I don't own Supernatural or any of its' characters.
"Mr. Winchester we're ready for you now." The nurse called, clip board in hand to read Dean's name as she pulled a wheelchair into his small cubicle.
Dean gave an aggravated sigh, "My head just hurts. I can walk fine." He complained and scowled down at the wheelchair.
"Sorry hospital policy." She replied and pointed to the seat he was supposed to take.
Dean decided not to fight and sat down in the chair with a pained sigh and allowed the nurse to push him through the winding halls of the hospital until they reached an automatic door with the words Radiology above them.
"Ok I'll just have you change into this gown and then we'll get the MRI started. It's a somewhat long procedure but we have headphones and cds for you to choose from so at least you can listen to music during the procedure." The nurse explained as she placed a blue hospital gown into his arms and left the room so that he could change in privacy.
Twenty minutes later Dean lay in a long narrow tube, headphones blaring Metallica into his head. He tried to stay as still as possible like the nurse had instructed and thought back to the day leading up to his current situation.
Twenty-Four Hours Earlier
"Dean he's on your ten!" Sam shouted.
Dean swiveled in the direction of his brother's directions, his shotgun held steady and level at chest height. The ghost they were currently hunting was headed straight at Dean, his arms outstretched to grab Dean. The ghost was one of the more hideous Dean could ever remember hunting, which was really saying something. He'd been burned alive by the father of the girl who he'd raped and murdered. Which Dean figured he'd probably deserved. But it didn't make for a handsome ghost that was for sure.
The flesh on his body was charred black, his clothing melted to his skin, and in some areas the skin had completely burned away so that scorched bone was visible in places. It also looked as if his face had melted. His eyeballs drooped down onto his cheeks and looked like melted plastic. His lips had the same sort of appearance.
The brother's had also discovered that the ghost's touch burned as if he were still on fire. Both Winchester men were sporting angry red burns in the shape of hand prints on their arms and torsos. Dean fired his gun before the ghost had the chance to burn him again and then smiled triumphantly as Casper dissolved into a shower of ash. It wouldn't stop him but it would give the brother's at least a little time to continue their search for any remains that may have been left behind where the man had died.
Lucky for them it was only a few minutes later when Dean spied a small piece of scorched finger bone resting underneath a derelict furnace in the corner of the basement. Smiling triumphantly Dean slid on his belly and reached his arm under the furnace where he was barely able to reach the tiny piece of bone.
He held the bone over his head. "Got it!" He yelled triumphantly. His triumph was cut short when he stood up and smacked his head into a pipe sticking out of the furnace. The pipe clanged loudly as his head connected and Dean let out a series of curses as he rubbed the already forming bump. It was right about then that his world went totally dark for a few seconds. His vision blacked out completely and a stabbing pain shot through his eyes towards the back of his skull. He lost his lunch in one powerful heave and staggered as a wave of dizziness washed through him. His vision cleared just as suddenly as it had gone and he managed to grab onto the furnace to keep from falling over.
"Dean!" Sam shouted with concern when he saw his brother stagger and then vomit.
Dean pressed a hand over his eyes and held the other out to Sam. "I think I'm ok. Here get this salted and burned." He insisted.
He watched warily for the ghost as Sam dropped the bone into a trash can, poured salt and lighter fluid over the bone, and then tossed a match onto the whole thing. The ghost made one final attempt to stop them just before Sam struck the match but the iron bar Sam was holding in his other hand took care of him and gave the Winchester the few seconds he needed to light the fire.
The ghost screeched in agony as for the second time in his existence he burned away to nothing. Dean let out a sigh of relief and allowed himself to lean against the wall and slide down to the floor. The pain in his head had let off some but it still felt like an icepick was stabbing into both of his eyeballs and into the back of his skull.
Sam hurried over to his big brother and squatted down beside him. "Dean?" He asked with concern.
Dean gave him a sheepish smile and forced himself to stand up. "I'm alright, just got a killer headache from smacking my head."
Sam gave him a typical Sam-type grimace. "You could have a concussion Dean. Maybe we should take you to a doctor."
Dean scoffed and gave his brother a wry smile. "A doctor? Please. If I don't go to the doctor when I get shot I'm definitely not going for a headache." He sneered and pushed past Sam to head out of the dirty basement.
Later that night Sam lay snoring in his hotel room bed while Dean tried in vain to sleep himself. The headache had grown worse in the passing hours to the point where Dean was fairly certain at any point his brain was actually going to explode out of his eyeballs. He'd had a lot of injuries in his life, it came with the job. The headache wasn't the most painful thing he'd ever experienced, but it was coming close. He'd already been to the bathroom to vomit more than once and every time he sat or stood up his vision would swim and go dim for a few seconds. The pain medicine he'd taken hadn't even touched the pain and Dean was beginning to worry that something was seriously wrong.
Dean let out a groan and turned over trying to find a comfortable position. The simple act of turning over made the headache even worse and his stomach clenched with nausea as his world swam before his eyes. He stood up quickly to try and make it to the bathroom before vomiting again. He took one step and then fell to the floor when his left leg failed to support his weight. He realized that not only was his leg not working but it was tingling and numb as was his left arm.
"Sam." Dean called quietly so that the noise wouldn't make the headache worse.
"Sammy!" He yelled louder when Sam failed to wake up. He winced as the sound of his own voice shot waves of red hot agony through his head.
