Chapter 18
Bobby and the Winchesters arrived at the hospital early the next morning to wait for visiting hours. Bobby was able to get into the room earlier to speak to the doctor, while the brothers had to wait in the waiting room.
"How is she doing?" Sam asked Bobby as soon as they were allowed in the room.
He turned to Sam looking stoic. "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
Sam walked over to the curtain that was around the bed, pulling it back slightly, peeking his head through. He stopped abruptly as he saw Jessie sitting up in bed.
"Are you gonna come in, or just stand there and gawk?" she asked with a smile.
He returned her smile, walking in to stand beside her. She gestured to the chair beside the bed, so he sat down on the edge of the chair, leaning forward.
"I'm surprised to see you so awake and alert already," he said.
"It takes more than a head injury to finish me off, Sam," she said confidently.
"Yeah, but—" he cut himself off, unsure what he was going to say.
She reached her hand out, lying it on top of his hands, which where folded together. "I bet you feel foolish for worrying about me now, dont you?"
Her smile disappeared as he looked at her seriously. "Are you kidding me? You scared the hell out of all of us."
"But I'm fine now, Sam."
"You know what? You're unbelieveable!" he said with exasperation.
She removed her hand from his, but he grasped it before she could lay it at her side.
"Do you realize how ridiculous this little act of yours is?" he asked. "You're not invincible and you know it."
She gazed at him angrily for a moment, but each second that passed by made her look soften, until she looked genuinely apologetic.
"I'm sorry, Sam. I'm just not comfortable feeling weak or having other people view me as weak."
"Is that what you think this is about?" he asked with surprise. "If anything, we see you as a tough person."
She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Yeah, sure."
He wasn't sure why, but her attitude angered him. "Jessie, people care about you. That has nothing to do with weakness. We've all lost our share of loved ones, so the ones we do still have around us we worry about. What's so wrong with that?"
She looked guilty. "When you put it like that—I guess there's nothing really wrong with that."
"I'm glad you see that. Bobby wasn't able to sleep last night because he was so worried about you."
She sighed, feeling ashamed. "I'm sorry, Sam. I guess you're right."
He took her hand and kissed it lightly. "I think I should let you rest now."
She looked at him hopefully and whispered. "Come here."
He stood up, leaning over the bed until he was only inches away from her.
"Thank you," she said, kissing his cheek lightly.
He blushed slightly as he turned and left the room, making her giggle.
Bobby walked into the room almost immediately after Sam had left, looking slightly suspicious.
"How ya feelin' kid?"
"Perfectly fine," she joked. "I think I'm gonna dance a jig later."
He rolled his eyes. "Were you always this sarcastic or did you learn your best lines from me?"
"I think I just perfected what I've learned from you," she replied with a grin.
"Ha, ha," he laughed mockingly.
"I'm sorry, Bobby," she blurted out as he sat at the end of the bed. "I'm sorry for making you worry."
"What's this about?" he asked with surprise.
She sighed. "Sam made me realize that I've been very selfish and self-centered."
"He said what?"
"He didn't say it like that, Bobby. But he made me realize that's how I've been behaving," she frowned slightly. "All these years you've tried to be here for me and all I've done is push you away. I never realized that you actually—care about me like you do. I always thought I was more of a burden. The result of a promise you didn't mean to make."
"Jessie! How could you think something like that?" he asked. "I didn't have to adopt you. I did that because I care about you, kiddo."
"I know that now," she said regretfully. "I just wish I could make things up to you."
"Listen here, kid," he said sternly. "You have nothing to make up for and I don't want to hear you mention it again."
She grinned at him teasingly. "Okay, Dad."
"If I were your dad I would have put you over my knee a long time ago, young lady," he teased back.
"I love you, too, Bobby," she said with a smile.
He smiled. "I'm gonna let you rest. I'll be back to see how you're doing later."
She smiled as she nodded her head, then laid her head back against the bed and closed her eyes.
Her head was not as painful as it had been, but the doctor was already beginning to wean her off of the more powerful painkillers so she could go home. Soon it would begin to hurt a little more but she was fine with that. She knew she had to spend at least the day in the hospital. And as long as she took it easy and cooperated, she was hoping to get out tomorrow morning. She fell asleep soon afterwards, thinking about her discussion with Sam.
