I struggled with this chapter and it took longer than I wanted. I am reasonably happy with it and much more comfortable with the next "Bobby and the Winchesters" chapter which is almost finished! Bobby is going to take some heat from John I can tell you...
Please review, it's only my second fiction so I'm learning and the interraction is important (I'm in lockdown in the UK and just looking for positive ways to get through the year. Writing is something I've always wanted to try and this is me finally starting.
I've also got another fiction started "The Retiring Types", which I'm going to put another chapter up for. Weechesters and Curtain Fics are something I really enjoy, so I'm trying for both :)
Reviews are really important so i hope you can spend the time and I hope you enjoy this xxx Stay safe everyone
If there is one thing that will mobilise an empty urgent care unit, it's a six-foot two man charging through the door with an unconscious boy in his arms screaming "I need help here!".
As John ran through the automatic door, he caught sight of the cluster of hospital staff surrounding the reception desk, apparently socialising in a quiet spell. At his call they all sprang to life taking in the prone child in the man's arm. An older Doctor rushed forward shouting "get a gurney!"
"Sir" he said "Can you tell me what happened? We are just going to put the boy on the gurney and get a quick look at him". The gurney materialised and John reluctantly put Dean down, the Doctor already starting to check for breathing and immediately feeling around the blood coating the back of the boy's head.
"This is my son Dean Carpenter" said John (aware of his latest insurance card name) "He's thirteen and he's fallen out of a tree onto a stone, he's bashed his head in. He's been asleep since then, but that's okay, isn't it? He's going to be okay, isn't he? He's just stunned".
"We'll just take a look and then I'll come back and see you" said the Doctor, already moving as he spoke and following an orderly who had starting wheeling Dean through the reception. The gurney carrying Dean disappeared through swing doors with a caravan of medical staff following.
The reception room emptied from bustle to silence. For a moment John stood shocked, not really understanding how his firstborn was out of his sight. John had a disregard for rules generally (except those mandated by him) and certainly a total regard for any rule that separated him from his injured child and removed him into the care of unknown humanity. Jolted out of his trance he ran through the swing doors and followed his son inside. Behind him, conscious that a wandering parent was not at all helpful to Doctors while they were examining an injured child (and conscious insurance details hadn't been supplied) followed the receptionist and security guard both shouting variations of "Sir, you aren't allowed back there" and "wait" to John's total disregard.
The urgent care unit was small and seemingly empty, John simply followed the sounds of orders being barked, cupboards and packages being opened to lead him to his son.
On entering the examination room where he son lay, he saw one nurse cutting off Dean's clothes (John remembered how much Dean liked that particular tee-shirt which was a goodwill bonus find), another nurse hooking Dean onto a machine which he supposed measured his vitals, a younger doctor putting a line into his, still unconscious, son and the older Doctor starting to examine Dean, moving from his responses to his injury and back again. John stood quietly, the medical staff too immersed in their tasks to notice him until the sounds of his pursuers made the Doctors pause and look at him.
"What the heck?" said the older Doctor "Get this man back to the waiting room! We need to concentrate here. Do your damn jobs!". Both receptionist and security guard mumbled apologies and tried to move John out of the doorway. John wasn't in the mood for conciliation and simply said to the Doctor "I ain't leaving. That's my boy lying there. I won't interfere but I'm not leaving him alone and you'd need a lot more firepower than your plastic badge here to make me. You do your goddamn job and I'll do mine, and that means not leaving him alone".
Needing to focus on the boy and recognising the escalating situation, the Doctor paused again and sighing said "Look, stand outside here and wait. You can see everything. However, you interfere with my care for your son and I won't need Williams to deal with you. I'll break my damn hand on your jaw if I need to".
Meeting the doctor's gaze John nodded briefly.
"Williams" said the doctor, "you stay with him and keep him out of this room. Think you can manage that?" "Linda" said the Doctor, "it'd be nice if we had some details on this child, think you can manage that part of your job?". With that, the Doctor turned back and gave his full concentration to Dean.
