Author note: Please forgive the delay in updating; I had a hard drive crash (Lesson learned always back up, I didn't) I was out of a computer for a few LONG days. Also I went and reread the last chapter I will try and fix those errors this week. Thank you for reading my story. I hope you enjoy Chapt 3

Lassiter, Juliet and Gus arrived about 45 minutes after Shawn got to the hospital. Lassiter told them to have a seat and he would go and check on Shawn.

He walked to the reception desk and told the nurse, "I am Head Detective Carlton Lassiter and I was working a scene earlier and need to check on the young man that was brought in, his name is Shawn Spencer."

The nurse looked through her records and told him to follow her.

When Gus and Juliet saw him head back they started to follow but Lassiter motioned for them to wait. Juliet sat back into her chair with a huff. She looked at Gus and said, "The way Lassiter is being so secretive and protective is really frightening me, what must have happened to Shawn?"

Gus answered, "I know me too Jules, it is kind of like Lassiter is being some sort of warped surrogate father for Shawn, its weird!"

Lassiter walked back to the room where Shawn was being treated. He introduced himself to the doctor and took out his notebook and pen to write down details for the report he was dreading having to write. The doctor began to inventory Shawn's injuries for Lassiter, "He has three deep stab wounds, which we will take him to surgery soon to repair. He is also covered in these small scratches, we aren't sure what they came from, they might be fingernail tracks from the people that attacked him and Shawn fighting them. The cut on the forehead looks to be from a smack on the head with a pistol. The part of his injuries that worry me the most is his rectum. I can tell you that the rape kit came up with two distinct fluid samples and they are running the DNA now. But a simple case of rape would not have injured him like he is, I am afraid we may be looking at a ruptured bowel. They must have done some unimaginable things to him. We are taking him to surgery now. Detective Lassiter, if you are also this mans friend, let me be frank with you. I am confident that we can heal his body but his mind is going to be a lot tougher to heal. He is going to need a lot of loving support from friends and family."

Lassiter shut his notebook and said, "Thank you doctor, he doesn't have any family left, but he does have a ton of friends that will be right there beside him to help him every step of the way."

With that said he stood and watched the doctor wheel and unconscious Shawn to the operating room. He sat in a chair by the exit and rubbed his face. He wasn't sure how much he should tell Gus and Juliet, would it hurt Shawn more to deal with them knowing or would it help? Either way he knew as soon as Shawn was out of surgery he had some VERY bad guys he was going to arrest and try really hard to find a reason to shoot them.

He sighed hard then went through the doors to give Juliet and Gus and update. When the two saw Lassiter come through the door looking even more stressed than when he went in they really got anxious. Lassiter paused for a moment before speaking.

"Shawn is alive and he is in surgery now to fix his wounds, the doctor is confidant that they will be able to heal his body but his mind and spirit is going to take a while longer and a lot more work. Lets go into the room in the back here and I will fill you in on what happened to Shawn in that room."

The three friends went to a small private waiting area, they all sat down and Juliet began, "Lassiter, I am so proud of the way that you are protecting Shawn, but we want to protect him too let us in so we know how best to help Shawn."

Lassiter gave his tired and stressed face another rub and then told Juliet and Gus, "Well guys it looks like the men that took Shawn as a child came back and tried to finish the job, He has scratches all over his body from where he tried to struggle against the attack, 3 knife wounds and a slashed forehead."

Gus was starting to get a little impatient, "You told us that much at the house what did they DO to Shawn?"

Lassiter looked at Gus and Juliet with tears in his eyes, "Shawn was raped by at least two men, and if that wasn't enough the scum didn't stop there they violated him with God knows what and they doctors think they did it with such force that his bowels may have been ruptured."

Juliet started to cry and Gus could just manage to keep muttering "Oh God, Oh God"

Lassiter actually got a little angry at their reactions, "It is okay to react like this around me, but we need to be strong for Shawn, we are all he has got now, we can try and get his Mom to come, but she is never in one place long enough to be a real help. Shawn is going to need us to be his strength for the for seeable future can we do it?"

Lassiter leaned in to Juliet and Gus, looking for an answer. Juliet wiped her eyes and said, "Loving someone means that you love them through good times and Bad. I will stand by him no matter what."

Gus said, "I have stuck with Shawn through thick and thin, since we were kids and believe me I am not planning on stopping now."

Lassiter patted both their legs and said, "GOOD! I already spoke with Chief; we are keeping the details of his attack as vague as possible, only those who need to know will know. I really think you two should not let on that you know the details and let Shawn have the power to tell you, if he wants you to know okay? I've worked with some male on male rapes when I first became a cop. These young men experienced a lot of the same emotions women do, but they aren't allowed to grieve and heal like women are. I never realized until those cases that 3% of men experience rape and that only counts the ones that seek help the actual number is probably much higher. Rape is a horrible thing for both sexes but for some reason society actually looks down on men for being raped, like they could have stopped it or secretly wanted it. I can tell you the terror I saw in Shawn's eye told me that he desperately tried to stop the attack and he definitely did not want to be injured like that."

Juliet reached up and hugged Lassiter. He didn't know what to do he awkwardly hugged her back. She told him while she was hugging him, "Thank you for being such a good friend to Shawn and us." Gus quickly agreed, "Yeah Lassie, thank you, I know Shawn looks up to you like a big brother, thank you for being there for him. We will all be there for him now."

A knock on the door interrupted them. It was the doctor. They motioned for him to come in and sit and the doctor came in and told the group that he had an update on Shawn. Lassiter whispered to the doc that the two people in the room could hear all the details.

The doctor shook his head and began, "The knife wounds turned out to be pretty tricky to fix, one hit his liver, one hit his stomach and the other hit his intestines. The injuries from the rape were more severe than we thought as well, his rectum was torn and his bowel was perforated in two places. He is going to be sedated for a very long time while these injuries are healing. We actually gave him a colostomy bag to keep anything from touching the delicate tissues of his rectum and bowel until they heal. We also inserted a PICC line to deliver the IV antibiotics. He will need them to fight the abdominal infection from all the waste that leaked into his abdomen from all those injuries. He has got a along road of to recovery, but I am confidant that he will recover. I can let you see him for a few minutes and then I would like for you all to go home and come back tomorrow before you see him again, I promise you he will not be awake anytime soon."