Side kick- Bia1007

Beta- eggylaine

Thank you all so much x

Out of balance

"That's it, we're going to the hospital."

They wrapped Sam in the motel sheets and set him in the back then set off for the hospital not caring for the speed limit.

"It's gonna be okay Sammy, ssshh," Dean cooed running his hands through the boy's hair as he whimpered in his painful state.

What felt like hours later John yelled for help as they ran through the ER doors and doctors rushed round in a flash.

"EEEEANIE!!!"

"Sammy! I'm right here okay, I'm right here!" Dean yelled as the doctors pulled the kid from him and sent him through double doors on a stretcher while the kid screamed in hysterics.

"Dean, Dean you can't go back there, they're helping him okay, but you have to let them work son, it's okay, he'll be fine."

"D-dad what if he's not?! What if...what if he's like this because of us! Cause of the hunt! What if...I mean if I hadn't...if he...what..."

"Dean, deep breaths son, deep breaths," John guided his eldest to the waiting room chairs and put his head between his knees rubbing his back while he calmed his breathing.

"S-sorry...I just...I can't stand that this is Sammy and not me...it should be me," Dean cried then stood quickly and ran for the bathroom so his dad wouldn't see him cry.

"Man, Mary please look after our boys, if we lose Sam then I'll lose Dean...please Mary," John begged looking up then wiped his eyes standing and following his son to the bathroom to go check on him.

~S/D~

"Hold still son, we're going to help you."

"Dr. Rowland, the father said he was deaf...I don't think he can understand you."

"Right okay then, let's get to work, I need to examine him, I need blood work, and an MRI scan."

"NNNAAHHH!! DDEEAANIIEE!! SOOPPP!! EEEENNIIEE!! PEEAASSEE!! SSSSOOOPPP!!"

"Oh god, he...this boy is being abused..." the doctor blurted out making all his staff gasp.

"NNAAAHH!! DDEAANIIEE!! HHEEELLL EEE!!" Sam still screamed as they strapped him down with restraints and pumped him full of drugs till the thrashing stopped.

~S/D~

"What the hell is taking them so damn long?" Dean asked pacing the hall way running his hand through his hair one again.

"Dean I'm sure everything's fine, the doctor said not to worry."

"Yeah, cause they know everything," he mumbled then went back to pacing.

"Mr. Winchester?" the doctor asked clearing his throat from behind them.

"Is Sam okay?" Dean asked rushing in the man's face.

"No, no he isn't," and those words right there, those 4 words felt like a shot in the chest for Dean.

"W-wh...he's okay, you said not to worry! And that means he's okay!"

"Please, I think it would be better if we talked about this in my office."

"No! No you tell us right now!" Dean yelled and John had to hold him back.

"Okay then, Sam is in a coma," the guy blurted out like he was angry.

"He...he wha...oh god...dad what do we do? Dad what do we do?!" Dean yelled as tears ran down his cheeks.

"Dean come on, son, let's sit in the guy's office," John said calmly as he pulled his distraught son past the doorway where the doctor was tapping his foot and into the office.

He pushed Dean into a chair before he fell down then sat in the one next to it ready to have an adult conversation about Sam with the doctor.

"Can you start from the beginning please?" he asked overly nice with how this douche was looking at them right now.

"Well, it's a good job you brought Sam in when you did, although a few days earlier would have been better and he wouldn't be in a coma right now."

"So why is it that when we brought Sam in he just had a headache and wasn't doing so good, now you say he's in a coma?"

"A medically induced coma," the doctor corrected then shut his lips tight.

"You mean you sedated him?" John asked sarcastically breathing a sigh of relief when he knew what that translated to in normal doctor terms and which was not the same as this douche's over the top version.

"Yes," the doctor snapped.

"And why did you have to give us a heart attack by telling us Sam was in a coma?" John asked putting his hand on Dean's shoulder who had yet to come round from his panic.

"Sam is in a very serious condition! He has a bleed in his brain and it's pushing on his ear drums!"

Dean let out a long choking scream and sob when the doctor said those words...Sam was bleeding from his brain? 'The kid had hit his head and was bleeding in his brain and it was pushing on his ears!! Oh god this is all my fault! Oh god!! What if Sam does end up in a real coma? What if something happens to his ears? Something worse than the vertigo he used to get?! What if he has to live in total agony now??!!'

"....which is very dangerous, he's exhausted and wouldn't stop screaming! We had to medicate him to give his body some rest!"

"So you deliberately led us on and made us think the worst because of what?!"

"I just don't understand how a parent could be so reckless and neglecting towards a young child, and you!" the asshole pointed to Dean who still wasn't done crying. "You are one of the most irresponsible brothers I've ever met in my life! Do you enjoy it when Sam is hurting and you play too rough?"

"W-w-w-hat-t?" Dean hiccupped.

"Does he scream for you to stop and you still carry on beating him like it's fun for you?!"

'Okay, it was one thing to insult me, but it was just downright unacceptable to accuse my son who has saved Sam and risked his heart and soul to protect that boy on daily basis of such horrid things!'

John ran round the desk, fisted the man's shirt in his rough hands and pushed him into the back wall making a loud brattle on the plaster.

"Don't you fucking dare talk to my son like that! You have no idea! Sam is petrified of places like this! We didn't bring him in because at the time we thought it would do more harm than good if we took him to get checked out and it was unnecessary!"

"I still don't see how a little kid being frightened of a few needles constitutes to risking your son's life Mr. Winchester!"

"A little kid frightened of a few needles?! You can't even begin to understand Sam's fear so don't even bother!"

"Please, I'm sure I can keep up!"

