Disclaimer: Sadly nothing has changed. I own nothing that you recognize below. But hey if you don't recognize them then they're totally mine.

Author's notes: Some swearing, more hospital stuff. Thanks to my betas who are doing a wonderful job keeping me in check.

Thanks for the great reviews. They have been awesome. I should be catching up over the weekend. Sorry on the delay.

It will be at least a week before I get anything else done meaning about two weeks until the next post at most. I'm a little stuck on the next chapter but it'll be up as soon as I can do it.

Some swearing ahead. Read on and let me know what you're thinking.

Renovations

Chapter 10

By infinite shadow

Caleb dropped into a chair next to John's bed.

"Sammy asleep?" John asked.

"Yeah. Didn't take long," Caleb said with a tired sigh. "Poor kid's exhausted."

"Yeah," John said then gave the other hunter a strange look. "You sure he was sleeping?"

Caleb nodded. "Deep breathing, relaxed face and didn't even flinch when I touched his hand and said goodbye."

John nodded, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

"John I'm sorry," Caleb blurted out suddenly. He knew it wasn't necessary for the man to hear him apologize but deep down he felt like he hadn't done enough.

John gave him a hard look. "For what?"

"I didn't mean to blow up or blurt out Dean's condition like that. Scared the crap out of Sammy, hell I think I scared myself," he said so softly that John had to strain to hear him.

"Forget it. You had no idea he was there. Kid's so silent sometimes even I don't know when he's lurking," John said with a wry smile.

Caleb gave him a small smile.

"I think we both know you have a hair trigger when it comes to the boys," John said. "It's not the first time I've seen you butt heads when you get protective of them."

Caleb sighed softly and looked away. "Yeah."

"Thought we discussed that," John said. "My boys don't need protecting. They can stand on their own."

The younger hunter snorted loudly. "Oh sure they can."

"What the hell does that mean," John demanded.

"Dean's sixteen and beaten to hell by a couple of teenaged punks who had nothing better to do that night and Sammy has a concussion because of that stupid thing you had to do," Caleb shot back. "Did you even throw Sammy a party last week?"

"We were busy," John said. "He understood."

"For fuck sakes John they're not soldiers," Caleb growled.

"Oh and you'd do much better raising them would you? Christ kid you have the same drive I do. Thought we understood that," John lobbied back.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Sure we do but they're just kids. They deserve things like birthdays and safe places to stay."

"Fine. You want Sammy to have a party go ahead and throw it. I haven't got the cash for it. Hell I'll be surprised if I'm still here tomorrow after they run that insurance card," John said his voice cracking softly.

"Fine. I will," Caleb said almost petulantly ignoring John's comment about the insurance.

"Fine," John shot back then closed his eyes and sighed heavily. God Caleb was like his own son the last thing he wanted to do with this headache was fight with him.

"When you guys are released Dad's expecting you all to come back to the house," Caleb said softly.

John was quiet for a minute before opening his eyes. "I don't think Dean will be in any condition to be in a car for a half day to get to Jim's."

Caleb nodded. "I know that but you know Dad. He's already figured out the cleanest motels to stay in between here and there."

John snorted softly. "I bet he has. We're not going. You two interfere far too much in their lives."

"Really? Cause John if I hadn't just shown up I seriously doubt you'd still have two sons. They just about killed him that night," Caleb said.

John looked away trying to fight back the anger rising dangerously in him. God he needed to see Dean.

"I'm not going to stop interfering. No attitude or anger or fights will keep me away. Me or Dad. You three are family," Caleb said with a slight shrug. "No matter how disfunctional we are."

John took a calming breath then cleared his throat. "How was Dean doing?" He asked bringing up the conversation that was interrupted earlier.

Caleb looked away and shook his head slightly. "I'd rather you speak to the doctor."

"Caleb just tell me what you left out," John said softly.

"I didn't," the young man said.

"You left out something," John said.

"I don't know," Caleb said. "I just… There was just so much stuff in there John. He's hooked up to so many things. And I mean the whole nine yards. God it's like Dean's there but nobody's home."

"Caleb," John said.

