Two Hunters and a Baby.

Disclaimer: Sigh no matter how hard I try I just don't own anything to do with Supernatural or the characters of the show. Although anything that comes from my fevered imagination is ... kind of ... that's my excuse anyway!

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CHAPTER 15

Sam moaned and tried to push the heavy blanket away from his face, why would anyone cover him with a blanket? His arms felt like they had weights hanging from them, his fingers numb as he tried to free his face.

His breathing quickened as the panic started to set in, he couldn't shift the heaviness covering his face, frantically his hand flailed about in front of him, reaching for something, anything.

'Sammy, hey it's okay Dude, calm down.' Dean's voice sounded muffled and far away, as hard as he could Sam couldn't hear him clearly.

'Sam, Sam breath easy man, it's okay you're in the hospital.' Dean tried to sooth his younger brother but nothing seemed to be getting through to him. Swathed in surgical dressings and thick bandages Sam resembled a mummy more than his usual good looking boyishness. The tubes feeding oxygen to his scorched lungs annoyed Sam and he swiped at them trying to free himself. He felt a hand on his chest and the panic soon turned to fear and then anger. Another attack when he was at his most vulnerable and then to think of it, where's Dean?

'Sammy come on Dude calm down you're gonna hurt yourself.' Dean's voice still sounded muffled and distant, where was he?

Dean looked up as their doctor came striding in closely followed by two nurses, 'so how's our star patient doing today?' Doctor Peter Goodfellow smiled at Dean 'and where is that little Princess of yours hiding?'

'Hey Doc, Issy is being spoilt rotten while I came to check on Sammy...' Dean answered unable to take his eyes from his brother, 'he appeared to wake up Doc but.'

'But what Dean?'

'He's panicking, and not listening to me.' Dean growled he hated feeling so helpless when it came to Sam's health usually he could cope with anything. But, now, now, it was different, Sam had a potentially life-threatening brain injury and then the fire, it was getting too much for his older brother.

'Okay let's have a look.' Peter smiled bending down he checked the monitor attached to the many wires and patches on Sam's bare chest, well on the bare parts that didn't have dressings plastered on them.

Shaking his head slightly, he checked the drainage bottle and frowned, the output much lower than it should be, 'Sam, it's Doctor Goodfellow,' he said a little louder than normal bending close to Sam's ear, 'I'm just going to remove your intubation tube.' Nodding to the nurse the doctor glanced at Dean who hovered too close but backed away silently, trusting the doctor's judgement, for now anyway.

With practiced fingers, he manipulated the tube and then giving Sam the instruction to cough he extracted the tube without any complications, wiping Sam's mouth the nurse cleaned him up and then took the slimy tube and slightly bloodied swabs away. Sam drew deep harsh breathes as he tested his own breathing capacity, but the doctor soon slipped the nasal tubes on and fed him much needed oxygen through them.

'Okay Sam, listen to me I'm going to remove the pads over your eyes, keep em closed until I tell you to open them slowly,' he said using a very low and calm voice, relaying his calmness to his patient with word and touch. 'Dean would mind flicking the overhead lights off, they'll be too bright for your brother's sensitive eyes.'

'Sure Doc.' Dean said as he hurried to do the small task and take his position up again next to the bed.

'Sammy the pads are coming off now,' the doctor removed one slowly and then the other, 'okay Son open those eyes and let me see what colour they are.'

Sam slowly opened his eyes and blinked owlishly at the doctor's face as he slowly regained some focus. 'Doc?' Sam asked, his voice a hoarse raspy whisper.

'Good Sam very good,' the doctor smiled as he examined Sam's eyes, 'they're looking a lot better.'

'Hey Sammy,' Dean grinned moving a step closer to the bed.

'Dean?' Sam held his hand up to his brother, his voice no louder than a strained whisper.

'Here Buddy you gave me a helluva scare you know that,' Dean grinned.

'Issy?'

'She's fine, back at the motel and being spoilt rotten.'

Sam smiled and settled back on the pillows, the heaviness on his face still there but it wasn't as bad as before.

'Okay boys here's the verdict,' Doctor Goodfellow said with a small smile at his young patient, 'first you both are very lucky to survive the way you did, Sam, my boy someone was definitely looking after you.'

'Why?'

'Well not only did we manage to fix most of your internal injuries, the neurologist from St Patrick's Hospital came down and worked on your cerebral contusion, some new technique he has. Anyway, except for a small shunt they had to place in the base of your skull for a while to make sure no fluid builds up, you are going to be fine, your lungs and throat will heal it was mostly smoke damage. The burns on your face, back and hip will take some time to heal though, we had to do a skin graft on your hip and back but it's looking pretty good already.'

'Doc, my face? Feels heavy.' Sam croaked out.

