Four months
Chapter 3
Disclaimer: see first chapter

Mac couldn't help but watch the clock on the wall. It had been 45 minutes since the ambulance had rushed his son to this hospital, it had been 45 minutes since he had last seen his son; unconscious and not breathing and it had been 45 minutes since the absolute fear had finally hit him that he could very well loose his son tonight. Mac had noticed that the nurse who had led him to this chair would occasionally look up at him, sympathy in her eyes. The older hunters mind was telling him that he, himself, may not be able to survive if his son didn't. He had lost so much in the last two years; first Jim, then John, two men who like brothers to him, both gone within days of one another. Then just four months ago the young man he felt was as much his son as he was John's, the older of the Winchester boys had been dragged to hell by hellhounds in payment for the deal the younger man had made to save his baby brother Sam. After Dean's death Mac had watched as Caleb did the opposite of what he feared as his son had taken a step back from hunting, only for Sam to seemingly disappear into the world the youngest Winchester had tried all his life to escape. Now, with Caleb behind faux wood doors, not knowing if his son was alive or dead, Mac began to feel his own willingness to continue on faultier.

It was with his head in his hands that the nurse who had just left Caleb's side found his father. "Dr. Ames?"

Mac's head came up as he quickly stood, the nurse stopping a few feet from him, "Caleb?"

"He awake and asking for you, if you'll follow me." The young nurse led Mac back through those ominous doors, closer to his son.

Mac had seen his son injured over the years; it was the nature of being a hunter that injuries would occur. There had only been a very few times when his son's condition was such that any hint of really loosing him had crossed the older man's mind, but what had happened tonight as he watched his son stop breathing, as he watched paramedics shock life back into his son, only tonight did Mac feel completely useless. However now, as he followed the nurse to one of the treatment room, as his eye's met the fear and panic filled golden eye's of his son did the same protectiveness that had washed over him the first time he had seen the nearly comatose twelve year old began to kick in again. Quickly Mac made his way around the nurse to his son's side as he saw relief wash across Caleb's face, Mac grabbed his son's hand only to have a vice-like grip met his in return, "Oh God, Caleb", Mac's voice cracked.

"Dad…" Caleb's weak voice whispered, Mac leaned over and kissed his son's forehead, then ran his hand through the younger man's hair, "…'t happened?" Caleb again whispered.

Mac looked up at the doctor, "What have you told him?"

"I haven't been able to tell him anything, he didn't want to listen to me until he saw you." the doctor answered.

Mac nodded, he knew his son didn't like doctors and would only listen to him when it came to anything medical, he then turned his attention back to Caleb, "You had a seizure," Mac watched as confusion crossed his son's face, "…and you stopped breathing, Caleb, son, your heart stopped."

Mac watched as what he had said sink in, then the doctor broke into the silence, "We need to take Mr. Reaves down for an MRI and CT scan, to see if we can find out the reason for the seizure. There is a rush on his labs, hopefully we will know something in a few hours, until then we are admitting him for the rest of the night at least."

Caleb squeezed his father's hand, "Mac…I need out of here." the younger man all but whispered, fear of being confined to a hospital was heard in his voice.

Running his hand again through his son's hair Mac tried to reason with him, "Caleb, please…your heart stopped, let them run their test. The sooner they do that, the sooner we will know what we are dealing with and the sooner you can get out of here. I know how you feel about this, but please…I thought I lost you…please do this for me." the pleading in Mac's voice and the fear Caleb saw in his father's face overrode any fear the younger man had of hospitals as he whispered, "Okay".

The ER doctor spoke again, "The nurse at the desk should be able to tell you which room your son will go to after his tests, you can wait there for him. They shouldn't take more than a couple of hours."

Mac noticed a couple of orderlies near his son's bed. "I'll be in your room when you get there, okay?" Caleb only nodded as his father again leaned over placing a kiss on the younger man's head, "I love you Son." Mac took a step back, Caleb releasing his hand as the orderlies started to push him from the room.

"Love you too, Dad."

It was nearly four hours later when Caleb was finally wheeled into the private room where Mac had been impatiently pacing. Watching as the nurse adjusted the nasal canal across his son's face as well as reconnecting the heart monitor lines and checking the IV that snaked alongside his son did Mac notice that Caleb appeared asleep. "He fell asleep waiting to be transported up here, the doctor should be in soon to go over some initial results with you. If you need anything please press the button." The nurse whispered, once receiving a nod and a quiet thank you from Mac she left the room.

Mac made his way to his son's side, taking in his unusually pale complexion as for the first time in a long time Mac really looked at Caleb. It was clear that the last few months had aged his son, hell it had aged them all, but looking at his son he noticed the lines around his eyes; laugh lines from happier times, that was one of the amazing things about Caleb, he could find a humor in almost any situation, but for the last few years those situations had become fewer and farther apart. Worry lines also showed across the younger man's forehead, as Mac gently touched the top of his son's head, the near jet black hair only showing a hint of grey.

Caleb started to stir as Mac reached again for the younger man's hand, "Dad?" his son's quiet voice whispered out.

