So here is the next chapter. Thanks to again to all of you who reviewed. Also to those of you who just read, if you would send me a note once in a while I could really let you know how much I appreciate you. Now on with the story.
Dean Winchester was surprised and happy that for once his gut feeling seemed to be proven wrong. The day had turned into a real good one for his brother. After listening to Bobby relaying Louisa and Antonio's sad story and finishing breakfast, the youngest of their group lied down and fell asleep for several hours without being haunted by nightmares. Waking up, his headache almost disappeared and he spent half an hour on his computer, doing some research of his own. The story really peaked his interest and he decided to find out as much as he could about what happened in 1929. He would have spent even more time on it, if it wasn't for Dean telling him not to overdo it on the first time or he might have to pay for it.
Sitting at the table sharing a dinner from one of the near by diners, consisting of grilled chicken and rice for Sam and fried chicken with mashed potatoes and cole slaw for Dean and Bobby, the world was good for the first time in weeks. There was even a smile on their youngest' face and although there was still sadness visible in his expressive eyes, it sure was a sign of improvement.
Bobby and Dean exchanged some silent glances, while watching Sam eat. Taking it slow, it was still obvious the young hunter enjoyed his food, something that was another positive in the books of his friend and brother.
Taking a bite from his own food, Dean suddenly looked up, as he noticed his brother's hand starting to shake before the fork it was holding dropped and fell onto the plate with a cling. Sam's hand remained frozen in mid move and the young man just stared at the shaking limb like it was an alien entity.
"You okay Sammy?"
The older Winchester couldn't hide his worry, which only increased, when he received no answer. Instead Sam's hand dropped into his lap and for a moment his upper body straightened, his eyes wide and unfocused, before he slumped forward and only the table saved him from taking a nose dive off his chair. All this happened with such speed, that the attempt Dean made to keep his brother from ending up face down in his food came too late to have any effect.
Still shocked by what just happened, he carefully lifted the younger man's upper body up, leaning him back in the armchair, as he supported the listlessly lolling head as well as possible.
"Damn it, Bobby, what just happened? He was doing fine a moment ago."
The older man looked almost helpless for a moment but finally said, "Must be that post concussion thing the doc was talking about."
He handed Dean one of the paper napkins from the table and the other man proceeded to gently clean the food from his unconscious brother's face. Finishing up by wiping a few kernels of rice from his forehead, he realized two glassy orbs watching him.
"Hey kiddo, glad to see you're back with us."
"Wh't h'pp'n'd?"
"You decided the fork wasn't fast enough, so you took a nose dive into your food to hurry it up." Dean smirked, trying to hide his concern.
"Oh…"
"How you're feeling?"
"Dizzy, quit moving."
Dean looked up at Bobby, then back to his brother, "I'm not moving."
"You're not?" Huge eyes stared at him, "Kay!"
The short responses didn't reassure the older brother at all, "Alright lets get you to bed."
With Bobby's help they assisted Sam to his feet and walked him the few steps to the bed, a process that turned more into dragging than walking when the younger man's knees buckled after the first step. Lying him down and adjusting the pillow, Dean took off his shoes, before Bobby pulled the blankets up over the already sleeping young man.
"I knew this wasn't over." Dean said the anger in his voice directed against no one but himself, "I never should have allowed him to stay up this long."
"So you rather would have made him stay in bed, when he actually felt good? You know Sam, he wouldn't have allowed that. And anyway, he really didn't do anything strenuous enough that would have caused this. It's just something the doc said could happen."
"So what we gonna do now?" In total opposite to his usual assertive self, the young man seemed to be at a total loss, as to what to do next.
"Do what we do best; take care of the kid until he gets better." Bobby smiled, hiding his own concern for the sake of his young friend.
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"Sam."
A gentle voice and an even gentler touch woke the young man from his slumber, making him turn toward the speaker. For just a second, while his eyes were still closed, he imagined being in his apartment in Stanford and it was Jessica, who woke him for their morning run. Yet this illusion disappeared, when he glanced up into the face of Louisa DeLucio.
"Sam." She repeated, "You need to get up my love. It's time for breakfast."
Reaching out, she helped the youngest Winchester sit up at the side of the bed, carefully putting a soft robe over his shoulders.
"It's a little cool in here and I don't want you to get ill on top of everything else." She gently touched his injured arm, making sure he would understand what she meant.
"Sure." Sam looked at her, his mind still not quite awake. Only slowly he realized he was back in the bedroom of Louisa and Antonio's house.
"I brought breakfast up here." She pointed to the seating area in the corner, "This way you don't have to come back up here afterwards to take a shower."
"Louisa." He wanted to demand to be taken back but seeing the sweetness and honest desire to help in her dark eyes, he suddenly found he was unable to do so.
Instead he let her assist him to a standing position and lead him to the table. Sitting down, he took the plate from her hands, noting that it contained a whole grain bagel with strawberry cream cheese. For a moment he eyed the baked good with confusion, unable to know what to make of it.
"Is something wrong with it? If you would like something different…?"
"No,…uhm…I mean,…it's just…" Sam stammered.
"I thought you liked bagels?" The dark haired woman said.
"Yes, but how did you know?"
"It's the job of every woman to know what the man she loves likes best." She commented with a smirk, "Now try your coffee."
Sam took the cup from her and took a sip, then followed up with several more. This wasn't just coffee, this was an intense explosion of flavors on his tongue, something he had only a few times before. It was with Jess at the little café in San Francisco, where they spent their first spring break together. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, one of the rarer and more expensive coffees in the world. Flavored with just enough cream to intensify the flavor but not enough to mellow it, it was perfect.
"Wow, this is beyond words."
