Parting Gift
Disclaimer: Winchesters are Kirpke's, Brotherhood characters are Ridley's.
Chapter 4
Sam ran, he ran from the destruction he had caused in the Tomb, ran from the knowledge that he had just killed the most important person in his life. The precious link he had with his brother had snapped in the moment the energy erupted from his body, slamming into Dean's. Through his tear-filled eye's he could still see his brother's body flying through the air, slamming into the wall across the room, it mingled with the images of the others colliding with the same walls. He remembered looking back toward Dean's body and all he could see was the blood that was covering the older man, covering Caleb, who was laying a few feet away, covering the wall they were against. The scream that erupted from his soul couldn't drowned out the laughter of Lucifer inside his head, couldn't drowned out the horror of what he had been used to do, Sam had been used to kill his family.
The Scholar felt himself stumble as he dropped to the ground, his knees impacting the hard earth. Sam could feel another surge of energy building inside him, it exploded from his body as he again yelled, the trees shaking violently around him. In the distance the young man heard the sounds of siren, tears trailing down his face as he pitched forward, his body landing among the dirt, leaves and twigs as he curled in on himself and allowed a soul-crushing despair to totally consume him.
Oxoxoxoxo
It seemed like forever before the ambulances reached the Emergency Room entrance at the hospital in New Haven. Two teams of doctors and nurses met the vehicles as they screeched to a halt, jerking the doors open pulling Dean's and Ethan's still forms from the back, quickly moving as a unit through the sliding glass doors. Along side each stretcher Caleb and Eli rushed beside their brother's, glancing back as he followed the injured men through the doors, Mac saw Joshua being helped into a wheelchair by another team of nurses and orderlies.
Two rooms, ten feet of hallway separating them is where the unconscious hunter's were wheeled. Mac found himself standing in the doorway leading to Dean's room, while throwing glances toward Ethan's. Through the rush of activity Mac could hear each doctor shouting out orders for his respective patient, calls for portable x-rays from Dean's room, orders for CT's and x-rays from Ethan's. Mac also heard Eli's frantic voice telling the doctors of his brother's accident earlier in the week and Caleb's whispered pleas begging Dean to hang on filtered over the chaos.
An alarm sounding in Dean's room brought Mac a step in as the doctor ordered an intubation tube, one of Dean's lungs having collapsed. Within minutes the portable x-ray was wheeled in the room, pictures taken and it was quickly removed. The sound of the brakes on the stretcher being released along with the ER physician's shout that they were heading for the OR had Mac stepping aside as the Guardian was rushed from the emergency room toward the operating room in an attempt to stop the bleeding that only a small metal clamp was containing.
The sound of movement in the other room showed Ethan's doctor sending his charge toward the CT, the scan was needed to see if the second concussion in a week would cause irreparable damage to the vice-cop. Eli still trailing after his brother, even as a nurse tried to assess his injuries. Mac made a mental note to make sure the Professor was thoroughly checked out too. Down the hall the former Scholar could hear Joshua's quiet voice answering questions as he was treated in a curtained off area, he too was being prepared to be taken to x-ray.
Slight movement in the room Dean had just left caught Mac's attention; it was his son standing next to the spot his best friends bed had just been, his gaze looking at the bloodied gauze that littered the floor. Mac could still see Caleb's body shaking, the blood and tears that was covering his face, hair and clothing made him look like an extra in one of those zombie movies he and Dean loved to watch and pick apart. It was now that reality was starting to set in, as the Doctor slowly moved across the room, his own battered body starting to protest the movement. Coming to stand in front of his son, Mac noticed how Caleb was cradling his left arm close to his body, he could hear the rapid breathes his son was taking as the shaking seemed to grow worse, "Caleb?" the former Scholar whispered as he touched his Son's arm, shocked at the coolness he felt.
Glazed, golden eye's moved from the floor, meeting Mac's steel-gray ones, a barely whispered, "Dad?" escaped Caleb's lips as Mac watched his son's eyes roll back, his body crumbling toward the floor. Only Mac's reflexes controlled their decent as the older man felt the weight of his son pull him down to his knees.
