The Pain Within Ch. 4
Disclaimer: See chapter one
Author's Note: I know some of the scenes from the last chapter were descriptive, but the symptoms are remaining true to what's wrong with the Winchesters. Sorry if it has gotten a little "gross" for you.
Previously: Hearing the sound of the engine rumbling as Bobby keyed the ignition, John hoped with all of his heart that they hadn't waited too long to seek treatment for his youngest.
Arriving at the hospital nearly twenty minutes later, Bobby pulled up to the Emergency entrance and parked the car haphazardly in his need to get the Winchesters seen to. Opening the driver's side door of the sleek black muscle car, he climbed out quickly and rushed through the sliding glass doors that led to the ER. "Hey, I need some help out here," Bobby shouted as he spotted a doctor talking to a couple of men who were dressed in scrubs. Not taking the time to see if they followed, Bobby rushed back outside to where the Impala was parked. Pulling open the back door, he leaned in to relieve Dean of his precious burden.
"I've got him Ace," Bobby informed the oldest of the two Winchester boys when Dean stubbornly kept his arm wrapped around his sibling's shoulder.
Knowing that he was to weak to carry Sammy himself, Dean hissed in a stuttered breath and tentatively removed his arm from around Sam and then wrapped it around his own tender torso since his stomach was really beginning to hurt again. He hated having to depend on others when it was his job to take care of Sammy, but this was one time he had to capitulate.
Sighing in relief as Dean released him, Bobby tugged a nearly unconscious Sam into his arms as the three men met him at the car. Cradling the youngest Winchester to his chest, Bobby nodded his head towards the other two ailing Winchesters. "They'll need some help getting inside too."
Leaning inside to assess the others in the car, Dr. Scott Allen was quite alarmed at just how weak and pale the two males looked. He seriously doubted they would be able to walk into the hospital without a great deal of support. "Jeremy, I think we're going to need a couple of wheelchairs, possibly a gurney," Scott informed one of the orderlies as he wrapped his fingers around the younger male's wrist to find a fairly rapid pulse beating under his fingertips.
"N-no, I can wa-walk," Dean retorted, before doubling over in pain as a sharp cramp cut through his gut like a hot knife through butter. There was nothing more he abhorred than looking weak to others.
"Sorry son, it's doctor's orders," Dr. Allen retorted, worried that his young patient would pass out from the strain walking would cause on his obviously overtaxed body.
"Just let 'em help, Dean," John groaned as he climbed out from the passenger seat of the vehicle, his knees nearly buckling from the strain of standing. Leaning against the car to catch his breath, he nearly snorted when another aide came up to him with another of the cursed contraptions.
"Yeah Dad, like you said…just let them help," Dean smirked, throwing his father's own words back at him upon seeing the stubborn set of his father's face. No way in hell was he going to be the only one wheeled in the ER.
Knowing he couldn't win the argument this time, John grumbled under his breath as he lowered himself into the chair though he secretly happy that he wouldn't have to make the walk inside under his own steam. Sighing as the orderly pushed him through the glass door, he immediately scanned the room for his youngest.
"Sammy?" he queried anxiously upon not seeing him or Bobby anywhere in the open room. "Where the hell is my son?"
"Relax sir, your son was taken into one of the treatment rooms and is being attended to by a doctor," the desk nurse stated, carrying a manila folder, as she walked over to the distraught father to get some information from him while his other son was rolled into a treatment room.
~~SUPERNATURAL~~
Entering the first treatment room that they come to, Bobby placed Sammy on the bed inside the room and then stepped to the side so that the medical personnel could work on the ailing youngster. Watching as the boy's clothing was stripped off of his limp body, he was amazed at how quick the doctor began barking out orders for an I.V. to be placed in Sam's hand and for someone to call the lab so that some blood could be drawn.
Standing to the side as a young doctor worked on Sammy, Bobby attempted to answer the doctor as he asked questions about Sammy as best he could since he didn't really know all that much about what the Winchesters had done over the previous forty eight hours or so. Knowing that it could be vital to Sam's care, he made a special point of telling the doctor about the bloody diarrhea he had noticed after Sam had used the bathroom.
Chewing his bottom lip as he observed the languid child on the bed during he exam, he knew Sam was becoming weaker by the minute and it scared the hell out of him to the think the ten year old could succumb to his illness. Not only would it destroy John and Dean, but it would rip the heart right out of him also if they were to lose the boy. It would be a devastating lost that none of them could ever recover from.
"Doc, Sammy I going to be alright isn't he?" Bobby asked anxiously as he watched a lab technician draw some blood into a small vial.
"I'm sorry, but I can't answer that question until find out exactly what is wrong with the boy," Dr. John Gordon answered as he continued to assess his patient's vitals. "I can promise you however that I will do everything within my power to make sure he gets the best care possible.
