Fear - 61

"Okay, I think you'll live," Gene growled, as he finished bandaging the wound in Shawn's bicep. "Now"—he glared at Shawn—"do you mind telling me exactly what the hell you thought you were doing?"

Shawn glared back, too pissed to be cowed. "Trying to keep the bastard from shooting Max, or one of the other guys."

"And so you made yourself a sitting duck."

"Standing duck, and I ducked. So there."

"Yeah, I can tell. Not. He shot you, in case you didn't notice."

"Not badly," Shawn muttered, refusing to give ground.

Gene rubbed his temples, trying to calm the fear he still felt. "But it could have been. Damn it, Shawn, he could have killed you."

Shawn's lips quirked up in a small grin. "So you do care."

"No shit," Max said under his breath. He was straddling the only chair in the exam room, watching the argument with obvious amusement.

Gene heard him and turned to stare at him, his look as much as saying 'You keep out of this'. Then he spun back around to Shawn. For a long moment their gazes locked. Then Gene slowly smiled. "I'm proud of you."

"For doing something that stupid?"

"No," Gene replied. "Though that's part of it, but more because I was yelling at you, and angry, and you didn't fold. You fought back."

"Yeah, well…" Shawn thought about it and nodded, his face lighting up. "I did, didn't I?"

"You did." Ignoring the fact Max was sitting there, Gene cupped Shawn's face in his hands. "You asked once when the fear would go away. I think you just took the first step toward that happening." Then he kissed him.

"Fuck, Doc, no PDAs, okay. Innocent eyes here." John said from the doorway, laughing when Gene flipped him off. "So the kid's okay?" He came into the exam room, followed by the others, telling Shawn, "That was a hell of a thing you did there."

Shawn ducked his head in obvious embarrassment. "I just…" he mumbled. Looking up again he frowned. "He didn't get away, did he?"

"Guess you missed that part," Pete told him, grinning. "He had a bit of a run in with some real pissed off mechanics—namely us."

"Yeah, no one fucks with our friends and gets away with it," John added. "The cops have him now. I have a feeling they're going to make real sure the judge throws the book at him."

"And from what they said, they're going to pass on the information about what happened to the DA prosecuting Jared," Pete said.

Gene smiled grimly. "That could add a few years to his sentence, even with the plea bargain."

"I hope so," Shawn barely whispered.

Gene took one look at him and ordered everyone out of the room. "He needs to get home and rest," he explained, when it looked as if they might protest.

When they left, he went into his office, returning with an old shirt for Shawn to wear to replace the bloody one he'd had on when he'd arrived. Shawn put it on and they both chuckled. Shawn swam in it.

"But it's still better than nothing," Shawn said, sliding off the exam table with Gene's help. "Now home?"

Gene nodded. "Home."