Hi. This is my first venturing into the Psych fandom. This fic is inspired by the big old scar on James Roday's chest. Apparently he has a pacemaker? I have no idea, but I thought it'd make for interesting fanfiction.

Title: Thump

Rating: Teen, because I'll probably swear a lot in the course of the fanfic.

Summary: (without giving too much away) Shawn collapses during a chase, and only he and Gus know the reason behind the chest pains that caused it.

Characters: Shawn, Gus, Henry, Jules, Lassie. Set before Abigail, even though I like Abigail, for various reasons.

Warnings: Whump.

Disclaimer: Don't own.

Shawn's feet pounded on the concrete in a furious rhythm—thump, thump, thump, thump—and sweat beaded on his forehead and his neck. Gus ran alongside him, lecturing him between gasps about not aggravating dangerous criminals, again, like he always does.

Shawn stole a glance behind him. The guy was far behind, wielding a metal bat (scary but embarrassingly short-ranged), and he was, honestly, kind of pudgy. He was sure they could hold out until Lassie and Jules showed up.

As he was turning back to focus on the dim alley he was sprinting through, pain shot through his chest and his frantic hand shot up to clutch at it. Startled, he stumbled and almost fell.

No, no, no! This feeling was familiar, too, too familiar.

"Shawn!" Gus shouted, slowing his pace and turning to glare at his friend. "Come on! This is no time to be screwing around—Shawn, are you okay?"

A strange tingling spread through his his body and his body temperature soared. He managed, by some miracle, to keep running, but he had no doubt that today's Bad Guy was gaining on him fast.

God, his chest hurt. He had never been so sure that he was going to die.

"Gus," he pleaded, wheezing desperately for air. "Gus, help me."

One hand hooked itself under his elbow and the other sat on his opposite shoulder, and his friend was dragging him forward. But even with this extra help he couldn't breathe and his body was failing him.

"I can't, I can't," he whispered. "Keep going, just go get help—"

"I am not leaving you, Shawn," Gus muttered, and Shawn could hear in his voice that this was familiar to him, too.

He couldn't take it anymore. His feet fumbled over each other and he fell, dragging Gus down with him. He tried to beg his friend to keep going, to leave him, he was going to die anyway, but his chest was fully bound by some invisible thing and he couldn't speak.

Instead, he lay on the concrete and gasped for air. He could do nothing else even as he heard their pursuer's footsteps coming closer.

"Freeze! SBPD!" Lassiter's voice called through the alleyway.

The edges of his vision turned grey.

"What's wrong with him?" Juliet, as the criminal was led away in cuffs.

I'm dying.

"Call an ambulance," Gus commanded quietly, and Shawn could practically hear the tears in his eyes before he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

Hope you enjoyed! Next chapter will be up soon, probably! Please review.