As Henry made his fifth lap around the nurse's station waiting for word on Shawn, Gus was jolted out of an exhausted, horror-filled stupor by the ringing of his work cell. He threw the offending object from himself like a poisonous snake until he realized that the glares of annoyance from others waiting in the E.R. of the busy L.A. hospital were for him. He tried to look apologetic as he hastily picked up the still ringing phone but couldn't manage the dexterity to turn the damn thing off with his still shaking hands. His once prized possession would soon be evidence in a cardboard box in the possession of the LA.P.D., he thought with some satisfaction. West Coast Pharmaceuticals would not be getting their employee-issued, very expensive phone back anytime soon and it served them right.
Henry paused in his muttered rehearsal speech to Lassiter, Juliet and Chief Vick to please not be angry at Shawn's deception, to please listen to why he'd done what he had and to see that it was actually noble and not some cheap con. He gently took the cellphone from Gus and turned it off.
"If they can't see that Shawn was only trying to help them all these years, they're not who we thought they were," Gus said quietly of the Santa Barbara P.D. "Besides, Shawn and I can find a new job."
Henry nearly smiled at Gus's stressed regression back to his and Shawn's childhood. The two really couldn't see a future without the other in it.
"So they did fire you?" Henry asked wearily.
"Yeah, they're going through my sample case now. They never even gave me a chance to explain that McNabb wasn't acting on behalf of Santa Barbara P.D.. They said if anything is missing they will prosecute me for theft and leave the trafficking charge to the cops. About the only thing they're going to find missing is some tapeworm deworming medicine that Shawn stole to plant in that nasty model's bathroom medicine cabinet for her noisy co-models to find."
"Why would Shawn go and do a thing like that?" Henry asked, dreading the answer.
"Because she insulted him, said he couldn't possibly have been a model, even a hand model back when we were investigating the agency she worked for when we posed as supermodels, Black and Tan. I mean, I don't think Shawn would have done it just for that personal insult but it was what she did next. She called our waitress at the bar fat and suggested that she stop sampling the food before she brought it to the customers and then made pig noises. Shawn found the waitress crying behind the bar and cheered her up by telling her that the model kept thin by swallowing tapeworms and only drinking Metamucil. Come to think of it, Shawn stole a bottle of that too. Shawn told all the other models he saw her swallow tapeworms before their last shoot and now, voila, when the other curious models look in her medicine cabinet, they will find the evidence of her trying to get rid of the worms after the shoot. Not sure what he did with the Metamucil, but he said something about pouring the whole bottle into her toilet and come to think of it, I did see a plumber's van parked outside the next day."
"Shawn never did like a bully," Henry said slaking his head sadly. His son had spent the better part of his life getting under people's skin but he was a decent person who didn't deserve any of what was happening to him and now his best friend was being dragged down with him.
"Well, on the bright side of things, tapeworm medicine and Metamucil are hardly trafficking drugs," Henry pointed out.
"You'd be surprised. Do you know what the most stolen drugstore item is? It's Preparation H – you know, the hemorrhoid cream. People don't want to take butt cream to a cashier so even rich people steal it."
The small talk was awkward but welcome, even more so for the fact that Shawn would have found hemorrhoid cream talk hilarious if he was with them. But it was all too real, the wailing sirens outside, the squeaky gurney wheels, the antiseptic smells and soon there was only here and now. Henry resumed his pacing and Gus reluctantly put the work cell back in his pocket for when it would be called into evidence. Gus approached Henry to offer to get coffee.
XXXXXX
"Do you think McNabb really told Juliet about Shawn's secret?" Henry asked. Gus wondered how Henry even heard or saw him approach on his way back from the coffee run, since Henry was back-to, but then again, the man had taught Shawn everything he knew about tapping into alternate senses.