The next few minutes passed in a blur of medicines being administered, readings being shouted out, clothes and blood soaked dressing being discarded ("How COULD he STILL be bleeding?!" thought John) and preparations being made to take x-rays of Dean's skull and upper back which was black with bruising. Any further diagnostic machinery being outside the capacity of the small urgent care. John could hear the nurses trying to rouse Dean. John was desperate to go inside and try to drag his son back from wherever his consciousness was vacationing, but knew that any attempt would make Williams intercede, whilst he had no doubt that Williams was looking forward to that eventuality less than John, he knew it wouldn't get him anywhere long term and he knew the doctors had to concentrate on Dean.
Linda, the receptionist, tried to take details from John, but he only concentrated slightly, "Colds always go to his chest" he replied to a question about pre-existing conditions absentmindedly and, when asked about allergies just said "He hates drugs, all of them, says they make him feel hopped up, but I don't think he's allergic. He just likes to be on guard all the time".
After what seemed like an eternity the older Doctor lifted his head and motioned to John to come in. "Sir" he said, "I'm concerned that your son is still unresponsive, his pupils are reactive which is good but very uneven. I'd feel a lot better if this boy could help tell us what we're dealing with. Other than his waking up real soon, I'm going to be medi-vacing this boy to a bigger unit. Don't get me wrong, we have some good responses too, but the best indicator now would be your son waking up. I'd like you to talk to him and we'll see if that works where the pretty nurses didn't".
"I'd like to try" said John, "although I've gotta say, he'll be pissed he missed the chance to flirt with your nurses, he's thirteen but they sure grow up quick". John was consciously turning on the charm to get as much contact with Dean as possible.
The Doctor moved out the way and John took his sons hand, noticing how cold it was. That wasn't a line of thinking that John was willing to carry on with and he leaned in and carefully brushed the hair off his son's closed eyelids and started speaking softly to the boy.
"Hair's getting longer than Sammy's" he muttered "I don't know how I let you have it that long. Soon as we're out of here I'm gunna buy you a pink ribbon so it doesn't get in your eyes, you'll look real pretty. You up for that? We'll let Sammy choose the shade".
Getting no response John carried on "Come on son. Don't leave your old man hanging, open those baby blues so your Dad can stop worrying. I know you're in there. You wouldn't leave your old man; I couldn't handle it. I know you think I'm strong but that'd break me. I need you son, Sammy needs you, what would happen to us if you weren't here?"
John squeezed Dean's hand and gently stroked the back of it with his thumb "Come on Dean. I know you can hear me; I know you're in there. Come back to me. Follow my voice and everything will be alright. I promise. I can't go out and tell Sammy you aren't alright Dean"
Feeling like the heel he was, John upped the ante and began again "Sammy needs his big brother Dean. He's too little to do this without you. He'll be out there crying now. He needs to know you're gunna be alright."
A few more minutes of John trying to draw Dean to him passed but Dean stayed immobile. Finally, the Doctor interceded saying "'We're ready in x-ray. We'll take stock when he comes back. It's not all bad, his vitals have steadied, I'd just feel more comfortable if he was complaining a little more. Let's get the x-rays done and get him back here. Like I said, his vitals have steadied".
With a nod from John (which masked a sinking feeling in his gut which, along with the clenching he'd felt as he tried to get Dean to wake up by force of will, made him feel downright nauseous), the Doctor and nurses unplugged Dean and he was once again wheeled away from John. The silence and emptiness of a Dean-less room was unbearable to John It bought back all too quickly the memories of the first Mary-less days, when trying to believe and accept the unbelievable was a knife cut into his aching heart. Without the boys he would never have survived, he was sure of that. In honestly, were it not for his love for and duty to his sons, he wouldn't have wanted to survive. Shaking himself quickly to pull himself out of the morass into which he felt himself falling, he remembered (to his shame for the first time since he'd last spoken to him) his younger son and headed back to the reception to give what comfort he could and, in honestly to take comfort from the small, sensient and moving son he still could hold close.
