The whole room stood at a standstill for a moment in shock, this was definitely not one of the possible reactions that they were expecting, then time sped up again and the doctor was calling for a nurse and asking Johnny questions that he could only move his head in answer to, leaving the remaining Winchester's to stand by and watch the scene unfold. Dean took a spot next to Ellie to try and calm her down as the sounds of Johnny becoming violently ill increased her anxiety to a new level. John and Mary were at a loss at what to do, so instead allowed the doctor to do whatever it was that he thought needed to be done.
Several minutes and an injection later, Johnny's stomach finally started to calm down, and the doctor was able to address the rest of the room. "I take it he was pretty confident that the results would be different?" he asked, trying to gauge the situation. "I've given him something for the nausea, but it'll knock him out for awhile. I suggest you get him home and let him sleep it off. If you have any questions or concerns don't hesitate to call."
After thanking the doctor, they helped Johnny back out to the Impala, and after Ellie was settled in Johnny's lap, they started the quiet trip home. John had to wonder about the reaction they just witnessed, and thought that might be best to do some digging around in their son's past. He knew someone that had turned investigator after leaving the service, and the guy owed him a few favors, he'd call and get him on the case. Looking in the rear view mirror, he saw a very ill looking boy sleeping snuggled close to their little princess. Yes, it was definitely time to see what his son had been through the last seventeen years.
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The house was quiet with dinner being simple sandwiches and chips, worried glances cast upstairs. Ellie was more subdued and refused to eat anything, making the others worry that whatever was affecting Johnny was affecting the little girl as well. Mary had wanted to go upstairs and check on her son, but knew that he would probably sleep through the night if the doctor was right. Dean however had his suspicions that whatever had caused his little brother's distress would push him back up and about pretty soon.
In hopes of keeping Ellie quiet for the rest of the evening, they all settled onto the couch to watch Cinderella and Dean volunteered to get the doll from Sammy's room. Upon walking in though he realized that something was wrong; and quietly walked closer to the bed. Johnny was drenched in sweat and the blankets had been kicked to the floor. "Johnny, hey wake up!" Dean said shaking his brother's shoulders in an attempt to release him from his nightmare. "Johnny!"
Bolting straight up, a scream died in Johnny's throat as he looked around and saw where he was. Seeing Dean looking at him with a worried expression made him wonder what was going on. "Where's Ellie?" he asked, knowing that normally they would be together but for some reason he couldn't figure out what had happened to make the little girl not be by his side.
"Dude, calm down. Ellie's downstairs waiting on Cinderella to join her. The real question is, are you ok?" Dean was tempted to check his forehead for a fever, but knew that it wouldn't be looked upon favorably. Instead he was content at looking at his little brother, now that there was no doubt he was Sammy, and try to see if there was anything he could do to help.
"Yeah, yeah I'm alright. Just a little confused for a minute I guess. Damn, what did that doctor give me?" Johnny asked, trying to figure out how he could have stayed asleep so solidly for so long.
Dean smiled and shook his head. "Man, I have no idea, but whatever it was kept the upholstery in the Impala clean. You know Dad loves that car more than anything else he owns. I think that if he had to clean it because of your stomach, none of us would have been allowed in it for a year."
Johnny couldn't help but join Dean in his laughter, in the short amount of time that he had known them, he had come to the quick decision that the Impala was the family's baby; and nobody messed with the baby.
After they both calmed down a bit, Dean looked over and asked, "So, mind telling me what happened at the hospital? I mean, hey, I get that we're not exactly the Brady Bunch, but we're not that bad."
Looking at Dean, Johnny could tell that under the joke was a layer of hurt and it was something that he'd been trying to avoid ever since meeting this family. Sighing, he fell back on the bed and spoke softly. "You know it's really too soon for me to wrap my head around this, it's just going to take me a little while to figure out what to do with it. I don't want anyone to get hurt, and you will; it's just a matter of time."
Listening to his little brother, Dean wasn't sure what to make of the small speech. It was obvious that he'd gotten used to being around, and that Ellie was showing signs of accepting them too, but he had to wonder why Johnny thought they would get hurt. Sensing that they had enough for the night, he slapped Johnny's knee, "Come on, there's a little girl downstairs who really wants her doll and I just so happen to know that she doesn't want it from me. So get up lazy bones, it time to watch Cinderella."
For a moment Johnny could only watch as Dean went through Ellie's things until he found the proper doll then proceeded to toss it to him. Missing his little princess as it was, he was practically racing Dean out the door and down the stairs to be his Ellie's hero of the moment.