Caleb ran his hand through his hair and stood up moving over to the window. "Dean is never this still. If he's not doing something he's hands are fiddling with something. It's just…"

"Scary, weird, wrong," John finished for him.

"Yeah but there was something else," Caleb looked out the window.

"Like what?" John asked.

Caleb shook his head slightly, crossed his arms over his chest and sighed heavily.

"Don't think I won't get out of this bed and beat it out of you boy," John said gruffly.

"I have no doubts about that old man," Caleb lobbed back at him with a grin then he let it fall away. "It almost felt like I was being watched while I talked to Dean. But that makes no sense."

"Not everything we do makes sense and you know it. People's spirits can walk in all kinds of forms while living or dead," John said softly then sighed and closed his eyes.

Silence filled the area each man lost in his own thoughts for a few moments. Caleb stared out the window without seeing and John saw the last two hunts play out without opening his eyes.

"Jim's with him?" John asked as he opened his eyes wishing he was the one sitting with his son.

"Yeah. Dad will stay with him until they toss him," he said.

"Then he's not alone," John said.

"John you know that if it was up to us Dad or I would be up there all the time. Ramsey won't allow it. In fact he wants me to get some sleep. Gave me a list of motels," Caleb said then turned back to face the older hunter. "But I'm staying."

John took a good look at him and really saw him for the first time. He hadn't noticed the blackish bags under his eyes or how his shoulders slumped forward slightly or how red his eyes were getting. He looked pretty punchy at the moment. If he'd put his head down he'd be asleep in seconds.

"Go. Get some rest," John said. "Take Jim with you. You'll need all your wits about you to keep Sammy in his bed tomorrow."

Caleb nodded. "Yeah but I can sleep in his room. Bed's open and I'll be there if he needs anything."

John snorted. "They won't let you stay. Just get a motel room and be back in as soon as visiting hours start."

Caleb sighed again. "Fine. Fine. But if he decides to tour the building while we're gone don't blame us."

"Somehow I think he's staying put tonight," John said.

"Oh right. Orders and all that," Caleb said sarcastically.

"Sammy knows when to stay put. He listens to me," John said. "Now get going."

Caleb shook his head.

"Hey don't make me toss your sorry ass out of here," John said sternly.

"Whatever," Caleb said then took a deep breath then started to walk away.

0000000000000

The alarm seemed to get louder by the second and Dean backed up to the wall. He felt weird like he was falling and he bent at the waist slightly as his chest suddenly began to cramp up like he'd just run three miles without breathing.

Jim's eyes moved between Dean's still form and the machinery.

"What happened!" a nurse demanded as she rushed into the room and started checking Dean's vitals.

"I don't know. The machine just went off suddenly. What's wrong with him?" Jim asked fearfully.

"I'm sorry. You'll have to leave now," the nurse said firmly.

"What's wrong with him?" Jim asked again.

"He's having some difficulties. You'll have to leave now," she said briskly.

"Of course," Jim said. As he stood up he leaned closer to Dean. "I'll be back soon my boy. You hold on and get better."

Jim stepped away from the bed as another nurse rushed into the room.

"I've paged Dr. Ramsey," Mabel said.

"Good," the other nurse said as she checked readings and took Dean's pulse.

Jim moved back against the wall reluctant to leave the teen in such distress and he watched the nurse's work on Dean for a few moments.

Ramsey rushed into the room. "What happened?"

"His temperature is up to 103.4. His heart rate is erratic," Mabel reported.

Ramsey glanced at the urine bag and then the readouts from the different machines. "Turn that off. And you have to leave," he snapped at both the nurses and Pastor Jim.

Jim hesitated for only a second then slowly left the room.

Mabel shut off the alarm.

"Ok. Ok. I want a full blood screen, blood gasses, and another culture. Get the cooling blanket back in here," he said then glanced through another page of test results from just an hour previous. "Switch back to the cool saline."

Ramsey sighed one more time as he checked through the reports one more time. "Increase the saline intake by 20 ml every hour. If that doesn't work then we'll have to begin dialysis," he said looking at the teen.

"Fight harder kid," Ramsey said softly.