Meanwhile outside Sammy had been sitting in the small and cold reception area alone, save for the fears and the numberless regrets, "what if's" and prayers that passed through Sammy's young mind. Promises were made to a deity he still believed in (and probably to the tooth fairy and Santa Claus as well because Sammy still believed in them) and fingers and toes were crossed. Sammy resolutely refused to consider any of the darker thoughts that were crossing his mind, the memory of his usually restless brother so still and broken being pushed back each time it surfaced.
"Dean would be alright, Dean would always be alright, Dean would never leave me alone and Dad would never let anything happen to Dean" repeated Sammy to himself over and over again, whilst hugging his knees to his chest for comfort and closing his mind again and again from the darker thoughts that tried to push through…
John headed back to the reception, followed by the security guards and receptionist, trying as he walked to put his "game face" on and not to frighten his younger son any more than he would be already. John was acutely aware that his parenting inadequacies had led Sammy to regard Dean as more than a brother, Sammy regarded Dean as a caregiver and surrogate Father.
On entering the dimly lit cold room John caught sight of his youngest son rocking and hugging himself for comfort. John was a neglectful Father, not a cruel one and his heart hurt at the sight. "Sammy" he said quietly across the room "Come here" and opened his arms.
With a speed born of fear and distress Sammy flew into his Father's arms blubbing and asking "Where's Dean? Is he okay? How come Dean's not here?"
"Let's sit down Champ" said John depositing himself on a hard chair and his son on his softer lap. "Dean's fine, he's just gone down for an x-ray. His vitals are good, they're just waiting for him to come to. He took quite a shot to his noggin, but they don't know us Winchesters. We're a hardheaded bunch". With this John lifted Sammy's chin from his chest to look his son in the eyes and winked.
"So he's really okay? Said Sammy, trying to rub the tear tracks from his eyes. "He's gunna be alright? When can I see him?"
"Yeah, he'll have a hell of a headache, but he'll be okay" said John, slipping easily into his special skill of convincing liar. "We've just gotta wait here while they sort him out a bit and then I'll take you in. Might be a while 'til he wakes, you know what Dean's like for sleeping in, but we'll be outta here soon". John prayed that his son never saw the liar his father had become and hugged Sam to him, shushing him to settle down and rest while they waited on their missing anchor.
That was how John and Sammy remained (both trying to draw comfort from the presence of the other and both conscious that time seemed to have slowed beyond reason) for the next hour, listening only to the sounds of the receptionist shuffling papers or tapping a keyboard and the security card turning the pages of the car magazine he was reading in a distracted way.
After the hour the silence was bought to an end with a nurse slamming through the swing doors speaking loudly as she moved "Mr Carpenter! He's awake but he's a little confused and the Doctor would like you to help calm him down. Would you come now please!"
Stirred out of his reverie, and with relief flooding every cell as he took in that DEAN WAS CONSCIOUS, he stood up and, with Sam wrapped around him said "take me to him!" in a voice that brooked no argument.
The nurse looked at Sammy in John's arms and, just as she opened her mouth to speak, John intercepted saying "He's staying with me, if Dean needs calming his brother will do it, and he certainly won't calm without seeing Sammy with his own eyes, so let's move"
Still looking unconvinced the nurse went back through the swing doors, John following despite every instinct to push her out of the way. Entering the room he'd left, John saw what the nurse meant when she said Dean was confused. In the low-lit room Dean was half on and half off the bed, a bag of fluid being pushed into him by a nurse who was whispering comforting low words at the same time.
