Alternate Life or Real Life?

Disclaimer as per the first chapter.

CHAPTER FIVE

Dean finished locking the car up and turned to the hospital building, even in the bright sunshine of the day the place still looked eerie and menacing. He stopped just as an ambulance skidded around the corner in front of him, coming to a screeching halt at the emergency department.

As it was the first real sign of any action at the hospital, Dean's curiosity was piqued; he hurried his stride to get to the ambulance just as they were taking the patient from the rear of the vehicle. He stared down at the young woman, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face; she looks just like Sam did when he brought him in.

'What happened?' He asked the ambulance officer closest to him, 'accident?'

'Dunno but she's bad so…'

'Yeah right thanks.' Dean said as he watched them wheel her into the emergency area, his frown deepening as he got one last glimpse at her face, shocked to see her eyes open and focused on him. The olive green colour shone under unshed tears. She silently mouthed help before closing her eyes and her gurney disappeared behind the sliding doors.

Chewing his lower lip, Dean absently walked down the hallway towards Sam's room, he could not get the young woman's face out of his mind and he hated the fact that it wasn't because she was cute and had given him her phone number. Instead he felt nothing but worry and a rising uneasy feeling about the hospital in general.

'Hey Belle.' He greeted Sam's room-mate as he went to walk past her to Sam's cubicle.

'Dean, please can I talk to you.' Belle whispered hoarsely.

'Yep what's up?'

'I have to be quick before they come back.'

'Who? Before who comes back?' Dean asked pulling a chair closer to Isabelle's bed.

'Dean you have to get Sam out of here, they have already started.'

'Started what Belle? I really want to know where you are coming from but…'

'Dean…' Isabelle started coughing violently before she could finish speaking, tenderly Dean held her shoulders until the fit stopped and then he held a glass of water for her to sip from. 'Thanks.' She whispered her voice raw after the violence of the coughing fit, 'Sam, the doctor isn't what he claims to be – he uses his patients for experiments.'

'What kind of experiments?' Dean asked his eyes narrowing as the effect of her words had their desired affect on his attention.

'All of the patients here are psychic or similar they are somehow made to appear seriously ill or involved in mysterious accidents.'

'Like Sam's blacking out and getting really sick?"'

'Yeah and like my supposed accident.' Isabelle said bitterness heavy in her voice.

'What powers – abilities do you have Isabelle?'

'I'm a touch empath; I can heal people with my touch. I-I guess the best way to describe it is umm, I put my hands on someone, absorb the injury or pain into my own body and heal it.'

'Whoa.' Dean muttered as he took in the enormity of what she was saying.

'I have occasional visions about the person when I am connected to them that's about it.'

'Sam has visions, nightmares that can come true and at times telekinesis.' Dean admitted.

'Visions? Oh now.'

'Why? What is it?'

Before Isabelle could answer him, the door to the room slid open and the orderlies wheeled a gurney into the room with Sam lying on it, his face pale and pinched, his eyes open but unfocused, his long tapered fingers clutched at his sheets in a frenetic fashion twisting the material until it tore.

'Sam.' Dean breathed as he jumped up from the chair and hurried to his sibling's side. 'What's wrong with him?'

'Just finished his latest round of tests,' the only explanation he was given as they roughly hoisted Sam back into his bed, carelessly throwing the blankets over him.

'Sons of bitches,' Dean snarled, 'why don't you pick on someone less helpless for a change? Fuck Sammy what have they done to you?'

Sam flinched at the touch of Dean's hand on his shoulder, a look of absolute fear past across his face. 'Please no more,' he whispered, 'no more.'

'Hey Sammy no one is gonna hurt you again.' Dean promised, 'I'm getting you outta here – you and Isabelle.'

'Dean?' Sam blinked and tried to focus on his brother's face, 'is that you Dean?'

'Yeah Dude, it's me.' Dean breathed a sigh of relief and brushed a heavy lock of hair from Sam's eyes, 'Dude you really do need a haircut.'

'Dean you have to get out of here.' Sam forced each word out as though he only had a few short seconds to speak at all, 'you're in danger.'

'Nope not me, you Sammy, they want you.' Dean tried to stay calm but the distraught look in Sam's hazel eyes only fueled his anger, 'I'm getting you out Sam, I'm sorry I brought you here.'

'No Dean, listen to me the doctor wants you...he's using me to get to you.'

'Ah Sammy, you're the one with the Shining – not me.'

'No, not that.' Sam managed to get out before his eyes closed and unconsciousness claimed him.

'Sam? Sammy? Come on Dude wake up don't do this to me again.' Dean cried out shaking Sam's shoulders.

