Chapter 2

„Look Sammy" said Dean, finishing the dishes next morning. „Somebody is moving into an old O'Neill house."

„Kidding?" - Sam was really not in a mood for his brother's jokes. He wasn't in a mood for anything today really.

"No, I'm serious! There is a car from a moving company, and they started unloading stuff."

"Thh... this house has been a h..hhhovel for yyyrs." - stuttered Sam. - "Nobody would like to live there".

"Ok mister I-know-better" - said Dean, pretending irritation in a funny way. "Let's go outside and see"

He wheeled Sam outside, to the porch, and pointed the car with his finger.

"Convinced?"

"Barely"

"That has to do the job, 'cause we have to get ready and pay dr Coulbert a visit" - reminded Dean, wheeling Sam back inside.

Sam remebered about this appointment very well.

"I dn't like doctors" - he complained. "And hh.h..hospitals, not sure what's more"

A trickle of saliva started running down his cheek, but before he even managed to make a move on wiping it, Dean's hand was there, cleaning it out with a tissue. How did he noticed it so fast?

"Sorry Sammy, but you know the drill" - answered Dean lightly, opening the bathroom door. "Once in a month, a little check-up with doctor Coulbert."

Once they entered the bathroom, Dean started pouring water into the tub and stripping Sam out of his clothes. Sweatshirt, socks, sweatpants, boxers. Then he lifted his brother princess-style and gently placed him in the tub.

"He can't h...hhelp me, you know."

"I know, Sammy" - sighed Dean, stopping washing him for a moment. "But he have to work with what we have. Trying to persist on the surface."

The rest of the bath went on in silence. When the water was gone, Dean drained his brother with a towel, and again, lifted him and seated on a wheelchair. He put a bathrobe on his brother, brush his hair and hairdryed it.

Dean dressed Sam in a clean set of clothes and they were ready to go. He also packed a bottle of water and an additional set of clothes, just in case of emergency. They get in the Impala and headed to the hospital.

Six months earlier

It was late wednesday morning, and their second week in Sioux Falls General. Dean was sitting at his usual place, a chair at his brother's bedside, watching him, talking, stroking his hair, endlessly checking on his IV's, feeding tube, pillows, despite that the nurses were doing their best at taking care of Sam. Dr Liam Coulbert was an experienced neurologist, he has seen many patients and their families, witnessed many happy and sad stories, but he heaven't seen anything like this two before.

They were brothers. They spent their life on the road. They don't have any other family. The younger one didn't wake up one morning; he just slipped in a some kind of coma, but why? Tests results were inconclusive. Is it some kind of a autoimmune disease? Brain inflammation? The CRP level was lowered, but the symptoms... the symptoms were just to serious compared to this level. EEG showed anusual pattern of brain activity. So this disease is connected to the brain... Why doesn't any disease that dr Coulbert know fits this description?

He don't know. For the first time in his entire career, he doesn't have a clue. And now he has to go and tell the older brother, Dean, that he has no idea how to help his brother, his Sammy.

Liam was always a good observer and he knew how to talk to people. Who knows, maybe that's the reason why he became a doctor in the first place. He was watching Dean very carefully from the beginnig, since the moment he drove his unconscious brother to the ER. Guy looked like a thug, had a lot of muscles and a knife in his pocket. Liam didn't buy his story about "not waking up" at first, thinking that maybe this two had a fight and this Dean hit his brother in the head one time too much or too strong. But there was no traces of a recent fight or trauma on the patient, Sam, and shortly it turned out that Dean is very caring, overprotective even, about his brother. That's how the greatest mystery of his career began.

In the next days dr Coulbert had a chance to get to know Dean and Sam better. Dean – because he never left the hospital, not even once, he was constantly sitting beside his brother's bed, so Liam had more occasions than he really needed to find out what type of person Dean truly was. Sam – because it was the only thing that Dean was talking about. How brave his brother was, how many people he helped, how many people he saved. He said Sam was a firefighter. "He saved the world, and the world will never know it" told him Dean once, whatever it meant.

"Morning, boys" - greeted dr Coulbert. - "How are you doing today?"

"Morning, doc." - replied Dean, smiling shortly. "We're doing just fine. Sam had his breakfast, there was no traces of blood in overnight urine and the fever is getting better"

By "having breakfast" he meant that he administered the morning portion of Ensure into his brother's feeding tube.

"That's good news" - said Liam, looking at Sam's chart. "It means that meds are working and the infection should be gone soon. Body mass loss also seemed to slow down after the diet change. That's very optimistic"

He run a few routine neuro tests, but there was no change in Sam's reactions.

"Dean" - Liam asked. "Can we talk for a few sec outside?"