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John was more than a little irritable; being in a hot garage in the middle of July with only one small fan to help circulate the air will do that to a person. That and knowing that any progress towards bringing his youngest son to their line of thinking wasn't working had John in one seriously bad mood. It had been two weeks since the results proved without a doubt that Johnny was actually Sammy, and the boy still wouldn't talk about it; in fact he would pointedly refuse to discuss it, preferring to change the subject anytime the topic came up. Now though it looked like any answers he was going to get was going to have to come from another source, and that source was due in town in time for supper at the house.
Looking over at Johnny, he could tell the kid still barely slept, choosing instead to watch over Ellie as if someone would snatch her away if didn't. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but notice the irony of the situation, after all it was Sammy who got kidnapped out of his nursery when he was a baby and now it's Sammy who guards over his little girl in the same nursery as if some monster was lurking in the shadows waiting. Sighing, he pulled another work order off the desk and tried to decide who to give it to. Both he and Mike agreed that Johnny and Derrick, Mike's nephew, were pretty evenly matched skills wise, it was just a matter of who wanted the work more. "Hey Johnny, Derrick, come here a minute." He called out, he didn't want to be accused of favoritism and would prefer whoever did this job wanted to do it, not because it was assigned. "We got a job coming in for an overhaul, they need it done pretty quick, and Mike and I are willing to pay extra for whichever of you wants it to stay as long as necessary to get it done. Now the question is, which one of you wants to stick around this hotbox for the extra cash?"
Derrick and Johnny looked at each other not fully understanding what the deal was. Usually they did what was scheduled, and that was it; they always stayed busy, and no one complained. Now though they had an opportunity to rake in some extra money and neither knew how to handle it. Seeing that John was puzzled by their hesitation, Derrick pulled Johnny off to the side, "Look, you have a little girl to take care of. Go ahead and take the job, I'm fine with the money situation." Johnny had no idea what to say. Sure the extra money would be great, especially if Dean was right and a two bedroom apartment was almost finished in his building, but something still ate at him. "No, you're saving up for classes in a month; you need that for books and things, right? Ellie and I are fine, we have enough to keep us going, go ahead."
Mike joined John and watched the two quietly argue about who got the extra work. Finally he had to ask, "Are they fighting over who gets the overhaul?"
John nodded, "Yeah, but I don't think it's what it looks like. I think they're arguing that the other has the biggest need for the work."
Watching for a few more minutes, John finally had enough and asked what their decision was. Johnny looked at Derrick before answering, "We'll both do it, and split the money. That's the only thing we could think of."
Nodding in agreement, both John and Mike were relieved that they had been able to find a solution without any hard feelings from either family. Sometimes having a partner could be a pain, but all in all, it was still worth it. Mike took the work order and gave it to the boys, "Good, so if you screw up we can chew on both of you. Make sure that you lock up when you're done. John, I think it's time to call it a day, how about you?"
Laughing, John couldn't help but agree. Making sure that both boys had everything they needed, he turned back before leaving, "Call if something comes up, oh, and Johnny we'll call if Ellie needs anything, alright?" After getting confirmation, he set out towards the house determined to enjoy the rest of his day.
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Mary had known that John's friend Kevin Langer was going to be there for supper, and she was determined to make sure that everything went smoothly. When she saw her husband walk in the door two hours earlier explaining what was going on, she started to have her doubts about the whole evening. It was one thing to find out about what had happened to their Sammy, but it was something totally different to discuss it behind his back.
Dean had turned up at his normal time wondering about Johnny, and finding out what was going on wasn't too thrilled with the situation, but decided that the more information they had, the better prepared they'd be for anything that his little brother needed. He knew how sensitive Johnny was about his past, and even his name; he made the mistake of calling him Sammy once and the look that he got in return almost broke his heart, not because Johnny was being cruel, but because he looked so lost in who he was and what he should do.
After everyone had been introduced to Kevin, they all sat down and ate. Dean was able to help convince Ellie that Johnny would want her to eat the macaroni and cheese, and Mary had been able to keep the little girl occupied enough that her humming was a slight background sound instead of a constant drone. It wasn't until Mary brought out dessert that Kevin started explaining what he found out.
