Chapter 38

Sam and Dean paced around the waiting room, of the hospital, waiting to hear back from the doctor. As soon as the paramedics arrived, they wheeled Taylor up to the ambulance entrance, meeting a couple doctors and nurses, exchanging the diagnosis and what they had already done. The doctors and nurses took charge of their patient, checking Taylor over.

One of the doctors had looked inside her mouth, shining a light, to see down her throat. Sam and Dean heard him tell the nurses, her throat looked raw, but, thankfully was reacting to the medicine the paramedics had given her. They, then, rushed her down a hall, through a couple swinging doors.

One of the nurses kept the brothers from following, having them fill out some forms. Sam was the one who took them.

"Is my sister gonna be alright?" Dean had asked the nurse.

"She'll be fine. We'll do all we can, sir. Just fill out the forms and we will keep you, posted." That was three hours ago.

Cas and the girls had gotten there, fifteen minutes later, asking how Taylor was doing. Sam told them what the doctors had said when they got there, but, that was about it. The brothers were so focused on their sister, worried for her, they had almost forgotten they had to report to Mindy, when it came to stuff like this. So, for something to do while they waited, Sam called his sister's caseworker's after hours emergency number, alerting Mindy about what happened. She came, right away.

Mindy started the paperwork for the IR, right there in the waiting room, while Dean had started to pace. The girls tried to get the eldest brother to sit, but Dean wasn't having it. He kept turning the events over in his mind, if they really did make sure they had mentioned, no onions. Plus, Taylor was so good about checking, regardless. Why hadn't she checked, this time? The only thing Dean could think of, she had got caught up in all of the excitement of the day and had forgotten to check. Or, maybe she got someone else's burger. Dean had tasted onions on his, Sam had gotten a salad. Jody had ordered a chicken breast plate, and he knew Charlie didn't order a burger. What did Cas order?

"Well, you know I don't have to eat, Dean. But, to humor you, guys, I got the chicken fingers. Though, chickens don't really have fingers, as they don't have hands," he replied. "So, a real mystery is, what it was I did eat."

Dean rolled his eyes, and walked away, a few steps.

"She'll be okay, Dean," the angel assured his friend. "Think of all all the other stuff the kid's been through. Taylor can bounce from this, as well."

Not this. Dean knew allergies could be life threatening if it got to a certain point, and he had lost too much to lose his sister, too. He decided to head to the restroom and splash some water on his face, wiping a hand down his face. Of course, there were no paper towels. Just a hand dryer. Because, it's better for the environment, they say.

Dean just let his face, drip dry, as he leaned his hands on either side of the sink. The guy should have known their luck would run out. It usually did. Why did their good luck always go into the crapper, for?

He returned to pacing around the waiting room, some time, later. Sam had finished the paperwork, with Mindy. The middle sibling wasn't doing too well, either. He had been sitting right next to his sister. He felt he should have done something. Done more. Sam knew Taylor always double-checked, but, shouldn't, as an older brother and her guardian, should he had double-checked what she double-checked? Whenever he or Dean cooked something with onions, they always made sure to fix a portion without pure onions, for their sister. In fact, Sam could get pretty anal about it. Once, while Dean was cooking, a piece of onion had, barely touched Taylor's portion and Sam yelled at Dean, for it. Sam didn't even like cooking with seasonings that had onions in it, even though Taylor had stated she could have that, just not onions by themselves. Otherwise, she couldn't eat ketchup or tomato sauce. The guy didn't want to take chances, though, and Dean had to assure him, it was fine.

After a while, Sam had joined his brother, in pacing, even though he was usually the one to tell Dean, to calm down. The women and Cas watched as the brothers dug their way to China. If this had been a cartoon, all they would be able to see, were the tops of the brothers' heads.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doctor from before, came out, with his clipboard, calling for anyone there for Taylor Winchester.

Sam and Dean were the first to respond, dashing over to the chocolate-skinned doctor. Mindy joined them, which the other three had to stay back. Not that they didn't get into earshot.

"How is she, doc?" Dean was the first to ask.

"She's stable. We were able to treat her in time and get her airways open, again. The onions burned her throat and the inside of her mouth, so she'll be unable to talk, for a few hours. Other than that, Taylor will be fine, and you can take her home, once we get the final paperwork taken care of," he explained.

Dean released the breath of air, he hadn't realized he had been holding. He was relieved his sister had beaten another battle in her young life.

"Can we see her?" Sam asked.

The doctor nodded and led everyone down the hall, to a curtained off area, where Taylor was sitting up, on an examination bed, that was on wheels. Along with the wristband from the water park, she was, now, wearing a hospital bracelet, with her information on it.

