Consciousness

"S-… Sam…"

Sam looks up from the edge of the bed where he's been resting his head, all the fight out of him.

He's been there for three day's now, waiting for answers, stopping doctors in the hallways, the coffee machine in the cafeteria is now his best friend, other than Nurse Annie, Ann, and Dr Raj, the neurosurgeon.

"Dean…?" Sam says timidly, thinking he imagined it, but slowly, Dean's eyes open a little, and Dean's mouth quivers a little, through the drug's effects.

"Sa-…mmy…" he tries again, words slurred.

Dean has been in a medically induced coma for the last three days, while doctors ran tests on his brain. Sam had protested, but the doctors had told him that Dean would be in too much pain to be able to do much, so reluctantly, Sam bowed to their advice.

Sam got up from the chair and took Dean's hand in his, using his free hand to stroke Dean's hair. "Hey, Dean," he said softly, "how you feeling?"

Dean tried to speak, but his throat was so dry that he coughed out instead. Sam let go of Dean's hand and poured him a glass of water and popped in a straw. He pushed one of the buttons on the side of the bed, putting the upper part up and once it was up enough, he put the glass of water close to Dean's cracked lips.

"Here," he said, "And this time, slow?"

Dean looked at the water, still a little sleepy, but took the straw into his mouth and sucked down some water. It hurt at first, his dry throat being relieved after so many days, but after a few seconds, it felt wonderful to have the cool liquid going down him.

After the drink, Sam put the glass down and took Dean's hand in his again and Dean managed to squeeze back a little, trying to reassure Sam, earning a smile from him.

"How're you feeling, Dean?" Sam asked again.

Dean looked at Sam, and replied honestly, "Like… crap, Sam. Why?"

Sam deliberated for a minute then stroked Dean's hair again, "How's your head?"

Dean leaned up into the touch a little, closing his eyes and relishing the touch. "It's a little heavy," he said and opened his eyes and looked at Sam with a level gaze, "How bad?"

"How bad is what?"

"Sam…"

"Really, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sammy. Tell me."

Sam let out a stuttered gasp and tears broke the surface of his eyes.

"D-Dean…" Sam said, lowering his head onto Dean's chest, scrunching up the front of Dean's hospital gown and sobbing into it. Dean tried to hug Sam, but there was an IV stuck into his right arm, so he ended up with is left hand on Sam's shoulder, slowly stroking it and whispering sweet nothing's to Sam, telling him everything was okay, that he was fine.

The door opened and a doctor and nurse entered the room and was surprised at what they saw. The doctor went over to the side of Dean's bed that was free and the nurse put her hands on Sam's shoulder's gently trying to pry him off Dean, but Sam was adamant and Dean smiled at her apologetically, but she shook her head.

"Dean," the doctor said, "It's good to see you awake."

Slowly Sam got up from Dean's chest and sat back down, trying to hide his face from view. The nurse handed Sam a tissue and patted him on the shoulder and turned to Dean.

"Sam here has been sitting on that chair from dawn till dusk," she said and Dean felt a pang of guilt and looked at Sam and he looked up at Dean and offered a small smile.

The doctor checked Dean's pulse and pressure and wrote some things on a clipboard and satisfied, he looked at Dean and smiled at him.

"My name is Dr. Raj, but, as Sam will tell you, I prefer it if you would call me Dave, and this," he gestured to the nurse, "is Nurse Annie, or as the others call her, 'mother-hen'."

Nurse Annie laughed at that and looked at Dean, "You can call me Ann," she said.

Dean smiled at them, "Nice to meet y'all," he said and looked over at Sam sitting in the chair. Having calmed down, Sam looked tired, dark circles under his eyes, hair a little messy and he was unshaved. As much as Dean dug Sam's shaggy look, he was saddened at the state of his brother.

He extended his hand to Sam and Sam reached out and held his hand and smiled at Dean, but Dean looked back at the doctor.

"Doc, you gotta tell me what's wrong."

Dark looks exchanged.

Oh, crap, Dean thought.