YOU WANT ANSWERS?
Chapter 2
Summary: The brothers deal with the aftermath of Sam's visions manifesting physically and also try to figure out what plans the yellow-eyed demon has in store for them both.
A/N: This story is inspired by the story "When Did I Become So Weak?" by not necessary to read that story first, but it definitely lays the background work for this one.
Also, thanks so much for all the reviews. If I didn't respond back to you, I'm sorry. Just know that I do appreciate the reviews that you give. Good, bad, or constructive criticism.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Supernatural. They belong to Kripke. This is done strictly for fun, not profit. Also, if anything looks familiar, it's not mine.
Dean quickly took off his over shirt and held it against the wound in Sam's side. Sam groaned in pain and tried to pull away but was too weak to do much more than that.
"Oh, God. Uh, Sam, can you walk?" This was so not good. Sam looked like hell. "Come on, we need to get you out of here. Bobby can you help?"
Bobby and Dean got on either side of Sam and carefully lifted him to his feet. Sam cried out as the motion caused pain to rip through his body and he gasped for air as his vision tilted and faded. He swayed slightly once he was standing and would have done a face plant if the two older hunters hadn't been holding him up. He tried to take a step but only managed a slight shuffle drag as Bobby and Dean pulled him along. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep.
"Come on, Sam. Help us out here," Dean ground out through clenched teeth as he strained under his brother's weight. Though Sam was skinny, he was all muscle and just the fact that he was so freaking tall made him hard to manage. Dean bit back a groan of pain as the wound on his leg, where the spirit at the abandoned house earlier had touched him leaving a burn mark, made itself known as he limped along carrying most of his brother's weight.
The odd trio made their way out to Bobby's truck and Bobby opened the camper back for Dean to climb in pulling Sam in behind him. The younger man was barely conscious as they got him in the truck and Bobby was worried about how badly he was hurt. Dean propped Sam up against one of the sides of the truck, and Bobby handed him a first aid kit as he studied the two brothers for a moment.
Dean dug around in the first aid kit as he tried to keep an eye on his little brother too. Sam's eyes kept trying to close but Sam was fighting to stay conscious and he forced his eyes open once more as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position.
Dean kept one hand on the shirt over Sam's wound as he dug around in the first aid kit with the other. "Okay, Sam, we're gonna get you to a hospital okay? Get you all fixed up." He tried to keep his voice calm even though he felt anything but. He had to keep Sam calm. He could feel the shirt getting sticky with Sam's blood and grimaced slightly. Damn, not good. Dean then turned to Bobby realizing he was still standing there staring at them. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Bobby snapped out of his thoughts at Dean's order. In that moment he thought for sure that it was John sitting there instead of Dean. He sounded so much like his father. He finally got moving and shut the door. Once he was in the truck he put the pedal to the metal and tore out for the hospital.
Dean concentrated on his brother's face as he tried to stop the bleeding. His face was a mess of bruises and cuts and what skin wasn't bruised seemed almost translucent it was so white. Sam's eyes slid closed and Dean quickly tapped him on the cheek. "Come on, Sam. Stay with me man. You can't go to sleep yet."
Sam's eyes opened slowly and he tried to focus on his brother. He tried to speak but only ended up in a coughing fit. Flecks of blood speckled his face and Dean's heart dropped. Shit, he must have punctured a lung. Dean slid his fingers down his brother's neck so he could check his pulse. It was faint and erratic, but it was still there. His breathing was ragged and shallow as he struggled against his broken ribs and punctured lung. Each breath seemed harder than the last and Dean swallowed hard against the fear trying to overtake his senses.
The shirt held over the wound was almost soaked completely through and Dean grimaced at the thought of how much blood Sam had lost. "Okay, Sammy, I'm gonna have to take a look at that wound." Dean struggled to pull his brother's jacket off one-handed as he held the bloody shirt to the wound, and then lifted the blood soaked shirt away from Sam's side. It didn't look like much. Just a small cut in his side, but it continued to bleed in the few seconds Dean had released pressure on it. "Okay, it's not too bad." He tried to sound upbeat and ignored the shake in his voice that betrayed his fear. "You're going to be okay, Sam. We'll gonna get you all fixed up."
