So hey guys sorry it took so long to update, but as I have told my beta and Faye Dartmouth, I pulled a Sammy… -Looks down ashamed, and holds up hand…- I broke my right hand at a cemetery, almost the same exact way that Sammy did, well there was no dead girl chasing me, but my brother works just fine… I loved both of their reactions to my situation though:

Faye Dartmouth- You're slowly turning into Sammy…

whimseyrhodes- You broke your hand?? At a CEMETARY??!?? What (or who) were you digging up?? heheh

Now I realize that this may be short, but as Sam found out, and what I'm finding out, is that it's kinda hard to type with one hand…

Thanks to all that reviewed, and I hope you enjoy this chapter…

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One Week Later:

Dean signed the papers that would release him from the hospital, and ignoring the wheelchair and the pointed look from Katie and Dr. Scarlet, he walked out the door and toward the ICU where Sammy still was. He had been going up to see his brother once a day since waking up for the first time in the hospital, and the visits hadn't been nearly long enough for Dean.

Sam had been getting better for a while, but infection had set in two days before, and the doctors hadn't been able to get his fever to break. He had talked to Dr. Sinclair the day before, and though the doctor had told him that while Sam's fever wasn't high enough to do any major damage yet, it had been slowly but steadily rising.

To make matters worse, Sam's doctor had also told Dean that if Sam's temp continued on it's trend, it could get high enough to send him into convulsions, seizures, a prospect that Dean hoped never happened.

As he walked, Dean drew his broken wrist to his chest, almost as if to protect the limb, and his heart from being hurt more than it already had been. The severity of Sam's injuries, and the fact that he had been injured on Dean's watch in the first place was enough to make Dean feel ashamed, for Dean to feel the sharp pain in his heart for his baby brother.

Sammy hadn't deserved anything bad that had happened to him, and yet everything, Supernatural or not seemed to go after him, as if he had done something bad to ask for it.

To say that Dean was getting sick of it was an understatement.

And dammit to hell, if Sammy pulled through this, Dean was going to try harder than he ever had before to protect his little brother. It wasn't just the fact that he didn't want anything to happen to Sam, it was the need that had been instilled in him since he had been little, the need to protect his Sammy.

Dean turned the corner only to stop in front of the doors that so clearly read, 'Intensive Care Unit,' a place he had grown familiar with in the last week. He pressed the button that would let him through the doors, and waited for the automatic doors to open, all the while thinking of his little brother who had, in all his visits, lain so still it had scared Dean.

As Dean passed the nurses station, he bid hello to Cherry, and all the other nurses he had grown to know from his daily visits to the floor. Without stopping for a response from any of the women, Dean walked to his brother's room, glad for the fact that he was alone, not wanting either Caleb or Bobby to see the emotions that he knew were so clear on his face.

Both Caleb and Bobby had visited him religiously every day, bringing him news of Ellen, Jo, Ash and the hunting community in general. In turn the men asked how Sam was doing, if he had been to see him that day, or just how Dean was doing himself. They were both very supportive, and Dean didn't know how he would deal without them.

Taking a deep breath, Dean turned the final corner, and walked into Sam's room, taking in the still form of his brother. It was a scene that he had seen many times in the past week, every detail the same, except for the fine sheen of sweat that lined his brother's pale features.

Sighing, Dean walked over to Sammy, and took his lax hand in his own, and sat down heavily, all the time checking over Sam's vitals. His fever was up to104.1 and Dean knew that if it got any higher, Sam was going to be in serious trouble; not that he was out of the woods with his other injuries yet; it was just going to make everything worse than it already was.

'Little brother just has to have all the attention…'

Dean heard the door to Sam's room open, and looked up to see Cherry standing there with Dr. Sinclair just behind her. The solemn look on Dr. Sinclair's face made the hair on Dean's neck stand on end, making him wonder just what the good doctor had to tell him about Sam.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked bluntly, not caring what tone he used, or exactly what he sounded like, just wanting to know what was going on with his baby brother.

"Well your brother has developed Sepsis, a kind of blood infection, from the wound in his abdomen. Now we've already started treatment with a round of antibiotics, and it may take a while to kick in, but we are doing the best we can to help your brother through this. Right now though, it's mainly up to him to fight this." Dr. Sinclair's voice held sincerity and regret, and Dean looked down at Sam, to see his face scrunched in pain even though he was asleep.

"What are his chances at beating this thing doc?" Dean asked, only sparing the older man a glance before turning his gaze back to his brother.

"I'm not going to lie to you Dean. Sepsis, or Septicemia as it's more commonly called, is the number one killer of patients on ICU wards. Sam's body was already weak, and fighting to live even before Sepsis came a problem, and that may be a big deciding factor on whether or not Sam beats this thing.

"I believe that Sam is a fighter though, and him fighting this thing is key in his survival. Sam just needs to keep battling the Sepsis back, and although it looks bleak now, he could pull through this. If he were awake, I would tell Sam to use something called imaging. It's a technique where the patient imagines that they are fighting off whatever disease they have-" Sinclair was cut from his explanation with a short burst of laughter from Dean.

"Imagines that they are fighting the disease?" Dean asked incredulously.

"You laugh now, but I have seen this technique work miracles for cases likes your brother's. Sometimes it's the deciding factor in the balance of life and death." Dr. Sinclair said soberly.

"I'm sorry, it just doesn't sound like something that would do much good." Dean told him apologetically.

"Yes well, for your brother's case, it won't help him anyway; we just have to hope that the antibiotics work, and that Sam will continue to fight."

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A/n: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you thought it was slow, or that it didn't have enough angst, well cut me some slack, as whimseyrhodes said, I'm only working with one wing…

Now with that said, take care and review often…

OSS