Chapter 23
"Are you ready to get out of here Mr. Winchester?" a nurse asked as she steered a wheelchair into the curtained room and to Sam's bed.
"Yes," Sam answered. He was sitting up in bed, his eyes still weak and his head still hurting, but he was ready to leave the hospital. He had slept off and on in between being woke up and checked by the nurses. They had kept him most of the day until the doctor finally decided he could be released. It was late afternoon now and Sam was anxious to be on his way.
"Here's your discharge paperwork and a prescription for pain meds you can have filled in case you need them," she explained. "If you have any issues, follow up with your family doctor. Your stitches are dissolving ones, so you won't need to worry about having them removed. Do you have any questions before you leave?"
"No, I'm good, thanks," Sam replied taking the paperwork. He carefully got up and took a seat in the wheelchair.
"Shall we go then?" she asked steering him from the room.
John walked beside them to the doors and saw Dean had pulled the Impala to the side and was waiting on them. He opened the passenger door and waited as the nurse wheeled the chair to the car and put on the breaks. Sam shifted himself from the chair and eased into the seat trying to get comfortable. He was glad the sun was almost down since the bright light hurt his eyes.
"Here, thought you might need these," Dean said holding out a pair of sunglasses.
"Thanks," Sam said taking the glasses and putting them on.
"You want to drive for a few hours and find a motel for the night?" John asked Dean knowing neither were in any shape to drive straight through.
"Yeah, sounds good. We'll follow you," Dean answered heading around to the driver's side.
John walked down the sidewalk toward where his truck was parked and listened to the familiar roar of the Impala when Dean cranked her. He smiled to himself as she crept along behind him and stopped when he got to his truck. It brought back fond memories of a happier time when Mary was still alive. He thought back on the day he had been looking for a vehicle and remembered a guy telling him he should buy it. As he thought about it, the stranger seemed so familiar, but he couldn't place him.
John started his truck and pulled from the parking lot checking to see that Dean was following him. He got on the main road and followed it out of town toward the interstate to head north toward Sioux Falls. He was going to drive for maybe three hours and find a place for them to eat and get a motel room for the night. He didn't want Sam to get too tired with the drive and knew they all needed a good night's sleep after spending all day in the emergency room.
spn
They had been driving for about three hours and Dean looked over at his brother trying to discern his appearance in the moonlight shining down on them. He didn't think Sam looked too good and hoped John planned on stopping soon. He was relieved when John signaled to exit the interstate which meant they were going to stop for the night.
"Sammy, how ya doing?" he asked as he slowed the Impala to take the exit.
"I'm fine," Sam's weakened voice replied.
Once they stopped at the office for a motel, Dean turned to look closely at his brother. His face was pale and pinched, and he looked like he might puke at any moment.
"Why didn't you tell me to stop sooner?" Dean chastised him. He reached over to feel his forehead and thought it felt warm.
"I didn't want to be a bother," Sam said looking down at his hands curled in his lap.
"You're going straight to bed as soon as Dad gets the rooms." Dean looked toward the office door and could see John inside doing the necessary paperwork and paying. When he came back out, Dean followed him around the building and parked beside him in front of two rooms.
"I got you a double and I have a single beside you," John noted when he got out.
"Wanna get our room opened? Sammy needs to lie down," Dean said. He hurried around the car and grabbed Sam's arm as he wobbled on unsteady legs. "C'mon bro, let's get you inside and laying down."
"Anything I can do?" John asked as he held the door for Dean. He watched him gently lower his brother to one of the queen beds and mumble something to him.
"Why don't you go get some food, I don't think Sammy needs to be out in public. I'll stay with him."
"Alright, I'll see if they have some broth or something light for him," John nodded before closing the door.
Dean went into the bathroom and wet a washcloth with cold water. He came back out and laid it across Sam's forehead. "I'll get the bags and get you some pain meds." He headed out and snagged their bags from the trunk and stopped by the vending machines to grab a couple of waters for them.
spn
Sam tried to relax, but the throbbing in his head was making it impossible. He hadn't felt that bad when he left the hospital, but after an hour of riding in the car, he could feel himself slipping. It was like the steady roar of the engine and the motion of the car made him feel nauseated and made his head hurt worse. He didn't want to say anything to make them stop sooner because he wanted to get to Bobby's.
He was excited and frightened, all at the same time, that John was coming with them. Maybe if he could make him see he was still Sam, his son, with just a few modifications, he would be able to accept him. He tried not to think on that when a cold cloth was put on his forehead startling him, and he heard his brother's voice. He let the coldness seep into his head and sighed in relief, hoping it would help with the headache.
"Here Sammy, take theses," Dean said. He took Sam's hand and dropped two pills into it and waited as he lifted his head enough to take the pills and water to wash them down. Once the pills were taken and Sam drank a few more sips of water, he carefully laid his head back on the pillow and pushed the cloth back in place.
There was a knock on the door a little later, and Dean opened it to let John come it with bags of food and drink. He sat them on the table and began to remove the food items, dividing them up.
"I got Sam some crackers and soup," John offered pushing them toward Dean thinking he should be the one to give them to Sam.
"Thanks," Dean replied. He opened the cup of soup and tried a small sip deciding it was too hot and fished an ice cube from his drink to drop into it. He stirred it with a straw and tried it again before going to the bed and sitting down beside Sam. "Dad got you some soup and crackers. Think you can try and eat something?"
"Don't know," Sam mumbled weakly, partly opening his eyes to look at him.
"You need to try, what you got in the hospital wasn't much and you've gotta be hungry. You need to eat to get your strength back."
"I'll try," Sam sighed, letting Dean adjust his pillows so he could sit up enough to try and eat.