Dean replaced the blood shirt with a fresh wad of gauze putting more pressure on the wound. Sam groaned and bucked weakly against the pain that it caused but knew it had to be done.
Dean raked one hand through his hair not thinking about the blood on his hands as he reeled with what was happening. How had this happened? The demon hadn't even got close to stabbing Sam with that knife. Unless?
Dean looked at his brother's face and how pale it was. No, it couldn't have been a vision. But then…
Sam was fading in and out as pain washed over him. His shut his eyes as another wave of pain stabbed through him and he started to slide towards unconsciousness.
"Sam? No, come on. You gotta stay with me." Dean tapped his brother's face trying to get him to wake up. "Come on Sam open your eyes." Sam struggled to obey his brother and opened his eyes just barely. "That's it. Sam, stay with me." He pressed a fresh bandage to his side trying to stop the bleeding and Sam writhed in pain. "Sorry," Dean said softly as he winced in sympathy. He hated that he was causing Sam more pain.
Sam groaned and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down with the effort of staying awake. "Dean," he said weakly. Another coughing fit hit. This one sounding a little wetter than the last and Dean looked at his brother in concern.
"Yeah, Sam I'm here."
"Dean, did you get them?" Sam asked as he tried to focus on his brother with pain glazed eyes.
Dean looked sharply at his brother and noticed a slight shiver go through his brother's body. "Yeah Sam, we got them. Remember?" Dean's worry ratcheted up another notch at his brother's confusion knowing that Sam needed medical attention and soon. Sam nodded almost imperceptibly and closed his eyes again. Dean finished dressing the wound and put Sam's coat back over the top of him to keep him warm. He smoothed the jacket over his brother's shoulders and then took a deep breath in preparation for a difficult question. He then turned to his brother needing to ask a question, but not really wanting the answer. "Sam? Hey, Sam, did you have another vision? Sam?" He tapped his brother's face trying to keep him awake.
Sam blinked a couple times trying to focus on Dean as he tried to process what Dean had said.
"Did you have a vision of getting stabbed?" Dean asked, as he looked his brother in the eye.
Sam blinked a few more times and then held Dean's gaze and nodded.
Dean closed his eyes as his fears were confirmed. Damn it! "What did you see?"
Sam struggled to pull his thoughts together and then swallowed hard. "I saw…I saw, Mom." He looked at Dean through mere slits waiting for his brother's reaction.
Dean's eyes flew open and widened at the answer. "Mom? What?"
Sam's eyes slid closed and he struggled to open them again. "She…knew…" Sam started to fade again. He just wanted to sleep. He was just so tired.
"Sam, come on, what else did you see?" Dean shook him slightly needing to know the answer.
Sam coughed slightly gasping for air as he tried to tell Dean what he had seen. "Me…stab…you…kill…demon…" Sam coughed some more still trying to suck in air and blood flecked against his lips again.
Dean saw how much Sam was struggling and kicked himself for trying to keep him awake. "Hey, Sam, it's okay. It's okay. You're gonna be okay. Sam? Sam!" Sam's eyes were closed again and his body relaxed against the truck bed. Dean checked for a pulse again and held his hand to his brother's mouth to make sure he was breathing. He had passed out.
Bobby flipped open the partition between the cab and the back so he could talk to Dean. "How's he doing?"
Dean looked at Bobby and then back to Sam. "Not good. I think he may have punctured a lung."
"How?" Bobby tried to look back into the camper to see the boys, but couldn't make them out in the dark shadows.
"I don't know. I think he had another vision." Dean watched his brother for the slightest distress wishing that this wasn't happening.
