A/N: I'm a little late! Dealing with some health challenges, and it's finally caught up with me. I'm going to try hard to keep to every Wednesday, but I might miss a week sometimes.

Chapter 26 - Scheming

Jon never heard what came of the Jell-O prank. It occurred to him too late that the Jell-O wouldn't set without the water having been boiled, but somehow the image of the man who'd taken away Ashley finding his things in a bowl of mysterious green liquid made him smile, even if he wouldn't have admitted it to Shawn.

Jon worried Shawn's attitude would take another turn for the worse after Ashley was transferred. If anything, he was more erratic than ever. Jon was pretty sure that he wouldn't have tried to sneak around any more on Ashley's watch, knowing it was her job on the line, but now that he didn't have to worry about Ashley, his scheming doubled down. Once Nicole was discharged, he brought Cory into it, which was both better and worse. Cory was less resourceful, but also quite a bit less intelligent. Then again, Shawn didn't lose half his brain cells when Cory was around, like he had with Nicole.

The damage in the end was minimal. A few relatively harmless pranks, a handful of long make out sessions with other patients or with girls who came to visit from school. When his walking improved enough, they made their way down to the kitchen and tried to help the staff improve the food. They succeeded in making it a lot worse.

The worst thing Shawn did was to steal a bunch of items around the hospital. Jon would have cracked down hard on that, or tried anyway—it occurred to him he could restrict visitation time between Shawn and his friends, but it felt awfully cruel, since he had so little social time, it felt more like a need and less like a want. But he didn't end up having to do anything. He found out why Shawn had stolen the items at the same time he found out that they'd been stolen—he was putting together a good bye party for a patient who was being released after six months in the hospital. He'd mostly stolen things to use as decorations; the "stealing" was more like borrowing without asking.

It was a short lived affair—most of the patients didn't have much stamina and had to go back to their rooms to rest—but as Jon helped Shawn back to his room after, he had to resist the urge to tell the kid he was proud of him. It would probably send the wrong message, since Shawn had gone about things the wrong way. He decided to just reward the kid by withholding the lecture all together, and instead spent the walk back to his room talking about something else. "They're talking about releasing you soon."

"Yeah, I know!" Shawn was barely leaning on the walker anymore, and he was sleeping more normal hours, albeit with a nap in the afternoon.

The doctors were still doing a fair number of tests each day, but it had been a few weeks since anything had been concerning. At this point, Jon was sure holding him here was just a precaution, but he wasn't going to argue about it. The last thing he wanted was to have to deal with some complication at home and end up calling an ambulance. "It's been a long time."

"Three months, three weeks, and four days."

Jon should have known Shawn would be counting. He wanted to apologize, but it wasn't what Shawn needed. "Hey, when you get released, do you want a party, too?"

"Ah . . ." He shrugged. "Not in the hospital." He looked down for a second, his forehead wrinkling, then he smiled. "Maybe you can rent out a room at Chubbie's. How much of the school do you think we can fit in there?"

Jon rolled his eyes. "Don't make me regret offering."

Shawn grinned.

And so Jon made some phone calls. He talked to Shawn's doctors, who wanted to keep him for at least one more week with no incidents, and he talked to Chubbie's about renting a room for the release party. The restaurant management had heard about what happened to Shawn, and they refused to charge him anything.

He didn't talk to the Matthews; he figured Shawn would get the word out as soon as Jon gave him a date, although he waited until the day before Shawn was released to tell him when the party would be. It felt cruel to get his hopes up if there was even the slightest chance that the hospital would push back his release day.

It took a long time to get Shawn out of the hospital on the day of his release, not because of paperwork or final testing, but because he had so many people to say good bye to. He cranked up the music in the car and leaned his head out of the window, waving at cars that passed with his right arm—the left one was still pretty weak. Jon couldn't even blame him.

He took him out to get pancakes, then he dropped him off at the Matthews, which was obviously where he wanted to be. When Cory came to the door, they threw their arms around each other like they hadn't seen each other in four months, even though it had only been a day. They did their weird handshake that usually made Jon roll his eyes, but today, seeing how gentle Cory was with Shawn, how careful Shawn was with his own arms and legs, it almost brought tears to his eyes. Four months ago, he hadn't known whether Shawn would live to do it again. Today, the boys laughed and goofed off, and it almost felt normal.

"Is that really what you're gonna wear?"

Jon had just come in from his room to the living room. They were already late for Shawn's party. "What?"

"No offense, man, but you have the worst ties."

Jon looked down at it, then back up at Shawn. He didn't usually take fashion advice from high schoolers, but it was Shawn's party. "I can lose it . . ."

"Yeah, probably for the best."

Jon took off the tie and tossed it onto the couch. "Better?"

"A little." Shawn took a step closer, leaned in, and made a show of sniffing the air. "You should put on some cologne or something."

