A Father Lost, A Father Gained Ch. 10
Warning: Cursing as usual--they are hunter's after all.
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Previously: Seeing the body that was covered with a sheet, Joshua ran a hand over his jaw as Caleb chewed on his lip. Nodding for the morgue employee to remove the sheet, both hunters sighed in relief, "It's not him." Caleb gasped with a deep breath, thankful that they wouldn't have to inform two young boys that their daddy was dead.
Even though their hearts were elated to find out that the body lying on the slab wasn't their John, they felt bad for the man who had died with nobody there for him, and for the family that would someday find out their loved one had passed all alone. "We've got to find John before something like this can happen to him." Joshua told Caleb as he glanced one more time at the John Doe lying on the table. He wished he had the time to find his family so the man could be put to rest, but Dean and Sammy came first. He was going to make sure they wouldn't have to suffer the loss of their father at such a young age too.
"We will Josh, we've got some leads and surely one of them will come through for us in the end." Caleb stated a little more convincingly than he felt. He knew the odds of finding John alive after having been missing for close to two weeks now was stacked against them. But he also knew that John had two of the best reasons on earth to fight for his life…Dean and little Sammy. He couldn't help but feel wistful wishing that John hadn't taken on the hunt alone. At least somebody would have known what happened and could have gotten word back to Bobby or one of them.
"Caleb, what are you thinking about?" Joshua questioned noticing how quiet his fellow hunter had become. 'I can hear the wheels spinning in your mind."
"Nothing really. I just wish that stubborn fool Winchester would have called for help with the hunt he was working on. It's not fair to put Dean and Sammy through the trauma of not knowing where he is. Don't get me wrong, I know Sammy is really too young to understand, but he knows his daddy isn't there. And Dean, the kid knows what is out there in the dark. I hate to even think about what it could be doing to his psyche with John missing.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. An incident like this could have far reaching consequences on the boy, not just now, but in the future too." Joshua voiced solemnly.
"You're right, the longer it takes us to find John, the worse it will be on those two little boys so what the hell are we doing standing here and talking. Let's get a move on it man. We've got a stubborn assed Winchester to find." Caleb said as he lengthened his strides, ready to get to his truck and get on the road again.
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As John sat watching the four boring walls of his hospital room, he tried to make his mind focus on those two young boys once again. But no matter how hard he tried to picture their images in his mind, nothing would come. "Damn it!" He cursed vehemently in frustration as his hands pounded on the mattress of his hospital bed.
"John, are you okay?" Nurse Janice questioned as she carried in the tray with his evening meal on it. Dr. Nathan Pierce had just okayed it with the dietician in the kitchen for John to try some solid foods and she thought he would be excited about getting some actual food in his stomach instead of just broth and jello.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just frustrated." John informed the nurse as he watched her pull over the portable table and adjust it so that it would be in the perfect position for him to eat.
"John, I know you want to get out of here and find out who you really area and what your name actually is, but you can't push yourself too hard. It could cause a relapse and we definitely don't want that to happen." Janice stated as she fluffed the pillows and placed them behind John's back to give him a little more support.
"It's not just that Janice. I mean sure, I would like to know who I am and where I belong, but I can't stand not knowing who those two little boys are and what they mean to me in those flashes of memory I keep having. What if they're my kids? What if they're out there somewhere alone and waiting for me to come home?" John queried as he fisted his hair in both hands with total frustration.
"Calm down and listen to me John. I know you feel completely helpless right now, especially where your memories are concerned. But maybe you're pushing yourself too hard. Have you thought about that? I think you need to mellow out some and give your mind a chance to relax. Your memories will come back to you when you least expect it ya know." Janice soothed as she placed her hand on the hunter's chest in support.
"Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe I am trying to force things too much and it's causing my mind to shut down on me." John replied unabashedly. "After I finish eating, I'll try to get some sleep and see if that'll help."
"Good, I'm glad to hear it." Janice said with a smile as she lifted the lid of John's food tray. "I want you to at least eat the broiled chicken breast and the mashed potatoes." She said with a stern warning before leaving the room.
"Yes ma'am" John replied with a grin at the nurse's warning before picking up his fork to stab a small piece of the chicken, hoping that his stomach would be able to handle it so he could get out of the hospital soon.
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"Sammy what's wrong?" Dean questioned anxiously as he saw his baby brother's face turning red. He could see the terror in his baby brother's eyes and it was scaring the hell out of him as he sat there in shock.
"Shit." Bobby gasped as he realized Sammy was choking on his sandwich. He quickly reached over and grabbed the five year old and quickly flipped him over his outstretched legs. Giving Sammy five hard back slaps to his upper back using the heel of his hand, he then flipped him back over and did a mouth sweep with his fingers. "Damn it" He cursed once again knowing the food had not been dislodged.