"Just take it slow bro."
"If he feels like more after that, I got a turkey sandwich for him too," John offered.
"You good bro?" Dean asked watching Sam tear open the crackers and taking a bite of one.
"Yeah, go eat 'fore your food gets cold," Sam said. He chewed the bite and tentatively took a sip of the broth. His stomach growled and complained but didn't seem upset by the food. He continued to eat the remaining crackers and drank part of the soup before stopping. He slid back down on the bed and closed his eyes feeling slightly better with some food in his stomach and hoped the meds would kick in soon.
"Is he okay?" John whispered as he looked over at the bed.
"Yeah, it's the aftereffects of the concussion, I've seen it before," Dean replied. He dipped a fry into a blob of ketchup before taking a bite.
John fell silent and ate to cover up his awkwardness. He didn't know what to say to his own son and that bothered him. They were never a touchy, feely family and had learned long ago to avoid showing your emotions so you wouldn't be seen as weak. He looked over at Dean's neutral face and couldn't read anything. He had gotten very good at hiding his feelings from the world. The only one that could ever see them was Sam and even then, Dean would put up a wall so strong even he couldn't see.
"I won't let you hurt Sam," Dean said in a low growl. "Not emotionally or physically." He wanted their father to understand Sam had gone through enough and he was in a good head space right now and didn't want that destroyed.
"I wouldn't hurt him," John replied shocked he would even think that. "He's still my son."
Dean looked over to the bed to be sure Sam was resting okay and wasn't hearing what they were saying. "Why don't we move to your room for this conversation? Sammy doesn't need to be hearing it." Dean grabbed a motel message pad and scribbled a short note he was next door with Dad and left it propped against the water bottle on the nightstand. He saw Sam had dozed off and moved quietly so not to wake him. He draped a blanket over his body before stepping to the door.
John got up and threw away his trash before following his son out the door. He went to the room next door and opened it allowing them entrance. After turning on the lights, John moved to the table and took a seat figuring Dean would join him.
"So, say your peace, I'm listening," John stated when Dean dropped into a chair across from him.
Dean looked at him with hard eyes before speaking, "You say Sammy's still your son, well damnit, you need to act like it. Sammy's been through a lot since he left and he's just now starting to get over it. He doesn't need you rejecting him again like in the hospital. That almost broke him."
"So, tell me, what happened to him? I know the demons had to have taken Sam for him to be able to kill Azazel. What did they do to him? Where did these powers, these things he can do come from?"
Dean thought how to respond to his father. He wanted him to understand what Sam had endured under the demon's hands but also wondered if he should be the one telling him. Should he wait and let Sam do it? He really didn't want Sam to have to live through that experience again, because he knew whether he told or showed it, he would feel it in his soul. Thinking only of how to help his brother, Dean wet his lips before speaking.
"You're right, the demons kidnapped him from the bus station," Dean started, his facial expression going hard. "Azazel was moving up the timetable on his plan and wanted Sam to break and for him to be the one to lead his army of demons. He was possessed and made to drink demon blood to activate his powers and make them stronger. But you see, Missouri told us that Sam had most of these powers since birth, the demons didn't give them to him." Dean paused and looked at John to see his face had paled and he started wide eyed at him. "Sam was able to control them enough that he could kill demons. He confronted Yellow Eyes and crushed his black ass soul. He got away from them and started training himself wanting to do something good with his abilities. He's still Sammy, your son, my brother, just a different version of him."
"I saw what he did in that house," John said softly. "He saved your life with his powers."
"Yeah and he saved yours when the ghouls had you. Missouri says how he saw you then, are visions of future events and the other is telekinesis, he can move things with his mind. He found where Walker had me by astral projection. There are some others he's been working on, but that's a moot point. If you can't accept Sammy the way he is now, well, you might as well pack it up and leave right now." Dean didn't mince words and he wasn't going to let their father cause Sam anymore heartache than he already had. He was going to protect Sam anyway he could and if that meant sending their father away, then so be it.
John sat back in his chair and tried to digest what Dean had told him. His son was who the demons called 'Boy King' and they feared him because he could end their sorry lives. He had visions and could move things with his mind and no telling what else. He was shocked to hear that he had been born with the powers and wondered if that is why he had been singled out by the demons in the first place.
"I understand your doubt in me after the way I've acted, I'm not proud of that. I can't change the past, but I'd like to try and change the future. I want you boys back in my life and to do that I need to have a talk with Sammy. I was seeing all the negative and bad things and not thinking about the good. I'll not desert either of you again."
Dean studied his father as he talked looking for signs of lying or deceit but didn't see any. He seemed to be sincere in wanting to be in their lives again and Dean knew this would make Sam happy. All he wanted was that for him, to be happy.
"Alright, I better get back and check Sammy," Dean said. The conversation was over for him, as far as he was concerned but he was still going to be wary of his father until he was sure things were good between them.
"I'll see you in the morning son," John nodded. He watched Dean leave the room and the door close behind him. He wiped a hand down his face and sagged in the chair from the confrontation with his son. This was a lot to take in, learning just how powerful Sam was and could be. He knew there would be others out there like Walker who would just as soon kill Sam and think nothing of it. He was exhausted and needed to rest after what they had been through.
John knew if he wanted his boys back in his life, he would have to change his way of thinking and compromise with them. Sam was a part of Mary and that kept her memory alive for him. It might be hard at first, but he was determined to show Sam he did care about and love him even if he had developed psychic powers. How could he love him less because of that? He could still see the little boy in him, especially when he slept, and he was going to try to be the father he needed.
A/N: John is coming around now and one more chapter and this journey will be over. I hope you have enjoyed this AU and will join me for the next story of this trilogy. I do like reviews. NC