Sorry it's been a while since I've posted! I've been stressed out with school. Senior year is seriously kicking my buttocks! Sorry if some of this medical stuff is wrong x(
Every inch of Sam's body flashed white-hot with pain. What was happening? His eyes cracked open, light making his head pound. He screwed them shut again, waiting for the throbbing to fade. He reached his hand up to assess the damaged, then became aware that he was suspended upside down, his weight being held by the Impala's seatbelt. He remembered the sound of squealing brakes, headlights in his face, crunching metal and then nothing. Oh right…he'd been getting dinner for him and his brother. Dean! Oh man, he's gonna kill me for totaling his car!
Sam's fingers sought the smooth plastic of his phone. Thank god it was still in his pocket. He cracked his eyes open again, letting out an involuntary moan of pain as he clumsily dialed Dean's number and closed his eyes again. God, he hurt.
"You've been gone for an hour, Sam. What's taking so long?" Dean demanded crossly. He always became cranky without food.
"D'n." It took that one garbled slur for Dean to be on his feet.
"Sammy? What happened? Sam!" Panic seized Dean's heart. Sam was in trouble.
"Hurts." No, that wasn't what Sam meant to say. "Ungh, car accident. Help." Why couldn't he say what he wanted to? I wrecked your car, man. I'm so sorry.
"Dammit Sammy." Dean breathed, exiting the motel room. "Where are you?" But it was too late. The phone slipped from Sam's fingers and crashed to the floor or the roof really. He had faith. Dean would save him.
SPN
"Alright, cut him out." Lights stabbed at Sam's closed eyelids. He was no longer upside down and something was clutching his hand.
"D'n." He struggled to open his lead-laden eyes. The pressure on his hand tightened.
"I'm here, Sammy." Dean's voice anchored him. His brother had come to save him. "You're gonna be okay kiddo." Sam didn't care that he was in his twenties, he was so glad Dean was talking to him as if he were a little kid again. Dean would take care of him.
"D'n m'sorry." He mumbled, head lolling towards where Dean's voice was coming from.
"Shh, it's okay Sammy." Dean replied, brushing Sam's sodden bangs off of his forehead. With Dean's comforting touch, he faded into blissful unconsciousness.
SPN
There was a continuous buzz in Sam's ears. It was making words, but Sam couldn't comprehend who it was or what they were saying. But he was strangely comforted by it. Maybe it was Dean.
The realization seemed to make something click in his half-lucid brain. His eyes cracked open, a blurry face floating in his vision.
"Sammy? You with me?" There it was again. That voice that kept him sane and alive, had kept him that way for his entire life.
"M'here." Sam muttered, wincing as he moved. Had he been flattened by a freaking steamroller?
"Hey hey, take it easy." Dean's hand fell across his shoulder. There was no pressure on the hold but it halted Sam's painful struggles to sit up.
"Hate hospitals. What if we get caught?" Sam grumbled. Dean couldn't help the smile of relief on his face. If Sam was feeling good enough to angst at him, then he must've been feeling pretty okay.
"I know, buddy." Dean replied, smirking at Sam's forlorn expression.
Before Sam could reply, the door to his room opened and the doctor stepping in. A clipboard was held in his hands and a smile rested on his face. The Winchester boys could see right through the phony content. They were about to get bad news.
Dean braced himself for whatever the doctor had to say, expecting the worst. Sam was dying again. God, why did this always happen to them? Couldn't they go just one week without one of them running off to their death?
"Hello Sam. It's good to see you awake. I have test results from your x-rays and blood tests. It seems you have a laceration on your kidney. It isn't very deep, but it is bleeding. Not enough to do any permanent damage, so we're going to allow it to heal on its own. However, you will also be in some significant pain, so we're upping your dosage of pain medication. You also have a broken leg and four cracked ribs." Dean frowned. The doctor just seemed to endlessly list off injuries. It was as if any injury that a person could receive, Sam had. "We want to keep you for a few nights to make sure your kidney heals properly." Sam was about to protest when one glance at Dean's expression halted him. Instead he sighed and nodded reluctantly. "Great. We'll get you all taken care of."
SPN
"Dean." The man was out of the spare bed and at Sam's side before he was even fully awake. He peered down at his little brother in the dim hospital room and cursed.
