Henry didn't know what he was more grateful for, the stopping of his son's convulsions or the sound of a car arriving.  When the unmistakable sound of rock crumbling away followed by the harsh squeal of rubber on pavement the older man quickly decided that the his son's more stable condition was, in fact, better.  He heard screaming above the sound of snapping wood and instantly placed it with his son's girlfriend.  "Dammit all to hell."  Henry stood and looked over the hood of his truck only to spot a dark blue Ford Fusion sliding quickly toward where his old truck and by proxy himself and Shawn lay.  "Shit."   Despite his loudly protesting body the older Spencer kneeled next to his son and hooked his arms under his son's shoulders and pulled. He pushed the screaming pain in his left arm to the back of his mind and quickly yanked his son out of the path of destruction.  Knowing that he could not do anything while the sedan was sliding down the incline Henry could only watch and pray that no one got hurt.

            The older man's prayers were answered when the blue vehicle came to rest after barely tapping the overturned truck.  He gave his son one more glance and seeing that he was still breathing decided that the others could use whatever form of help he could offer. The sounds that had once filled the rapidly darkening day had given away to silence.  Bracing himself for the worst but wishing for the best the old man sidled up along the passenger side of the car and nearly smiled at the sight before him.   Every passenger in the vehicle seemed to be ok except for being in a state of shock which shone through as two stared straight ahead and the driver looked wide-eyed at the truck that was up close and personal to his window. 

A blissful sigh of relief escaped his lips as he saw the lanky driver's vision track from the peeling yellow paint of the Ford to where he stood. Although Henry saw recognition dawning he decided to speed things up by tapping loudly on the window with his watch's metal band.  If the situation had been less dire the older man was sure he would've laughed at the responses of the three passengers.  Gus, always the first one to react instead of thinking and acting, jumped in his seat and upon seeing their descent had stopped and tried to get out of the police issued car's back seat; thankfully he only slammed his head against the window once thinking the door had opened before he got the point.  The two detective's in the front had similar reactions but by no means were less comical. Carlton reached for his none existent shoulder holster and realizing it wasn't there slammed open the middle console to grab a tiny Smith and Wesson .38 Bodyguard revolver.  His partner in true blue cop fashion reached for her ankle and pulled a rather impressive Glock 31 with extended clip to fit more than enough .357's to protect them from a zombie apocalypse. How in the hell did she walk with that clip? Shaking the thoughts clear from his head he tapped on the window again and this time he was rewarded with realization and Juliet opening her door. 

"Mr. Spencer?!" The blonde quickly slid the pistol back into her ankle holster, which he noticed was specially made, and looked up at him with suppressed tears in her eyes. "Shawn?!"  Wanting to go over to his fallen son but knowing he had to help the other men he pointed at the tree he had dragged Shawn to.  One curt nod was his answer before she stomped off in a gallop toward the area her boyfriend lay.

"You guys going to sit in there all day?" Carlton was studying his tiny pistol looking like, well, like his female partner who he out weighed by almost seventy-five pounds had a gun, strapped to her ankle, that put all of the department to shame. "Yes hers is bigger but there are more pertinent things at hand."  Blinking quickly the veteran officer placed the tiny firearm back in it's resting place.  "And I think Gus wants out as well."  He motioned quickly at the backseat where the bald man was looking like a puppy whose owner left  him in the car while they went shopping. "I'm going back to my son."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Juliet didn't know what she was going to come upon when she reached the tree her boyfriend's dad had pointed at but this horrible situation wasn't it.  Shawn looked like he had gone ten rounds with Joe Frazier and lost.  "Oh Shawn."  He was pale, so pale that she was sure his skin was translucent.  She nearly collapsed to her knees next to the prone form and brushed back some of sweat soaked hair from his face. Leaning forward she whispered in his ear. "I'm here, help is coming, you're going to be ok."  The tears she had managed to fight back since realizing the severity of danger the love of her life was in came back in full force, this time though she didn't bother knocking them back. As the little drops of salt water fell onto Shawn's face and ground she never stopped talking to him, hoping for some sort of response but the man was still. Too still.

"He's been like that since after the phone call." Startled by the new voice the young woman's fingers itched to reach for her weapon but it quickly gave way to sympathy as she spied the older Spencer looking down at his son with worry.  She watched as he swallowed deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing deeply. "I think he's bleeding internally, there's some blood on the road that looked like it was vomited." Shutting his eyes tightly he continued. "He had a seizure that lasted about a minute and he's been stabbed with something......"   He trailed off as his breath quickened and Juliet watched as he paled. Standing quickly she sidled next to the man and grasping his right arm held him as steady as she could.

"Hey let's sit down, ok?"  He gave a small nod and allowed the petite woman to lead him to a stump that was within arms length of his son. "Just rest, Mr. Spencer, we're here to take care of you.  We're here." She knew he had at least a broken arm, given that there was some sort of makeshift splint adorning it and by the way his reflexes were slowed there had to be some sort of head injury.  "Mr. Spencer?"  His eyes slowly tracked back to hers. "Is there anything else we should know?"  She watched as Henry squinted his eyes in a very Shawn-like fashion and fought a smile, she had known for some time how her boyfriend played psychic but it never ceased  to amaze her.  So much detail in one brain.

