Chapter 10. Lying and Subterfuge
The Rose Creek Community Hospital wasn't unlike any other small hospital John had visited in the past. It hadn't taken him and Caleb long to find the place and they were now making their way into the building.
John saw the admissions desk as soon as they walked in and walked directly up to the desk, Caleb following behind. A young nurse was sitting behind the desk and looked to be reading a magazine. She looked up when the two men approached her and John caught himself thinking that if Dean were here he would have already began flirting.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" she asked in a sweet voice.
"Sure can sweetheart," Caleb answered putting on his best smile, making her blush slightly.
John rolled his eyes and then turned back to the young woman in front of him, "We're here to visit Bradley Kearns. We're friends. Could you please tell us what room he's in?"
"Um sure hold on a sec," she told them opening up the folder in front of her and proceeding to look through a list, "here he is. He's in room 35 on the 2nd floor."
"Thank you."
"Yeah thanks," Caleb echoed, winking at her before following John towards the elevator.
Once they were alone in the elevator John turned to look at Caleb.
"What?"
"Mind keeping your mind up here," John asked tapping his fingers against his head, "instead of down there?" he continued gesturing at his lower extremities.
"I am perfectly capable on keeping my mind on both," the younger hunter smirked.
"Yeah well right now we have a job to do."
"You are a killjoy you know that?"
John laughed quietly as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. He stepped out not having to look back to know that Caleb had followed.
"What room did she say again?"
"35," John answered.
Caleb and John walked down the corridor looking at the room numbers until they finally came to a stop in front of room 35. Through the doorway they could see a middle aged woman sitting by the bedside.
"That must be Mrs. Kearns," Caleb whispered to John.
"Great deduction Sherlock," John quipped.
"Funny … show time Uncle Johnny," Caleb said patting John on the shoulder before slipping past him and knocking on the door frame.
Mrs. Kearns looked up from her position at her son's side. She frowned when she saw who had interrupted the silence, obviously not recognizing the two men who were standing in the doorway.
"Mrs. Kearns, we spoke on the phone earlier," Caleb explained walking further into the room, "I'm Caleb and this is my uncle John," he continued pointing at John.
"Oh that's right you said you were a friend of Bradley's," she answered, putting down her son's hand to stand up and greet them.
"That's right. It's nice to meet you Ma'am," Caleb said reaching out and shaking the woman's hand.
"Ma'am," John greeted, also shaking her hand.
"Ma'am may I ask what happened?" Caleb asked, trying his best to sound like a concerned friend.
Mrs. Kearns looked back her prone son and then back up at Caleb, "I'm not really sure, he just collapsed and the doctors haven't been able to wake him up."
"How long has he been like this?"
"For about a week … it's all so sudden," she said with a slight wobble in her voice.
"I'm so sorry …" Caleb paused for a moment then continued, "So … the doctors haven't found anything wrong with him?"
"No … it's the strangest thing. Looking at him like this, it's almost like he's just asleep ya know?"
"Yeah …"
"You said you were a school friend of Bradley's in Texas. You don't really look young enough to be his age."
"Caleb is a couple of years older than your son Ma'am … he was … kept down a couple of years in school," John supplied, smirking at Caleb when he knew that the mother wasn't looking.
"Yes I was kept down … but it's only a couple of year's difference and we got on so well from the moment we met. It's really shocking to see him like this," Caleb explained, giving John a filthy look when she looked back down at her son.
"Well I'm sure he'd be happy to know that you're here. He doesn't seem to have many friends now," she told them sadly.
Caleb smiled, "Oh I can't imagine that … he was always such a nice guy."
"Sadly it's true," she said stroking her son's hair off his forehead, "I'm afraid he's changed a lot in the last few years. It's been strange … and now this …"
Caleb caught John's eye then looked back at Mrs. Kearns, "How do you mean he's changed?"
"Oh … well … you know he used to be the sweetest kid but then he just started to change … he wasn't the same anymore … it's hard to explain."
"Maybe it's just a teenage thing," John suggested.