"What?"

"You stink."

"I showered last night. I'll shower after the party. I don't stink so bad I gotta shower twice a day. You, on the other hand . . ."

Shawn frowned. "I guess that's okay."

"Hunter, what are you on about?"

"Nothing. We're late."

Jon let out his breath and brushed it off as just another weird Shawn thing, and they drove to Chubbie's. Jon didn't actually know what the room looked like; Cory, of all people, had insisted on taking care of the arrangements, and he'd talked with Shawn about what he wanted to make it happen.

By the time they arrived, it was five minutes after the party was supposed to start. Shawn was oddly quiet as they walked to the party room, and he seemed to be holding his breath. Jon was starting to get nervous about what they'd planned—maybe he should have played a bigger role in putting it all together.

But as they stepped into the room, he was sure there was some kind of mistake. There was only one small table in the center of the room, decorated with fake candles and flowers and a couple of menus. And the only person there was Cory.

"Awesome!" Shawn said as he came in. "Looks great, man."

Jon blinked. "Shawn, how many people did you invite?"

"You're right, we are missing some people, aren't we, Cory?"

Cory's eyes twinkled in the way Jon had learned to fear. "Yes, we are, my dear Shawn. But I wouldn't worry. She's on her way."

Jon blinked. "She?"

Just then, the door to the party room opened. It took Jon a second to recognize her. It had been a couple of months, and he'd never seen her in anything but scrubs. "Ashley?"

She frowned, looking around the room, her eyes falling on Shawn. "Is this . . . the party?"

"Yeah, you made it!" He limped over to give her a hug, and she hugged back, a little hesitant. He stepped back and looked her over. "Wow, you look great!"

"Uh, thank you." She shifted her weight, and Jon caught himself really looking her over for the first time. She was in a loose black skirt and a tight blue blouse. She'd let her hair down and put on a little makeup, not that she needed it. At all.

He had to remind himself to keep breathing.

Shawn clapped and looked over at Cory. "Hey, this party blows. Wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah, Shawn, I do." They linked arms and headed for the door.

"Enjoy the party," Shawn said.

Jon found his voice. "Shawn—"

Shawn clapped him on the shoulder on his way out. "If you don't walk out of this with her number, at a minimum, I'm gonna kill you."

"Shawn!" Jon called, but Shawn just dimmed the lights and left the room.

Slowly, Jon turned to face Ashley, who looked as stunned as he felt.

"Okay," Ashley said, her eyes smiling. "This is a new one. I've never had a patient do that."

"Shawn is one of a kind, I'll give you that."

"Yeah." Her eyes looked toward the table, then back up at Jon.

"Uh, I don't want you to feel pressured, we don't have to . . ."

Her smile faded for only a second before she shook her head. "Ah, I know, I know. Yeah, I should go . . ."

"I mean, you don't have to! I'm just saying—"

"—it's a little awkward, I know."

"It's, uh, yeah. But, uh, you look amazing."

Her eyes met his, wide with surprise.

"Oh! Not that you didn't before. Let's face it, you-you're beautiful, but—" He closed his mouth before he could put his foot in it anymore.

But she just laughed. "Thanks. You look great too, Jon."

"Really?"

She smiled, nodding.

He suddenly understood why Shawn had worried about what he was wearing. Did he really stink? She didn't seem to notice if he did. "Uh, are you hungry? It'd be a shame to waste the room."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"I guess I am."

Her face lit up. "I'd love to, Jon."

"Uh, well then." He went to pull back her chair, and she sat and picked up the menu.

He sat down across from her and all at once, he felt at a loss. Most of the women he dated were of a certain type. He thought about little beyond the date he was on, how far he could get, how much she would consent to. Ashley was different. She was, in her own way, much prettier than any girl he'd dated, but she was also a friend. She'd done so much for him and for Shawn, far beyond the call of her job.

He wasn't thinking about how much she'd be willing to give him tonight. He wouldn't feel right kissing her tonight, even though it was supposed to be a date. Instead, he caught himself thinking about whether he would be able to get away with asking if he could see her again. Maybe if it wasn't even for another date. She liked being around Shawn—maybe the three of them could do something. What were they supposed to do? A man, a woman, and a teenaged boy. He guessed he could ask the Matthews what they did with Cory . . .

Jon swallowed hard, realizing what he'd been thinking.

Ashley put down the menu. "Do the waiters come in here?"

Jon cleared his throat. "Uh. They don't actually have waiters. I'll have to go to the front to order."

"Oh, okay."

"Know what you want?"

"Burger and fries? Oh, and how are the shakes here? I like strawberry."

He grinned. Yeah, this girl was nothing like the other women he'd dated. Part of him was scared to death—it made him never want to go back. The other part was just overjoyed to be near her. "You got it," he said, and he took her menu.