Dark Side of the Moon
Braden blinked his eyes over and over the world feeling too bright. He began to sit up but quickly felt a hand hold him down. "Whoa there buddy," Chris said, "too much too soon, must relax."
"What, why are you here, what time is it?" Braden asked disoriented.
"I'm here because even though I got off shift and I just couldn't go home knowing you were here. It is 9:30 in the morning and Morgan is on a coffee run but should be back in a minute."
"My Dad?" Braden asked squinting in discomfort.
"They are keeping him sedated for now so his throat can heal. He is stable but the damage really won't be known until they let him wake up. You suffered a concussion and needed 8 stitches to close that laceration on your noggin; you went down like a ton of bricks."
"Is that why my knees hurt?" Braden asked.
"Yep, sure is. How's the head feel?"
"In a lot pain. Where's my dad?"
"Third floor, room 310 and he is sleeping peacefully. You are to stay here until you are released and can't drive for three to five days per Doctor Millington."
Braden was about to protest when Morgan came through the door. "You're awake, how do you feel?"
"Uncomfortable, how's my dad?" Braden asked again.
"You just asked me that don't you remember?" Chris asked concerned for Braden's memory.
"Yeah but I know she'll be more truthful."
"He's sleeping, but his vitals are good," Morgan said sitting on the edge bed.
"What is your full name?" Chris asked.
Braden looked at him like he was an idiot but answered anyway, "Braden John Winchester, I'm twenty years old and I work for Mercy Ambulance Company, that's Morgan my girlfriend, my mom is Mia my brother is Jack and my dad is Dean who I would really like to see right now," Braden finished, sitting up.
Braden felt great until he was completely upright and then the dizziness hit him full force and he had to sit back down.
"I told you to take it easy," Chris reminded.
"You did?" Braden asked concerned.
"No but I was thinking it," Chris said steadying his friend.
The trio finally made their way to Dean's room to find Mia, Sam and Carrie sitting quietly.
"Braden how are you?" Mia asked getting up.
"I'll be okay I'm just worried about Dad, where's Jack?"
"Katie took him home a couple of hours ago; he was wiped out from being on overload. She did take him up to see you before they left," Sam said.
The doctor came by and explained to everybody what Chris had already said. He also looked at Braden's head and said he needed to take it very easy the next few days and then ease back in to his routine slowly. He needed a wound check in a week. Morgan said she would bring the car around while Sam volunteered to wheel Braden down in the hospital required wheelchair. Braden didn't want to leave Dean's bedside but his pounding head and waves of nausea made him realize that some rest would be a good thing.
"So you're going to go home and rest and not do anything stupid right?" Sam asked as they made their way down the hall.
"Sam I can't even stand up without wanting to vomit, so, no you don't have to worry about me doing anything stupid at least not yet," Braden assured.
"Let me make it clear that just because your dad isn't here to stop you doesn't mean I won't. We both want this bastard dead and we will both make it so. I will find it; track and you get yourself better so we can finish what we started. You do nothing on your own, understand?" Sam asked.
"Got it boss, but I want this thing dead and soon, he doesn't get to live after what he did. I want to be the one to stop his heart," Braden said crisply as he shielded his eyes from the sun as they made their way to the pick-up area and Morgan.
Braden slept on and off for hours when he woke up once he felt an arm on him and looked over to see Jack lying next to him. "He needed to be with you," Katie whispered.
Jack was zonked out his eyes twitching indicating a dream of great proportions going on behind closed eyes.
"My dad?" Braden asked quietly.
"No change, he's still under sedation. You did an amazing job keeping him alive, I heard the doctors talking about it, and they were duly impressed."
"Where's Morgan?" Braden asked ignoring Katie's praise.
"She was going to get some supplies for Mia and check on your dad, she should be back soon. How do you feel?"
"Not too bad other than the pounding in my skull," Braden answered carefully extricating himself from Jack.
"Well I'm supposed to make sure you don't overdo it," Katie said trying to lend a hand in getting her cousin out of bed.
Braden got up and waited for the wave of nausea and dizziness but was relieved that it never came. He winced as he felt around for his wound noticing they had clipped some hair from the area.
"You can hardly see it," Katie said as she saw what Braden was doing.
"I just hope I can grow hair over it again," Braden said sighing.
"They did some kind of knot or procedure that will minimize the scarring and allow for hair growth," Katie said.
"Really?"
