Disclaimers and warnings see Chapter 1
Chapter 52 Wait
After half an hour, Bobby showed up with Matt in tow, and pulled Sam roughly to his feet, hugging him hard. That's when the water works started, Sam couldn't help himself as he sobbed into Bobby shoulder, the older hunter patting Sam on the back, encouraging him to let it all out. Sam settled down to hitches and wiped his eyes with his sleeve before Bobby did the same.
Matt turned out to be ok, he had a small plaster over his nose and some bruising. He was concerned about Dean, and very apologetic to Sam. "There was nothing you could have done. Dean will be ok, he always is." Sam spoke with more confidence than he felt. "Anyway, you guys should go do the job. I would come but I should be …" Bobby held up a hand.
"I know Sam you need to be with Dean. Well I'm not going anywhere either."
"Bobby, Dean would want the job done; he gave me that bowl when he was trapped in the car, so go do has to be done tonight and Dean wouldn't want someone else to die because of him. I will keep you updated. The doctor said he will be out of it for the next few hours at least." Bobby looked conflicted about leaving Sam. "Please go Bobby, you know that's what Dean would tell you if he was awake."
"Ok but keep in contact." Bobby hugged Sam hard before he left.
Sam was taken in, fifteen minutes later to see Dean, and found him surrounded by machines and tubes as expected, but he still hated seeing them on his brother. Sam saw the bag of blood hanging there, his blood, with all sorts of stickers all over it, the tube running into Dean's arm. Sam came to Dean's side, gripping his brother's left hand and was surprised to feel a weak squeeze. "Hey keep fighting big brother. You can do it." Sam's tears splashed on Dean's hand.
Dean was pale and unresponsive, bandages covering most of his head and a lot of smaller dressings all over his body. There was a fair amount of cuts and grazes that weren't covered up as well, reminding Sam to much of Dean's last car accident. Sam pulled a chair over and sat holding Dean's hand, waiting for him to wake up.
Sam called Bobby a couple of hours later and updated him of Dean's condition, then went back to his side. Dean remained the same until morning, when Sam finally got a weak squeeze back on his hand "Hey babe, that's it you can do it, wake up for Sammy. I'm here for you Dean." Sam squeezed again and then squeezed Dean's tattoo, Dean gripped his hand for a second, then his hand went limp in Sam's again.
Bobby came in after lunch, taking in Sam's position next to his brother, through the glass. The kid was on a knifes edge, Bobby could tell just by looking at him, he had been here to many times to count. He had dropped Matt off at an uncles on the way back, so he was free to be with the boys, and give them any support he could. Instead of going in, Bobby headed to the nurses station to talk to Dean's doctor about getting some help for his younger brother, even if it was just somewhere to sleep.
The nurses bought a softer reclining chair for Sam and Bobby took the hard plastic. Sam was in too much shock to ask questions about why and just sat tiredly, once Bobby had finished pushing him back in the chair. "Get some rest kid; I will keep an eye on your brother." Sam nodded wearily and tugged the chair closer to the bed so that he could hold Dean's hand as he slept.
Sam dozed uncomfortably next to his brother for the next six hours with no change from Dean. Bobby eventually woke Sam with sandwiches and coffee. Sam hardly kept his eyes off Dean as he ate and Bobby saw the frown that had been present since the previous evening. "He'll be ok Sam. We all know by know what a fighter he is."
"I know Bobby, I'm just tired of it always being Dean in this situation all the time. He wasn't even at the hunt this time, just hit by a friggin drunk driver."
Sam had been told that morning that the driver of the SUV had died and the alcohol in his blood was a staggering 0.21. The police were surprised he could even keep a vehicle on the road in that condition. "Does he have a 'hit me' on his forehead or something? It's just not fair." Sam wiped his tears away angrily.
"I know son, I know."Bobby came over and pulled Sam to his feet and hugged him tight. Sam took him a few minutes to calm down and when he pulled back, Bobby had tears in his eyes as well. Sam felt bad that he had fallen apart twice in front of Bobby now.
But if he couldn't do it in front of Bobby who then? He didn't have the barriers to put up that his brother had. He hoped he would never find out what Dean's reaction to him being hurt badly would be, now that they were that much closer.
