"Family of Shawn Spencer?"
Gus had gotten so used to responding to that phrase over the years that he stood up automatically.
The nurse gave him a confused look, but held the door open for him anyway. "He's right this way."
Gus followed the nurse through the back hallway to a little room off to the side. Shawn sat in a wheelchair, staring straight ahead, a vacant look on his face.
"Thank you," Gus said pleasantly to the nurse. "I'll take it from here."
—
The first thing Shawn felt when he woke up was a violent shiver that passed through his body. That's weird, he thought. I wonder what that is.
Everything was black, and he felt still like he was in the void before consciousness. However, the shivers continued to wrack his body.
He was beginning to get really annoyed now. He struggled to wakefulness and opened his eyes, and that's when the actual cold hit him. The shivers continued, stronger than he'd ever experienced in his life.
The second thing he felt was something in his mouth. He tried to say something, demand a blanket, comment on that chip in the ceiling tile, but he found he couldn't move his mouth. It was stuffed with some sort of gauze that rendered him unable to make any sound except a low, muffled noise. He frowned.
Suddenly a nurse was taking away the oxygen tube that was placed under his nose, helping him into his sweatshirt, putting a blanket over him. Everything was happening so fast, like snapshots all put together. He couldn't focus on anything, it was all going in such a blur.
Then someone was helping him out of the reclining chair to a standing position. His legs wobbled, but he was met with another chair, one that was soon rolled into the hallway outside. Oh, a wheelchair, he thought. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of everything. Really? I just woke up.
He was deposited into a small room, left alone, unable to talk. After a few minutes (or was it seconds?) of this, he finally resigned himself to staring at the wall for eternity, or at least until someone took this stuff out of his mouth or brought him a pineapple smoothie.
—
Again, the car ride was quiet, but this time Gus knew there was a reason. Shawn had tried to say something to him, but the only sound that had come out was muffled. Shawn seemed annoyed by this, but Gus had threatened to take away TV remote privileges if he even thought about taking the gauze out before he was supposed to. The last thing Gus wanted to deal with was excessive blood and the possibility of infection. He knew all too well what a feverish Shawn was like, thanks to the ice cream truck fiasco.
When they got back to the Psych office (Shawn had insisted he spend most of his recovery there, because of the larger TV) Gus deposited Shawn in his chair with the remote and the Princess Bride DVD. Then he got to work cleaning up the mess Shawn had made here during his last "psychic episode." He grumbled to himself, wondering why Shawn had deemed it appropriate to make the big reveal in his office of all places. Everything on Gus's desk had ended up on the floor, whereas Shawn's desk was still completely intact. He could have at least had the decency to have his little psychic attack outside.
"Inconceivable!"
Gus shook his head at the sound from the TV area, then froze. That wasn't the sound of Wallace Shawn, it was the sound of Shawn's bad impression of Wallace Shawn, somewhat distorted. Gus hurried back to the TV, a knot of annoyance gathering in his stomach.
Sure enough, Shawn was sitting in his chair with the bloodied gauze in his lap.
"Really, Shawn?" Gus said, quickly turning his eyes away from the gauze. "You couldn't have waited an hour before taking that out?"
"I need to talk," Shawn said. "Es... especially in this movie."
Gus nearly laughed. Adding to Shawn's ridiculous appearance—cheeks puffed out, doleful expression in his eyes—his voice was slightly slurred due to the numbness in his face.
"Don't laugh, man," Shawn said. "This sucks."
"I'll get you your pain medication and some pudding," Gus said, still smiling. "Hold on."
"Just ibuprofen," Shawn cut in before Gus could leave. "I don't want any of the strong stuff. It messes me up."
Gus paused before nodding and walking back to the kitchen area. The percoset was sitting at the ready on the counter, but if Shawn really didn't want it...
He returned with three ibuprofen, a glass of water, and a cup of chocolate pudding.
"Here," he said, setting the pudding down. "Eat it slowly."
"I'm not a baby," Shawn mumbled, grabbing the spoon. However, his actions suggested quite the opposite. He tried a few different methods of getting the spoon into his mouth, all of which ended up failing due to the numbness. He finally settled with shoving the spoon to the back of his mouth and eating it that way, but chocolate still smeared the outside of his mouth. He shot a warning glance in Gus's direction, warning him not to laugh. Gus focused on the movie instead, willing himself not to smile.
After a while Gus heard Shawn's phone buzzing, and he glanced over to find Shawn furiously texting. He ignored it, but after a while the constant buzzing got on his nerves.
"Who could you possibly be texting at a time like this?" he asked irritably as the movie started itself over.
"Jules," Shawn said with a lopsided, half-formed grin. "She's coming over later!" He winced. "Dude, I can't smile. How am I supposed to talk to her and charm her when she comes over?"
Gus shrugged, nonchalant. "Not my problem. You're the one who invited her over."
Shawn frowned in the edge of his vision. "I really need to get this chocolate off of my face before she gets here..."
Story Notes:
What's up? Alright, due to an overwhelming number of requests, here's the sequel to "Pineapple Jello." It'll probably be another two-shot, unless there's anything else I need to add. This story is just based off of what comes after the surgery. Not quite as deep/angsty as the first one, but there will definitely be some Shules in the second chapter.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Props if you get all of the Princess Bride references. Bonus points if you recognize the title :]
Props if you get all of the Princess Bride references. Bonus points if you recognize the title :]
Chapter End Notes:
Second chapter up soon! Reviews make me very happy, and I try to respond to all of them. Thanks for reading!