"Sure, doc." - said Dean, rising from the chair. "I will be just behind the door Sammy, so don't worry" he whispered to his brother, fixing his blanket for the last time.

When they were outside Sam's room, Liam spoke:

"Mr Winchester, I'm a doctor and a neurologist for over twenty years, but I have to admit that I don't know what your brother is suffering from. I have never seen or hear about anything alike Sam's case. I'm deeply sorry, but I might not be able to help him, despite my best efforts."

Dean's reaction was a surprise for Liam. Most people after hearing something like that about their loved ones would get angry, started undermine his competences, or mourn. Dean didn't do any of that.

"It's okay, doc." - he simply said. "It's not your fault"

There is no disease in medical books called "side effects of returning a soul which have been tortured in hell for centuries by Lucifer himself to the body" thought Dean bitterly.

Liam got stuck. What is going on?

"So, what we're gonna do, doc?" - asked Dean, when silence between them was prolonging.

"Yes, I'm sorry. You just surprised me with your tranquility. If nothing changes and the kidneys infection is treated, we will have to consider transferring Sam to a facility specialized in taking care of coma patients. There is no point in keeping Sam in a hospital, and the risk of catching another infection is much greater here. I'm sorry, but it's all I can offer to you right now"

"But..." Dean wasn't givig up on his brother. "There is a possibility that Sam will wake up?"

"In Sam's case, everything is possible. There is always a hope, and I assure you, that's a powerful thing."

Dr Coulbert looked at his watch, wished Dean a pleasant day and went to see his other patients. Dean returned to Sam, kissed him on the forehead and started preparing the next portion of Ensure for his brother.

"Sammy, please. Wake up, little brother. We will deal with everything, I promise. I will take care of you. Just open this puppy-dog eyes for me".

Sam didn't respond. Dean filled the syringe with Ensure and fed his brother.

He sat and wait.

Present time

"Ho ho, who do I see? Hello boys, please, let me help" - dr Coulbert greeted them in his office, jumping up from his chair and holding the door for them, so Dean can easily wheel Sam inside.

"How are you? Any changes with the seizures?" doctor asked, before he even take a seat at his desk.

"They happen less often. Yesterday we had only one and it took only about a minute" answered Dean with verve.

"Were you conscious during the fit, Sam?" - this time Liam directed the question straight to Sam. He wanted to give him a chance to speak for himself.

"Yyys, but I wasn't able to control m...myself"

"That's normal during the seizures, Sam. That's just the way they are, and it's common in patients with seizure disorders. There is nothing to be ashamed of"

"I k-know but I was hoping th...that maybe the new meds will help with it"

"Unfortunately no, Sam. Well-chosen drugs can make the episodes less frequent and less intense, shorten their duration, but its nature won't change. You have to be prepared for this circumstance."

"See? I told you Sammy, that's not a big deal" Dean comforted him. "Don't overthink it."

"H-how can I nnot think about that I am wetting myself at least once a day? Sometimes in public?" - Sam was angry and his hands started to shake. If the kid doesn't calm down, he is gonna have a grand mal right there, thought Dean, entering into action. He took Sam's hands and started massaging it with his thumbs.

"It's okay, Sammy, ssshhh. What's the big fuss? About change of clothes? It's not worth it. Cut youself a slack"

"Dean's right, Sam. It's completely understandable for other people, I assure you. Besides, there is a chance that when this new meds reach their full potential, the seizures will became more manageable and accidents will be rare. But, if it is bothering you, try to visit the bathroom more often, so your bladder won't be full when the seizure occurs. That strategy worked for some of my patients. Another solution is an adult diaper, of course, but I don't think you are interested"

All the colour vanished from Sam's face when he heard the "d" word.

"Nnoo. Nnoo way." - stuttered Sam by a tight troat.

"That's what I thought" said doctor politely. - What about appetite? Are you eating more, Sam?

"There are still problems, doc" - Dean cut into the conversation. "Dysphagia is not gonna let it go so easily."

"I see. I wish there was an easy way to help you, but unfortunately there isn't. The most important is to a find a proper texture and thickness of foods and drinks. What have you tried?"

Dean looked confused.

"Normal things doc, like oatmeal, soup, mashed carrot..."

"And what was the easiest thing to swallow, Sam?" Liam was trying to look Sam in the face, but his head was dropped and he was looking only at his knees.

"Cc-carrot, I think."

"And the hardest?"

"I dunno... bread, m-m...maybe. I felt l...like it's gonna gets s-stuck in my th...roat"

"What about water? Does it cause choking?"

"Nnoo, water is fine."

