Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Warner Bros.

A/N - Hello again! Sorry for another delay. During the pandemic, I've been working full time from home, so it's been a bit harder than normal to find the motivation or time to write. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

A Home For Wayward Sons

Chapter Five

Sam moved quickly through the hospital corridor, holding tightly onto Adam's hand as they made their way to Dean's room. Adam seemed a little calmer now that he had eaten and slept a little bit, but he still held tightly onto Sam's hand with his left, and gripped a small, pink teddy bear – a present for Dean – with his right.

Sam had been true to his word to Adam. They hadn't waited long after eating before returning to the hospital, admittedly long before the start of visiting hours, and their first stop was the hospital gift shop. The teddy bear section had been limited and, unfortunately, pricey. Sam had fixed an unconvincing smile on his face for Adam's sake as they perused what was on offer, mentally preparing himself to say no to Adam when he picked the one he wanted to get Dean.

To his surprise though, when the moment came, and Adam chose the fluffiest, pinkest bear in the whole shop, Mr Singer – Bobby, Sam corrected himself – stepped in and paid for it himself, before Sam even had the chance to protest. Sam had been angry at first – both Dean and he were in agreement that they would never stoop to accepting charity – but the wide smile on Adam's face stalled his protest. Anyone who made his kid brother smile like that deserved a stay of execution.

For now, at least.

Still, Sam kept his gaze focused forwards as they now made their way to Dean's room, deliberately ignoring the man walking with them. Admittedly, even apart from the teddy bear incident, Bobby had been…decent, making sure they were fed and rested, but Sam still had little patience for anyone apart from his brothers at the moment, and he had been less than cordial towards the man in response to what was probably a sincere attempt to help.

Still, Sam remembered what Dean had told him from his hospital bed when he'd first woken up earlier in the afternoon, battered, bruised and drugged up to the gills.

"Don't trust him, okay. Keep Adam safe."

Sam tightened his grip on his little brother's hand, determined not to fail. He felt the weight of responsibility bearing down on his chest and wondered how Dean dealt with that all the time.

It wasn't even just the big things either. It was making sure Adam ate, making sure he got to school, that he slept at night. Adam had even taken to joining Dean on the sofa in the middle of the night when he had bad dreams, and Sam had woken up to find both of them in Adam's bed more than once, Adam sprawled across Dean's chest. How would Adam react if he woke up in the middle of the night and Dean wasn't there. A nap was one thing, but if he had a nightmare, would he accept Sam as a Dean-substitute? Adam loved Sam but it was Dean the youngest Winchester looked to when he needed something, Dean they both looked to.

Keep Adam safe…

Sam clenched the fist that wasn't holding Adam's hand and tried to calm down. His priority was keeping Adam safe, and he would do that much at least, whatever it took. Dean hadn't steered him wrong yet and orders were orders. Bobby might have been okay so far, but Sam only trusted one person, and that was Dean. If Dean said not to trust the man, Sam wasn't going to, at least until Dean was well enough to come and see for himself.

Because Dean was a superhero, Sam reminded himself. Always had been. Sam Winchester was the sidekick, the understudy, not the hero. Sam doubted he would ever live up to Dean's enormous shadow, but he loved his brother more than anyone else in the world, would be nothing and nowhere without him, so Sam didn't mind so much. Instead he just tried to emulate what his brother would do in this situation, and manage until Dean was back and ready to take over.

And he would be back, would be okay, Sam told himself firmly, unwilling and unable to contemplate any other scenario. After Dean had fallen back unconscious earlier, the doctor had reassured them that it was a good sign that it was a good sign that he was awake at all, but Sam would be glad to see for himself, when they finally made it to Dean's room. This time, Sam wasn't leaving his brother without a hell of a fight.

"Sammy," Adam said quietly from his side. "Do you think Dean will like the bear?"

Adam had always been insecure but Dean had been working hard with him on his confidence and in the last year or so – no doubt due to the large periods of absence from their father – he had come on leaps and bounds. Sam really hoped he didn't regress back to the shy, almost silent kid he'd been when their dad first left him with them.

"I think he'll hate it," Sam said, wiggling his eyebrows down at Adam, causing the kid to giggle. This time it was Sam who tightened his grip on Adam as he tried to also tighten the hold on his emotions.

Thankfully, they were nearly at Dean's room, and Sam felt relief rush through him, already banking on his big brother to fix things like he always did.

Except, when they finally entered the room, Dean's bed was empty, and he was nowhere to be seen. Sam felt a fluttering in his stomach. Something was wrong…

"Sam," Adam asked fearfully.

"Did we get the wrong room number?" Sam asked Bobby anxiously, heart beating hard in his chest. Surely the hospital would have told them if there was an issue…

Bobby glanced back at the door and shook his head. "This is the right one. Maybe he's getting a test done?"

