Alternate Life or Real Life?

Disclaimer: as per chapter one.

CHAPTER NINE

Dean glanced up at the nurse slid the glass door open, he smiled openly at the new arrival, as she checked the machines and monitors made small notes on Sam's chart and then went to take his temperature and blood pressure.

'Hi you must be Dean, Sam's brother.' She smiled, her dark brown eyes soft and warm, 'I'm Catherine but most people call me Cate.'

'Hey Cate, so how is my baby brother doing?' Dean replied watching her movements closely, 'getting better?'

'Well, let's just say he's not getting any worse,' Cate said as she noted down his temperature and studied the graph carefully, 'his temperature is almost back to normal that's a good sign.'

'Yeah it is, his temps been up since his been in here.' Dean glanced down at his brother, noting the flush staining his cheeks. 'Hey Cate is he supposed to look flushed like that? I mean if his temp is down shouldn't he be looking less fevered?'

'Why yes,' Cate said putting the chart down on the bed and went back to stand at Sam's shoulder, tenderly she passed her hand over his forehead, brushing his tangled fringe from his eyes. 'That is curious.' She muttered, once again putting the electronic thermometer just inside Sam's ear, frowning when she reread the results.

'What? What is it?' Dean demanded.

'I'm sure it's nothing, but I think that I should get the Doctor.'

'Cate wait.' Dean reached out and touched her arm, frantically gazing around the glass walls checking to see if there was anyone watching them. 'Can you look after him without calling the Doctor?'

'I-I'm not sure, his temperature has risen suddenly just over the last couple of minutes, I really do think that we need to get the Doctor to look at Sam.'

Suddenly Sam started to moan in his sleep, he started to thrash about wildly aiming blows at an unseen assailant. The moans became louder, increasing in loud and strength until they became screams of terror and anger.

'Sam!' Dean snapped as he tried to restrain his brother, finally pinning his hands by his side, 'Sam come on Dude wake up, it's Dean.'

'What's going on?' Cate demanded, 'look I really do think that we need to fetch the Doc...'

'No, no Cate it's okay I think I know what's happening, we just have to wake him up.' Dean risked a quick glance at the nurse and then turned his attention back to Sam, 'okay Sammy sleep time's over wake up Dude.'

'Sam ... not Sammy.' Sam whispered hoarsely, 'how many times do I have to tell you.'

'Welcome back Dude. You have to stop doing that!.'

'What? Do what?' Sam blinked up at Dean wrinkling his nose, 'Dude you seriously need a shower.'

'Now that's my Sammy!' Dean grinned as he pulled away a little from Sam and plopped himself back onto the chair, 'So what was it?'

'What was what?'

'The vision, the shining that thing you do.'

'Oh that, ah not sure it was so weird ... I could hear you and dad but this time all I could see was a bright light, just above me and it was shining directly into my eyes.'

'You could hear me and dad?'

'Yeah, I couldn't get to you guys, I couldn't move and that light man Dean it hurt.'

'Could someone please tell me what is going on?' Cate interrupted the two young men, a scowl forming on her pretty face.

'Hi, I ah ... '

'Cate, I know this sounds strange but Sammy here has visions, sometimes when he is asleep and sometimes when he is awake. They have a habit of coming true.'

'Visions? Oh I see.' Cate went back to Sam's side and pressed her hand on his forehead, 'seems like his temperature has dropped again.' She mused, 'okay I think I had better take an extra set of 'obs' just in case.'

'Have we met before?' Sam asked as he settled back on his pillows and watched his nurse working around him.

'Nope this is my first shift on this floor, the name's Cate.'

'Hey Cate, can you do something for me?'

'Sure Sam what is it?' She asked absently as she marked down his reduced temp, although his pulse and blood pressure were still dangerously high.

'Can you check on another patient for me? She was in the bed next to me when I first got here.' Sam asked before a coughing fit cut his voice off.

'Just try to breath normally Sam,' Cate said in a soft patient voice as she helped him sit up a little more, 'that's it here I'll just pop the oxygen mask over your face, it'll help you breath a little easier.'

'What's going on?' John demanded as he slipped into the room, 'What's happened?'

'Just a slight coughing fit, nothing to worry about. I take it you are Sam's father? Mr Mitchell?'

'Yeah, yeah sorry didn't mean to snap.' John's gaze flicked from her face to Dean and then settled on Sam. 'It's just ... '

'That's fine, okay Sam leave that mask on until I get back and I'll go and find out about your friend?'

'Isabelle.' Dean interjected.

'Isabelle, now don't go anywhere.' She smiled sweetly down at Sam, 'Dean, Mr Mitchell I know Sam appears to be looking better but he needs his rest, just a few more minutes okay?'

'Yes Ma'am.' Dean grinned, watching Cate leave the room, he couldn't help himself taking in her lithe figure as she walked away. 'Yes Ma'am indeed.'

'Sammy you doing okay Son?' John asked sitting in the chair Dean had just vacated.

Sam nodded and rested his head back against the pillows, the oxygen eased the tightness and pain in his chest, making him finally relax a little.

'Sam had another vision Dad.' Dean said as he turned his attention back to his family.

'About?'

'Not sure, he said that he could hear us but there was a bright light shining in his eyes effectively blinding him,' Dean said lowering his gaze to look at Sam, 'that about right Sammy?'

Sam nodded, suddenly feeling very tired he let his eyes close slowly as he listened to his father and brother start to argue, and things were starting to feel right again.

'Sam?' Dean asked as he noticed his brother's head drop slightly, 'he's asleep.' He said to his father, tenderly he pulled the covers up over Sam and brushed that stray hair away again, 'have a good one Sammy.' He whispered, 'time to get outta here Dad.'