"That's what I heard them say," Katie said steering Braden to the couch. "So how did you work on your dad for that long without falling over?"
"I have no idea, adrenaline I guess."
Katie met her friend outside to get the notes from class she missed and Braden took the opportunity to call Joey. "I'm not sure I can't get much of an answer on how he is, I'm glad Sam called you though," Braden answered Joey. "I'm at home right now healing, but I already feel much better. Joey I want this thing dead, I want to do it myself. Can you track it, find and let me know where it is?"
"Yeah I can find it, I'll start at the house where you were and go from there. Doesn't Sam want in on this, I mean I'm sure he isn't comfortable with you going it alone," Joey said.
"He is going to stay at the hospital 24/7 I think. I want to get this done sooner than later and I need your help, Sam said you would be a better asset for me right now since he isn't thinking straight."
"I can understand that, but you have to promise me you are 100% before we do this."
"I promise," Braden said finishing up as Katie and Morgan stepped into the living room."
Braden spent the next several days resting and at the hospital watching over Dean and trying to keep Mia calm. The doctors had finally decided to begin to wean Dean off the sedatives and allow him to regain consciousness. Braden and Mia refused to leave and Sam had broken away in order to be there when Dean woke up. Dean hadn't been alone since he had entered the hospital, Mia rarely left his side and often Braden sat bedside as well and Sam was often tapping away on his laptop trying to keep up with his workload but often found it difficult to concentrate as his attention constantly drifted to his fallen brother. Dean had a solid foundation and they were all anxiously waiting for him to wake up and show them he was okay.
Finally the man began to stir and Braden ran off to find the doctor. His eyes blinked as he attempted to reconcile what was around him. He tried to focus on who was calling his name and was happy to see Mia leaning over him, but why was she leaning over him, where was he? The last thing he remembered was seeing Braden fall in the darkness of that house they had been in, then he vaguely recalled Braden yelling at him to hang in there. Wait where was Braden, Dean wanted to cry out for his son, but his voice wouldn't co-operate, what the hell was going on? He was beginning to panic when he saw two more figures appear above him and thankfully one of them was Braden. He again tried to force words out but was unable to do so.
"Mr. Winchester, don't try and talk I want you to just relax and listen to me. Do you remember what happened?" The doctor asked.
Dean shook his head no.
"Okay apparently you were attacked and your assailant choked you quite severely causing you to lose consciousness as well as stopping your heart and breathing. Your son's medical training saved your life. Your throat was so swelled up that he was forced to bypass that to ensure that you got adequate oxygen. In fact we used the opening he made to continue your air flow for the last several days."
Dean's eyes had grown huge as they searched for his son.
"We have kept you sedated for five days in order for your throat to have a chance to heal, but I want you to understand that you need to refrain from talking and you will be on a liquid only diet for a while. We don't know how much damage has been done to your vocal chords so it really is in your best interest to stay quiet. We will be taking you for some tests later today to see what we can, but please follow these instructions. The nurse will be bringing in a dry erase board so you can write out any requests or questions," the doctor concluded.
Braden took Mia's spot as she went to speak with the doctor; Sam who had quietly joined the group now hovered over Braden's shoulder. "Hey Dad, it's great to see your eyes open."
Dean waved his hands around wanting to write something down as his voice still wouldn't work. Sam pulled out a pad from his briefcase and a pen from his pocket. Dean wrote quickly 'is it dead'.
"No sir we couldn't get it, but we are searching and are really close," Braden said.
'Not alone' Dean wrote.
"No sir, with Uncle Sam, I promise," Braden said.
'R U ok?'
"Yes sir we both are," Braden answered.
'UR head?'
"It's fine, really I'm fine," Braden said again.
'U saved me? My ribs hurt, what happened?'
"You stopped breathing and your heart stopped I gave you CPR and I uh, I uh broke your ribs, sorry, but it happens. I had to cut open your throat because it was swollen and I couldn't get air through anymore. Sam helped me and together we got you out of there alive."
'thank you' Dean finished before he fell asleep.
"Sam how close are you to finding this thing?" Braden asked.
"I think I have it narrowed down to a neighborhood, the warehouse district, lots of great places to hide. I'll call you tomorrow and we can start planning," Sam said.
"Okay, 'til then," Braden said saying goodbye.
