Chapter 13

The first few days following Shawn's medically induced coma had been very traumatic for the fake psychic's friends and family as the medical team fought night and day to keep him alive. Henry and Gus both looked like exhausted wrecks as they sat vigil on either side of Shawn's hospital bed, slouching uncomfortably. For the past four days the two of them had been far too afraid to leave his side in case the worse should happen while they were gone, but now finally, on the fifth day, Shawn's condition was showing very slight signs of improvement.

Henry glanced over at his son's best friend, taking in his haggard appearance, "Gus go home and get some sleep." He told the younger man gently, "You look like hell."

"I look like I need sleep?" Gus questioned as he slowly lifted his tired, heavy head, "Have you had a look in the mirror lately?" He watched as Henry absentmindedly straightened his crumpled shirt, "If anyone needs sleep here, it's you."

"You both need sleep," Juliet said, appearing from nowhere with Lassiter by her side. It was a testament to how sleep deprived the pair were that they hadn't even noticed the two detectives entering the room, "and you really need to eat something too, you've barely touched any of your food the whole time Shawn's been here in the ICU."

"She's right you know, you really should eat something Gus." Henry told the younger man.

"I'm not hungry..." Gus shot Henry a look, "And Juliet wasn't just talking to me!"

She sighed, "Look, Shawn's condition is improving now, so why don't you both go home, have something to eat, sleep for a few hours, freshen up and then come back here?" She suggested, "You'll feel better, and besides, it isn't going to do Shawn any good if you make yourselves sick now is it? So go home." She turned to her partner, "Carlton will take you."

Lassiter looked down at her, horrified, "What?"

"They're in no shape to drive themselves Carlton." Exasperation was clear in her voice.

"Oh...Right." He murmured, then turned his attention to Henry and Gus, "Are you coming?"

Henry sighed and stood up slowly, ruffling his son's hair and saying, "I'll be back soon Shawn." Before trudging towards the head detective, "Gus?" He asked when he realised the younger man had made no attempt to move.

"You must be outta your damn minds if you think I'm leaving Shawn here on his own!" Gus folded his arms like a defiant child.

"Of course not Gus." Juliet reassured him, "I'll stay with Shawn until you come back." She sat down in Henry's old seat, "I won't leave him alone, I promise."

"OK, fine." Gus reluctantly agreed, "See ya later Buddy." He folded Shawn's hand into a fist, and bumped it with his own before making his way over to Henry and Lassiter.

Juliet waited until they all left before settling into her seat and taking Shawn's hand, "It's been really quiet down at the station without you." An amused smile crossed her face, "You'd probably get a kick out of the amount of attention you've been getting, everyones asking about you." She suddenly turned serious, "We all miss you so much Shawn." Her grip on his hand tightened, "I know it's hard, but you have to keep fighting OK? That way, Dr Samuals' will be able to bring you out of the coma. You'll do that for us, right?" She gave him a warm smile, "I know you will."

Lassiter returned to the ICU to find Juliet talking away to the fake psychic. He cleared his throat as he entered the room to alert her to his presence, not wanting to be privy to whatever heartfelt conversation she was most likely having with the comatose man.

"Hey, you're back." She smiled, "I'm gonna go get a drink, do you want something?"

Lassiter made a move for the door, "I can get them."

"No." She stopped him, "That's OK, I need to stretch my legs anyway." She stood up, then looked at him expectantly, "You'll stay here with Shawn until I get back, won't you?"

He gave a heavy sigh, "Fine."

"Why don't you have a talk with him? You could get some things off your chest." Juliet suggested. She'd been hoping to get Lassiter alone with Shawn since she'd witnessed how much her partner was blaming himself for the fake psychic's current condition.

"Talk with him?" Lassiter muttered, rolling his eyes as she exited the room, "How am I supposed to have a conversation with him? He isn't even conscious." He stood near the door awkwardly for a moment, not really knowing what he should do, before a realisation hit him, "Although...I guess if there's ever going to be a perfect time to talk to Spencer, it'll be when he can't talk back."

Lassiter slowly made his way towards Shawn's bed, standing just to the side of it, "Shawn, I..." He looked around to make sure no one was listening, before clearing his throat, "I know this is all my fault, I should have put a guard outside your room like you wanted, and if I would have just believed you, then, maybe all this could've been avoided." He sighed and sat down in the chair behind him, "I'm really sorry Spencer." He shook his head, knowing his words weren't going to do anything to help fix the mess he'd caused.