"A vision? How would a vision cause him to be stabbed?" asked Bobby.
Dean sighed heavily and then tried to explain. "The last few days, he's been getting visions. You know usually he just gets a killer headache afterwards, but these. Lately the wounds of the victims in his visions have been manifesting on him. I almost lost him a couple times already."
"Jesus Dean," breathed Bobby as the consequences of that finally hit him. "So, are you saying he might have had a vision of himself getting stabbed by the Demon?"
Dean's blood ran cold at the thought but it made sense. "Yeah, maybe. That might have been how he knew when the Demon was going to move." Sam's breathing was getting worse and Dean knew they didn't have much time. "How much farther, Bobby?"
"Not long. Maybe five minutes?" He could see the signs for the hospital up ahead and stepped a little harder on the gas.
Dean sighed in frustration. "Well hurry up then."
Bobby shook his head and closed the divider to the cab. Soon they were skidding into the Emergence Room bay at the hospital and Bobby sighed a little in relief. He tapped on the divider to let them know they were there and Dean sighed in relief. "Finally." He pulled his brother closer to the back door and when it opened seconds later, there stood two ER nurses with a gurney. "Help him, please. He's hurt pretty bad."
Dean let the nurses take Sam from him and then he climbed out afterwards ignoring his own injuries. He hobbled along behind his brother's gurney as the nurses sped Sam into the emergency room spouting off vitals and medical jargon as they went.
"Sir? Can you hear me?" one nurse asked as she shook Sam trying to get a response
"Sam." Dean spoke softly as he looked at his brother's pale face.
One nurse looked at him in confusion. "What?"
Dean then tore his eyes away from his brother to look at her. "His name's, Sam."
She smiled sadly. "Thanks." She then turned back to her patient. "Sam, can you hear me?"
Dean watched helplessly as they sped away down the hall leaving him to limp slowly behind. He could hear the doctors spouting off his brother's condition as they went.
"We've got what looks like a stab wound to the chest. BP is falling. Shallow, wet breaths. What's his heart rate? Okay, I want two units O neg and get an oxygen mask in here."
Dean watched as his brother disappeared behind the sliding doors that read 'Medical Staff Only' and his pace slowed until he was stopped in front of the doors. Bobby finally came up beside him wishing they knew what was going on behind those doors.
Dean was suddenly aware someone was tugging at his shirt and looked down at a pretty blonde nurse who smiled slightly at him. "Sir? Are you okay?"
Dean tore his eyes away from the doors once again not really hearing her question. "How's my brother?"
The nurse looked at him and then the doors behind her before answering. "I don't know for sure. The doctors need to take a closer look at him and then they'll know."
Dean nodded and then looked back at the doors with haunted eyes.
Bobby and the nurse exchanged worried looks and the nurse put her on the young man's arm again. "Sir? Why don't we go get you checked out? Your brother is in very good hands right now and we won't know anything for a little while."
Dean just stood there for a moment and then finally nodded letting the young woman guide him through the double doors and back to an exam room. Dean tried to catch a glimpse of his brother as he was guided to the room, but couldn't hear or see anything.
Dean numbly sat down on the exam table and winced as his jeans brushed against the burned hand print on his leg.
The nurse noticed the wince and quickly handed him one of the medical gowns. "Here put this on. I'll be right back."
With that she left and Dean just sat there holding the gown in his lap for a second trying to figure out what to do. He finally started to undress and tried to pull a story together in his head. All he could think of was how badly hurt Sam was. His brother had multiple wounds, and looking at the burn on his leg he wondered how he would explain that. The truth? He scoffed at the idea.
There was a knock on the door, and then a young man not much older than Dean himself came in followed closely by the nurse that had ushered him into the room earlier. "Hello. My name is Dr. Erickson. I'm gonna be your doctor today. Can you tell me your name?"
Dean hesitated for a moment as he searched his memory for which name they were using this week. "Dean Peterson. You can call me, Dean."
