Previously…

Maddie was suddenly torn from her thoughts by the sound of her ringing phone. It was Henry. With his first words, she knew things were bad. She knew better than anyone that the world could be falling apart and Henry Spencer would stay calm. If he was unable to keep his agitation from his voice, things had to be horrific. She felt a stab through her heart as she thought, 'He's going to tell me Shawn is dead.'

Thankfully he did not say the words she dreaded.

Shawn was alive. Barely. For now.

They were on the way to the hospital and could she drive his truck and meet them there?

She was already halfway to the door although she moved on unsteady legs. Griffin should have gotten the death penalty, she thought. He certainly deserved it now.

'Yes.' She decided. 'Griffin deserves to die.'

oO0Oo

Henry stood as Maddie arrived. He saw immediately that she was terribly upset. She had always been protective of Shawn. Many of their earliest fights had been about his habit of putting Shawn in 'dangerous situations' in the name of 'training.' In his heart he knew that Shawn had never been in danger, but Maddie would never believe him. When she had heard from Mrs. Nussbaum that he'd locked their son in the trunk of his car she had been livid.

He also knew that she held herself responsible for all of this. Griffin had only gone after Shawn in order to locate her. It had been hard enough for her when she'd believed someone else had put Shawn in danger. If she now believed it was her own fault...

He tried to console her. "Mads-" he began.

"Have you heard anything?" She interrupted. "How is he?"

Henry frowned when he heard the fury in her voice. He had been expecting fear or worry, even grief- not anger. But he did his best to answer her. "We haven't heard anything yet, but I'm sure they'll be out soon."

She nodded, looked around and sat near Gus, but she sat ramrod straight. Her jaw was working, her eyes were bright with unshed tears.

At that moment there was a commotion in the ER as the victims of the car accident were brought in. They couldn't really see anything, but the level of activity in the department increased tenfold.

Lassiter arrived about the same time, asking about Juliet, but no one had anything to tell him.

When Madeline saw Lassiter something in her changed. Her agitation disappeared and she became calm. She stood and approached him where he was speaking with Henry. "Detective Lassiter, where is Griffin?"

He turned to her and nodded. "He's here. He was shot while resisting arrest so he has to be treated before we can take him in. Don't worry. He's restrained, sedated, and under guard."

Her eyes took on a faraway stare and she simply nodded her acceptance of the information. She turned to the window and stared out at the early morning sunshine.

"Maddie?" Henry approached.

She turned, frowning and spoke without meeting his eyes. "I need to get some air. Please come get me if you hear anything."

Henry nodded and watched her leave. He wondered if he should go after her, but then Juliet arrived, her arm in a sling. She still looked pale and bruised, but she was alert and determined. "What have you heard about Shawn?"

"Nothing, yet." Lassiter answered her. "It should be soon, though." He put a solicitous hand on her elbow and led her to a chair next to Gus. The four of them continued to wait.

oO0Oo

When Maddie had heard that the monster was here at the hospital receiving care, something in her that had been tightly restrained broke loose. How could they? How could the doctors and nurses treat him knowing how he had treated others - how he had treated her son?

He should be left to bleed out. It was only right. It would be justice.

She hadn't gone outside to 'get some air.' She had a very specific destination in mind: Griffin.

It was time he paid for what he'd done. Obviously, being sentenced to life in prison wasn't nearly enough to stop this man. She knew from Henry's unspoken words that he did not expect Shawn to live. Therefore Griffin wouldn't either.

She wasn't a medical doctor, but she had spent enough time in the field that she knew what she needed and she knew where to get it. It only took her a minute to re-enter the hospital through another door and retrieve a syringe full of morphine. Having grabbed a spare lab coat, she looked every bit the part of doctor, and it helped that most of the staff were distracted by the multiple victims of the car accident.

No one paid her any attention as she walked purposefully through the halls.

When she neared Griffin's room she was surprised to see Buzz standing guard outside the door, but she recovered quickly.

"Mrs. Spencer- How can I help you?" Buzz asked politely.

She managed a smile and hid the syringe behind her back. "Actually, it's Detective Lassiter that needs your help. He asked if I would come and do an evaluation on the patient while he needs your help with… with the accident that just came in. Seems they're short handed and since Griffin is restrained and drugged…" She waved a hand dismissively.

Buzz only hesitated a moment. "He did say backup would be here shortly…"

Maddie smiled at him.

"Okay, ma'am, if you're sure…"

"Buzz, I've handled worse with fewer precautions." She fought to keep her smile in place and wondered why he wouldn't leave. "As you said, your backup will be here, and you know Detective Lassiter is not a patient man."

That did the trick and Buzz was gone. Maddie pushed open the door.

oO0Oo

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, four expectant people were rewarded and a nurse came out to get them. Because the ER waiting room was now filling with friends and relatives of the accident victims she led them to a semi-private, surgical waiting room where Shawn's doctor met with them.

"Mr. Spencer is going to be fine." Were his first words and relief flooded the room.

Juliet, especially, already weakened from her injuries and lack of sleep, collapsed into a chair.

Glancing at her with concern the doctor sat down, "I'm afraid I'll have to be brief as I am needed elsewhere…"

Thankfully, things were not quite as dire as they had appeared at the storage facility, although it was a matter of centimeters and timing: If the knife had been a little to the left, or slightly deeper, Shawn would have died almost instantly.
The knife had missed his heart, but pierced a lung, and that would have been deadly if medical attention hadn't arrived as promptly as it had.
He'd lost so much blood, if it hadn't been replaced quickly he might not have survived.