Jessie spent the entire day floating in and out of consciousness. She had vague memories of doctors and nurses coming in to check on various things as well as Bobby, Sam and Dean, but it was all in a haze. She also had very unusual dreams brought on by the medications she was on, or at least she hoped they were dreams.
It wasn't until very early in the morning that she woke up with clarity, feeling like she'd finally awakened from some strange other reality. She desperately wanted to get out of bed and walk around, but she knew the nurses wouldn't be pleased about her wandering the halls at four in the morning. She didn't want to stay in her bed, so she decided to ease herself up from the bed gently and walk around the room.
Her feet were a little wobbly when she put her full weight on them, but she was able to stand up on her own. She walked around the room for a few minutes feeling fine, then walked a few more just to be sure. She intended on leaving in a few hours so she wanted to make sure she was in tip top shape so they couldn't refuse her. She didn't want to check herself out against medical advice because she wouldn't hear the end of it from Bobby.
She walked over to the window and looked out into the darkened hospital grounds. To one side she could see a parking lot that was lit very brightly, and the rest of it was the grounds made up of mainly grass, sidewalk and some gardens. She was staring out across the grounds, when she thought she spied movement in the shadows.
She stared out into the spot she thought she'd seen movement for what seemed like hours, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. She was going to turn away thinking she'd been seeing things–she'd been on medication after all–but something told her to keep watching. It was then she saw what had been walking around in the shadows.
It was him.
The Alpha werewolf.
He moved to stand near the outer radius of one of the lamps that lit the sidewalk that led to the side doors of the hospital, where patients often went to enjoy the outdoors when they were well enough, or needed a smoke. He seemed to be staring right at her, as if he'd known she would be looking out of the window at that moment. She felt a cold shiver run up her spine.
She moved away from the window, hurrying to the table beside the bed. She hurriedly opened the bottom drawer looking through her personal effects. She knew she'd been wearing her knife when she came to the hospital but it wasn't with the rest of her stuff.
She did manage to find her phone, which she took back to the window. Looking out she didn't see him any longer, which frightened her even more. She dialed Bobby's number, hoping he would be awake at this hour.
"Hello?" the weary voice on the other end said.
"Dean?"
"Jessie? What are you doing calling here this early?" he asked with surprise.
"Is Bobby awake?"
"No."
"Dean, come get me. Please?" she pleaded.
"What's going on?" he asked with concern.
"It's outside, Dean and I have no weapon. Come get me."
He had no idea how he was going to get into the hospital at this hour, but he couldn't ignore the desperation in her voice.
"Stay put," he said, ending the call abruptly.
Jessie ended the call, then headed back to the drawer with her clothes. She hastily grabbed everything out of the drawer that was hers and proceeded to get dressed into her own clothes, throwing the hospital gown onto the bed. Her panic was making it difficult for her to think clearly, which was already impared by the medication she was on.
She sat at the window to wait with her belongings in one hand, her phone in the other. She was constantly glancing back and forth from the window to the door, extremely paranoid. Every moment she waited seemed like an etenity.
What she didn't know was, that the spike in her blood pressure was becoming dangerous. And if she didn't calm down soon she could suffer a setback, or worse.
It wasn't long before Dean appeared in the doorway to her hospital room looking extremely concerned.
"Do you know how difficult it was to get in here?"
"For you? I'm sure it was easy." She was teasing him but there was no joy in her eyes.
He tried to hide his concern as he put an arm around her to lead her to the door. "Let's go."
She didn't need to be told twice. She allowed Dean to lead her quietly down the hallway, through a side door and into his car. He stopped to look around before jumping into the driver's seat.
Once she was safely in Dean's Impala, she was able to relax slightly. She raised a hand to her head, it was beginning to throb painfully, and closed her eyes. She didn't even notice when the roar of the engine and the movement of the car helped her drift off to sleep.
She didn't waken when Dean carried her from the car and into the house, placing her gently down on the livingroom couch and covered her up with a blanket. It wasn't until she woke up much later that she realized what had happened. And though her panic had dissipated, she couldn't forget how she'd felt when she'd seen the werewolf or how grateful she was towards Dean for taking her seriously enough to come get her.
