Bobby had decided that it was past time to get back to the junk yard and help Ellen figure out what was really going on with Hendrickson, leaving Sam and Dee alone at the house in the woods. Dee had spent the whole time staring out the window while pretending to eat her breakfast and Sam knew exactly what his little girl wanted. A few days ago she had snuck out of the house after seeing a couple of deer by the treeline, by the time Bobby had caught up with her she had gone further into the woods than any of them thought a small child would be brave enough to go. It had taken the rest of the day to calm Sam down enough to let her out of his sight long enough for her to go to the bathroom. Since then she hadn't been outside and it was starting to show.
Putting the dishes in the sink, Sam turned to Dee. "Hey Babygirl, how about we go outside for awhile? Maybe we can find those puppies you said you saw the other day during your little adventure."
It didn't take long for Dee to run into their bedroom, grab her sandals and beat him to the door. "Ready Daddy!" she exclaimed while jumping up and down.
Laughing, Sam wondered how many times her other daddy had done the same thing for her, or was he so involved with work or school that he found time slipping by too fast. Shaking the thoughts away, he smiled at her and let her lead the way to where she had gone the other day. It took awhile since she insisted on showing her daddy every flower and bird they came across, but finally Sam started to hear the whimpering of small puppies.
"See Daddy, see!" Dee said as she pointed to the small fur balls.
Sam saw alright, and the look of happiness on Dee's face almost shadowed the fact that those weren't pups from a stray dog. "Come on baby, we need to go, their mommy will back soon and she won't be happy."
The whole trip back to the house had been with Dee being carried by a practically running Sam and little Dee asking the same question, "Can we keep 'em Daddy? Can we?"
After putting Dee down for an early nap, Sam called Bobby for some help. After explaining the situation he had to hold the phone away from his ear. "She found what! Damn it Sam, she's reminding me of you more and more every damn day. Leave it to a Winchester to find a den of Were pups! I think you all have a freakin' compass that draws you to the…"
Sam had stopped listening to Bobby, because he was pretty sure what was coming next…
"…and of course you went into those woods unarmed didn't you? Good thing that mother didn't show up…"
Smiling, Sam thought about the smile Dee gave him and he had to wonder how such a little girl could be so bold as to not just find the pups but play with them too. Oh, he had no doubt that she had; finding them would have been Dean, playing with them would have been him, and trying to correlate the two was starting to get amusing. Sensing that Bobby was starting to wind down, Sam tuned back in and was relieved to hear that Bobby would come by and take care of the 'problem'. It wasn't that he couldn't take care of the pack; it was he wanted to still be able to look his little girl in the eyes when she asked where they went. It might have been the coward's way out, but at the moment he didn't care, he had less than two weeks with Dee and he didn't want to waste a moment of it.
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It had taken a while, but Bobby had finally found the den and took care of the pups. He wondered about the mother, but then again, from what he saw she had been gone for several days which wasn't a good sign for the pups she left behind. Walking up to the house Bobby wasn't sure how he was going to look at that little girl, but then again it wasn't the first time he ever lied to a little Winchester, but he hoped to God it would be the last. Opening the door, Bobby wasn't exactly sure what he was seeing or smelling, but from the look on Dee's face it was something that she liked.
"Look Uncle Bobby, Daddy made play do!" Dee said as she took a small ball from the table and put it in her mouth.
Shocked, Bobby stared in horror at the sight of the tiny girl eating Play-Do! "Oh my God! Dee don't… I mean… ugh… Sam, don't just stand there… DO SOMETHING!"
Dee started to giggle while Sam snickered, "Don't worry Bobby, its edible play do. I found the recipe online and we decided to try, right baby?" They watched as Dee looked at Bobby with wide eyes while nodding her head enthusiastically.
Not sure exactly what to think about it, Bobby decided to leave the whole subject alone, and instead accepted the beer that Sam offered him. Looking at the bottle, Bobby had to laugh, he had bought what he thought would be enough for both boys to wait out the end of the deal. Now though it looked like he was going to have to drink Dean's portion otherwise there would be a lot left over. Chancing a glance, he could tell that Sam had barely made a dent in it which wasn't surprising since he had taken his role as daddy seriously from day one.
"Hey Sam, you think I can pry you away from your hidden culinary talents for a moment?" he asked, hoping that they could talk about what he found while Dee was preoccupied with eating her clay.
After filling Sam in on what he found out they both agreed not to mention it in front of Dee, and if she did they'd find some way of dealing with it; neither wanted a heartbroken three year old on their hands. Knowing that Ellen would be by later in the afternoon, Bobby decided to make a break for it before a certain little girl got wise to what was going on. As the door closed, Sam was sure he heard Bobby mumble something about 'tiny Winchesters… smarter than they need to be.'
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Something pulled him out of a wonderful dream, he was with Jess and Dee at the beach watching the surf come in. It was a nice feeling, and he hadn't wanted to leave, but something had tugged him back and it took him a moment to remember where he was. Remembering the house in the woods with Dee by his side he was content to go back to sleep, until he realized what was wrong; Dee was burning up.