'Dean what's wrong?' Isabelle called out from the other side of the cubicle's curtain, 'please talk to me.'

Dean appeared next to her, his eyes wide and wild, 'Belle can you heal Sam?'

'What's happened?'

'He was talking and then suddenly…'

'Can you move my bed closer to him?'

Before Isabelle had finished speaking Dean was already unlocking the wheels of the bed mindful of the monitors and wires connected to her. 'You sure about this?' He grunted as he pushed the bed closer to Sam's.

'No need to even ask Dean, anyway if someone is really close to me and are hurt or ill I become, umm it's like a physical pull to them and if I can't heal them, it hurts so much.' Isabelle waited for Dean to get closer again and then she smiled gently, 'nothing to really worry about, can you lift my hand and place it on Sam's chest?'

As Dean lowered Isabelle's hand on Sam's chest, the young man flinched and moaned as though the touch caused him pain. Isabelle pulled his attention back to her when she gasped and arched her back with the initial contact, 'fuck, fuck, fuck,' Dean growled as he went to pull her hand away.

'No…no don't break the contact.' Isabelle gasped, 'it'll pass.' Sweat started to bead on her forehead as she absorbed the pain from Sam's body. 'Ahh so much pain, so much hurt. Dean break the contact please now!'

He pulled her hand away from Sam and stared at the two young people lying so still on their beds. 'Isabelle you okay?' He demanded, 'Sam?'

'Quick wheel me back, someone's coming.' Isabelle whispered patting his hand comfortingly, 'Sam's sleeping.'

Dean glared down at her, the bruises under her eyes and the tiredness etched across her face, 'you don't look so hot Belle, what happened between you and Sammy?'

'Sam, it is Sam not Sammy.' She whispered with a small knowing smile, then just as Dean finished locking the wheels in place the door to the room hissed open and Grace the nurse swept in, glaring at Dean she stopped suddenly.

'What is going on in here?' She demanded swooping onto the monitors and screens surrounding Isabelle.

"Nothing Nurse, Dean was just helping me get a little more comfortable.'

'Yeah I accidentally stepped on a wire, sorry Nurse.' Dean gave her his most charming smile, 'so if you two don't mind I'll get back to my brother.'

Grace glared at him once more and then went about checking Isabelle's pulse and blood pressure, she decided to report this to the doctor, she didn't trust that young man at all.

'Dean.' Sam moaned and moved restlessly his fingers once again fretting at the sheets, 'Dean please – please stop let him be!'

'Sam, Sammy, hey come on Dude look at me.' Dean whispered cupping Sam's face in his hands, 'open your eyes and look at me Sammy.'

'Dean?' Sam tried to push the annoying hand away but his arms wouldn't move for him, confusion and fear filled him and he tried to move both of his arms. 'Dean.' He cried out again this time loud enough to bring the nurse running.

'What's going on? What have you done?' She demanded grabbing Dean's arm, 'what are you up to young man?'

'My brother's dreaming, that's all Lady,' Dean snapped back, feeling so tired of the way the staff acted in this place, 'he's having a nightmare.'

'Hmm, nightmare you say and you were just helping Isabelle get comfortable as well? Perhaps the doctor should have a talk to you about leaving his patients alone.'

'His patients?' Dean snarled finally losing his last tenuous grip on his temper, 'Sam is my brother, Isabelle is my friend, listen to me lady why don't you stop worrying about what I am doing and start worrying about the condition of your patients.'

'Nurse that will be all.' The doctor interrupted before Grace had a chance to retort, 'I believe that the new patient is ready to be settled in to her new room.'

'Yes doctor.' She replied sullenly casting a last look of contempt towards Dean she stalked out of the room.

'Now young man do you wish to tell me what that was all about?'

'Nothing Doc, just a misunderstanding.' Dean muttered, 'so how's Sammy doing?'

'Your brother is responding to treatment, we should start seeing a marked improvement in the next few days.'

'So he'll be right to leave soon?'

'Oh no Mr Mitchell, I am afraid you misunderstood, your brother is improving but I am afraid that he will be here for quite a while yet, I'm afraid I cannot give you a definite time frame.'

'Why? If he's getting better why does he need to stay so long.' Dean could feel his anger ready to erupt once again.

'Even though he is getting better, your brother is going to need a lot of physical therapy to relearn to walk and move again, as well as nutritional therapy, he has lost a considerable amount of weight during his illness, it would be remiss of me to discharge him in such a weakened state.'

'What would happen if ... '

'If Sam were to be released before he was well enough, I am sure it would be fatal and you would be burying your brother instead of taking him home.'

TBC