Not beta'd just yet, everyone is really busy.

Sorry for it being so long, I've been exhausted for no reason, college has also been getting me down, my teachers are total douches and have no understanding of my situation what so ever, it used to be frustrating, now it's upsetting me. But enough of that...enjoy!

Side kick-Bia1007

The waiting game

"Dean? Earth calling Dean?"

"What?" Dean asked, sharper than he meant to.

"Come on, let's go for a walk, loosen up your shoulder a bit."

"I'm fine, I'm staying here," Dean said staring at the empty bed Sam was in not long ago.

Beth had escorted them back to Sam's room when he was wheeled into the operating theatre and said they would be fine if they waited there. Usually she suggested going for a coffee or something but Dean didn't look all that well himself once Sam was out for the count. So she figured sitting down in Sam's quiet room would be better and she could keep checking on him there too, he wasn't a patient but that didn't mean she didn't have a duty to make sure he was okay.

"Come on kiddo, either come walk with me or I'm sending a nurse in here to check you over."

Dean sighed, his father wasn't joking, he had that look on his face that meant he wasn't, so he stood and walked out after his dad with a hand to his shoulder that was quickly making itself known. Weirdly enough, it only started hurting after Sam wasn't around, but he supposed that was a good thing, the last thing Sam needed was worry over his stupid shoulder.

"You sure you're okay?" John asked once they passed the nurse's station.

"Yeah," Dean immediately answered.

"Truth Dean, it goes a long way."

"What?" Dean asked like he didn't know what his father was getting at.

"How do you feel?"

"Oh, I'm just awesome."

"Dean."

Now that they were in the privacy of the lift, Dean let rip.

"Crappy. Okay. I got shot, it hurts, I'm miserable, Sammy's off in surgery, I'm scared for him, what if it doesn't work? What if something goes wrong, what if all this was a big mistake? So there, that's the 'truth!' Happy now?"

"Let me look," John said, more like ordered but Dean backed up.

"What?"

"Your shoulder, you said it hurts, let me look."

"Not in here, cameras."

"Fine, we'll find a bathroom."

"Yeah cos that's hygienic," not that he even cared, but he was just trying to find any reason to have a good bitch.

"Fine, after we get some coffee I'll check it out in Sam's room, okay?"

Dean mumbled something but it wasn't what John wanted to hear, he didn't know what was said but he knew by his son's tone.

"Dean, is that okay?"

"Yes sir," Dean sighed back a short while later when the lift came to a stop.

"You know it's okay to be scared and even to be miserable, after what's happened over the last month you kids have barely had time to let your head catch up before the next catastrophe."

Dean merely shrugged his good shoulder, he didn't really want to start a heart to heart chick flick fest, this was Sam's day.

~S/D~

It was now 6 hours into the supposed 1 hour operation and Dean was sure he was losing his mind, his dad checked his shoulder out then said it just looked a little irritated, probably from Dean using it too much today. He then asked Beth for some painkillers for Dean's bad 'headache' and after checking his temperature, announcing it was normal and he probably just had a headache from stress, she kindly handed him 2 white pills.

By this time, Dean had gone through about 5 stages of stress, first it was snappy Dean, then it was silent miserable Dean when his father had told him to stop acting like a brat. After a "Dean I'm sorry son, I shouldn't have snapped. You have every right to be pissed and moody kid," Dean had started talking again which was an improvement but when the 2 hour maximum limit the doctor had set came, Dean began pacing and cursing Sam's small room.

4 hours later and Dean was yelling at nurses and any hospital staff he could find, the woman he begged to just find something, call someone, anyone to tell him how his brother was. The male staff he threatened, almost pinned one man to the wall and would have if his dad wasn't right behind to stop him. When Dean stormed off to the next victim John was left to apologize for his sons behaviour and no, Dean wasn't going to 'hang their dogs from their washing line,' if they couldn't find some information on Sam.