Sam sat up and looked around in confusion, pulling a handgun out from under his pillow in one swift motion. He instantly dropped the gun when he saw his brother crumpled on the floor between their two beds. Dean looked terrible; he was pale, covered in a sheen of sweat, and his face was screwed up in obvious pain.
"Dean! Jesus what's wrong?" He asked loudly as he slid off the bed onto the floor beside his brother.
Dean winced and pulled away from Sam. "Not so loud, I think my head is going to explode." He mumbled. Sam felt close to panicking when he heard that Dean's words were slurred and saw the way his left arm and leg were laying limply beside him.
"We're going to the hospital." He ordered and worried when Dean simply nodded in agreement. Without another word Sam stood up and hurriedly put clothes on. He then helped Dean into a t-shirt and sweat pants before helping him out to the car.
Two hours later Dean was lying in an emergency room bed with an IV in his hand and a dopey smile on his face.
"Dude seriously Demerol is awesome!" He giggled as his head rolled back and forth on the pillow. "Look at the pattern on that curtain. It looks like a dolphin eating a dinosaur!" He slurred and pointed towards the curtain which blocked off his cubicle.
Sam just smiled and didn't reply. The curtain didn't look like any kind of sea or prehistoric creatures that he could make out and he figured that he'd need to be doped up on something to appreciate it.
After waiting a while longer the doctor finally returned with Dean's chart in his hands. "Alright Mr. Winchester I'm sorry it took me so long."
Dean waved a hand to show it wasn't a big deal and giggled again.
"Ah I see the Demerol has kicked in." The doctor said with a chuckle. "Well based on all the symptoms you've described I believe that you're suffering from a migraine. But just to be sure I'd like to schedule you for an MRI."
"An MRI? Is something seriously wrong with my brother?" Sam asked with concern.
The doctor shook his head and continued. "Like I said I believe that this is simply a severe migraine, but since he doesn't have a history of migraines and the fact that you told me he had a head injury earlier today I don't want to take any chances. Most likely the MRI won't show anything besides possibly a slight bit of fluid pressing on his brain from the bump he took. This fluid could in fact be causing the migraine so most likely all of this is connected."
After the explanation the doctor ran a few cognitive and physical tests on Dean. "So Mr. Winchester…"
Dean put up a hand and stopped the doctor. "M'names Dean." He mumbled.
"Alright Dean. Has the numbness you described on your left side improved?" The doctor asked as he ran the side of his stethoscope down Dean's arm and then leg.
Dean nodded and flexed his fist to show the doctor that his hand was working again.
"Good, now what about your vision? Are you still having loss of vision or blurred spots?" The doctor continued as he pulled out his pen light and shone it in Dean's right eye and then his left.
Dean squinted into the light. "Yeah it's still kinda messed up." He admitted.
The doctor gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "Don't worry vision difficulties are extremely common with migraines and should clear up as soon as the migraine subsides."
"K good." Dean answered.
"Do you have any questions before I go put in the order for the MRI?" The doctor asked as he prepared to leave the cubicle.
Dean shook his head and then leaned back against the pillow. Sam also shook his head and gave the doctor a thankful smile as the man slipped through the curtains.
After the MRI was complete a nurse wheeled Dean to a small private room even though he complained again that he didn't need a wheelchair. Sam looked up from the old copy of People magazine he was flipping through and gave his brother a smile. Dean returned the smile, feeling embarrassed with the attention he was getting and sat down on the bed.
"Everything go ok?" Sam asked.
Before Dean could answer his cellphone began ringing from the pocket of his sweats which were folded up on a counter with his other clothes.
"You want me to get that?" Sam asked since he was closer to the pile of clothing.
Dean nodded and watched as Sam pulled his phone out and checked the caller id. "It's Bobby." Sam informed him.
"Don't tell him I'm in the hospital." Dean warned, not wanting anyone else to know.
Sam nodded and then answered the phon. "Bobby hey it's Sam. Yeah Dean's right here; I was just closer to his phone. What? Are you ok? Good. Where are you? Ok um hang on."
Sam placed his hand over the phone speaker and looked to Dean. "Bobby's stuck up in the mountains. He kinda had to blow up his truck."
Dean raised an eye brow and smirked. "He blew up his truck?"
"Apparently there was a wendigo in it. He needs someone to come get him and we're the closest. He's about two hours away." Sam continued.
Dean nodded and pointed towards the door. "Go get him. I can take a cab back to the motel."
"You sure you don't want me to wait until you get the MRI results?" Sam asked.
Dean shook his head, "I'm a big boy Sammy. I'll be fine. Tell Bobby if he blows up my car too I'm gonna blow him up."
Sam laughed and pulled his hand away from the phone. "Bobby? I'll be there as soon as I can."
After Sam was gone Dean picked up the discarded People magazine and began flipping through it as he waited for the doctor to come back. He sat impatiently for another forty-five minutes before the doctor he talked to earlier came through the door. Dean hadn't been worried before but the grim look on the doctor's face gave him a chill.
"Dean good to see you again, did your brother leave?" The doctor asked as he grabbed one of the chairs and pulled it closer to the foot of the bed so that he could talk with Dean face to face. "I've got the results of you MRI would you like me to wait until he gets back before I go over them with you?"
"No he had to go pick up a friend who's having car problems. I'm taking a cab home. You can tell me whatever it is. I'm mean what could be so bad? Do I have a brain tumor or something?" Dean said jokingly.
The doctor's lips tightened into a thin line. "Actually Dean that's exactly what you have."
A/N- This is the first time I've ever published fan fiction. I hope everyone enjoys the start to this story and I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading!