"No, it's not alright! Dean was saying, retching at the same time "Where's Dad, where's Sammy? Are they okay? I fucked up and I can't remember. Are they safe? I think he threw me into the headstone, but I can't remember! It's my fault, I fucked up! He's gunna be mad but I need to know Sammy's okay? Where's Daddy? Did he leave me cos I fucked up? I gotta find him, I gotta find Sammy! I gotta make sure Sammy's safe!"
Two sets of thoughts were flowing through John's mind as he listened to his son. Firstly, Dean had the Mother of a concussion and he needed watching and secondly, that didn't sound at all good to anyone listening.
The second train of thought was confirmed as the nurse speaking to his son looked up at him with suspicion as he moved to the bed.
"Hey son, he said touching Dean lightly on the shoulder "We're here. It's okay. Sammy and I are fine. We've just gotta make sure your noggins okay and then we're out of here"
At this point Sammy leaned forward to touch Dean and whispered "I'm okay Dean, honest. We've just been waiting for you"
Dean, hearing his Father and brother's voice seemed to become even more unglued "Daddy" he said starting to cry and reverting to a term he hadn't used in years "It's all fuzzy, I don't know what's wrong. I'm sorry I fucked up. Don't be mad, I'll do better" before looking down again and starting with "Where's Dad, I fucked up! He threw me I think, but I can't find Sammy! I gotta keep Sammy safe!", obviously forgetting the conversation of the previous minutes.
Sammy, seeing his brothers distress scrambled out of his Father's arms and onto the bed curling himself around his crying brother, and said "it's okay Dean, I'm here, everything's okay, you just hit your head!".
Dean wrapped his arms around Sammy and seemed to calm immediately, "Sammy, you okay? He didn't hurt you? You okay?" Sammy nodded into Dean's chest and Dean, apparently worn out settled back on the bed, still clinging to Sammy and starting quietly weeping and saying "I'm sorry" over and over again.
The nurse, taking the opportunity covered Dean and Sammy and told Dean to try and relax and get some sleep, and that it would all look better later.
The Doctor had been standing by the bed this whole time and seemed to make an instant decision "Well, he's very confused but seems to have some memory of events. His brother is keeping him calm and he needs to rest so I recommend we leave both here together and we'll keep monitoring Dean. He's not out of the woods yet, but the degree of memory retention is a very positive sign". John caught the surreptitious glance the Doctor shot glance at the nurse, and turning to John the Doctor said "Mr Carpenter, why don't we leave these boys to get a little rest and we can discuss things outside?".
The smile the Doctor gave John was forced and fake and John's hunter "fight or flight" instincts started to go off like a fire alarm. John knew exactly how Dean sounded and the conclusions that were being drawn. He also knew the Doctor had found the easiest way to separate him from both his boys and he knew the next discussion he would be having about Dean and Sam were likely to be with CPS, and probably with security guards with more ambition than talent in dealing with someone like John Winchester. He also knew he would have no good explanation for Dean's injuries when taken with his son's confused comments.
John was used to hard choices and hard consequences; his life was full of them. Dean needed medical care; he was still on fluids for fucks sake! Dean needed his family more though, John could get him fluids outside the hospital, but he might not be able to get his boys back so quickly if they disappeared into the system. He knew he would scorch the earth to get back what was his if anyone took his boys, he knew though that the best decision was not to let them be taken in the first place.
To John's way of thinking, Dean was confused but conscious, he was resting and had two bags of fluid in him. Come what may, he was in for a rough week or so with his concussion, but it would be less rough if he wasn't worried about losing his family. Bobby Singer was a few hours away with a contacts book that would impress a Hollywood Madam, he may not be John's biggest fan at the moment (when was he?) but he loved the boys and he'd lay down his life to see them safe. Life was a series of immediate decisions for a hunter and John took the shit hand life had dealt him and made his. He and the boys needed to be gone yesterday, so far no one official was at the hospital but that would change real quick. Leaving meant moving a sick kid, but his kid was going to be sick for a week at least, and there was no way he could hang around that long and still have a family at the end of it, so now was as good a time (if not the best time) to get going.