"Ummmmm....he seemed like he was having problem breathing too deeply, broken ribs I guess."  Pinching the bridge of his nose with his good hand he let out a shaky sigh. "I think the seizure was due to a concussion but if it is this is the worst concussion I've ever seen."  Juliet nodded and began to gently feel around Shawn head as Henry watched on.  She felt a small bump right above his ear but she knew where that had come from a small smile formed because she remembered him complaining about how his hairline was forever ruined, like it was her fault he got over zealous with their goodnight kiss.  If her audience noticed the smile it wasn't noted so she continued to probe his skull, once her fingers curled around the back of his head she hit a wet spot.  Not wanting to venture further but there was only blood no protrusion so she ventured on, closing her eyes so that she could concentrate purely on her touch the source of Shawn's seizure became very apparent as her delicate digits found a depression in the bone. She yanked her hand away so quickly she nearly fell over. "Juliet?" She looked up and saw that Henry had stood and taken a step toward her.

"It's not a concussion." She fought the bile that had crept up her throat. "It's a skull fracture." The young woman saw the blood on her hands and started wiping it frantically on the leaves that littered the ground.  The sticky liquid refused to wipe off but she couldn't stop, all she could do was feel her boyfriend's skull under her hands no longer rounded out but dipping in deeply.  When she realized the detritus on the ground was not going to remove the crimson fluid she resorted to scrubbing her palms on her jeans.  "It's not coming off. It's not....."  A strong hand grasped her shoulder forcing her to stop the scouring and look up at the owner.

"Juliet, take a deep breath."  She did and was surprised when it did make her feel a bit better.  The man gave a sympathetic smile as he looked down at her. "Now tell me," The man himself needed to take his own breath to stop the shake in his voice "How do you know it's a fracture?" He watched as she gripped and pulled on the hem of her shirt tightly.

"I felt the bone move." She shut her eyes tightly and let her head droop toward her chest so she couldn't see Henry's reaction. "I....I felt a dip and when I put my fingers to it,"  She let go of her shirt and flexed her fingers as if she couldn't feel the extremities and based on her pale color she was in  state of shock and probably couldn't. "I felt the bones shift over one another."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Once he was freed from the backseat of the car, Gus immediately set about to getting the trunk open and retrieving his first aid kit.  "Where did they...." His question trailed off though when he noticed the trail of destruction that the truck had made; clothes were strewn everywhere, pieces of the truck that snapped off were here and there and glass made the underbrush glitter but something caught his eye among all this debris. "Is that?"  Dropping the kit he stumbled to an almost unnoticeable glint in the forest floor and fell to his knees. Pushing aside leaves and broken twigs his hands grasped the object of his affection the cool metal in his fingers caused tears to well up in his eyes. The dark-skinned man sniffed, wiped his eyes with his free hand and stood.

"Guster what is so important you ruined those expensive pants of yours?"  There was bite in the detective's voice but his eyes held worry. He fidgeted as the other man ignored him, pocketed the item, and grabbed his kit.  "Gus?" The use of his nickname caused the salesman to grow stone cold still as he stared at the tall man.  "What did you find?"  Gus remained quiet as he sidestepped the Irishman and marched toward the direction he assumed was correct. Shaking his head at the complete shutdown Carlton just followed as close as he dared. The scene the two came upon was perhaps the worst thing the veteran officer had ever seen and he had been privileged to more than most cops his age.  He had only seen his junior partner break down once at a crime scene and that was after she was the victim but  that was nothing compared to this.  Juliet was completely despondent as Henry Spencer, of all people, was holding his son's hand and crying openly.

Complete and utter shock washed over Gus as he watch these actions unfurl in front of him, it was like some sort of waking nightmare. "Mist.......Mr. Spencer?"  When the man didn't look up Gus directed his sights to man on the ground.  The salesman had seen his friend in several predicaments, many of which ended in the necessity of the first aid kit or a trip to the emergency department at the nearest hospital, but during none of those times did Shawn look as ashen or old. The normal tan that he wore proudly faded to a shade of white that rivaled computer paper, every wrinkle and line that would normally be masked by a goofy smile shone brightly.  Falling to his knees next to his best friend, he opened the waterproof military grade hard pack and started grabbing at the contents. "What do you know?" Borne out of necessity,  the man quickly switched gears from salesman to volunteer firefighter and medic.  With a large pair of bandage scissors Gus began to cut away his best friend's shirt, careful of the large blotch of blood on his side. 

The flash of movement in his peripheral vision snapped Henry back to the present. "He was having trouble taking a deep breath and he...."  The older Spencer couldn't bring himself to say anything more about his son's condition, he just couldn't.  The man went back to holding his son's hand in a death grip and despite the strong hold he normally had on his emotions the tears that fell betrayed him.