Braden settled himself in the driver's seat relieved that his father had been awake and cognizant but he couldn't wait for Sam his rage was now and this monster was going down. Joey knew where it was and its reign was over. He hated going against his father and uncles wishes but his father had been dead and holding that life in his hands had brought out some primal urge for vengeance.
Later that night Joey asked, "are you sure Sam is okay with this? I am not going to come between you guys so you better be telling me the truth; remember we always pledged truth first right?" Joey asked.
"Yep, Sam is exhausted, I got plenty of rest because of my in injury but Sam has been working and sitting with my dad around the clock so he has to bow out and we can't wait any longer God only knows how high this body count will go if we don't act."
"Okay I know he has been staying on the 3rd floor of this warehouse, he stays inside until about 3:30 then he is off on the hunt. He has killed several animals to keep suspicion off of him but I'm sure he can't last much longer on that before he won't be able to hold back any longer and goes after a person," Joey said.
"Then we can't wait a moment longer," Braden said getting his gear in order.
"You stay here and I'll do my part," Joey said heading into the building.
Braden swallowed the lump in his throat and hoped this would all come out as planned. He waited for what seemed an eternity until the subject at hand came flying out the window and landed with a thud at Braden's feet. Braden turned to protect himself from the falling glass as the subject moaned, and was dazed but by no means dead, at least not yet.
"Thought you could kill a Winchester and just walk away huh? I'm here to let you know differently you sonofabitch. You can't go around killing people especially my father," Braden slamming the tire iron onto the creatures head much like he had done to Braden the week before. "You can't harm people in order to survive it's just not right," Braden yelled hitting the Rugaru over and over until the thing moved no more.
"Braden set him on fire, do it now," Joey implored.
Braden's rage still unspent kicked at the creature but finally dumped the jug of kerosene on top of the bloody mass and set him ablaze. But he only had reprieve from his anger and heartache for a moment when Sam pulled up.
"Goddammit Braden I told you to wait," Sam yelled slamming the car door behind him.
"What! You told me he was okay with this," Joey stated.
"You did what? Why would you ever think I would let him hunt alone, not yet not for a long while, we agreed on tomorrow night," Sam said angrily.
"And that's why he pushed to get this done tonight," Joey said glaring at Braden who looked uneasy.
Sam ran his hand through his thick mop, "that's just great man, just great."
Joey took a harder line having been taken advantage of and stepped over handing out a pretty severe slap across Braden's face. "You lied to me, over and over you lied."
"Joey I'm sorry, I needed your help," Braden yelled at the rapidly departing vampire.
"He looks pretty dead to me," Sam said toeing at the ash.
"Don't tell Dad, just let him know the deed is done," Braden said grabbing his items and putting them in his trunk.
"I won't tell him, he doesn't need the stress right now, but when he is recovered you will be telling him," Sam said as he turned and walked away still running his hand through his hair and mumbling his fury.
Braden's plan was to go home to Morgan and a comfortable bed as he went back to work in the morning but he instead he found himself pulling up to the hospital. He made his way up to his father's room, he just wanted to peek in on him and make sure everything was well, but Mia was still bedside and didn't let him get far.
"Braden what are you doing here?"
"Just checking on you guys before I went home and to bed," Braden said as Dean stirred.
"What happened to your face?" she asked as Braden had come into the light.
"What, nothing, I must have cut myself shaving," Braden lied.
"Right because you shave your forehead," Mia said arms suddenly crossed.
"Puberty is a bitch," Braden said.
Dean who was now fully awake was banging on his dry erase board. 'what happened?'
"Nothing, I'm fine, nothing happened."
'liar'
"You're monster's dead," Braden said as took the bedside mirror and looked at the cuts on his face that must have happened while the glass had fallen.
'alone'
"No sir, Joey helped and Sam was there," Braden said not lying but not completely honest.
'Did it go okay?'
"It went just fine, cut and dried," Braden said. "I need to go home and get some sleep but I'll stop by tomorrow, I love you Dad."
Braden went home and wondered when Dean would find out the truth. Braden went back to work and stopped by the hospital where Dean was recovering nicely. His voice was now a raspy whisper and there seemed to be no long term effects of the strangulation. His ribs were still sore but he was managing and could go home. Sam showed up to help get Dean to the car and home, though Dean was relieved to see his house he was disappointed that Braden wasn't there to help or greet him.
"Is he hiding something?" Dean asked Sam as he eased onto the couch.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Something's not right, he is avoiding me and I want to know why," Dean croaked out.
