Here's the final chapter!
Spn
The next time Caleb woke up, he glanced to his right and nearly whooped at the sight of Sam breathing on his own with only a nasal cannula to help him.
"Yeah, Mac removed the tube about twenty minutes ago," came a voice from his left.
Turning his head, he saw Joshua sitting by his bedside.
"Help me up," Caleb told him.
Joshua rolled his head "And have Mac and John have my head?" he snorted "No, thank you, I'll pass. But I can raise the head of the bed for you," he continued.
Caleb glared at him but relented "Where is everyone?"
"Dean's in the toilet, John's in the cafeteria, and I don't know where Jim and Mac are."
Caleb nodded and turned to stare at Sam again "Did he wake up?"
Joshua sighed and shook his head "We've all been trying to wake him up, but he's still stubbornly sleeping."
Caleb didn't say anything, just took Sam's hand in his own, avoiding the IV in the teen's hand.
Joshua in turn, studied Caleb. The psychic had several emotions displayed on his face. Joshua could see pain, worry, and… guilt?
'Why would Caleb feel guilty…' Joshua thought and suddenly it clicked. Sam had jumped in front of Caleb and taken the hit meant for the psychic. Caleb was drowning in his own self guilt and hate, thinking that it's his fault that their little brother was unconscious in the ICU.
"Caleb," Joshua started softly, "It's not your fault."
Caleb kept on staring at Sam, so Joshua took his brother's face in his hand and gently turned it.
"Forget that you hate chick flick moments for a minute. Caleb, what happened wasn't your fault," Joshua told him.
Caleb turned to stare at him "How the heck isn't it? The Black Annis meant to get me. Me! Not Sammy. But he jumped in front of me because I was too weak to defend myself. And now it's my fault he's lying in the hospital bed." His eyes began to get a shine from tears he held back.
"No, Caleb. First off, you aren't weak, come on man. How did you expect to defend yourself with a badly broken leg? Second off, Sam did it because you're his brother. Now, look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have done the same?"
Caleb remained silent, proving Joshua's point.
"Exactly. You, me, Sam, and Dean, we'll gladly jump in front of each other if it means keeping the other safe.
Over the years, Joshua noticed that Caleb, under all of his protective layers, was a lot like Sam. He was emotionally intelligent, affectionate and empathetic, and it wasn't all because of his powers. No, his soul was pure. But where Sam wore his heart on his sleeve, Caleb wore his underneath several tons of heavy duty armor, and only a few knew the way in.
Which is how Joshua knew that he had hit the mark with his last statement. Caleb deflated and sighed.
"Josh, you should consider becoming a philosopher," he told him.
"Shut up, man." But Joshua was content knowing that he had broken through Caleb's defenses and taken care of his guilt.
A few minutes passed without either of them saying anything until Caleb broke the silence.
"Thanks, Josh."
Joshua grinned "Anytime. Now pretend we didn't just have a chick flick moment so Dean doesn't come out and tease us unmercifully."
Caleb snorted "Please. With Sammy and I in the hospital, he's going to be crowned king of chick flick moments. He's got nothing on us."
"Guess again." Dean's voice came from behind the toilet door.
Caleb and Joshua jumped as the toilet door opened and Dean stepped out smiling like a Cheshire cat. He was brandishing the recorder they always kept to use in interviews in his hand.
"You really think I spent this whole time doing my business? I don't have that kind of problem, you know." Dean said, grinning wickedly.
The two others paled as their brains understood what Dean had done.
"Delete it Deuce, or so help me…" Caleb hissed.
Dean sat down in the chair and propped his feet on Sam's bed "You'll do what?"
"I'll… I'll… I'll tell everyone what you did in that diner in Buffalo." Caleb's mind spluttered to find a suitable threat, the painkiller clouding his mind.
Dean smirked "Nah I don't think so. Besides, I don't think they'll care much about what I did after they hear the big ass chick flick moment you two just had."
"Dean… please!" Joshua pleaded.
"Fine, don't get your panties in a twist. In any case, I didn't record anything."
"What?!" Joshua and Caleb hissed simultaneously.
