Sorry, I meant to add comments to the last entries. Everytime I think I have this thing licked, I screw up again. I guess you can't teach an old dog... well, let's not go there.
Thank you for your comments! I would like to say, for the record, that I never intended this to be a love story. There are hints and allegations, but I can promise you that Dean will not settle down with Jana! The story just kind of grew as subplotB as I was writing it. No worries, just a little added fun.
I loved Missouri from her introduction to the show (plus I love the actress) and knew that she would have to be in this story. Johnny was actually not in my original story. (Did I mention that this idea came from a dream? I can't remember) This all worked backwards. I added Johnny at the beginning and realized that he could be a key element to making the story even more interesting. I hope you agree. For the avid watchers of the show, I have really tried to incorporate bits from other episodes to try and tie it together. I have, certainly, taken some leaps that I hope you do not get angry about.
Thanks again!
Caroline
Chapter 18
Dr. Stonewell bounded in the door with vigor in her step. She was obviously pleased with the results. She stopped short at all the people that suddenly appeared in the room. The doctor looked to Dean and smiled. "Dean, can we have a moment, or are you comfortable talking in front of all these people," she asked before she proceeded. The technicians took their cue, finished their hook ups and walked out the door.
Dean watched the techs leave. "Definitely. Not a problem. Please doc, what happened," said Dean nervously. Missouri looked around at the folk in the room and started to do her reads.
"I have scheduled the surgery for 6am tomorrow. I don't see any reason why we cannot proceed." She pulled out the chart and went over to Dean. She tried to explain the scenario in simple terms to him. "This area here is the problem spot. The surgeon will drill a small hole and everything that is adding the pressure here should be relieved." Dr. Stonewell closed it up and sat on his bed. She looked at him and smiled. "This should do it Dean. With the steady improvements he has been making, however he has been doing that, we should start to see results as soon as the anesthesia wears off tomorrow." The doctor grabbed his hand and squeezed with assurance. "I feel confident that this will be the solution and you two can really begin to heal in peace. Speaking of which," she said as she grabbed the thermometer on the wall, "let's check one more time." Dr. Stonewell placed the instrument in his mouth and took the temperature.
"Have a told you how happy I am that that's not a rectal thermometer? I wouldn't be quite as pleasant as I have been." The whole room burst out from the release of tension.
"You're much better. Just over 100. See? Rest does make difference, and the boost of antibiotics!" She turned to smile at Missouri, then to Jana and Johnny. "I'll be back in a few hours. Someone will be in to prep Sam for the surgery tonight," she started. "He's going to have to loose that beautiful hair of his you know. We can take just the section that they will be working on, or we can do the whole thing."
The thought of this brotherly torture made Dean chuckle aloud. "Oh no, you need to take the whole thing! That will send him into a tizzy. I've been bugging him that he needs a haircut! It will be the first thing he says when he wakes up, and I will enjoy it immensely!" Missouri shot him a look while the others laughed.
"Ok, someone will be in later to take care of that. You better be careful though, they may mistake you for him and then who'll be laughing?" The doctor turned and left the room.
"Thanks doc," he called after her, letting his tension go. "He's going to be ok!" He looked up at Missouri who was smiling at him, but there was something in her eyes. Dean picked it up immediately. "Hey Jana, by the way, this is Missouri. Missouri, Jana, and Johnny is there in the corner."
"Missouri? I remember seeing your name in the journal. I'm so glad you were able to come out to see the boys," said Jana. She wasn't sure what Missouri did, but she figured it was big if Dean got her here that quickly. Suddenly she felt a little uncomfortable with her having the knowledge of what Johnny did to Sam and Dean. "I'm sure Dean told you everything that has gone on over the last few days…"
"Don't worry honey, everything's ok. You don't have to lose any sleep over this. You had no control over the situation." She smiled a peaceful smile at Jana and turned to Dean.
"Listen, Jana, would you mind giving us a minute. Missouri and I have a few things to talk about."
Jana jumped up. "Oh, sure, no problem." She ran to grab her purse and started toward the door. "I was thinking I was a bit hungry anyway. Can I grab either of you something from the cafeteria?"
"You tend to spend a lot of time in there don't you," he smiled at her. "Burger and fries would be great, but I wouldn't mind a bag of chips." Dean was surprised at her quickness to oblige. Missouri shook her head and smiled.
"Great, we'll be back in a little while." She turned to look at Johnny. "Come on Johnny, we'll go see what's down there." He started to follow her, but then instinctively turned back to Missouri. Johnny grabbed her hand and shook it. She placed her hand on his head and crouched to his level.
