Hope all you Americans had a great Labor Day and you others a great start of the week. On with the story!

The sun had already burned of the dew of the night, when Dean awoke the next morning. Lying with his eyes closed, he listened to the soft steady sounds of his brother's breathing. Slowly he lifted his lids, taking in the giant lump in the other bed. In opposition to the previous day, when a catatonic Sam had stayed any the position he had been placed in, his body was now all over the bed. Lying on his belly, one leg was sticking out over the end of the bed, while the other hung almost down to the floor on the side closest to Dean. One arm stretched out along his body, the other was curled over his face as if sheltering his eyes from light. His face turned toward his brothers, his lips slightly parted; a small line of drool was slowly soaking into the sheet beneath his head. As for the pillow and sheet, it took the older man a moment to spot the latter, as it was almost hidden beneath his brother's body, while the former was pushed up against the headboard. The blanket never survived the night; it had been thrown off at sometime, knowing his brother, he guessed it had been early on and now was in lying in a heap in between both beds.

Dean smiled, Sam had never been a quiet sleeper, always tossing and turning, many times leaving his resting place in complete disarray. Plagued by nightmares, he had caused his brother and in his early years their father also, quite a few sleepless nights. There had been times, when the older brother had wished for a more quiet room-, sometimes even bed-mate, yet not today. Seeing Sam this way gave him assurance that the younger man hadn't retreated back into the abyss he had hidden in before.

Shaking his head in mild amusement, he grabbed his clothes and made his way into the bathroom. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he remembered taking a shower last night, but wasn't quite sure if it actually happened or if he only imagined it. Either way, it wouldn't hurt taking another one now and it would give him some time to think about how he was going to approach Sam today.

Stripping out of his clothes, he turned on the water and stepped under the hot stream. Almost automatically he completed the task of washing his hair and body, his thoughts never leaving his little brother. He knew things wouldn't be easy for a while yet and he wondered how far he should push their conversation without going too far. His heart ached with the need to make things better for Sam and to find out what exactly was going on in the younger man's head, but he knew he would have to put his own needs to the side. Right now he needed to be careful not to push too hard. Sam needed to be able to come out on his own and talk. Knowing himself, he was sure it wouldn't be easy for him to let his little brother do just that.

This wasn't like when Sammy was injured and he had to fix him up, suturing and cleaning wounds, wrapping twisted or broken limbs, everything out in the open and clearly visible. This was different, here his brother had to be the one to open up and show him what needed fixing. He just prayed he would have the patience to wait for it to happen; otherwise things might just get worse.

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Trying to sneak back without disturbing his brother, Dean was alarmed to find that the bed was no longer occupied and there was no sign of the younger man anywhere in the room.

"Sam…" Not getting an answer, he ran into the hallway, his heart hammering in his chest, as panic started to creep up.

"Saammyyyyy…"

"Quit hollering you idjit, he is right down here!" The call came from Bobby, who was standing at the bottom of the steps.

In his hurry to get down, Dean almost fell over his own feet. Regaining his balance at the last moment, he was relieved to find Sam sitting on the couch, dressed in jeans and a shirt, his still wet chocolate colored hair curling loosely around his face.

Noticing the questioning look, the younger man explained, "Had to use the john, so I came down here. Jo took the IV out and then helped me with a shower." He blushed slightly at the last words.

Dean smirked, but didn't say anything, there would be enough time to tease his shy little brother about this later on. Looking at his watch, he realized for the first time that it had taken him almost an hour to shower and get out of the bathroom.

"Bout time you got done," Bobby interrupted, "person can starve while you follow your need for beautification." He grumbled good-naturedly.

"Now Bobby, give the boy a break, it's obvious you have enough reserves to last for a quite some time longer without dying of hunger." Nurse Jo stuck her head out the doorway to the kitchen, "Breakfast is ready, so better come and get it before it gets cold." She added.

Standing by, yet allowing Sam to get up and walk on his own, Dean followed him closely. He sat down beside his brother, marveling at the steaming pancakes, bacon, eggs and fresh fruit.

"Bobby went to town earlier to get supplies. I thought Sam would like some fruit and I know how much you like pancakes." Jo said with a smile.

"You sure you're not secretly married to Bobby?" The older Winchester grinned.

"I'm sure, one husband is enough for me, there is no way I could handle two of them." She laughed, as the older hunter grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

Unexpected laughter coming from the youngest of their party caused everyone to look in his direction. Suddenly very self conscious, Sam blushed, "What…?"

"Nothing, it's just good to see you laugh, bitch!"

"Jerk!" Shoving a fork full of egg in his mouth, the younger man hid behind his long bangs.