Dean rushed over and grabbed his sister, into a firm hug, kissing the side of her head, over and over, again. "I'm so glad you're okay, Kiddo," he told her, in between. Even though Taylor couldn't speak at the moment, the way she hugged him, back, Dean knew she appreciated it, by the way she hugged him, too.

Once Dean could pull himself away, Sam grabbed their sister, into a hug, as well. Surprisingly, Cas, eventually, shoved the middle sibling out of the way and grabbed onto the kid, squeezing Taylor, in a tight hold.

Once the brothers had their turn, the girls got their turn. The doctor pulled Sam, Dean, and Mindy to the side and gave them an ongoing prescription for medicine Taylor could take if this were to happen, again, instead of having to be rushed to the hospital. But, someone would have to be comfortable giving her, a shot, for it. Sam assured him, he was, having been the one who had to inject his brother, just a year ago, with several needles. Only, Sam would be a little more, gentler, with their sister.

The doctor handed the prescription to Sam, which Mindy wrote it, down, in her paperwork. They also signed the release forms, allowing them to take Taylor, home. Outside, Mindy headed over to her car, while the others headed to Sam's SUV and Jody's rental, which Jody said, goodnight, as well.

"If Taylor's up to it, tomorrow, why not go do something," she had suggested.

"Z-oo?" Taylor managed to ask, hoarsely, which burned her throat.

"You want to go to the zoo, Bud?" Sam asked his sister, which she nodded. "Sure, we can do that." He checked in with their brother, though.

"If that's what Taylor wants to do," he shrugged. Dean would have liked to rest before he had to go back to work, but since it was the weekend of his sister's birthday, as well as the last weekend of her summer break, why not? "How about you come over for breakfast, and then we can go?"

"All right then. I'll see you in the morning." Jody waved as she headed over to the driver's side. "Good night."

"Good night," the rest of the group answered before piling into the SUV.

While Sam drove, everyone else started to doze off. Taylor was the first to fall asleep, her head rolling over, onto Cas' arm. It had been one long day, for all of them. So, when he pulled into the parking lot of the apartment and parked, Sam carried their sister, inside, sideways. Dean, Cas, and Charlie carried in Taylor's presents, and what was left of the cake, as well as John's food. Jody had remembered to grab it and informed the brothers, the manager had waived their bill.

The moment they walked in the door, John was on his feet, pissed. "Where the hell have you been?!"

Sam walked, right past his father, to go lay his sister down, in her bed, while Dean told him, "Dad, Taylor is sleeping." He kept his voice, firm, but down, so he wouldn't wake Taylor.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? I'm pretty sure water parks don't close this late," John continued. At least, he lowered his voice, a little.

"We left the park, at six, Dad," Dean said. "We just went out to dinner, for Taylor's birthday and some idiot put onions in her burger, and she had to be rushed to the hospital, where we've been, the last few hours. Okay?"

That explanation did not help, any. "What?!"

Sam came from Taylor's room, shutting the door, behind him, carefully. "Dad, shut up before you wake Taylor," he hissed at his father.

"I want to know why you, boys took your sister to the ER and did not inform me about any of it?" he demanded.

"First of all, you don't have a phone," Dean told him. "Second, all we thought about was our sister, not being able to breathe and getting her help, as soon as possible. Pure onions inflames and closes her throat. Our friend, Jody had to call for an ambulance and then follow us to the ER. I'm sorry we couldn't let you know, but Taylor comes first, especially in that kind of situation. Now, if you excuse us," Dean turned to head over to the linen closet, pulling out a still boxed air mattress. "Charlie, since our dad has the couch, we'll set this up for, for you."

Charlie thanked him. John, on the other hand, did not like his son walking away while he felt they were still talking.

"I'm still talking to you, Dean," he told him, firmly.

"Yeah, well, I'm done."

Excuse me?"

"Look, Dad," Sam jumped in, to explain, "we are tired. It's been a long day and we would rather not argue with you, right now. We just want to get to bed." With that said, Sam showed Charlie, where the bathroom was, so she could shower, first, while Dean inflated the air mattress, over in the corner of the living room and grabbed an extra comforter and pillow from the linen closet, as well. Everyone ignored John as they got ready for bed.

Cas approached Dean, inside his room, wondering if it had been a bad idea to bring John, back, in the first place.

"No, Cas," Dean assured the angel. "It was good you brought our dad, back, for Taylor. That was awesome, actually. We'll deal with Dad. Now that Sam and I are older and learned a few things, Dad can't really control us, anymore. It may even be the best thing for us, as a family."

He nodded. "I'll take off, then. Thanks for inviting me, to Taylor's party."

