Alec didn't even bother looking up; he knew by the sound of the footsteps that Bobby was walking back in the room. His head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds anyway and he didn't want to put the effort in lifting it.
"Alright Alec, turn a little so you can face me," Bobby quietly commanded and Alec glanced to the side to see him put another chair beside his and sit down.
"Why?" Alec suspiciously asked, but he kept his head in his hands.
"You look like you just went to Hell and back and if you're not gonna move, then the patch job is comin' to you," Bobby stated as he set some supplies on the bed next to Dean.
Alec didn't really know where Bobby was going with this, but he was too tired to argue so he turned until he was facing him.
"Since it seems you're gonna follow in Sam and Dean's footsteps, and since they aren't able to keep an eye on you right now, I'll just have to be the one to pick up the slack," Bobby said. He picked up one of Alec's wrists and checked his pulse as he talked.
"You really don't have to do this, I'm fine," Alec said quickly once he figured out what was going on.
"Alec, you're almost as pale as the ghosts that we hunt, forgive me if I think you need a little lookin' after," Bobby said gruffly.
Bobby grabbed a little bag of Animal Crackers and put them in the hand he was holding. "Here, eat these, it might help with your blood pressure…"
"Why are you calling me by my name now?" Alec asked as he opened up the little bag and slowly ate one of the crackers.
Bobby hesitated, "I'm sorry about how I've been treatin' ya. I should have trusted Sam and Dean's instincts that you were a good kid, but I was worried about them…now I know I was wrong. If it wasn't for you neither of them would be alive right now, so I'm sorry."
Alec smiled a little, "I didn't blame you for thinking I was dangerous, in fact I told Dean a while back that he should listen to you…"
"Well, then I'm glad he didn't listen to either of us. He knows people better than anyone else I know and he knew right off that you were someone he wanted around."
Bobby continued his checking until he was completely satisfied that Alec was going to be ok. But even when he was done, he was still uncertain about leaving.
"You want something for the headache?" Bobby asked.
Alec shook his head no; he was afraid Bobby would slip him something to make him go to sleep. He couldn't go to sleep yet; he didn't want to miss it if Dean woke up and needed something.
"What's wrong with Sam?" Alec asked after a moment.
"He's got a pretty bad concussion, but I think he's going to be ok. We'll let him rest, that's the best thing for him right now."
Alec just nodded, but then Bobby continued, "You know, I'll watch over Dean if you wanted to get some rest too…"
"I'm good right here Bobby."
Bobby suddenly stood up, grabbed the chair, and walked out of the room muttering, "Freakin' Winchesters, already rubbed off on him…"
Alec smiled a little; it felt like he hadn't smiled in a long time and it surprised him that Bobby was the one to get him to do it.
He listened to Bobby's footsteps disappearing down the hall. He didn't really have anything else to do, so he made sure he paid attention to what was going on.
"Can you go talk to him?" Bobby asked. It was a little muffled since he was down the hall, but Alec wasn't going to start being picky, especially since he knew Bobby was talking about him.
"What makes you think he'll listen to me?" Ellen instantly asked back.
"You're a mother, maybe use that Mom voice to get him to go lie down," Bobby suggested, and Alec could hear the smile in the man's voice.
Ellen laughed, "Bobby, if he's anything like these two, then there's nothing that's going to get him to move except Dean waking up or Sam forcing him out of the room."
It was quiet while Bobby thought about that. "You're right…I've been going about this the wrong way…"
"I can hear you!" Alec called out so Bobby and Ellen could hear.
"Good! Maybe you'll actually listen!" Bobby yelled back.
"Think again old man!"
"He really is like Dean," Ellen said with a smile in her voice.
"I told you, that's why you should go talk to him."
"He won't listen to me, Bobby. You're gonna need Sam for this one."
That was fine with Alec. If Sam wanted to finally wake up he'd be all for it. But just let Sam give it his best shot at getting him out of this room.
Sam opened his eyes slowly; his head was pounding and he didn't know where he was. He could hear some voices outside the room, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Everything that had happened suddenly came crashing back to him and he jumped to his feet. He had to find Dean!
He swayed, but he caught himself and headed for the door. He opened it a crack and saw that Bobby and Ellen were standing in the hall. They both looked up when he opened the door and Bobby started walking towards him.
"We were just about to check on you. How ya feelin'?" Bobby asked.
"Where's Dean?" Sam asked back.
Bobby almost rolled his eyes, but he motioned Sam to follow him down the hall. "You have a pretty bad concussion Sam; you need to take it easy."
Sam just ignored him and finally saw the open door where he could just see the edge of Alec's jeans. He pushed past Bobby and practically ran into the room.
Alec slowly stood up as he rushed in, but then he sank back down into the chair. Sam didn't stop to wonder what was going on with him because he saw Dean lying on the bed a second later and froze where he stood.