Placing a warming blanket over his patient to ward off shock, the doctor put a call into the lab to let them know he needed the blood tests back STAT. If he was correct in his diagnosis, he had one very sick little boy on his hands with a possibly life threatening complication.
~~SUPERNATURAL~~
Panting breathlessly from the pain in his stomach as they rolled him into a treatment room, the first thing Dean noticed was the absence of his baby brother. He had been sure the doctor would treat them together since Sammy was still so young. "Whoa, where's my brother?" Dean asked as the orderly pushed the wheelchair that he was sitting in up to the small bed.
"He's in the room across the hall. Don't worry, he is being well taken care of," Nurse Lisa answered with a comforting smile as she motioned for Dean to climb up onto the bed.
"Forget it lady, I'm not staying in here for one more second. Take me to my brother's room so I can make sure he's okay," Dean groaned, just before practically curling himself up in a ball as a particularly vicious cramp hit his lower stomach area.
"Hey, where's the bathroom? I gotta go now!"
"Right here," Lisa answered as she pulled a bedpan from the supply closet just as Dr. Allen strolled into the room.
"Oh, hell no," Dean swore in dread as he pushed himself up off the wheelchair in a desperate need to find the restroom. That nurse was crazy in the head if she thought he was going to be subjected to using a bedpan.
"Sorry son, but we're going to need a stool sample," Dr. Allen informed Dean as he pulled the privacy curtain around the cubicle that his patient was now stationed in and guided him onto the inclined bed. "And the sooner you allow us to get it, the quicker you'll be able to see that brother of yours."
"Sonuvabitch," Dean swore loudly, his cheeks flushing a deep crimson red with embarrassment as he agreed and was swiftly stripped of his pants and boxers by soft hands. Raising himself up from the bed with the aid of the doctor, he waited for the confounded metal pan to be placed under his derriere. Lowering his head as he allowed nature to take it's course seconds later, Dean couldn't help but be mortified by the people present while he was doing what should have been private business.
~~SUPERNATURAL~~
Sitting on the edge of the gurney in the treatment room as he waited for the doctor, John filled out the insurance papers as best he could, silently praying that it would be a few days before the small hospital filed the insurance claim. He had no doubts that Sam was going to be admitted with the shape that his baby was in and he wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to admit him and Dean too. Sighing as he tugged a hand through his dark hair, he wished someone from the medical profession would get their asses in there and tell him how his sons were. The thought had no sooner entered his mind when he saw a middle aged woman walking in with a stethoscope around her neck.
"Good afternoon sir, what seems to be the problem?" Dr. Michelle Strickland asked as she pulled the stethoscope from around her neck and placed the chest piece to her patient's broad muscular chest and listened to his heart before taking his pulse.
"Uh, me and my boys, we're kind of having some stomach problems," John answered nervously as he rubbed his sweaty palms along his jeans. "Can you please tell me how my boys are?"
"I'm sorry mister?…."
"John, my name is John"
"I'm sorry John, but I haven't had a chance to speak with the doctors treating your sons," Michelle apologized as she motioned for her patient to lay down so she could prod his stomach. "But I'm sure they are being well taken care of. Now, lets see if we an find out what is causing the stomach distress for you and your family."
"Yeah, okay," John hissed as the doctor pressed down on a particularly sore spot.
Placing her stethoscope on her patients stomach, Michelle grimaced at the hyperactive bowel sounds that were very evident. Obviously, her patient had either contacted a very bad stomach virus, or was suffering the ill effects of food poisoning. "John, I need to ask you a few questions to help me make a firm diagnosis. Can you tell me if you have come into contact with anyone suffering from a stomach virus in the last twenty four hours?"
"No, I don't think so," John replied as he cradled his stomach area.
"What about food? Have you and your children consumed any of the same type of food within the last twenty four to forty eight hours?"
"Yeah, we ate some hamburgers that were a little on the rare side at a small diner in Alabama a day or two ago," John replied, scratching his hand through the five o'clock shadow that encompassed his jaw area.
"Oh no, I bet I can guess exactly what the problem," Michelle thought to herself as she wrote down the information in her patient's chart.
"John, I think you and your sons could be suffering from a severe case of E. coli, but we'll have to I'll have to order some blood tests just to be sure," Michelle stated as she grasped her patient's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "And if you'd like, I'll go check on your children for you after I call the lab and the phlebotomist arrives."
"Thanks Doc, I'd appreciate it," John mumbled as he closed his eyes and tried to will away the pain." He really needed to know that his sons were alright.
TBC I'm not sure about this chapter, but hopefully you enjoyed it anyway.