"Well, I must say the kid has led a full life from what I can tell. Baby Boy Doe was found on Dec. 25, 1983 in a wrecked car located in a ditch in northern Maine after a major snow storm. The truck driver who saw the vehicle said that he almost passed it by thinking that it was just a snow drift, but decided to check it out. He spent the next three months in the hospital with a broken leg and suspected spinal injuries before he went to a family where he lived for eight months. The Carter's were putting in the paperwork for adopting "Johnny", but before they could finish getting everything in order their car flips off a major interstate and kills them both instantly. Johnny was then sent to a foster family and was there for several weeks before he disappears from a grocery store for two weeks then left at a fire station in New Hampshire. After reuniting him with his foster family, their house was broken into and they felt it was unsafe for their foster children so they turned them all back over to the state. The next family had Johnny for six months before the mother started having mental issues and tried to convince people that Johnny had been 'marked' and needed to die before he killed everyone around him. Needless to say, he was removed from her care." He paused as he looked through his notes and then looked sadly at his friend. "John, I could continue and it would sound like something out of a bizarre novel. I'll save you that and fast forward to when he was eight. He was placed in a group home in Raleigh, North Carolina where he met a Cade Hart. Afterwards when he'd disappear they'd usually reappear someplace together. He'd get sent to either a group home or a foster family where strange deaths and occurrences seemed to happen on a fairly regular basis. It wasn't until he was older that the placements in families were harder to find, so he was usually tossed in with 'higher risk' kids, and that's when he started to get into trouble; not so much for himself, but someone in the family usually had a role in it. In fact, that's how he was able to convince a judge to grant him emancipation; he never got in trouble on his own, just when he was in the care of the state. There's a glaring example in Oklahoma where his foster mother and her husband were determined to make a fortune cooking meth and ended up blowing up the basement and half the house with them."
John, Mary and Dean had listened, and by Kevin's own words knew he hadn't told them everything, but it was enough to see a pattern. He wasn't anywhere too long, usually because something horrible happened. As they processed this information they heard Kevin continue.
"I spoke to several people who knew both Cade and Johnny, and they all said the same thing; the boys were inseparable when they were together, and you couldn't have asked for better daddies for that little girl. I don't know what help this is to you John, but I do know one thing; if he's still a good kid after everything he's been through, consider yourselves lucky and move on. Too many people get caught up in the past, if he's not one of them, then he's a stronger man than I'll ever be."
As they wondered about that statement, the phone in the kitchen rang. It took Mary only a minute to get to the phone and listen to the caller before her whole demeanor changed. "Oh my… John! We have to go, Johnny's been hurt!"
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Rushing into the ER at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, all three Winchester's and little Ellie were met at the door by Derrick who immediately tried to explain what happened all the while looking as if he could pass out at any minute.
"We had the engine ready to pull out, and while the winch was lifting it, it got caught, but when Johnny reached in to guide it out, one of the chains snapped. Oh my God, John… we checked them, I swear to God we checked them!"
John knew that accidents happened, he'd experienced them enough in his years as a mechanic, but this was his son they were talking about; the son that they just got back. Not knowing what to say to the distraught young man, he just nodded slightly and went to the receptionist to see if she had any information on Johnny. As they all gathered around her desk they heard something that seemed to get Ellie's attention, and make the girl behind the desk look very uncomfortable.
"I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS! SCHEDULE THE GODDAMN SURGERY AND I'LL BE HERE – WHAT PART OF THAT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?!"
Realizing that it was Johnny they were hearing, the small group took off down the hallway following the sound of his voice. Once they reached the outside of his room, they were shocked to hear the doctor.
"Mr. Doe, if you do not calm down we will be forced to sedate you and possibly restrain you for your own protection."
Before anyone could respond, Johnny grabbed the doctor by the scrubs with his left hand and snarled, "You do that, you had better kill me, 'cause when I wake up I'll be the last thing you see."
Mary stood shocked to hear such a cold blooded threat come out of her son's mouth, much less to see the eyes of someone who would follow through with it. Looking at John, she understood that he was as upset as she was, but it was Dean who surprised them all.
"I suggest you do whatever my brother says doc, 'cause you know, I'm going to have to side with him on this. You restrain him, and you'll have a fight on your hands."
Johnny was surprised to see Dean standing there, much less taking his side; that was something that only Cade would do. Suddenly he realized that John and Mary were there along with Ellie, and suddenly he felt very tired. All he wanted was to take Ellie home and make sure she was ok.
"You don't seem to understand Mr. Doe, we need our Orthopedic Surgeon to come and see you then schedule the surgery. If you leave here before he operates you increase your chances of losing your hand."
John felt as if his stomach had just hit the floor. "How bad is it?" he asked, seeing that Johnny's arm was wrapped and iced from the tip of his fingers past his elbow.