When Dean finally tracked down Beth he wasn't happy, he practically howl at her saying if she wasn't about to tell them she had just come back from Sam's surgery then she better have a damn good explanation for where the hell she had been and why she wasn't doing her job right. "As a matter of fact, I went to say goodbye to my grandfather, he just passed away," she replied with sadness, and Dean couldn't have felt guiltier if he had tried. He mumbled a sorry then dragged his feet back to Sam's room when his god awful behaviour of the afternoon caught up with him.

5 hours of waiting and John was literally watching his son tear himself apart, he sat with his knees bouncing and Brownie in his hands, John watched the white knuckles around the teddy gain color every 10 minutes or so when Dean's fingers started to cramp then waited for them to go tight again when Dean needed something to help contain his need to scream.

He had given up on trying to comfort or reassure Dean many hours ago and now just sat in silence with him and handed him cups of coffee when he thought he needed it.

It was 6 hours, 34 minutes and 6 seconds since he saw Sam when Beth came in the room.

"Guys, Sam's on his way to recovery now, you wanna come with me?" she asked with a smile, like the events from a few hours ago were forgotten.

Dean let out the longest sigh of his life and was out the door and in the lift before John or Beth had the chance to blink.

"What took them so long? I mean, he's okay right? If he's in recovery that means he's okay," Dean rushed when the lift stopped and opened up to the recovery ward.

"He's absolutely fine, it didn't work the first time the surgeon tried and the limit was 2 hours and if it didn't work by then, he would give up but when the 2 hour mark came he still carried on trying, after 5 hours it finally worked and they cleared Sam's ears out and...now here we are."

"So it worked? He can hear?"

"Well we need to do a few tests when he wakes up and he might not be able to hear all that well because of the swelling for a few days but yeah, Sam should be able to hear from now on."

"Dad," was all Dean said with the biggest grin he'd ever managed in his life.

"I know kiddo, told you everything was fine, all that worrying for nothing," John patted his son on the shoulder and they carried on following Beth around a few corners, passing a few groggy patients then finally she pulled back a curtain and there was Sam.

He had dots of blood on one side of his pillow where it was obvious his ears had leaked a little but other than that and a few machines, he looked fine.

"How is he doing?" Beth asked the silent nurse in scrubs by Sam's bed Dean hadn't even noticed.

"His vitals are good, really good, he should be waking up any minute-" she hadn't even finished her sentence when a loud groan came from the sleeping boy and he turned his head towards the side Dean was at, like he could tell his brother was there even when he was half baked.

"Hey Sammy, how you feeling?" Dean asked leaning over his brother and gripping Sam's floppy hand.

Sam only groaned again but his hand tightened and his other lifted.

"Whoa dude not such a good idea, you're gonna rip your IV out man," Dean carefully took Sam's other hand that was in mid air set it down by his side.

Sam groaned for the third time but it was different, like he was trying to ask something, trouble was his tongue wasn't going where he wanted it to and he couldn't really see anything but the blurs of colors. He knew it was Dean though, he could see the blur of black and grey from Dean's clothing he had memorized earlier, today he was wearing his grey long sleeved top and black t-shirt underneath, but the thing that told Sam it was Dean was the small smudge gold dot of the pendant he had found/made Dean at Christmas. A taller blob of black and green told Sam it was John standing right by his brother, but he just wished he could see their faces, he needed to know.

"What was that Sammy?"

'Huh?' was all that came across Sam's mind, it was like he was in a gold fish bowl. 'Did it work Dean? Cos my ears kinda hurt so something must have gone on in there.'

"Sammy, why don't you go back to sleep dude?"

'I don't want to, I want to know if-, hey wait a minute...I heard that. Didn't I? Dean?'

He lifted his hand from Dean's and made a questioning face with a thumbs up.

Then right before his eyes was what looked like another thumbs up, Dean's thumbs up.

"Yeah Sammy, it worked kiddo, welcome back to the land of the hearing."

'Thanks for having me back,' he thought and a peaceful smile came across his face.

