AUTHOR'S NOTE: Happygoddess2003, GuestG, EmilyAnn McGarrett-Winchester, Ponygirlrunner25, HailstormJen, sjwmaw, MariaKata, Neenee75, wandamarie, JaliceJelsa4ever, Alkaline, KyatsRani, sailorsweetie, Molli3, tider58, CathaWinchester, tamilyn313, quartermileaway, Wolfhoundlove, elliesamdeangirl, ZBgirl, busygirl, Emilou99, AgentOstrovich, McLance, sbcarri, and everyone else who has reviewed, favorited, and followed me and my fics- THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Your support means A LOT to me. It seems like ever since I published Chapter 29 of Charlie's story, I've been getting a lot more complaints and fussing about the spanking in my fics. And I'll be honest, it's starting to wear on my nerves a little bit. I try to stay positive and remember how many people do enjoy my writing, but sometimes the trolls manage get under my skin. I'm about to bring out my "Mom Voice" on the next person who complains about it! But seriously, those of you who take the time to leave me a review, Thank You, and to those of you who have followed me and comment on all my fics- I love you all, and your continued support and reviews mean so much, and it makes my day when I see your names pop up, so keep it up, and I'll keep writing too! XXXOOO
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I woke up hearing talking. Grandpa John said, "Okay, Bobby, you're on speaker." His voice sounded a little echo-y.
"How ya holdin' up, Dean? How is she?" I heard Uncle Bobby's voice, but it sounded tinny. The door in the room was open- I guessed they had gone into the bathroom to talk.I turned my head and looked around. There was a styrofoam cup and a wrapped sandwich on the tray table next to the bed.
"I'm...okay. No change yet, they're still doing tests," Daddy said.
"Well, Miriam is one of the best doctors I know, and she's the one you want for somethin' like this, she's been researching viruses and stuff and how they live in the body, for decades now," Uncle Bobby said.
"Did you find anything new?" Uncle Sam asked.
"I did find somethin' interesting. The changeling is always female, and takes the child's DNA from the synovial fluid, right? Creates a changeling kid, who goes to their home and feeds on the mom, and gets rid of the dad so he can't interefere. What they've found is that the changelings need something from the female hormones and that's why the kids feed exclusively on the moms. The realtor must've seen that Charlie didn't have a mom, so she just didn't bother makin' a replacement, and just kept her around for an extra snack."
"So that's why Ben came back from the house, and Charlie didn't," I heard Daddy say.
"Any info about the toxin that's secreted? Is there an antidote?" Grandpa John asked.
"Not that I could find. There's descriptions of the toxin, says that the changeling adapted it to paralyze the victim, 'cause kids are wiggly little things, and it needed to incapacitate them so it could feed in peace. All the eyewitness accounts of survivors, and there ain't many, say that paralysis is temporary," Uncle Bobby said.
"Let's hope so," Uncle Sam said.
"Keep looking for information on the survivors, and any sort of antidote," Grandpa John said.
"Yeah, I'll keep checkin', you keep me in the loop too. Tell the rugrat I said hey."
"Will do, thanks, Bobby," Daddy replied. I heard the beep of a phone.
"All right," Uncle Sam said, "At least we got some new information. We'll see you tomorrow, Dean."
I closed my eyes and pretended I was asleep. I heard footsteps moving around and the squeak of the door hinges, and then the scrape of the chair next to my bed. I heard Daddy unwrap his sandwich, and then a heavy sigh.
"Son of a bitch," Daddy whispered. "Son- of- a- bitch."
Then I heard sniffling. I opened my eyes slightly. Daddy was sitting next to the bed, leaning over a little bit, with his hand over his eyes, and his shoulders were shaking. He was crying! I didn't know what to do. I wanted to reach out and hug him but I couldn't. His chest hitched a couple of times, and then he sat up straight and wiped his face off with his hands.
"All right, Winchester, keep it together," he said to himself in a low voice. He picked up a napkin and wiped his eyes, and then cleared his throat and took a drink from the cup. I started to fall back to sleep as he ate his hamburger.