By the time she did wake up, it was several hours later. She almost jumped up from the couch as soon as her eyes opened, not realizing where she was immediately. Her sudden movement caused Bobby to jump up from his chair, dropping the book he was reading onto the floor with a thud.
"You okay, kid?"
She was sitting up, staring at him blankly for a moment, then blinked her eyes a few times. "Yeah, I think so."
He shook his head. "You sure about that?"
She glanced at him confused for a moment, then laid back gently on the couch closing her eyes. "I'm still hurting, but I'm fine."
He knew she wasn't fine, and he felt like he should throttle her for scaring him to death. But he knew she hadn't done it on purpose and he hated to see her in pain. He got up from his chair and went into the kitchen, coming back a few minutes later with a hot cup of tea and some painkillers.
"Thank you, Bobby," she said with a smile as he handed the cup and pills to her.
He smiled back, pleased to see her smiling. "No need to thank me, kid. I'm just glad you're safe."
She took the pills with a small swig of tea, then set the cup on the table beside the couch, then laid her head back against it, closing her eyes. She wanted to get up, but she was planning on waiting until her head felt better.
"Be careful," Bobby said. "I gave you the good stuff."
She opened her eyes, grinning at him. "So good news is, I will feel pretty good in a few."
"But bad news is, you'll be higher than a kite," he replied.
She smiled. "With the pain I'm in now I'll gladly take high as a kite."
He smiled to humor her, then averted his eyes so he wouldn't give himself away. Jessie was never one to take anything that would make her feel unlike herself, or high. He knew she must have been in a lot of pain to actually be happy to be taking something that altered her state of mind, other than alcohol.
He kept an eye on her for awhile, but all she ended up doing was sleeping, which almost worried him more. The medication he'd given her shouldn't have made her sleepy.
When he had to leave her side, he made either Dean or Sam watch over her, but she didn't move, or waken for several hours. And when she did, it was only to use the bathroom and have a drink, then she went back to sleep. It wasn't until sometime in the early morning that she awakened feeling more alert.
"Dean," she said with surprise when she opened her eyes.
He smiled with relief. "How ya feeling?"
She stretched a bit, feeling stiff from sleeping on the couch. "I feel much better now. Where's Bobby? I thought he would've glued himself to my side."
"Yeah, he tried," he replied with a grin. "But he hadn't slept much at all in the past couple of days, so me and Sam took turns watching you."
She nodded, then her mind wandered elsewhere for a moment. "Dean," she said sounding very serious. "I want to thank you."
"For what?"
She snorted. "Are you playing modest, or just waiting to hear me say more?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe a bit from column A and a bit from column B," he replied with a grin.
She sighed exaggeratedly, rolling her eyes. "Thank you for saving my ass, twice," she was grinning as she replied.
"Of course. And what a fine ass it is," he said with a wink.
"Dean!" she replied with warning.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just teasing you," he replied. "I see your sense of humor hasn't improved."
She rolled her eyes mockingly, while she absentmindedly ran her fingers through her messy hair.
"But seriously, I'm glad you're okay."
There was more she wanted to say to him, but she was afraid of speaking it out loud on the off chance that Dean might take it the wrong way. She was extremely grateful to him for helping her when she needed it, but she knew he would do that for anyone who was in need. And she also knew he hadn't just done it for her, he'd done it for Bobby. She decided not to say anything more, instead she went into the kitchen to make some coffee.
Bobby had come into the kitchen as she sat down at the table with her first cup, smiling at her in relief.
"It's nice to see you up and around, kid," he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"It's definitely nice to be up and around," she answered with a smile.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. "You didn't eat anything at all yesterday."
"It's okay, Bobby. I can make myself something."
He glanced at her seriously. "You're not gonna move from that seat until I've made you something to eat."
She gave him a pouty look but didn't refuse him. She knew he was completely serious about helping her. And while her pride was bruised by accepting his help. She knew he was helping her because he cared very deeply about her, and it made her feel good to feel loved again.
After she ate her breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, toast and some cantaloupe, she took a long overdue shower.
As she looked around her room for a change of clothes, she found that someone had washed them for her. She even found her missing knife and sheath lying on the bed waiting for her. It made her smile, but at the same time it felt strange.
When she was dressed, she went downstairs into the livingroom with her laptop and sat on the couch. No one was there at that moment, but it was only moments later that Bobby walked in.