Dean was pale; he had bandages across his chest and an IV in his arm and he looked practically dead. He was so still Sam was afraid that he was dead, but then he saw Dean's chest rise and fall and Sam slowly released a breath of relief.
"What happened?" Sam demanded, and it didn't matter to him who answered as long as someone told him what was going on.
When no one answered him, he took his eyes off of Dean and looked around at Alec and Bobby.
Bobby had followed him into the room, but had stopped in the doorway. He was looking at Alec, who Sam was surprised to see was sitting with his head in his hands, refusing to look up.
"Alec, what happened? What's going on with Dean?" Sam was starting to panic. No one was answering him and he had no idea if Dean was going to live or not.
Bobby finally cleared his throat, "He lost a lot of blood, but Alec patched him up and gave him a blood transfusion so we're hoping he's going to pull through."
Sam didn't say anything; Dean might pull through, but they weren't for sure. How many times had he been here before? How many times had Dean been almost at death's door because of him?
"Sam, you should sit down…" Alec said quietly.
Alec started to stand up, but stopped at Bobby's glare. "You need to stay in that seat. I mean it Alec.
Alec sank back down and Sam looked to him in concern.
"Sam needs a chair though…" Alec mumbled.
"I know, I'll find him one," Bobby reassured and he left the room.
"Alec what's wrong?" Sam asked once Bobby was gone.
Alec just waved him off and tried to casually reply, "Nothin', I'm fine…"
Sam could instantly tell that he wasn't fine and was mad at himself for not noticing it sooner. Alec was almost as pale as Dean and the fact that he was sitting should have been the biggest clue of all.
"Let me take a look at ya," Sam said to try and gauge how badly Alec was injured.
"Bobby already cleared me so you don't have to do the whole doctor routine," Alec replied, but he put his head back in his hands as he said this.
Sam wasn't as gentle as he should have been as he turned Alec's chair to face him. Alec shot his head up in surprise and then closed his eyes in pain. Sam reached out and gently turned Alec's head. There was a gash above his ear and Sam carefully felt around until he felt a pretty big bump on the back of his head. He tilted Alec's chin up and watched as his pupils dilated and Sam knew Alec had a pretty bad concussion.
"How much blood did you give Dean?" Sam asked.
"I don't know exactly, and I don't know if it was enough," Alec admitted.
"Alec…" Sam wanted to groan sometimes with all the similarities that Alec shared with Dean. "You gave too much…you look terrible."
"I'm fine Sam," Alec tiredly replied.
"Alright, chair for you and a chair for me," Bobby said, placing two more chairs in the room.
Sam reluctantly sat down and split his attention between Dean and Alec.
"I'll catch ya up on what you missed during your Sleeping Beauty routine and then you need to talk some sense into Alec," Bobby stated and Sam was surprised to see that Alec didn't react at all to what Bobby said.
Sam nodded slightly so Bobby continued, "Dean killed the Demon; Alec distracted it long enough for us to close the doors and for Dean to get the Colt."
Sam looked down in shame at being the cause for the whole mess.
"Now listen to me Sam, you are not to blame yourself for this happening."
"Bobby, I'm the reason Dean's hurt, that hundreds of demons are now free, everything is my fault!" Sam shouted and he saw Alec flinch a little at his tone.
"No it's not! Just like it's not my fault my wife got possessed or Alec's fault that he was made into an assassin!" Bobby yelled back. "There are things you can't control!"
Sam wanted to storm out of the room, but he couldn't be away from Dean right now.
It was quiet in the room until Bobby spoke again, "Alec's taken care of Dean, and I think he's going to pull through. Now, Alec needs to lie down and he won't listen to me." Bobby looked at him and then looked at Alec and Dean and then back at him.
Alec stayed where he was with his head still in his hands, he didn't acknowledge that any of them were talking about him.
"C'mon Alec, you heard Bobby," Sam tried after a moment, but Alec didn't look up.
Sam stood up and gently shook Alec's shoulder. Alec squinted up and blinked slowly at him. Sam pulled up on Alec's elbow to help him stand, but his legs collapsed as soon as he was on his feet. Sam pulled Alec against himself and Bobby took a step forward in concern.
"M' alright," Alec mumbled. "I want to stay."
"No Alec. I'll watch over Dean and you're going to go lie down," Sam said in his no-nonsense voice.
Alec sank against him a little bit more in defeat and Sam led him down the hall to the room he had woken up in. Alec was practically out on his feet and as soon as he was in bed he was asleep.
"I'll keep an eye on him while you sit with Dean," Bobby suddenly said from the doorway.
Sam nodded; any other time he would have teased Bobby on his protectiveness over Alec, but he was too worried about Dean. He walked back down the hall and took up the chair Alec had been sitting in.
"Alright Dean, it's time for you to wake up," Sam quietly said once he was sitting next to Dean.
He picked up Dean's limp hand and held it in his own. He didn't care if Dean made fun of him later for it; he'd be happy with Dean's teasing as long as his brother woke up.
More soon...