Gus wanted to say no, but Juliet had been all business back at Tussaud's and hadn't made a move to comfort Shawn or even glance at him once he was free of the wax. But then she did have Buzz bleeding-out to contend with. It was all Yin's fault that any of them had to worry about this and Buzz's haunted words about being left to die for an hour on the parking garage floor mere weeks back played back for Gus like a recording. How easy it was to plant false impressions of neglect or caring. Gus's stomach ached and he beelined for the men's room to throw up just as he'd forbade his squeamish self from doing when he had a tangible job to do. Waiting was harder.
XXXXX
When Gus emerged from the bathroom stall, Henry was there to hand him a warm paper towel to drag across his face. He guided Gus to the sink to wash his hands.
"Show me your hands, Guster," Henry ordered, observing that Gus's hands were very slightly burned on the backs.
"The skin's just a bit tight, Mr. Spencer, not burned. I wasn't dipped, Shawn had a pretty good hold of Buzz and I just pulled him up out of the wax."
Knowing that Henry wouldn't take his word for it, Gus held his hands up for inspection. Henry took Gus's hands in his and turned them over. The skin was cool but flaked.
"I have some samples in my car I'll put on them soon, promise, I don't need to see a doctor or anything," Gus deflected. "I doubt burn cream is a trafficking drug either," he added bitterly, thinking of his immaculately kept drug case being unceremoniously inventoried.
"They seem like they'll be okay," Henry agreed but if anything changes you have to promise to say something, we've had enough misunderstanding for a lifetime," Henry said tiredly, further inspecting Gus's face for any signs that his son's best friend was hiding an injury.
Henry put his arm around Gus's shoulders and the two of them went back to the plastic chairs in the waiting room only to find that L.A.P.D. was there to take statements. Juliet was there in fresh scrubs, a plastic bag of her clothing in her arm held against her midsection like a shield. The duty nurse directed the group to a private room where they wouldn't upset others.
"How's Lassiter?" Henry asked as they walked by the closed outer doors that lead to the trauma rooms as if hoping to see through them.
"They're cleaning and wrapping his arms. They gave him something for the pain and he threw it up so when they went to give him a shot in the butt, he made me leave." Juliet smiled a sad smile at this revelation. "They have some special burn cream and they're hopeful Lassiter's arms won't even peel like a sunburn."
XXXXXX
Professional courtesy was evident as Henry, Juliet and Gus entered the improvised interrogation room at the hospital with the LA.P.D. Paper cups of coffee and random packaged cookies and sandwiches sat in the center of the table. The coffee was snatched up, the food stayed where it was.
The officers from LA had heard about the notorious serial killers, Yin and Yang and had been informed that like so many officers before him, Constable McNabb was a victim of the disgusting duo. Protocol still had to be maintained; McNabb was under arrest pending full investigation and test confirmations and interrogation, providing he even survived. A judge had granted a full blackout ban on publication of any details and as far as the press was concerned, miraculously, the public frenzy over famous people had concealed the much more interesting, horrible truth of what happened at Tussaud's.
XXXXXXXXXX
Shawn struggled against the restraints someone had placed on him as he lay with icepacks placed near his groan, under his armpits, behind his knees and neck. Someone clamped a hand on his forehead and pulled at his ear. to extract the paraffin.
"Y-you'd better have san-sanitized that alien probe for my protection," Shawn rasped. "And it – it better not be the anal probe – that's my ear you're knee deep in."
"Still has a sense of humor," was the first thing Shawn heard a male voice say as pain exploded with sound in his left ear.
"Shawn, can you hear me?" the same voice said.
"Y-yes," came the tentative reply.
"Okay, good. Now I'm going to have to ask you to stay still as you can and if you can do that, I promise to keep the probing to a minimum, is that a deal?"
Shawn was shocked into compliance with the response to his sarcasm as he felt as if he was thrown against a wall of sound as his right ear was cleared of wax too. The sudden onslaught of beeping, his own ragged breaths from a cooling blanket being applied to his entire body and voices all around him was too much as his brain tried to match sounds with no visuals to back them up.
"BP's spiking," a female voice said.
Shawn felt something cold pushed into his IV port and within seconds he couldn't lift his head but he didn't care.
"Eye – my eyes …" Shawn said as he felt them close and the only difference was that the shadows disappeared.