At this point, John having started to consider how to disable the Doctor and the nurse and get moving, fate gave John the one solitary sliver of luck in this whole mess. The resuscitation alarm started to go off and, with a stern "stay right here" aimed at John both the Doctor and the nurse took off down the corridor in response to the "all hands on deck" call.
It took John 5 seconds to make sure the entire medical staff were out of sight before he said sternly to Sam, "Get up and get Dean's saline bag, we're out of here. Grab those records and anything else and MOVE"
Sammy looked dumbfounded and said "Dad! He's sick! We can't move him".
"You heard Dean Sammy" said John starting to wrap a, now crying Dean in a blanket, making sure not to dislodge his IV. "How long do you think before the CPS are here? He's just got a concussion, we'll go to Bobby's and get him seen there, now MOVE IT!".
Sammy had already unhooked the saline and was giving it to his Father, who now had Dean cradled in his arms like a baby. Sammy had Dean's shoes and anything else he could see crammed in a bag, had grabbed the notes from the end of the bed and was shoving as many medicines (he didn't know what they were) into the bag from the closed cabinet.
"Good boy" said John "Let's go, you keep point. We need to get out the town and onto the back roads now. They ain't going to like a jailbreak with a sick kid".
Sam silently thought he didn't like the jailbreak either but ran up the corridor to the rear fire exit and, seeing it was empty, signalled his Father to follow.
"Open it" whispered his Father who was now engaged in whispering comfort to the child in his arms who was asking after Sammy again. Sammy pushed the bar down and, noting there didn't seem to be an alarm, moved to let his Father through.
"My keys" said John "Get the impala open, and started, I'll follow" Taking the keys from his Father's pocket, Sammy sprinted ahead, opening the car and front and back doors quickly and starting her up. He saw no-one and signalled for his father, who jogged over and put Dean in the back seat. "Climb over" said John "keep him steady, I'll stop when I'm out of town and settle him more". With that John slowly moved the impala out, careful not the gun the engine and keeping the lights off and reaching the exit took off as fast as he could, all the while praying that whoever had caused the resuscitation alarm to go off took a good long time deciding whether to live or die.
Half an hour saw the impala on a back-road heading away from the town, lights still off and John concentrating to avoid ending up back in the hospital. Sammy was working his magic and Dean was relatively settled in the back. Dean would settle but every ten minutes stir to check john and Sammy were safe as his memory short circuited again, and every ten minutes Sammy would gently comfort him and settle him again.
Still way too close to town for his comfort (in fairness he'd want to be on a different coast to that town to be comfortable) John realised he had to let Singer know the joyful news of his imminent arrival and, spotting a closed gas station, pulled in saying to Sammy "Stay here, I'm gunna ring Bobby and let him know we're coming in hot".
The call with Bobby went as anticipated, from the "Yeah, ain't no good reason for anyone to ring at this ungodly hour and I ain't interested in bad reasons so this better be important" as Bobby answered the phone, to the "whaddya mean, Dean's beat up some, what you done to the boy?". John kept it short, skipped over the extent of his son's scrambled brains and just said "Singer, Dean's taken a knock to the head and beat up some, I had to book it from the hospital, I'm a couple of hours away and I need to hole up and get my boy sorted. I'm coming in hot. You got a problem with that when I'm there, we'll keep moving but I ain't debating it here. We'll be there in two hours"
The final "asshole, what do I need in the welcome wagon" was met with "basic supplies, but he's gunna need checking out again. I'll see ya in two" followed by the dial tone as John hung and ran back to the car.
On the road again and pushing the impala to her limits whilst his stomach turned every time a car passed or every time Dean hadn't woken for more than ten minutes, John just made for Singers Salvage. Never mind the reception awaiting them(he was not expecting a banner but knew Bobby would take them in), he just wanted a chance to check out his boy and draw breath.
…TBC