Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. Thanks for all the reviews.
John followed Dean to the section of chairs a few yards down in the lobby area. Dean was slumping forward, holding his head and sobbing. There were harsh, loud, gasping sobs that John had never heard coming from Dean. John hesitated, not knowing how to handle this Dean.
Dean was unaware of anything or anyone around him as he poured out the frustration, the anguish, and the desperation that had been building over the last few weeks, since he had brought Sammy into the emergency room. He struggled to get air into his lungs because he was so upset, and he wondered how his brother felt, breathing now. This made him more upset and he cried even harder. On the verge of hysterics and hyperventilation, he almost missed the hands that had been laid down around his arms. He looked up with dazed eyes at his father, standing there towering over him.
"Dean, things will work out, son. I talked to this woman Missouri, a friend of mine. She's a psychic and she told me that everything would be okay. So, you don't have to worry. All we need to do is take care of Sammy and fight this thing and everything will be all right." John tried to comfort Dean, but the younger man jerked forward and then out of his grasp, unwilling to accept the comfort. He looked at his dad and it looked like he got even angrier.
"Let me tell you a story, dad. Remember when I called you and told you that we were in Lawrence? Well, we went to go see Missouri. She lied to this man about his wife screwing around on him. We asked her why she lied and she told us that people don't come to her for the truth, that they come to feel better. Maybe that's why she told you that Sammy was going to be all right. This is not all right!" He spat the words at his father, angered by the fact that the eldest Winchester was so accepting of his son's condition. He had to know that some kind of miracle had to happen or they would lose him.
"Dean, things are bad right now, okay. But if you give up on your brother, then he will die. You will lose him. There's nothing that I can do or say that's going to have half the impact that you have on his life just by being you. He looks up to you, and your tears are going to kill him." John spat back, just as angry. The two men looked at each other, at a complete dead-lock. They were both convinced that they were right, but both of them knew that they had to work with the other.
"Say you are right. How is just my telling him that he's going to be all right going to make things any better? I already do that. I've been doing that since we came to the emergency room...and he keeps getting worse. It's not working, dad. Face it: Missouri was wrong!" He stubbornly refused to listen to his dad. He needed the older man to come up with something. He needed him to make everything better.
"Well, then don't trust Missouri, but trust that he does need your faith. He does need for you to be in his corner fighting for him, more than you'll ever know. Do you really want to know what I saw when I went to the college to go see how he was? I saw a broken man. I saw someone who needed their big brother to talk to. I don't know what else is going to help him, but I do know that he needs you in his corner and he does not need you out here, crying and feeling sorry for yourself. I'm going back to the room. Do whatever you want." He told Dean, and turned around to leave. Dean put his head down and lifted only his eyes, feeling very angry for a moment, but then followed his dad. He caught up with him by the door, and they could both see that Sammy was awake.
"Daddy?" Sam asked, whispering and clearly out of breath as Dean and John walked back in. He was so confused, and the simple fact that he'd called him "daddy" broke John's heart. His baby boy hadn't done that in years. He sat down in what was usually Dean's chair on the side of the bed closest to the door, and held his son's hand.
Dean heard his brother's voice and almost fled from the room again. It was too hard for him to see his shadow looking like this, sounding so broken. He crossed the room, accepting that he needed to be the strong one again, and stood on the other side of the bed, smoothing Sammy's hair back. Another little bit of his hair fell out, and Dean reminded himself that he needed to be careful to avoid his brother's hair. It wasn't that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, but right now, the hair loss was just another physical sign that his brother was sick. He didn't need any reminders, and it seemed to only be happening when it was touched, so he'd avoid it and everything would be all right.
"I'm right here, Sammy. Me and Dean are right here." John said, and Dean looked up in shock, hearing his father's voice crack a little. His strong father had never cried, only when he thought he was alone and only about their mom. Did he think that Sammy was so bad off that he qualified to be in the same category as their mom?
"Where... did you go?" He whispered, sounding so lost and confused. "I woke up... and there was no one here... I don't want to... die alone. Please don't... leave me to die... alone." The impassioned speech was given between gasps for air.
Dean felt another little piece of his heart break off, but fought to keep composure. "Don't be such a wimp." He started to tease his brother, but stopped when he realized that Sammy was in a different place then them. They were already losing him. "Besides, you don't get to just die like that. You're gonna be here for a while. We're gonna get you through this and get you better and then you won't be calling dad 'daddy.' You guys will be at each other's throats and I'll get to play referee and it'll be business as usual. I know that it's tough right now, but we'll get past this."
Once again John saw his older son step up and take care of his baby boy, making things better for him. It was the guidance that he'd needed and he was glad that the boy's were so close. For right now, they would all be okay. He saw that Dean was rubbing Sammy's forehead, carefully avoiding the thinning hair. It hadn't fallen out, simply thinned.
Dean sat there rubbing his baby brother's head to calm him, and listening to the ghastly breathing. He knew that Sammy had an infection in his lungs and they had him on medications, but he shouldn't be breathing this badly. He kept whispering "I love you" even after his eyes drifted closed and he fell into a deep sleep. Hopefully, knowing that Dean loved him and needed him here would make Sammy fight, keep him with them. He sat down and grabbed Sammy's hand, rubbing little circles on his hand until he himself drifted off to sleep.
John watched over his two sleeping sons for a moment. It was only three in the afternoon, but it felt like the day had been going on forever. It was raining outside, melting the snow that had only fallen a couple of weeks ago, and that made the day seem all the more dreary. He leaned closer to Sammy listening to his breathing and shuddered to himself. It sounded like an idling engine and he could swear he heard wheezing. Perhaps the infection had gotten worse. His younger son was cold, and so he trusted Dean with watching him for a while so that he could go get another blanket from the nurse, reminding himself that he needed to wash the quilt that had been magic to his son as a child.
The figure watched as John left the room to go ask the nurses for another blanket. Gracefully, she went over to Sammy's bed, laying her hand on his chilled skin. She looked over at Dean, leaning over in the chair next to his bed, and thought about how hard he was going to take this. Her one dream had come true for the boys: they were closer than any other brothers could be. It would hurt him more than anything else ever would, including losing her. Mary knew though, that if they didn't get help for her baby right now that he would die. She could hear him struggling for each breath, and knew that he wasn't asleep but unconscious. Without a second thought, she went over to her older son and put her hands on his head, sending him a dream of what was to come.
Well, there you go. The next chapter should be up sometime tonight. Hope you liked it. Please feel free to leave a review whether it be constructive criticism, praise, or a question. I will try to answer all questions.