"Maybe," Sam said uncertainly, but couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

And then he heard it, a thud from the adjacent bathroom.

"Dean!" he called out, letting go of Adam's hand and rushing towards the room.

Sam flung open the bathroom door, and felt his heart stop when he saw the crumpled form of Dean, battered, bruised and dressed only in a hospital gown, lying on the floor. Dean had his eyes closed, his face paler than the white sheets of his bed, and Sam couldn't tell if he was breathing. He looked dead. Sam numbly shook his head. This was it, the moment the world – his world – ended…

"Little help," Dean grunted, his body suddenly alive again, eyes fluttering open but clenching shut again, not in unconsciousness, but in an attempt to control what was likely to be a high level of pain. Sam felt relief rush through him so fast he felt dizzy.

"You're an idiot," Sam told his older brother, his voice shaky with relief. He moved forward to grab Dean's good arm, ostensibly to help Dean up but mainly to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Do the doctors know you're out of bed?"

Glancing at his brother's condition now, as he struggled to stand even with Sam's help, he doubted very much the doctors were aware he was on his feet.

Dean gasped loudly and cursed under his breath as Sam moved too quickly for him. Dean shook his head. "I have it on good authority that they're... on their way as we speak, so you can...dammit," he winced before continuing, "You can leave the 'you shouldn't have done this' speech until I'm back in bed and on the good stuff."

"Idiot," Sam repeated a little more fondly this time, as he began to back out of the room, holding onto Dean for dear life as he half-carried, half-dragged his brother back into the main room.

"Lemme go! Lemme go! I want to go to Dean!" came a screech from behind him. Sam jerked around and saw Bobby holding Adam round the middle, preventing him from getting to his brothers.

"Let him go," Sam snarled, still holding onto Dean but with a threat clear in his eyes. It was a sure sign of Dean's bad condition that Sam had beaten him to the threat.

Bobby just rolled his eyes, obviously unintimidated.

"You just help your idjit big brother back to bed," Bobby told Sam unconcernedly, before gently placing Adam back on the floor. The older man kept one hand on Adam's shoulder to keep him in place. "Adam, just give them space okay, son? Dean needs Sam to help him get back to bed."

Adam nodded a little fearfully, but still looked ready to jump towards Dean.

"I just need to help Dean for a second, buddy, okay?" Sam told Adam. Adam took a long look at Sam, but must have found the reassurance he needed because he did back off at least.

"I'm good," Dean interjected, then he tried to shrug Sam off him in an obvious attempt to make the few yards left on his own, but didn't even have the strength to manage that.

"You're not good, Dean," Sam scolded him, holding on even more tightly. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

"Okay, mom," Dean shot back but the effect of his comeback was lost when he stumbled a bit and Sam had to grab him round the middle to stop him hitting the floor. "Shit, shit, shit…"

"Sorry!" Sam said desperately, trying to hold Dean by the arm that wasn't strapped up. "I'm sorry!"

"Not…your fault," Dean gasped.

Sam didn't reply, instead focusing on getting Dean the rest of the way back to the bed without causing him any more pain. It was a slow journey, with Adam watching on anxiously from the side. Sam didn't know where Bobby was and he didn't care. Dean, and Adam, were his priority.

"It's okay, Adam," Sam tried to console his younger brother, noticing the tears starting to build in his eyes. "Dean will be fine, won't you, Dean?"

"Course I…will, buddy," Dean replied immediately, the lie obvious to everyone including Adam. "Just need the doctors…to give me some…magic pills and I'll be…right as rain."

"Yeah, so long as you stop being an idjit long enough to let them help ya," Bobby interjected from the doorway. He'd obviously left and found help, because there were two burly nurses with him who immediately took over from Sam and helped Dean finally settle back into bed.

"The doctor will be in shortly," the larger of the two nurses said to Dean as they stepped back from the bed, "So stay."

The nurses low voice was clearly threatening as if saying that he had plenty of ways to make it happen if Dean didn't comply, but Dean didn't seem to notice. His eyes were back on Sam and Adam.

"You two good?" Dean asked.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we're good. Better than you."

"Leave it Sam," he said, nodding pointedly towards Adam.

"You okay, De?" Adam asked, reverting back to the nickname he'd used for Dean when he had been younger, a sure sign that he needed comfort. Dean, of course, didn't miss it.

"I'm fine, bud," Dean said, and now that he was back in bed, he didn't seem as out of breath, although he was still paler than some of the ghosts they'd seen. "It's going to take more than one measly car to keep me down for long!"

"K," Adam mumbled, thumb moving towards his mouth in an effort of self comfort.

Dean being Dean, noticed that too, and without saying anything, opened the arm that wasn't in a sling and gestured for Adam to come to him. Adam didn't need to be asked twice, almost flinging his small body onto the bed towards his older brother.