Dean looked from the doctor to his body lying in the bed. The cramping eased and he straightened up. He felt torn between chasing after Jim and finding his brother. Normally it was a no brainer. He'd run off to find Sammy without a second thought.

But this time he didn't know what to do. It wasn't like he was a spirit, he was still breathing, being kept alive by machines. So was this an astral projection, was it a dream, was he sick with a high fever and none of this was real? Problem was he really wasn't sure if he was really here or still back in that wreck of a house.

If this was a dream, fevered or otherwise, he could go wherever he wanted to and it wouldn't matter. But if this was real did he have to stay near his body? What if by just leaving this room he wouldn't be able to get back into his body? Would he die and turn into a ghost then? He didn't want to become something their family hunted.

Full of indecision he moved back to the window sill and hopped up on it to sit down. After all Sammy had Caleb, Jim and Dad to look after him. Maybe he could just take the night off for once. But the decision left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Sorry kiddo. You're on your own for now," he said softly as he watched his chest move up and down with the respirator. "But when I wake up you are so not leaving my sight."

0000000000000

Sammy had lain down like Caleb had told him to and closed his eyes. Relaxing he let himself fall far enough to make it seem like he was sleeping but not out completely. Giving him the rest he needed for later.

After a while he heard Caleb say goodbye and heard his quiet footfalls as he left the room. He laid there for a while longer for good measure. Caleb knew him well enough to think he might continue to find Dean.

A while later Sammy was fighting off sleep and if he did wait any longer he'd lose the battle and fall asleep. He forced his eyes open and looked around the room to confirm he was completely alone.

Not wanting to wait for the nurse to come in and replace his IV he slowly got up and made his way to the door. He paused momentarily hearing his father's order repeat in his head. He was about to disobey a direct order and bit his lip in slight indecision.

He needed to see his brother and prove to himself that his big brother was not dying. Dean took a lot of hits and just kept getting up. It was seriously hard to believe that he was dying and he refused to believe it.

Decision made he peeked out of his room and found the nurses station empty. Knowing it was now or never he took a step out of the room then made his way out to the main hallway as fast as he could.

He headed down the hallway that he'd seen Jim go down earlier that day. Just as he was about to turn the corner loud alarms began to go off and for a second he though he'd been caught. Loud voices accompanied the alarm and he heard the voices moving away from him.

Carefully he glanced around the corner and saw that there was another nurse's desk a few steps away. There were bright happy colours here and a few pictures but the rooms here were very different. The rooms had glass walls with curtains behind them for privacy. The sign on the wall said PICU. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Swallowing heavily Sammy moved into the ward and shuffled forward slowly until he could look in the first room. There was no patient in there, just a bed and some machines pushed against the walls.

He moved to the next room and saw a little girl, her blonde hair spilling over her white pillow. Her mother was sitting next to her holding her hand, stroking her hair and talking softly. The woman had tears falling down her face.

Sammy frowned and kept moving. He looked through the third door and saw his brother. He stepped just into the room and swallowed hard.

"Dean?" He whispered with large eyes.

"Sammy!" Dean said with a big smile. "Dude where have you been? Don't you care about what was happening to me?"

A doctor rushed past the room and Sammy hurried over to the far side of Dean's bed.

Dean hopped off the window ledge and moved closer to his little brother.

Sammy's eyes tracked the various lines and tubes that led from machines to his brother. Shaking his head his lower lip trembled as tears fell down his cheeks. "What did they do to you?" He whispered.

"Don't be like that little man. It'll be ok. I'll be up and harassing you before you know it," Dean said with a grin.

The thirteen year old shakily touched Dean's hand and gently traced the IV tubing on the back of his brother's hand. "I know most of this stuff. Does it hurt? I remember having some of this stuff from before but I never had something stuffed down my throat and nose before," he said softly and sniffed.

"Trust me dude you never want it either. Oh and there's this nurse who I swear is evil," Dean said. "Bring Dad and do an exorcism or something."

"Dean?" Sam whispered then his lower lip trembled slightly.

The heart monitor beeped and the respirator hissed in response.

Sammy took a shaky breath. "Daddy's mad at me."

"Daddy?" Dean repeated and frowned slightly.

