A/N: What can I say about this chapter other then…just read it!
Reviews Encouraged!
Another thanks to Antivertigo for being my beta!
MIA
Describing Dr. McGill's house as a shrine was the understatement of the year. Lassiter couldn't believe what he was seeing. From the moment he passed the threshold, all he saw was Shawn's image plastered on the walls. Pictures from his blog, the news, his Facebook and MySpace pages – anything and everything people could get on Shawn, Dr. McGill had on his walls in multiples.
"What the hell is all this…" Lassiter turned to Juliet, who could only offer a shrug of confusion. The two started searching then, through everything and for anything that might explain Dr. McGill's obsession.
The biggest clue found during the first search was in Dr. McGill's office. Bookshelves stacked to the wall, filled with titles about psychics and their abilities.
"Okay." Lassiter had to conclude as he searched through the shelves. "He's not obsessed with Spencer – just the fact that Spencer is a psychic."
Thank god.
Lassiter didn't want to admit it, but the thought of another man becoming enamoured with Shawn's characteristics made him jealous. He had felt the first sharp pang of jealousy hit him the second he had seen Shawn's picture on the doctor's wall. However, the relief was soon replaced with fear as he moved further into the house.
"Carlton!" Juliet called him from upstairs. "I got something…"
He followed her voice to a very odd room. The window was boarded up tightly, the entire perimeter of the room covered with a thick line of salt. So Tyler McGill wasn't lying when he said he was only stealing salt – awesome.
"I'm having trouble taking this all in." Juliet said. "What do you think this is?"
Lassiter reviewed the contents of the room. Aside from the boarded window and the salt, the room contained two tables. One table was completely bare and long enough to sit various people around….
Or long enough for one person to lie on…
The second table was round, and contained an odd assortment of knives and silver mixing bowls.
"I really don't think I want to know." Lassiter wasn't kidding. Just standing in that room and he could envision the various harms that could come to someone trapped in it – and not just someone, Shawn.
"O'Hara – start taking pictures." Lassiter pulled out his phone – he couldn't not tell the Chief about this. A search had to be put out for Dr. McGill immediately. The call he was going to make was simple. He was going to tell the Chief everything they saw at the house, the Chief would then ensure Shawn was still at the station, and then Lassiter and O'Hara would head out to join the search for Dr. McGill.
Of course that idea was all in Lassiter's head – instead, when he spoke with the Chief, he got a big, steaming bowl of disappointment.
"You let him leave with the medic?"
The Chief saw nothing wrong with that. She had been sitting with Shawn in her office the entire time he and the medic had been speaking.
"So Shawn," The medic started. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Dr. Benevides. I understand you've fallen victim to malpractice, is that correct?"
"Uh – I guess." Shawn said. "No ones really telling me anything at this point."
"Oh." The doctorr said, and she gave a bit of a smile. "I was under the impression you were psychic? I'm sure whatever hasn't been told to you can be learned – I'll wait while you conjure that up."
Shawn chuckled in spite of himself. He looked between the doctor and Chief, both of them women eyeing him like he was about to put on a show. Sick or not, Shawn wasn't letting this tiny medic get the best of him. Of course he lacked the energy to do much of anything, so instead he went on his fallback, and started talking.
"To be honest Ms. Ben-Ivy-des."
"Benevides." The medic kindly corrected.
"Right, sorry." Shawn said. "Since my operation, my abilities have been rather lacking. Recovering I should say. I get little glimpses here and there but nothing overly significant."
Dr. Benevides looked a bit disappointed. "I suppose that's logical." she said. "What kind of glimpses?"
She just had to ask didn't she?
Alright, quick thinking. Shawn took a glance around – detail, detail, detail…..Shawn pointed to an officer standing outside of the office. He was writing something, it looked fluid but every so often he'd pause and appear to be thinking. From the angle he was standing, no one in the Chief's office could see what exactly he was working on.
"That officer – who is he?" Shawn asked.
"That's Officer Shea." Chief answered. "He was transferred here from Florida, still learning the ropes."
"Well Chief," Shawn said. "Officer Shea is a very sensitive soul. If that's not an autobiography he's jotting down, it's a poem about a girl named Daphne."
The medic gestured to the door. "Chief, may I?" She asked, and when the Chief nodded, the medic slipped outside the room to talk to Officer Shea. Shawn and the Chief watched as Dr. Benevides' face went from inquisitive to amazed, and she came back into the room completely bewildered.
"Mr. Spencer!" The doctor said. "That was amazing, right down to the name! He was writing a poem about-"
"His wife." Shawn finished, and again Dr. Benevides looked amazed.
It wasn't that amazing, Shawn had spotted the officer's ring from a mile away – and he had read the man's lips saying Daphne at least three times. Details baby.
"Mr. Spencer," Dr. Benevides said. "I'm very impressed."
"Again," Shawn gloated a bit. "Just a glimpse."
"Mr. Spencer never ceases to amaze." The Chief piped in "He's quite the spectacle when his powers are at full capacity."
"Yes." Shawn agreed. "My portfolio is quite thick. Now please doctor, my stomach is killing me – would you please tell me about this malpractice?"
"Oh." The doctor blushed a bit. "Well Dr. McGill had prescribed you penicillin, but what he really gave you was heavy doses of codeine and PMA – its actually a wonder you're still alive, to be quite honest with you."
"Fantastic." Shawn said. "Why in the world would Dr. McGill try to kill me?"
