Authors note: I'm sorry it's taken so long to post this next chapter. I've been wrestling with this one for a couple of weeks because I just can't make it come out right. You be the judge, I'm giving up. Thanks again for reading.

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The sun was just starting to come up when Jim looked up from the book he was reading and checked on John once again. Knowing the oldest Winchester was still unconscious, Jim took the opportunity to check on his wound and change his bandages. Once done, Jim stood up and stretched, his legs cramped up from sitting in one place for so long. The sun beckoned him through the window and Jim walked to the front door and opened it, peering outside at the new day. He said his morning prayers as the sun rose and marveled at its intense colors and majesty.

"Truly there has to be a God to create something so beautiful." He thought to himself.

Returning to John, he was surprised to see that Dean had taken his spot at John's side. The young teen intensely watched his father, and was oblivious to Jim's return until Jim cleared his throat.

"Sorry Pastor Jim. I …I was just checking on Dad. He looks better this morning." Dean stated hoping the cleric would confirm his hopes. "He's gonna be okay isn't he?"

"I believe so Dean but you father still has a way to go. I just finished changing his bandages. The bleeding seems to have stopped, which is a good sign, and I've yet to see signs of infection which is even better. Still, I would feel more comfortable if we could convince him to see a real Doctor." Jim assured him adding the suggestion. Dean started to stand up to protest but Jim just waved him down.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything that without your father's permission, the damn stubborn bastard that he is." Jim said with a slight smirk. Dean couldn't help but smile at the accurate description of his father.

"Dean…." a small panicked voice suddenly spoke up behind them. Jumping up, Dean quickly ran over to where his brother stood at the foot of the bed. Sammy's eyes were wide as he looked at his father lying on the bed in front of him and tears started to spill down his face. "Oh my god Dean…..is….is Dad dead? It was the monster that attacked the car, it got Dad didn't it?"

"No Sammy no, Dad's not dead, I promise." Dean said quickly alleviating his brother's fears. "See watch, his chest is moving up and down, see. He's alive I promise."

Still wide eyed, Sammy moved over to the side of the bed to verify for himself what that his brother was right. Once he saw that his father was still alive, he turned to Dean, tears still wet on his face.

"Oh Dean I was so scared. I heard this noise outside the car so I got Dad's extra .22 out of the glove box and then this thing was trying to get in. Then I don't know, I heard this explosion and yelling and then you and Dad were there. Next thing I remember was Dad driving us down the road and he was hurt but I don't remember how he got hurt and you had to take the wheel…..." Sam closed his eyes trying hard to remember exactly what had happened.

For a moment Dean panicked. If he told his brother what really happened, he knew it would traumatize Sam for the rest of his life. For whatever reason, Sammy truly believed a monster attacked the car and now Dean's' only option was to lie and pray his brother would forgive him later if he did finally find out the truth.

Jim watched the wheels turning inside Dean's head. He too was worried the truth would be too much for young Sammy to handle, but even so, he didn't want Dean to have to lie to his brother. He was about to give his own explanation for John injuries when Dean shot him a frightened look. Jim grimly nodded in return and let the older boy do what he felt was necessary.

Dean tugged on Sammy's arm and pulled him away from the bed. Sammy continued to look back at John, even when Dean pushed him towards a chair and sat him down. Fear was clearly on the young boys face and Dean knelt down in front of him.

"Sammy, look at me." Dean said gently trying to get his brothers attention. Sammy looked back at Dean, his eyes wide, tears glistening.

"Yeah Sammy, the monster got to Dad but he's gonna be okay. Pastor Jim is here to make sure Dad gets all better, right Pastor Jim?" Dean explained looking back at Jim for confirmation. Jim still didn't approve of the lie but accepted Dean's decision to shield his brother from the truth.

"Your father is going to fine Sammy. I just gave him a few well placed stitches and he will be good as new in no time." Jim explained. Dean mouthed the cleric a silent 'thank you'.

"Sammy what else do you remember about what happened back in the car?" Dean asked, turning back to his little brother. He was desperate to find out just how much his brother really did remember.

"You and Dad left me in the car….and I don't know, I felt kinda sick, so I took more of that medicine. I know I shouldn't have Dean. Please don't tell Dad okay, cuz he'll be really mad at me." Sammy begged, worried he would be in trouble for taking the extra medicine. Dean reached up and ruffled Sammy's hair.

"You should have waited for me or Dad, Sammy. That medicine was for grown ups not kids. You could've made yourself really sick or worse." Dean started to scold but stopped when he remembered something worse really did happen, just not to Sam. "You were really lucky there kiddo. What else do you remember?"

"It was raining really hard, and the windows were all fogged up. I just went outside for a minute, I swear, but I couldn't see anything with all the rain coming down. Anyways I got back inside and next thing I know something was trying to get inside the car. Then I heard this loud bang, and then, I don't know what happened next, Dean. You were there and Dad was driving, but he looked kinda funny, and then we almost crashed and you had to take the wheel…..." Sammy went on a mile a minute as he continued to struggle to remember what really happened. "Good thing you and Dad showed up just when the monster did."

