Disclaimer: Supernatural and all its characters belong to Kripke and the CW.
I have very little medical knowledge. Please excuse any mistakes in treatments or medical terminology.
Previously on Supernatural-"What did she write?"
Lloyd glanced around once more before whispering "John W."
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"Then she must know someone else named John W 'cause Mr. Winchester didn't do it." Keaton stated. "He was with me all morning and we weren't anywhere near that house."
"Not all morning. You said that you separated for a while at ten o'clock. He could have gone to the house then." Lloyd suggested.
"Not a chance, sir. Mr. Winchester's thoughts and actions were centered on one thing and one thing only: finding Sammy." Keaton argued. "Besides, he didn't have any reason to murder Mrs. Brooks or Amy."
"Maybe" Lloyd consented. "We'll see when the autopsy and crime scene reports come in."
"They'll prove Mr. Winchester innocent." Keaton assured the other officers.
"I hope so for the children's sake." Lloyd said. "Come on Hardy. We need to get back to the station. I have a feeling we'll be swamped with calls about this one."
Keaton stood and watched Lloyd and Hardy get into their car and drive away before turning to head back inside. He had just reached the emergency room doors when he heard his name being called. Spinning around he saw Officer Arbuckle and Maria quickly walking towards him.
"What was that all about?" Arbuckle asked as he got along side his friend.
"Just some routine questions" Keaton fibbed as he walked into the hospital.
"How's Sammy? Is he alright?" Maria questioned as she followed the officers.
"The doctors hadn't been out to talk to John yet when I left. Maybe he's heard something since then. They're right in here." Keaton explained pointing to the waiting room.
Hearing voices John and Dean looked up to see their friends walking into the waiting room. "Maria, what are you doing here?" John asked as he got up and made his way over.
"The lead investigator told me to take Maria home but she insisted on seeing how Sammy was doing first." Arbuckle told the group. "Wouldn't take no for an answer."
John motioned for the others to sit before plopping back down in the seat next to Dean. "We haven't heard anything yet. I was about to go. . ." John's answer trailed off as a doctor appeared at the door of the waiting room.
"Family of Samuel Winchester?" the doctor called out.
John was up and in front of the doctor in seconds. "I'm his father. How is he?" he asked anxiously.
"Why don't we sit down?" the doctor offered. Once everyone was seated he began. "Mr. Winchester, I'm Doctor Chaplin. When Samuel was brought into the ER,"
"Sammy" Dean corrected. "My brother's name is Sammy, not Samuel."
The dark haired doctor smiled. "Sorry about that, son. I tend to refer to patients by their formal names. Comes from years of teasing about my own name." He apologized. Seeing Dean's confused stare he continued. "My name is Charles Chaplin."
Hearing snickers from the adults Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I don't get it."
"Charles, as in Charlie Chaplin" the doctor said looking at the blank expression on Dean's face. "Never mind. That was before your time. Now if everyone's finished having a laugh at my expense, I'll fill you in on Sammy's condition. As I was saying he was brought into the ER suffering from shock which we believe stemmed from witnessing a traumatic event. That is being treated and he is responding well. He also has a dog bite on his right arm that is infected. We flushed out the wound, cleaned and bandaged it, and started him on antibiotics for the infection. Once we're sure the infection is completely gone we'll stitch it." Doctor Chaplin paused for a few seconds to let the information sink in. "I need some information about the dog before I do anything else. Do you know the dog that bit your son, Mr. Winchester?"
"No, I didn't even know he'd been bitten." John admitted. "His arm was fine last night before he ran away. He must have had a run in with a dog after he left."
"I was afraid of that. I didn't want to have to subject Sammy to a set of rabies shots but if we can't get any information on the dog. . ."
"Oh my God! Sampson!" Maria interrupted. Grabbing John's arm she repeated her claim, "It was Sampson! I'm sure of it!"
"Sampson?" John asked.
"It had to be. Mrs. Brooks told me that he came in last night with blood on his snout and a little on his collar. She thought he had killed a small animal. Mrs. Brooks had me call the gardener and tell him go in the backyard and get rid of whatever animal Sampson had gotten a hold of. But he didn't find any animal in the backyard. The only thing he found was a few small spots of blood on the playhouse door and on the floor inside the playhouse." Maria explained. "That must be where Sammy spent the night."