But he had - and he would.

Minor things like stitches, cracked ribs and a broken jaw paled in comparison to what they had feared.

Then the doctor was gone and for a moment they all just sat and basked in the relief. A heavy weight had been lifted from four pairs of shoulders. A phone call to the station, and it was lifted from several more.

Madeline Spencer, the original target, had been kept from harm. Shawn and Juliet had been rescued. And Griffin would be incarcerated for the rest of his life, no chance for parole, not after this.

In a moment it occurred to Henry that he really needed to tell Maddie. She wouldn't even know where they were if she came looking for them. He remembered the odd look on her face, the anger, the fear, and felt an urgency to let her know that Shawn was okay. He went to look for her.

She wasn't in the ER waiting room. She wasn't anywhere outside. Where had she gone? He went back in, but she was nowhere to be found. He paused to consider as Buzz walked up.

"Could you tell me where Detective Lassiter is? I've been looking all over…"

Henry frowned at him. "Aren't you supposed to be guarding Griffin?" He asked.

Buzz nodded helpfully. "I was until Mrs. Spencer came and told me Detective Lassiter needed me to help with the…"

Henry was already gone.

oO0Oo

Maddie pushed open the door and entered. Griffin lay on the bed. Padded leather restraints held him immobile so she walked right up to his bedside. "Do you know me?"

He had been dozing due to the heavy sedation, but at the sound of her voice he blinked at her. "Hmm? Wha?" He squinted.

"Do you know me?!" She asked more forcefully.

He blinked at her again and she saw the moment realization dawned. "It's you. The eidetic. Claire... Finally we are face to face again."

She stared at him. Trembling in her fury, she was too angry to speak.

Relishing the power he had over her emotions, Griffin smiled in satisfaction. "Is your stupid kid dead yet?"

At his words she felt herself become icy calm. She brought the syringe into view. "Do you know what this is? Care to guess?"

Griffin's eyes widened slightly and he began to struggle.

With her free hand she took the call button and waved it in front of his face before draping it over the bed rail just out of his reach. She calmly moved about the room and switched off all the machines that would alert the nurses' station to a change in his condition. She assumed they were all too busy to notice anything that wasn't beeping at them.

"No. Stop." Griffin protested, his words slurring just a little. "You can't do this."

"No?" She asked curiously. "Why not? You've done this and worse to others. You tortured and killed two little girls with their whole lives ahead of them. You tortured-" Her hands began to shake again and she fought to still them, marvelling at the ice that seemed to flow in her veins. "You tortured my son." She whispered. "Why should you get any less?"

She flipped a switch on one last machine, moved back to his bedside and picked up his IV line. "Actually, this will be much nicer. You'll just fall asleep. You won't feel any of the pain you inflicted on others. I'm really being very merciful." She slid the line through her fingers until the port was in her hands.

Griffin watched her every move. "Nurse!" He tried to shout. "Help! Somebody help me!"

Maddie only smiled at his helplessness. She had made certain the door was closed tightly. She doubted anyone would hear his weak cries, and soon he would be silenced forever. "Did your victims cry out for help?" She asked calmly. "Did Shawn?"

She raised the port in one hand and the syringe in the other, making certain he would realize he was powerless. She made sure he would be able to watch as she killed him.

oO0Oo

It didn't take Henry long to find the room where Griffin awaited treatment for his gunshot wound. He threw the door open and came upon his ex-wife about to inject a syringe full of something into Griffin's IV port. "Maddie!" He exclaimed.

But she didn't pause. "Henry, don't stop me. You know this is right. This is justice. This is what should have happened a lifetime ago."

It chilled him the way her voice was so calm.

Griffin's voice, while slurred and weak from the sedative, was anything but calm. "Stop her! You muss… You must stop her…" he fought his restraints weakly.

Henry barely spared him a glance. "Shut up. She's not wrong."

Griffin's eyes went wide at that and he shut his mouth, but he continued to struggle.

Henry put a gentle hand on Maddie's forearm as the door swung shut behind him. He was more interested in saving her than he was in saving Griffin. He spoke softly. "You wanted me to tell you when we heard from the doctor…"

That got through to her and she pulled the syringe away from the port a little and looked at him, fear of what he might say plain in her eyes.

He leaned marginally closer, ready to grab the needle if he had to. "He's okay." He said firmly. "Shawn's going to be just fine, Maddie. You don't need to do this."

"He's… he's alive?" She asked hesitantly, turning slightly toward him.

Henry smiled gently, exhaling slightly as he realized the full extent of what she'd been going through. "He's okay." He nodded. "We can go see him." He rested a palm on the small of her back.

When she didn't speak, but just looked at him, he saw that it was just sinking in to her what she had nearly done. She'd almost committed cold-blooded murder. "Henry…" She began to tremble.

At that, he did reach forward and take the syringe from her. She let him. He slipped it discreetly into a nearby sharps container.

He didn't address her actions. There would be time enough for that later. Instead he said what she needed to hear: "Let's go see our son." The hand on her back slid around, lending both comfort and direction as he gently guided her out into the hallway.

Thankfully, Buzz's backup chose that moment to arrive, followed by Buzz himself. He looked a little sheepish, even though he didn't really understand what had transpired. Henry just nodded at him as he and Maddie left.

TBC...