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Sam was not doing well. Shortly after John, Bobby and Dean arrived, his fever spiked to 101.3 according to the new ear thermometer that they had purchased, and proceeded to throw up all over himself, Joshua, and the floor.
Bobby was currently running a bath so John could clean up Sam and help lower his fever. Meanwhile, John had gotten Sam out of his soiled clothes, stripping him down to just his diaper and was currently rocking and soothing the sobbing child as he walked around the living room.
"John, bath's ready." Bobby said as he entered the living room.
"Thanks Bobby. Let's get you cleaned up, huh tiger." John spoke softly to his crying sick child as he carried him towards the bathroom.
Bobby grabbed a mop and went to help Caleb clean up the mess on the floor while Joshua was in the shower. Just as they were done cleaning up the mess and washed their handed, Bobby looked around and frowned.
"Where's Dean?"
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Dean was huddled under the desk in Jim's home office, tears streaming down his face.
"Dean? Dean buddy." Bobby said as he crouched down to meet Dean at eye level, finding the 6 year old crying with his knees up and arms around them. "What's wrong Ace?"
"Sammy's sick because of me." The little boy sniffed.
"What are you talking about Ace?" Bobby asked as he sat on the floor and pulled Dean towards him.
"Daddy told me to put Sammy's jacket when we went to the park last week, but I forgot to do that because I wanted to play on the swings before the big kids got them." Dean said solemnly.
"Awh buddy that's not the cause. If it was the case, he would have gotten sick days ago." Bobby rubbed Dean's arm.
Dean frowned "But then why is he sick?"
"You see Dean, sometimes kids get sick. In fact they get sick more than adults because their bodies aren't as strong. And some kids get sick more than others. Sammy probably got a stomach virus or ate something that didn't agree with him." Bobby explained.
"But what if he has to go to the hospital?"
Bobby pulled Dean closer "Then we'll deal with it as a family."
"But what if he dies?"
Bobby felt his heart break "Awh kid, Sammy's not going to die. Not if we have anything to say about it. We'll give him medicine and he'll be as good as new."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now let's go wait for your dad to finish bathing Sammy."
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As John bathed Sammy, he felt his heart break at the sight of his usually so bright and energetic child sitting in the halfway filled tub, shivering with his head drooping and eyes half closed. He was pale, save for the pink fever spots on his tiny cheeks. He had thrown up again before John placed him in the tub and the child was clearly exhausted.
With the care of a father, John carefully and gently lathered soap on the tiny body and washed it away with water. Once his baby was clean, John lifted him from the tub, wrapped him in a towel and held him close as he drained the tub and exited the bathroom.
Entering Sam and Dean's room, he laid Sam on the changing table, dried him off and changed him into a fresh diaper. Then he pulled the drawer open where he had placed Sam's clothes and pajamas, and took out a navy blue pajama shirt and matching pajama leggings then placed them on his dozing baby.
Palming the toddler's forehead, the father sighed with relief as he felt that it was cooler than before. Sitting him up and supporting his head on his shoulder, John brushed his son's wet hair using the soft baby brush, then lifted him up and started towards the door when Sam stirred.
"Daddy? I dun feew good." Sam said.
John blanched, realizing what was about to happen, grabbed the trashcan and placed it under Sam's chin just in time for him to vomit again.
"It's okay buddy, I gotchu." John soothed as he supported Sam's head while the toddler was throwing up and used the other to hold him in place.
When Sam was done, he collapsed against his father's chest, tears rolling down his face. John's heart clenched, hating to see his baby so sick, miserable, and hurting. He grabbed the trashcan and went to the bathroom again, Sammy in his arms.
Miraculously, Sam hadn't gotten any vomit on himself. Not on his clothes or even his face. But John wiped the toddler's face anyway then emptied the dirty trashcan in the toilet and rinsed it then made a mental note to clean it later.
Balancing Sam on his knee, John washed his hands quickly then returned to the room when he felt his child shiver against him to grab the small tiger patterned blanket that Caleb had gotten Sam a couple of months ago.
Bundling up Sam, John headed back to the living room to find Bobby, Joshua and Caleb on the floor, playing with Dean. As soon as Dean caught sight of his brother laying in his father's arms, he shot up and sprinted towards him.
"Daddy how's Sammy?"
John smiled and ruffled his eldest's hair as he sat down on the couch and adjusted a now sleeping Sam so he lay more comfortable with his head in the crook of John's arm.
"He's pretty sick buddy. But you know your brother, he'll be back to his regular self in no time."
Dean, feeling reassured by what Bobby had told him before and his dad told him now, nodded and cuddled up next to his father then closed his eyes. The child was pretty tired as he had missed his nap earlier.
As soon as John and the hunters were certain Dean had fallen asleep, Bobby asked the question that was on their minds.
"How is little bit, Johnny?"
John sighed and stared down at his youngest "I don't know Bobby. I'm pretty worried this isn't just some stomach virus. He's thrown up 3 times in the past hour and he's refusing to drink anything."
"You think he's getting dehydrated already?" Joshua asked.
"Not yet but he's pretty close."
Caleb got up "Alright, I'm going to head out, get some Pedialyte and hope he drinks it. If not, we take him to the ER, they give him an IV, and problem solved. In the meantime keep an eye on his fever and how much he pees." He said, snatching the keys to his truck.
"Sounds like a plan." John agreed.
"Be back in a few. Oh, and call Jim. He'll have our hides for not telling him about Sam." Caleb said as he headed out the door.
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It took coaxing, bribing, singing and promises of story time to get Sam to drink some of the Pedialyte Caleb had gotten. They repeated the process to get him to eat some broth soaked crackers only to have him throw it all back up half an hour later.
To say the hunters were worried would be an understatement. Jim had come home in record speed, delegating the remainder of his sermon to another pastor. And as soon as the parishioners heard why Pastor Jim was leaving early, they immediately started praying for his sick nephew.
It brought John some peace, knowing that people were looking out for his son, even ones he didn't know. But as he placed the thermometer gently in Sammy's ear, who was sleeping in Jim's arms, his heart froze as he saw the numbers on the now read screen.
102.5
"We have to go now." John said, alarm in his voice, as he showed Jim the thermometer readout.
Jim paled and went to action, wrapping the blanket around Sam's sleeping, hot body and passing him to John's arms.
"Go wait in my car, I'm going to tell the others what's happening." He told him then sprinted upstairs to where the others were sleeping.
Not five minutes later, Jim got in the car with Joshua riding shotgun and Caleb in the backseat next to John. Bobby had stayed behind to watch over a sleeping Dean, but they knew that it was only a matter of time before he drove to the hospital. Dean would wake up, demand to see his brother and cause chaos until he did.
Stopping the car in front of the Emergency Room doors, John immediately got out of the car, Sam cradled in his arms with his brothers in everything but blood behind him and rushed towards the place where his son would hopefully get the medical attention he needed.
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I hope you liked this chapter! Next chapter should be coming pretty soon.