With a Chance of Severe Weather
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Jim and John looked up as Mac walked into room 316. Jim had informed John of Caleb's condition, but the younger man held out hope that Jim had been mistaken on the severity of the teen's condition. However, the devastated look on Mac's face told the true story of just how grave a state Caleb was in. John had never seen such a look on his friends face, the younger man stood as the Scholar came closer. "God, Mac." John whispered as he pulled his friend into a hug, feeling the tremors that passed through the older man.

Mac nodded at his friend as John pulled back, then the Doctor walked over to look at Dean and Sammy, both boys sleeping. Clearing his throat he barely whispered, "How are they doing?"

John looked at Jim, then back at Mac. "Dean has a mild concussion that they want to monitor, but they said he should be able to sleep it off. They are saying that Sammy has a type of Post-Traumatic shock, but physically he is okay." John watched as Mac gently ran his hand through Dean's hair, then turning to do the same with Sammy, who turned slightly into the older man's touch.

A few moments of silence followed, until Jim spoke. "Did you get a hold of Cullen?"

Mac turned, coming over to set in the chair John had vacated. "He'll be here in a couple of hours."

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Half an hour later found Mac outside the ICU doors, waiting for Dr. McGuire to come out and allow him access to his son. It was another twenty minutes before the doctor appeared. "Dr. Ames, everything is set-up and your son is doing as well as can be expected." Dr. McGuire motioned for Mac to follow him, "Caleb's vitals are stable, we are closely monitoring his intracranial pressure, any sign that it is increasing and we will consider having to place a drain in, but until the Neurologist confirms the test results all options must remain open." The doctor stopped outside the glass enclosed room that contained Caleb, "If you have any questions or concerns please call one of the nurses."

Before Mac entered the room he looked at Dr. McGuire, "My father, Caleb's grandfather will be arriving in the next couple hours, would it be possible for him to be allowed back when he arrives?"

Mac turned his attention to the still form of his son through the glass doorway, as the doctor answered. "I'll let the nurse know that he may be allowed to come back, he may not be able to remain all the time, but when he does arrive, we will send him back."

Mac didn't acknowledge the doctor's reply as he feet, slowly carried him through the sliding door, to his son's side. It had been a little over an hour since he had last seen his son, but it had felt like forever. "Caleb," the devastated father whispered as he gently laid his hand on the top of his son's head, the boy's near jet-black hair slipping through his fingers. Mac's other hand took the teen's hand; he then leaned over and kissed his son's forehead. Glancing behind him he noticed a chair a short distance away, stepping back to pull it closer. Once the chair was next to the bed the father sat down, again taking his son's hand.

A short time later Mac laid his head on the edge of his son's bed, next to the boys arm, then closed his eyes as the images of the last several hours played through his head. All the worry, panic and fear wearing on his already raw emotions. "Mackland?" It was the worried but calm voice of his father that brought Mac's attention from his dark thoughts. The younger man looked up to see Cullen Ames standing at the entrance to the cubicle that held Caleb.

Mac went to stand, his father's hand and voice stopping him, "No, Son, don't get up," the older man stepped closer to the bed that held his only grandson. "Oh Caleb." The Grandfather whispered. "How is he doing?"

Rubbing his hand over his tired eyes the Doctor looked at his father, "About the same, I'm still waiting for the Neurologist to come in and discuss the test results."

Cullen eyed his son, "Have you seen the results?"

The younger man nodded, "I saw the scan's as they were taken, once I saw…" Mac's voice cracked, "Once I saw the area of bleeding I had to leave the room. I couldn't look at that scan knowing that was my son's brain I was looking at." Cullen walked over and placed a hand on his son's shoulder.

Both men turned as a doctor walked into the room. "Dr. Ames?" the newcomer asked.

Mac stood, "Yes, this is my father, Caleb's grandfather, Cullen Ames. What are the results of Caleb's scan?"

"Yes, well, I'm Dr. Mathers, the Neurologist." the doctor reached a hand out, shaking both men's hand as he continued, "I've gone over Caleb's scan and as of right now I don't see a need to operate to place a drain. I'm hopeful that the hematoma will correct itself and the pressure will start to go down soon. However, you know there is a chance that the pressure could start to increase, which could cause surgery to be an option."

"What are the chances, with as long as he's been unconscious, of there being permanent damage?" The Doctor in Mac didn't want to think of those statistics, but he also knew how wrong statistics could be from the time he was in a coma, he had only been given a five-percent chance of survival.

Dr. Mathers looked at the two men before him, "As a doctor yourself, you know statistics can be proven wrong and to be totally honest we don't know what, is any, damage there may be from this type of injury until your son wakes up. Unfortunately there is also the possibility that he may not wake up." the doctor watched Mac pale at that comment, though in the back of his mind Mac knew that was a possibility, it wasn't one that he wanted to hear in regards to his son.