The doctor looked at the Winchester's for a moment, but decided not to question relationship status, "His wrist is mostly crushed, his forearm broken, and we believe that his elbow took a beating but is only bruised. There's signs of neurological damage to the hand, but we won't know the extent until the ortho goes in and pieces everything back together. This is a very serious matter, however Mr. Doe finds it necessary to make light of it."
"I'm not making light of it, it's my hand you're talking about! I'm not going to sit here all night until someone can come up with a game plan and then schedules a procedure another day away. Now, release me, or I go AMA." Johnny said, leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that he was serious.
"Johnny, please; stay here and let them help you." Mary asked, hoping that she could talk some sense into him. "They'll be able to keep your pain under control and monitor you for infections."
Looking at the doctor Johnny asked, "So, what course of antibiotics are you going to give me? The standard Penicillin, followed up with a shot or two of Morphine for pain? Sorry doc, I can get both on the street corner if I have to, so unless you can come up with something better than that, I'm out of here."
Dean found himself smirking at his little brother, for whatever reason he didn't want to stay in the hospital, and he was sticking to it. "Alright, how about everyone out of the room for a few minutes while I discuss this with Johnny; Ellie, you want to come with me?"
After everyone stepped out in the hallway, Dean helped Ellie up to sit in Johnny's lap, making the younger man a lot more relaxed. Looking over at his little brother Dean couldn't help but ask, "So, what's going on? You know that we'll take good care of Ellie while you're in here, so why not…"
"NO! She's my responsibility, not anyone else's. I'm not going to just pawn her off on someone."
"Dude, we're not 'someone', we're family. You need this surgery and for whatever reason you're hesitant about…"
"Damn it, no one listens! I didn't say I wouldn't have the surgery, in fact if they could wheel me in there right now and get it done, I would. They want me to stay here for the night, do nothing, maybe have surgery tomorrow afternoon, then 'monitor my vitals' for any complications so that's another couple of days of doing nothing. I should just be able to come back for the surgery and go back home. Problem solved."
Dean stood there and saw that Johnny was serious, he truly believed that after the surgery he'd be fine to go home and schedule any follow ups later. Not sure how to get through to his brother, he had an idea, and he knew that there would be some people who wouldn't like it. After walking out into the hallway, he saw his parents and the doctor in an argument and he couldn't help but wonder what it was about. When he got closer he realized that it had to do with Johnny and his threat to the doctor.
"Mr. Winchester, you have to understand my point of view. He's clearly a threat to others as well as himself. After we admit him, I am requesting a psychological evaluation that will guarantee his admission here for at least three days."
John couldn't believe what he was hearing, this doctor wanted to commit his son because he threatened the man after being told he was going to be forcibly restrained and sedated? "I tell you what, you bring down your superiors and we'll discuss this reasonably. I'm sure they would like to know what you threatened him with to provoke such a response."
Mary knew that things were heating up too much for comfort and her only concern at the moment was her family and getting everyone where they needed to be safely. Before they could speak anymore, another voice joined them putting a halt to any argument.
"I've discussed outpatient therapy with Mr. Doe, and he's more than willing to agree. My only concern is that the injury is to his dominant hand which will make taking care of his needs more difficult. I understand that he has a little girl to take of as well, will they be staying with family?" the orthopedic surgeon asked while looking at the Winchester's.
Nodding, both John and Mary quickly explained that Johnny and Ellie were staying with them for the time being and they were more than happy to help. Nodding, the surgeon smiled and agreed to do the surgery that evening with the understanding that Johnny would stay until the anesthetic wore off and his pain was under control.
"So, this isn't a trick of some sort to get him tossed in the psych ward?" Dean asked while looking at the other doctor fiercely.
Confused, the surgeon looked at his colleague for confirmation, when he saw the expression on the other man's face he groaned. "I have a feeling that Johnny was provoked, so there will be no evaluation; I'll make sure of it."
Relieved, they went back into Johnny's cubicle to see him and Ellie snuggled together, the little girl picking gently at Johnny's bandages. The surgeon talked to Johnny about what to expect and let him know that he fully expected to be able to release him the next morning. John and Mary assured him that they would be there waiting all night, while Dean conveyed without words that he would make sure everything would be alright.
As Johnny was wheeled towards the operating room, he couldn't help but wonder about how it felt to be around the Winchester's; it felt a lot like being around Cade and Ellie, it felt like home.
AN: Hey, what do you know... I CAN end a chapter without a cliffie... wow, didn't know I had it in me... ;)