'That'll pass, they burn on the left side was very deep, we suspect some nerve damage there but until it is completely healed we won't know to what extent.'

'But aside from that Doc ... Sammy's gonna be okay?' Dean asked impatiently.

'Yes Dean, your brother is going to be fine and around for a long time to annoy you some more.' Doctor Goodfellow said with a big grin, 'so Sam sorry but you're on fluids for a few more days and then we'll start you on some soft foods, we have to build your immunity up again, which means you my boy have some work ahead of you.'

'Don't worry Doc if he doesn't behave I'll kick his ass personally.' Dean grinned.

'Jerk!'

'Bitch.' Dean grinned, 'so Sammy you get some rest and I'll go check on Issy and come back.'

'Can ... can she come and visit?' Sam asked the doctor, squinting slightly with his stinging eyes.

'I don't know son, I mean everyone who comes in here has to gown up until your burns and skin graft ... tell you what I'll compromise, Dean can come back with her and bring her up to the obs window there for you to see her.'

'Thanks.' Sam said as his eyes fluttered shut and sleep claimed him once again.

Dean followed the Doctor outside peeling off the gown and mask as he walked, 'you sure he's going to be okay?'

'I'm sure, that young man in there has obviously been through a lot but he's a fighter Dean, you should be very proud of him.'

'Oh I am, still I can't keep telling him that, I'll never hear the end of it,' Dean grinned, 'thanks Doc for everything.'

'My pleasure Dean, but you can do one thing for me.'

'What? Anything you want Doc?'

'Bring that little Princess by my office when you bring her in,' Peter Goodfellow grinned and patted Dean's shoulder affectionately.

'Got my word on that Doc.' Dean matched the doctor's grin with his own as he hurried back to the motel and his baby girl.

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The nurse slipped into Sam's room and made sure no one else was in there; her jet-black hair fell down her back in shiny waves unadorned by anything she let hang loose. Her round eyes glowed soft hues of amber and red, with no white to be seen, her skin devoid of any colour and looked like dried parchment. She walked with a disjointed and awkward gait but managed to move around unnoticed. Standing only five feet in height, she had a knack of blending into the background and appeared quite innocuous to those who glanced in her direction.

She hovered over the bed and watched the handsome young man in the bed sleeping fitfully. A soft moan escaped from his lips as he tossed and writhed restlessly caught in the midst of a dream.

With a cold smile, she placed two fingertips on his unbandaged temple, his skin blistering under her scorching touch. His moans grew louder as his dreams changed and filled with fire and overwhelming despair and fear.

His blood pressure rose to dangerous levels, his temperature soared as the heat emanated from inside of him. 'Sweet nightmares,' she hissed brushing a sizzling kiss on his brow before she slipped out of his room once again.

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The alarms sounded on his monitors as Sam's blood pressure continued to spike and his temperature flared even higher. The nurses sprinted into his room and the urgent call went to Doctor Goodfellow as they tried desperately to cool the young man down before he imploded with the heat emanating from him.

'Where did that burn come from?' Doctor Goodfellow barked when he noticed the blistered fingerprints on Sam's temple, 'and on his forehead, what is going on here?'

'I-I don't know Doctor,' Nurse Jenny Melton stuttered nervously, 'it wasn't there before.'

'Has anyone else been in here?'

'Not that we're aware of.'

'We have to cool Sam down and now, Jenny get one of the orderlies to help you with an ice bath, Carla you come here and hold him while I check his skin graft,' the Doctor ordered, 'damn it!' He snapped seeing the damage already done to the tender new skins, 'get the burns guy in here now.'

'Doctor?'

'Burnet they guy that worked on Sam's graft, get him here now!'

'Yes Doctor.' Carla ran to the nurse's station to page the burns specialist while Jenny ran to prepare the ice bath.

Doctor Goodfellow checked Sam's BP once again, it was now up to 210/180 the poor kid was now a good candidate for a stroke amongst everything else. Minutes later, they carefully lowered Sam into the bath packing the ice around him, amazed the nurses stared as the ice melted immediately on contact with his skin.

'Keep it coming,' the Doctor said checking Sam's temperature again, 'it's not going down.'

'Doctor Goodfellow, Dean's here asking for Sam,' Carla reported as she hurried in, 'and Doctor Burnet is on his way.'

'Keep monitoring his BP and temp Carla, and keep the ice up to him we have to get him cooled down immediately,' the Doctor ordered as he dried his hands and went to find Dean.

Isabelle cooed as soon as she saw the kindly looking doctor striding down the hallway towards them, Dean turned and glared at the doctor in direct contrast to his daughter's reaction. 'Where is my brother Doctor?' Dean growled.

'Dean why don't you come in here and sit down.'