Cullen placed a reassuring hand on Mac's arm, "Son, that's the same thing they told me about you, but you did wake up and made a full recover. We have to believe that Caleb will be fine and will wake up soon." Mac sat heavily back into the chair next to his son's bed and for a moment wondered how his own father had handled those months, just watching him endure that coma. It wasn't something Mac felt he had the strength to do, watch his son go through that, if it came to that.

Pushing the thought from his mind he listened as Dr. Mathers continued. "We will watch Caleb closely for any signs of increased pressure and will respond accordingly. However, as bad as this may seem, understand that since your son's arrival, the pressure has not increased, that in of itself is a good sign." the doctor looked between the two men, "I'll come back later to check on Caleb, we have another scan scheduled for first thing in the morning to check on his progress." With that the specialist shook each man's

hand again, then left the room.

Once the doctor had gone Cullen pulled up another chair that one of the nurses had brought in, sitting on the other side of his grandson, taking the teen's hand, mirroring the boys father, "You work your way back to us young man, do you hear me? Ames men don't give up, I didn't allow your father to and I'm not about to let you. We love you too much for that." Mac listened to his father's words as they were directed to Caleb, tears again filling his eyes, thankful his dad was there to help give him strength he didn't know he would have otherwise.

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It was nearly midnight when Jim exited room 316 in search for coffee, at John's request. The Pastor had tried to get the weary father to rest, but John was scared and Jim knew it. The younger man was scared for his children, even though they had been reassured by the doctor that both boys were expected to make a full recovery John still felt they may slip away from him in the night.

Jim decided to see if could find something better than what passed for coffee in the vending machine, he wasn't sure if the cafeteria would be open this late, but was also feeling the need to stretch his legs and he wanted to find the small chapel that he had passed as some point downstairs on the first floor. He had been sending up silent prayers, but something about being in a chapel would help bring some peace to the older man's soul after all that had happened.

He spent about twenty minutes in the softly lit room, praying for the boys. Knowing Dean and Sammy were on the mend, but adding an extra prayer for Caleb, Mac and Cullen. It had been a few hours since he had gone up to the ICU to check on the teen, Mac had remained by his son's side as Cullen filled the Pastor in on the teen's condition, which had stayed the same for the last few hours. Once concluding his prayers Jim exited the chapel, walking a few steps down the hall when he heard a familiar voice near the emergency room, the only doors open at this time of night.

"Dean and Sammy Winchester and Caleb Reaves, I was told they were brought here, they were flown in from New Haven earlier today." As Jim rounded the corner as he heard the nurse respond to the newcomer.

"Sir are you a relation to the boys? It states her that their father's are here already." Before the nurse could get a reply Jim spoke up, nearing the counter.

"Robert? How? When did you get here?" Jim came to a stop next to Bobby Singer.

"Pastor, is he related to the boys in question?" The nurse looked at Jim after seeing the note in the computer that a Pastor Jim Murphy was also listed as someone who could access information about the boys.

Turning to the young woman, "Yes, I'm sorry; Robert is the boys' uncle. If it's okay I'll take him upstairs with me." Bobby had been around the unique family dynamic that existed within the Triad enough to understand his reference by Jim as being the boys' uncle. He had played 'Uncle Bobby' on a number of occasions when the situation warranted.

With a nod from the nurse, Jim took Bobby by the arm and led him toward the elevators. "Robert, when did you get here? I haven't had a chance to call anyone."

Bobby looked at how exhausted Jim appeared only imagining how John and Mac looked. "I showed up at your place a couple hours ago with Missouri. We heard about the tornado and tired to call you, Missouri called me telling me she had felt something, almost like the time when you and Mac first found Caleb, it was like he was sending out a signal for help, is how she described it, so when we couldn't get a hold of you I went by her place and picked her up then we headed here." Both men stepped into the elevator as Jim hit the third floor button, "but I'm here now, Missouri stayed at your place, wanted to start getting it cleaned up. Jim how are the boys? A couple of firefighters we ran into helping clear the road to your place said the boys had to be airlifted up here."

The ding of the elevator sounded as the doors slide open, each man stepping out. Jim lead Bobby to a seating area, then motioned for him to sit down. "Damn it Jim, just tell me, you making me sit has got me more worried than I already was." Bobby's brash tone was a mask for the fear the mechanic was feeling. He would never admit it but those boys meant a lot to him, all three of them. Hell he had watched Dean and Sammy growing up before his eyes since meeting the quiet five year old and his baby brother nearly five years ago. And even though, when he first met Caleb, the twelve year old had a mouth that could even stun Bobby into silence, he had watched as the scared kid had started to grow into a fine young man and under John's training, a natural hunter.

Jim's hesitance wasn't lost on the other man as he watched the Pastor rub a hand over his tired face, "Well, it's both good news and bad news."