"Dee, baby, come on sweetheart, you have to wake up for Daddy." Sam said, scrambling off the bed and scooping her into his arms. He knew it was normal for children to come down with colds at the drop of a hat, but he also knew that you should be able to wake one up too.
Making a snap judgment, he grabbed his phone and called Bobby to let him know what was going on before securing Dee into her seat and rushing to the hospital. The doctors and nurses allowed him to stay with her but it didn't help his worry, in fact it increased with each vial of blood they took, and each concerned look that passed across the doctor's faces. It was a couple of hours before a middle aged doctor who looked like he had passed up trying to keep in shape a long time ago came into the room and looked kindly at Sam.
"I'm Dr. Rivers and I've been assigned to Dee's case. It looks like your little girl has contracted a nasty bacterial infection, and it's going to take some intensive IV therapy on our part as well as some stubbornness on hers to pull her out of it."
Sam sat stunned; did he hear what he thought he heard? Could his little girl die right there in front of him without him being able to do anything?
"I'm not going to lie to you, this strain is tenacious but we have the medicines here so we won't have to fly her anywhere for more advanced treatments. We may have to put her on a respirator, but that is only if we think that the infection is weakening her to the point that she needs help to breathe; she's not there yet, so that's something to be thankful for." Dr. Rivers said while watching the young man before him. He hated having to break this type of news to a parent of a small child; it made his job so much harder. "Do you have any questions?"
Shaking his head, Sam could only watch Dee's little chest rise and fall, caught up in the idea that if he didn't then it would surely stop.
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Bobby and Ellen had quickly become a fixture at the hospital, both trying to get Sam to take a break; even though they both knew that it was a futile effort. As soon as word got out about little Dee in the hospital, several people insisted on making sure that Sam had anything he needed while his little girl was there.
Twyla made sure to bring him meals and a thermos of hot coffee every day; while Mike made sure that everyone knew that the agent who had been snooping around was still out there and trying to get in the hospital.
Hendrickson had heard about David O'Halloran's little girl being hospitalized and wanted to see for himself that this little girl wasn't the one he saw with Sam Winchester. However, the doctors had insisted that unless he had a warrant or proof that he was a family member, he wasn't getting in. Making a phone call to his partner in Washington, he filled him in on the situation. What he heard didn't help, and that made him even angrier at the Winchester's.
"Victor, look, they're about to pull you back in. There have been some sightings of the Winchester brothers, and they're nowhere close to South Dakota. I'm giving you a heads up, if you don't come in soon, they're going to send someone after you; and it won't be pretty."
Finding out that one of the leads was in Florida while the other in Georgia made him want to hit something, but he also knew that if he didn't play by the rules for now he'd be pulled off this case and never allowed to get close to it again. "Josh, think you could run a background check on this David O'Halloran guy? I just want to make sure of what I've been chasing before I let the paper pushers get their way." After getting assurances that he'd get a call soon, he hung up and continued his wandering through the halls close to the PICU in case he could get a chance meeting with Sam Winchester, or better yet, his brother Dean.
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It had been four day since Sam had rushed Dee to the emergency room, four days since he found out that his little girl would be fighting for life, and four days since he had stopped living. Bobby wasn't able to bully him into eating or sleeping, but Ellen had been able to coax a cup of coffee or a little bit of a soda into him. The nurses were talking about getting a doctor to intervene, but after seeing the protective stances of both the Aunt and Uncle, decided to give it a little more time.
Sam was exhausted, but he wouldn't let himself give into the temptation of sleep. If he slept, she could slip away without him knowing, and that was unacceptable; he refused to lose anyone else. He carefully monitored everything the nurses did, and what Dr. Rivers said so he could analyze what it all really meant. Finally he understood, Dee was no better, but no worse and they were at a sort of a plateau until the tide turned one way or another. Meanwhile, his time with her was slipping away and he couldn't help but feel cheated.
Leaning back in the chair he was oddly thankful that Bobby and Ellen had both badgered him to at least taking a shower and changing his clothes. He had made sure that he was in down the hall in the family shower for no more than fifteen minutes, and only with the agreement that they both stayed with Dee while he was gone. Now that he was clean and shaven again, he felt some of the fog lift from his mind as well. He allowed his mind to drift over a couple of scenarios of what would happen if they were still in the hospital once the deal was completed, and none of them were reassuring. After all, how do you explain your full grown brother in the bed of what would be your missing baby's bed? Yeah, that could get a little complicated.
Movement grabbed his attention, and he was standing next to Dee within a moment. "Dee, sweetheart, wake up for Daddy baby." He said softly while stroking her head, he saw her move; he knew he had, but now she was still again and it broke his heart. Taking a step back, he was about to concede that it was his wishful thinking that had him excited when her tiny hand moved, as if looking for her daddy.
"That's right Babygirl, come back to Daddy." He said as he pushed the call button to summon the nurses. "Come on sweetheart, you can do it."
When the door opened, the on duty nurse walked in and witnessed Sam's excited stance. "She's waking up!" he said happily then watched as she smiled and rushed back out to bring Dr. Rivers in to see her.
AN: Hope you liked it, I have a sick little one myself right now, so this one was for my little guy. :)