He sat in silence for a little while, listening to the beeps of the machines that were keeping the 'psychic' alive. He looked at the door and remembered that his partner would be returning at any moment, so he quickly tried to put into words what he wanted to say, "Listen Shawn, ever since we met you've always been like a thorn in my side, and even though at first I would've done anything in my power to pull that thorn out, it's been a fixture there for so long now that it's hard to imagine my side without it, so...So I guess what I'm trying to say is..." He rubbed a hand down his face to compose himself, "My side is really missing it's thorn, OK? So for the sake of my side, I need you to beat the hell out of this damn septic shock thing."

The next few days went much better, as Shawn's condition continued to improve. So much so that on the ninth day of Shawn's medically induced coma, Samuals was able to remove the ventilator, as the 'Psychic' could now breathe on his own again, and although everyone was thrilled about that, it didn't change the fact that he was still comatose.

"When will he be well enough to be brought out of the coma?" Gus asked as soon as the ventilator was removed.

Samuals gave the younger man a warm smile, "We're going to monitor Shawn closely today, and if he continues to improve, we could try to bring him out of the coma as soon as tomorrow morning."

Gus gently slapped his best friend's arm, "Did you hear that Buddy? If you keep on fighting like you have been, they'll bring you out of the coma tomorrow."

Spirits were high the next day as Shawn's condition had continued to to improve like everyone had hoped, which meant Samuals' had been able to take his patient off the drugs that he'd been administering to keep the psychic detective in the medically induced coma.

Their high spirits didn't last long however, when after almost twenty four hours the fake psychic was still showing no signs of regaining consciousness.

It was beginning to seem as though their worst fears were going to come true.

"Sometimes these things can take time." Dr Samuals tried to reassure Henry again, "Like I said, oftentimes it depends on the length of time the patient has been in the medically induced coma. The longer the coma is induced, the larger amount of drugs are needed to be pumped into his system, which means..."

"It takes longer to flush them all out." Henry finished Samuals' sentenced, then looked at him impatiently, "You've already told us this Doc, but you also said that the drugs should be out of his system by now, so why is he still unconscious?"

"Like I said, Mr Spencer, each case is different. It all depends on the patient, and right now the important thing to remember is, although Shawn has yet to regain consciousness, he's still continuing to show signs of improvement."

Henry just sighed and nodded in response.

"I'll come back to check on him in a little while." Samuals' told him as he headed for the door.

Henry ran a hand through his son's hair, "You always have to do everything in you're own time, huh kid?" He gave a sad smile, "You always want to be the centre of attention." He lowered his head, "Well, you've got everyones attention now Shawn, so you might as well wake up." His voice started to crack, "Oh god, please just wake up..."

"Uh, Mr Spencer..." Gus said hesitantly as he handed the older man a drink.

Henry took a deep breath to compose himself, "Thanks." He watched as Gus sat down in his usual seat, "Samuals came by while you we're away, he said Shawn's condition is still improving."

"He's still unconscious though." Gus frowned.

"I know."

Gus sat alone with his best friend, Shawn had now been in a coma for twelve days, and he still wasn't showing any signs of regaining consciousness, "Alright Shawn, you made your point, you were right and we were wrong, we get it. Just wake up OK?" Gus pleaded, "You can rub our faces in it as much as you want, alright? I don't care, just as long as you wake up." His voice started to shake, "Dude, I miss you so much!" He rubbed at his eyes, "You're my boy Shawn, you know that, and I need you Man. Without you I would never have had the guts to do all the ridiculous things we've done over the years," He placed a hand on Shawn's shoulder, "and even though I usually complain, the truth is, you've always made my life so much more fun." He very gently gave his best friend a hug, "You know I love you Dude."

"Any movement yet?" Henry asked as he walked back into the room and sat down.

Gus merely shook his head, and sat back in his seat.

The two of them sat in worried silence for almost three hours, until Shawn finally started to stir.

"Shawn?" Henry asked, "Shawn, can you open your eyes?"

After a great deal of effort and concentration, the fake psychic's heavy eyes suddenly fluttered open, and he blinked a few times until the haggard faces of his father and best friend slowly came into focus.

"Wow." Shawn's voice was weak, shaky and laced with exhaustion, "You guys look horrible..."