The days at the centre went excruciatingly slow. The three siblings were all very private people, but privacy was the one thing they didn't get. Madeline was practically always in their room. The boys loved her because of her food and gentleness. Emily, who spent most of the time sleeping, liked her because her brothers did. Dr. Roth popped in whenever he was on break. He apparently enjoyed their company. When he'd told them, they thought he was being sarcastic, but he wasn't. They soon found out that the man had a quirky sense of humour that broke free in their company. Helen too found any excuse to come to the room. By now she had figured that Dean was just flirting harmlessly and she was never going to have any sort of relationship with him, but she still liked the attention. No one else was allowed to come to the room. They probably thought the Winchesters were a visiting celebrity or something.
The three of them were also extremely energetic and being cooped up in a small room was their definition of hell. It wasn't so bad for Emily at first because she spent much of her time sleeping as she recovered. She told her brothers they could leave the centre and explore the town, and find things to do but they wouldn't leave her alone. At the end of the stay, all three were going stir crazy, with Dean being the worst hit and Sam the least. They practically lived for the moments Emily went to radiology for her MRI scans. The only positive about the situation was that with all the attention, Dean couldn't skip on his medication, and his wounds were seen to everyday.
By the time the neurosurgeon, who came to the centre every afternoon said it was safe for Emily to be released, the three were more than ready to leave. It had only been three and a half days. Any longer and they were going to break out of the centre, screw the consequences.
They didn't even see the bill, which was cleared by Madeline and the unseen Peter. The three of them had to leave at night when no one else was around.
"This doesn't mean you can go running into walls or whatever happened to you." Dr. Roth cautioned like a grandfather. He had never attached like this to any of his patients and he had been a doctor a long time. "You have to take things slow, let yourself heal. Take your medication."
"You know I will Dr. Roth." Emily laughed. She was feeling great. Going through the forced near total bed rest had been hell but the results were good. The headaches still assailed her, but they were now bearable with painkillers. The neurosurgeon had said it would be a while before they went away completely.
"Only because Sam will remind you. Don't think I haven't noticed how bad you and Dean are at looking after yourselves!"
"Hey!" Dean protested, while Sam smiled. They shook the doctors hand, hugged Madeline and Helen and got into the car.
"Take care of yourselves, you hear?" Madeline said, with tears in her eyes. She owed these three kids everything.
"Sure thing."
The car started with its throaty purr and the three were off.
"Let's not do that again, okay?" Dean said as they exited the town fifteen minutes later.
"Which part?" Sam asked.
"The whole thing. You two scaring me to death, getting stuck in a hospital room for years, having no time to ourselves!"
"Delicious meals that were also healthy, hot water in the shower, free wifi and cable!" Sam added.
"All of which would have been more enjoyable if we were not constantly entertaining other people!" Dean quipped.
"Yeah!" Emily agreed. Everyone had been nice, but the attention had gotten a little cloying.
"You two are just antisocial!" Sam laughed.
"Please! We saw you roll your eyes when Madeline walked in this morning!" Emily shot back.
Sam smiled guiltily. Yeah, maybe they were all antisocial. Dean turned on the radio, not too loud in deference to Emily. The third song that played got them all singing. 'It's what you value', by George Harrison.
Someone's driving a 450
And his friends are so wild
They're still in their stick shifties
But they feel they have much more style
But I've found . . .
It's all up to what you value
Down to where you are
It all swings on the pain you've gone through
Getting where you are
It's all up to what you value
In your motor car
It all rests on what it's cost you
Getting where you are
It's what you value
Someone's driving a 6-wheeler
Seems the world is all blurred
Knows he's in a show stealer
With a sound that's uncompared
And I've found
It's all up to what you value
Down to where you are
It all swings on the pain you've gone through
Getting where you are
It's all up to what you value
In your motor car
It all rests on what it cost's you
Getting where you are
It's what you value.
All three sang.
If someone had asked each one, what he or she valued, the answer would have been the same. Each other.
~the end~