are?" Juliet asked.

"Yes, that's quite common in patients with this type of illness." The doctor confirmed, "Now, I must warn you," He began, as they reached Shawn's room, "the ICU can be an overwhelming place, but just remember, the machines hooked up to Shawn are there to help him, they're designed to keep him alive." He assured them, despite being fully aware that this probably wouldn't be the first time they'd set foot in an ICU, considering their occupations, but he also knew that the experience was very different when it was someone they knew.

Just as Dr Samauls was about to open the door to let them in, Lassiter stopped him, "I just have one question Doc, if Forster hadn't captured Shawn, would he be in a much better position right now?"

"It would have given us more chance to catch the infection earlier, so yes, there is a good chance he would be." He answered as he opened the door.

"Just as I though." Lassiter frowned as they followed the doctor inside.

Juliet gave her partner a sympathetic look, knowing just where he was going with this, "Carlton, Forster would've taken Shawn whether there was a guard outside his room or not." She told him in a hushed voiced.

"You can't know that for sure." He replied, just as quietly.

"Oh my god," Gus gasped as soon as he lay eyes on his best friend, tubes and wires coming out of him and into the beeping machines all around him, his skin looked an unhealthy colour, and a sheen of sweat covered his body. They'd known each other practically all their lives, so he'd witnessed ill-Shawn plenty of times over the years, but he'd never seen him like this, and that scared him more than he could ever imagine. The warnings the doctor had given them had done nothing to prepare him for the horrific sight before him. "Shawn..."

As Gus stared in shock at his best friend, Henry wasted no time in brushing past him, straight to his sons bedside, "You really outdid yourself this time, huh kid?" He said softly, his voice cracking, although much more subtly than Gus' had. He brushed the wet hair from Shawn's sweat soaked forehead, his face creasing in worry at just how hot his son actually felt.

Juliet, like Gus, found herself unable to move due to the shocking sight before her. Never before had she seen the usually talkative and hyperactive psychic detective being so quiet and still. If it wasn't for the feverish groans and uncomfortable shifting, she might have questioned whether or not he was really alive.

Lassiter hovered behind the group, just able to make out Shawn's still form. The man who he often considered to be the bane of his existence looked so vulnerable and helpless, and right at that moment, he looked just as young as he usually acted. If Lassiter had been feeling guilty before, it was nothing compared to the way he was feeling right at that moment.

"I'll give you some time alone with Shawn." Samuals told them, "Now, under the circumstances, you will obviously be able to stay with Shawn even after visiting hours have ended, although, after the initial visit, I think it would be better if just one or two of you were inside this room at a time." The doctor had no doubt in his mind over which two out of the four of them would be spending the most time at Shawn's bedside, "I'm just sorry the news couldn't have been more positive." He sighed as he left the room.

After getting over the initial shock at seeing his friend in the condition he was in, Gus finally regained the use of his legs again and was at Shawn's bedside in seconds, standing at the opposite side of the bed to where Henry was stood, and wasting no time in feeling his friend's forehead, "He feels so much hotter than he did before." Gus looked at Henry, worry etched on his face.

"I know." The older man frowned.

Gus slumped down in the chair on his side of the bed and held his friend's hand gently. The chair wasn't particularly comfortable, but he didn't care, he'd just have to suck if up, after all, there was no way he was leaving his friend's side until he was better, You will get better Shawn, you just have to!

As soon as Gus sat down, Juliet found that she was able to move her legs again too, and walked next to Henry, taking Shawn's other hand, "Hey Shawn," Her voice was so soft, it was barely above a whisper, a sad smile appearing on her face, "You need to get better OK? It's far too quiet without you."

Lassiter lowered his head at that, what he wouldn't give to have the fake psychic gloating at him right now, laughing and pointing, saying, "I told you so!" Because he'd been right, and they'd been wrong. "I should call the Chief." The head detective spoke up suddenly, "She wanted to be kept updated on Shawn's condition." He couldn't help but feel sorry for the younger man as he took one last look at him, Why couldn't I have just put the damn guard outside his room like he wanted! He berated himself as he left the ICU.