"Okay, Dean. Can you tell me what happened?" The doctor shown a penlight in his eyes checking his pupils and Dean tried to blink the spots from his eyes when he finished.
"No, I'm not sure." Usually Dean was quick to come up with a story, but right now all he could do was worry about his brother.
The doctor listened to his breathing and heart rate next. "Did you have a car accident?"
Dean again shook his head as he tried to take a deep breath and winced at the pain in his ribs. He then looked at the bruises on his face and around his wrists. "Looks like you might have been tied up. These are some pretty nasty rope burns here." While he was examining Dean's wrists his eyes caught the edge of the burn on his leg under the gown. Dr. Erickson looked up at Dean with raised eyebrows and searched the hunter's unemotional face. "May I?" he asked nodding towards the burn.
Dean looked at him and then nodded.
The doctor lifted the gown slightly to get a good look at the burn and frowned slightly. Was that a handprint? "How did you get this?" The burn was red and sort of glassy looking where the tissue had burned leaving little blisters all along the surface.
Dean shrugged slightly and winced when Dr. Erickson touched the edge of it. "I don't know. I must have got up against something hot," replied Dean evenly.
"Like what? A hand?" The doctor looked at Dean kind of out of the corner of his eye slightly begging that Dean would give him some kind of explanation.
Dean just looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe?"
Dr. Erickson looked at him hard for a moment and then turned away with a heavy sigh. Dean knew he wasn't buying it, but he didn't know what to say. "Okay, well you don't seem to have a concussion. You're blood pressure and heart rate seem all right Maybe a little high, but that's understandable right now. I'm gonna put some salve on that burn and bandage it. You'll probably have a scar when it heals." As he talked he grabbed some bandages and then set to work on cleaning the burn. "It also looks like you might have some bruised or cracked ribs. I'd like to take an x-ray to make sure and then we'll wrap them for you."
Dean nodded that he understood. He figured that his ribs were probably just bruised but that wasn't anything new. The doctor was quite while he cleaned and dressed the burn on Dean's leg and then when he was finished he stepped back and regarded Dean for a few more moments.
Dean fidgeted slightly under the close scrutiny but never broke his gaze with the doctor. "So am I okay to go, Doc?" he finally asked to break the silence.
Dr. Erickson finally took a seat and Dean tried really hard not to roll his eyes at the gesture before the doctor spoke. "Dean, is there anything you want to tell me? Anything at all? It'll be held in the strictest confidence. Doctor-patient privilege and all that. Really, anything at all."
Dean just sat there watching him trying to figure where this was going. "No, there's nothing."
Dr. Erickson looked back at the nurse and she quietly got up and left the room. Dean frowned in confusion trying to figure out what was going on.
"Dean. I think you know what happened. Your brother has multiple injuries, which don't seem to be related, and it looks like he was beat up pretty good too. If something bad happened to you and your brother, then maybe we can catch the people who did this."
Dean just stared at him for a moment not sure what to say. What would he say? Well, yes, my brother was taken hostage by two demons and tortured while a nasty spirit took me who has a tendency to burn people with her hands. And, by the way, my brother's been having visions that are causing him physical pain? Yeah right. "I told you. I don't know what happened?"
They looked at each other for a moment and then finally Dr. Erickson broke eye contact. "Okay. I don't see anything seriously wrong with you. I want you to get an x-ray of your ribs to make sure there are no breaks and then I think you can probably go. I'll give you some salve for your burn. Make sure to change the dressing on it every day so that it doesn't get infected"
Dean nodded. "Hey, Doc. How's my brother?"
Dr. Erickson sighed slightly. "I'm not quite sure. I'm not his doctor. I know he's in good hands though. Make sure you see the nurse at the desk when you leave." With that he left Dean alone to get dressed.
A/N: I know. Not too much action in this chapter. Lots of dialogue. Don't worry the next chapter should be better. Please review if you want to.