"Going to do everything we can," was the last thing Shawn heard as he drifted off to the sound of his slowing heart and something about getting a fresh set of vitals.
XXXXXXXXXX
Henry Spencer stood up along with Gus as a doctor called for Shawn's family.
'I'm Dr. Tobias," the man greeted Henry and the two shook hands.
"How's my son, doc?" Henry asked after introducing Gus.
"From the information we received prior to assessing Shawn, I'd say he is very lucky in terms of burns and lasting skin damage. The wax formed a seal on his skin and while it obviously compromised cooling measures, Shawn was spared internal organ damage from hyperthermia. He'll experience some peeling from directly exposed areas and irritation from more protected areas but we're concerned with his eyes now that his temperature is coming down. We don't have all his lab reports back yet but once he's fully stable, Ophthalmology will have a look at him. In the meantime, we're continuing cooling measures and started Shawn on antibiotics to ward off infections. Shawn's breathing is a concern and I want to stay on top of that in case he aspirated some wax into his lungs so we're sending him for a scan and monitoring his blood oxygen levels.
"So, he's not out of the woods yet?" Gus asked, stacking all the positives and negatives the doctor had told them into medical Tetris-like columns in his head.
"We'll know more when all of his labs and scans are completed but so far, Shawn is a fighter – even accused us of probing him," the doctor said with a shake of his head.
"Can I see him?" Henry asked.
The doctor checked his watch. "Shawn is sedated. Radiology will be expecting him in ten minutes but a few minutes wouldn't hurt. Keep in mind he can hear you now and he seems overly agitated by loud noises."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"Ah, kid," Gus heard Henry say under his breath. As they followed the doctor into the trauma room, Henry tried to explain Shawn's unique perspective of sight and sound.
"No wonder he felt like he was going to be probed," the doctor whistled upon hearing that Shawn was hyper-observant. "I'll be sure to let the ophthalmology team and radiology know."
"Dad?" Shawn asked, his eyes roving under the thin, cotton pads placed over them.
Henry gave an I told you so look toward the stunned doctor.
"Hey, kid," Henry said as he searched for a place on his son's body to lay his hand. Shawn's arms were shiny from ointment from his bicep to his fingertips, but Henry was relieved to see for himself that the skin was pink but unmarred. His face was similarly covered, the ointment disappearing into Shawn's waxy hairline and lined under his nose where the nasal cannula provided oxygen.
"Gus?" Shawn said, his eyebrows arching in question behind the bandages.
"It's me, Shawn," Gus confirmed.
"I - I don't like – this spa, Gus," Shawn tried to joke, his voice breaking with the effort. "I asked for -c-cucumbers for my eyes, not – gauze. Can't eat gauze."
"Yeah, I know, Shawn. Lassie's not liking it much either, lost all the hair on his forearms and he was kinda mad when I suggested he should have his sternum bush waxed to match," Gus said.
Shawn's lips turned up in a small smile.
Henry put his hand gently on his son's shoulder as the nurse swapped out the cooling blanket for a thin, white sheet.
"Temperature one hundred point four, doctor," she announced.
Henry's sigh of relief was evident. Shawn's right hand rose and Henry took it Mary-Lightly-like, Shawn looked so fragile.
";M'okay," Shawn said but it sounded more like a question. "No one will – tell me – about Buzz."
Henry looked at Gus and Gus nodded in the affirmative. Shawn needed the truth, he'd hear deception if they lied.
"McNabb's in surgery He's under arrest for what he did to you – I mean…"
"No – dad, Buzz didn't – he was…" Shawn's heart monitors sped up.
"Whoa, hey, we know, Shawn. It's been a lot to digest in the last four hours. Henry wished he'd been able to keep his contempt for Yin out of his voice when he spoke of Buzz being used as the murderer's puppet. "McNabb's a victim here, don't worry, we'll work it out, I promise."
"Okay, radiology is ready," the nurse announced as a portable X-ray was wheeled in.
