A Whiter Shade of Pale Ch. 10
Disclaimer: See first chapter
Author's Note: To avoid confusion between stories, this story is the one where Sam is 13 years old and was stabbed outside their motel room by a man who was drunk.
Previously: Nodding his head in satisfaction as Dean left the room to get them something to eat, John walked back over to his youngest son's bedside and sat down to watch over Sammy to hopefully keep away the nightmares that he knew would soon assail his child's mind over the attack.
The thought had no sooner left his mind when John could see the lines of tension increasing in his young son's face as Sam began to whine softly in his sleep. "Shhh, everything's okay Tiger. Daddy's right here and nothing is going to hurt you," he cooed as he palmed Sam's cheek with one hand while using the other to card his fingers through Sam's chestnut colored hair.
Smiling as Sam soon settled under the comforting touch, John was grateful that he still had the touch where his baby boy was concerned. He and Sammy had started fighting lately, and he sighed with the knowledge that those fights would probably happen more and more often as Sam progressed through the angst-filled rebellious teenaged years.
Leaning back in his chair as Sam settled into a peaceful sleep once again, he turned his head towards the door upon hearing the sound of someone approaching and hoped it was Dean. He was so damned hungry right now he could eat a horse.
Returning a few moments later with a couple of Styrofoam takeout trays from the cafeteria in his hand, Dean's automatic response upon walking into the room was to glance over at Sammy to check on him before walking over to his father and handing him a tray filled with baked chicken and rice pilaf, butternut squash, and a slice of pecan pie for dessert.
"He wake up while I was gone?" Dean questioned with a nod of his head toward his younger sibling as he pulled over the small portable table in Sam's room between him and his dad so they could place their plates on it.
"Dean, you weren't gone but maybe fifteen minutes," John heaved with a sigh, keeping the knowledge of the earlier moment to himself. He knew Dean would have been upset with himself for not being there and his eldest already had enough stress on his overburdened shoulders. "You know the medication they have him on makes him sleep for a while."
"I know Dad. I just don't want him to wake up and think I wasn't there for him again," Dean voiced, still blaming himself for Sammy being hurt.
"Dean, Son, how can I get it through your thick skull that it wasn't your fault Sammy was hurt. It was a freak accident," John iterated strongly as he reached out to place a hand on his eldest son's shoulder.
"Da-Dad's right, ya know" Sammy voiced with a yawn as he raised his hands and fisted the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine for not listening to Dad when he told me to stay inside."
"No Kiddo, don't go blaming yourself," Dean retorted immediately as he pushed his own dinner plate away and stood up to walk over to his sibling's bed. "You were just trying to protect our old man."
"Well, I'll make you a deal. If you stop blaming yourself for what happened, then I'll do the same," Sammy offered with a tentative smile.
John couldn't help but smile at hearing his young son's offer. Sam instinctively, though unintentionally, knew just how to play his big brother whether Dean knew it or not. And this time, he had Dean over a barrel, as the saying goes.
"Deal," Dean voiced as he reached out to smooth away the bangs that were beginning to fall in front of Sammy's expressive blue-green eyes, "but only if you eat the rice and butternut squash those idiots in the cafeteria put on my plate." Of course, Dean gave off an exaggerated shiver as he mentioned the dreaded vegetable.
"Dean!" John chastised, with an incredulous look on his face, knowing that Sam's own meal would be brought to the room soon and it would contain its' own vegetables.
"What? Sammy likes vegetables, don't ya Kiddo?" Dean voiced innocently as he did his best to hide the grin that was trying to sneak out.
~~Supernatural~~
Later that evening found Sammy being returned back to his room after the doctor had performed another battery of tests to see if the drainage process was indeed working.
"Well Doc? What's the verdict?" John queried as he watched Sam being gently transferred from the small portable gurney and back onto his hospital bed.
"I'm happy to report that the procedure is working better than I had hoped. The x-ray showed there is not as much pus and internal inflammation in the abdominal area as there was earlier this morning," Dr. Brad Spencer informed the family with a smile upon his face.
"Does that mean Sammy can get out of here soon?" Dean questioned as he placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze upon hearing the good news.
