Chapter 12

Thanks to Soar for the beta job, and thank you to Soar, JuliaAurelia, and Sinead-Conlan for all their help and suggestions with this chapter. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Still don't own them.

"Right or wrong, the fact remains that I'm Dean's father and you're not keeping me from him." With that, Bobby turned and stalked off down the hall, leaving Sam standing there, staring at his father in disbelief. Had he heard that right?

"Dad?" Sam asked.

John knew what his son was asking. He had really been hoping it wouldn't come to this. John sighed. "Yeah Sam, it's true."

"Bobby is Dean's father?" Sam asked in disbelief. He was still trying to wrap his head around what his father had told him. "The other day..." Sam trailed off and his temper instantly flared. "I can't believe you," he accused.

John could tell that Sam was gearing up for an argument. He'd experienced it often enough when the boys were growing up. "Sam, not here, not now, okay," John pleaded. If they got caught arguing in the hall, they could get kicked out.

"Yes dad," Sam insisted. "Now!"

John sighed. "Follow me, I need some air."

John and Sam made their way outside. Things were extremely tense between them and Sam remained as wound up as a coiled spring. John could tell he was ready to burst at any minute. As soon as they stepped outside, Sam exploded.

"HOW COULD YOU!" Sam roared.

"Sam..."

But Sam was not about to let John get a word in. "I asked you, dad. I said, do you know who Dean's parents are. You looked me in the eye and said you knew almost nothing about them, yet you know everything about them, so I'll ask you again, HOW COULD YOU?"

"It's complicated, Sam," John tried to explain.

"It's complicated," Sam scoffed. "Let me make it real simple then, okay? Dean. Could. Die. Do you get that? Does that make it clear for you?"

"Samuel, you will listen to me..."

"No dad, for once in your life, you're going to listen to me. I'm so sick of this need to know BS. I mean, Christ, don't you think that this is something the doctor needed to know. This isn't some hunt we're going on, Dean's fighting for his life. Is your pride that important?" Sam accused.

"It wasn't like that. I was going to call Bobby, I swear."

"It's so easy to say that now, isn't it?"

"I don't care if you believe me. Bobby's here, he's getting tested. Now, excuse me, I'd like to get back to my son," John said tiredly. He really didn't want to fight. He tried to step around his youngest son, but Sam wouldn't let him.

"No!" he ordered.

"Excuse me?" John growled.

"Bobby's in there. I don't want the two of you going off at each other. "

"I'll behave, Sam, I prom..."

"I'm not Dean, dad." Sam interrupted. "The words, 'I promise', don't hold as much meaning with me. I don't want you and Bobby sniping at each other and don't tell me you won't," Sam said cutting of John's protest. "If you go in there right now, you're both going to say something that Dean's going to pick up on. He's not stupid, dad."

"I know that," John said defensively.

"I don't care. I don't want you and Bobby in that room together until you both stop trying to show the other who's boss. I'm going back to Dean's room. What you're going to do is go find Dr. Scott and get permission for Bobby to visit Dean. He's not going to take the isolation news well and like it or not, Bobby is important to Dean, and we could use his help to get Dean through this. It's going to be rough on all of us and the last thing Dean needs is the two of you using him to mark your territory. Now excuse me, I'm going to see my brother." With that, and before John could say anything, Sam turned and stalked off back into the hospital.

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John watched as Sam turned and headed back into the hospital. Part of him was fuming at the fact that Sam had dared to speak to him like that. The other half was filled with shame because he knew that Sam was right about everything he had said. He should have admitted that he knew who Dean's father was. John rubbed his hand against his forehead, hoping to stave off the headache he could feel brewing behind his eyes.

He decided to go find Dean's doctor, but when he remembered that Dr. Scott was dealing with an emergency, he went back to Dean's floor and stood a few feet away so he could head the doctor off at the pass. It felt like hours before the doctor showed up.

"Dr. Scott," John said to get his attention.

"Mr. Colt, I was just on my way to see you."

"Can we put off telling Dean about the isolation until after his surgery? It's going to upset him, badly, and he really doesn't need it before he goes under the knife."

"Of course," Dr. Scott said agreeably, his curiousity rising. He had heard a few times about his patient's potential reaction.

"Doc, are you sure there's no way you can make an exception for my brother? He and Dean are really close."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Colt. I truly am, but as I said, it's for Dean's protection. He's going to be extremely vulnerable to infection. We need to limit the number of people around him," Dr. Scott said regretfully. "I'm already making an exception for your other son."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Normally, isolation rules are parents or grandparents if the patient is a minor, and parents or spouses if the patient's married. Brothers and sisters are usually not permitted, but given how close your boys are, I think it would do more harm than good to keep Sam out."

