Chapter 25 - Walkers and Jell-O

The next day, Jon got a call at the school from the hospital. These days, most of the hospital calls he got were from the receptionist at the front desk, now that social services had been told to contact Jon directly rather than trying to reach him through them. Reception was usually pretty neutral, but today the voice sounded more than a little agitated. "Is this Jonathan Turner?"

"Yeah, that's me. What's going on? Is Shawn okay?"

"We don't know. He disappeared this morning."

Jon's heart immediately began to race. Sure, he'd told Shawn he could make his own fun as long as he didn't break the law, but running away from the hospital pretty obviously counted as endangering himself. What was worse, Jon didn't even know how he was going to address it or prevent it from happening again, other than by yelling at Shawn—which had proven to be pretty ineffective.

"He wasn't discharged, and he wasn't seen leaving the hospital. Do you have any idea where he might be?"

So maybe he hadn't left the hospital. Was Shawn hiding? Did he think it was funny? "I don't know, but he can't walk far right now. Who was the last one to see him?"

"He slipped out on Ashley's watch."

Jon's head dropped. Of course he had. She would be the easy one to take advantage of, since she somehow still found him adorable despite the attitude he was giving these days. If he hadn't actually left the hospital, he wasn't necessarily putting himself in danger, and he definitely wasn't breaking the law. But he was turning things upside down for the hospital staff, which wasn't a good thing either. Jon would have to be more specific about his rules. "I'll be down just as soon as I can."

"Thank you," the receptionist said, and Jon hung up and left his classroom to ask Feeny for a sub.

The receptionist waved him in with hardly a second look, and Jon went into the hospital. He was barely three steps in when he almost ran into Ashley, racing past him toward the exit.

"Hey, are you okay?" he called.

"I'm off duty, another nurse can help you."

"Wait, wait a minute."

She slowed to a stop. "I'm really sorry I let him get lost."

"Hey, running off was his choice."

"He was my responsibility."

Jon raised his eyebrows. "Where's the Ashley that scolded Shawn when he faked sick and wasted the hospital's time? I think Shawn is going to need her."

"She just got chewed out by her supervisor for losing a patient." Her voice cracked, and her eyes shone. "And he's right, I know Shawn's not stable right now, emotionally or physically, and I should have recognized that, I should have—"

"No, no. Shawn knows better than this. And believe me, you'll be getting one heck of an apology from him."

She wiped at her eyes. "I just hope he's okay."

"He won't be, when I'm done with him," Jon muttered.

"Go easy on him. It's a tough time for him." She sniffed. "It's way past the end of my shift, my boss told me to go home."

"Okay, okay." He reached for her shoulder to comfort her, but she didn't seem to notice; she ducked her head and left before his hand could make contact.

Jon sighed and went to Shawn's room. It was empty, the bed unmade; he'd taken his walker, but not his Walkman or anything of the other toys and gadgets and snacks in his room.

So it was a girl. Probably not someone from school, since it was still in session. That left... Oh.

Groaning, Jon trudged back to reception. "Any other patients go missing?"

"Uh..."

"There's a girl named Nicole with a really Russian-sounding last name. Anyone seen her?"

"I don't..."

"Which room is hers?"

"Uh, sir, I can't—"

"Wanna check in with her father?"

"Of course." The receptionist dialed the number; Jon looked over her shoulder and paid attention to the extension, which always had the room number in it, then he stalked to her room.

It, too, was empty. Jon was about to leave when he heard a scuffling from inside the closet. He frowned, and he went over to open the closet door.

Two faces peeked out at him, deers in the headlights. Shawn had both arms around the blond girl from the next hospital room, and her hand was in his hair.

Shawn was the first to snap out of it, dropping his arms from around her and laughing. "Ah. Nicole, meet my foster dad, Jonathan."

"Hi." She giggled nervously. "I have a cousin named Jonathan."

Jon sighed. "Out of there, both of you."

Shawn had the good sense to at least look ashamed as he grabbed his walker on his way out. The girl held her head high, a slight smile on her face. Jon couldn't decide if that meant her parents were a lot stricter than he was, or a lot less strict.

He didn't stick around to find out what would happen to Nicole. Instead, he walked Shawn all the way back to his own room.

"Nice going," Jon said, when the door was closed. "You had the whole hospital looking for you. when I told you to find something fun to do, this is not what I was talking about."

"So what are you going to do?" Shawn limped his way to the bed with the walker and gingerly sat down. "Take away my jello?"

"Yeah, for starters."

"Worth it," Shawn said, though his face fell a little. Jon figured it was less the specific consequence and more the fact that Jon had assigned one at all.