"I'm glad you think so." There was a satisfied smile on the woman's lips.
Sam picked the bagel up again and took a hearty bite from it, realizing it was perfectly toasted and the cream cheese was flavored with fresh fruit. Chewing slowly, he enjoyed the taste, then swallowed and looked at the petite woman.
"Louisa, you are wonderful and I really appreciate everything you are doing." He paused for just a second, "I'm really sorry, I wish I could stay, but…"
"Sam, it's alright, we figure this out together. That's what I'm here for. All you need to do is relax and get better, I will do the rest."
Again there was nothing but honesty and love in here eyes and suddenly the youngest Winchester didn't know what to do. Sure she was a spirit. Sure he wasn't who she thought he was. But how could he hurt her, when she undoubtedly had no intention to hurt him? He knew he had to find a way to make her understand he wasn't Antonio but now clearly wasn't the moment and for him to insist to take him back would very likely only confuse her more. Right now the only thing he could hope for was for Dean and Bobby to find him once again. Maybe when they showed up and helped him explain everything, she would finally believe.
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Bobby Singer had seen a lot of things in his life and he prided himself in being a darn good hunter and to never get too attached to anyone in his life after his wife died. Sure, he had friends, many of them hunters and some that were customers of his salvage yard and repair shop, but he never bonded with any of them. He felt content with the life he lived und had been doing so for at least a decade, when a young father with his two brats showed up on his doorstep, asking for help.
Reluctantly the grizzled hunter had taken on the role of a mentor, teaching the young man everything he knew and slowly becoming friends with him. It disturbed him more than once to see two little kids dragged into this life but he decided to stay out of it, knowing that John Winchester would never give up his children, but ever so slowly, without him realizing him, he started to loose his heart.
There was something about the precocious kindergartener and his toddler brother that tugged on his heart strings, no matter how hard he tried to deny it. The older boy acted way beyond his age in everything he did, especially in how he took on the role of a substitute father for the little one, refusing to let anyone else take of him, when their father was gone. The younger one, small of his age with soft dark curls and a pair of eyes that could wrap even the most hard nosed hunter in, was advanced for his fourteen months in several ways, yet behind in others. His vocabulary were more like those of a two and a half year old and his table manners lacked not far behind, yet he still walked only a few steps holding on, letting his big brother carry him around whenever possible.
Even to the untrained observer it was clear that the two boys shared a special bond and that one couldn't be without the other for very long. And maybe it was this, what won the hardened hunter over. Thinking he would never have children off his own, he suddenly found himself in the role of a father for the brothers whenever their real father was off on a hunt that lasted for more than a few days. In the beginning it seemed almost impossible that he actually would enjoy his new role but over the years he almost looked forward to those rare opportunities he had to spend with "his" boys. Now that John Winchester was missing and his children were no longer boys but grown men themselves, it seemed like he was even closer to them. The unbelievable had happened, he felt a connection to those kids that he avoided having with anyone else
Bobby was brought back to reality by a movement from the bed. Looking up, he saw Dean had noticed it too and immediately grabbed his brother's hand tighter. They had been keeping vigil at the younger man's side for the last two hours, hoping he would finally open his eyes. Lastly it appeared their wish would be granted, as his eyes moved rapidly behind closed lids and his head rolled from one side to the other.
"Sammy, you awake kiddo? Come on, open those eyes." The elder Winchester encouraged his brother.
There were a few more seconds of anxious waiting, before the hazel eyes finally stared up at Dean.
"Dean, what…? How…? Louisa…" Confusion was written all over his face; Sam tried to make sense of what happened.
"It's alright, you just had another dream. We figure it out."
"No, wasn't a dream, I was with her." The younger man gasped as pain exploded in his head and stomach.
Seeing Sam's eyes crunch shut in pain, as a gasp escaped his mouth, the firstborn Winchester was unable to react before his brother started to explosively vomit. Instinctively rolling him over to prevent the stomach contents from obstructing his airway, he supported his head as the kid continued his volatile vomiting onto the carpet.
After a few minutes the gagging finally stopped and Dean gently lifted his brother's upper body up, as Bobby put a second pillow on the bed, then helped situate the almost listless hunter onto it. Moving the sweat soaked hair out of his face, Dean looked at the pale clammy skin and the red rimmed eyes, then exchanged a worried glance with his friend.
"M'sorry!" Sam mumbled.
"It's okay son, don't worry 'bout it." Bobby comforted him, "I've cleaned up worse in my time."
"Think you can keep some pain meds down?" Seeing the lines of pain still edged on the kid's forehead, Dean was also worried about causing another bout of vomiting.
"Yeah, just don't make me move."
"Don't worry." Bobby already had two of the pills ready and carefully dropped them in Sam's mouth, then inserted a straw into the water bottle and held it to his lips.
Swallowing the meds with the cool liquid, the young hunter gave him a grateful look, before his eyes moved back to his brother.
"It wasn't a dream; I was with Louisa at the house." He said in a quiet but steady voice.
"Sam, that's not possible you were right here, Bobby and I never, left your side."
"Look, I don't know how, but I am sure I was there." There was an anxious tone to his voice that immediately let Dean move his hand calmingly onto his brother's shoulder.
"It's okay, like I said before, we will figure this out. You just rest and don't worry that geeky brain of yours."
"But you believe me, don't you?"
The older man wanted to say 'no', but something in his brother's eyes stopped him. They've seen too many strange things in there lives to dismiss Sam's claim this easy.
"Yes, I believe you."
There was total relief radiating from the younger man, as if a sudden weight was taken from him. Dean was on his side, so nothing could happen to him.
TBC
So do you still like it? I sure hope so, but no matter what, let me know. I really like to hear from you. Hugs, Vonnie
