Disclaimer: Supernatural and all its characters belong to Kripke and the CW. I own nothing.
"Winchester! Phone!" Hal shouted from the doorway of the garage. "It's your kid's school!"
Cursing John Winchester pushed out from under the '87 Honda Accord he was working on and stood heading for the office. "If Dean's gotten himself into trouble again, I'm gonna tan his hide!" he thought as he marched into Hal's office and picked up the phone. "Winchester here" he gruffly answered.
"Mr. Winchester, this is Mrs. Stephens, the nurse at Elder Elementary." The high pitched voice said. "Your son Sammy is here in my office with a fever of 101.9. Is there someone who could come pick him up?"
"I'll be right there." John replied. Hanging up the phone he left the office going to the front counter where Hal was helping a customer. John waited until the men were finished talking before walking up to the older man. "Would it be alright if I took an early lunch? My youngest is in the nurse's office and I need to go get him." He explained.
"Sure John, go pick up your boy." Hal agreed. "And take the rest of the afternoon off. Cade can cover for you."
"You sure?" John asked.
"Your family comes first John." Hal stated as he walked toward the back with the young man. "We can manage a day or two without you. Now git going."
"Thanks Hal" John called over his shoulder as he hurried to the small locker room in the back. "I'll stay late tomorrow to make up the time."
Pushing the door to the locker room he went straight to the sink washing the grease and grime off his hands before slipping out of his coveralls and throwing them in his duffle. He stuffed his feet back in his boots, snatched up his duffle, and raced out the door to the impala. After stowing his bag in the back seat, John climbed into the older model Chevy and drove the ten miles to Elder Elementary. He turned into the school's circular driveway going past the parking lot and stopping right in front of the entrance to the school. Pushing open the door the worried father climbed out of the car and stomped into the building. He stopped by the office long enough to sign Sammy out and get directions for the nurse's office and then hurried down the hall disappearing into the second door on the left.
Once inside the brightly colored room John glanced around at the row of tiny chairs along the wall. Not seeing his son he walked up to the counter clearing his throat to get the nurse's attention. "Excuse me, Ms. Stephens? I'm John Winchester." John greeted. "You called about my son Sammy."
"Yes sir" the older woman replied with a smile. "Sammy's lying down in the back." The brown haired nurse led John over to an open door and motioned him inside.
John crept through the door and over to his sleeping son. Kneeling down beside the cot he brushed Sammy's bangs out of his face gauging his fever as he did. "Thought you didn't do that anymore." He whispered as he gently pulled Sam's thumb out of his mouth. Spotting the boy's book bag beside the cot John slid it over his shoulder before softly shaking Sam's shoulder. "Sammy, wake up kiddo. It's time to go home." He called.
"Daddy?" Sam yawned as he slowly opened sleep filled eyes. "I don't feel good, daddy."
"I know buddy" John soothed as he tossed the blanket aside and picked his baby boy up. "Daddy's gonna get you some medicine to make you feel better just as soon as we get home. Okay?"
"Okay daddy" Sam mumbled laying his head on John's shoulder.
John carefully carried Sammy into the main part of the nurse's office. Stopping at the desk he asked, "Do I need to sign anything before I go?"
"No sir, just make sure you sign him out in the office." Nurse Stephens instructed.
"Already done" John replied. "Thanks for taking care of him until I got here." He headed for the door and then stopped. Turning he asked, "Why didn't you call me earlier?"
"I called as soon as he came in Mr. Winchester." Ms. Stephens defended. "Mrs. Moye said Sammy never said a word about feeling sick; she didn't know anything was wrong until he got really quiet."
"Sammy, why didn't you tell your teacher you were sick?" John asked gazing down at his sick little boy.
"I couldn't" Sam simply replied.
"Why not?" John prodded tamping down the anger he felt at Sam's teacher for making his son feel he couldn't speak up.
