“Cardiac tamponade...”

    “Swelling.....”

    “Multiple fractures....”

    “Bleeding.....”

    Green scrubs, black stethoscopes, and white walls......

    White.....

    Pale skin streaked with blue veins......

    “Dad?”   

    Dark hair stained crimson......

    “Dad?!?”

    Purple bruises on a silver white scar......

    “DAD?!”

    Henry jerked, or tried to, upright in the hospital bed causing the multiple aches that had been resting with his weary body to spring awake with a vengeance causing a loud groan to bubble up from his chest.

    “Whoa there Henry,”  A gentle but persistent hand placed pressure on his chest forcing him to lay back against the mattress.  He shut his eyes and breathed heavily through his nose waiting for the pain to recede.  “You know it wouldn’t hurt as much if you took the painkillers they offered you.”  The older keep his eyes shut against the voice it didn’t take a genius to know the Head Detective’s voice or that the strain in it meant that he had worked his features into worry.

“Shawn?”  His parched throat  caused his voice to crack, he heard an indignant sigh followed by the pouring of water in a cup and then a thin plastic straw at his lips which he wrapped them around and drank greedily, only to have it taken away before he was done.  His body was heavy, he hurt in more places than not and his eyes refused to do anything but stay shut. but his mind was running fast.  “Shawn?”  The older man could almost hear the gears working in the detective’s head.  “Don’t sugar coat it.”

“Ok, if you’re sure?”  Henry nodded his head minutely.  “He’s in the ICU they were able to reduce the pressure around his heart caused from the blood, they stabilized his skull fracture, the stab wound caused some serious bleeding and they had to remove some intestine but not enough to cause problems, some of the bones in his hand were cracked but they don’t think he’ll need a cast,”  The dark haired man dropped his head back to the chair he was sitting in and sighed. “Crap! ‘ He whispered loudly, “I left the fish I caught in the oven, that is going to stink to high heaven.”  

“Carlton.”  The man raised his head to be met with the icy glare of the bed’s occupant. “I know you deflecting, I’m not stupid I was married to a therapist in case you forgot.”  The officer sucked his teeth and breathed heavily through his nose, nodding in defeat before he continued.

“He’s on a ventilator because ….”  He shut his eyes, the officer hadn’t been in Henry’s room all night he had managed a glimpse at the younger Spencer through the glass of the ICU cubicle and it was unlike anything he had ever seen. He didn’t think it was possible for a single person to have all these lines running in and out of them and and the nurses were adding more.  “Because the pressure on his brain from the fracture caused multiple seizures and after the last one he wasn’t able to breathe on his own.”  Carlton wasn’t a cold hearted bastard, despite what people accused him off, and just knowing that Shawn’s brain was so far damaged that doing something as simple as breathing was too difficult really affected him.  He wouldn’t admit it out loud but that damn pain in his ass psychic detective had dramatically changed his life, first for the worse by getting Lucinda transferred to the better by somehow actually wiggling through that exterior and becoming what Carlton would call a friend.

“That it?”  Henry look even more exhausted than he had when they arrived at the hospital, every word weighing down on him and it was more than the older man could take.

“Yeah, Henry look,”  He swallowed heavily, “I know you want to see him but I also know that the nurses won’t allow you to leave this bed till you get painkillers in your system.”  Henry snorted loudly, “I know it seems counter productive, drugging you up and making you more likely to fall but you had a pretty hard knock on your head as well and pain will just cause your blood pressure to rise.”

“And that’s not good for a head injury.”  Henry finished for the waning man. “Ok send the pushers in.”  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

    Gus felt his head droop toward his chest and just before his chin touched, he jerked it up again. “You should go and get some sleep Gus, I know you don’t want to leave but you clearly cannot stay awake much longer.”  His tired eyes drifted from his friend’s form to the only other occupant.

    “What about you?”  The blonde detective didn’t look much better than he felt, her hair was tied in a rapidly falling apart ponytail, her clothes were stained in places with mud, her eyes had taken on a deep purple color and the rest of her complexion was grey in comparison.  While the ponytail and mud would normally make her look cuter in every straight man’s eyes the greyness made you want to admit her to the very same hospital her boyfriend was in.  “I mean you look like cr....”  Immediately he bit off the word as the glare from the normally happy baby blues chilled him to his core.

