Chapter XXVIII
I slowly opened my eyes and was greeted with a blinding light.
Oh shit!! I died! I'm dead! I felt myself panic and I moved suddenly. Ouch!! Wait … if I am dead, how can I feel pain? Then Sam's face came into view, blocking out the blinding light. Oh, right…the Infirmary. I felt silly for panicking. I had never used that power before in that amount.
"There you are." He smiled. "You scared us there for a second."
Us? I wondered, unable to look around.
"Yes, us." I heard a familiar voice. Dr. Strange came into my peripheral vision. I nodded to the best of my ability.
"You know Mrs. Winchester, you should be more careful when you use your powers. Next time you might not be so lucky. You nearly drained yourself." I almost giggled at the sound of my new last name and title.
"You will be free to go home in a few hours, after your body regenerates." He said, leaving the room.
"Please don't do that again." He said to me. I opened my mouth to talk and all that came out was a pathetic little squeak.
Do what? I sent. Giving up on the struggle to talk.
"Scare me like you did. I thought I had lost you." He said, the gleam of a tear in his eye.
Sorry. I sent. He smiled, running his hand through my hair. We sat there for a few hours until I could feel every part of my body again and, by the way, every part of my body felt gross.
"The civilians re-drew the bath." He said, sensing my sudden discomfort. I smirked.
"Really?" I inquired. We went back to the room and threw our dirty clothes into the hamper behind the bathroom door. I lowered myself into the steaming water. It enveloped my body in a relaxing warmth. I watched Sam lower himself opposite me. He leaned his head back and sighed. I knew that look. That was the 'It has been a long day and all I want is the pleasure of your company'. I didn't have problem with that notion. I will leave the details to your imagination. I will just say that we had a nice wedding night.
The bliss did not last. One week later while on shift, I got hurt. Pretty bad. I don't know what it is with the Zombies and picking me up. They don't like to try and bite me, they like to throw me. I was picked up by a particularly large Zombie and thrown against the side of a brick building. I heard something crack and felt something break for sure. I slid down the side and just laid there, gathering my strength. I was hurt bad and I was all too aware of it. I heard the big guy approaching me. I jumped up and ran my sword through his throat, severing the connection. I grabbed my side in pain. Broken rib, mostly likely. Then I felt the liquid warmth running threw my fingers. I looked down and found a metal stake through my side.
Oh, that sucks. I thought. I dropped to one knee.
"Sam!" my voice was failing me. It no more than a sad little squeak.
SAM! I called out to him. He was at my side in an instant. He looked down at the object that had run me through. He called out to our squad. They scooped me up and put me in the van. I felt the darkness creeping in around the edges of my world. I gripped Sam's hand like a vice.
"FASTER!! DRIVE FASTER!!" Sam hollered to the driver who floored it. One of the team radioed ahead to have a medical team standing by. I kept trying to push down on the wound, to slow the bleeding but Sam kept taking my hand and holding it.
"You're not helping!" He said, frantic. We sped through the gates and came to a screeching halt. The van doors flew open and a swarm of medical technicians flooded the van. They ushered the team out and tried to take my hand from Sam's. I gripped tighter. They knew that it was hopeless. They loaded me on to a gurney, I felt the pinch of the IV as the needle entered my arms. The burning sensation of the painkillers entered my blood stream I could feel the wind racing over my body as we ran full speed toward the Infirmary. The last thing I could remember was hearing Sam begging me to hold on.
I felt like my body weigh a ton, at least. I could not move anything. I could barely feel how cold my feet where. I reached out with my mind, searching for someone with answers. I felt Sam and Dr. Strange talking outside my room. I made sure both of them knew I was semi-conscious. I felt Sam take my hand, rubbing my knuckles with his thumb.
"Mrs. Winchester? Can you understand me?" I heard Dr. Strange.
I can hear you. I replied. I knew from the raw feeling in my throat that I could not talk even if I wanted to.
"Good." I heard him flipping through my file. "It seems you are very lucky. The object missed your spine. We have you on heavy doses of painkillers and sedatives. That is why you feel like a pile of lead." He paused.
"You are going to have to remain here for a week, minimum. You have serious damage internally. We had to go in and stitch everything back up. Anything that could tear the stitches will not be done for 2 months at least." He was not giving me an option. That meant I was on leave for the next 2 months, minimum. I could tell by the feeling I was getting from Sam, I was in trouble. He, with is caring nature, would wait until I was feeling better to have the conversation. Which meant he would brood over it until then. Fantastic.
