Chapter 61
Jessie was resting comfortably in a hospital bed when Sam swept into the room. His forehead was deeply wrinkled and his eyes appeared sunken, but he smiled supportively as he took his wife's hand, sliding the nearby chair closer to the bed before sitting down.
"How are you feeling?" he asked anxiously.
It had been more than six hours since she'd been admitted to the hospital. In that time she'd found out she was in preterm labor and they had to give her drugs to stop it. Sam hadn't been allowed to see her until they had managed to get the contractions under control, which had only happened in the past hour.
"I'm better now that you're here," she replied with a weak smile.
He brushed his free hand through her hair, which was damp from sweat.
"You look so tired," he said sadly.
She nodded her head lightly, but didn't speak.
"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?"
She nodded again before lying back on the bed and closing her eyes.
Sam sighed lightly, running his hands in frustration through his hair before leaving the room. He stopped just outside the door, where Dean had been waiting for him.
"How's she doing?"
He shrugged. "She's tired."
"I'm sorry, Sam," he said, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.
His first reaction was anger, since it had only been hours before that his brother had accused his wife of suspicious behaviour. But one glance told him that Dean was being completely sincere. And he just didn't have the energy to argue with him at the moment.
"I know you are, Dean," he replied quietly.
The brothers stood silently for a few short moments before Sam shook himself out of self pity and began to look for some answers about his wife's condition. He couldn't just stand by and wait for the doctor to show up. It wasn't his style. He needed answers. Now.
Sam swept into Jessie's room a few hours later. Her eyes were closed when he first walked in, but they opened the moment he moved close to the bed.
"Hi," she greeted him quietly with a light smile.
"Are you feeling better now?" he asked with concern as he sat down beside her and took her hand.
"Yeah. Better now that I've had some rest."
"I talked to your doctor. He said that you've been reacting well to the medication and if you can be contraction free for twenty four hours then you're free to go home."
"I gotta stay another day?" she asked with disappointment.
"Yeah," he replied regretfully.
"How did the case go?"
"Uh, um, it went fine," he replied evasively.
"Sam?"
"Don't worry about it, Jess. It's taken care of."
She wanted to know more, but she was too exhausted to worry about it at the moment. The last twelve hours had been difficult for her and she had twenty four more before she could even leave. She didn't want to stress herself out and end up having to stay even longer. It was still a bit too early for the baby to be born. The safety of the baby was already in question. She couldn't imagine how difficult it would be if he was born premature on top of it all. She needed to do all the she could to keep that from happening. Even if that meant resting for an entire day.
"Okay," she replied. "I won't worry at all."
"Good," he said with a smile.
"It's late. You should get some rest, too," she suggested.
He nodded. "I will. I'm just gonna talk to Dean and then I'll be back."
"Good," she said with a teasing smile.
He smiled back, happy to see her in good enough spirits to tease him. It was a good sign.
When he headed back into the hallway, he was greeted by Castiel. He was surprised to see him, but acted as nonchalantly as possible.
"I called him," Dean said, before Sam could get the question out.
"Dean thought I should be here to protect Jessie," Cas said.
"That was—nice of you," he replied distractedly.
"Is everything okay, Sam?"
"Yeah, Dean. I'm just tired. I'm gonna go sit beside Jessie's bed and try and get some rest."
He didn't even wait for his brother to respond. He turned on his heel quickly and headed back into her room. He was greeted by a smile as he sat down beside her, which he returned as he took her hand. They talked for a short time before she decided to try and get some more sleep. He used the same time to relax in the chair and try to rest himself, although his mind was all over the place. He was worried about his wife and son. But he couldn't ignore the things his brother had been saying any longer. As much as he wanted to ignore all the signs, he knew his brother wasn't being vindictive. He had proved how much he cared about the welfare of his wife just by calling the angel. So as much as he hated to even think about it, he had to at least realize there was a possibility she was keeping something from him. He truly hoped that wasn't the case. But either way, he couldn't confront her about it now. Not in her condition. And now he wondered if he would be able to at all in the next few weeks. He had to think about the well being of his son as well as hers.
Several hours later, Jessie woke up to find her room empty. Sam was no longer sleeping in the chair beside her and there were no nurses or hospital staff of any sort. However, she felt like she was being watched somehow. It was only a feeling, but she couldn't shake it. It was a few moments later when she realized why she felt that way. She was being watching silently.
"Castiel," she said with surprise.
"Hello, Jessie," he greeted her. "How are you feeling?"
She raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Better than I was yesterday."
"Good," he replied tersely.
His following silence made her uncomfortable.
"Is there something you needed?" she asked.
"No. I just came to check on you. Sam and Dean needed some rest."
"I see," she replied, hoping it would be the end of their conversation. But then she realized she had another question for him.