Breakfast was scrambled eggs, toast, and sliced pears. The eggs kept falling off of the fork onto the bed, and once they fell on my chin. The pears were drippy and dripped on the sheet and my chin. Daddy and I actually laughed about it.
The door opened and a nurse walked in pulling a machine on wheels. She hooked up a blood pressure cuff and it did it's thing. Then I saw her pull out a syringe. I got scared.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Oh, we need to draw some blood," she told me. "It'll just take a second," she smiled at me.
"No!" I exclaimed. "I—I hate needles!"
"Well, it's okay, I don't have to stick you, I'm just going to take the blood from your IV port here," she lifted up my arm. My arm had tubing taped to it that went to a bag of liquid that was hanging over the bed.
"What is that? I have an IV? There's already a needle in me? No! Get it out!" I cried, starting to panic. I moved my head back and forth, even though it made the back of my neck hurt. "Get it oooouuuuutt!" I wailed, bursting into tears.
"Charlie, Charlie, what's all this?" Daddy stood up and leaned over me. "Why are you scared of needles?"
"I don't like needles!" I looked up at him through my tears. "I hate getting shots, and all that stuff, the IV and needles and stuff, it reminds me of- of Mommy, when she was getting her treatments!"
"Oh, sweetheart," Daddy sat down on the bed and lifted me up to hug me. "Shh, it's all right. They're going to check your blood to see if the level of toxins is lower."
"What does that mean?" I asked.
He pulled back and looked at me. "If the levels are lower, it means the toxins are leaving your body and hopefully you'll start getting better." He leaned over and grabbed a napkin and wiped my face off.
"All done," said the nurse cheerfully. "They'll be in soon to take you up for the MRI."
"Oh," Daddy said. "They scheduled it for this morning?"
"Yes, Dr. Skinner wanted it done first thing," the nurse left the room.
Daddy put me down and stood up. "I guess we better finish your breakfast, huh?" he asked.
"I'm done," I said. "I'm not hungry any more."
"All right," he ate the rest of my toast and put the fork on the plate. "You want me to ask about getting a t.v. in here for you?" he asked me. "At least that'll be something to do, we can see if we can find your cooking show."
"I guess," I said.
He leaned over and took my hand in both of his. "Listen, Charlie, I wanted to talk to you about something," he said, and his voice was serious.
"What, Daddy?" I felt nervous.
"What I was saying yesterday- I'm sorry about how I treated you at the party, I didn't realize that you might feel insecure about Ben. If he ends up becoming part of the family, that doesn't mean that I'm going to love you any less, and it doesn't mean that he's going to replace you or anything."
"But- but I'm so bad, I get in trouble lots, and-"
"Charlie, that has nothing to do with how much I love you, okay? And you think Ben doesn't get into trouble? He's a 10-year-old boy. When I was 10, Grandpa John was constantly smacking my butt because of all the trouble I caused."
I giggled a little bit at that, trying to imagine Daddy as a little boy and getting in trouble with Grandpa John.
"You love your mom, and you love me, right?" Daddy asked. I nodded. "Well, because you love me, that doesn't make the love for your mom any less, does it?"
"No," I replied.
"We can have the same feelings for different people, but it doesn't make the feelings any less, just different. Does that make sense?"
"I guess," I said slowly, still trying to think about it.
He leaned forward and looked me in the eyes. "Charlie, you're my daughter, and no matter what happens, nothing is going to change that or the love I have for you. Not your behavior, not another person, nothing, okay?"
Tears filled my eyes. It looked like Daddy had tears in his eyes too as he leaned down and picked me up to hug me. "I wish to God that Liz had let me know about you sooner," he said softly. "I'd give anything to have been involved in your life from the beginning." I felt him stroke the back of my head. He pulled back and looked at me. "We're going to get through this, whatever happens, okay? And I'm going to be by your side," he smiled at me and wiped my tears with his thumb, then hugged me again.
He laid me down and wiped the tears off of my face, then wiped his own face. The door opened and a couple of people came in. A nurse walked over to the bed and started to fiddle with the tubing on my arm.
"This is Debbie, she's going to take you to the MRI lab," the nurse said.
Daddy stood up. "I hope it's okay if I come along," he said.