Gus reached over and lightly spiked a tuft of Shawn's bangs. "Couldn't have you ready for your closeup looking like Max Headroom, Shawn. Dude's hair looks like it was manufactured in the playdough hair salon."
"Thanks, Gus – Dad? You uh – stayin' around?" Shawn asked forcing himself to sound casual.
"Right here, kid," Henry said past the lump in his throat as she stepped out for the X-rays to be taken.
XXXXXXXX
"I had a cousin who was a roofer," Gus told Henry as they stood outside the trauma room door. "He got tar in his eyes and he was really lucky, the damage healed, he went back to twenty-twenty."
"Thanks, Gus," Henry said putting a hand on Gus' shoulder.
Juliet approached Henry and Gus just as both men leaned against the wall.
"How is he?" she said quietly.
Gus visibly paled upon seeing Juliet's scrubs again, remembering how only a short time ago, she'd been covered in Buzz's blood and wax.
"We're waiting on a few more tests but he's definitely more comfortable now," Henry told Juliet, relief evident in his voice. "But his eyes – he can't see yet, just shadow and light. Might need surgery on his left knee too."
Juliet nodded and helped Henry and Gus hold up the very capable hospital wall.
"How's Lassie now?" Gus asked.
Juliet smiled. "Grumpy. They want to keep him for a few more hours for observation and rest. After the meeting with L.A.P.D. the nurse reminded him he was only on loan to them and needed to be checked out one more time before he could be released."
When the portable X-ray was wheeled out, the nurse stepped back inside the trauma room and informed the waiting trio that the ophthalmologist was about to arrive so they only had a few minutes left to see Shawn.
Shawn's brow was covered in a fresh layer of sweat and his lips were set in a grim line of pain when they re-entered his room.
"The X-Ray techs made you do the paint-me-like-one-of-your-French-girl poses, eh, Shawn?" Gus said.
"Used a – school-picture-blue background for the photo shoot, too, Gus. It was – horrible."
"How's your pain level, Mr. Spencer, one to ten?" the nurse asked, turning up the oxygen slightly and adjusting the nasal cannula.
"Purple," Shawn sighed.
"Got it," the nurse said. "I'm adjusting your morphine. I want you to try to breath and relax. You're doing well, your temp's down so that'll keep the probing to a minimum, so that's good, right?"
Henry could have hugged the nurse. Her easy mannerisms were just what his son needed.
"Oh, and Shawn here promised me to tell you that he was hot," the nurse told Juliet.
"Not -wh-while I was - here," Shawn complained as his taut features relaxed as the morphine kicked in once again.
"No more purple?" the nurse asked.
Shawn didn't answer but his heart rate evened out and his hand slackened in his father's grasp.
"I'll take that as a no and you'll have to take your leave. Shawn will be with the ophthalmologist for about an hour. I gave him enough morphine to comfortably undergo some of the tests the specialist will want to run and he'll be aware enough by the end to answer some questions. In the meantime I strongly suggest you should go get something to eat. I'm on duty with Shawn here until eight o'clock. He's in good hands."
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I demand to know where my son is!" a tall man boomed across the desk at the frazzled looking nurse in triage.
"Mr. McNabb!" Juliet called, subconsciously swiping at her scrubs that had replaced the clothing covered in his son's blood. The relieved nurse handed over enquiries to the scrubs-clad officer.
"I don't know if you remember me, I'm Detective Juliet O'Hara, I work with your son in Santa Barbara. I was at Francine and Buzz's wedding."
"My daughter-in-law told me you'd be here but we haven't had any answers. They wouldn't even tell us if our son was al-alive," Buzz's distraught father said in a rush of anger and fear. "They said some nonsense, that he was under arrest so they couldn't tell us anything."
Juliet cringed. Buzz's petite, dark haired mother was just coming out of the room Juliette had last seen Lassiter in. Lassiter followed on her heels looking upset.
"O'Hara, where are the buffoons from L.A.? McNabb's parents deserve to know what's happening with their son."
"I'll find out, Carlton, promise. Go back and rest and I'll report in a few minutes," O'Hara said.
