The Effects of Vertigo Ch. 2
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story, nor am I making a profit from it.
Author's Note: I know the story is off to a slow start, but the action will be coming soon. I have to set the background.
Previously: Checking to make sure the road was clear of traffic, Dean pulled out of the parking space and started back towards their motel. "God help John Winchester if he messes this up." He thought as he sneaked a peek over at Sam once again.
Driving down the road towards the latest dump of a motel they were staying in, Dean wondered exactly how to break the news that Sam could now possibly lose his hearing to their father when he got home from the hunt later tonight. It wouldn't be fair to hit the man out of the blue with it. "Hey Dad, I thought you should know, Sam's gonna go deaf." Yeah, he could see how well that would go over with the old man. No, he would have to bring it up in such a way that he could prepare him for the blow that was about to come, but the question was how?
Glancing over towards Sam, he was happy to see that the kid had finally fallen asleep, especially since he was afraid that Sam was going to suffer another one of his attacks. The kid had been so tense since learning the news that he was strung tighter than a guitar, one where the strings were about to snap in tow. He knew it was from fear about how their dad was going to react to the news and had tried to make Sam feel secure, but it was like his brother couldn't hear him. He was too focused on trying to deal with this latest turn of events.
Arriving back at the motel, Dean groaned upon seeing his father's black 2-door 1986 GMC Sierra Grande truck parked in front of the door to their room. "Crap!" He thought knowing he wasn't going to have the time to come up with a way to break the news gently to his Dad. No, his only hope now was that the old man would react in a way that Sam's feelings would be left intact. Pulling the Impala into the spot beside the truck, he turned off the engine and then placed a hand on Sammy's shoulder giving it a slight shake. "Time to wake up princess." He voiced with a wistful smile.
"Dean wha'?" Sam questioned groggily as he felt his brother shaking his shoulder to wake him up. He thought maybe Dean had said something too him, but he wasn't sure. Pushing himself up in his seat, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes to see that they were back at the motel. Reaching over to grasp the door handle, he gasped upon seeing the black truck parked beside them. "Dad." He whispered a little shakily and dropped his hands to his lap. He so wasn't looking forward to going in the room and facing his father.
"Sammy, it's going to be okay ya know." Dean voiced as he placed a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.
"If only I could believe that," thought Sam as he gazed over towards his brother to see confidence shining in his eyes. Sighing deeply, he acknowledged Dean's words with a nod of the head and then reached out to grasp the door handle and then opened it. Might as well get it over with and find out what he thinks of me now." Sam thought as he slid out of seat and stood up to his full height.
Hearing the rumble of the Impala pulling up outside of the room, John waited for his boys to walk inside. He wanted to take his boys out and get something to eat to celebrate his and Joshua's hunt going off without a hitch. For once, nobody had been hurt and the spirit had been dispatched with relative ease, something that didn't happen very often anytime Winchesters were involved. When his boys didn't enter the room after a minute or two, he gazed out the window to see what was up. Looking at the sleek, black muscle car that used to be his, he could see the boys inside talking. From what he could see, Dean was talking to Sam who had his head drooped towards his chest. "Damn, something must be wrong." He thought as he started towards the door, but then thought better of it. If something had happened, Dean was better at comforting his youngest than he was and he didn't want to disrupt them.
Taking a seat at the table and continuing with what he had been writing in his journal, his thoughts drifted to what could have happened while he was away on the hunt. He knew Sam had had one of his episodes before he had left, and wondered if that might have something to do with his mood now. Thinking about the attack, he felt guilty for having been the one to instigate it. He and Sam had been arguing over Sam wanting to go on his senior class field trip when he knew they had a hunt planned for the same weekend. He remembered yelling at his youngest and accusing him of not caring whether or not people were dying, it had been the wrong thing to do. He could tell the minute the stress became too much for Sam as his eyes glazed over and he started swaying on his feet. He was soon drawn out of his thoughts though as he heard the sound of the Impala doors slamming. Directing his eyes toward the door of the motel room, he watched it open and his son's walk in.
"Hey boys, everything okay?" John questioned as he glanced from one son to the other.
"Hi Dad, you're home early aren't ya?" Dean queried as he took off his jacket and slung it on the motel bed with the puke green colored comforter upon it.
"Yeah, the hunt went a little quicker than I thought it would." John answered in reply before gazing towards his youngest to see him standing rigid beside his big brother. "Sammy, you alright son?" Upon receiving no answer from the kid, John raised his voice a little louder to get his attention, "Sammy, I'm talking to you."
