"WHAT DID YOU GIVE HIM!"

The young man crouching across from Gus opened and closed his mouth silently, his over-wide eyes traveling down to the man on the floor between them, then back again. Nearby, a broken glass with just a few drops of soda remaining gave mute accusation as to what had taken place just minutes ago. By this time, most of the partiers had vanished, taking any remaining product with them. At the moment, the only evidence left, ironically, was currently rushing through Shawn's bloodstream, courtesy of the brain-dead idiot shivering with terrified horror under Gus's furious gaze.

"TALK!" He demanded, feeling Shawn's body start to shake harder.

"It was just a little G, nothing big, I only slipped him a little! He looked like he could use a buzz!" The teen stood quickly, backing away as Shawn moaned and rolled onto his side. "I didn't… I didn't mean it…" He whispered harshly, clasping his arms around his midsection as he backed away.

Gus inhaled sharply. G… as in gamma hydroxybutyrate?! But that stuff could… "What do you mean by a little!!!" He demanded as the kid shook his head.

"I… I don't remember…"

Suddenly Shawn lurched to his knees, crawling a short distance to vomit on the carpet.

Gus was about to rush to his side when he saw the kid half-stumbling for the door. Making an abrupt directional shift, he lunged forward and hooked clawing fingers in the hemline of a GAP exclusive faux turtle-neck.

This kid hit the floor with a less than elegant face-dive. Driving a knee into the middle of a narrow back, Gus leaned down menacingly. "You aren't going anywhere unless you intend to face attempted murder charges! And if he…" he swallowed, eyes darting to Shawn's collapsing form. "If anything happens to him- this is on you!" He finished, releasing the boy and hurrying back to the side of his friend. "Now call nine one one!" He shouted, easing Shawn onto his side in case he needed to throw up again. Behind him, he could hear the soft flick of a cell phone- then a three number dial. Moments later, the kid started speaking rapidly. Ignoring the conversation, Gus placed a hand on his friend's forehead, gasping at the heat coming off his clammy skin.

"Damn it…" He whispered roughly, peeling off Shawn's outer shirt. Beneath his hands, Shawn's body shook violently, his teeth chattering as he clenched his hands into fists. His eyes were open wide, but Gus wasn't sure he was seeing what was in front of him. This was quickly confirmed when Shawn abruptly laughed, reaching out for something just beyond Gus's shoulder. Unthinkingly, Gus reached for Shawn's hand.

The reaction was instant.

Jerked back madly, Shawn suddenly lashed out, knocking Gus on his back. Without a pause, he followed up his first strike with a wild fist that buried itself in Gus's stomach. Groaning, the other man wrapped his hands around his midsection. For his part, Shawn scrambled to his feet and took three shaky steps before collapsing again. Even before Gus managed to struggle upright he could see Shawn was deteriorating.

"How long till the ambulance gets here!" He screamed, holding Shawn's wrists as the other man tried to claw at himself.

"J-just a couple of m-minutes!" Was the response, quickly followed by, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…I just can't…" And even as he was turning, Gus heard the rapid pounding of sneakered feet as the kid tore away and disappeared down the hall.

Swiftly forgetting about the abandonment, Gus stared sickly down at his friend. Shawn's face was almost bloodless, and beaded with a thin layer of sweat. His eyes were still glassy, but were half-lidded as he stared up towards the ceiling, his shivering interspersed by small jerks as though he were being shocked repeatedly.

"Shawn… come on dude…" Gus hardly knew what to say. He didn't know what to do other than keep Shawn from hurting himself. Unfortunately, his line of business- though teaching him all about the side effects of various drugs, legal and otherwise- didn't do a bit of good for the current situation. He wasn't carrying any benzodiazepines in his sample case. And though he did have blood pressure tablets, the case was in his trunk, and there was no way he was leaving Shawn to retrieve them.

His friend jerked again, then started to choke. Rolling him quickly, Gus held a hand under a quaking chest, the other cradling a burning forehead as Shawn's stomach heaved, relieving itself for the second time in minutes. Outside, Gus could hear the swiftly approaching bellow of an ambulance. He closed his eyes in both silent thanks and suppressed nausea as sound and smell fought for dominance. Still half on his knees, Shawn coughed, then vomited a third time. Gus felt a stab of ice in his ribs when he saw this last ejection contained threads of rust.

Lying Shawn back on his side, Gus listened as footsteps thudded up the sidewalk and through the front door. "WE'RE IN HERE!" He shouted, noting that Shawn's eyes were now completely closed.

"HURRY!!"