"Yeah? You slipped out on Ashley's watch. She just ran out of her crying because her boss yelled at her. Still think it's worth it?"

Shawn's jaw dropped. "But I'm the one who ran off, why isn't he yelling at me?"

"Because that's not how it works."

"He sounds like a jerk."

"I agree, but this one's on you, Hunter. Your actions affect other people, what are you going to understand that?"

"Oh man, I'm so sorry."

"Don't tell me that."

Just then, the receptionist from the front came into the room. "Oh, good, he's been found. I can let the others know."

"Hey, can you help me with something?" Shawn asked. "I have to talk to Nurse Ashley."

"She isn't in for the rest of the day," the receptionist said.

"Can I call her?"

"We can't give out staff members' personal phone numbers, Shawn."

Shawn's eyes fell on Jon. "You've got to have her number by now, right?"

"Why would I have her number?"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "You're killing me, man."

"She should be in tomorrow," the receptionist said. "You can talk to her then."

Jon watched as the receptionist left, then he glared down at Shawn.

"I really am sorry," Shawn said, wincing.

Jon let out his breath. "Something to remember next time."

"I will," Shawn said, though he was starting to look distracted.

"And you're grounded for a week."

Shawn half laughed. "I don't do anything. You're really grounding me from jello?"

"...Yeah." He made himself say it firmly, even though he felt ridiculous.

"Hm," Shawn said, but his gaze was faraway again, like he was thinking about something else.

The next day, as directed, Shawn gave a sincere apology to Ashley. Jon watched from the door and didn't hear every word, but he did see the way Shawn's face relaxed into a contented smile when Ashley assured him all was forgiven and pulled him into a gentle hug.

She picked up a few things and headed out, but Jon stopped her in the doorway. "I really appreciate everything you've done for him."

"I just wish I could have done better."

"Hey, the nurse who was supposed to watch Nicole didn't even notice she was gone."

"Lucky her," Ashley said, frowning.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because my boss transferred me to another section of the hospital. He doesn't trust me to be working with Shawn anymore."

It shouldn't have had an impact. It should have been a little bit of sadness, nothing more. Instead, he felt like he had just been punched in the gut. He forced his voice to sound casual. "Oh, I'm real sorry to hear that. Shawn thinks the world of you."

"Shawn is doing a lot better than he was, I'm sure they'll discharge him in a month or two. He won't even know I'm gone, and when he's back to his normal life, I'm sure you'll both forget all about me."

"Hey." Jon put a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look up at him. "After everything you've done for us, we're not going to be forgetting you anytime soon. I can promise you that."

She smiled, and just for a moment, Jon almost dropped everything—his reservations, his sense of appropriateness, his resolve not to date anyone until things were straightened out with Shawn. He almost asked for her number on the spot.

Then he remembered who he was, where he was, and why he was there, and he dropped his hand quickly. "Well, um, good luck, Ashley."

"Yeah. You too, Jon." And with that, she was gone.

Jon shifted his weight, feeling almost out of breath.

"Pathetic, man," Shawn said, and Jon just about jumped out of his skin. He had almost managed to forget that Shawn was within range of hearing.

"I've got other priorities," Jon said.

"Can you honestly tell me you don't like her?"

"Told you before, Hunter. I wasn't even looking at her."

"Whatever."

Of course, that night, Jon couldn't close his eyes without seeing her face. It was the first night in over a year his thoughts had kept him awake because of something other than Shawn.

He came into the hospital early the next morning to check up on Shawn before going to the school. He didn't really expect the kid to be awake yet, but he was—not even just awake, but apparently up to something. He had a bowl of green liquid on his lap, which he scrambled and failed to hide as Jon descended on him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"It's for a good cause!"

"Where did you get this stuff?"

"Nicole helped me. But trust me, I need to do this!"

"What is it?"

Shawn ducked his head and held out the bowl. Jon sniffed it hesitantly. "Jell-O?"

"It's not for me."

"Care to let me in on the plan?"

"Only if you promise not to stop me."

"I promise I will stop you if you don't tell me what you're doing."

"I'm putting someone's office supplies in Jell-O. It's just a stupid prank, but trust me, it's deserved."

"Who's supplies?"

"Ashley's boss. The one who yelled at her and made her cry and then took her away from you."

"He didn't take her away from me. She was never mine." He realized too late that he had spoken awfully fast.

Shawn's voice caught. "Are you gonna let me do this or not?"

Jon glanced over his shoulder, then back at Shawn. "I went straight to the school this morning. I was never here."

Shawn grinned. "I knew you liked her! Haven't I saying it for weeks?"

"I'm not here, Hunter," Jon said, turning to walk out of the room, but he could feel Shawn's eyes watching him all the way out.