"Are you the father?" Debbie asked. Daddy nodded. "Sure, Dad, you just can't go into the lab, because of the machine."
I heard some metallic clanking and the bed began to roll. Daddy walked beside me.
"What is an MRI?" I asked.
"It's a special machine that can look inside of you and take pictures, like x-rays, but different," Debbie told me as she walked.
She pushed my bed into a room that had a huge machine in it. It was mostly dark, with dim lights in the ceiling. There was a loud humming in the room and it was cold. There was a long table that went into a round hole in the machine.
"Mr. Winchester, you have to stay in the other room," Debbie said. She pushed the bed over to the table and nodded at the other nurse who had come in. I heard a door close.
"What—what are you doing" I cried out, suddenly scared. "Is that- it that it? Do I have to go in that hole? I don't- I don't want to go in there, don't make me!"
I turned my head back and forth quickly.
"It'll only be for about 20 minutes," Debbie said.
The other nurse held up a pair of thick headphones. "Look, we'll let you listen to music while you're in there," she said with a smile. "What kind of music do you like?"
"No!" I exclaimed. "I don't want to! What's in there? What will it do to me? What if I get stuck?" I was starting to panic. I wanted to get up and run, I wanted to kick and fight back, but I couldn't, and that made me feel even more upset.
The other nurse came over to my head. "Look, it's okay," she said soothingly. "It'll be over before you know it-"
I turned my head and bared my teeth at her, growling. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" I yelled. I tried to bite her as she reached for me, and she stepped away from me.
"Come on, little girl-" Debbie said.
"NO!" I shouted. "DON'T MAKE ME GO IN THERE! HELP! DADDYYYYY! HEEEEELP!" I screamed, and I kept screaming.
I heard a bang and then Daddy's voice, loud and angry. "What th- what's going on?"
"Sir, we're trying to get her in the machine-"
"Are you hearing her? She's saying she doesn't want to, she's terrified!" Daddy snapped. He came over to me and put his hand on my cheek.
"Charlie, shh, it's all right, sweetheart," he said, "Calm down, you don't have to do this."
"Mr. Winchester, this has been ordered by Dr.-"
"I know," Daddy said, and his voice was deeper. "I'll talk to her about it after we get back to Charlie's room." He looked down at me and wiped my cheek off. "It's all right, baby, you don't have to do this today, we'll talk to Dr. Miriam."
I couldn't stop crying as they wheeled the bed back to my room. The nurse was quiet, and didn't say anything as she put the bed back into position.
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were in the room, waiting for us.
"What's wrong?" Uncle Sam asked with concern when he saw my face. "What happened?"
"The doctor scheduled an MRI for Charlie, but she got scared when they took her in, and the techs were still trying to put her in the machine even though she was screaming and crying," Daddy told him. Uncle Sam and Grandpa John got angry looks on their faces.
Daddy sat down and picked me up and hugged me, stroking the back of my head until I stopped crying. He pulled back from me and wiped my face off and had me blow my nose. "What got you so scared, huh?" he asked me.
"I just didn't- there was that hole in the machine and it was dark and loud, I didn't want to go in, what does it do? What if I get stuck in there forever?"
Daddy glanced at Uncle Sam, who said, "I think we'd better get someone in here to explain what will happen to Charlie, so that she feels more at ease about it."
"I agree," said Grandpa John. "Why didn't they explain it to her beforehand?"
"I don't know, Dad," Daddy said. He looked at me. "How are you feeling now?" He laid me down on the bed.
"I'm tired," I said. "But I don't want to go to sleep."
"Why not?"
"I'm scared they'll put me in there," I said, and my eyes filled with tears again. "Don't let them!"
"I won't, Charlie," Daddy said soothingly. "It's all right, you can sleep if you want to."
"I'm cold, Daddy," I said. He got up and walked over to a wardrobe that was in the corner, and got a blanket out of it. He unfolded it and tucked it around me.
Uncle Sam came over to the bed. "Look, I brought MaryBear for you," he said, and he put her in the bed next to me.
"And look what I found," Grandpa John said, grinning at me so big that his dimples showed. "I saw it in a store window and just had to get it for you." He was holding a plush Hello Kitty, she was wearing red overalls with a matching red bow and holding a little teddy bear in her arms.