Liam noted everything in Sam's documentation. He really liked this two boys and the fact that there is very little that he can do to help them was killing him. They were still young, still have a life in front of them, and Sam's mysterious disease is gonna take that away, if he didn't find a way to help them.

"Ok, after everything you said, Sam, it seems to me that you two should try more mashed or blended foods than solids, because clearly it will be less problematic to swallow. You need to be careful, Dean, while feeding your brother; there is a serious risk of food aspiration into the respiratory tract and lungs, which can cause a life-thretening pneumonia. Never feed Sam in lying position, only sitting straight, and take small bites on a spoon. This is very important."

"Understood, doc. We will do everything like you said." - replied Dean.

Doctor raised from the chair and said with verve:

"Ok guys, it's time to weigh you, Sam. We will see if you've gained any meat on those bones."

He turned on the floor platfom scale so Sam could be weighted while sitting in his wheelchair. Dean only has to wheel him on a platform.

"Sam, your wheelchair weights about 35 pounds as I recall, so it means that your body mass is only 139 pounds. That's way to little, and you've lost about 3 pounds since our last meeting. This is bad news, Sam. If you keep losing weight, I will not have a choice but put you on the feeding tube again."

"I'm trying" - mumbled Sam, while Dean push him off the platform.

"What can we do, doc?" - asked Dean, helping his brother shifting his position in the chair and fixing his clothes.

"I'm giving you a prescription for a nutrition product with more energy and protein content." - started Liam, already writing down. "Sam has to drink 500 ml daily in two portions per 250 ml and eat at least 3 meals. Everyday physiotherapy is mandatory too." He put the pen down, set his stamp on the prescription and signed it. "Ok, one last thing. I need to check that there isn't any bedsores forming, Sam. Dean, I will help you transfer Sam to the couch. Let's go."

Dean nodded and carefully grasped Sam under his armpits form behind, while Liam grabbed his legs. Together they easily placed Sam on the couch.

"Sam, we have to turn you to the side, so I can take a look at your back" - warned Liam, and with Dean's help he gently turned Sam. He rolled up his shirt and carefully inspected Sam's back, and then asked Dean to lower Sam's sweatpants and briefs so he could take a look on his buttocks and legs.

Dean kept his brother, so he would be stabile during the exam. Then the inspection was finished, he quickly pull up Sam's pants, and together with the doctor they transfer him back to the wheelchair.

"Ok, everything looks good in that matter." - summarized Liam, putting hands on his hips. "That's all form me, boys. Do you have any questions?"

Dean looked at his brother, but Sam just shrugged.

"No doc, everything is clear" assured Dean. "See you next month?"

"Of course. If any problem occurs, don't hesitate to call me. See ya."

"See ya" - replied Dean, and they left Liam's office.

Doctor smiled sadly to himself. He really liked this boys. In this job,you can't really sympathize so much with patients, take it too personal, and Liam always followed this rule. But this two... there was something special about them. Liam wasn't sure what was it.

Polly was slowly unpacking. She doesn't possessed much, so she was done till noon. The house was in really bad shape, but the kitchen was still there and it was working, so she decided to go into town, buy some flour and maybe some fruits and bake a cake. Someone was living in the house next door; the only house next door to be exact. There was a several acres covered in stacked, wrecked cars in front of this house; „Singer Auto Salvage" says the sign. She saw the lights last evening, moving from one room to another. She has neighbors, and she really wanted to make friends with them, whoever they are. So she will bake a cake and pay them a visit this evening.

"Pollyanna Mason, you just started a new life" - she said aloud to herself. "Don't fuck this up, girl."

They were just after the supper, chillin' watching the new episode of Housewifes, when it happened.

Sam was laying on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, lean against the pillows. Dean was laying on the couch, leaning on the sholuder.

Then, the doorbell rang.

They looked at each other, startled. Who can it be? Some old friend of Bobby's? A salesman? What's going on?

Dean discretly looked out the window. It was a girl. Slim, blond hair, nice looking. She was holding something in her arms, but it was covered with aluminum foil. That's suspicious.

"Who's th...at? - asked Sam, alerted.

"I don't know, Sammy" – replied Dean, getting up from the couch and coming to Sam's bed. - "Looks like a girl. Don't make a sound, don't let anybody know that you are here. I'm gonna take care of this."

He took the gun and a knife from the commode. The gun was loaded; it was always loaded with silver bullets. Whatever came to them, it was nothing good.

"Maybe it's just a p-per...son" - implied Sam.

"With Winchester luck? I don't think so." - said Dean, placing the gun behind his back and a knife in his pocket. He turn off the TV and switch off the light. He also passed a silver knife to his brother.

"Remember, you are not here" - reminded Dean and left the room, closing the door behind.