    “I look like what?”  The woman raised her eyebrows in question and defiance.  “Because you ain’t looking too hot yourself otherwise I wouldn’t have said anything.”  She quickly wilted as another wave of exhaustion washed over her. “Sorry Gus, but I figured one of us should get some sleep and my mind will not allow it.”  She watched as the man’s jaw tightened in fear. “Look, I know that you don’t want to sleep but you should at least try, there is a family waiting room just at the end of the hall and I think they have loungers so that people can catch a few minutes.”  He nodded in defeat.

“Just get me if anything happens, I mean anything.” She gave him a small smile as he left the little ICU cubicle. She closed her eyes and listened to the noises of the room that she hadn’t left in nearly twelve hours.  At a regular rhythm there was a woosh from the ventilator, mechanical whirs sounded at odd intervals from the various IV pumps, something would beep for a few seconds then quickly went silent, and her own breathing.  It was too quiet and yet too loud at the same time.  

“The symphony of hospitals.”  Startled out of her musings Juliet nearly fell out of the chair she was resting in. “Oh I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”  The gentleman that had entered the room looked genuinely apologetic about the whole thing.  “I’m Doctor Pepper.”  The snort the blonde let out involuntarily snort which made her cheeks glow red in embarrassment, “Don’t worry about it I get that all the time.” He even chuckled a bit as Juliet’s face didn’t stop blushing.  “Most people though don’t seem to care as much as you about making fun of it though, as I was saying I’m Doctor Pepper and I am one of the specialists on your friend’s team.”

“Boyfriend and you can call him Shawn.”  The woman was feeling out this man, he seemed grandfatherly but she had met too many physicians in the past twenty four hours that appeared to care but were just there because of the interesting case that was in the bed, not the person.  He gave a smile, pulled the other chair in the room next to her, and sat in it. Well that is different.

“Shawn, as you know, was brought in with multiple injuries the worst of which is the skull fracture.”  She bit her lip hard and held back the tears as best as possible as he continued. “I am a neurologist and have been made head of the trauma team for Shawn.  I know that some of my colleagues have been fighting over this case but I assure you that has ended.”  The woman decided that she was liking this man more and more by the minute. “Now there are some tests that I would like to do to assess any damage the fracture may have caused and based on these tests we can draw up a treatment plan that everyone can agree on, including your boyfriend.”  Her tears couldn’t be held in anymore, she literally burst into them as the exhaustion and this man took their toll.  The grey haired man didn’t bat an eye, put his clipboard down, and allowed her to sob into his shoulder as she thanked him.

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

Gus had fully intended to get some actual sleep if only he could relieve Juliet from her vigil, but as he came out of the ICU and to the lounge area the sun was just too bright for him to be able to relax enough to do just that. He blinked rapidly against the bright light coming through the the blind covered window and considered asking one of the nurses if they knew how long the sunrise would be that bright.  Wait...... He looked at his watch and his confusion hit him in full force.  “It’s only four a.m.”   He wandered over to the lit up, shaded window and gently lifted back the plastic covering. “Holy Shit!”    If anyone had been waiting in the room he wouldn’t have apologized for the curse but he was glad no one was because shortly after that utterance the surrealism of the situation slammed into him full force and he went rubber legged.  He slowly slid down the wall and shut his eyes, the vision of the parking lot seared into his retina.  There were nearly a hundred people some holding up ‘Prayers for Shawn’ poster, others holding candles, and every local news van was set up with their bright lights illuminating the entire parking lot and causing a false daylight behind the shades.  He had never imagined this outpouring of support for his friend and the man who was a sympathetic cryer, and nothing else, sobbed into his knees without restrain.

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

The redhead with big green eyes entered from the bathroom and huffed loudly as she flopped onto the bed next to her husband. “That was like the tenth time tonight.”  Her husband chuckled as he placed a hand on her baby bump.

