Flick of the Switch Ch. 10
Disclaimer: I don't own the Winchesters and I am making no profit from this story.
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Previously: "Son of a bitch, it's an earthquake" Joshua shouted as he and the other hunters had trouble standing from the jarring motions going on in the room. To make matters even worse, Dean observed in what seemed to be slow motion as part of the ceiling gave way and a large piece of plaster started falling towards Sammy's bed.
'Sammy" Dean yelled in terror as he flung himself toward his baby brother's bed. He had just managed to cover Sammy with his own body before the plaster made contact. He grunted in pain as the breath was knocked from him and he lost consciousness as the ceiling plaster connected with his head and his back.
"Oh God! Dean, Sammy" John yelled as he stumbled haphazardly to his boys while almost being thrown to his knees twice by the rolling floor as the slight ground tremors continued to assault the building. He could feel the bile and nausea building up in him as he feared for their lives. Both his boys were covered in ceiling plaster and dust with only their legs showing beneath the fallen debris. He began to physically tremble as he wondered whether or not they were still alive under all that mess. He fell to his knees and vomited as the thought of his boys being dead overwhelmed his senses. It only took him a minute to pull himself together and wipe the vomit from his mouth with his shirt sleeve as he struggled over to his boys. No freaking way would he allow them to die on him, not now, not ever.
Just as John approached the right side of the bed, Joshua and Bobby appeared at the left side. John had tears in his eyes as he pleadingly said "Help me get this shit off of them." As John reached down and grabbed the plaster, he noticed Caleb doing the same standing right beside him. He waited for Joshua and Bobby to nod before they lifted the heaviest piece off together making sure they had a firm hold so it wouldn't crash back down on the boys. As they cleared the smaller pieces away, Donovan came running into the room to check on the condition of his patient. Luckily the emergency lights were still on so he wasn't hampered by darkness.
"Holy crap" Donovan gasped as he saw the plaster being lifted off of John's sons. He couldn't imagine the horrors that John must have felt watching his only children being hit by the falling debris. He quickly jogged over to the side of the bed and felt for the carotid pulse on both boys as the debris was cleared away to establish if they were both breathing. He looked up at John with baited breath and said "They're both alive." He then quickly started delivering orders and the room became a beehive of activity with hunters moving about.
"Bobby, I need you to go out in the hallway and get me a gurney for Dean. Caleb, you'll find a neck brace over there" he motioned to a set of cabinets with his head. "It will be in the middle door on the third shelf. I don't want to chance moving Dean without having it on due to possible neck or spinal injuries. Joshua I need you to go to the supply closet out in the hallway and grab me a backboard, it will be the safest way to move Dean until we can get an x-ray on his back and spinal column. John, reach up into that cabinet beside your head and grab me two of the IV bags located on the top shelf." Each hunter quickly moved to do their assigned task not knowing just how badly the boys were injured while Donovan started assessing the boys as best he could with the way they were situated, he knew he had to get Dean's weight off of Sam, but he couldn't chance doing it without the backboard.
Donovan was thankful that Sam was still on the oxygen respirator because the face mask kept the plaster dust from entering his sinus cavity or his mouth. That could have caused a major complication since he was just recovering from breathing problems associated with the hypothermia. And the fact that he had been in a deep sleep meant his eyes had been protected from the dust particles also. Now, he could only pray that Dean hadn't inhaled or aspirated any of the dust particles from the fallen plaster into his lungs as he protected his baby brother the only way he knew how.
As he waited for Joshua to return with the backboard, Donovan reached over and grabbed a pair of scissors to cut the shirt off of Dean's back. He took a swift intake of breath as he saw the colorful bruises that already encompassed most of Dean's back. The kid was going to be in a hell of a lot of pain when he woke up, that is if his spinal cord wasn't affected. Donovan knew he could very well have some internal swelling that could press on Dean's spine causing some paralysis, but he would cross that bridge later if and when they came to it. Donovan carefully palpitated the areas with the more severe bruising to check for the possibility of internal bleeding. After Donovan finished with Dean's back, he then checked Dean's head for and contusions or injuries. He noticed an area where the hair was slightly discolored and ran his hand over the area to find it swollen and gashed open. He wasn't too worried about the bleeding since most head wounds bled profusely, but the swelling could be a problem. He would have to check for concussion and signs of brain injury. He wasn't going to let either of John's boys die on his watch.
John watched as Donovan thoroughly checked his boys as best he could under the circumstances. He was thankful that Donovan was the one taking care of his boys since he trusted this man with his life. He knew Donovan was one hell of a medic when they served together in the Marines and he trusted his judgment implicitly. He knew exactly what Donovan was doing as the man explained every thing he was doing as he assessed the boys so John wouldn't have to question him later. As he listened in to what the doctor was saying, John's heart dropped to his feet as Donovan mentioned the possibility of spinal swelling and paralysis. Dean would never be able to handle it if he were paralyzed for the rest of his life and Sam would never be able to live with the guilt thinking it was his fault. He just had to trust in God that he would never allow that to happen to Dean.
As Joshua returned with the backboard, Donovan placed the brace on Dean's neck to keep it still as he instructed the men as to what they needed to do. "Okay, we need to make sure we turn Dean gently while keeping his spine and his neck aligned. Any abrupt movement could cause permanent paralysis if he has a spinal injury. On the count of three, I need you to help me slowly roll him onto the backboard. John you take his head while I take the torso and Bobby and Joshua take the legs. Caleb, I need you to keep the backboard from shifting or moving. Okay, on the count of three. One. Two. Three." The three men rolled Dean supporting his head and body at all times until he was firmly and safely placed on the backboard. Donovan quickly strapped him down as he and John then lifted Dean and placed him on the gurney that Bobby had brought in earlier.