He felt Dean's hand back in his once again, a soft fluffy thing by he left cheek before he closed his eyes knowing everything was going to be better from now on.

~S/D~

"Get some sleep too son," John said draping the sheet and blanket over Dean as he laid down on the cot bed set out in Sam's room right next to the kid.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine, just go to sleep, you look like crap."

"Thanks, love you too," Dean smirked at his father and John knew Dean was back, sure he was tired, pale and the ache in his shoulder had obviously come back with the few pain lines on his face but his son was back, thanks to Sam being perfectly well right now. He had to admit, even he was convinced for a short while in the 5th hour and that something had gone wrong with Sam, but thankfully for both his sons' sakes, everything went fine.

"Smart ass." That was his way of saying of course I love you. "Night Dean," he said ruffling his son's short hair before he went back to the bony chair and closed his eyes with his mouth hanging wide open, snoring away before Dean was.

~S/D~

"Hey dad I think he's waking up again."

"Mmmrrr..."

"Morning sunshine to you too."

"Ddrrr...?"

"Yup, it's me Sammy, you wanna try opening your eyes?"

'Oh, that explains why everything's dark.' He opened his eyes and blinked a few times clearing the fog before he saw Dean's classic grin shining down at him.

"Hiya Sammy."

'Hey Dean...okay wait...dude can I hear?'

"Yes Sammy, you can hear," he heard with Dean laughing.

'Did I say that out loud? Okay maybe I can't hear then if I did and don't know I did.'

"You got the same look on your face as last night when you asked me."

'Oh...so I can hear? Man this is confusing.'

"Remember yesterday?"

'Yesterday? Yesterday...what happened yesterday?...Oh, I woke up in a big white room, Dean was there...so was dad...and I could hear , right I remember now, that was yesterday?'

"You came back from your operation pretty late dude, slept the whole ride back to your room and never flinched once, you've been dead to the world till now."

'I have?'

"Says you."

'Okay new voice...my best guess is that's-'

"Yeah Sam, it's me."

"Hheerrr."

"Hey to you too," John chuckled.

"So how you doing dude?"

"Urrss..."

"Hurts? What hurts?"

'Crap, didn't mean to say that out loud.'

"Sammy talk to me, what hurts."

He managed to control his still floopy arm enough to point to his ears the sign, "not that bad."

"I'll go get a nurse."

He stuck his arm out and stopped John from leaving.

"Hey Sam it's alright I'm just gonna go-"

"Nnnrr...ttaall...uurr oouu lleeaasee..."

"Sammy I don't understand dude," Dean winced, Sam could hear now but his speak was still way off, then again he wouldn't be speaking very eloquently if he hadn't used his lips and mouth that way for years.

"Nurse later, just talk for now please."

Dean smiled, it was kinda sweet to be able to speak and have Sam hear for the first time and truth be told he wanted to talk to Sam about everything, anything, hell he would talk about the hunt for Waldo if Sam wanted.

"Alright, what do you want us to talk about?"

"Anything."

"Anything? Dude a lot of topics come under anything."

"Jerk."

"Bitch," and that was all Sam needed to make his year.

~S/D~

After half an hour of Dean talking about stupid nonsense it was John's turn, he didn't really know what to say, Dean had covered the whole 'what we're gonna do, where we're gonna go, what music we're gonna blast on the road,' stuff so there wasn't much left so after he wracked his brain, he decided to tell Sam a few old marine stories, like the time in his first day of training where he fell into a mud whole and not only was the laughing stock of the whole base but had to stay in the same toilet smelling clothes for the next 3 days because he didn't pack a spare.

Just under an hour later when Sam's eyes started to droop John took that opportunity to go for a nurse and tell them he was up and aching. When he got back to the room with a new nurse of the day he was greeted with the site of Sam fast on and Dean running a hand through his hair quietly talking about how much Sam was going to love AC/DC even though he was asleep.