"Okay, you wanna know about Sam's fear, well let's start at day one shall we? Sam wakes up in hospital, he's 6 years old and he has no one there to comfort him when he opens his eyes, he's lost and afraid and has no clue who he is or what is going on, then ass-hats like yourself come, check on his charts then leave again. Sam is then sent away to a foster home, and people like you lied and deceived and messed him up so bad and don't even have the decency to tell that poor child his parents are dead! So this little kid scared of a little needle is so petrified and alone he turns into this broken raging mess! A 6 year old child! And he is so scared doctors and social workers have to pin him down and force sedatives in him then hold his freakin nose so he has no choice but to swallow and breathe!"

The man was stood there, still a pompous look, but it was fading fast as John raged on.

"Then a nice little couple enters the scene, Sam manages to scrape up the tiniest bit of hope and trust and puts it on them to save him from his nightmare! But he is so lost these nice people turn out to be monsters that use Sam as a slave! You with me so far?!"

The now shaking man nodded.

"Now let's jump to 7 years later, my son comes along, saves him and we find out Sam is being treated like a rat and after a lot of thinking we know Sam would end up killing himself if he stayed there any longer so we take him away and adopt him. Then there's a robbery, Dean needs a hospital because he is dying, making Sam scared shitless places like this were going to take his happiness away from him again! And then 3 month later the nice doctors are trying to remove his cast he had from being beaten by Mr. and Mrs. nice, they use a saw, and do you know what that saw did to him?"

The man shook his head, pale white, sweat dripping from him now.

"It gave him a freakin migraine and sent him hysterical because you doctors were too dumb and stupid to figure out that maybe vibrations and deaf scared children don't mix!"

John was coming out of his rage quickly when he saw Dean sobbing in memory and he let go of the man's shirt, let him fall to the floor and stood off.

"Now do you understand Sam's fear?" he asked wiping his own tears away as the man nodded and stood on shaking legs. "So please, do not speak to me or my son like that ever again, we would die for that kid."

Dean was trying to calm himself too but had little success.

"Dean, son you okay?" John asked squeezing his sons shoulder as he took the seat next to him once again.

"C-can...can we see Sammy?" Dean asked in between his cries.

"Y-yeah...yes you may."

John nodded a thank you to the guy and walked up to Dean, pulled him from the chair then held his son in half a hug as they were lead down the corridor to Sam's room.

"When's he gonna wake up?" Dean asked walking slow like something was holding him back.

"Could be hours, could be days, that's really up to Sam."

"Dean, why don't you go on in, I'll be there in a minute," John said knowing Dean would need a moment alone when he saw Sam.

"Oh god Sammy..." was the only thing he could get out.

Sam was deathly pale, wires stuck round his head, IV's in both hands, and he just looked too still, so unlike how Sam slept.

Dean's head nagged at him to stay back, his heart nagged at him to pull in close, so he tried to settle both by sitting on a nearby chair and grabbed Sam's hand in his own.

"Damn Sam you're freezing kiddo," he said like the kid could hear him as he rubbed the boys hands trying to create some heat out of nothing.

Just then a nurse followed by his dad came in the room.

"He's cold...do you have another blanket or something?"

"Course, I'll bring one in," she said smiling after she checked Sam's monitors.

~S/D~

"What's taking them so damn long?" Dean asked pacing the small room once again.

An hour ago they took Sam away for another scan and said something about his ears which only made Dean and John's panic grow to a whole new level.

"Dean just sit down please," John stressed losing his patience.

"I can't," was Dean's reply as he went on to walk the room again.

"Dean, please just sit still, I can't even think when you pace so loud."

"And I keep thinking when I sit still."

"What are you talking about? Is this about what the doctor said? Dean he was a douche, I put him in his place and now we can just concentrate on getting Sam better."

"No dad, he was right, this is all my fault! I had this nagging feeling since Sam blacked out and I was too much of a coward to even tell you he needed a hospital! This is all my fault, I don't deserve a brother, all I do is get people hurt."

"Dean don't start with this, it's been almost half a year and it was your idea we take Sam in-"

"Exactly! And you were right, this is just gonna end in a disaster! If it's not this time then it'll be the next or the next or the-"

"I get it! And stop it! He's fine Dean, this wasn't your fault! If you need someone to blame then blame me, I'm the one who said let's not take him here cause there's nothing wrong with him...it's me Dean, and next time we'll make sure okay, if you have a feeling then you tell me and we're gonna make sure Sam gets better. Just stop pacing or I might have to tie you to the freakin chair."

"Fine!" Dean yelled sitting down with a huff, but he didn't follow his dad's instructions entirely , he was still going to blame himself whether he liked it or not.

"Dean, stop it okay, when he wakes up Sam is gonna need you so you can't let any of this crap slip cause he'll freak, he needs you Dean, whether you choose to believe it or not, Sam needs you just as much as you need him."

Dean managed a quick nod then went back to his own thoughts, he settled for pacing in his head instead.

~S/D~

"Mr Winchester?" Dr. Rowland asked coming in the room with a clipboard.

"Yeah?" John stood with his eldest son and they tapped their feet waiting for the verdict.

"Sam's awake..."

"And?" Dean pushed itching for the doctor to tell them.

"And, it's not as serious as I first though, the bleeding has stopped and the pressure has gone down, but I'm afraid it's done some lasting damage to Sam's ear canals."

"Wh-what does that mean?

"It means...there's a 70% chance Sam could be in pain for the rest of his life, even with painkillers."

"What's the other 30%?" John said calmly holding Dean back so he couldn't pound the walls right now.

"The other 30% could mean with a recent and improved surgery, Sam could get his hearing back."

TBC...

Oh and the 70% 30% is very personal to me, so...it seemed to fit for Sam.

Hope I did myself good with that detail!