After Caleb helped with the transfer process, he started checking the walls and the support beams of the clinic to make sure it was structurally sound enough for them to remain there. He had some background in structural engineering and construction so he knew he would be able to spot the little signs that would allude to a posible collapse. If there was any danger of the building collapsing, they would have to get the hell out of there and soon. As he surveyed the building, he noted just how well constructed it was. Supports and braces had been put in place for natural disasters such as tornadoes. Those supports had probably kept the building from collapsing during the quake. Knowing that they were all safe enough for now, he returned to Sammy's room to see how things were going.
Now that Donovan had full view of Sam, Donovan could see the blood trailing down his hairline and dripping onto the dust covered sheet below. "Damn it" he mumbled under his breath as he brushed Sam's hair back so he could check the area. He checked Sam's pupils to check for dilation and noticed that one of them was sluggish to react to light leading him to believe that a piece of the plaster must have hit hard enough to give Sam a slight concussion which wasn't good on top of the other health problems he already had. Donovan quickly cleaned the cut and then applied a pressure bandage to stop the bleeding. Placing his stethoscope to his ears, he listened to Sam's lungs. Finding no real problems there, he checked his blood pressure and pulse to make sure that neither was too high for his liking. The last things he did before returning his attention to Dean were to check Sam's shoulder wound, casted leg and the catheter to make sure it had not been accidentally displaced by the falling debris.
Suddenly the lights began to blink and Donovan prayed they would hold out long enough for him to take the x-rays he would need to know just how bad the injury was to Dean's back. Knowing that he couldn't waste any more precious seconds, he dragged the portable x-ray machine over and snapped a few quick pictures. He waited the few moments it took for them to develop completely then hung them on the lighted cubicle against the wall. He breathed another sigh of relief as Dean's spine looked to be in contact with no protruding bones or discs. Now they would just have to wait for him to wake up to see if he could move his arms and legs.
"How does it look?" John asked in a shaky voice once Donovan had observed the x-rays" He was afraid to hear what the answer might be, but whatever it was, he would accept the outcome.
"Things look good from here John, no broken bones or protruding discs and his spinal alignment seems to be good. We just have to wait until he wakes up to see if there is any swelling pushing on the spinal cord" Donovan informed his old friend. They didn't have long to wait as they could hear a groaning sound coming from Dean's bed.
"Gnuuuhhh" Dean grunted out as he slowly became conscious. He felt like he had been hit by a fast moving train as his head throbbed and waves of pain rolled through his back. "What 'appened?" he groaned as he saw his dad's face appear to the side of him. His blinked his eyes a few times to clear his vision as tears of pain gathered in his eyes and rolled down his cheek.
"You were hit by some falling plaster from the ceiling when you threw yourself over Sammy to protect him" John informed Dean concerned when his son couldn't remember what happened.
"Oh yeah, the q-quake" Dean said as things started coming back to him. "Sammy?" he questioned with a trembling voice as his eyes looked over to see his baby brother lying so still on his bed.
"He's fine Dean, you kept him from being hurt worse. He has a head wound from some of the plaster hitting him and a possible slight concussion, but other than that, he wasn't hurt any worse by the falling debris."
"Kay S'good" Dean mumbled as he started to close his eyes once again.
"No Dean, you gotta stay awake son" John said as Donovan walked over to join them.
"What? Why?" Dean whined just wanting to slip back into the soft cocoon of sleep to get away from the pain.
"I need you to do a few things for me first" Donovan said in answer to Dean's question. "I need you to wiggle your fingers and toes for me Dean. Can you do that?"
"Yeah, if you'll give me some freaking pain killers and let me get some rest" Dean grumbled. John and Donovan watched intensely, each showing broad smiles as Dean was able to move his fingers and his toes.
"That's wonderful Dean. I'll give you something for the pain and then you can get some rest" Donovan said as he withdrew a vial of morphine from the cabinet. He quickly injected some of the liquid into Dean's arm and watched as the tight lines of pain dissolved from Dean's face.
"S' much better" Dean mumbled as the morphine kicked in and his eyes drifted shut. Damn, he was tired.
John ran a shaky hand through his hair as he glanced at the others with fear clearly etched on his face. He knew without a doubt that Ahriman would soon show himself and they were woefully unprepared at this point to take the demon on. His fears soon came true as he felt the temperature in the room drop. "What the hell do we do now?"
SNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN
Ahriman stood outside the clinic grounds reveling in the feeling and panic he could fear going on inside the building. It was so strong that he could almost taste it and what a feeling it left him with. He took a few moments to soak in the joy of knowing that he had the hunters right where he wanted them. Ready to make his stand, Ahriman strode confidently towards the clinic with an evil gleam in his eyes. His dreams were about to be realized as he would soon complete his mission.
Entering the clinic, he arrogantly traipsed down towards the room where he knew the hunters were located. He rejoiced as the lights started to flicker within the building. The hunters would soon know he was coming. As he approached the room, he could sense the hunters on the other side of the door and threw out a psychic blast of energy knocking them back before walking into the room.
As he entered, he quickly scanned the room to see two of the hunters struggling to get up from the floor as the eldest Winchester stood between him and his children. Staring down the frazzled hunter, he mockingly said "Let the pain games begin."
TBC