"Mr. and Mrs. McNabb, we'll be right back. This is Henry Spencer and Burton Guster, they both work with your son on occasion and they'll show you the room we've been given for uh – waiting." Lassiter told his young officer's parents. So we don't upset the public…
Looking very lost, Mr. and Mrs. McNabb followed Henry and Gus down the hall, keys still jangling in Mr. McNabb's hands.
"You parked in the drop off, didn't you?" Henry asked the very tall Mr. McNabb.
"How did you know?" McNabb's dad asked.
"Because I have a son too," Henry answered, holding back the fact that his son was here because of Buzz – or rather with Buzz – as victims.
"Gus, could you?" Henry asked, pointing at Mr. McNabb's car keys.
"Mr. McNabb, I'll park your car, that lot you're in will get you towed away," Gus said kindly, glad for something to do away from this mess. Mr. McNabb handed over the keys with a description of the car and thanked Gus profusely.
"We just don't know what's happening, why our son is here. Poor Francie's sick – is our son sick? why is he in L.A.?" Mrs. McNabb began firing even before they reached the makeshift interview room.
XXXXXXXXXXX
"It would have been nice to have a head's up that poor McNabb's parents were on their way," O'Hara groused.
"About that," Carlton said, sounding guilty. "I may have fallen asleep from anti-nausea medicine and missed Chief Vick's calls."
Juliet checked her phone, finding out that she too had missed several calls.
Lassiter's long legs usually had Juliet taking huge strides to keep up with the head detective. She slowed her pace as he walked near the walls where from time to time, his hand grazed the railing for support.
"Carlton, you're still technically a patient, you're supposed to be resting. I can talk to the guys from L.A.P.D.."
Lassiter turned to his partner and she saw for the first time that he'd pinned his badge to the waistband of the scrubs he had begrudgingly been given after he'd refused to wear a hospital gown. Juliet put her hands up in surrender. As they neared Buzz's trauma room, they noticed that the officers standing in front of his door were not the same ones who had interviewed them hours earlier.
"Officer Legault, Officer Timmins," Juliet began, squinting at their name tags and introducing herself with the assumption that the officers had been briefed. "We have a delicate situation, you see, Officer McNabb's parents have come all the way from Santa Barbara. They're worried sick about their son and they can't get any information on his condition as he's technically in custody and the hospital can't release information on – inmates." Her final word felt like gravel in her mouth.
"McNabb isn't technically under arrest, he is under arrest," Legault said, raking his eyes over the scrubs clad and exhausted detectives.
Lassiter was having none of it. Not expecting any sudden movements from the bandaged and out-of-jurisdiction head detective, Lassiter easily sidestepped the two burly officers into Buzz's room. Before Juliet could see over her taller boss's head, her fears were confirmed.
"I'm going to ask just once," Lassiter said in measured anger between his teeth. "Where is my officer?"
XXXXXX
"Sir! Sir, you can't go in there," a nurse yelled from behind a desk at the entrance to the surgical suites.
Not getting nowhere with the two officers from L.A., Lassiter walked with renewed anger back the way he and Juliet had come, Juliet's phone in his hand, speed dialing Chief Vick.
"O'Hara, how is, Mr. Spencer and Officer McNabb? No one has -" Vick began immediately upon answering on the first ring.
"Chief, it's Lassiter, I'm fine by the way – It's McNabb we're calling about. L.A. is refusing us access to information on his condition and his parents just arrived."
"What? Damn it, we had an agreement with L.A.'s chief; let me call you back; and Carlton? I'm sorry I didn't ask about you, it's just that you're always so – I don't know - invincible? We're always worried after Spencer and McNabb because they're young and impulsive, you know that, right?"
"Got it, Chief, thanks," Lassiter said as he and Juliet made their way back to where the McNabbs awaited word on their son.
XXXXXXXXXX
Shawn's eyes watered heavily as he withdrew his head impossibly further into his pillow as the ophthalmologist shone blindingly bright lights into what felt like his brain through his eyes. Fear pulsed through the detective like a tangible entity.