John had to agree. He knew that the only way to get Bobby in was to admit the truth. He took a deep breath. "Bobby isn't just Dean's uncle," John confessed. "He's Dean's biological father."

"Excuse me?" Dr. Scott said his surprise obvious on his face.

"It's a really, really long story and one I would prefer not to tell," John said honestly. "Just tell me, does it give Bobby permission to visit Dean?"

The doctor could tell that there was a lot going on here, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know the full story. He had a feeling that the two men weren't really brothers, but of course, he couldn't say anything because he had no right to call them liars. If it would keep the peace for his patient, then who was he to stop it. "I'll allow it, but I'm warning you, Mr. Colt, my first loyalty is to my patient. If any of this threatens to complicate his recovery, or his treatment, I won't hesitate to bar all of you," Dr. Scott said in tone that left John knowing the man was serious.

"I promise," John said quickly.

"Now Mr. Colt, is there anything else you have to tell me about Dean? This isn't the time for secrets."

"He had surgery to repair a hole in his heart when he was four. I didn't keep it from you deliberately, it just happened so long ago that I don't think about it that much," John said. This was actually a partial truth. It had been a rough time and he didn't like to think about it.

"He should have a scar, even a small one." Dr. Scott said with a raised eyebrow.

One of John's contacts, a voodoo priestess, had some paste that she used that took care of scars, but he obviously couldn't say that. "Dean was always self conscious about it in school, so we had one of those procedures that got rid of it. It's not going to complicate things, is it?"

"It shouldn't, but thank you for telling me," Dr. Scott said. He was really starting to feel for his patient.

John thanked the doctor and went back to Dean's room.

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Dean looked up when he heard a noise, and was surprised to see Bobby. They saw him infrequently, but the two of them had always gotten along. He'd known there was an argument between Bobby and his father, but like Sam, he didn't even try to understand the relationship between Bobby and his father. The only thing Dean knew was that he often felt at ease in the other man's presence. It had been that way ever since they met.

"Hey Bobby," Dean greeted the man. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Hey son," Bobby said using the term of endearment as he needed the connection to his son. "I monitor the hunter's fund for Joshua. When I saw one of your aliases come up, I decided to check it out. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. I keep telling dad and Sam that, but they don't seem to listen," Dean said.

"You sure about that?" Bobby asked. He was never one to let Dean hide behind his walls.

"Alright, I'm a little tired," Dean admitted grudgingly.

"Your dad told me everything," Bobby said. "Is your hip still sore?" He noticed that Dean was more fidgety than usual.

"A little stiff, but it doesn't hurt," Dean said honestly.

"That's good," Bobby said. He hated the thought of Dean in pain.

Before either could say anything more, they were joined by first Sam and then John a short time later. Things were a little tense, but both men managed to remain civil to each other.

The next day passed much too quickly for Dean's liking. Bobby, John and Sam were all nervous about Dean's surgery, so while Dean was in the OR, Sam took advantage and used the time to lay down the ground rules for both John and Bobby, much like Dr. Scott had. They had also decided that Sam would be the one to explain to Dean about the isolation room. He had a way of getting through to his big brother that no one else did.

"Dean's Colt's family," they heard a nurse call some time later.

"How's Dean?" all three men said at once and got up to go join the nurse.

The nurse smiled. "There were no complications. Dr. Scott will be here in a minute and he'll take you to see Dean."

"Thank you," Sam said politely.

The doctor joined them shortly afterward. "Did Susan tell you that there were no complications?"

"Yeah," John said in a relieved tone. "Can I see him?"

"He's in recovery right now. He should be settled shortly, Mr Colt."

"Thanks doc," John said. "Please call me John, with my brother here, it could get confusing."

"Alright, John. I'll be back in about a 1/2 hour and I can take one of you into the recovery room. He'll be there for a couple of hours until the anaesthesia wears off, then he'll be moved back to his room."

When he was taken into Dean's recovery room, the first thing that John saw was the bag of blood that was hanging on Dean's IV pole, leading to a needle in the back of his left hand. He thought that Dean wasn't supposed to be getting transfusions, as they could complicate his transplant. What also alarmed John was the nasal cannula resting under Dean's nose.

"I thought you said there were no complications," John accused.