"Oof," Dean said as Adam climbed up on the bed, accidentally knocking his ribs.

"Adam, careful," Sam warned, knowing better than to stop him since nothing was going to hold Adam back from Dean this time. "Dean's still hurt, remember."

"Sorry," Adam whispered, eyes wide, but Dean just used his good hand to ruffle Adam's hair and pull to his side, wincing as Adam shifted in order to get comfortable.

"Hey, you know me, I'm tough as they come," Dean said. Dean used his good hand to lift up one of Adam's arms. "Anyway, little man, your skinny arm won't exactly do me much harm at the moment. We'll need to get you on the workouts soon."

Dean lifted the arm in question, only to tickle Adam underneath. Adam squealed and giggled but thankfully didn't thrash around too much, still obviously worried about hurting his brother further.

"What's going on in here then?" came a voice from the doorway. Sam glanced up and saw a doctor standing there. It was the same doctor who'd spoken to them in the waiting room earlier on, an older man with a white beard, but also with a smile that said he wasn't going to kick them out any time soon. He didn't even seem to mind that Adam was currently sharing the bed with Dean, so the man went up another notch in Sam's estimation.

"Doc, bout time," Dean said cheerfully as if he had called the doctor to him, rather than being caught out of bed. Never mind the fact that he was as pale as his sheets, and still out of breath…

"Mr Winchester, lovely to see you awake," the doctor shot back within missing a beat. "I'm Dr Chapman, I'm the one who's been putting you back together again."

"Steller job, doc," Dean replied, wincing as Adam shifted by his side.

"Yes, well," he replied. "You're a lucky young man."

"I don't call being hit by a car lucky, doc, but maybe we've got different definitions of the word."

Sam rolled his eyes but there was no point scolding Dean for his attitude. His brother was in pain, and that's when he was always at his most combative.

"Perhaps," Dr Chapman allowed, and Sam felt his respect for the doctor rise just a little bit by how unaffected he was by Dean's mood. "If I was to use the word in a sentence, I would say you're lucky to be alive."

Before Dean could retort, which he was definitely about to do, Sam jumped in this time. "Dean, just let the doctor explain what he did to save your life, and stop being an ass."

They needed to know what they were dealing with, and although he knew Dean dealt with stress using humour and belligerence, it was only going to upset an already upset Adam, something Dean at least had started to recognise. And to Dean, his brothers always came first.

"Sorry," Dean muttered before turning his attention back to the doctor. "Doc, these are my brothers, Sam and Adam, and this is Bobby, our uncle."

"We've met," The doctor said kindly. "Shall I proceed or do you want your brothers want to wait outside…?"

"No," Adam immediately protested burrowing further into Dean's side. Dean winced but Sam knew he would rather die that admit that Adam was hurting him.

"They can stay," Dean confirmed. "Let's just get it over with. Give me the damage."

"Right then," Dr Chapman said before briefly glancing down at the chart. "You've noticed the sling, I assume?"

"Broken shoulder?" Dean guessed.

"Collarbone," the doctor confirmed with a nod. "Luckily it isn't as severe as it could have been. The bone didn't break the skin and was relatively minor as far as breaks go, so it won't need surgery and should heal within 6-8 weeks, provided you rest and keep the sling on to keep the bone as straight as possible."

Sam rolled his eyes, but internally he promised himself that he would make sure Dean took care of himself this time.

Dean shifted up on the bed and immediately hissed when Adam knocked into his side.

"That brings me to the biggest concern we had with you when you were brought in; broken ribs."

"You mentioned that Dean was in surgery to fix his ribs," Sam interjected. Sam knew from experience that broken ribs could be bad, and the fact that he'd needed surgery was not a good sign.

"Yes, as I said, that was our main concern," The Doctor replied. "Broken ribs are a common injury in blunt chest wall trauma. The vehicle hit you side on, as you're aware, so the damage is largely on your left side. You have two broken ribs, with one so severe that the EMTs were concerned about a puncture to the lungs, so you were taken to surgery as soon as you arrived. Thankfully we repaired the break with no puncture to the lungs, but you are now the proud owner of two titanium plates to stabilise the fractures."

"Shit," Dean said soberly.

"You're alive," the doctor said. "As I said, lucky boy."

Sam saw Dean gearing up for another argument, but this time Bobby beat him to it.

"And the boy's knee?" he asked.

"Not a major concern," The doctor told them. "Swollen more, we suspect, from the way Dean fell than the initial impact. It'll be sore for a while but the bones are intact so at worst it's a sprain. We won't know more until the swelling goes down but I'm confident that provided he stays off it for a couple of weeks, it should heal with no long term complications. All in all, I'd say another couple of days in hospital, and you're free to go home as long as you take it easy."