"She's got her own version of MaryBear," Grandpa John told me, putting her on the bed next to Marybear.
"Thank you," I said, smiling up at them. Daddy started to stroke my hair back from my forehead, and I started to feel sleepy. My eyes started to flutter closed.
Dr. Miriam came into the room as Daddy was finishing feeding me lunch. She was holding a clipboard and a tablet.
"What's this I hear about Charlie getting scared?" she asked, smiling at me.
"Well, it was more than that," Daddy said, standing up. "She was flipping out, crying and screaming, and the nurses were still trying to get her onto the table." He looked angry again.
"I'm sorry," Dr. Miriam said smoothly. "The MRI lab is always completely scheduled and they run a tight ship, so they really try to get everyone in when they are supposed to. Charlie, will you agree to have an MRI if I show you how it works?"
"Um, I guess," I said.
"All right," she turned on the tablet and tapped it several times. Then she held it up in front of me. She played a short video that showed someone going into the machine, and what it did, and then it showed a diagram of the MRI machine and how it worked.
"So you see, it doesn't hurt you at all, and there is absolutely no danger of you getting stuck. All right?" Dr. Miriam looked at me.
"Okay," I agreed. "I'll do it. But I'm still scared to go inside."
Dr. Miriam looked at Daddy. "Well, there are options for that. We can sedate her, if that's all right with you, Dad. I can schedule it for first thing in the morning, and then they can put a sedative in her IV, and it will put her to sleep temporarily."
"Is that safe for her?" Daddy asked. "That won't cause any problems?"
"No, it shouldn't, and there will be people monitoring her the whole time. You can go in with her too, if you want." Dr. Miriam told him. She looked at the clipboard. "I do have some good news, the bloodwork we took this morning shows the level of toxins is slightly lower than it was yesterday."
Daddy let out a breath, and Uncle Sam said, "That's great!"
"Oh, good," Grandpa John said with relief.
"You had put in a request for a cot?" she asked Daddy. "I know that they are working on that, and they should be able to bring in a television today," she smiled at me again. "Do you have any more questions for me, Charlie?"
"Uhh...no, I guess not," I said, feeling shy.
"All right, well, if you think of any, don't hesitate to ask." She turned and walked out of the room.
"We're going to go get some lunch," Uncle Sam said. "Dean, what do you want us to bring you?"
"Whatever, a burger, a sub, you know," Daddy said. "Coffee'd be nice."
"If I bring you a salad, would you eat it?" Uncle Sam asked him. Daddy just gave him a look. "You've got to take care of yourself, Dean," Uncle Sam said, shaking his head.
"I'm fine," Daddy rubbed his face and sat up.
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John left the room. Daddy looked at me.
"How you holdin' up, kiddo?" he asked me. "You feeling better about the MRI tomorrow?"
"I guess," I said. "You'll be there with me?"
"Yeah, I will, but you'll be asleep," he told me. "They're going to give you medicine to make you sleep, so that you're not aware of going into the machine. They do that sometimes for people who are claustrophobic."
"What's that mean?" I asked.
"People who are scared of small spaces," Daddy explained.
"Do you think I'm claus—claustruh-"
"No, I think you didn't know what was happening, and you got scared, which is normal. They should have explained the procedure to you beforehand," he took my hand. "I'm sorry I didn't think to have them talk to you about it, either, I should have asked."
"It's okay, Daddy," I said, smiling at him.
"I'm glad that the level of toxins is lower too, that's great. Hopefully it'll be less and less each day and you'll start feeling better."
The door opened and a nurse walked in. "Hello, time to change the bandage!" she said cheerfully. Daddy sat me up and leaned me against him like he had the day before.
"Your stubble is scratchy, Daddy," I told him. He hadn't shaved in at least a couple of days and it looked like he was growing a light beard now.
"I'll get to it eventually," he said, rubbing his chin.
The nurse said, "It looks good back here!" and I heard her crumpling paper up. "All right, we're done."
Daddy laid me back down as the nurse walked out the door.
"Ben and Lisa are going to come and visit, if that's okay," he told me.