"There weren't," Susan said. "His blood counts were a little low on account of the surgery, and his pulse ox was low as well. It's to be expected. He shouldn't need it in a day or so."

"What about the transfusion? I thought he wasn't getting anymore. Don't they stop the transplant from working?" John asked in a demanding tone.

"We try to limit them. Too many can cause antibodies to build up in the blood stream, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Like today, we had to give Dean a transfusion because his platelets are low. We had to make sure there was no uncontrolled bleeding during the surgery. There wasn't," she finished, anticipating John's next question. "Aplastic anemia affects all blood cells, so when Dean's red cells are low, so are his oxygen levels. The cannula is actually more precautionary at this point and as I said, we should be able to remove it tomorrow."

"How come you have the IV then? Didn't you put that Hick thing in his chest so you wouldn't have to stick him?" John wanted to know.

"Hickman Catheter," the nurse corrected. "That's true. We want to give the site of the new catheter about 24 hours to heal before we starting using it, though."

"Can I see it?" John asked.

"Sure," Susan agreed and pulled back the covers and Dean's hospital gown.

John could see a long white plastic tube coming out of a spot just above Dean's heart. The end of the catheter branched off into three openings and John's stomach churned a little at the sight of it.

"The fancy word for it is triple lumen catheter. It just means that there are three ports we can use for medications or drawing blood."

"Is it hurting him?" John asked in a concerned tone.

"There's a small cuff just under the skin that helps hold the tube in place, located here," Susan said and pointed to the spot where the catheter exited Dean's chest. "Most people feel some pressure, and it can be a little uncomfortable for the first couple of days, but after that, he probably won't even notice it."

John was silent for a moment and the nurse asked if he had any more questions. He didn't and he turned back to his son and lightly stroked the hair on Dean's head. Right now, he wasn't seeing a 27 year old man, he was seeing his four year old son and his heart was breaking. He wished with all his heart that he could take Dean's place.

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While John was sitting with Dean, Sam and Bobby were in the Impala, making a run to the local coffee house. Since it would be a while before they could see Dean, they had decided to take a break and sit in the restaurant to drink theirs.

There was a tension filled, awkward silence between first, neither really knowing what to say. It was Sam that broke the silence. He had to know.

"Bobby, about Dean?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Everything is. We've got time," Sam insisted.

Bobby took a deep breath and told Sam everything. About Mandy getting pregnant, him denying the baby, Mandy telling him she had a miscarriage and about the phone call, deciding to find Dean and his reason for not pursuing custody.

"Bobby, does Dean have any brothers or sisters on his mom's side? I mean, you know, potential candidates to be a donor match?" Sam asked, unable to hide the hint of jealousy in his tone.

Bobby gave a tiny grin. He knew about feeling territorial. "Not that I know of. Mandy was only 19 when she had Dean, and she died at 22. It's possible that she could have had another child, but I would seriously doubt it. She had plans to get a teaching degree. She didn't want children that early in her life."

"Why would she just walk out on him? Why not put him up for adoption the right way?"

"I wish I had answers for you, Sam, but I don't. It's possible that we may never know," Bobby said regretfully. "If I could go back to that day Mandy told me and do it all over again, I would do so many things differently."

"I'm glad you can't," Sam blurted out before he could stop himself and continued quickly at Bobby's hurt expression. "It's just that, if you did things differently, I wouldn't have my big brother," Sam explained.

Bobby instantly melted at the expression on Sam's face. He looked so lost at the thought that he could not only lose Dean, but that a few simple words almost meant that he never would have had him in the first place. "I understand," Bobby said simply.

"God, this is all so weird, it's so hard to wrap my head around it. I just want Dean to be okay," Sam said sounding 4 instead of 24.

"Dean's a fighter, Sam. Has been since the day he was born," Bobby said trying to convince himself as well as Sam.

Sam gave a small sad smile. "It doesn't matter if he has nothing to fight with. I mean, what if none of us are matches? What then?"

"Then we use resources medical science doesn't have," Bobby indicated in a tone that said he was serious.

"Dean wouldn't go for it. I mean, you know what happened with that faith healer in Nebraska," Sam said wistfully.

Bobby shuddered at that memory. "I won't lose my son," Bobby said determinedly. "Come on, we'd better get back to the hospital."

Sam decided to let the matter drop for now, but he still prayed with all his heart that one of them would be a match. "Yeah, let's go. I want to see my brother," Sam said and followed Bobby out the door.

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"Dean, leave it," Bobby said as he dragged Dean's hand away from his face. Ever since Dean had been returned to his room, he'd been trying to remove the cannula.