What if his blindness was permanent? His gifts, such as they were, were not fake like the psychic label everyone forced on him. And they were the only things upon which he could rely to represent himself to the world who would otherwise think him quite useless. He was never into school like Gus, could never really tow the line because he could always see the frays in it. His senses made him who he was. Without them, there was no Psych, no spending days with Gus, no secret pride from his father. No working with Juliet.
"So, Doc, will I ever – play the violin again?" Shawn rasped.
The doctor was close to Shawn's face, shining a penlight into his eyes, so close that Shawn could smell the blueberry bagel the man had about an hour ago according to the strength of the smell.
"You play the violin?" the doctor asked but it didn't sound like a question. "I don't see any string callouses on your hands."
"Wait – how did you…" Shawn gasped.
"You're not the only one who's observant, my friend," the doctor laughed. "Your father told me about your unique abilities and then he said I shouldn't hurt you. So, was he like, a marine? drill Sargent? cop?"
"Yes," Shawn nodded to all three. The smile in the doctor's voice was evident and Shawn was grateful for the man's easy demeanor.
"You can fix 'em – my eyes? Right?" Shawn heard the desperation in his own voice and tried to swallow it.
"Nope," the doctor said as he turned the overhead lights back on, but before his very scared patient could become distraught, he finished. "They're already on the mend and will continue to heal on their own. You should be back to twenty-twenty in about three weeks give or take. That's not to say that down the road as you age you won't be more at risk for cataracts and other problems but if you see your eye doctor regularly to keep an eye on things, I expect you'll – play the violin expertly very soon. And I'll see you before you're released a couple more times."
The tears that leaked from Shawn's eyes had nothing to do with the eye drops or the special lights. The doctor placed a hand on Shawn's shoulder. "So obviously no driving until you're cleared, and you should probably lay off the violin until your hands heal," the doctor laughed.
Shawn heard the doctor pivot and the chain to the light on the X-ray light box on the wall rattled in his hand. 'That's curious," the doctor said.
"What's – curious?" Shawn asked, his fear ramping up again.
"Well, I have a white light in use to check the dyes I placed in your eyes. I was focused on your eyes but just now I noticed your chest, there's a glowing symbol only visible with my light when I turned off the lights in the room…"
Shawn closed his eyes despite that fact that the action was moot as he was blind. His brain went on fast forward – well fast backward – the mime – Shawn hadn't paid much attention at the time since the mime had been on top of him but there was a second when the man had used his hand to push off of Shawn's chest…"
"Is it the um - the Yin and Yang symbol?" Shawn gulped.
"It's hard to tell with the heart monitors and smudging from the wax I was told you'd been immersed in but yes, I believe it is," the doctor said. "Were you at a glow-in-the-dark party or something?"
"Party for one," Shawn said grimly, eyes widened against their blindness. "Doc, listen, this could be life or death, I can't explain but you were right, my dad is a former cop, there's two Santa Barbara detectives here and I work with the department too. That symbol – it means ev – everyone here at this hospital could be in danger. Please – please get my dad – I mean, I mean, please get any of the cops. Tell them the mime…"
Shawn managed to sit up and swing his legs over the bed, gasping in agony when the support his knee had from carefully placed pillows was lost. He pulled the nasal cannula from his nose and was about to disconnect his IV. It was all he could do not to swipe at the invisible symbol on his chest that his imagination felt burn into his ribs now that he knew about the invasion.
"Whoa, where do you think you're going?" The specialist asked, ordering Shawn to stay put as he pressed the button on Shawn's bed to call a nurse. "Okay, here's the deal, I get one of the cops down the hall, you lay back down, hands off the IV and don't move."
"Got it," Shawn said through gritted teeth.
Shawn sat back up once the shadow of the doctor was gone.
"Shawn, what's this about a mime and the Yin/Yang symbol -" Henry stopped dead in his tracks, Gus bumping into his back as he took in the gasping form of his seated son.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Henry gasped, taking only two strides to reach Shawn. The nurse entering the room shortly thereafter followed by the eye specialist. was no nonsense and insisted that Henry converse with her very ill patient from a distance while she attended to getting him settled again.