Sam dozed for another couple of hours, before feeling pressure on his hand, and when he sat up sleepily, he noticed Dean's eyes were open. He stood over Dean and looked into his rapidly blinking eyes, squeezing Dean's hand. "Dean, thank God." Sam bent down and kissed Deans cheek, being careful around the tubes, wires and bandages. Dean stared back at him with a slight frown on his face, but squeezed Sam's hand back as hard as he could.
Sam sat on the edge of the bed, looming over Dean, and brushed his fingers over his cheek softly "Hey babe, I'm right here. I'm not gonna leave you ok?" Dean squeezed Sam's hand, his eyes already back to blinking tiredly he let go of Sam's hand, and let his hand drop down Sam's arm to his forearm where he squeezed gently. It looked like the tattoos were fast developing into a method of communication between them and Sam squeezed Dean's back, before his eyes slid shut, and he fell back to unconsciousness.
Dean woke slowly a few hours later, to another blinding headache, and a feeling like he had cotton stuffed where his brain was meant to be. He felt the smooth plastic of the tubes in his mouth helping him breathe, the sharp pain of needles in his arm, and a weight on his left hand. Dean squeezed his left hand and felt a hard resistance amongst the soft skin. Sam's ring. Dean concentrated on his hand,searching out the ring,and rolling it between his fingers to help him ignore the pain.
Sam's fingers began to move after a while and he was looking down into Dean's pain filled face, concern there at once, that his brother was in pain. Sam leaned to the side for a moment, then looked down at Dean again, his mouth was opening and closing but Dean couldn't hear anything. It was then that he noticed he couldn't hear anything at all. No normal hospital noises, no beeping machines, he couldn't even hear the ventilator working as it fed him air. Dean had a moment of panic and squeezed Sam's hand with everything he had and tried to struggle against the machines, but all he managed was a pain filled shuffle, his body was barley responsive.
Sam noticed the panic on his face and was saying something else he couldn't hear, so he concentrated on his lips as he tried to rein in his alarm. Watching Sam's lips calmed him somewhat, then he felt the coldness of medication course through his veins and his pain subsided, but he became weighed down with exhaustion once again, and his eyes fluttered shut.
Bobby came into the room a few minutes after Dean had fallen back into drug induced sleep, with a bag of clothes and personal items for Sam and told him to go use the bathroom, while he had the chance. Sam showered, shaved and changed his clothes in the bathroom attached to the room, then returned to Dean's side, giving Bobby the bag back and thanking him once again. Bobby stood and turned Sam around and marched him to the door. "Go for a walk to the cafeteria Sam, get some food, take a walk, clear your head."
"But Bobby…"
"No buts, doc said Dean will be out for at least four hours on that injection, so I don't want to see you back here for one hour. You will need your head together for when he wakes properly." Sam hesitated then walked through the doorway.
"Thanks Bobby". Sam checked his watch as he walked towards the cafeteria, there was no way he would last an hour.
Dean woke slowly with his head aching to a slightly lesser extent than it had been and opened his eyes, blinking up at the sight of Sam with his elbows on the bed. Dean's hand was wrapped in both Sam's, with Dean's fingers against the skin of Sam's cheek. Dean moved his fingers softly against the smooth skin of Sam's face and barley registered Sam must have shaved at some point while he was sleeping. Dean pushed his pain aside and tried to smile at Sam with his eyes and his mouth around the tube, to show Sam he was happy he was looking after himself.
He felt Sam's mouth move next to his hand and looked up into his face to see Sam smiling at him, as he squeezed Dean's hand between both his. Sam's lips moved but Dean couldn't make out what he was saying, his lips were behind their locked hands. Bobby appeared behind Sam and his mouth was moving as well, but Dean heard nothing, and a confused look passed across his face.
Dean closed his eyes slowly, aware that Bobby was still talking and strained his ears as hard as he could, but there was nothing. Just an emptiness he had never experienced before and a pressure that felt like when he was under water and a feeling of his balance being off,making him feel slightly ill. Dean opened his eyes again to find two pairs of concerned eyes staring back at him and he tried to smile again to show them he was ok, but they looked even more concerned, and Dean realized he had tears in his eyes.
TBC