Bracing Sammy between his legs with the kid's back to his chest, he did five quick abdominal thrusts, better known as the Heimlich maneuver. Turning the youngest Winchester towards him once again, he checked inside his mouth and was able to see the obstruction. He did a finger sweep of his mouth and was finally able to remove the piece of sandwich that had caused Sammy to choke. "You're gonna be okay kiddo." Bobby stated shakily coming down from the adrenaline kick as he tilted Sammy's head to the side in case he started vomiting. The last thing he needed was to aspirate some of that into his lungs after what had just happened.
Dean was drawn out of his momentary shock when the sudden sound of loud wailing reverberated throughout the room once Sammy was able to finally drawn in a deep breath. Looking towards Bobby, he saw Sammy trembling and sobbing uncontrollably as he clutched to the older hunters shirt after the horrific scare. Getting to his feet swiftly, Dean walked over and started rubbing his baby brother's back. "Shh, it's okay Sammy." He soothed as he tried to calm his baby brother.
Lifting his head from Bobby's chest, Sammy turned his head to the side and cried "Deanie." As he held his arms out toward him, needing the comfort of his protector.
Dean looked at Bobby a little warily before reaching out to take Sammy. He wasn't sure how Bobby would feel about Sammy wanting him instead. He breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Bobby nod his assent. Pulling Sammy into his arms, Dean held him tight as he whispered comforting words to him. Walking into the living room, he sat down in the rocking chair that his dad had always used to rock Sammy to sleep in when he was just a baby. "Shhh, don't cry Sammy, I've got you now." He said as he cradled Sammy to his chest and rocked him back and forth.
Following the boy into the room, Bobby took a few calming breaths as he watched Dean comforting his younger sibling. He knew he needed to check the little guy out, make sure that his throat wasn't bleeding inside and that he was breathing okay, but he needed to get himself together first. The episode had scared the crap out of him and he wondered how John had managed to keep his sanity throughout the years of dealing with such scares. Finally feeling a little more steady, he walked over to where the boys were and kneeled down beside the rocking chair.
"Dean, I need to check Sammy over, make sure he's okay." Bobby stated in a low voice so as not to startle the boys. "We need to take him upstairs where he can lay down on the bed so I look into his throat." He made sure to use the word we so that Dean would feel included in taking care of Sammy.
"Okay Uncle Bobby." Dean replied as he carded his fingers through Sammy's curly chesnut hair. Sammy's sobs had reduced to whimpers now and he knew Sammy would soon fall asleep. If Bobby checked Sammy out now, he wouldn't have to wake him up later to do it. He allowed Bobby to take Sammy and carry him up the stairs to their bedroom. Once Bobby placed Sammy on the bed farthest from the door, he climbed up beside him and talked to him while Bobby left the room to get the things he needed to check Sammy out.
Returning to the room a few minutes later, Bobby carried a small medical kit and a flashlight in his hands. Pulling up a chair beside the bed, Bobby knew that he needed to explain to the boys what he was going to do so they wouldn't be anymore scared than what they already were. "Okay boys, the first thing I'm going to do is look inside Sammy's throat with this flashlight here to make sure it's okay inside." Focusing his attention on Sammy entirely, he said, "Okay tiger, when I tell you to, I want you to open your mouth and I am going to use this popsicle stick here to keep that tongue of yours from licking me while I shine the flashlight to see in there."
Sammy laughed a little through his sniffles at hearing Bobby's words. He watched Bobby turn on the small flashlight and then looked up at Dean when Bobby told him to open his mouth wide.
"It's okay Sammy, you need to do what Uncle Bobby says." Dean told his brother with a smile. "He needs to make sure everything is fine inside so we can go to the park tomorrow." The words immediately got Sammy's attention and he opened his mouth as wide as he could. Feeling the popsicle stick hit his tongue, he gagged a little and was happy when Bobby moved it away rather quickly.
Once Sammy opened his mouth, Bobby placed the tongue depressor to hold his tongue down out of the way and winced as the little guy gagged. Taking a quick look, he could see that Sammy's throat was irritated, but definitely not bleeding. Quickly removing the tongue depressor, he said, "You did great squirt." As he ruffled the little boy's hair.
"Does that mean we get to go to da park tomorrow?" Sammy questioned with hopeful eyes as he chewed on his bottom lip.
"It sure does tiger, so you need to get plenty of rest." Bobby replied without the usual tickling he would have done. He didn't want to put any extra stress on Sammy's throat after the terrifying scare they had just had.
"Kay Uncle Bobby" Sammy said with a yawn as he rolled over onto his side. He felt Dean climb into the bed and lay down beside him and snuggled into his chest as Dean threw an arm over him. "Love you Deanie." He whispered just before fading off to sleep.
TBC