The specialist, sensing this was a very important revelation, complied when Shawn asked him around the thermometer that had been unceremoniously placed under his tongue, to please show the Yin/Yang symbol on his chest to his father and Gus. The doctor gently pulled the sheet down to Shawn's waist.
The nurse's foot could be heard tapping in frustration as the lights momentarily shut off and the glow of the symbol on Shawn's heaving chest became evident.
"Oh, God," Gus whispered and he wordlessly complied with Henry's request that he go find Lassiter and Juliet and warn L.A.P.D. to place extra guards around McNabb and his doctors.
"I'm sorry, dad," Shawn gasped. "I didn't – n-notice. We ran – right into him, at least, it was – it was the same body type as the night on – the pier. He was right in – my grip. I had 'im. I let – I let him go – but there was no way I – I mean there was no – wine – that was the only way I knew before when Buzz said -"
"Mr. Spencer, I'm going to need you to try and calm down for me, okay?" the nurse soothed. "Your blood oxygen is dropping, and we don't want you to go into shock."
The ophthalmologist recognized that he'd established a repour with the distraught young man and as he was his last patient in his very long day, he stuck around.
"Okay, Shawn, nice deep breaths for me," the doctor soothed, holding an oxygen mask to Shawn's reddened face.
"Henry tried to stay out of the nurse and doctor's way and his words of comfort to Shawn didn't seem to be reaching him anyway. It was hard to hear past the increased beeping of his son's monitors and heartbreaking when they were forced to slow with a well-placed needle into Shawn's hip from the nurse. Henry soon saw why she had chosen intramuscular instead of Shawn's IV port, Shawn had finally succeeded in taking it out to try to untether himself to finish the job of getting rid of Yin once and for all.
Gus returned, confirming that he'd informed Lassiter and Juliet and proceeded talking very fast, explaining about the mime.
"When we were at Madam Tussaud's, we ran into this mime. We thought it was random, but he must have been watching us the whole time and positioned himself in our way. Shawn knocked him over and it must have been then that he planted the invisible symbol on him. It must've gone right through his shirt. I told the chief about the pamphlet with the symbol that I was handed by a woman near Ripley's but we figured she was just a minion, - but Yin's really here – in L.A. I feel so stupid," Gus fretted.
"Gus if Shawn didn't know about Yin then there's no way you could have, You said yourself if you hadn't balled up the pamphlet in just the right way, the symbol wouldn't have been noticeable anyway, It was another riddle, like those infernal origami flip things with random words you and Shawn used to make when you were kids." Henry said. "Now you need to stay here and do not leave this door until we get some backup to guard Shawn. I'm going to watch the main doors until Lassiter and Juliet have more guards on McNabb." Henry pulled his old service revolver from his jacket and held it discreetly out of sight as he disappeared into the hallway.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Lassiter punched Buzz's empty hospital bed in the recovery room where he'd been told ten times he did not belong. He angrily pushed the buttons on O'Hara's cellphone extra hard as an orderly dumbly told the angry man that cellphone use was prohibited in surgical suites and recovery rooms. Lassiter noted that there were no patients at all in the recovery area.
"M -C- N-A-B-B for the fifth freaking time!" Juliet spelled at a security guard who stood punching letters into a computer keyboard. "He's supposed to be in recovery!"
The double doors to the recovery ward opened with a bang and both L.A. officers who were assigned to incarcerate McNabb poured in looking mutinous. "What have you done with our prisoner?" Legault demanded. "If you've helped him escape just because he's one of your –"
Lassiter was saved from his fantasy of shooting the guy when the man joined him in breaking the cellphone ban by picking up his own ringing phone. The cop paled and stuttered a string of yes sir, no sir, right away sir, I understand sir, and finally, we'll find 'im sir, confirming Lassiter's worst fears. Buzz McNabb was taken from the recovery ward after major surgery to remove the bullet from his chest and only God and Yin knew where the gravely injured man was now.