'I don't want to sit down I want to know where Sam is.'

'Please Dean, this way,' the doctor led the way to a small ante-room just off the nurse's station.

Dean sat Isabelle down on the floor with her favourite toy and then stared back at the doctor, 'start talking Doc.'

'We are not sure what exactly happened exactly but Sam's temperature rose dramatically as well ... as well as his blood pressure. More than suitable for his condition, we have Sam in an ice bath in an effort to bring the temperature down before...'

'Before what Doctor?'

'Before Sam starts to seizure or suffer a stroke.'

'Why did ... I mean what happened?' Dean spoke quietly, but anger vibrated through his voice.

'All we know is he was resting comfortably one minute and the next this is happening and two strange burns have appeared.'

'Burns? What kind? Where?'

'One on his temple that looks like someone's fingertips and the other on his forehead.'

'And they weren't there before?'

'No, not at all.'

'Can I see him?'

'Yes, yes of course my boy it might actually help him calm down having you there, I'll have one of the nurses look after Isabelle for you.'

'She comes too Doc ... please.'

Doctor Goodfellow sighed and shook his head, 'why do I get the feeling that it's useless arguing with you?'

'You're picking it up quick Doc,' Dean grinned.

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Everything covered in red mist and radiated heat pushing him further down the spiralling staircase. Each time his hands touched the balustrade his hands seared and blistered. He could hear her screams coming out of the red mists but the heat started to repel him backwards.

Finally, he came to the end of the stairs and blindly he lurched down the hallway towards her screams, the heat drew every drop of fluid from his skin, burnt his throat, and filled his lungs with heat and noxious gases. Stumbling he wanted to curl up into a ball and block it out but her screams intensified and he knew he had to try to help her.

Coughing and blinking furiously he stumbled into the chamber, a row of flames kept him apart from her, then he watched horrified as she was pushed up the wall and onto the ceiling. She screamed in terror and held her hands out to him for help as an invisible knife slashed her stomach open and her blood poured onto the cot below her.

'No!' He screamed as he desperately tried to reach her but the flames rose into an impenetrable wall in front of him.

When a cold chill coursed through him, calming him down and slowing his breathing. He stood tall and confidently straightened his shoulders as he stepped through the wall of flame.

He reached up and his fingertips brushed hers as he desperately tried to grasp them, finally, he managed to grip her hand and tugged her free.

Sam gasped as his eyes snapped open and he sat up staring wildly about him. 'Where is she?' He screamed urgently, 'where she is?'

'Sam? Where's who?' the nurse asked softly brushing his damp fringe away from his eyes, 'Sam you okay?'

'Where am I?' Sam rasped as he realised that he was lying in a bath filled with ice and cold water, a small towel draped over his groin, the only thing giving him any sense of modesty.

'Your temperature and BP spiked dangerously high we had to cool you down Sam.' The doctor explained as he strode in, 'got a visitor for you.'

'Sammy? Dude what happened? Couldn't you handle hot dreams?' Dean grinned but his smile soon faded when he saw that look in Sam's eyes, and the tight pain lines around them, 'vision?' he whispered.

Sam nodded and dropped his gaze as he realised just how naked he was in the bath, 'ah can I get out now?'

'Certainly son, why don't we meet you back in your room?' Doctor Goodfellow smiled as he started to leave his hand firmly gripping Dean's.

'Doc ... can Dean help me and take me back to my room?' Sam asked quietly a blush staining his face.

'Well ... the nurse can help you into your wheelchair and then Dean can wheel you straight back to your room, Doctor Burnet wants to check your skin graft.'

The two brothers waited for the nurse to finish fussing about Sam and leave them and then Dean squatted down in front of his brother, 'what did you see Sam?'

'Heat, so much heat, and then this woman pinned to a wall and then the ceiling. Her, her stomach sliced open and bleeding into a crib. The fire ... I couldn't get through the fire but then I went all cold and was able to walk through it. I tried to help her and managed to grip her hand but...'

'But?'

'Not sure after that.'

'Do you know who it was?'

Sam lifted his head and looked directly at Dean, meeting his steady gaze, 'it was Merci,' he whispered hoarsely, before he dropped his face again. His breathing started to become erratic, wheezing in his battered lungs. Terrified Sam looked up at Dean as he tried to catch his breath; blood seeped from his ears and nose in a steady and thick stream down his throat and face. 'Dean?' he whispered, his body shaking with tremors running through his thin frame as a seizure took control.

'Fuck,' Dean gasped as he managed to help Sam out of his wheelchair and laid him down on the floor, on his side making sure that his burnt hip was no where near the floor. Trying to protect the skin graft, as much as possible Dean hit the panic button and then knelt next to Sam making sure his brother didn't hurt himself during the fit.

TBC