"It's very nice to meet you too young man. When you come back, I have a couple things I want to ask you. Is that ok?" She caressed his face. Jana looked on. What would she be asking him?
"I'll do whatever I can to help Sam, Missouri." With that he trotted out the room after Jana. Missouri rose and closed the door.
Dean hawked in on her as soon as the door closed. "What is it?"
Missouri came and sat in the chair next to the bed. "First, the boy is not a danger any longer. I could feel what was in him, and it was scary bad. He has abilities that I can't explain, but I think he may be able to still help Sam." Dean perked up with that comment.
"The healing? Can he still do that?"
"No. He was a vessel for their needs, but he does still have the ability to go into dreams. I think that's what we'll need to boost Sam's consciousness awake, after tomorrow." She looked at Dean with a seriousness that he hadn't seen. "The boy is here for a reason Dean. Somehow, he is part of this. There is a connection to Sam on a very deep level." Dean devoured every word she said and hoped for more. "They shared a lot in the time they spent together. Johnny will do whatever he can to help him, of that I'm sure."
Dean leaned back harder into the bed. Could this finally be coming to an end? "What else did you sense, from the others?"
Missouri blushed a little as she continued. "The girl likes you. It was a shock to her, but she is finding herself very attracted to you." She smiled at him and continued on. "She has been through many trials in the last few months, but somehow she is finding that she can trust you, and her trust does not come easy." She touched his arm and stroked it. "Jana could be very good for you Dean. The relationship started with no pretense and could grow to something more, if you let it." Dean squirmed a little.
"Well, who wouldn't be attracted to me? I'm handsome, charming…"
"Could you just listen to what I'm saying and stop avoiding the subject. I'm not saying you should marry her or anything, I'm just telling you so you know, and you can make informed decisions." His ego deflated a little.
"What I really wanted to talk about is that doctor." Dean stared at her astounded. "Before you starting jawing off at me, hear me out. She will help Sam to get better, there is no doubt, but there is something else here." Dean listened intently to what she said. "I can't quite put my finger on it. You told her everything that happened. She witnessed the channeling of your mom. I'm not sure that she can handle it." Missouri shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "I don't know what she will do with the information, but as soon as you are well enough, you have to leave this hospital." She looked to the door again and rose. "There is something here, an evil in this building. It's not spirits, it's evil. They followed you here and you have to be more on your guard then ever."
"But we exorcised the demon from the nurse. How many more are there, and why are you always looking at the door," he said finally after watching her do it so many times.
"Something has been lurking Dean, trying to see what's going on. I don't know if it's good or evil, but it is persistent. I can't get a hold of it. It is always right out of my reach." She took a deep breath of frustration. "We need to start with protection as soon as Sam gets back tomorrow." She came back to the chair. "Nothing will happen tonight. They want Sam to get better. This is his test. Tomorrow will be another story."
Chapter 19
Jana and Johnny came back to the room a short time later to see Dean and Missouri relaxing and watching TV. They entered cautiously. "Is everything ok?"
"Please child, come in. We didn't mean to chase you off, we just needed a few minutes to get caught up on the goings on of this crazy place." She welcomed Jana in. They entered and looked around. Johnny went to Sam's side, closest to the window and Jana sat on the edge of Dean's bed. Missouri didn't want to play around with Jana and make her more uncomfortable. "You already know my name, but I want you to know what I do. I'm a psychic – I read thoughts and energies." Jana immediately became uncomfortable. "No honey, don't worry. We just needed to talk." She continued to validate her abilities. "I am the one that showed the boys how to make the satchels that cleared the spirits from your house." Jana nodded in appreciation. Her voice had a calming effect on Jana and she felt more at ease than a minute ago.
"That was you! Cool! I bet they are mad you at you," cried Johnny from the other end of the room.
"Oh yes, they are mad at me. And at them," she indicated to the Winchesters. "In fact, this whole thing is about them and what they do." She got up and faced Jana at the end of the bed.
"Sam said this was a test, well his mother did," said Jana realizing this was not a typical conversation. "A test of what?"
"Faith," she proclaimed. "Things are going to get dangerous around here Jana. I explained to Dean that this whole place is lurking with evil. It's not just a spirit, it's everywhere." She looked at Johnny. "I believe you are here for a reason as well young man." Johnny perked up.
"Me? Why am I here?" He ran to Missouri's side and looked up at her. "Is it because of Sam?"
She placed her hand on the boy. Missouri couldn't help but be intrigued by him. "Yes child. You and Sam have a link. That has been proven more than once in the last few days. I think tomorrow that we should test that link. How do you feel about that?" Missouri glanced at Jana to see her reaction to the statement. She felt worry, but trust exuded from her.