"What're you doing, Jess?" he asked suspiciously.
She returned his look with one of confusion. "What?"
"Don't tell me you're on that damn computer researching already?" She tried looking innocent. "You're still recovering from a head injury. Can't you just sit back and relax for once?"
"And do what, Bobby?" she asked with frustration. "Wait until that werewolf comes to kill us all?"
He sighed loudly, shaking his head. "Can you give me a break just this once?" he pleaded.
It was unlike her to give in to anyone, but he was worried about her and it came from a place of love.
"Fine. I'll play some online poker instead."
He seemed to want to say something more, but he didn't. He took the book he'd been reading and sat down on his favorite comfy chair and began to immerse himself in it.
Jessie was bored, but she kept her word and only played online poker. Even as Bobby popped in and out of the room, obviously researching something, she still didn't give into the temptation.
Around noon, Bobby came into the livingroom carrying a sandwich for her. She took it from him gladly, standing up to hug him in thanks. He was so surprised, he almost dropped the plate on the floor.
"What's that for?"
"Thank you, Bobby," she said with a bright smile.
He looked at her uncomfortably, placing the plate on the table then began walking away. "I, uh, have to make a few phone calls," he replied as he left the room.
After she finished her sandwich, she laid her head back and closed her eyes to rest. Although her head wasn't hurting she did feel a little run down. She was almost asleep when she heard someone walk into the room noisily. She opened her eyes to find Sam standing in the doorway looking in her direction.
"How're you feeling?" he asked.
He walked into the livingroom and sat down in Bobby's chair, waiting for her to answer.
"I'm a little tired but good."
"That's good," he said, shifting awkwardly in his seat.
"Is there something you want to say, Sam?"
"I, uh, I'm just glad you're okay, Jessie," he replied. "We were all going crazy with worry."
She smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Sam."
He sat in Bobby's chair for a few more moments, before excusing himself awkwardly. She smiled in amusement as he did so.
After he was gone, she laid back and rested for a short time. She was awake during much of the time, but she did doze off a few times. And while she was slightly awake, she swore she could hear Bobby talking to the Winchesters about the werewolf, but she couldn't be too sure. She desperately wanted to know more.
She waited until Bobby was busy in the kitchen, then she went outside in search of Dean. He was standing outside by the trunk of his car when she found him.
"What're you doing out here?" he asked her as he lifted his head out of the trunk.
"Why? Am I a prisoner?" she asked sarcastically.
He rolled his eyes. "You know exactly what I mean."
"I'm fine," she replied dismissively. "I'm here to talk to you."
"Oh, no," he said knowingly. "We're not having this discussion."
"I haven't even said anything, so how do you know what I'm gonna ask?"
He laughed ironically. "Because I know what I would be asking if I was in your position."
"And what's that?" she asked with irritation.
"You wanna know what we've found out about this werewolf."
He was smiling at her with amusement as she looked at him with defeat.
"We haven't found anything, Jessie," he said regretfully. "But Bobby thinks he has a lead on how to kill this thing."
"Well at least that's something."
He sighed then walked close to her, placing a supportive hand on her back. "Why don't you go back in the house before Bobby has a fit? We can talk about this tomorrow."
She knew he wasn't going to say anything more, so she went back into the house to see if Bobby would allow her to assist him with supper.
"I don't need any help," he said as he pulled a large roasted chicken from the oven.
"Yeah, well, that's too bad," she replied defiantly. "I'm gonna make that salad I planned on making the other day."
He gazed at her with determination for a moment, then gave in. "Fine, but we're out of strawberries."
She glanced at him sadly, then shook her head. "I should've known."
As if on cue, Sam came walking into the kitchen carrying a pint of fresh strawberries. Her eyes lit up as she took them from him.
"How did you know?" she asked excitedly.
"Bobby knew you'd want them," he said with a smile. "He said that's all you talk about during strawberry season."
She glanced at Bobby with a raised eyebrow. "Is there anything you don't know about me, old man?"
"I'm sure there's tons I don't know about you, kid," he said smiling.
She returned her smile, then set the strawberries on the counter and began rummaging through the fridge and cupboards.