"That's what I thought at first too … it was only little things at the start and I didn't think much of it … but …he gradually starting getting worse, he started getting nasty. He's friends had had enough, even our own family was starting to dread visiting us."
"How was he nasty?"
"Oh he was temperamental, never listened and what killed me the most was the look in his eyes … it was like my son wasn't even in there anymore."
Caleb raised his eyebrows and glanced at John again.
"I'm sorry I don't mean to dump all my problems on you boys," she said wiping at her eyes.
"That's okay Ma'am. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone about it," Caleb tried to soothe.
"Do you remember when he started to change?" John asked, handing her the tissue box he had seen on the table near the door.
Mrs. Kearns sighed and looked upwards as if thinking, "Umm … I think it was about 2 years ago … yes that's it coz he had just turned 15."
"Did anything happen around that time that you can think of that may have affected your son?" John asked.
"He's a psychiatrist," Caleb explained, pointing over his shoulder at John.
"Oh well … um I can't really remember anything specific."
John moved more forward so he was closer to the upset woman and took out a piece of paper and wrote his phone number on it, "Here this is my number … if you can think of anything that might have went on during or just before you started to see the changes then call me."
Mrs. Kearns took the card from John's hand, then looked up at him, eyebrows narrowed, "Why?"
"Well Ma'am it could be helpful if we find out … his mood changes may or may not have something to do with his coma. Maybe if we find out what triggered his mood changes it might help us find a way to bring him out of this coma," he told her with an edge of sympathy in his voice.
The woman looked at him skeptically.
"The mind is strange thing Mrs. Kearns and we're still learning about it. It couldn't hurt to try."
"Okay … umm … sure if I think of anything I'll let you know. If you really think it can help my boy then I would be so grateful."
"I really hope we can. Caleb I'll meet you outside so you have a chance to have a moment with your friend," John told him.
"Umm … Okay Uncle John, Catch you outside."
"It was a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Kearns," John said turning to give her a brief smile before turning and heading out the door.
On his way back to the car park he couldn't help but think that Caleb had done a very good job in there. But he had to admit that Caleb was always good at spinning a story and telling a good lie. That certain skill had come in handy more than once on a hunt, although he wasn't so sure it was so good when dealing with his boys. He was sure that when Caleb had minded them when they were younger that they got up to some mischief, but Caleb and Dean were very good at keeping to their story. It was usually Sammy's excited face that gave away that they had been doing something they weren't supposed to. One of the only reasons he hadn't really followed up with finding out for sure was that he trusted Caleb with his life and the life of his children. He knew that the boy would never put them in danger so knowing that, he was confident that what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.
He looked up when Caleb came out of the hospital. He stayed waiting, leaning against Caleb's charger for him to get closer.
"So I'm a retard now huh?" Caleb asked pretending to be insulted.
"Well to sell a good lie your supposed to stick as close to the truth as possible," John teased as Caleb opened up the car.
"Funny," Caleb retorted once they were both sitting in the car.
"So you think his change in his personality might be possession?" John asked.
"Could be, but is it demonic or spirit?"
"I'm not sure yet, but if it was a demon you would think that his change wouldn't have been gradual, he would have become a different person straight away."
"Usually … we should see if we can speak to any more victims, try and get a comparison and hopefully Mrs. Kearns might remember something."
"Okay."
"How about we get a motel room so we have a place to work from," Caleb suggested.
"What don't you want to work from the confines of your beloved car?" John asked in mock surprise.
"As gorgeous as she is … no and depending on what we find out, we might be here for a couple of days and I don't wanna hear you bitching about getting a sore back because of my car old man,"
"Old man? And I don't bitch I leave that for you."
Caleb just laughed and turned the key in the ignition, relishing in the sound of his car purring to life. John shook his head at his friend. He had loved the Impala but between Caleb and Dean he had never seen two guys so totally in love with their cars. It was amusing.
"Okay let's get this show on the road shall we," Caleb said as he pulled out of the hospital car park.
Hey i hope everyone liked that one ... I promise the next chapter will have both set of guys :-) seeya soon :-)