"Cause you told me and Dean to always finish what we start and I wasn't done with my work yet." Sam explained glancing over at the nurse when she snickered. "Daddy, what's she laughing about?"
"What?" John asked looking down at his son. He had forgotten how literal Sammy could be. Seeing his little boy's curious expression John glared at the nurse before turning to smile at Sammy. "Oh, she must have just read a joke or something." He offered as he opened the door to leave.
Nurse Stephens heard a muffled "I wanna hear the joke" right before the door to her office closed.
Bobby's house
Hearing the rumble of the impala's engine Bobby glanced up at the clock surprised that it was only one o'clock. Hoping that his friend hadn't gone and lost another job he walked into the living room and opened the front door. He watched from the doorway as the beautiful black car came to a stop in a cloud of dust. "Crap!" he thought as he saw John lean over and pick Sammy up off the seat beside him. Trudging down the stairs he called out, "Need any help John?"
"No, I've got him." John answered as he stood readjusting his hold on his son. He grabbed the pharmacy bag and followed Bobby into the house. "Can you put this in the refrigerator for me? I need to get Sammy to bed."
"Sure" Bobby replied taking the bag from John. "He gonna be alright?"
"Yeah, he's just got the virus that's been going around school the past couple of weeks. Dr. McCoy said he should be back to his old self in about a few days." John softly explained before walking out of the room and up the stairs. He took Sammy into their room and gently laid the sleeping boy on the bed. He quickly removed his son's shoes, jeans, and shirt redressing the youngster his favorite Spiderman pajamas. Grabbing the blanket off the other bed John placed it over Sammy tucking him in. "Night Sammy" he whispered as he leaned over and kissed his son's forehead. Deciding to get a quick bite to eat while he had a chance John tiptoed over to the door. After one more glance at his sleeping baby, he flipped off the lights and walked out the door leaving it open in case Sammy needed him before he got back.
Later
"Hey Johnny, you want me to get Dean from school?" Bobby whispered as he peered around the door.
"No, I'll go. Dean's gonna be freaked enough about Sammy not being at school. If you drive up, he'll really flip out." John sighed getting up from the bed. "Sammy will be fine till I get back. He'll probably sleep the whole time."
"He need to take any medicine or anything?" Bobby inquired as he sat down in the rocking chair beside Sammy's bed.
"No, he's good" John said. "If he wakes up just tell him I went to pick up Dean."
"You got it, Johnny" Bobby agreed. He heard his friend walk out the door and down the stairs. Hearing the revving of the impala's engine he turned to the window shaking his head. "Dang fool" he muttered before turning his attention back to the littlest Winchester who was staring up at him. "Hey, Sammy, how are you feeling sport?"
"Where's daddy?" Sammy tearfully asked as he glanced around the room. "I want daddy."
"Awww kiddo, your daddy's gonna be right back. He just went to get Dean from school." Bobby assured the little boy. Going over to the bed he picked Sammy up, carried him over to the rocking chair, and slowly started to rock. "You want me to get you some water or something?"
"Nuh uh" Sammy yawned shaking his head. He fisted his eyes sleepily before leaning back against his uncle and shyly whispering, "Will you sing to me?"
"Sammy, your uncle Bobby can't carry a tune in a bucket." Bobby admitted.
"But Dean always sings to me when I'm sick." Sam argued turning his puppy dog eyes on the old hunter.
"Wouldn't you rather hear a story or something like that?" Bobby negotiated.
"No, sing" Sam replied, "please?"
"Okay Sammy, I'll sing" Bobby conceded. After a few minutes of thinking, his deep voice filled the room. "As I walked out on the streets of Laredo, as I walked out on Laredo one day…" Halfway through the song Bobby glanced down to find Sammy fast asleep. He stopped the rocker and slowly stood and walked over to the bed. Bobby gently laid Sammy on the bed and covered him up. "Night kiddo" he whispered taking a seat in the rocker once more.
AN- The song Bobby was singing is "Streets of Laredo"