Sammy glanced up as a nurse rushed past the room and another tear tracked down his cheek. He pushed himself closer to the bed, closer to his brother.

"The bandage, tears, shaking and Daddy. Got yourself a concussion didn't you little man?" He asked softly.

"I don't know what to do. I screwed up. I need you to wake up and tell me what to do. Please wake up Dean. Please," Sammy begged softly.

"C'mon Sammy. This isn't your first concussion. You know that this will get better," he said then chewed his lower lip slightly. "I just wish you could hear me."

"I don't want to be alone," Sammy whispered.

Dean watched fresh tears track down his brother's cheeks. "Don't sweat it Sammy. You'll stay with me tonight, ok?"

"Do you... Can I...," Sammy's voice broke and he let out a quiet sob. He leaned down and touched his forehead to Dean's arm.

"S'all right little man," Dean said softly as he walked up close enough to touch him.

"I hurt all over. Dean I need you to wake up," he said his voice muffled.

"I would if I could Sammy. Just give me some time," Dean said and reached out to touch Sammy shoulder only for his hand to drift right through. "Shit."

A shiver ran through Sammy and he straightened up. He studied the equipment and tubing surrounding his brother. Most of it was on the other side of the bed. On this side there was a boxy thing on his finger, an IV feed and two pads stuck to his chest. He tried but couldn't remember what the things were called. Any other time he could have pointed to each machine, named them, explained how they worked and what made them tick but right now that information was locked away in the fog.

He sniffed softly and looked at his brother's face. More tears fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he said.

"For what? You haven't done anything," Dean said.

"Daddy's right I think. I'm not strong enough without you," Sammy said softly. "I'm trying Dean but it's just too hard. Nothing makes any sense and everything keeps going wrong."

"Sammy just relax. You just need to get some sleep, ok? Once you let your head heal from the concussion a little that fogginess will go away," Dean reassured softly as if Sammy could hear him.

Sammy sniffed again as he glanced towards the door. He pulled his arm out of his sling and scrunched his face up in pain.

"Hey you have a sling for a reason. You should leave your arm in there," Dean admonished.

Slowly Sammy pulled himself up onto the bed and carefully avoided the wire that came off of Dean's finger and his IV. He rested his head on his brother's chest and then glanced up.

"Don't give me a hard time about this," he whispered.

"About this? No way. I wouldn't rag on you for this," Dean said.

Sammy curled closer and for the first time since he woke up in his hospital room he felt safe.

"Go to sleep now little man," Dean whispered. "I'll be here."

Sam sighed softly as he closed his eyes.

Twenty minutes later Dr. Selkirk was making his rounds and walked into Dean's room. Frowning at what he saw he opened the file and checked the notes.

"Ah you must be the youngest Winchester," he said with a small smile then went back to the nurse's station. "Hey Kathy I could use some assistance in Dean's room."

Selkirk returned to Dean's room and walked up to see the current readings on the patient. Then looked at Sammy. He reached over and put his fingers on Sammy's wrist to take his pulse.

Dean glared at the doctor and crossed his arms across his chest. "Careful Doc."

Satisfied Selkirk checked Dean's pulse and then went back to the readouts. "Well I'll be," he murmured.

"What do you need?" Kathy asked and then saw Sammy. "Oh."

"I'll need a blanket for him and his file," he said as he looked at Sam's ID bracelet. "Sammy Winchester. There are some marks on the back of his wrist and some flecks of dried blood. It looks like he may have pulled his IV out."

"He's from a few wards over. I'll get his file and see what's up with him," Kathy said then left the room.

Dr. Selkirk took the blanket and gently draped it over the younger boy.

"Dean?" Sammy mumbled.

"Go to sleep little one," Selkirk said softly.

Sammy sighed heavily, tightened his grip on Dean slightly and went back to sleep.

Selkirk let the boys be and checked on another patient until Kathy had Sam's record. Leaning up against the nurse's station he scanned the file.

"So is he staying?" Kathy asked.

"Yeah I think it might be for the best tonight. There's a note here from Dr. Ramsey that he tends to wander. But being that this is his big brother I think he actually might stay put now. He needs his saline solution replaced and give him .05ml of morphine or he'll be in a lot of pain when he wakes up."