"How come you didn't help me if you were here?"
He studied her face for a moment before responding.
"Normally it is something I could assist with. However, there is nothing I can do for you."
"What? Why is that?"
"Your son is very powerful. I doubt I would even be able to get near him at this point."
She thought his tone sounded accusatory.
"Are you fishing for something?" she asked suspiciously.
He gazed at her with confusion. "Why would I be trying to fish here? There is no water."
Although she was a bit irritated with the angel, she couldn't help but smile in amusement for a brief moment.
"What I mean is, is there something you want to ask me?"
He gazed at her pensively for a few moments. "I am curious about your son. However, I am positive you wouldn't know the answer to my question anymore than I do."
She decided to leave it at that. He didn't seem to suspect anything, so keeping her mouth shut was in her best interest.
While it was nice to know she was safe from Meg with the angel around. It also meant she wasn't going to be able to get near Crowley. And she knew she was going to need his blood sooner rather than later. She was already starting to feel that familiar need at the back of her mind. And she wasn't sure she wanted the baby to feel stressed out anymore than he already was. She couldn't risk being stuck in the hospital until she gave birth. But she was stuck for now. So she decided the best thing to do for now would be to rest.
Sam was unable to sleep very long once he finally did fall asleep, but he did manage two hours of uninterrupted sleep. That was enough for him, although his brother thought otherwise. But even if he had wanted to sleep longer, he just couldn't. Between the worry for his son and wife and now the doubts that had been clouding his mind. There was no way he was going to have a decent, restful sleep any time soon. And instead of torturing himself by attempting to sleep, he decided to head back to Jessie's hospital room.
When he walked through the threshold of her room, he was greeted by a strange scene. Castiel was sitting on the opposite end of the bed from his wife and they were playing cards together.
"Hi," she greeted him with a bright smile. "I'm teaching Cas how to play poker."
"Hello, Sam," the angel greeted him.
He smiled warmly at his wife before chuckling slightly and nodding to Cas in acknowledgement.
"This is probably the last thing I would've expected before walking in here."
She shrugged nonchalantly. "It's much less creepy than having him stand in the corner and stare at me all the time." She glanced at the angel apologetically. "Sorry."
"No apology necessary," he replied tersely.
"Did you sleep?" she asked him with concern as he took a seat in the chair beside the bed.
"Yes."
"How long?" she asked suspiciously.
"Don't worry about me. You should be worrying about yourself," he replied, trying to avoid answering her question.
"I'm doing fine, Sam. In fact, I should be able to leave in a few hours. But how I am supposed to relax once I leave here if I'm worried you're going to pass out from exhaustion?"
She hadn't wanted to use guilt against him, but she felt it was necessary. She knew how stubborn he could be.
He seemed to ponder that for a moment. "I tried, Jess. I'll be able to sleep better once you're out of here."
She wanted to push the issue, but soon decided it wouldn't be worth it. She knew if the situation was reversed she wouldn't be able to sleep either.
Moments later, Castiel made an excuse before disappearing from the room.
"I guess you'll have to play cards with me now," she said with a grin, offering him the deck of cards.
He returned her grin. "Not what I usually have in mind when I'm in bed with a pretty woman."
She chuckled. "This will just have to do for now."
He leaned in, kissing her gently.
"I love you, Jessie," he whispered in her ear.
"I love you, too, Sam," she replied, smiling at him lovingly.
Several hours later, Dean, Sam and Jessie were riding in the Impala after Jessie had been given a clear bill of health and released with numerous instructions on how to take care of herself.
And while Jessie was happy to be out of the hospital. It was the instructions she had an issue with. She didn't mind having to rest. But not being able to do anything strenuous meant no hunting. In fact, she'd been told in no uncertain terms that even lifting laundry baskets, or sweeping a floor could be too much for her at this point. Which meant she was going to be bored out of her skull. She could only read so many books and play so much online poker. She had a feeling she was going to have to do some hacking just so she wouldn't go out of her mind. She was not looking forward to the next few weeks at all.
It took some convincing, but they headed to Jessie's house after they left the hospital, with many stops for bathroom breaks and meals in between. Neither Sam nor Dean wanted to take any chances with her health. They only stayed one night, with the boys helping her pack the stuff she wanted to take to Bobby's since they wouldn't allow her to do anything herself. And by the morning, she'd already had enough of their overprotective attitudes. She wasn't sure how much more she could take. And she knew the worst was yet to come. She knew Bobby would be even more overprotective than they were. She wasn't looking forward to any of it.
As the Impala pulled into Bobby's driveway, Jessie immediately noticed the iron fence that was now surrounding Bobby's house. It was short, but it went completely around the house. However, from her vantage point in the car, she also noticed it was only around the house and not his entire yard. She was pleased that the shed Crowley had been hiding her stash in was not inside this fence. She was going to need to see him soon, and she didn't need anymore complications than she already had.