Instead of saying anything else, Dean squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, before turning to Jo, "Guess we need to keep you around. Not only do you get Bobby to eat out of your hand, you also make Sammy laugh." His eyes conveyed much more to the experienced nurse though, saying, "You have no idea how much this means."

Her unspoken answer was just as easy to understand, "Whatever it takes!"

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Although Dean really wanted to talk to his brother as soon as possible, he decided it would be better to give the younger man time to rest. It didn't take long for Sam to fall asleep after he lay down on the couch. Two hours later the arrival of Dr. Carmichael woke him from his slumber. After checking the young Winchester out, the doc scribbled something on a pad, before tearing the paper off and handing it to Sam.

"This is a prescription for your new meds. I want you to start on them today and then take one tablet every day for the next month, after that we are going to wean off. I want to do blood tests every week and if everything goes alright, we can take you off the steroids completely. "

"Thanks." The younger man held on to the paper, his eyes never leaving the physician.

His mouth opened and closed several times, while his breath hitched ever so slightly with suppressed anxiety.

"Are you sure it was only the medication that…that made me…" Sam finally pressed out, his large hazel orbs filled with need for redemption, continued to be glued to the transplant surgeon.

"You mean was it the medication that made you hurt your brother?" Dr. Carmichael asked kindly.

"Y…yes…"

"It was! Sam, I've gotten to know you at least a little bit and I also have worked with a lot of patients in my time. I promise you, it was the medications that caused you to act the way you did."

Suddenly all tension went out of the young man. A loud sigh came from his lips and his eyes filled with moisture. Closing his lids over them, he sat for just a moment, trying to collect himself, before he whispered, "Thanks, I know it's not going to take it away, I'm still the one that hurt Dean, but at least I know didn't do it on purpose. "

The surgeon couldn't help the sudden warmth filling his heart. It wasn't often that he saw his kind of reaction. It was more likely for someone to use drugs as an excuse for any wrong doing, denying any guilt of their own. This young man on the other side had obviously put any guilt on his shoulders, ready to take it on, which most likely would have caused him to break, yet desperately hoping to find relief in not having been in control completely. It was clear he would always blame himself for what he did, but this would at least make it easier.

Locking eyes with his patient, Dr. Carmichael said in a firm voice, "Sam, please don't blame yourself for what happened. Steroid rage happens very rarely from prednisone, yet any observant physician should have been able to pick up on the signs. You were the victim here."

"We are still responsible for our actions." The young hunter stood and looked at him, grateful, yet unwilling to put all the blame on some drug, "If we are done, I think I will go upstairs."

"Sure, I'll see you tomorrow, before I leave."

Waiting until Sam disappeared up the stairs, the doctor turned to Dean, and "He is taking things very serious, isn't he?"

"You tell me doc!" The firstborn Winchester responded, "Sammy has always put the guilt of the world on his shoulders. Kid has been through way too much in his life."

"From what I heard, it hasn't been easy for you either, losing your mom early on, practically raising your little brother since you were only four, because your father was busy being a hunter."

For a long moment it was so quiet in the room, a pin dropping would have sounded like thunder. Dean exchanged a look with Bobby, who had been silently sitting in the background. It took several minutes before the younger man found his voice again.

"…but how?"

"How did I know?" The doc smiled, "My father was a surgeon, worked at a big trauma center in Philadelphia. One night a young woman and her two small children were brought into the emergency room after a car accident. All three were so severely injured; they died before they made it to the operating room. The man, who plowed into them with his car survived, because my father was able to save him. The husband of the woman blamed my father, threatened to kill him. He committed suicide the same night."

He stopped for a moment, looking at the two men in front of him. "Three month after this my father was killed on the same stretch of road where the accident happened. Two days the nurse that assisted him was killed in the same place. It seemed like a weird coincident, but no one really thought there was a connection. After the funeral my mother took my sister and me to our grandmother. We were on the same stretch of road, when the car suddenly swerved out of control. I'm not exactly sure what happened, I was eight at the time, my sister ten, but we were really scared and thought we were going to die. I remember my mom screaming and her hands were up in the air, like someone had tied them together. The steering wheel was turning and then without warning the car stopped. I remember my sister and I were crying and my mom just sat there. And then this guy showed up, told us we needed to get out of there right away, go home and that he was going o take care of things, told my mom he would explain later."

"Let me guess, he was a hunter?" Bobby asked.