"Henry told me he had a seizure before we got here and I found what I'm pretty sure is a skull fracture. As for other injuries Henry also told me he found blood on the road that looked like it was vomited."  The impromptu medic flicked his eyes to the woman who was grasping to reality by her fingertips. "I...I ummmmm...."  She tightly shut her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "He hasn't responded to me."  Gus nodded as he started to peel away the tattered, crimson stained shirt, dreading what may lay beneath.  "I tried but he....he just laid there." The young detective pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and stifled a sob. "He is never this still Gus, never."

"I know."  Gus was a nervous ball of energy and when he fully pulled off the clothing , he was given a  worthy reason for it.  Shawn's chest and abdomen were covered in rapidly darkening bruises, there was some sort of circular stab wound which blood was steadily trickling from, but what drew everyone's attention, particularly Henry's, was the deepest bruise on his chest.  Taking a deep breath Gus counted the little circles and confirmed his suspicions that each were from a knuckle of someone's fist. "How'd?"

"I wasn't buckled in, the truck flipped, it's from me."  Henry had let go of his son's hand and as Gus worked looking for other obvious injuries and checking for the not so apparent ones, he brushed his hand over the bruise to make sure it wasn't some sort of play of shadows. "Oh kid. I'm so damn sorry."  His hand traveled to the downed man's cheek where he brushed off some dirt that had settled there. Eyes roaming over every feature, bump, bruise and cut Henry couldn't help but sear them into his memory.   "Carlton since all you're doing is standing there how ‘bout you go to the road so we don't add an ambulance or a firetruck to the collection over there."  His tone was harsher than needed or meant to be but at the moment Henry Spencer was pissed off at himself and everyone was collateral, especially since he couldn't lash out at the person responsible for his son's injuries. Well not yet at least.

            Juliet's eyes only flicked to her partner momentarily as he gave Henry a ‘go to hell' look, turned around and started to make his way toward the road. Once he had taken two steps away from them she directed her whole undivided attention to the prone form on the forest floor.  "Gus is he going to be ok?"  She began to pull on the hem of her shirt again as if the simple act was keeping her anchored to reality. 

            Gus heard her voice and saw he pulling on her shirt in some sort of nervous habit but he wasn't sure how to answer her.  "Well I'm no doctor and I don't have all the equipment necessary for a full diagnosis...."

            "Just tell me." The sudden anger in her voice caused the man to close his jaw with a click. When she saw the shock in her friend's eyes she closed her own and sighed deeply. "Gus I know you've read almost every medical journal known to man, you frequent doctor offices more than hypochondriacs and if it wasn't for the fact that blood make you sick you would've went to medical school.   Just tell me."  She opened her eyes and made sure the man who was sitting opposite her knew that she needed to know.

"Definite broken ribs, that wound on his side,"  He pointed at the gauze that was starting to turn a deep crimson color. "It probably has punctured his intestines which is why it's still bleeding, that deep bruise on his chest,"  Henry looked up in guilt. "It's directly over his heart and his pulse is starting to race. The skull fracture I'm pretty sure that it was caused by something small which is why the depression is so bad. As for the vomited blood, I really have no idea."  He swallowed several times as bile threatened to take over his words and met Juliet's gaze which had turned to a watery sort of detachment.

"So it's bad?"  Juliet didn't know why she was asking the question, she knew it was bad, horrible even, and the answer shone brightly in the faces of the two men. Leaning over she kissed the now gauzed wrapped forehead of her boyfriend and whispered in his ear. "You better be ok, Spencer, you hear me you better be ok.  After all we have a condo to decorate and you haven't met my mom yet."  She felt the tears slip down her nose and heard them drop to the leaves beneath her. "And Carlton told me about your deal, you don't want to break my heart now do you? Because if you do I will let him shoot you."  The small smile on her face was involuntary but just something about the memory of her partner informing her how he took Shawn into the interrogation room never ceased to make her grin.   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carlton Lassiter was beyond angry, beyond worried, tired and calm all at the same time. Conflicted, yeah that's exactly what he was conflicted and he wasn't going to tell anyone else different. The hike up the incline was more exhausting than expected and not just physically.  Every foot he climbed the detective couldn't help but notice the wake of destruction caused by the truck and his Fusion.  "Dammit Spencer."  He pinched the bridge of his nose as his vision, yet again, caught red glimmer on the leaves that he transversed.

The veteran detective added frustrated to his battling emotions as he realized that, for perhaps the first time since he met the man, Shawn Spencer was not responsible for the predicament he was in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Roll him on his side!!!"   Juliet watched in horror as convulsions wracked her boyfriend's body.  It was the most surreal thing she had ever experienced in her life one moment she had one hand firmly clamped to Shawn's knee and the next Gus was shouting and Henry was taking direction.  A strange gurgling noise elicited from Shawn's throat then his whole form relaxed and seemed to collapse in on itself.  "Roll him back."  The older Spencer did and stepped back as the dark skinned man did an assessment, yet again.

"G-Gus?"  She was only minutely aware that she had started crying as her vision blurred but never left the two men on the ground.  When he was done with his work the worry that poured off the crouched man's body was palpable.  Looking up Juliet saw that he had been crying as well.

"He needs help soon or he's going to die."