"Caleb!"
Bobby had just stepped into the doorway as Mac's panicked call for his son was heard, quickly the Mechanic turned and shouted down the hallway, "We need some help in here, now!"
Oxoxoxoxo
When Sam opened his eyes darkness had settled over the woods, it wasn't nearly as dark as the blackness that filled his soul, what had happened inside the farm house again filling his mind. Slowly the Scholar pulled himself up leaning his body against the nearest tree, another surge of raw energy could be felt building, its release not as intense as what had occurred in the Tomb, but still left the younger man shaking. Stumbling, Sam started walking, his mind blank for the moment as the gaping hole in his heart consumed him.
He didn't know how long he had been walking, he didn't care, but he soon found himself stepping out of the tree line, the farmhouse looming in front of him. Slowly he made his way across the yard, the quiet of the yard mocking him; the nighttime sounds that were normally heard were silent. It was as if the earth it's self was stilled by the power the Scholar was carrying inside him.
The squeak of the screen door sounded loudly over the property as Sam took a tentative step into the kitchen. His gaze taking in the plastic and paper that littered the floor, evidence of the medical personal that had been called to the farm in a desperate attempt to save the lives that Lucifer's parting gift tried to snuff out. It was a bloodied shirt lying among the discarded material that Sam reached for, as soon as his hand touched the cold, damp material he knew it was his brother's blood that had soaked the garment through, the puddle of blood near it showed how much more the item couldn't absorb, holding it close to his chest Sam made his way down the hall toward the library.
Remnants of a shattered table lay in the hallway as glass crunched under his feet. Slowly stepping into the doorway of the secret room a shuttered sob finally escaped the young man. The destruction was worse than he remembered, broken furniture and scattered books littered the area, but it was the darkened stain on the far wall that drew him in, the congealed pool of blood that covered a portion of the floor that made his knees finally give out. There was so much of his brother's blood left throughout the house, the coppery smell lingering in the still air of the destroyed room shattered any hope Sam had tried to hold onto that his brother could still be alive. Reaching his hand out he laid it against the wall, a strangled cry breaking the silence of the room, "God, I'm so sorry Dean…I'm so sorry" A heart-wrenching sound was the only noise heard throughout the farm house that had been the only real home he had ever known, as Sam cried harder than he had in his entire life.
Oxoxoxoxox
Again the small Trauma room filled with medical personal as they rushed in, responding to Bobby's shouted call for help. The Mechanic moved forward as doctors and nurses moved in, pulling Caleb's unconscious form from his father's arms. "Mac?" Bobby took a hold of the former Scholar's arm, helping the man to his feet, his legs promptly giving out as Mac tried to support his own weight. "Mac!"
A nurse turned as Bobby's voice rose again with concern for his friend; she quickly moved forward helping the scruffy hunter get Mac to a chair that sat in the corner of the room, "Sir, are you all right?" The young woman asked as she knelt in front of Mac, his pain-filled gaze staying on his son, the doctor again shouting orders for x-rays and CT scans. "My Son?", the distraught father whispered.
"We'll take good care of him, but you need to be looked after as well." The nurse spoke calmly, noticing the a couple small cuts on the side of Mac's face.
Movement behind the nurse caused her to stand, as Caleb's stretcher was wheeled from the room, toward Radiology. Mac made an attempt to stand, but Bobby's firm hand on his shoulder kept the hurting man in the chair, "Bobby, I need to go with him." Mac pleaded as his Son disappeared from the room.
"You need to get looked at; you might be hurt too. You're not going to do Junior any good if you collapse; you were struggling to stand when I rounded the corner at the house." Bobby was shocked by the confusion that crossed the former Scholars face, as Mac tried to remember exactly what had happened between the time he saw Sam stumbling into the library and hearing his son's panicked yell. The Mechanic couldn't remember a time when Mac had ever looked confused about anything, but before Mac could comment a doctor approached and started to examine him.
Starting to examine the few cuts on Mac's face, while the nurse took the older man's blood pressure, the physician glanced at the two men, finally asking, "It's been a while since we've had this much activity come in here, can one of you gentleman tell me what happened to those men?"