“Not the tenth time but close,”  He smiled widely at her and went back to flipping channels on the bedroom’s television. “And you have two more months to look forward to.”  The woman grabbed the pillow that was propping her up and slammed it hard into his head. “Ooooowww!” He gave his best pouty lip face and looked up at her like a puppy. “Kiss it and make it better.”  Just as she leaned in to give her spouse a sloppy kiss the television caught her attention.

“As reported earlier,Shawn Spencer psychic for the Santa Barbara PD, was airlifted to Cottage after suffering severe injuries in a car accident.  His father, Henry Spencer, was also.....”

The nearly seven months pregnant woman swung her legs off the bed and nearly ran into the bathroom. “That will be the tenth time, honey.”  His chuckle cut short as two toiletry bags were thrown on the bed. “Honey?”

“I don’t need to pee, well I do, but we need to pack.”  Not one to question his wife in any circumstance the man nodded, stood and grabbed the suitcases from the closet.

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

“Bra come here and look at this,”  Kevin stabbed his surfboard into the wet sand and jogged over to the bar.  “This guy looks like the kid you took on that night jump.”  Cocking his head to the side the sandy haired man looked closely at the tiny screen.

“That’s because it is.”  Taking a few steadying breaths he gave a quick glance behind him at the Hawaiian surf. “He saved my life with all that nature survivor crap he knew.”  The man hit the bar twice with his palm.  “Mike,”  The bartender looked up at his friend. “I have to get going.”  He gave Kevin a single nod and went back to wiping down the bar.

“Don’t forget your board, bra.”  He looked up from his cleaning to see that Kevin had not only left his board but had torn down the beach so quickly he had already reached his jeep and was pulling away.

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

“Cap. what is it?”  The young firefighter was thoroughly confused why not only his captain but several of the other veteran were glued to the television that was reporting about some guy in California.

“Jesus H. Christ, that’s rook.” The captain stood and walked quickly over to the phone on the wall that was the direct line to the chief. “Hey newbs, want to go on a road trip?”

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

Not one poker game, bonfire, or noise was to be had as people of all shapes, sizes and stages of life rounded around a television with spotty reception.  When the picture of Shawn flashed on the screen again, nothing was said but action was had as the group dispersed and began breaking down camp and getting their vehicles ready.

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

“Chef what are we prepping tonight?”  Eloise smiled widely as she went into the cooler and began picking the fresh vegetables and cream.

“I feel the need to make Ratatouille.”  Every junior chef, dishwasher, waitress, and busboy matched her wide smile and a few chuckled.  “Consensus?”  When there were nothing but nods she began slicing, dicing, and getting the tomato cream sauce her five star restaurant was famous for.  “Turn up the television I want to hear something that’s not that horrible music.”  She wrinkled her nose as the people who moved in next store turned their ‘music’ even louder but all she could hear was the bass beat.

“Monsieur Spencer, was instrumental in the apprehension of international art thief Pierre Despereaux and the Ying Yang serial killers.  At this moment his condition is unstable and critical....”

    “Chef.....Chef!”  But Eloise didn’t hear her title being shouted she was preoccupied with getting to her moped and speeding off toward the international airport.

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

“Rick!”  The short woman ran through her house in search for her husband. “Rick!!!”  Wide eye and his hand straying to his hip the man in question left the bedroom that had laughter bubbling out of it.

“Marta?”  His eyes kept flicking to the surroundings and then back to his wife’s worried etched face. “What’s wrong dear?”  He strode over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Instead of telling him she grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him to the living room.

“That’s what’s wrong, Rick.” Two tears slipped down her cheeks and splashed on the hardwood floor as the newscast played it’s loop again.  “They don’t know if he’s going to live.”

The dark skinned woman began to pace. “He may die, Rick, he may die and.....”  Her husband fully understood what was rushing through her mind.

“Marta, call your sister.”  The pacing stopped and her eyes lit up as she searched his face questioningly.

“There is no way in hell the best rookie I ever trained in the field is not going to get an ear full from his FTO.”  Marta’s shoulders sagged in relief and gratitude that, although Shawn was no longer his charge, the pure fact that he once wore a police uniform was enough for them to go to Santa Barbara.