"Well, I think I can say with utmost certainty that given another forty-eight hours or so, your brother should finally be able to leave the hospital," Brad stated much to the delight of the three Winchesters, while also adding a slight warning. "As long as he rests and doesn't try to do anything too strenuous."
"Don't you worry Doc, I'll make sure Sammy here is well taken care of and behaves himself," Dean informed the doctor as he clapped a hand on Sam's shoulder.
"And you can believe me Doc when I say that he takes that job very seriously," John intoned with a hint of a smile. If there was one thing he had done right, it was fostered a bond between his two boys that could never be broken.
"Yeah, I can see that," Brad responded with a smile of his own. It didn't take a genius to see how much the older sibling truly cared for his younger brother since it was very clearly written in the expression on his face.
"Okay, if there are no more questions, then I will leave the three of you alone to enjoy your dinners," Dr. Spencer stated as Sam's meal was finally delivered by a candy striper.
"We're good Doc. Thanks," John intoned as he reached out his hand to give the doctor's a firm shake. He couldn't thank the man enough for saving his son's life.
"Okay then, I'll be back tomorrow to check on Sam and see if we can't get that stomach tube removed along with the Foley catheter he's had in since surgery. I'm sure Sam here would love to get rid of that little piece of medical equipment," Dr. Spencer stated.
"You've got that right," Sam replied, his cheeks tingeing a deep shade of crimson.
"I thought so. Well, you take it easy and I'll be back to check on you tomorrow morning when I make my rounds," Brad informed his young patient. "Oh, and I want to hear from the nurse that you've eaten everything on meal tray. You've got to eat to rebuild your strength if you plan on getting out of here in a couple of days."
"Yes Sir," Sam voiced meekly knowing that the doctor was lightly reprimanding him for having left the collard greens on his lunch plate. But to be honest, he didn't like collard greens, even if they did contain a lot of iron in them which would be good for his hemoglobin count.
~~Supernatural~~
"So Dad, what are we going to do to find the bastard who hurt Sammy once we get him out of here?" Dean questioned his father approximately an hour or so later after Sammy had faded off to sleep for the night. He was more than ready to get revenge on the man who had hurt his Sammy.
"I've been thinking about that Dean. Once we get back to the motel, I want you to stay with your brother while I go out and do a little unauthorized snooping, maybe find that cretin and deal out some swift justi…" John started to say before he was cut off abruptly by an upset Dean.
"But Dad, I want, no, I NEED to be there so when the time comes I can hand out some punishment of my own." Dean stated with intended ire. "I need to show that moron what happens when dimwitted idiots like him mess with my little brother."
"I know you want to be there Dean, but somebody is going to have to stay with Sammy and you know Sammy would want it to be you," John retorted as he placed a calming hand on his eldest son's shoulder. "Besides, you have no idea what the man looks like. Not only that, but I don't want you poking around on the seedier side of town, especially after what happened to Sammy. I can't deal with another child being hurt."
"Please Dad, I need to be a part of this. I need to make things up to Sammy for not being there for him," Dean pleaded, trying to make his father understand.
Meanwhile, on the seedier side of town:
"Listen mister, I think you've had a little too much to drink. Why don't I call you a cab so you can go home and sleep it off, huh buddy?" Floyd, the bartender stated as he scrubbed down the bar with a hand towel. The man in front of him had been coming in for the past couple of nights and drinking till the bar closed, but tonight, he was hitting the heavy stuff instead of just beer.
"N-No, I'm le-leavin," the drunken man of approximately twenty-five years old stated as he placed his whiskey glass on the bar and then stumbled towards the door. No matter how much he drunk, he just couldn't seem to get that little kid that he had stabbed out of his mind.
Stumbling out the back door and bracing his hand along the wall of the building as he stumbled down the back alley way, he suddenly found himself face to face with a man who seemed to appear from out of nowhere. "Wh-what'dya want?" he slurred drunkenly as he gazed up at the blond headed man of approximately six foot tall who stood in his way.
"You," the stranger answered with a sinister smile.
TBC So who is this man and what is he up to?