"I don't need it," he insisted.

"Humor me, okay?" John requested.

Dean gave a long suffering sigh.

"Are you in pain, Dean?" Bobby asked tenderly. He had to know.

"No," he said honestly. "It just feels strange. Dr. Scott said I shouldn't even notice it in a couple of days, though."

"That's good, son," Bobby said affectionately and John visibly flinched.

Sam glared at both his father and Bobby. He was just glad that Dean seemed too preoccupied with his catheter to notice. "Dad, Bobby, why don't you guys go stretch your legs for a bit," he said pointedly.

Bobby and John picked up on Sam's unspoken request. When they left the room, Sam was grateful that they headed in opposite directions. He turned back to his brother. This was a conversation he was dreading.

"Dean, I need to talk you about something," Sam started.

"It's okay, Sam. Watching Little House on the Prairie when we were kids is not a crime," Dean quipped.

"How'd you... when did you find that out?" Sam questioned in disbelief, for a moment distracted from his original speech.

"Dude, I was kidding. You actually watched Little House?" Dean asked amazement. "It's like I don't even know you."

Sam couldn't believe he had ratted himself out. "I watched it because I liked Mary."

"Good thing you picked the blind chick, no one else would go for your ugly mug."

"Dean, how'd you know Mary was blind?" Sam asked and couldn't hold back his laughter when Dean started squirming.

"Shut up," he mumbled.

"There's something I have to tell you about your transplant," Sam said turning serious.

"What now?" Dean said in a resigned tone. "They're not sticking more tubes in me, are they?" Dean asked.

"Not right now. It's just that, Dean, you know they have to destroy your immune system for the transplant to work, right?"

"Yeah," Dean responded impatiently. "What's your point?"

"It's just that it takes 4-6 weeks for the bone marrow to start to grow."

"Thank you, Dr. Winchester."

"First of all, you have to promise me that you won't freak out," Sam requested.

That made Dean nervous. "I don't freak," Dean said trying to cover.

"Second, it's not as bad as it sounds. Me, dad and Bobby are still allowed in your room."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean said trying to keep his voice from shaking.

Sam didn't miss the waver. There was no more beating around the bush. Sam decided to just rip off the Band-Aid. "To try and stop you from getting an infection, you have to spend the transplant period in isolation." He waited for Dean's reaction.

Dean stared in disbelief. Being in the hospital was bad enough, but at least if he started feeling the walls close in on him, he could leave his room and go for a walk. Now they wanted to stick him in a room for 6 weeks and keep him there, with no escape. No! The panic started slowly, first the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach and then it started building. He closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath to get his feelings under control. 6 weeks in a small room, no escape. No escape, no escape...

Sam had been prepared for smart ass remarks and the tough exterior. That was how Dean usually reacted when he was terrified. What Sam wasn't prepared for was for Dean to actually panic. The last time Sam had seen this was on the demon infested plane. It wasn't something he really thought much about, but maybe Dean wasn't scared of flying. He also remembered Oasis Plains, when that construction worker had been killed. Dean had manipulated him so that he was the one who ended up in the hole. Sam had been surprised that his over-protective big brother would let him go down there without knowing exactly what they would find. Could his brother be claustrophobic?

It was the sound of harsh breathing that dragged Sam out of his thoughts. Dean was sitting frozen on his bed with a deer in the headlights look on his face. He was starting to hyperventilate. "Easy Dean," Sam said trying to soothe his brother. He laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's okay, I'm here, Dean. Come on, man, deep breaths."

He was really starting to get worried. He reached over and pressed the call button. The nurse came and immediately switched the cannula to a full face mask. She coached Dean on his breathing, along with Sam. Then, once she was satisfied that Sam had things under control, she asked him to stay with Dean while she went to get the doctor.

Sam did as he was asked. He was glad that the nurse seemed to sense that he needed to be the one to stay. Dr. Scott showed up and 10 minutes later, Dean was sleeping peacefully from the medication injected into his IV. He mumbled something before he went to sleep and Sam would swear the word Dean said was 'Daddy', but he decided he was hearing things.

After explaining the situation to the doctor, Sam went to call his father. Both John and Bobby showed up a little while later.

"Dad, what the hell happened? I know he hates being alone, but I told him that we'd be with him. Why'd he react that badly?" Sam demanded in a tone that meant he wanted answers. If his father was keeping more secrets...

"It's a really long story," John said with a shudder. It was something even he tried to block from his memory.

TBC

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