AN: Wow! I didn't expect to get that many reviews so quickly, but I'm definitely not complaining! Since you're all so wonderful I've managed to get this chap posted a little quicker than I thought I would. So if it seems rushed and crappy, I apologize.
Chapter 2: Touch and Go
"Now, let's see what we can do about that pretty face o' yours, baby doll."
Sam sighed loudly through his nostrils and fidgeted on the paper-covered exam table. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the matronly nurse's attentiveness; he just wished he didn't have to deal with it at the moment.
Apparently, some Good Samaritan had just happened to have been in East Bumble Missouri driving down Whatever the Hell highway at the exact moment of the crash and had dialed 911. EMTs and fire rescue had arrived mere minutes after the Colt's final round had been dispensed and all three Winchesters were rushed to the nearest hospital. Upon arrival, Dean and John had both been whisked away on gurneys while a near hysterical Sam was left alone in the waiting room until a passing nurse had noticed his condition. Said nurse had taken him to be x-rayed, reset his shoulder, and was now intent on removing every tiny speck of glass from his right temple.
"It's okay, I can do this myself later," he said rather shortly, extending the hand not bound up in sling to prevent Nurse Carter's advance.
She pursed her fuscia lips and arched an eyebrow as if to say oh really? "Boy, you've done nothing but whine this whole time," she scolded. "Now quit acting like a man and let me help you!"
Sam scraped his top lip between his teeth out of nervous habit and edged further away from the fifty-something nurse. "Look, I appreciate it and all, but I just want to check on my brother…and my dad," he nearly pleaded, mentioning his father as an afterthought. Since arriving at the hospital, his only concern had been for Dean. He recalled the intercom announcing the arrival of a triage patient and he shuddered.
Nurse Carter's frown softened as she read the distress on the young man's face. "Dr. Schneider is one of the best in the state, honey. He'll let you know when your brother is out of surgery," she gave his knee a reassuring little squeeze. "And I think your daddy's already been put in a room. Let's finish up here and you can go see him, okay?"
Sam nodded and swallowed the lump that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in his throat.
Nurse Carter opened up one of the cabinets that lined the walls and pulled out a pair of latex gloves and a glistening set of tweezers. "This won't hurt a bit," she lied warmly, snapping on the gloves and raising the tweezers.
Sam didn't resist as she took a firm hold on his chin and tilted his head to the side.
"This won't hurt." Yeah right. It hurt alright, it hurt like hell. He could feel his skin peel away from each jagged shard and his nostrils flared, breathing in the heavy scent of fresh latex. Damn it woman! He squeezed his eyes shut tightly against the needles of pain.
"Oh no. Open those peepers up, honey. I can't get it all out if your face is all squinched up," Nurse Carter ordered, tightening her fingers around his jaw.
"Sorry," he muttered, suddenly feeling like a complete girl. Not too far down the hall Dean lay unconscious and exposed on an operating table as doctors rushed to save his life, and here he was being a wuss over some minor flesh wounds.
The nurse finished up quickly, dabbed the area with some alcohol (which burned like a mother) and announced Sam ready for action.
"Thanks," he said with rushed sincerity and hopped off the table. Back on his feet, he now towered above Nurse Carter and she looked up to him and smiled.
"No trouble, baby doll. You just be sure to get some rest and take better care of yourself," she ordered good naturedly and patted his sling-clad arm.
"Oh I sure will, ma'am," he lied with a ghost of a sad smile.
-O-
It was a small hospital and all of the recovery rooms were located on the second floor, the third floor being reserved for extended stay patients. Sam found John's room on the third try and hovered outside the door as a nurse finished setting up the IV bag.
"Try and rest some, Mr. Franklin," Sam heard her call John by the alias that was printed on all of their fake insurance cards and watched as his father completely ignored the young woman. She gathered her clipboard and gave John one last nervous glance before hustling out the door, completely missing Sam.
The youngest Winchester waited a bit longer, trying to compile all of his thoughts into something to say to his father, but gave up in the end because he realized it was impossible. Silently, he slipped inside and pushed the door to behind him.
John remained motionless, sitting upright in the metal-framed bed, arms crossed and staring intently at a spot on the wall. In all of the twenty two years of his life, Sam couldn't recall ever seeing his father so detached or so vulnerable. Perhaps it was the hospital gown, or maybe the tube dripping fluids into his arm, or the thick bandages wrapped around his right shin. Whatever it was it didn't matter because the wounded man before him was John Winchester. And John Winchester was never vulnerable.
"Hey, Dad. How's your leg?" was all that Sam could seem to say as he moved closer to the bed.
John's face twitched slightly. "Fine," he stated coldly.
Sam readjusted his sling nervously and licked his lips. "You know, the doctor said…"
"I don't give a damn what the doctor said," John's eyes tore over to his youngest son and Sam saw that they were heavy with rage and pure, bitter contempt for the being before him. "Did you use the last bullet, Sammy?" An icy challenge dripped from his words, daring the younger man to say that he had defied orders yet again.
Sam wanted to scream, he wanted to throw things and punch his father right in the damn face for being such an uncaring, selfish bastard. His only thoughts should have been of his sons' safety. He should have asked if Dean was okay, if he was alive even, but no. All he could think of was that stupid, fucking bullet.
"Yes, Dad. I used the last bullet," Sam met John's gaze levelly. "I put it right between that bastard's eyes. I did what I had to to save our family."
"Family?" John pulled himself up straighter against the bed's railing. "If you gave a damn about this family you would have shot me like I told you to!"
"Listen to yourself, Dad!" Sam cried without realizing that he was shouting. "You're willing to throw it all away for the sake of revenge!"
"Aren't you?" John's tone was eerily soft, contrasting sharply with that of his son.
Sam worked his mouth silently, searching for a way to deny the truth.
"You said so yourself, Sam, you and I are a lot alike," John continued. "But you've been listening to your brother, and he's not like us. He's never felt the kind of loss that we have."
"Dean's the only one who's kept both our sorry asses alive this whole time, he's…"
"Dean is weak!" John hissed and then suddenly found himself staring into a younger reflection of his own eyes.
"Don't you dare call my brother weak!" Sam shoved his nose mere inches from his father's and took a rough hold on the older man's collar. "Dean worships the ground you fucking walk on! He loves you!" Sam began to tremble at his own words. "I was ready to leave you, to keep hunting, but Dean insisted we find you. He saved you, he saved us both you son of a…"
"What are you gonna do, hit me Sammy?" A dare glittered in his eyes, a taunt that he expected to go unanswered.
But Sam was spared the guilt of pummeling his old man as the door opened and one of the hospital's three doctors entered with a cheery "hello". Sam immediately released his father, albeit roughly, and backed away. He stood there shaking, holding his damaged face with his good hand and trying to keep the tears at bay.
"Am I interrupting something?" the gray-haired, bespectacled doctor asked with a nervous glance between the two men.
"No, no you're not," Sam said with a cracked voice, turning his back to John.
The doctor looked disbelieving, but shrugged and continued. "Mr. Franklin, you're brother is out of surgery and seems to be resting comfortably. Would you like to see him?"
TBC