Strong In Will
Chapter 1
"Dean you've already lost too much blood. I can't stop the bleeding even with pressure and I can't tell how bad your injuries are because it's so dark. All I have is this little flashlight. I'm going to call 911."
"No Sammy, please. Don't. You kno-" Dean's voice hitched and his eyes closed tight as Sam put more pressure on the wound. Sam could tell he was holding back a groan. There was blood everywhere; on his hands, in Deans' hair, all coming from the same source, the huge gash on Dean's forehead.
"Dean I'm not going to argue with you. I can't be sure but it looks like your leg is broken and you have so many cuts that need stitches that if one of them hasn't gotten infected yet I'll be surprised. I don't even know what happened. You really need to go to the hospital." Sam said louder as if to emphasize the need for medical care. Dean let out a breath he had been holding in and started speaking,
"Sammy… please just help me up. I'm fine. Lets just get to the impala; you can stitch me up there. I'll let you drive. Please Sam, I can't stand hospitals. You know I can't." Dean gave the puppy dog eyes his best shot. Sam sighed, knowing that Dean was avoiding telling him what really happened. Sam stared at his brother hesitantly. He finally agreed, though he was still wishing that Dean hadn't argued with him and would've let him take him to the hospital.
"Okay, but Dean, you're going to need a splint for your leg before you even try walking. And hey, we're in the middle of the forest how hard could it be to find some straight branches?" Sam gave a reassuring smile and squeezed Dean's shoulder. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."
"Oh yeah you know me, always running off into the sunset with a broken leg and blood dripping down my face. Very romantic actually…" Sam could almost hear Deans smirk in his voice, fading as he left in search of some splint worthy branches that were hopefully close by. He knew it would take longer to find them because it was dark, but he didn't bother to mention that to Dean.
After several minutes, he found a rather large one and snapped it on his knee into pieces that were about the length of Dean's leg. He walked back to where his brother was, and he could hear the labored breathing before he could even see his brother. As Sam neared the clearing where Dean was laying on the ground, the breathing became more controlled. He knew his brother was trying to fool him into thinking he wasn't too bad, but he pretended not to notice.
"Dean, I'm going to try to set your leg straight and then put the splint in place, okay?" Sam explained as he cut off enough cloth off of his shirt to use it to tie the splint around Dean's leg. He paused for a second, "You're going to feel this." Sam wiped the sweat from his forehead that had been collecting there ever since he found his brother. He wasn't quite sure how painful this would be, but he knew it would be bad, even for Dean. "Okay you ready? This is going to suck so I don't think there's any point in telling you to relax." Dean nodded and took a deep breath. "On three. One..." With two hands Sam grabbed Deans leg where the break was, "...Two." it took all of his strength but eventually Sam felt the bone slip back into place. Dean let out a cry and his back arched in pain.
"Shit Sam! You said on three!"
"Yeah, well, I lied. You should have known that was coming," Sam replied knowing he was going to pay for that somehow, somewhere down the road. "I think its back in place now. I can't be 100% sure, but I give that about a 95%." Sam wished Dean would just pass out already. It would be much easier to get Dean to agree to let Sam carry him to the car, or call an ambulance if he was unconscious. Humans can only withstand so much pain and blood loss, but he felt as if his brother was the unfortunate exception.
"Okay, I've got the sticks in place I'm just going to tie them in place around your leg. This might hurt a little." Sam worked quickly and carefully but despite his efforts not to, he could tell he was causing Dean pain by the way the older Winchester's body became tense and his breathing becoming more and more shallow.
"Okay, it's alright. I'm done. Let me help you up." Dean grabbed Sam's outstretched hand and pulled himself up. The effort sucked what very little energy he had left out of him and he became dizzy. Sam noticed Dean's stance was wavering. "Dean, you alright? Are you sure you don't want me to call the ambulance? I've got my cell phone in my pocket."
"No Sammy. I'm fine. Just give me a minute." Dean hoped what he said was true. He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or Sam that he was okay. "Okay, lets go. Just go slow, some people don't have freakishly long legs like you." Dean put one arm around Sam's shoulder for support; he could hardly stand up, let alone walk. He prayed Sam wouldn't notice how heavily he was leaning on him trying to walk. He hadn't felt this helpless in a very long time.
Several steps later, Sam noticed that Deans breathing started becoming more like wheezing, and he stopped for a moment.
"Dean? Are you sure you're alright?" Deans face suddenly became pale, his eyes less aware. Sam could feel his body going limp and his arm slowly slipping off of his shoulder. "Dammit!" Sam grabbed his brother before he hit the ground and set him down. He took his hands out from behind Deans back and noticed they were covered in blood and dirt. Knowing he wouldn't get an answer from his now unconscious brother, he still asked, "What the hell Dean! What happened?"
Sam rolled Dean over and pointed the flashlight at his back. Even in the dim lighting, he could see huge strips of flesh towards the left of his back, were missing. At the deepest point in the slashes he could even see bone. If he felt guilty after finding Dean in the state he was in earlier, then that feeling was amplified a thousand times now. For the first time in a very, very long time, Sam was not sure if Dean was going to live.