Chapter Five
Disclaimer: I have borrowed the characters and realm of Supernatural for this story. Kripke and his people have all rights to them.
The car came to a screeching halt outside the emergency room. Orderlies opened the back door to ease the lanky figure out. Sam was pulled off his brother's lap and onto a gurney. Before Dean could even start to climb out of the car, the emergency room doors had swung shut behind the flurry of activity. Dean wearily emerged from the car. His dad pulled the car to the side of the parking lot and got out. Both stumbled into the building and down the hall. They were halted by Dr. Ashcraft's head nurse, Kathleen Elmore.
She took one look at Dean's pinched features and told him, "You are to go to Room 109. You're already admitted. No. Don't say another word. The doctor set this up. She will go directly there and give you the news. From your looks, I bet you tore open your stitches. Go on. I'll be there in a minute."
Dean felt the last bit of energy leaving his body and knew that if he didn't sit down, he'd fall down. Both men followed the nurse's pointing arm. In the room, Dean collapsed into a chair, his head dropped down to his chest. He opened his eyes and gagged. His hands, arms, and shirt were covered in blood. Sam's blood. He staggered to the bathroom, stripped off his jacket and shirt and started to scrub. He kept scrubbing until his arms turned red.
John, who had entered behind him, limped over and turned off the water. "That's enough." John eyed the dressing on his son's chest. It was crimson from his own blood.
Nurse Elmore walked in with a tray of sutures and bandages. "Let's see what you did to yourself." She clucked as she peeled off the bandage. "Well, you tore your stitches. Lie down on the bed, and let me do my job."
The anesthesia injection deadened the pain in Dean's shoulder, but it couldn't give him the oblivion he craved. The memory of Sam's empty eyes seemed to accuse him, "Why didn't you come sooner." Dean choked off a sob that threatened to erupt from his throat. "When will we know?"
"Doctor Ashcraft will come here as soon as she can. You and your brother will be sharing a room so once he's out of recovery, you can see him."
Dean felt his world steady. If the doctor had planned for them to share a room, that meant that she wouldn't keep the two of them apart. She seemed to realize that the two of them would need each other's support in the long days ahead. If. . . No! Sam had to be all right. There was no other option.
Nurse Elmore told him to change into a gown and climb back into bed. Once he had complied, she inserted another IV.
When the two men were alone once more, their long wait for news began.