"I'll give him something for the pain when he wakes up again," the nurse, Sarah announced after checking Sam's chart and other things.

The next time Sam woke up, Dean was out getting coffee by his dads orders, Dean had been sitting or laying for the last god knows how many hours and he needed to move his legs already.

"Hey dude, feeling better?" John asked.

Sam groaned like he wasn't so John asked Sam to be completely truthful now his big brother wasn't in the room, and tell him straight how he was feeling, he managed to find out from Sam honestly, his ears were burning now, unlike the ache they had before and he was still tired even after sleeping for so long. John reassured the kid that it was just the aesthetic he had yesterday and having being under for so long and the doctor had told them Sam's ears may not hurt at all or they may hurt like hell when he woke up depending on how the surgery went. But upside, Sam wasn't feeling sick from the sleeping meds and he hadn't gone dizzy yet.

Then Dean came back with 2 cups of coffee and a smile on his face when he saw Sam was awake, but also a little irritated he wasn't there when he woke up, he shot his father a glare on the way past then handed him his cup. John ignored the snigger from his eldest then put the cup down then went for the nurse and after checking him over she gave Sam a few pills and said the pain was normal, so was he tiredness, and with a few mild painkillers it should keep the burning at bay until it goes.

Dean practically had a heart attack when she said his little brothers ears were burning but relaxed when Sam said he was okay, it just hurt a bit. Dean then took the opportunity to ask Sam if his hearing was perfect in which Sam replied no. "They said after the swelling and stuff goes down you will be able to hear like the best of us." Sam let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and smiled once again, he thought his hearing was good now, never mind in a few days, he had forgotten how amazing sounds were.

Later in the afternoon when he was sure Sam had managed to stay awake for a few hours they let him have something to eat, which he rejected when he caught the sight of what was meant to be a plain cheese sandwich, there was cheese yes, but also cucumber...and Sam hated cucumber with a passion!

John knew Sam needed to eat, so did he and Dean for that matter but he wasn't going to force Sam to have something he hated, he knew he wouldn't eat anything he didn't want to so he asked his boys if they minded if he left for half an hour to track down some food outside the hospital and also call Bobby to tell him everything was fine and Sam was due home in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

The boys were back in the room watching some random episode of Family Guy and Sam's laughter was music to Dean's ears.

"Dude his voice is creepy."

"I know," Dean agreed watching the baby.

"Hey Dean? Can we go to the beach next week?"

"Sure, why the beach?"

"I don't know what waves sound like...never been near any."

"Never?"

Sam shook his head.

"Okay, next week we'll go to the beach and listen to some road tunes and the waves."

Sam smiled, "aann ooo."

"You're welcome dude."

Sam laughed to himself and Dean couldn't help but ask, "what?"

"You sound exactly like I thought in my head." "Cool," Dean grinned and once again Sam laughed.

Sam nodded, he couldn't agree more.

"Everything okay in here boys?" John asked coming back with burgers and fries for he and Dean and a chicken salad for Sam.

"Yup, we've come to the conclusion that baby's voice is creepy and we're going to the beach to listen to some waves next week."

"Awesome," John smiled handing the food out.

"Damn straight, right Sammy?"

"Iiiyt."

"Rrr dude."

"Urr?"

"Listen, rrr...iiyy...ttt," Dean pushed breaking it down for Sam.

"R...iii...ttt," Sam copied and smiled when he got a high five.

"Just call be Dr Dean the Speech machine."

"That's a lot to say."

"Don't worry, we'll start off easy, get you speaking as eloquently as me in no time."

TBC...

The blurs of colors and the thumbs up I taken 100% from my last op, I can still see my mums blue blob of a skirt an my dads red blury blob of his top, that's how I knew it was my ma and pa, and I put a thumbs up asking if it worked and I got a yes it worked, 2 hour limit turned into 7.5 hours but it worked! Woot woot! I survived and I'm alive!

Next chapter will be the beach and music and the end.