Bobby approached the car as it stopped and proceeded to assist Jessie while the boys unloaded all of the bags. And even though she told him she was fine to walk into the house all on her own, he wouldn't hear of it. The concern in his eyes was more than enough reason to allow him to help her inside the house without an argument—this one time. She definitely didn't want him making a habit of it.
Bobby helped her to the couch, where he had several pillows waiting for her. He helped her sit, making sure she put her feet up on the table in front of her, which also had a pillow waiting for her. She smiled thankfully, sighing lightly once he'd left the room. 'This is going to be a long couple of weeks,' she said to herself.
Jessie spent the entire day on the couch with her feet up while the three men waited on her. It wasn't so bad, but she was positive she couldn't deal with this for a long period of time. She had never been one to just lounge around doing nothing. Just for her sanity, she knew she needed to be doing something.
Almost first thing the next morning, Dr. Riley showed up to examine Jessie. She hadn't been expecting his visit, but by the looks on everyone else's faces, it was apparent they'd been expecting him. She did her best to keep calm, but she was feeling angry and upset. Once again, they were making decisions without her and she wasn't just going to sit down and take it. She knew some of her feelings were from the withdrawal symptoms, but not all of them. That was what made her more angry than upset.
After her examination was complete, Dr. Riley addressed everyone, so there was no confusion, or secrets, about her condition.
"Jessie is doing fine. I want her to mostly rest for a couple more days. But after that, I want her to move around. I want her to go for small walks. Nothing too stenuous. Her blood pressure is slightly elevated. But from her hospital records, her blood pressure was mostly stable. I'll just chalk it to having a surprise exam," he winked at her knowingly. "Any questions?"
"What do you mean by nothing too strenuous?" she asked before anyone else had a chance, ignoring the disproving looks.
"Any lifting that requires bending or squatting, such as laundry. Grocery bags are fine if they are light and you don't have to strain to pick them up. Preferably, nothing over fifteen pounds," he replied.
"What about housework?" Bobby asked before she could ask another question.
"Light house cleaning, such as cooking and cleaning, but no sweeping or mopping," he said as he picked up his coat off the table he'd left it on. "If there are anymore concerns about what Jessie can or can't do, just call my office and speak with my nurse. She'll be able to answer all your questions."
Dean and Bobby walked the doctor out, while Sam moved to stand beside his wife. They didn't speak, which was to Jessie's relief. She was irritated and didn't want to take her bad mood out on him. He was doing what any good husband should be doing. Standing by her side, worrying about her, wanting to take care of her. And she should've wanted all of that. But she didn't. She wanted to be left alone. And most of all, she wanted demon blood. She hated herself for feeling this way. All she could do was continue telling herself it was worth it. It was all for the baby. And soon it would be over. It was the mantra she'd been repeating to herself for so long, she actually believed it now.
The next three days were probably the longest three days of Jessie's life. She knew there was absolutely no way she'd get a chance to leave the house alone to get some blood, so she had to do anything to keep her mind from it. And since she wasn't allowed to wander the house, and Bobby had forbidden her to look for any cases, in case it would upset her enough to raise her blood pressure, she didn't have many options. She could only play so much online poker. Besides, when she was on her computer, Bobby and the boys would make a habit of walking by to make sure she wasn't searching for a case, which would only serve to irritate her more. And even though it was nice to be waited on almost hand and foot, it got old really fast. She was too used to doing things for herself. She just wanted to do something, anything.
Her irritation became more pronounced as the hours passed, eventually getting to the point when no one, including Sam, even wanted to talk to her. By the end of that third day, the men of the house did their best to keep an eye on her, but not speak to her. She would've felt terrible about the way she was acting if she was in her right mind. But at this point she wasn't rational.
The fourth day was the one she'd been waiting for. After coffee and breakfast, she headed out of the house for a walk to the shed. She made it clear that no one was to follow her and that she wouldn't stray too far from the house. She made it look like she was going in a different direction until she was out of view, then headed straight to the shed. She was glad to see Crowley had kept it stocked for her. And once she'd drank every last drop, she felt the majority of her rage dissipate in an instant. So with a new attitude, she finished her walk before heading back into the house.
A/N: I am SO sorry it's taken me this long to get another chapter up. I have a new computer now, so that shouldn't be an issue any longer. All I can say is I have had issues with sitting down and actually writing. Much of this chapter was written a few sentences at a time with a lot of time in between. I know where the story is heading, I have for a long time, but actually writing to get there is leaving me frustrated at times. I won't make any promises, but I will try to write the next one as quick as possible. Things are about to come to a head. That's all I can say.
Thanks for reading!