Sam's face had paled considerably and a sheen of sweat stuck his gown to his body. Dean could tell Sam was in horrible pain from the lines that creased his forehead and his labored breathing.
"Hurts." Sam strained, screwing his eyes shut. The doctor had said he would be in pain, but neither Dean nor Sam had expected it to be this bad.
"I know bud, I'm sorry." Dean pushed Sam's soggy hair off of his forehead, letting a soft smile flit across his face. "It's okay though. I'm right here." That seemed to relax the taller man as he drifted into a fitful sleep.
Dean didn't sleep much that night. Every little noise that Sam made had him tense, especially when he let out those little moans and whimpers. It was hell. No, it was worse than hell. He just couldn't stand when Sammy was in pain. It made his heart crack in two, and several times already he had almost lost it. So he lay awake until morning listening to his brother's muted sounds of agony. When Sam awoke the next morning, he could tell Dean hadn't gotten any sleep after Sam had woken him. Guilt gnawed at Sam. He shouldn't have woken Dean up. Why had he succumbed to that one moment of weakness?
But god, he'd been in so much pain. It had felt like someone was driving a hot poker into his side. And the only person who knew how to deal with Sam when he was in pain was Dean. He never even needed to say anything, just needed to let Sam know that he was there.
"Gonna go get food." Dean gestured to the door and trotted out into the hall.
"Bring me some!" He heard Sam call just before the door closed behind him, cutting Sam off mid-call. Dean smirked wryly, ambling towards the cafeteria at a tired pace.
Back in his room, Sam allowed himself to sag back. His mask broke and he writhed, unable to find a comfortable position.
"Hey Sam, how're you feeling?" A male nurse stepped into his room, examining the machines at Sam's bedside.
"Like my kidney is bleeding." Sam responded with a dry chuckle. "Is the doctor sure that the bleeding won't damage me?" He asked unsurely, wincing as a twinge shot through him.
"Yes! The blood will drain with your urine, and the cut was already showing signs of healing when you arrived." The nurse arrived with a cheery smile. Sam thought the male assistant was too happy, pulling a face at his back as he exited Sam's stark-white room.
Left alone, Sam finally let his guard down. His neutral expression dropped into one of utter agony and his hands clenched the bed sheets. Tremors wracked his body, a lovely side effect of the low fever he was now harboring, and his face pinched with the strains of the waves of sharp pain flashing through his entire body. Who knew one simple cut could hurt so damn much?
Dean didn't arrive back to his room for another half hour, giving Sam time to pant heavily and readjust so he would be ready to fool Dean and the doctor by telling them that he was fine and that he could be released. But nothing got past Dean when it came to Sam's health, and he immediately noticed Sam's tight expression and the very faint shivers that traversed throughout his little brother's body. Nice try, Sammy.
"How do you feel?" Dean asked, already knowing what the answer was going to be. He sent Sam a look to let him know that Dean could tell he wasn't feeling good at all. Sam gave it up, allowing his eyebrows to draw together as his fingers spasmed slightly into the bed.
"Awful." Sam replied in a pinched voice. Dean nodded in understanding.
"I bet man." He replied with just a tinge of sympathy. "Guess we should settle in, we'll probably be here for a few days." Sam groaned when Dean finished his sentence, but Dean could tell it wasn't from the pain. Was it bad that he could distinguish Sam's groans of pain from his groans of reluctance and pathetic resignation? Shaking himself from his reverie, Dean pulled the single plastic chair up to the side of Sam's bed, propping his feet up next to Sam's so that their calves were just barely touching. It was enough for Sam. He flipped the TV on, smiling victoriously when Lord of the Rings flickered onto the small screen. Maybe there would be a marathon?
They sat silently watching the movie when Sam abruptly let out a loud cry and lunged forward. His hand found Dean's arm, his fingers tightly gripping the older man's arm. Dean immediately fell into panic mode, fighting to keep calm as he stood up, knocking his chair backwards and making a loud crashing noise. He clambered quickly onto Sam's bed, knees on either side of Sam's waist as he gripped Sam's shoulders as tightly as he could without hurting his younger brother.
"Sam? Sammy, what's wrong?" He demanded, not hearing the door open and close and professional voices speak over the two brothers to each other. "Sam!" He snapped, grabbing his brother's chin and forcing his face up. Dean's green eyes sought out Sam's hazel ones, searching for anything that would tell him what the hell was going on. The only thing he found in Sam's wide eyes was fear and pain. The two things he hated to see in his brother the most.