"I have no idea." Dr. Benevides admitted. "But you've been off the dosage for more then twenty four hours now, correct?"
"Thankfully – still feel like I've been hit by a bus though. Which can't be normal." Shawn insisted.
"Oh but it is." Dr. Benevides said "When getting off a drug like codeine cold turkey after adapting to such a strong dose, you're bound to experience a few withdrawal symptoms. Even if you weren't addicted to the substance."
"Again – fantastic." Shawn mumbled – he wasn't a drama queen, he just missed eating. "How long do these 'symptoms' last?"
"I honestly have no idea." Dr. Benevides responded. "But since you weren't on the drug long, I figure no more then a few more days."
"Yes!" Shawn said. "That is what I wanted to hear, thank you doctor."
"There is one thing." The doctor added. "I don't have any with me, but I actually have a formula that may help along the process. Only if you're interested though."
"Aww – chyeah I'm interested." Shawn said. "I mean, sure I might've been able to lose a couple pounds – but cheeseburgers have never felt so lonely. The sooner we're reunited the better." Shawn turned to the Chief.
"Mr. Spencer," The Chief said. "I gave specific orders for you to be held here until Dr. McGill was brought in. I can't let you leave."
"Oh Chief please?" Shawn sounded like a five year old whose puppy just got kicked. "Look, if it means that much to you, I'm pretty convinced Dr. McGill isn't in Santa Barbara anymore and if it makes you feel better you can have Officer Shea over there and another uniform escort us. Shawny gets his formula, Shawny comes back to the station feeling fantastic! He's back in the game, he's on his feet, doing back flips and swallowing swords."
Dr. Benevides looked excited but Shawn pointed at her and finished talking.
"But not really swallowing swords because that's weird. The point is the sooner I am back on my feet, the sooner I can grab Gus and join Lassie and Jules on the field looking for this doctor."
"Mr. Spencer." The Chief cut him off immediately. "I will not have you chasing down a man who tried to kill you."
"If it means anything, Chief, I'm not technically your employee. So nothing I do will come down on the police station."
"Oh, because that's worked so well in the past." The Chief interjected. "I'm sorry Mr. Spencer, but the answer is no."
"Chief." Shawn placed a hand on his chest. "I'm deeply hurt. Do me this one favour, and I promise. You will not regret this."
The Chief visibly grinded her teeth. "Fine, but not just Officer Shea. Bring McNabb."
Shawn gave a hearty, "YES!" followed by an, "Urghh.." as his stomach protested the leap, and for a brief moment he looked as if he would fall over. "Not cool."
The four weren't out of the station ten minutes when Lassiter called the Chief about what they found at the doctor's house. Needless to say the Chief wasn't expecting Lassiter to sound so – distressed when she told him Shawn wasn't even there.
"You let him leave with the medic?"
Lassiter was certain that was all the bad news he needed to hear. He slammed his phone shut and called for O'Hara to wrap it up – they were heading out. They left the house in a hurry and, after another phone call for location, the two were now heading in the direction of Dr. Benevides' office.
Late. Much too late. The office was filled with blood. Officer Shea was lying on the ground in a thick puddle. His pulse stopped, and his eyes wide open. He was dead.
"Oh god…" Juliet sounded like she might be sick, and she went straight to McNabb who, though still alive, had an impressive bump on his head.
"McNabb," Juliet said. "What happened?"
"I…" McNabb blinked multiple times. "She – turned on us."
"She turned on you?" Juliet said "Who?"
"The medic." McNabb grabbed his head and winced "First she….to Shea….and then I saw Shawn…..and then I….oh man."
"What? Shawn what?" Lassiter demanded, but McNabb was back down – eyes rolling in to the back of his head. "McNabb – McNabb wake up!"
"It's no good." Juliet said. "We need to call him an ambulance."
"You do that." Lassiter said. "I have another crazy doctor to catch."
"Carlton no!" Juliet hollered. "We have a dead officer and another down, we're calling an ambulance and we're getting back to the station to do this right!"
"Right nothing." Lassiter spat. "That blood is still fresh, and traffic is thick. I can still catch 'em!"
"No, you can't." Juliet said. "We don't even know what car the doctor is driving –what exactly is your plan?"
Get Shawn back.
"I…" Lassiter groaned. "Dammit O'Hara!" He turned away from her, and with shaking hands he called an ambulance for McNabb.
In all the chaos Lassiter had forgotten that McNabb had called for Gus to come to the station.
"Lassiter!" Gus called him from down the hall and had to speed up his walking to catch up with him. "I've been wandering around forever now – where's Shawn?"
Lassiter could've winced, but instead kept walking and left it for Juliet to break the bad news to him.
"Gus…" Juliet started. "We actually don't know where Shawn is at the moment."
"What do you mean?" Gus looked afraid to ask. At this point Lassiter had marched right into the Chief's office and told her what happened. Chief Vick didn't miss a beat.
"Okay people!" She hollered as she stepped through her door, Lassiter right on her heels. "We have an officer dead, another down and a missing psychic on our hands. I want every man out there! Be on the look out for a '98 silver Dodge Caravan, call for back up the second you spot it. Suspect is armed and dangerous. Go!"
Everyone scattered, and poor Gus was left to the put pieces together. "Armed and dangerous- Lassiter what the hell is going on?"
"I'll explain everything in the car. Guster, you're riding with me and O'Hara, so try to keep up. O'Hara! We're heading out!"
For the love of god let Shawn still be alive…