"Okay," I said.
"Lisa told Ben. Well, she told him what you said. Actually, she told me that he asked her about it. He said that he felt like he already knew you and he was comfortable with you," Daddy looked at me. "Are you okay with that?"
"I guess," I said uncertainly. "What's going to happen? Are you and Lisa going to get married? Do we have to live with them?"
Daddy chuckled, but he looked uncomfortable. "Uh, no, we haven't really talked about that...the only thing I'm concentrating on right now is you and getting you better. We'll figure out all the stuff with Ben later, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy," I agreed. It made me feel a little bit nervous still, to think about Daddy having another kid. I was still worried that he would like Ben better than me.
Daddy leaned forward and looked at me. "And I don't want you worrying about Ben either, you hear me? He's not going to 'take your place' or anything like that, understand?" He took my hand in his and kissed the back of it and smiled at me.
"Okay," I said, and smiled back at him.
Uncle Sam and Grandpa John came back at that point, and they had food for Daddy. Then someone brought a t.v. in and set it up in the corner. Then a nurse came in with the blood pressure machine and "checked my vitals".
Daddy turned on the t.v. and found the cooking show that I had liked to watch, and we watched a couple of episodes of that. Then it was dinner time, and Daddy fed me. I got sleepy after that, and Uncle Sam and Grandpa John said that they were going to go back to the hotel. I fell asleep after they left.
I woke up slowly. I felt a little fuzzy, like I was still really tired. I opened my eyes and turned my head. Daddy was standing by my bed, wearing the blue outfit that doctors wear. He glanced down at me and saw I was awake.
"There you are," he said, looking relieved. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"
"Like I'm really sleepy, fuzzy-headed," I told him, "My mouth is dry."
"That's from the sedative," Daddy said.
"Why are you wearing doctor clothes?" I asked him.
"I went into the lab with you, and you can't wear anything with metal on it, because the MRI machine has a big magnet in it. My jeans have metal rivets in them so I couldn't wear them," Daddy explained, "These scrubs are pretty comfortable actually."
"It's all done now?" I asked.
He nodded, "All done, baby. And everything went fine."
"Can I have breakfast now?"
"Well, breakfast is over but they left you some food- cereal with milk, peaches, and a danish. You want to eat that?" He started to raise the head of my bed.
As he fed me, he told me that Uncle Sam had ordered home school stuff for me. "School starts in a couple of weeks around here, and we don't know what's going to be happening with you," Daddy said, "So at least if he has the materials, he can start teaching you. And then when you're better you can decide if you want to go back to school or not."
"What is home schooling like?" I asked. I had a vision of me sitting at an old-fashioned looking desk and Uncle Sam sitting at a big teacher's desk.
"It can be whatever you guys want it to be," he said, "But I'll tell you this, Uncle Sam isn't going to let you slack off or not do the work. He's always been really into school and he'll want you to do your best."
"I will, Daddy," I said, "I'm done, I'm not hungry any more."
"Are you sure? You barely ate any cereal."
"Yeah," I said. There was a knock on the door.
Daddy looked at me, then walked over to it and pulled it open.
"Lisa, hi, how ya doin'?" I heard him say. I turned my head so I could see them. Lisa and Ben stood in the doorway.
Daddy and Lisa hugged and he kissed her cheek. Then he looked down at Ben.
"Ben, hey," Daddy said, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder. Ben stepped forward and hugged Daddy around the waist. He looked up at Daddy and smiled at him.
"Come on, Charlie's in here," Daddy said, and they walked a couple steps forward.
There were voices coming from the hallway, Uncle Sam sounding annoyed,
"- need to follow the doctor's orders and at least get half- caff, or you're going to end up back in the hospital!"
Then Uncle Sam and Grandpa John were standing in the doorway looking at Lisa and Ben.
"Oh, hey, Lisa, hey, Ben," Uncle Sam said casually.
"Hi Sam," Lisa replied with a short smile. Grandpa John had raised his eyebrows. Everyone looked at each other for a long moment. Ben stepped backward into Lisa.
"Uh, Lisa Braeden, this is John Winchester, my dad," Daddy said uncomfortably.