"I'm right here Caleb." The older man watched as golden eyes opened, focusing on him. "They just brought you in, the nurse said you dosed off waiting to come up."

Caleb brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I can't believe I feel this exhausted." The younger man attempted to sit up.

"Easy," Mac laid a hand on Caleb's shoulder, then reached for the button to raise the head of the bed, "Other than exhausted how do you feel?" the older hunter asked as he sat on the edge of his son's bed.

Closing his eyes and laying his head back, Caleb blew out a deep breath, "I've got a dull headache, like what I get after a vision, but I can't remember anything," raising up he looked in the tired eye's of his father. "Did my heart really stop?" Caleb always knew Mac wouldn't lie to him, but it just seemed unreal.

It took a minute for Mac to find his voice as the images that had been assaulting his mind over the last several hours again played in his mind. "It looked like you were getting a vision, then the pain that flashed in you face, the pain I heard in your voice, I…" Mac ran his own hand over his eyes, feeling the tears forming again. He felt Caleb take his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze he continued, "You were able to mumble that you couldn't breathe, then you collapsed. I tried to catch you before you hit the floor, then you suddenly started having a seizure. That's when I called 911, you haven't done that before with a vision have you, and maybe didn't tell me?"

"Never," Caleb said, "and the only times I remember having stopped breathing was that time when Dean and Sam were still kids and Sam got taken by Mary's father…remember? When it was my connection to Dean. Then right before Dean died, when we had to track down Meg and Ian, but even then it was somehow tied to Dean." Mac watched as his son's face turned solemn at the memory of his friend, his brother.

Mac nodded, "I remember when John and Bobby were trying to track what we thought was a creature that was after young boys only to find out it was a human monster. When you stopped breathing I expected you to start again, like you had done back then, but you didn't, then as I was feeling your pulse it…it just stopped." Mac took a deep breath, "I've have never been more terrified in my life feeling you slip away from me like that, it was nearly ten minutes before the EMT's got there and another five after that until they were able to get your heart started again."

Silence fell between father and son as they both processed what had occurred. Mac broke the silence, "You said your head hurts like it does after a vision, are you sure you don't remember anything?"

Caleb shook his head slightly, wincing when a pain shot through it, "Not really, give me a minute." Leaning back, the young hunter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, suddenly images that he didn't remember started to assault his mind: 'Darkness…pain…flashes of light….burning….screams….panic…fear…breathlessness.'

Mac watched as his son closed his eye's, trying to remember if there were any images, then he watched as Caleb's face twisted in pain, the younger man's hands twisting into the sheet covering him, then the shallow breaths his son started panting out, "Caleb!" Mac took his son's arms, squeezing them slightly trying to break through the trance his son was in. Eyeing the heart monitor Mac noticed the increase in the rhythm as Caleb's breathes became shallower, "Caleb!" shaking his shoulder harder the father watched as Caleb inhaled sharply, his eye's snapping open, searching frantically for something to focus on.

Just then a nurse came running in the room, alerted by the increase on the heart monitor. "Mr. Reaves, are you all right?" She took in his pale appearance as she started to do a quick check of his vitals. Caleb's eyes had finally focused on Mac as the nurse's question finally filtered through his jumble thoughts.

"I'm okay," he tried to smile at her, still gripping his father's arm. That told Mac that his son's answer didn't match his true feeling. "Bad dream," Caleb whispered as the nurse watched his expression, trying to figure out if she should believe him.

Caleb tried to give her a tired smile as she patted his shoulder, "Well your vitals have come back down to normal, would you like me to give you something to help you sleep, I can check with the doctor?"

"No!" The tone of his answer caused the nurse to jump slightly, "sorry, I just don't like sleep medications." With a nod of understanding she turned and left the room. Once the door closed Caleb brought both hands to his head and laid back again.

"You saw something didn't you?" Mac's worried voiced caused his son to look at him again.

"It was flashes, I couldn't focus on anything; there was darkness, then flashes of light. There was pain and fear…screams…God the screams…and burning, finally there was darkness and panic again, it was like I couldn't breathe." Caleb's worried eyes stared at his father. "What's happening Mac?"

Mac stood and walked toward the window that overlooked the dark parking lot. He wondered if somehow Caleb's subconscious was causing this, the guilt and pain of not having been able to save Dean from his fate weighing on his son, finally catching up with him. He slowly turned facing the young hunter, "I don't know, but we will figure it out. Until then let's see what the doctors say and make sure it isn't something physical, then we will focus on trying to decipher whether it was a vision or not. You should try to get some rest; it could be a couple more hours before the doctors have any results." Mac pulled a chair closer to his son's bed.

"You staying?" Caleb asked, even as he watched his father sit down.

"After what I just had to watch happen to you, you will be lucky if I leave you alone at all for a while." Mac tried to smile, but still couldn't get past the uneasy, gut wrenching, nauseating feeling of nearly loosing his son. Caleb chuckled as he again laid his head back. He couldn't remember ever feeling so exhausted and before he realized it he had dozed off. Mac reached up and took his son's hand in his, then leaned his own head back against the chairs headrest and felt a restless sleep overtake him.