"Yeah Sammy good thing." Dean said agreeing with his little brother. It was clear to Dean that while Sammy remembered most of what really happened his mind was gratefully blank about the shooting and Dean was determined to keep it that way. Suddenly Sammy looked up to him with panic in his eyes.

"That thing that attacked the car, Dean, you don't think there were others, I mean, maybe they followed us down here."

"There was only the one Sammy, and I took care of it for you. No monster is gonna hurt any one of us anytime soon." Dean answered in full big brother mode.

"Good…..' Sammy answered immensely relieved. He motioned to the chair next to the bed. "Do you think I can just sit here next to Dad? I don't want him to wake up alone."

"Sure thing Sammy, besides me and Pastor Jim need to talk out here in the other room, okay." Dean nodding to Jim that he wanted to talk. "We won't be far Sammy."

"Okay Dean." Sammy said as he got up, sat down next to the bed, and looked down at John.

"Thank god…." Dean said as soon as they left the room.

"Dean this isn't right. You heard Sammy, he remembered everything up to the shooting. What if he suddenly remembers actually pulling the trigger, or worse. What if he remembers it was his father trying to get in the car, and not some 'monster'? " Jim argued back.

"I don't know Pastor Jim, I'll make up some kinda story, but what ever we do we can't let Sammy know he shot Dad. He's just 9 yrs old for god's sake, it will scar him forever." Dean was practically begging now.

Jim just stood shaking his head in disagreement. Sam was the son of a hunter and was certainly old enough to recognize a gun shot wound when he saw one. John's injury was far too serious to pass off as an attack from any 'monster'. Plus what Dean was suggesting was going to be next to impossible if Sam decided he wanted to help take care of his father, as was usually the case. Sadly both boys had become experts in first aid over the years including gun shot wounds.

"So what do you plan on telling him?" Jim finally asked. Dean looked away and thought for a moment. Whatever story he was going to come up with was going to have to be short and sweet and not too complicated.

"I'm just gonna tell him it was something we didn't know about so we weren't prepared for it. Sammy knows all sorts of stuff live in those mountains so it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a 'monster du jour'. Maybe it was something that was mad because we had invaded its territory so it came after Sammy, and I don't know. Dad got to it first but he never had a chance against it and I was able to pull out my gun and kill it before it could hurt the rest of us. You know something like that." Dean answered pulling the pieces of his story together.

"You know I still don't approve of this plan." Jim said still shaking his head.

"I know Pastor Jim but it's the only one I've got now. I wish Dad would wake up, he would know what to do." and with that admission Jim was reminded that Dean was only 13 and all this coping skills were going to be those of a 13 year old. He put his hand on Dean's shoulder gave him a gentle squeeze.

"I'd say in a few hours time your father will wake up and then you and he can talk about this, but I truly believe your father will agree with me. If that happens I think you should let your father and I handle the matter."

"But Sammy will be scared, he'll need me there."

"I'm not saying you can't be there Dean, I'm saying you need to let us grownups handle the situation." Jim asserted. "By all means Sammy is going to need you. You're his big brother and he looks up to you. This is gonna have repercussions for years to come I'm afraid."

"That's what I'm afraid of. I don't want him having nightmares and stuff about this Pastor Jim. I don't know why he doesn't remember but I'm sure glad he doesn't. Why can't we just let him forget about it and go on?" Dean said poking his head back towards the room

"Because these things always have a way of coming back. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but some time and in ways you have no way of preparing for. If we tell him what happened now, then we can all give him the support he needs to accept what happened and maybe we can eliminate some unfortunate repercussions later on."

"I guess…." Dean admitted even though he didn't want to. Suddenly they could hear Sammy coughing and sneezing again. "Damn, I forgot in all this mess that Sammy's still sick. I'd better get him back to bed. I don't want him getting Dad sick too on top of everything else."

"I think for Sammy's sake you should forgo the cold medicine this time and maybe just let him have a couple of aspirin and some juice." Jim said as the two of them turned back to go inside the bedroom.

"I think I'm gonna go toss the bottle away, Pastor Jim." Dean said turning back around and heading for the front door. 'I'm not taking any chances this time.

"Good idea." Pastor Jim answered with a smile.

Getting the bottle from the front seat, Dean tossed it as far away as he could throw before returning to his father's side. Sammy put up a brief fuss but Jim promised him a new book on Ancient Civilizations if he went to bed and got some rest. Dean just rolled his eyes at how easy Pastor Jim was able to get his little brother to do what he wanted. It was never that easy for Dean. For Dean it always involved some sort of threat, maybe a tickle war, a pillow fight and then wrestling Sammy into submission. Sammy quickly agreed and ran back to his bedroom but not before giving John a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Feel better Dad." he said before turning away.

Smiling to himself, Dean sat back down in the chair next to his father and resumed his long wait until John woke up. It would be hours still, but he too didn't want his father to wake up alone. Even though Pastor Jim was still there Dean knew, Winchesters always stick by their own.

Tbc