"Dean…hurts…so bad…" Sam managed to wheeze out between heavy pants and slight cries. Tears had begun to pool in his eyes and trail down his cheeks, and that's when Dean became terrified. Sam never cried. Never. It was serious. Sam was in more pain that he could ever imagine.
"Sir, I need you to move." A nurse grabbed Dean's shoulder and unkindly yanked him away from Sam's writhing form. He wouldn't fight them, just for Sam's sake. Because Sam needed the doctors help and Dean wouldn't be doing much good for him if he fought the nurses. A blood curdling scream tore out of Sam's chest and Dean's eyes fastened shut against the noise as tears brimmed. His brother was in pain, and he couldn't do jack squat about it. He felt completely useless. He felt completely lost.
"Dean…Dean where are you?" Sam's confused and tearful voice broke over the loud caterwaul of the chaos around Dean. His eyes reopened and he blinked tears out of them. Sam's arm was stretched out, his hand searching for something that wasn't there. His eyes were shut, but he was looking as hard as he could for his brother. "Dean please!" That was it. He wasn't going to let those nurses keep him away from his brother, not after he'd asked for help in such a broken tone.
"Move, get out of my way." Dean shouldered his way through the nurses, ignoring them when they tried to get him to move. "I'm right here, Sammy. I've gotcha." He took Sam's large hand, mustering a small half smile as Sam weakly squeezed his hand.
"We have to go into surgery immediately." The doctor took Dean's shoulder, staring into his eyes sincerely. "Please let go of your brother sir. We need to take him right away." Dean squeezed Sam's hand one last time before letting go.
"Don't worry Sam; I'll be right here when you get out. Promise." He vowed after his brother as they quickly wheeled him away. Dean wasn't sure how long he sat in the chair that he had picked back up, staring at the same spot on the wall and just waiting. He remembered a nurse coming in, trying to get him to eat or drink, but he just sat motionless. It was a stupid thing to do, really. He depended too much on Sam, and he knew it. Sam was his Achilles heel. Dean was Sam's Achilles heel. That wasn't ever going to change. In the life that they lived, they had to hold on tightly to whatever they had. Sam was all Dean had left, and if he lost him, Dean wasn't sure what he'd do. Maybe make another deal. Maybe he'd just drink himself dead. That sounded like a good idea. Less painful. At least he wouldn't have to think about Sammy that way.
Dean shook his head abruptly, pulling himself away from that path of thought. Of course Sam wasn't going to die. Sam would be just fine. Dean could feel it.
It felt like hours before the door finally opened up again. Sam was wheeled back into the room, a nebulizer strapped tightly to his face. He was far too pale to be healthy and his hazel eyes were shut. Dean longed to see them once again, longed to hear Sam's snarky tone when Dean made a stupid comment just to rile him up. The doctor followed, and Dean thought he was going to be sick at the blood that covered his scrubs. Sam's blood.
"There was a problem with his kidney. We had to do an emergency stitching and also had to drain stagnant fluids from his kidney. He'll be okay, but he definitely gave us quite a scare there." The doctor smiled at Dean. That's putting it lightly.
"Thanks Doc." And Dean meant it from the bottom of his heart. A half-hearted, yet sincere smile graced his face, aimed towards the doctor that had just saved his brother's life. The doctor grinned and nodded his head once before leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind him.
"He just loves to hear that." An older nurse was bustling around Sam's bed, making sure all of the machines were hooked up properly. "I think you two remind him of his two sons. They're a lot younger than you, but the older one won't leave his little brother's side when he's hurt or sick. It's nice to watch a brotherly bond like that." She smiled before exiting Sam's room. In a sudden act of vulnerability, Dean reached out and grasped Sam's limp hand, smiling when he felt a very faint squeeze. Sam's eyes fluttered open, half lidded, but still there.
"I'm not dead." His words were muffled by the mask that covered his mouth, but Dean could still understand what Sam was saying.
"Clearly, man." Dean replied with a snort, but Sam could sense the utter relief behind it. Dean had been scared to death. "Oh, and by the way if you tell anyone about this, you're dead." He lifted up his hand, gripping Sam's tightly. "Bitch." Sam smiled behind the mask, and though Dean didn't hear what he said, he knew exactly what Sam had replied with.
"Jerk."
