Disclaimers and warnings see Chapter 1
Chapter 54 Release
Sam was dumbfounded, Dean was deaf? This was the last thing he expected. He stared at Dean for a minute, then opened his mouth to talk but stopped himself and held a hand up to Dean. "Wait one minute." Sam exaggerated his mouth movements as he spoke and Dean nodded, he understood. Sam left the room and returned a minute or so later with a pad and a pen.
He sat next to the bed and wrote on the pad 'How long?' Dean wrote back.
'Since I woke up." Sam read the note looking upset.
'Sorry Dean I should have picked it up, I thought you were depressed or something.'
'Not your fault Sammy. I should have said something,but I'm a little freaked I guess. I thought it was going to go away because my ears feel weird.' Sam pulled Dean into a rough hug before grabbing the pad back up.
'I'm going to get the doctor so he can check you out and we can find out what's going on. Ok?' Dean nodded and Sam left the room to have a nurse fetch the doctor.
Brett checked Dean over then sat and explained to them both. "Dean's loss of hearing is temporary caused by the pressure on his brain after the accident. There is still some pressure there and as is subsides, the hearing should come back but it may take as long as a few months or as little as a few hours , there really is no predicting with this kind of thing."
"You said should be".
"There have been cases where the hearing is never returned or partially returned, but there is nothing wrong with Dean's eardrums, so I would say there would be a good chance of it returning. But you will suffer with balance problems that may make you feel nauseous, so don't worry if your appetite is off, as it has been, it will return when your ears clear up. As long as you have some food each day it will be ok."
"What can I do to help him?"
" I will organize someone from the deafness association to come up and give you some tips on how to communicate but you're best bet at the moment is the note pad you are using."
"Ok, thanks Brett."
Sam was conflicted on how to handle Dean, he had never known anyone that was deaf before, and he found himself either talking without realizing or treating Dean like a two year old. Bobby took the news better than Sam expected, saying Dean would get his hearing back, and for them to relax and try not to worry too much. Dean himself was quiet and almost brooding looking but his health got better and he was ready to leave in a couple of asked them to come to his place to give Dean time to recover and Sam accepted for both of them, knowing they would need time to at least get used to the situation. All of Dean's stitches were taken out, having been in for the required time.
The day before they left a woman from the deafness association came and talked to them, talking to Dean so he could read her lips and using some hand signals, some of which he was surprised he understood. She gave Dean and Sam each a book of sign language to help them communicate and gave Sam some things to think about while communicating with Dean such as, getting Dean's attention before using sign language or speaking to him and to speak expressively and use face, hand and body movements.
They left the hospital the next day, thanking Brett and all the staff who helped Dean, and headed for Bobby's. Sam drove, occasionally holding up a piece of paper with the question 'Are you ok? Do you want anything?' to which Dean stuck his thumb up indicating he was good. Sam found himself close to tears several times during the trip when he almost asked Dean what he wanted on the radio, but he blinked them away knowing Dean wouldn't want to see him feeling sorry for him.
Dean felt nauseous the whole way even though he had been careful not to eat anything before they left so he wouldn't throw up. The sunglasses helped with his eyes but not his headache. When they arrived at Bobby's, he was waiting for them and Sam took the bags into their room and Dean went for a lay down, the trip had made him very tired. Sam hovered, offering Dean food and drink but Dean indicated he just wanted to lay down, so Sam left him to it and went downstairs and ate with Bobby. Sam checked on Dean a few times, but he didn't get up for the rest of the day, and Sam went to sleep in the single bed that night, so he didn't disturb him.
The next morning Sam was up and eating breakfast before Dean rose. Dean went downstairs after having a slow careful shower, shave and change, pushing the constant dizziness to the back of his mind. He walked outside and sat on the front pouch, ignoring Sam's calls to him that he couldn't hear, and enjoyed the sun on his arms and face. Sam came out with coffee and Dean took it with a thumbs up. When Sam offered him food, Dean shook his head, not feeling like food this morning, the vertigo and queasiness out in full force. He patted the seat next to him for Sam to sit, which he did.
Dean put an arm around his shoulder and dragged Sam's chest to his and put his face in Sam's warm hair. Sam was a bit stiff next to him and Dean noticed "Just relax Sammy; I'm not made of glass." By the way Sam flinched, Dean knew he had spoken a touch loud. After a while, the heat of the sun, and the warmth from Sam's body made him sleepy and he closed his eyes almost nodding off. Sam noticed and slipped from his embrace, and pulled Dean to his feet.
Sam pulled Dean inside and made to led him upstairs, but Dean balked, having only been up for a little while and having spent the last few days in bed he was quite sick off it. Dean went and sat on the couch instead and Sam pointed to him and the stairs. Dean got the message, but shook his head. Sam threw his hands up and stomped over to the kitchen and came back with a note pad. 'You need rest, go back to bed'.
'What are you going to do?'
'I'm going into town to get food and supplies.'
'I'll go to bed if you come to.' Sam nodded and they walked upstairs and lay down.
Dean had the pad and wrote 'You better get some note pads when you go to town.' Sam nodded and Dean dropped the pad and pulled Sam into his arms. Sam was still a little stiff but at least he was laying with him,which is what he needed right then. Dean rubbed Sam's back trying to get him to relax more and found himself nodding off again, even though Sam was restless in his arms.
Sam stood up slowly, letting Dean's head fall back on the pillow softly, and stood watching his brother sleep. He looked so calm and at peace and poles apart from how he was feeling at the moment. This whole business of Dean being deaf was freaking him out more than he liked to was supposed to be the one who could handle the emotional problems, yet here he was wallowing in pity for Dean, while Dean seemed to be taking this whole thing far better than he was. The last thing he wanted Dean to do was hurry his convalescence and get back to hunting while he was deaf. If they had ever need recovery time, this was it.
Sam knew if he was in Dean's situation he would be sad and upset ,but that was him, Dean should be angry and pissed off, but he seemed to have accepted it and was moving on. Sam was even conflicted on how to handle Dean, torn between babying him and giving him room. He was as volatile as his emotions were at the needed to talk to Dean but writing on paper was hard, as it reminded him that Dean wasn't using his voice, and that's something that Sam missed a lot. Sam gathered his things and headed to town, determined to get as many of Dean's favorite things as he could.
TBC