Bobby looked at Mac, who still seemed to be trying to process what happened himself, the Mechanic looked at the ER doctor, "I think the boys were in the basement trying to relight the water heater, they'd been complaining about there being no hot water in the house, apparently Dean took it upon himself to try and fix the problem and I guess the other's just followed him down. You know when you get a bunch of young men together and they go about fixin something, everyone has to put there two cents in. I was outside and heard something come from the house and that's when we found them in the basement. I think Mac here got knocked off his feet, he was near the entrance to the basement when I got inside." Bobby watched to see if the doctor before him was buying his story.
Nodding the doctor seemed to believe the gruff man, "Then I guess they were luck no one got burned." Using a swab the nurse gave him, the doctor started to clean the small cuts.
"Will Dean and my Son be okay?" Mac asked, flinching slightly as the antiseptic was applied.
"Dean was the young man with the lacerated artery?" The doctor asked, not having time to get names when he was trying to stabilize the young man as much as he could. Receiving a nod from Mac the man continued, "Blood loss is going to be one of the main concerns. Whatever injured him also came within a couple inches of his spine, but if he was thrown back by the blast there's always the worry about spinal injuries and brain trauma, his pupils weren't reacting evenly so he's probably dealing with a severe concussion as well, not to mention any unseen injures. They will have a better idea of that once his surgery is over, however their main focus in the OR will be fixing his artery."
Mac paled slightly as did Bobby, who took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, "Damn." he whispered.
"What about my son, Caleb?" Mac motioned toward the door that his unconscious son had disappeared through a few minutes before.
"From what we could tell, he's suffering from shock, a moderate concussion, multiple cuts and bruises and from the way his arm was swelling, a broken left arm. Hopefully once I see the x-ray's I'll be able to set it without him needing surgery. He will be admitted for observation because of the concussion; it could be a few hours before he wakes up." The doctor responded as he took a couple butterfly bandages from the nurse, placing them along Mac's eyebrow.
Bobby asked the next question, "Do you know how Ethan and Elijah Mathew's and Joshua Sawyer are doing? They came in the second ambulance."
The doctor started to remove his gloves, glancing toward Bobby, "I'm not sure, I'll have their doctor come and speak with you." looking back at Mac the doctor reached for the small light on the wall, shining it in Mac's eyes, one at a time. "Did you hit your head?"
Not really liking being the patient, but his worry for the boys dulling his normal obstructive responses to being examined Mac answered, "I really don't remember, it's possible, I do have a headache, but it could be the worry."
"Honestly I think you have a mild concussion. On a scale how's the pain?" The doctor took the paperwork from the nurse.
Rubbing his forehead, Mac glanced at Bobby who had a look that told him that the Mechanic was really watching to see what he said, being around the Winchester's for year the hunter was able to pick up on if someone was lying about pain, so Mac figured he better be honest or Bobby would call him on it, "about an eight." Bobby nodded slightly, letting Mac know he believed him.
The doctor wrote the information down, "Okay, I'm going to give you something for the pain. I won't admit you because I'll assume that you are here with the others and won't be leaving until you know how they are doing." Looking toward Bobby the doctor continued, "If he starts to show any unusual symptoms, dizziness, confusion, make sure someone knows and checks him out again," looking back at Mac the physician concluded, "I believe with some rest you should be fine, but since I don't see you resting anytime soon, I'll ask you take it easy and let someone know if you experience any problems."
Once getting a confirmation from Mac that he would try to take it easy the doctor turned to talk with the nurse. When the doctor and nurse stepped away Mac reached up and grabbed a hold of Bobby's arm, "Where's Sam?" He whispered, worry clearly heard in the hunter's voice.
Bobby knelt next to his friend, "Last I saw him he was running toward the woods, about knocked me over as he came storming from the house. What the hell happened in there Mac?"
Mac put his head in his hands, just noticing the minute tremors that were running through his own aching body, his mind suddenly feeling so tired. Shaking his head slowly as he meet the worried eye's of the Mechanic he whispered, "I don't know."