Hold my Hand (Dr. Shaun Murphy x Child!OC)

Chapter 7: Tied Hands

*Claire's POV*

Security was quick to respond and they were able to apprehend Amelia's father and hand him over to the police. Luckily, Amelia wasn't harmed. She's still dazed from the medication she is on, so nobody is sure if she even knew what had just occurred. After all, a symptom of sepsis is mental confusion. But then again, no one knows what exactly goes on in her head. 

Except Shaun.

He hasn't moved from her bedside, seemingly staring off into the middle distance in deep thought. Amelia fell back asleep after the whole ordeal. Her body is in the middle of a war against the infection raging through her bloodstream. I'm standing outside of the room, watching the two interact through the window. 

Jared walks up and his eyes follow my gaze to the inhabitants of the room. A heavy sigh leaves his lips, "Is Shaun okay? He's acting... even more off then usual." He inquires.

"Why are you asking me? How would I know what's going on in his mind?" I question with a quirked brow.

Jared shrugs, "Other than Dr. Glassman, you are one of the few people in this hospital who have actually been able to understand Shaun and communicate with him."

I scoff and roll my eyes, "So what? I'm like, the local Shaun Murphy expert now?"

Again, he shrugs, "Yeah, pretty much."

I give him a puzzled expression, "Why are you suddenly so concerned about Shaun?" I question.

"Didn't you see him throw that right hook? Shaun is like, the MOST non-violent person I've ever met in my entire life. You and I know that he can't even hurt a fly, literally. Something must've triggered him really badly to make him react that way. Dr. Melendez is thinking of having him see a shrink, and you know how much he hates talking to people he isn't familiar with already. So I told him that YOU would talk to him and figure it out."

"What!?" I exclaim.

"Look, just go talk to him. Not for Melendez, but at least for Shaun. He probably has something running around in his mind right now and it could effect his performance." 

I take a deep breath and let out an equally deep sigh. Jared's right. I should go talk to him about it. The team can't afford to have Shaun emotionally compromised... again. It'll just throw everything off the rails and cause everyone unneeded stress.

"Alright. I'll talk to him." I relent, before giving him a smirk, "But you owe me lunch."

Jared laughs, "Deal."

I smile as he walks off to who-knows-where in the hospital to do who-knows-what. I turn my attention back to the task at hand and I gently knock on the door. I see Shaun jump out of his thoughts and he turns around, I wave and he walks up to open the door.

"Claire. How are you? Did you get hurt?" He asks awkwardly, obviously nervous about something.

I shake my head, "No, I'm fine Shaun. How's little Amelia?"

Shaun nods, "She is still stable. Her vitals are slightly better. I think the broad spectrum antibiotics are working." He says with an almost smile.

I smile, "That's good." I gesture to the two chairs next the the bed, "May I sit with you?"

"Okay. But let's talk quietly. Amelia is still sleeping."

We both sit down in relative silence for a few uncomfortable minutes. The sound of the heart monitor beeping and the noise of the AC kicking on being the only things keeping my thoughts in line as I try to think of how to approach the topic without making him clam up.