Sam tried several random doors, which all seemed to be locked from the outside of the brick building until he ducked into the unlocked back entrance of the hospital marked employees only. He moved with a quick purpose, glancing around to try to orient himself. God knows that between his job and his brother and accident prone father and himself, he'd been in enough hospitals to have a grasp of the general lay out.
So, of course, this one had to be different. He cast about, trying to read the random signs all with arrows pointing in confusingly opposite directions, his boots squeaking on the floor as he walked.
Someone rounded the corner. A man carrying specimens marked with a bio-hazard symbol.
Sam tried to shrink back, but he was noticed.
The stranger approached, ready for confrontation by his posture. "Excuse me. This is employees only. How did you get back here?"
Sam put on his best confused look. "I'm...I don't know. I..." He put his hand to his head. "I..." he swayed a little bit, letting his legs go weak and acting like he was about to go down. He let himself stagger and start to drop. Surprisingly, the employee did not put out a hand to catch him.
Sam hid his shock, adjusted his trajectory and fell into the man, who finally had no choice but to drop his bag of frozen specimens and half catch him. "Hey!"
"Sorry..." Sam let his full weight lean down on the poor guy, who was at least 6 inches shorter.
He off balanced and almost fell. "Jesus, Buddy."
Sam braced himself against the hapless lab worker's shoulders and pushed himself back to his feet.
"I'm gonna get you help." The man, brushed back a lock of his black hair and reached for the pager on his belt. Sam clocked him.
He went down like a stone.
Sam snaked out a hand and grabbed the man's shirt, breaking his fall a little so that he didn't go head first into the tiles. "Sorry." Sam whispered. "I'm so sorry."
The shirt didn't fit him correctly at all, but five minutes later, Sam had what bits of clothes he could shove himself into and a clearance badge as well as bio-hazard specimen kit. He circled around like a rat in a maze, trying to duck into random rooms to avoid people, growing more and more frustrated and upset as he went until he finally, finally found the freaking blood bank. Of course it was locked.
Ellis struggled with the knots Sam had put into the rope binding Dean's wrists together. Her fingers kept slipping. "I can't get these out!"
She cursed herself for not having made him untie his brother before he'd left. Some part of her brain was aware of how fucking insane that sounded. That this was their life. Her life.
She swore and finally admitted defeat. "Dean, I'll be right back." She touched his cheek and wandered to the kitchen. Her craft scissors in the junk drawer didn't look sharp enough so she settled on a serrated knife. There was a knock on the door that scared the shit out of her. She jumped, then froze listening carefully. The knock came again.
Ellis set the knife down and looked at her gore stained hands. She grabbed a striped kitchen towel to hide them in and answered the door.
It was her neighbor. Of course it was. Her nosy fucking annoying neighbors.
"Hi Rose."
Rose tried to peer around Ellis's shoulder. She pushed her glasses back up her nose, lips pursed. "We heard an awful lot of noise coming from here earlier. Is everything okay?"
Ellis smiled. "Yes," she said, pretending to wipe her hands, careful to keep them hidden in the towel. "You just caught me doing dishes."
"We heard screams."
"Screams?" Ellis blinked. "Nope. No screams."
"Dear. It was quite obvious. We almost called the police. We weren't sure if something was happening."
Ellis went white. "No. No, don't do that. That would be...a waste of their time. It's just the cat."
"The cat?" Rose looked baffled.
"The cat's in heat."
The older woman's face was a study in confusion. "I thought Taco was a boy."
Ellis paused. "I thought so too. Imagine my surprise."
"Don't you work in a vet's office?"
"Yeah, but you know me." Ellis said breezily. "Ditzy. Blonde. Polish. It's a problem."
She heard Dean moan from behind her. It was low and panting. For a moment she hoped that Rose didn't hear it but sure enough Rose tried to look around her. "Do..." She hesitated as if scandalized. "Do... you... have a man in there with you?"
"Yeah."Another soft moan carried down the hallway. Ellis looked back at the sound. "Oops. Sounds like he started without me."
Rose blinked in shock.
"I gotta go. Thanks Rose, talk to you later." Ellis slammed the door.
Sam swore. He was beginning to think he should have tried to find a Red Cross Donation Center to break into, but he knew that there the blood was raw and unprocessed and untested. Even though he figured they screened for basic issues, he decided that a Hep C infection or some bacterial disease would be just what Dean didn't need. The blood bank at the hospital was a safer bet.
If he could get in the fucking door.
He tried swiping his badge three times, the metal door remained shut. He tried shouldering the door open. That worked about as well as he thought it would, which was to say he had about as much luck as a persistent cockroach trying to move a dining room chair.
Sam waited a minute, breathing heavily. He looked through the glass window and spotted the massive metal refrigeration unit stocked with blood. It sat just on the other side taunting him: Saying here is your brother's life-what are you willing to do to get me?
Most anything he had to do, dammit. Anything for Dean.
Sam realized he was sweating, entirely on edge. He didn't have time for this. Dean didn't have time for this.
He brushed back his bangs and waited for a moment, hoping someone would round the corner looking to enter. No one came.
Sam cast around desperately.
His gaze landed on a red fire extinguisher on the wall nearby. He grabbed it, swung the steel bottom of it at the glass and broke the window out.
An alarm went off.
He reached in, haphazardly trying to avoid catching his arm on the broken glass edges. He manually unlocked the door from the other side and charged in.
Sam started on the sealed coolers, shaking with nerves. He could hear foot steps in the outside. People approaching.
