Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters and am not making any money on this…I'm still just having fun!

Bait

Chapter 15 – Hospital Nightmares

Dean and his father had checked out Sheila's apartment and weren't surprised to find out that it had been cleaned out. Dean checked with the landlord, who told him Sheila had notified him that she was going to move back to Oklahoma to be near her relatives. Since neither of the men had eaten a decent mealor slept since going after Sam, they both decided to grab lunch and try to get a couple of hours of sleep.

Dean hung up the phone in the hotel room and stretched out on the bed. "He's still sleeping Dad…the nurse said she didn't expect him to wake up until later this afternoon."

John was laying on the other bed, more than ready to get some sleep. "Good, let's get some shut eye…I set the alarm for 2:00…that should give us a couple of hours. While you go check on Sammy…I'm going to go back out to the ranch and tie up loose ends…it won't do to have those bodies found."

"Dad…do you think Stephen and Sheila will be there?" Dean yawned.

"No…by now they have probably figured out what happened…my guess is that they will be on the run. But just in case, you and Sam need to watch your backs. Now get some sleep Dean" John ordered as he closed his eyes.

ooooooooo

Sam tossed in the hospital bed, trapped in his own nightmares. At some level he knew that he was safe and that he was just dreaming, but he couldn't stop the images from his torment in the barn from replaying in his head. The tears flowed from his eyes as he felt himself struggling, trying not to respond to Kate and the shame that followed. He felt again the bites as they ravaged his skin, stealing his life's force from him slowly.

Opening his feverish eyes, Sam searched the room for the one person who could stop the nightmare. "Dean….Dean…where are you?" Sam croaked. But his brother was not there. For a moment, Sam began to panic, but then the white walls and antiseptic smell of the hospital registered in his fevered brain. He remembered Dean saying he would be back. He tried to close his eyes again…too tired to think, he slipped back into the darkness of his nightmares once again.

A short time later, Sam felt someone in the room with him. He opened his eyes and groaned as the pain in his body hit him full force again. He jumped as he heard an unfamiliar voice calling his name.

"Sam…Sam…can you hear me? My name is Lisa and I will be your nurse today. Can you open your eyes for me?" Lisa reached over and gently took Sam's hand in her own, checking his pulse and writing the results down on her chart. Next she took his blood pressure.

"Hi…could I please have some water?" Sam croaked, he felt like he was on fire, burning from within.

"Sure hon…but first, I need to get your temperature…can you hold this in your mouth for me?" She placed the thermometer in his mouth and turned to pour him a glass of water. A few moments later she removed the thermometer, noting the temperature on the chart and then helped Sam take a drink.

"Ok Sam…now I need to check your wounds to make sure that we have the infection under control, just relax and let me do all the work." She smiled as she used the washcloth she had brought with to wipe the young man's face.

Sam tried to relax, but he could feel his muscles twitching as she touched him. A sudden feeling of revulsion surged through him, making him shudder. As the nurse reached over and started to pull up the hospital gown, Sam went into full panic. "No…don't touch me…please…don't!" Sam couldn't breath…the more he struggled, the harder it became.

The nurse pushed the call button next to her as she tried to keep Sam from hurting himself. "Please Sam…I'm just trying to help!" As the orderlies and doctor rushed in to help, Sam felt like he was being smothered…suddenly he was back in the barn being held down…helpless. He had to fight…he had to get out of here! The harder he struggled, the harder he was held down. Sam let out a strangled scream…"Dean!"

Suddenly the hospital door burst open as Dean plunged into the room. He watched in awe as his brother threw an orderly across the room. "What the hell…Sam!" Dean rushed over to take the orderly's place. Sam's face was bathed in sweat, his breath coming in short gasps and his eyes looking wildly around the room.

"Sammy…I'm here…calm down, you're going to hurt yourself!" Dean motioned for the others to step back from his brother as he reached over and touched Sam's cheek. "Come on Sam, it's me, just calm down…that's it…deep breath's ok…good" Dean watched as the fight went out of his brother. The doctor injected something into Sam's IV which seemed to be making his brother drowsy. As he watched Sam's eyes close, he took his own deep breath and turned to the others in the room.

"What happened?" He asked calmly.

The pretty nurse replied "I don't know, he seemed fine when I took his vitals, but when I tried to lift his gown to check his wounds, he had a panic attack…I'm sorry…I know his fever is a little high, but I thought he was more aware…" She stopped and looked at the sleeping young man with pity filled eyes.

"Don't worry…he's had bad nightmares since he was a kid…in his fevered state, he probably thought you were part of some nightmare." Dean shook his head…he knew he should have been here when Sam woke up, he should have know after the incident in the cave that Sam would be sensitive to others touching him…especially strangers.

"Well Mr. West, we've given him a sedative that should help him sleep. I'll check his wounds to make sure that he didn't pull any stitches and then we'll just let him rest." The doctor walked over and after examining Sam's wounds, pulled the covers back up to cover the young man.

"Well…will he still be able to leave tomorrow morning?" Dean asked, worried that a prolonged stay in the hospital would do more damage than good.

"I don't see why not…the fever will probably break some time this evening…he's still a little high, but it's not increasing. The wounds are looking much better too. We'll keep him sedated through the night, just to make sure he gets plenty of rest."

Dean nodded as the doctor and nurse left the room. Looking back over at his younger brother, he sighed. He had hoped that his brother would be able to deal with what had happened. He should have known better.

A few minutes later his father walked into the room. "What's going on?" he asked as he saw the worried look on his oldest son's face. "He isn't getting worse is he?"

"No Dad…he will be released tomorrow morning…he just had a panic attack…the nurse tried to check his wounds and he freaked out…I should have been here!" Dean sighed as he ran a trembling hand through his hair.

"Dean…son…he'll be fine, it's just going to take time for him to heal."

"But Dad…what if I can't help him…what if this time, it was too much for him to handle…God, I don't know if I can deal with what happened to him…I can't even say the word, much less deal with it."

"Dean…this is no different than any other kind of attack on your brother…you've handled his wounds since he was a baby…it was an attack and the only one to blame for it is now gone. You can handle it and so can Sam…I know you both will find a way together." John looked at his oldest son, hoping his words were getting through.

"Ok Dad…I know…it's just hard. When are you going to the ranch?" Dean decided to change the subject to safer ground…twice in less than 24 hours he had allowed his father to see his emotions…that was more than enough.

"I'm heading out there right now. I'll meet you at the hotel later tonight after visitation hours…and don't think about staying here all night. Your brother is going to need you alert when he gets out of here tomorrow…that means you need to eat and get some sleep yourself. Remember what I said, you need to take care of yourself too."

"Yes Sir" Dean said to his father's back as he left the room. But Dean knew he wouldn't be leaving tonight…he had to make sure that he was here in case Sam woke up. Sitting beside the bed, Dean took Sam's hand and rubbed it gently. "I'm here little brother…you just relax, nothing bad's going to happen to you as long as I'm here."

TBC

Raven524: A little transition chapter…sorry no action, but don't worry…the boys aren't out of the woods yet!