"You want me to go into his dreams," Johnny said excitedly. He went to his backpack and rifled through it. Things were thrown on the floor. After a moment, he pulled a small object from the pack and held it up.
"What the hell is that," cried Dean. Johnny ran over to him and gave it to him. Missouri made her way to the object as well. "It's a spoon! What are you doing with a spoon?" Dean took a closer look at it. It looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it. It was old and had chips out of the picture at the top. He turned it over and saw the name 'SAM' etched in the back. "Johnny, where did you get this," he said with alarm in his voice
Johnny stepped back realizing that they were not as excited about his surprise as he was. "They gave it to me. They said it was Sam's when he was a baby. It was in a trunk, in the basement of your old house." Realization slapped Dean across the face.
"The trunk! Holy crap. Jenny gave the whole trunk to us when we left, but they must have gotten there first. How?" He fingered the spoon in awe, wondering how long this had been planned. Missouri asked to look at it and felt for anything unusual. She felt a slight ping of energy, but nothing spectacular.
"Yeah, Jenny. I remember her and her two kids Sari and Richie. That was the first time I called to Sam, in his dreams," Johnny said matter of factly. "They wanted me to let Sam know that he had to come home, so they told me to show him the house, and the creepy tree and a woman in a window screaming for help."
"What?"
"Oh my God," cried Missouri dropping the spoon to the floor. "You did that? John thought it was the house! What did they tell you?" The silence was deafening in the room. Jana looked to Dean and then to Missouri trying to piece together what just happened. She dare not interrupt. The slight click of the machines Sam was hooked up to were heard, but ignored. Everyone was in shock at what was being said.
"They said I was special and that they needed Sam. They wanted him in Kansas, at his old house. I don't know why, they just did. They gave me the images and that's what I showed him." The boy went back over to Sam hoping for a loving arm to reach out to him. It did not come so he crawled into bed next to him. He was obviously scared and feeling attacked by the others. Sam was his only shelter. "After that, they disappeared for a while. No one came to play with me. I was alone, again. My mom…" he stopped and Jana knelt next to him in the bed.
"It's ok Johnny. This isn't your fault. You didn't understand what was happening." She begged answers from Missouri with her glances. "They were very convincing. We know that you weren't you. It's ok." She stroked the boy's head and tried to calm him down.
Dean was beside himself with anger. "This whole thing has been a set up, from the moment we went to Lawrence. It started in Lawrence.. that's what she said. This is about Sammy and breaking him down, seeing what he could do," Dean was appauled that he hadn't put this together sooner. He was so overwhelmed by the freakiness of the situation that he didn't see the bigger picture. "That's why Ellicott went for Sam first at the Asylum, even though I was alone. He was so much more vulnerable after the attack at the house. They wanted to see how far they could push him. Control him." Dean was thinking aloud and finally piecing things together. The others looked at him but didn't question his train of logic. "My dad. Does he know about this Missouri? How much does he know? You have to tell me." He pleaded with her from his bed.
Missouri was just as shocked by the news as Dean was. She knew it was time to get every bit on the table, even things that she speculated on. She began her theories. "There are two separate things going on here, but they are connected. Your dad is still after the thing that killed your mom. I believe that is part of the evil that is trying to break you two down now." She went over to Dean and sat on the bed. "John knew something was going on with Sam, but he wanted to see how far it would go and where it would go. Your father knew that Sam needed you, and only you. That's why he disappeared." Missouri looked to Dean who got a sudden chill. She grabbed his hand. "He needed to do it on his own, and to take those demons as far away from you as possible. You have enough of your own demons, don't you Dean."
Dean didn't know what to do or what to say. This was all so overwhelming. His head was spinning with all the information he was learning. Why couldn't dad just be honest with us and tell us what was going on? It would have made everything so much easier. What is so special about us?
"I told you, you were chosen," said Missouri, answering his thoughts. "This is your destiny, and your burden. There are not two better people in the world to do what you do." She grabbed his face. "The two of you together are almost unstoppable, especially now, in spite of everything."
There was a knock at the door. The knock startled the group and everyone turned to see who was there. A male nurse entered and made his way to Sam. He definitely felt like he was interrupting something. "I'm supposed to shave him for surgery in the morning." The room that was just filled with so much tension was finally light.
Dean sighed thinking all the evil thoughts that siblings do. "Oh, he is going to love this," started Dean. "There are some other places you can shave as well, if you'd like," cracked Dean making hand motions to another region of Sam's body. The nurse smiled uncomfortably and went over to Sam and removed the bandages. "Can you prop me up," asked Dean. "I want to see every minute of this."