Dean smiled, "Thanks for being there, buddy. It means a lot, and not just to Taylor."

Cas smiled, at that, before he vanished, with a flutter of wings.

When everyone was showered and ready for bed, Sam, Dean, and Charlie laid down and fell asleep.

The next morning, around six, Taylor was the first one, up. She wandered to the bathroom, first, rubbing her eye, shutting the door, behind her. She came out, a few minutes, later, drying her hands on her shirt as she made her way, to the kitchen, to start the coffee for everyone.

Sam had been awake, first. He had just laid there, for a while, trying to wake up. He, eventually, came out of his room while Taylor was filling up the coffee pot, with water. Leaning over, behind her, Sam kissed the side of her forehead, his arms wrapped around her.

"How do you feel, Bud? How's the throat?"

"Better." Her voice didn't sound as hoarse as it had last night.

Sam took the pot from her, to set inside it's place and started it. "We're glad you're okay. You really scared us, Bud." He smiled, keeping his voice, down, since everyone else was still sleeping.

"It happened before, when I was little. That's how we found out I was allergic to onions," she explained. "I guess I forgot to check, to make sure."

"Yeah, you're usually pretty good about that. But, everything's okay, now, and the doctor gave us a prescription to give you, in case it happens, again."

"More medicine?" Taylor looked up at her brother, disappointment in her voice.

He nodded. "And," Sam squatted down, to look up at her, "this one, I'm gonna have to prick you with. Are you going to be okay with that?"

Taylor moaned. "No, not more shots."

"It's only if you have another allergic reaction, which we're gonna be more careful, about. Okay?"

She nodded.

Sam lifted his hand, to rub Taylor's side, comfortingly and suggested she'd go shower, since Taylor still had all that pool water in her hair. Taylor hurried off to go grab her stuff, when her and Sam heard their father, call her over.

"Sammy says to go shower," Taylor told her father.

"It'll only take a minute, baby girl." John was sitting up, on the edge of the couch.

Taylor looked back at Sam, who nodded. So, she wandered over and sat down next to the man, resting her head on his arm.

John was leaning, forward, his elbows on his legs. He looked over at Taylor. "I never got to apologize about yesterday. I guess I thought your brothers had told you about our traditions, for birthdays and holidays."

"It's okay, Daddy. It didn't hurt. I was really confused. I thought I did something wrong," she shrugged. "Matt used to spank me, sometimes, too."

"Who's Matt?" he asked.

Sam saw his sister's eyes, drop, towards the floor.

"Who's Matt, baby girl?" John insisted, but, surprisingly, remained gentle with her.

"He's Emma's husband. They were gonna adopt me, when I was six, until he hurt me."

"He's the one, who…"

Taylor nodded against his arm, at the floor. "The first one, anyway."

Sam saw his father close his eyes, while staring at the floor, as well. He opened them, to wrap Taylor, in a hug.

"I'm so sorry, baby girl. I'm so sorry."

Taylor held onto their father, which Sam heard her, sniff. "I thought of you, the whole time, and the promise you gave me."

"Promise?" John let go, to look at her.

"The one you wrote on the back of the picture you left me, of you and my big brothers. That, maybe we'll see each other, again. I prayed for that, every day until Sammy and Dean found me," she told him.

John forced a smile. Sam knew their father had only put that for wishful thinking. John knew from the beginning, finding and killing the demon would be the death of him. Without another word, he leaned over to kiss Taylor on the forehead, before sending her off, to shower, like Sam had said.

When Taylor was in the shower, John had wandered into the kitchen, where Sam was pouring a cup of coffee.

Sam noticed his father, standing there. "Cups are here, Dad," he placed a hand on the cupboard, above his head. "Our friend, Jody's coming over, for breakfast. Dean and I will start cooking once she gets here. Then, we're gonna head over to the zoo, to finish up Taylor's birthday weekend." He moved so his father could pour himself some coffee.

John took his son's place, grabbing a cup.

Sam, of course, was drinking from the one Taylor had made for him. It was his favorite, and used it, the most.

"Sam," John started, pouring some coffee in a cup.

Hm?" Sam acknowledged his father, from his cup.

"Have you and your brother walked away from the job?"

He lowered his cup. "Just temporary. Dean and I needed a clean slate, to be able to get custody of Taylor. So, we stepped away, moved here, and got real jobs. It's been one wild ride, the past year. Not only did we have to prove to Mindy, Taylor's caseworker, and her judge, we were fit to care for her, we also had to get through to Taylor." Sam held out his arm, pulling up the sleeve of his pajama shirt, to show his bite scar to his dad. "This is from one of Taylor's old episodes when she would get locked into a distant memory of either Matt or her other foster father, hurting her. She would bite them, to try and get them to stop, so since I was holding her, Taylor bit me, thinking I was them. Bit down, pretty hard, too."