"Are you sure?" Doctor Chaplin questioned.
"Positive. No one uses the playhouse anymore and there's no way an animal could get inside." Maria told him. "Oh and there's one more thing. The gardener found an old stuffed animal by the couch. It's a black and brown dog with a missing right eye."
"That's Sammy's dog!" Dean shouted. "Uncle Josh got it for him years ago!"
The doctor scribbled something in the file he was holding before turning his attention back to Maria. "Are the dog's shots up to date?"
"Yes sir" Maria answered. "Taking care of Sampson is part of my job. I can bring you the shot record if you need it. All the papers are at the house in the filing cabinet." Remembering the scene at the Brooks home she frowned. "Wait. I forgot I can't get in the house right now. I take Sampson to the Avant Vet Clinic on Industrial Drive. They should have a copy of his shot record. I can call their office and have them fax a copy of his records if that's okay."
"That's fine, Maria." Doctor Chaplin assured her. "Mr. Winchester when was the last time Sammy had a tetanus shot?"
John thought for a few minutes. "He had the last tetanus booster when he was five. So about three years ago."
"Good. That's two less things to worry about. Now there's one last thing we need to discuss." Doctor Chaplin stated. "Sammy witnessed something no child should ever have to see. . ."
"That's the second time you've said he witnessed something. What exactly did he see?" John questioned.
"John, Mrs. Brooks and Amy were killed this afternoon. Sammy was upstairs. We think he saw everything." Keaton reported.
The doctor waited a few minutes for the news to sink in before continuing. "As I was saying Sammy saw something terrible and I'm worried about how it will affect him emotionally. I'd like to set up a meeting with a child therapist."
"You mean you want Sammy to see a shrink." John growled. "No way. Sammy doesn't need to talk to a shrink. He has his family."
"It's just a suggestion, Mr. Winchester." The doctor said.
"Can we see Sammy now?" Dean impatiently asked.
"Give us a few minutes to get Sammy settled in a room and then I'll send a nurse to take you to see him." Doctor Chaplin told him as he stood up. "I'll leave the therapist's number at the nurse's station in case you change your mind."
Watching the doctor walk away Keaton couldn't stop himself from calling out. "Hey, Charlie! Aren't you forgetting your cane?"
"Everyone's a comedian" Doctor Chaplin thought as he walked out of the waiting room the sound of laughing ringing in his ears.
"I don't get it. What's so funny?" Dean asked staring at the still laughing adults. When all that got him was more laughter he shook his head and walked to the other side of the room. "You guys are nuts." He muttered.
"Sir, the bodies are on the way to the morgue and the crime lab's almost finished collecting evidence." Hardy reported to Officer Lloyd.
"They find anything interesting?" Lloyd asked leaning back in his chair.
"Not much sir. There were no signs of forced entry and nothing appears to have been taken or even disturbed." Officer Hardy replied. "They did manage to lift two sets of prints from the gun and the poker."
"Good. The sooner we get this sorted out the better." Officer Lloyd stated. "I've already had calls from several counsel members and the mayor."
John and Dean sat on opposite sides of Sammy's bed watching the youngest Winchester sleep. They sat silently as nurses came and went and the hours flew by. Their patience was finally rewarded when Sammy started to stir about nine o'clock that night. John took a hold of his baby boy's hand careful not to disturb the IV and softly squeezed it. "Wake up Sammy! Come on you can do it!" John urged.
"Yeah, open those eyes little brother!" Dean encouraged. "I'm getting bored here by myself."
Sammy's eyes fluttered several times before opening halfway. Cloudy, confused eyes glanced from John to Dean before settling back on John. Sammy blinked up at his father and opened his mouth. "Dada?" Sammy whispered before sticking his thumb in his mouth sleep claiming him once more.
AN- For anyone counting the silent film stars, we have a few more. The paramedics in the last chapter were named for Myrna Loy and Joe or Joseph was Buster Keaton's real first name. And of course everyone, except Dean, knows who the doctor was named after.