He grabbed as many type O bags as he could, exited the room and dashed down the hallway, some part of his mind wondering if he'd been caught on security cameras and if the authorities would know his face.
She cut his hands free. Helped him take them down, rubbing some circulation back into his wrists. He'd chafed them a little with his struggles. "Let's get those bed sheets off you too, huh?"
Dean had a fine tremble running through his body.
"You cold, sweetheart?" She asked, finally getting the last bit of white cotton sheet off of him.
Ellis set up the lactated ringers bag, hanging it off the headboard.
"Dean, sweetie. Stay awake."
He grumbled.
"I know. I know you just want to sleep you can't right now."
She adjusted the bag, unwrapped a clean needle and hooked it into the clear IV line.
Dean curled a little to one side with an uncomfortable moan.
"Talk," She prodded. "Come on.
His eyes floated shut.
"Where do you want me to put this? We have a couple of options... Your abdomen." She paused, surveyed his abused belly. "Let's leave that alone...Your ass." She gave him a little pat on his rump and he opened his eyes slightly.
"Huh?" He was shaking now. Shivering like he'd been outside with no jacket in February.
She leaned down and playfully touched her nose to his, trying to get a response. "Can I get my hands on that ass. What do you say?"
There it was... a very weak and tremulous smile.
"I can do the front of your thigh. I basically need a big fat muscle to get into."
"My dick." He whispered weakly.
She laughed. "Of course, honey. All muscle there."
She coaxed him over onto his back and pulled his jeans down to his knees. His legs were visibly trembling. He was wearing a pair of navy boxer briefs.
He blinked. "I was kidding about my dick."
"I know. I'm getting it into your thigh."
"Hate needles." Then with a very weak smile. "Ellis...p...porn cures."
She laughed, surprised that he even remembered that exchange from over a year ago. "I always do seem to end up with a half naked Winchester on my bed."
That made her think of John and her throat tightened. She breathed through her nose a little to calm herself and pinched the fat on the side of Dean's thigh. She slid the needle under the skin, let the roller out until she got a steady drip. She patently held the needle in place. "Just like giving it to a cat, with significantly less fur and attitude. Stay awake, Dean."
He started to drift and she smacked the other thigh. "Hey!" It resounded with a meaty crack that he hardly responded to. He was acting very shocky. His skin was cold to the touch. Ellis watched the bag slowly drain out and tried not to be lured into the hypnotic rapid drip into the clear tube. She closed the line and removed the needle. She pulled his pants back on, leaving his fly undone. Ellis gathered the wrinkled blankets and a comforter and covered him up to his chin. "Let's keep that temp up, huh sweetie?"
"Dean." She slapped his arm. "Hey!"
"Huh?"
"Stay awake."
His breathing had accelerated to shallow panting like he was having trouble getting air.
Ellis crawled into bed beside him under the blankets and pressed her body heat up to him. She put her arm across his chest and held him. "Come on, sweetheart."
He was very cold to be pressed against. She rubbed his arms. "Dean. Come on. Stay awake."
He was quiet, his adam's apple working as he swallowed. "Dad." His voice was a whisper, plaintive. A child's almost.
She felt her heart clench. Ellis felt a lump in her throat again. She choked down tears and lost, leaning her head into him and silently shedding a few tears into Dean's chest. She kept her voice steady and stroked her hand over his shoulder. "We're gonna get you fixed up. I'm sorry I had to hurt you."
"Where's S'mmy?"
"He's coming right back."
Dean swallowed. She could feel the shivering running through his big frame.
"It's okay. I'm here."
His chest moved under her arm, still breathing like he was having difficulty. His full lips parted, looking reminiscent of a landed fish.
"I need Dad." He panted, a bit panicked.
"I do too. Handsome, calm down." She could feel his heart racing underneath her hand. He was climbing up the stages of shock fairly quickly she knew. He squeezed his eyes shut and his breath caught on a groan. She debated giving him more fluid. "You still hurting, honey?"
He grunted something that may have been an affirmative. She shifted upward and kissed his cheek, then pulled him to her. Dean angled his head to rest against her breast. His hand quested blindly until he wrapped it in hers and he closed his fingers on her. She remembered how warm his hands had been on her that day several years ago. Warm and bold and entirely inappropriate.
They were so cold now. Those same elegant hands. "Hey... handsome. Talk to me."
He turned his head to look at her, his jaw trembling, teeth chattering from cold and nerves and pain. He raised an eyebrow plaintively, almost embarrassed and said. "I just want m'dad."
"You need me to call him?"
Dean's face twisted. "Can't call..." His breath caught on a moan and then his panting kept going.
Ellis sat up and felt his forehead. He was very cool to the touch. "Sam, where the fuck are you?"
Taco leapt up on the bed and settled on Dean's heaving chest. Ellis glared at him. "Really cat?"
She picked him up and he let out a protesting yowl. "He's fucking allergic to you and already having trouble breathing. You want to kill him?"
She shoved him over to the far side of the bed.
Dean groaned and shifted his legs uncomfortably. He looked close to tears.
"Sweetheart." She tucked the blanket back over his shoulders and kissed his temple. "What's wrong? Tell me."
"Don't feel...good." He said almost dazedly, his voice hoarse.
"I know."
She heard the sound of the front door and practically fell off the bed to greet Sam, knocking a very offended Taco off his perch on the side of the bed. Ellis was glad that he wasn't big enough to kill her.
More Hurt/comfort crack! Thank you for all the reviews! If you're interested, check out my other WIP, "Burning the Primrose Path." I'll be back shortly with more whump.