John stared at the mark. He didn't say anything about it. Instead, he looked up at Sam. "So, you haven't been making sure nothing was around you, that could pose a threat for your sister?" he asked, instead.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "You mean, the job? I do, sometimes. Then, I would call or email another hunter, to alert them."

"So, you don't go after it, yourself?"

"No. We have Taylor, to think about. Dean and I have to be here, for when Mindy or her CASA, Helen, comes by. Plus, she has therapy on Thursdays, and now and then, we all meet, together, to go over Taylor's progress she's making. We also meet with her teacher, for parent-teacher conferences, to discuss her educational progress."

"Are you, at least, teaching her, to protect herself? She knows about vampires, and your angel pal says, her foster parents were possessed by demons. Have you been?"

"Yes, we discuss it, over dinner," Sam answered. "She knows each kind of monster and what their weaknesses are."

"And, you took her out and taught her how to shoot, right?"

"No. The only shooting we've done, the past seven months, was with a friend of mine, from work, and that was for fun, which Taylor stayed home, with Cas, for."

"I'll take your sister out, then," it was as if it was already decided.

"Um, no. Dean and I thought about taking Taylor, shooting, but, we decided against it."

"And, why did you and Dean think that is a good idea?" he asked of his son.

"Because, we realized the minute Dean and I put a gun in her hand, that would be it, for Taylor. We're not letting our sister become a hunter, Dad. In fact, I, actually, started a college fund for when Taylor graduates from high school."

"It's not about becoming a hunter, Sam. It's about Taylor, being able to protect herself."

"No, Dad," Sam told his father. "We," he pointed at himself, "as in Dean and I, we protect Taylor."

"And, what do you think is gonna happen when she goes off to college. By herself?" John argued. "If you or Dean, aren't gonna do it, Sam, I will."

"You heard what Dean said, yesterday. We have custody over our sister, not you. We, both say, Taylor's not going to learn to shoot."

"You may have custody, Sam, but, I am still her father."

"Yeah, a father who abandoned her!" Their heads turned at the newcomer, to see Dean had come around the corner.

John wasted no time, in retaliating. "I did not abandon your sister, Dean! I was protecting her."

"Call it whatever you want, but, you are just to blame, as her mother is," he argued. Sam couldn't believe his brother was finally standing up to their father, himself. "You walked away from your own kid, when she never asked to be born. You've seen it." Dean pointed towards his sister's room, "That little girl still has nightmares of the horrors she had to live."

John set his cup on the counter and stepped towards his firstborn. "You have no idea how I felt, that day, son," he said, firmly, raising his voice, a little. "You weren't there."

"Yeah, I wish I had been, because I would have taken Taylor, in a heartbeat!"

"You think so? You would have taken your sister, right into the mess we lived in and risked her life?!"

"I'd rather her get hurt by a monster than have my sister be raped, twice, by a human!" Dean yelled that at the top of his lungs, getting right into his dad's face.

John stood there, just staring at his son. Suddenly, Sam noticed his father's fist curl, tightly. Before he could do anything about it, though, John slugged Dean, in the side of the face, right as Taylor had come from the bathroom, in fresh clothes.

Dean caught himself, on the table, holding onto it. Out of reflex, he tried to slug back when Taylor jumped in the middle and slugged John, instead, getting him in his lower gut. John, keeled over, in pain. Between the karate lessons she had been taking, and Dean sparring with her, as well. Plus, being a Winchester, herself, Taylor had it in her.

"Don't hit my big bro!" she exclaimed, angrily.

John looked up, panting, in pain, to a hard-pressed, thirteen-year-old girl, glaring at him, tears in her eyes. The moment their eyes locked, the man got to his feet and looked over at Dean. Taylor stepped to the side, as if to guard her brother. He looked around the room, as everyone stared at him, no one saying a word. Charlie had wandered over, curious what all the commotion was.

As usual when things got this way, John started for the door, opening it.

What caught the brothers by even more surprise than before was when they heard Taylor call out, "Don't come back."

John stopped in his tracks. He turned around to ask, confused, "What?"

"If you walk out that door, don't ever come back!" All eyes went from the little girl, over to see how John would respond to that. They saw the man start to break down, but could tell he was trying to mask it. So, instead, he turned and walked out the door, shutting it, behind him.

The tears started to fall from her eyes and leak down her face, before Taylor turned around and cried into Dean's shirt. Dean wrapped his arms around his sister as both him and Sam glared over at the front door.

Damnit, Dad!