"I will be watching over you for the duration of your stay. Many of my interns are still developing their psychic skills, they could hurt you more than help you." I nodded as best I could with my heavy head. Now I would have some time alone in my head to figure things out. I knew exactly what Sam wanted to talk about. He wanted me to start teaching the Magickal people how to use their powers. Now that we were married, he had a harder time with the thought of me injured. Our work in the field was really dangerous, not that our work had ever been anything but danger. We had this conversation when we first started date back before the Virus. I had stood firm. A hunter is what I was. It was all I knew how to do. Just because he was uncomfortable with the idea of me in danger didn't mean I was going to stop doing what I do. I guess now that we had exchanged our vows, he thought it was time to have the conversation again. We were both stubborn. I was still not willing to budge.
It is not that I enjoy spending time doped up or high in La-La Land. It was the fact that my life had been in danger long before I meet Sam and it has been after we meet. The danger was never going to change, that was the only certain thing besides death in our lives.
By three weeks I was able to move on my own. I started to build back up to my old strengths. By 6 weeks I was moving fine, with the occasional twinge if I was over extending myself. Dr. Strange had done a good job sewing me up. He said the stitches would dissolve when my body was healed. Something about my body eating away at the material or something like that. I never really listened to the medical jargon.
I was sitting at the desk in our room, working on the classes and looking over the reports from the last couple of weeks and recording them into the Intel file when Sam came in. 2400hrs. Shift two on the clock. He looked really tired, not that it would stop him for confronting me.
"When I get out of the shower, I would like to talk to you." He said. I nodded and thought about running out before he got out of the shower. He shot me the 'Don't make me hunt you down' look. I waved my hand and nodded, going back to the reports. It seems that the activities had died down again. There seemed to be a pattern in the changes, but before I could put my finger on it, Sam was out of the shower and wanting to talk.
"Jay," he started. "We need to talk about this." He motioned to my side, which I was guarding unconsciously.
"You are well aware of how I feel about this. I don't like the idea of you in danger." He paused, running his hands through his shaggy hair. "I know what you are going to say, the danger is always going to be there. But please consider my side. Think about it through my eyes. The love of my life, in constant danger." He paused, looking at me. He was using the puppy eyes, damn it.
"I am not asking you give anything up. I just want you to start taking it easy. Maybe work every other shift. The classes need to be set up for the Magickal people. They need a teacher and you are the best for the job." Sam said, deciding that it was best not to touch me at the moment.
"I am not a teacher, Sam." I said.
"You taught me and Dean how to use our powers." I could not argue with that. Dean had been every reluctant to learn, until he meet Charlie. Truth was, I had been working on turning one of the interview rooms into a classroom. I had ordered all the books and had all my books brought to the compound. I was stubborn, Sam knew that. But he also knew that this was a close one.
"I will think about it." Sam looked at me for a moment, sensing whether or not I was just humoring him. He nodded.
"Thank you." He said, motioning for me to join him on the bed. I got up and slowly moved to sit beside him. He took me into a tight hug. That talk was nice, compared to the other one. The next day when Sam got up to go out into the field I went to the interview room and started working. It was around dinnertime when my body finally told me I was done for the day. Dr. Strange had told me that things might take a while.
I had been thinking all day. Maybe Sam was right. Trouble did find me, it seemed at times like it sought me out. Why should I go hunting for trouble when it always seemed to find me? On my way back to our room I ran into Dean.
"Hey kiddo. Nice to see you in one piece." I shook my head. "My keen sense of the female tells me that you are troubled. Can I help?" he offered me his arm. I accepted and we started walking around the complex.
"Sam and I had a talk last night." I started. "After this latest incident, he wants me to take it slow. Maybe start teaching the secondary defense system." Dean nodded.
"What is wrong with him wanting to keep you safe?" Dean asked.
"Nothing." I said hastily. "I just don't know if I can do it. I am so use to the constant high of hunting and killing. I am not sure I can slow down." I said. Dean nodded.
"I guess it will take more motivation won't it?" he asked. I am not sure what he meant by that but it left me thinking, more. Not what I needed. I went back to our room and waited for Sam to come home. This was a conversation that I had been rehearsing in my head for hours before he walked through the door.
"Sam?" I asked from the shadows. He turned to me.
"It is my turn to talk." He nodded and set his stuff down.
"I have been thinking about this all day. I am not ready to slow my life down. It was a big step for us to get married. I know you understand that. I see your point and I hope you can see mine. I am so use to living life on the edge, I am not sure I can slow down. Not yet. Give me time." Sam nodded, looking disappointed. But some how he was calm. He stood up and hugged me.
"Time is all we have." He said, kissing me on the forehead.