"Huh?" Sam croaked out as he shivered slightly from being startled.
"I asked if you were okay son." John replied as he stood up to walk towards his youngest. He was concerned by the way the kid was acting and he was going to find out what was wrong.
Steeping protectively in front of his brother, Dean decided to answer for his little brother. "No Dad, he's not. He got some news today and it's left him pretty shaken."
"What? What are you talking about Dean?" John asked with concern evident in his voice.
"Well if you'll remember, Sam had his six month check up appointment today with a hearing specialist." Dean started as he scrubbed a hand through his short hair.
"And?"
"And like I said, it wasn't good. Turns out the Meniere's Disease is affecting his hearing at a faster rate than they thought it would. The doc thinks that Sammy could possibly lose his hearing within in the next year or so." Dean answered hesitantly.
John's mouth dropped open in shock at hearing the words as the color drained from his face. He felt like he had been hit by a ton of bricks upon hearing the news and it scared the crap out of him to think about his youngest not being able to hear when danger was close by, especially with the life they led. Needing some time to think, he stood up and walked silently past his sons and out the door.
"See, I t-told you his re-reaction wouldn't be g-good. He's probably out there wo-wondering what in the hell he's go-going to do with me now." Sam stammered looking at Dean as he raised his hands to massage his temples, his headache seemingly reaching a crescendo level.
"Sammy, you've got to calm down kiddo." Dean voiced anxiously as he watched a myriad of emotions crossing Sam's face. "He just wasn't expecting the news is all and he needs a little time to think." Dean defended of his father.
"Dean, I…." Sam trailed off as a severe wave of vertigo hit him. His felt like his head was spinning so fast that he would have sworn he was on the tilt-o-whirl at the fair they had stopped at last year to blow of some angst after a particularly stressful hunt.
"Sammy!" Dean hollered out as his brother began to fall forward. Catching him as his knees buckled, he gently lowered his sibling to the floor. "Sonuvabitch, I knew this was going to happen. He swore as he grabbed a pillow off of one of the bed's and placed it under Sam's head.
Leaning against the wall to their latest motel room, John tried to assimilate the words that Dean had told him just a few short minutes ago. His youngest son, his baby boy, could possibly go deaf. Running his fingers through his hair, he wondered how in the world he was going to help Sammy adjust to this latest change in his life when he had no earthly idea what the kid would be going through once it happened. "Damn it, why does everything always have to happen to Sammy?" He cursed as he hung his head in worry and wished Mary were here, she would know how to make things better. "Suck it up Winchester, your boys need you." He thought just before he heard Dean shout Sammy's name in panic, making him jump slightly. "Shit, what now?" He asked as he hurriedly pushed the door open to go back inside.
"Dean, what the hell happened?" John asked alarmingly as he saw his youngest lying on the floor in a daze. It was obvious Sam had another vertigo attack, but why?
"He thought you were walking out on him." Dean answered without considering his words first as he stood up and went over to get the first aid kit where Sam's medicines were kept.
"Wh-what? That's not what I was doing." John stuttered as it suddenly hit him how it must have looked to Sam when he walked out without saying a word to him. His youngest was already feeling insecure from learning that he could go deaf and now he had managed to make things worse without meaning to. "I just needed a few minutes to think, to pull myself together."
"Hell, I know that Dad, but Sammy thinks he's going to be useless to us now that he's losing his hearing." Dean informed John as he knelt down beside his brother with the meds and then began to undo his little brother's jeans. It didn't phase him to give Sam the suppositories anymore since he had been doing it for a couple of years now when Sam had his attacks.
"How could he even think that? I mean he should know by now how valuable he is to us in the research department. Without his skills, we would have went in blind on more than a few hunts. Doesn't he know he's saved our asses many times over?" John stated as he rubbed circles on Sam's back trying to offer what comfort he could as Dean inserted the suppository.
"Well, it might have helped his confidence level some if you would have told him that once in a while." Dean replied a little forcefully as he replaced Sam's jeans and then threw a blanket over his brother. Sam would be zonked out within the next few minutes since the attacks left him totally and completely exhausted. "Listen Dad, he's worried you're going to ship him off somewhere the first chance you get."
"But I would never…"
"Then tell him that for cripes sake. He's got enough to worry about without having to wonder whether you care enough about him to let stay if he goes deaf.
"I will, just as soon as he wakes up and is lucid enough to understand." John replied as he carded his fingers through his sleeping son's hair.
TBC I know some people think that Sam is out of character with this story thus far, but he's reacting to a major shock, so he's bound to be insecure.