"No can do, Doc," Dean replied casually. "Places to be, people to see, you know how it is. So if you can get me my AMA papers, I'll be on my way."

"Like hell," Bobby replied. "Your daddy would kill me if I let you sign out before the doctors okay it."

Dean glared at Bobby. "Look, you and my dad might know each other from a long time ago, but no one knows him better than I do. We have no insurance, so I can't afford to be here."

"Actually, according to the notes, you're covered on your Uncle's insurance," the doctor interjected.

"Oh," Dean said, obviously not expecting that answer.

"No need to thank me, boy," Bobby replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Good, because I ain't going to," Dean shot back.

"Dean," Sam warned.

"I didn't ask for his help," Dean replied. This time the famous Winchester glare was aimed at Sam but Sam didn't take it personally. "You did, but I didn't."

"Well, you're stuck with my help anyway," Bobby replied. "So you're going to listen to the doctors, and do everything they say, so that when you dad comes back, he won't try to kill me."

"You'll be fine, princess," Dean smirked. "I'm sure Adam can protect you from big bad Winchester if you're worried."

"Is daddy coming?" Adam asked. Sam couldn't tell his Adam was scared about his dad's arrival or desperate for it. Sam could relate.

"Not yet, bud," Dean said softly. "He's got important work to do, remember."

"You're important, Dean," Adam replied.

"So are you, bud," Dean told him. "That's why I've got to get out of here. So I can make sure you and Sam are okay."

"We're fine," Sam told him. "Bobby's alright. And he has all the protections up."

"Sam," warned Dean, nodding towards the doctor.

"Sorry," Sam flushed. He'd forgotten the doctor was still there.

"The boys are fine with me," Bobby said.

"They're only fine with me," Dean replied. "They're my kids."

"You've got one good leg, one good arm and titanium plates in your chest," Bobby pointed out. "What exactly is it that you think you can do?"

"Doc, can you give us a second," Dean replied. "Need a word with my uncle in private."

The doctor nodded reluctantly. "I'll send Nurse Adams in in shortly with your medication."

"And the AMA forms."

"He's sixteen. No AMA forms," Bobby told the doctor firmly before glaring at Dean. Dean glared right back.

"I'll leave you to talk," The doctor interjected, obviously wanted to get out of the way before the fireworks started. "Rest up, Dean."

As soon as the doctor left, Dean looked towards Sam. "Sam, can you take Adam for a snack. Maybe check out the gift shop?"

"Oh," Adam said, climbing off Dean's bed. "The bear!"

"Bear?" Dean asked.

Sam raked his eyes over the floor of Dean's room and spotted the pink bear near the doorway – obviously Adam had dropped it and it had been forgotten in all the drama. Sam walked over and picked it up, handing it to Adam so that he could pass it on to Dean.

"We got you a get well present, Dean!" Adam said excitedly. "It's pink!"

"I can see that," Dean said, taking the offending item from his youngest brother. He looked like he wanted to chuck it out of the window. At least he'd forgotten his anger with Bobby for the minute.

"Do you hate it?" Adam said, grinning up at Dean.

"Your idea I take it?" Dean asked Sam, his eyes threatening retribution.

Sam shrugged, but managed a grin. "Team effort."

"You have to keep it," Adam declared. "It's the rules."

"Right," Dean replied, obviously humouring Adam. "Well thanks. Now you go with Sam and take a trip to the bathroom, okay bud? I can see you squirming from here and I need a word with Bobby."

Sam decided not to mention the fact that Dean had an adjoining bathroom since he knew Dean wanted a private word with Bobby.

"Come on Adam," Sam said, taking his younger brother by the hand. "Once we're done in the bathroom, let's see if we can find the cafeteria."

"You'd think I never fed you two," Bobby replied.

Sam ignored him. "Be back soon, Dean."

It was a promise, not an idle comment, one Sam felt deeply. He had almost lost his brother once, he wasn't about to let it happen again. Sam only hoped the room was in one one piece when they got back.

A/N - Well hope you all enjoyed that and that it was worth the wait! Before you all head off, I did just want to get some help from the Americans amongst you, if at all possible. I'm British, and as much as I try to write American characters as authentically as possible, I do struggle with understanding certain aspects of your country, particularly your healthcare and school systems. In my story Dean is 16, Sam is 12 and Adam is 5. Am I right that Dean would be in high school and Sam would be middle school? Would they be in the same building or different schools? And Adam, is he in Kindergarten? Also with healthcare, I know it's covered under insurance plans but it is believable for Bobby to pay for Dean's medical bills using his insurance? I've tried my best to research it but I'm struggling to find what I need so any help you can provide would be much appreciated. Otherwise I'm just going to go with my best guess and hope you all forgive me when it's completely wrong.

Anyway, that's enough of that. Until next time, thanks for reading!