A/N: This is a request from one of my lovely reviewers who calls themselves: Bella. She wanted me to write a sick!Ellen fic. Wouldn't have thought of it so thanks for the idea. Had to bring John in here too so major John/Ellen below.
Don't Let Me Down:
By: LOSTrocker
Jo rolled her eyes when John Winchester came in. He was becoming a regular more and more these days. She had a feeling it wasn't the beer that was getting his attention. It was her mom.
"Hey Jo," John greeted.
"Hi," she said from behind the bar.
John didn't really like to Jo behind there. She wasn't 21 yet. Jo wasn't that much older than Dean was. However, it was Ellen's Bar and what Ellen said went. Thinking of Ellen, he couldn't help but wonder where she was. So, he asked Jo. "Where's yer mom at Kiddo?"
Did he seriously just call her that? When were these dumbasses going to realize that she was 16? She wasn't a "Kiddo" anymore. She pointed at the other end of the bar. John turned in that direction and saw Ellen with her head down and a bottle of whiskey in her hand. He pushed himself away from the bar to go see what was wrong with her. He had a feeling something was due to the fact that her head was face down on the bar.
"Hey," John greeted and put a hand on her back causing her to bolt straight up. "Y'kay?"
Ellen turned to him. When she did he got his answer. Ellen was far from okay. Her hair was a mess, there were bags under her eyes, and her skin had gotten slightly paler since the last he saw her.
"Yeah, jest peachy," she answered him with a hoarse voice. Ellen took another swing of the whiskey. It was the only thing that seemed to work on her sore throat. It was getting harder to talk.
John winced. That didn't sound too good. "How long have ya had this?"
Ellen shrugged. "Dunno, don't matter," she answered him in short terms.
John didn't bother asking where she got it from. Hunters brought in all sorts of germs, diseases, and the worst part was that half of them were of the supernatural kind. He went to go put his hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever. She wouldn't let him. She waved his hand away.
"Fine, fine." she assured him. Ellen went to push herself away from her spot to go see if her daughter needed some help. She couldn't afford to be sick. Thats what the whiskey was for.
That turned out to be a bad move on her part. Her world started to spin, and she got dizzy. "Whoa, I got'cha." John said as he caught her before her butt went to the floor.
Jo saw that. "Mom!" she ran over.
"She's okay." John assured Jo. He took his chances and leaned his head on Ellen's and sure enough it was burning. She had a fever.
"She doesn't look okay." Jo insisted and went to help her mom.
"Sweetheart, 'm fine," Ellen tried. She was doing better. John had her though she wouldn't admit that to him.
"Oh, thats real assuring." Jo retorted as she crossed her arms.
John hoisted Ellen up in his arms. Jo wasn't moving. She was blocking his path so he wouldn't take her mother anywhere. John sighed. "Jo, the quicker you let me help take care of yer mom, the better she'll get. All I'm going to do is get her stubborn ass into bed-"
"Bed. No." Ellen told him and tried to wiggle her way out of John's strong hold. She wasn't budging. Aw, crap.
"Like I was sayin', stubborn butt into bed," John continued and smirked at Ellen. She was going to pretend that she didn't see that. "Get some real medicine, and go from there. A'right?"
Jo tapped her foot impatiently, debating or not rather to let John do that. She could take care of her mom. Ash could run the place. Yet, when she looked at her mom, she saw her looking at John. She didn't want her take care of her, she wanted John. Jo couldn't blame her. It had been awhile since a man was around to do so. Jo stepped aside to let John through.
"Thanks," John said and hurried Jo to the back where some beds were. "There ya go," he said as he put her down. He covered her up to make sure she was nice a warm. As soon as he did Ellen kicked them off.
"Too hot." she reminded him.
"I know, but it will sweat out the fever." he insisted and put them back on her. John went searching through the small cabinets that were in here and found some medicine that Ellen kept whenever Jo got sick. "Take some of these," he handed her some TylenolPMs.
Ellen knew what they were. "Don't need 'em." she refused. "Jest a little shut eye and thats all I need."
He gave her a small smile. "Since when do ya ever sleep?" he asked and put them in her hand. "Don't make me force them down yer throat."
"Yes dad," she played him and finally just gave in and take them so he would shut the hell up.
"Good girl." John complimented. "I'm gonna go check on Jo-" He went to turn to leave but he found that Ellen had stopped him by grabbing him his arm. That surprised him. John looked down at her. "Yeah?"
She mumbled it at first because Ellen knew that John wouldn't let her live this one down.
"What was that?" he asked her. Of course, he heard her loud and clear. Still, it was so much nicer to hear these things out loud, especially from her.
"Stay with me?"
Thats all she had to do was ask. He made himself comfortable on the other bed which was only a few inches away.
John started to sing lightly. It was something he did for the boys whenever he was around, and they got sick. They liked him to sing to them. He had done it for Mary too. Why change it for Ellen?
"...I'm in love for the first time
Don't you know it's going to last
It's a love that last for ever
It's a love that has no past
Don't let me down, don't let me down
Don't let me down, don't let me down..."
Ellen didn't mind it that much. She found it soothing. The mixture of his voice and the meds were starting to wear into her system. However, her head was still throbbing.
"John?"
"Yeah,"
"Shuddup."
He laughed and did stop singing, but hummed the rest of The Beatles song until Ellen's eyes were closed and she was asleep. John waited a few minutes before he got back up. He tucked a piece of her dark hair back behind her ear. Then he went back to the bar to see how Jo was doing. She was all ready waiting for him when he came out.
"How is she?" she demanded to know.
"She's gonna be fine." John assured her.
That made Jo smile. "Can I go see her?"
"Why don't ya give her a few minutes?" John suggested. "She needs to rest."
Jo nodded in agreement there. She watched as John pulled out his phone. She figured he was dialing his boys up. Jo was confirmed right when she heard their names.
"Dean, hey, its dad. Yeah, I'm okay. Listen though, I'm going to be a little while longer than I thought. I have a few things to take care of here. Do ya think ya can handle Sammy fer a few more days? Thats my boy. 'Kay, see in a few days." he hung up.
Jo noticed that he just didn't say Ellen. Of course, he wouldn't. Still, he said a few things, and that meant that Jo was tangled up in this too. He wasn't just going to make sure that her mom was all right. He was going to make sure she was going to be okay too.
Jo found herself inching herself closer to John Winchester and slowly embracing him. After her dad died, men kind of just came and went. It was nice to see one to actually stay around even if it was only for a little while.
John smiled when he felt those tiny arms of Jo's wrap around him. He would take this as one hell of a thank you.
END.