"Right, he showed up at our house the next day, told us we probably wouldn't belief him, but that an angry spirit had tried to kill us, but that he had taken care of it. He told us his name was Samuel Campbell. My mom and sister thought he was nuts, but I never forgot about him. I could never find him again, but when I got older I started to dig around and found out more about this group of people calling themselves hunters. I made contact and offered my services. Quite a few have taken me up on it since then and I gladly continue to do whatever I can.

"I still don't understand how you knew we were hunters."

"Dean," He smiled again, "The name Winchester is well known in the hunting community. Your dad has helped a lot of people over the years and you and your brother are not completely unknown either."

"Did, did you ever meet our dad?" Dean suddenly needed to know.

"Sorry to say, I never did, or maybe it was good, because if I would have, it probably would have been because he was injured."

Still shocked from the revelation the young hunter asked, "But why did you wait until now to tell us?"

"I don't know, maybe because there wasn't a need for it. But the situation changed now. I felt you needed to know that I have an idea what your life is like, otherwise you wouldn't listen to what I have to say."

Dean looked at the surgeon for a while, sizing him up. What he knew of the man up to now, gave him no reason to believe he had anything but good intentions. Still, in this line of work one couldn't be too careful. Turning back towards Bobby, he read approval in the older man's eyes.

"Okay, so what do you have say?"

"Like you said, Sam has been through a lot in his not so long life. I heard a lot of rumors about him…"

He held his hand up, when Dean tried to protest, "Don't worry, I don't listen to rumors, only hard facts, but I know how he lost his girlfriend and how both of you lost your mother. I also know that it has something to do with a demon. Anything else never mattered and if I would have had any doubt, it would have been taken away by meeting you guys."

He paused for a moment, taking in the reaction of the two men before him. Satisfied by what he saw, he continued, "I'm really surprised by how well Sam is doing. The depression he was diagnosed with is obviously only a mild case and pretty normal for what he is going through. But I need you do understand that the only reason for this is because he has you. I know you don't like to take credit, but it's important that you do."

The older Winchester gave him a strange look, while Bobby smiled, understanding what he was trying to say.

"Sam depends on you and if you deny credit for this right now, he is likely to get lost. He needs to know that you won't drop him."

"Hey, I would never do that." Dean protested, "Sammy knows that!"

Dr. Carmichael smiled then turned serious again, "Yes, he does, but he is suffering from depression and he does have a load to carry with his transplant and everything that happened before and after. He needs you to be there and acknowledge how important you are to him. False humility is not called for right now. No one is asking you to brag, just to take credit, instead of telling him he is strong and did it all by himself. He is too smart to believe that. And before you say it, I know your brother isn't a weakling, he wouldn't have made it this far, if he would be, but the fact remains, if you wouldn't be there he would have no reason to hold on."

For a long time silence was hanging in the room like a rain cloud, as Dean contemplated, what to make of what the surgeon just told him. He never thought much about his part in anything, feeling that it was important to build up his brother's barely existing confidence. For someone to tell him the opposite, was something very new to him. Yet the longer he thought about it, the more it made sense. Doc didn't really ask him to keep from building Sam up, but rather let his baby brother know that he understood the importance of being the big brother and that he was the was going to be there for him.

"Alright, I guess I understand what you're trying to say." He said at last.

"Great!" The surgeon was glad he got through to the young man, "You have to have patient with your brother, let him go at his own pace, but don't deny him to do what he feels is important."

"What do you mean?"

At this point Bobby couldn't hold back, "He means that if Sam wants to go back to hunting, you have to let him, you idjit!"

An exasperated gasp followed his words, making Dr. Carmichael smirk and the older Winchester huff.

"Bobby is right, but I don't think Sam will feel up to going anywhere near a hunt anytime soon. So I don't think you have to worry. Bu I want to make sure that you understand it is perfectly fine for him to do whatever he wants, as long as he keeps his regular check-ups. I'm going to make sure that from now on all lab results will be fax or e-mailed to me. I'm not going to put up with any other physicians possibly putting him in danger. There is only one exception - Doc Finch, I trust her and know she is going to consult me. "

"You sure it's okay? We are not always within an easy distant from medical care?" Dean suddenly didn't feel very comfortable. Even though hunting was his life, he had silently resigned himself to never do it again in order to keep his brother safe.

"It's perfectly fine, as long as Sam has his meds and keeps his appointments. I also want your e-mail and cell phone numbers, so I always can get a hold of you. I already wrote mine down for you, including my private one and the one of my wife, in case you can't get in touch with me." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a card and handed it to Dean.

"Thanks, I don't really know what to say?"

"Its okay, whatever I can do to help. After all, you are the ones, who keep us all safe!"

TBS

So this chapter went in a direction that I didn't plan to take it. Hope you liked it. Hugs, Vonnie