She pulled out a large bowl, then placed some mixed spring greens and cut up lettuce into the bowl. She cut up half of a red salad onion into long strips, throwing them in the bowl with the greens. She then cut a few seedless grapes in half, drained a small can of mandarin oranges and placed them in the bowl. Then she cleaned, hulled and sliced half the pint of strawberries, placing them in the bowl.
Once she was sure supper was ready, she tossed the salad with some raspberry balsamic vinagrette, set the bowl on the table and sat down in 'her' chair.
She noticed Dean glancing almost uneasily at the bowl, making her grin.
"You afraid of salad, Dean?" she teased.
"Is that what that is?" he teased back.
She rolled her eyes, refusing to give in to his taunting. Bobby had given him an admonishment, which was good enough for her.
There was idle chatter while they ate, but no one spoke of anything more serious than the weather.
Jessie was hungry, but she mainly nibbled at her food. All except for the salad. That she made sure she finished. It was one of her favorite salads to eat, and she only made it during strawberry season. She didn't like the taste of off-season strawberries shipped from far away.
After supper, Bobby allowed Jessie to clean up and do the dishes, against his better judgement. He wasn't really in the mood to argue with her anymore, plus he knew if he tried too hard to keep her from doing anything, the harder she would push back. That concerned him more than anything.
She was cleaning up the counters when Sam appeared behind her, looking over her shoulder.
"Do you need help with anything?"
She turned around halfway, looking at him with slight disbelief. "You wait until I'm finished with the dishes to ask if I need help?"
He looked apologetic. "I would have asked sooner but I was helping Bobby with something."
"Oh," she said feeling foolish. "You could always wipe the table for me," she said, picking up a damp cloth.
He took the cloth from her and began wiping the table.
She was going to finish wiping down the counters, but she couldn't take her eyes off Sam while he was bent over the table cleaning it. Although she made sure to stop watching him before he noticed.
When he was done with the table, he came over to the counters and helped her wipe them down. The silence between them was awkward, but neither seemed able to say what was on their mind.
"That salad was awesome by the way," Sam commented as he finished wiping the counter.
She took the cloth from his hand and hung it under the sink. "I thought you might like that," she said as she stood back up.
"It was a nice change for sure."
She smiled. "I know what you mean. It's the one thing I hate about living on the road. Not being able to cook for myself."
He laid his hand casually on hers, which was still lying on the counter. "I'm sorry for not being there for you."
She wasn't sure, but she thought he sounded guilty. "Sam, it's not a contest. Just because you weren't the one who took me to the hospital, or brought me home from it, doesn't mean anything."
He moved his hand from hers looking awkwardly. "I didn't mean to make it sound like that."
"You can make it up to me, if you want," she said smiling slyly.
As much as she hated to play this game with Sam—or any man—she knew he had the answer to something she needed. Something she knew Bobby was unwilling to tell her the answer to at the moment.
"What's that?" he asked with a smile, completely oblivious to her motives.
"I wanna know what Bobby found to kill the Alpha."
He shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "I don't think I can tell you that, Jessie."
She was frustrated and irritated, but she did her best not to show her disappointment in her eyes. "I understand."
He opened his mouth to explain himself, but she cut over him.
"You don't need to explain, Sam. Really. I understand."
"I'm sorry, but Bobby will have my head if I say something," he said lightly, hoping to lighten the mood.
She had turned her head to look out the window into the darkened yard, when she thought she saw something, the Alpha. Her heart began beating rapidly, but all Sam noticed was her face was flushed.
"What's wrong?" he asked quickly.
"I thought I...saw, something outside."
"Wait here," he said, before running out of the kitchen.
When he returned, both Bobby and Dean were with him, weapons in hand.
"Where did you see him?" Bobby asked.
She pointed out the window, yelling, "be careful," as they ran out the door.
She was frightened for them, but it didn't keep her from thinking straight in her panic. She went into the livingroom, looking for Sam's laptop, which was lying open on a table. She scooped it up, sitting on the couch then began looking through his browser history.
She knew Sam was smart, but when it came to computers she was smarter. She found what she was looking for quickly, then put the computer back to it's original state with no trace she'd ever touched it. She even placed it carefully back onto the table in the exact position it had been in, before going back into the kitchen to wait for them.
A/N: It seems that Alpha is everywhere, doesn't it? What do you think it's up to? And what about Sam and Jessie? Do you think he finally got through to her in the hospital?
Thanks for reading!