"But doctor Dean needs rest. Sammy could inadvertently pull on a wire, or pull out his IV line," she objected.

"Look I know this is unusual but Dean's blood pressure has levelled out, his temperature has lowered and his urine output has increased all since he was brought in and most of the improvement has happened since the last update in the file just after his blood pressure dropped dangerously low. Whatever triggered that response earlier seems to have diminished. I'm thinking that it might have something to do with his little brother," Selkirk said.

"How can he possibly know his little brother is here?" Kathy asked.

Selkirk raised his eyebrows. "Well we always encourage visitors to talk to sedated patients right? Helps keep them calm to a point. It's reassuring."

"But it's not been proven. I kinda think we do that more for the visitors than the actual patient," Kathy replied.

"In some cases yes that's true. While we don't know for sure if patients can hear their family and friend talk to them I'd like to believe that the patient can hear them. Look Dean's had two other people visit, close friends according to Ramsey. And now his little brother is here. Sometimes that kind of support helps. If these two are close, and I suspect they are, then my guess is that he knows. Kind of like older brother radar."

"I don't know," she said doubtfully. It's not that she objected to the younger brother visiting but he could hurt Dean while he slept and the sixteen year old was fighting so hard to begin with. He didn't need to be hurt further than he already was.

"Maybe one day I'll introduce you to my sister. Growing up I was closer to her than my brother or parents. She knew I was going to do something before I did sometimes," he said.

Kathy gave him a disbelieving look but dropped her protest. She had a brother and while they weren't that close she knew without a doubt that if she needed him he'd be there in a second. He would be the one she'd want near her in times of trouble.

"You know she can stay. She's kinda hot," Dean said as he watched her leave the room.

Dr. Selkirk waited for Kathy to leave to get the IV solution and needle then looked around the room. "I'll bet you're lurking somewhere Dean. As long as Sammy doesn't hurt you, pull out something, he can stay until morning," he said.

Dean looked at the man surprised. "Can you hear me?" He asked.

"Did you say something doctor?" Kathy asked as she came back into the room.

"Nope," he said. "Lets get this done so these two can rest."

Kathy cleaned the back of Sammy's hand with a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol.

Sammy stirred and whimpered.

"Shhh," Kathy said. "Easy little one."

Dr. Selkirk took Sammy's hand and found a vein. He was about to insert the needle when Sammy jerked.

"No!" He said and tried to tuck his hand under him. "Don't want it."

Dr. Selkirk smiled gently at him. "It's to help you Sammy."

"Let them do it Sammy," Dean said.

Sammy lifted his head off of his brother's chest and looked around the room. "Dean?" He whispered.

"He's asleep," Kathy said.

"I know you hate needles but one pinch and its over," Dean said.

"It hurts," Sammy said still half awake.

"What hurts?" Dr. Selkirk said. "Sammy what hurts?"

"The needle. My shoulder," he whispered. "Dean wake up."

"Dean needs to sleep," Kathy said.

"I'm right here Sammy," Dean said over Kathy. "The pain will go away. I promise."

"But," Sammy protested.

"Hey I'm right here," Dean said. "Put your head back down and give the doctor your hand. Just close your eyes and go back to sleep."

Sammy relaxed, put his head back on Dean's chest and held out his hand. Closing his eyes he felt the pinch in the back of his hand and felt a warm rush as the saline solution began to enter his system.

"All right take his pulse and temperature when you come in to check on Dean. Page me if there are any changes," he instructed. "But for now let's go check on Melinda."

"The little girl who coded earlier?" Kathy asked.

"Yeah," Dr. Selkirk said. "I'm afraid she's not going to make it through the night."

Dean watched them leave, hopped back up on the window ledge and leaned against the wall. He wanted to wake up and talk to his father but that could wait. He yawned and fought against the exhaustion that was creeping over him. He needed to wake up, wrap his arm around his little brother and make him feel safe.

"But I'd be happy if you could hear me right now," Dean said softly speaking the last of his thoughts. "I'm going to keep watch ok? Then when Jim and Caleb come back in the morning you can stay safe with them."

Maybe then he could let himself rest.