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Rage

Chapter nine

Two hours later

Dean sat in the waiting room his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. He wasn't a religious man but he kept praying his brother was going to be alright. He couldn't even imagine life without Sammy. Oh sure they had been apart for a few years when Sam had gone off to college but he always knew Sam was alive and still out there somewhere. But now…if Sam didn't make it, he didn't know if he could go on. Sam had always asked him if hunting was worth it and he had always told him it was. But nothing was worth losing his brother because of it. Ever since they had gotten back together the loneliness he had felt since Sam had left to go to college was gone. He would never admit that to his little brother, too girlie he thought. But it was true. He looked up and blinked back tears as he heard the door open and quickly stood up when he saw the doctor.

"How is he?" Dean asked then held his breath waiting to hear the answer.

"We repaired the incision and as far as we can tell everything went well. He'll be in recovery for a few hours then intensive care for a day or two."

Dean put out his hand as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Doc."

The doctor reached out and shook his hand.

"Your brother was very lucky. If the bullet had struck a little to the left he wouldn't have made it. You tell him next time he cleans his gun to double check it and make sure there's no cartridge in the chamber."

"I will." Dean swallowed the lump in his throat. He hated leaving Sam take the blame for his own shooting but it wouldn't do anyone any good if he confessed.

Intensive Care Unit

After four hours Sam was taken out of the recovery room and put in the ICU. They told Dean he'd have to stay a day or so just for precaution and then would be moved up to a room.

Dean quietly walked into the ICU and over to Sam's bed. He stood next to Sam's bed staring down at him, not wanting to wake him. He looked so young lying on the bed, his dark brown hair making his skin even appear more pale then it was. Dean shut his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief that his brother was alive and hopefully would stay that way. When he opened his eyes he saw Sam looking sleepily up at him.

"Hey." Dean smiled down at his brother.

"You okay?" Sam said weakly.

Dean blinked back tears; it was just like Sam to worry about him instead of himself.

"I'm fine…" He turned away for a few seconds not wanting Sam to see how emotional he was. When he looked back at Sam he could see the worry on his face.

"What happened to your face?"

"Oh that…" Dean gave a little laugh as he put his hand up to the bruise on his face from where the bar patron had kicked him. "Oh, that's nothing."

"It doesn't look like nothing….You were in a fight weren't you?"
"Nah…just walked into a pole." Dean lied.

Sam looked at him suspiciously but didn't push the issue.

"They told me you gave me some of your blood."

"Yeah, you won't be able to fight the girls off now, with my blood in your system you'll be a chick magnet."

Sam gave a little laugh then became serious.

"They said I would have died without it."

"Well you'll need to keep your hormones under control now Bro, now that you got some of my blood in you who knows what might happen…. Hey, it might even improve your looks." Dean grinned.

Sam smiled up at his brother.

"Thanks."

"Anytime Bro."

"Hey, did you see where that thing went after it left you?"

"It headed off toward that fountain in the cemetery….Look Sam I'm sorry…I'm sorry I shot you….I tried to fight it….I just couldn't….I'm sorry for causing you all this pain."

"Can't feel a thing with all these drugs they have me on." Sam smiled. "But do me one favor…."

"Sure."

"Next time you have the urge to shoot me, miss."

Dean gave a little laugh then turned serious.

"Sam, this thing…this thing that was in me, it left me watch what was happening. I had no control over it but it knew about the fire and Mom and Jessica…I could feel it pull the memories out of my mind but I couldn't stop it."

"Why would it do that? Why didn't it just have you shoot me?"

"I don't know, but it seemed like the more it hurt you by what it was saying the stronger it became…Almost like it was feeding off of your emotions."

"How are we going to stop it?"

"I'm not sure. The only thing I can think of is to try to locate the shell this thing lives in and destroy it while it's inside."

"I guess that's all we can do unless we actually find a person possessed by it, but the odds of that happening….. " Sam tried to push himself up a little in the bed but ended up grimacing in pain as he grabbed his stomach.

"What's the matter!" Dean leaned over the bed wanting to help but not knowing what to do.

"I think the pain medication is starting to wear off." Sam gave a little laugh trying to hide how much pain he was really in from his brother.

Dean rang for a nurse who checked Sam then went to get the doctor's okay to increase the medication.

Dean watched as Sam tried to hide the pain he was in from him but he could tell his brother was in agony. Sam grabbed Dean's hand and Dean winced in pain as Sam squeezed it each time a wave of pain shot through him. Dean blinked back tears; it broke his heart knowing he was the cause of it. Within a few minutes the nurse came back and added the medication to Sam's IV and soon the pain began to ease up.

"Sorry." Sam said. "I didn't think it would wear off that quick." He gave a nervous laugh knowing the pain would come back each time the medication wore off and he wasn't looking forward to it.

"Look, why don't you get some sleep, you look beat. I'll be back in later to check on you."

"Okay…but promise me you'll stay out of bar fights…" He could tell by Dean's face he had been in a fight and could also smell the alcohol on him.

"Hey don't worry about me. You just get better so we can get back on the road."

"Okay…but Dean, don't you go looking for trouble…." The additional pain medication was already causing Sam's eyes to shut.

Dean watched as Sam drifted off to sleep, then satisfied that his brother was in good hands left the hospital, got in his car, and drove to the cemetery determined to track down and kill the thing that had tried to take his brother from him.

TBC