'Sleep well Son.' John whispered bending down to gently brush a kiss on his youngest son's forehead, 'we'll get to the bottom of this.'

Just before the left the isolation room, Dean stopped and picked the chart up again, 'Dad, check this out.'

'Sam's chart?'

'Yeah look at the medications.' Dean pointed to the one that caught his attention before.

'Experimental?' John looked over at Sam, 'just what is going on here Dean?'

'I'm sure that it has something to do with his abilities, Isabelle the girl who was in the bed next to him, she's a touch empath, she can heal people by touching them and absorbing their pain, and so on, then there was another young woman brought in by ambulance the day after Sam did, she was in an accident. I overheard them talking about her psychic abilities, for some reason the only patients that they admit here are young people with psychic abilities.'

'Sam ... his visions ... was he having one when he got sick?'

'Yeah, a really bad one and then he got sick, just hit him, the closer we got to Trinity the sicker Sammy got until he started to lose consciousness completely.'

'Something is definitely going on, and the smell of sulphur ...'

'Dad do you think that the demon has something to do with this? His plans for kids like Sam?'

'Time to start really looking into this hospital Dean, what about the nurses?'

'Well up until now I didn't think we could trust any of them, but Cate has just come on duty she seems completely different to the other nurses.'

'In what way?'

'Dunno, more friendly, more willing to talk about Sam's condition, like she's not a robot.'

'Ah I see.'

'So Dad, what did you find out before when you left?'

'Not much, the staff are not exactly forthright in coming forward with information, oh and Isabelle has been taken from the other room, no one knows anything.'

'Isabelle is gone?' Dean's face paled slightly, 'what's going on Dad?'

'I want you to go and get on the laptop, find out anything you can about the Doctor, this hospital and a benefactor of the hospital a Mr Grayson, I'm going to go and talk to the Doctor about Sam's treatment.'

'Dad don't you ... '

'Dean just do what I asked please, honestly I am not too sure about this new tone of yours. Normally I'm arguing with Sammy not you.'

Dean opened his mouth to retort and then closed it again, 'sorry Dad.' He managed to get out in the end.

'I'll meet you back at the hotel room then?'

'Yes Sir.'

'Fine, and then we can come back later to see how Sam's doing.'

'Dad, do you think that we should be leaving him completely alone in this place?'

'I ah, yeah he'll be fine for a short time and anyway I'd say that we both need showers and a good meal, we're no good for Sam if we get sick too.'

'Yes Sir.' Dean said as he swallowed hard before he could give John anymore arguments. 'See you then Dad.'

'Good, I won't be long.' John paused a moment and stared intently at Dean before turning on his heels and strode off.

Dean watched his father walk away, his tumultuous thoughts started to make his head ache, he hated not being able to trust his father, but after the last few months the only person he trusted aside from himself was Sam.

'Dean, I'm glad I found you before you left.' Cate called as he hurried towards him.

'Cate? I was just about to get going, is there something wrong with Sam?'

'No, no it's just ... you know how Sam asked me to find out about Isabelle.'

'Yeah, what ... what is it?'

'The Doctor had her transferred from the ward, without letting any of the nursing staff know, well all but Grace she was the one who supervised the transfer.'

'Where have they moved her? In isolation like Sam?'

'No, that's just it, he's moved her to the clinic.'

'Clinic? What kind of clinic?'

'It is private, even though it's on the hospital grounds it is privately funded, operated and off limits for the rest of the staff.'

'Why move her there?'

'Exactly, Isabelle is a public patient, she has insurance but nothing like it would take to pay for a bed in the clinic.'

'What kind of clinic is it?'

'I honestly don't know the Doctor runs it from his labs.'

'Labs?'

'Yeah it's where he performs his treatments for patients as ill as your brother.'

'Cate, can you get me into the labs?'

'Dean I ... '

'Please Cate, something is going on in this hospital and I think it's all down to this Doctor, and I think that both Sam and Belle are in serious danger.'

'I-I, this is my second day on the job Dean, I'm not sure I can get you in there or anywhere restricted.'

'Please Cate, my brother's life depends on us finding out what is going on.'

'What about your Father? Where is he?'

'He's off checking into some other stuff, Cate ... I wouldn't be asking you this if I had another way.'

Cate stared at Dean for a moment, and then she nodded her head and put her hands up in surrender, 'okay so where do we start?'

'Thanks Cate.' Dean said heaving a sigh of relief, 'we had better get back to Sammy.'

Just as they rounded the corner, Dean skidded to a stop and stared disbelievingly at the isolation unit, Sam was gone, the room cleaned down and the bedding stripped. 'Cate what's going on?'

'Wait here.' Cate hurried over to the nurse's station and spoke in hushed tones to the nurse on duty. Dean paced nervously and ran his hand through his hair, he had a heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

'Dean.' Cate stepped closer and motioned him to follow her, 'Sam has been transferred to the clinic. Apparently as soon as you and your father left, the Doctor turned up gave Sam an injection and then had Grace transfer him to the clinic.'

'Where is this clinic?' Dean demanded, his heart beat nearly drowned all sound out it was thudding so hard against his chest.

'I can show you, but Dean I'm not sure that we can do this.'

'Hey come on Cate don't pike out on me now.'

'It's not that, it's just ... when I went to find out what was going on, the nurse was just finishing a call to security to guard all entrances to the clinic, she claims that they had a bomb scare down there.'

'He transfers both Belle and Sam to the clinic and then claims a threat to get security there, something really stinks here Cate, and my brother is covered in it.'

TBC