Dean laughed, "Yeah I was just messing with you."
"You little…" Joshua started only for Dean to cut him off.
"Sammy!"
Joshua frowned "Yeah, he is little Sammy but I was talking about you Dean."
Dean shook his head "No you big idiot, look." He pointed at Sam.
Both Caleb and Joshua looked on and nearly jumped at the sight of Sam's eyes fluttering.
"Come on Sammy, you can do it. Open those puppy dog peepers of yours." Caleb encouraged as he grabbed the teen's hand, grateful that the two beds were pushed together.
Slowly, Sam's eyes opened, revealing hazy hazel green eyes. Blinking a few times, he finally focused on the three faces staring at him. Giving them a lopsided smile, he finally rasped "Hey."
The other three smiled widely at that.
"Hey tiger, how're you feeling?" Caleb asked, stroking Sam's cheek tenderly. His skin was still hot but it was nothing compared to the inferno from before.
Sam blinked drowsily "Tired."
Dean carded his hand through Sam's hair "Go back to sleep, tiger."
"We'll be here when you wake up," Joshua assured him.
Giving them another tired smile, Sam fell asleep knowing his big brothers were around.
Just then, Mac, John, and Jim walked into the room.
"What's going on?" John asked, noticing the atmosphere in the room was different - lighter.
Dean, Caleb, and Joshua turned to him, smiling.
"He woke up," Joshua told John.
Mac's eyes widened and he smiled widely "How did he seem?"
"He was pretty tired. Only lasted for about ten seconds before he fell asleep. But he recognized us and spoke briefly," Dean answered, unable to keep the grin from his face.
"That's good. It's normal for him to feel tired and to sleep a lot for a few days. His body's still fighting the virus and he's feeling the effects of the blood loss. But his fever is stable and his blood count is getting better. If we can avoid the infection, I'd say the battle is won," Mac informed the others as he checked Sam's vitals and sats on the monitors and took his temperature with a tympanic ear thermometer.
"When can he and Caleb be discharged?" Jim asked.
Mac sighed as he sat in the chair next to John's "Hard to say, for Sam at least. Caleb, you can probably be discharged tomorrow morning if there aren't any complications from the surgery on your leg. Sam is a bit trickier. I wouldn't feel comfortable releasing him from here until all side effects of the blood loss are gone and he has an upper hand on the virus. Right now, he's relying on all these IVs to get him better. I want us to get to only one IV bag, then I'll release him and continue his treatment at your place Jim."
"Wait Mac, don't you have that conference in a week?" John asked.
Mac gave him a look "Screw the conference, my family is more important."
Caleb, Joshua, and Dean all gave mock cooing sounds.
"Aww dad, that's so sweet," Caleb said teasingly as Joshua imitated someone barfing.
"Knock it off you three or I'll send Joshua and Dean out and send you to sleep Caleb," Mac threatened, though his eyes glittered amusingly.
That shut them up.
Spn
"Okay Sammy, up you go." Mac said as he placed his arm under Sam's knees and shoulders and gently lifted him from the car. Sam made no sound except for a low moan, trying to mask the pain he felt in his abdomen as well as the residual pain from the fever, but Mac heard him.
"Sorry tiger. Let's get you to the couch and I'll give you something for the pain, okay?" Mac murmured as he cradled the boy close to his chest, and he felt Sam nod against his chest.
He had deemed Sam fit for the discharge from the hospital yesterday, only a couple of days after Caleb had been released. They stayed at a local hotel to make sure that Sam had no major relapses then bundled him up along with his siblings and started the drive to Jim's farm.
John, about a day before Sam was released, had received an urgent call from Bobby about needing backup in a serious hunt. The man turned him down at first, but upon discovering the urgency of the situation, he hesitated, torn apart between staying with his hospitalized child and helping the man that was like a brother to him. There was also the pull to eradicate every evil supernatural thing that stemmed from his wife's murder. He couldn't sit by while lives were at stake.
Sam had helped him make up his mind when he talked to him privately and practically ordered him to go help his uncle. John had laughed but Caleb saw the anguish and heartache in the usually hardened hunter as he kissed Sam's forehead when he said goodbye.
So it was Mac who drove them back home in his car with Caleb in the backseat with Sam, as both needed to stretch out due to their injuries, Joshua driving Caleb's car with Dean keeping him company even though both of them had fought tooth and nail to be in the car with Mac and their brothers, and Jim in his car.
Mac carefully set Sam down on the couch, noticing the pained grimace on his surrogate son's face. Extracting a syringe and a vial of painkillers, he drew up the right amount and injected it into the IV port he had left in Sam's hand for easy access to his medications rather than having to stick him with a needle every time.
"Better?" Mac asked.
Sam smiled slightly and nodded. The dose Mac had given him was enough to keep the pain on edge but not to put him to sleep.
Both of them glanced at the door to see Caleb walking on his crutches, grumbling, with Dean and Joshua close behind.
"I swear, if I walk again and turn to find you two behind me again, I'll whack you with my crutches." Caleb snapped as he sank down on the same couch as Sam, spreading his broken leg next to him right next to Sam's outstretched legs. He then put Sam's feet on his lap and made himself comfortable, smiling a little when he saw Sam's grin.
Spn
Two weeks had passed since Mac had deemed Caleb and Sam well enough to be discharged from the hospital and fit for the ride to Jim's farm.
Upon arriving at the farm, the two had milked their broken leg and injuries with the sickness respectively to get the others to oblige to their every need and order. Sam, being the little martyr, had hesitated at first. But upon seeing Caleb, being Caleb, use that tactic successfully, he had reluctantly followed his big brother's lead and found that the technique yielded wonders.
That was until the others caught up to what they were doing and started planning to get them back. The others being Joshua and Dean. Caleb's leg was healing well and he would be able to take the cast off in a few weeks. Sam's sickness and lingering side effects were completely gone except for a chesty cough that activated his asthma, but it would go away with time and some albuterol, warranting the removal of the IV port much to the teen's satisfaction. As for the wounds on his abdomen, they were healing well, and Mac predicted they wouldn't leave any scars as they weren't very deep.
But there was one more wound on Caleb's heart that refused to heal, despite his conversation with Joshua in the hospital.
He and Sam were left alone in their bedroom since they still needed some rest to get back to one hundred percent, but neither were resting. Instead they resorted to talking in hushed tones to avoid getting caught and told off.
Caleb finally decided to come clean and talk with his little brother about the thing that had been weighing in on his mind.
"Hey runt, why'd you do it?" Caleb asked.
Sam turned to face him, wincing a bit when he pulled at his stitches. "Do what?" He asked back, confused.
"Take the hit that was meant for me," Caleb clarified.
Sam rolled his eyes "Dude are you seriously asking me that question?"
Caleb grimaced "Humor me."
Sam saw the pain in his eyes and understood the reason behind Caleb's question. He had noticed Caleb being a bit off at some times, especially when Sam was in pain, but the teen had chalked it off to his big brother being a worry wart. He decided to comfort Caleb and put a stop to the issue bothering him.
"Cal, you're my big brother. You really think I would've stood to the side and watched you get mauled to death?" he asked softly.
Caleb's face became cloudy "Better me than you."
Sam scowled and slowly got out of his bed then crossed the room to where Caleb was sitting on the bed, cast spread in front of him, and punched the psychic in the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" Caleb asked incredulously.
Sam gingerly sat down on the side of the bed "You stupid idiot. This is by far the dumbest, most moronic thing you've ever said, and you've said a lot of stupid things in your life," Sam replied, eyes blazing with fierce protectiveness.
Caleb realized now and then what a fierce protector Sam was of his family, even if he was the spoiled baby of the family.
"I was just worried about you, kiddo."
Sam softened at that "I know, but we're both okay now. So get that dumb thought out of your head and stop blaming yourself already."
Caleb smiled at that "Thanks Sammy, that was exactly what I needed to hear." He then whistled "Dang, runt, you pack a mean punch."
Sam grinned "Learned from the best."
As Caleb ruffled Sam's hair as he listened to his little brother's laugh, the wound that had been festering in his heart for weeks, healed.
The end
Huge thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story!
