John had left only long enough to get a pillow and blanket for Ellie since everyone was determined to stay the night in the surgical waiting room. He couldn't help but worry about his youngest son, and he knew that Mary was feeling the same way. After watching their boy head towards surgery, they had a chance to talk to one of the nurses who promised frequent updates, and from what they had gathered so far, their son's hand was a mess. The surgeon was having to take longer than anticipated to pin the bones back together, and had to remove more fragments than he initially thought. Combined with a reaction to the anesthetic they initially used, they all were feeling more than a little edgy about the outcome. The only one who had been surprisingly calm through it all was Dean, but John thought that was mainly due to his preoccupation with Ellie.
Ellie hadn't been able to sleep for more than fifteen minutes at a time, and it was starting to show. Mary had thought about taking the little girl home, but was heartbroken over the prospect of breaking her promise to Johnny about being there the whole time. Dean in his nonchalant way suggested that someone get a few things from the house to make her more comfortable while the rest waited for more information. Now though, as he was heading back to the hospital, John had to wonder if he was just imagining things, or if he was really being followed. Deciding that it was best to be safe, he turned suddenly and felt foolish when the old truck kept going straight. 'Must be getting tired,' John thought as he rubbed a hand over his face 'I'm jumping at shadows now.' He still didn't feel too confident until he saw the hospital up ahead and the truck still nowhere in sight.
Dean was worried. It had been too long since their last update, and that meant only one thing in his mind; something went wrong. He couldn't help but wonder if they had to take Johnny's hand after all, and just hadn't gotten around to telling them about it. Trying to keep his nerves under control, he instead concentrated on taking care of Ellie. Her humming was constant, even when her eyes were closed, and she wasn't allowing anyone to touch her at the moment which spoke volumes to Dean; she was feeling very insecure and needed Johnny more than anyone else at the moment. Looking over at his Mom, he could tell that she was getting as nervous as he was. Knowing that he had been annoying the nurses, but not giving a damn, he got up to ask them to put a call into the OR when the surgeon came out looking as if he hadn't slept in days.
John had just walked into the waiting room when he saw the surgeon and he suddenly realized that he was holding his breath like everyone else seemed to be. Glancing over, he saw Ellie watching them with her big blue eyes as if she too had been waiting with baited breath for some news.
"I'll be honest with you folks, Johnny's hand is a mess. I've done everything I can, but I'm not guaranteeing anything at this point. I've put pins in as many bones as I could, but had to resort to putting a small plate to hold some of the more stubborn pieces together. I'm hoping that if we can keep infection out of it he'll get most of the function back in his hand with extensive therapy, but like I said, I can't guarantee the outcome at this point."
"So, he could still lose his hand?" Mary asked, worried that her son could still have another battle to fight before they were done.
"I want to see him in a couple of days, unless he starts to run a fever, then call my office immediately. The best way to make sure that he doesn't have to go back in is if we stay on top of his recovery. He's not to even attempt to move that arm until the swelling has gone down and the risk of infection from the surgery has passed. I know this is a lot to take in, but it's necessary for everyone to understand the severity of his injury. He's going to be in pain, and don't let him convince you otherwise."
Listening to the doctor's instructions, they made sure that they knew what to look for and any side effects of the prescriptions before they felt comfortable with taking Johnny home. Dean knew that his parents were going to be in full hover mode and that his little brother wasn't going to take it well at all. Suddenly he wished his apartment was ready so he and Ellie could have a place to hang out when the butting of heads got too much. Looking over he saw their little princess still watching them as if they might have the answers she sought, too bad they still had no idea what her questions really were.
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Johnny felt like he'd been run over – twice. The surgeon, Dr. Davidson, had told him that it was due to a problem he developed while under anesthesia; apparently he had a reaction and stopped breathing, but was assured that there was nothing to worry about since they caught it in time and rectified the problem. 'Yeah, right… breathing's highly overrated after all.' He thought sourly. He knew that the Winchester's were still there, the nurses had told him repeatedly that they had been bugging them for more frequent updates, but he had no idea what to expect. He couldn't work with his hand like it was, and even though Ellie would still get her checks every month, he had been hoping to save them for her for something special; not support them.
Sighing, he sat on the table still trying to figure out how he was supposed to fasten his jeans; there was no way he was going to ask a nurse no matter how hot some of them were. Finally deciding that he was lucky that he managed to zip them, he left them unbuttoned and allowed his shirt to stay untucked. After all, if anyone objected, they could just go…
"Hey there, you ready to go?" Dean asked, as he peeked around the curtain. He knew that his little brother would be in a bad mood, but by the looks of it, it was worse than he thought. "The Doc already gave us your medicine and appointment, so we can go straight home. By the way, Ellie hasn't really slept yet, and we're hoping that you can help convince her that it's alright to now."
"Uh, yeah… sorry, don't think I can do that." Johnny said but when he saw Dean's shocked face he explained. "She's on this weird internal clock; she never sleeps past eight, no matter when she goes to sleep. Trust me, we've tried."
"Huh… so you're saying that she's going to be up all day." Dean thought about it for a moment, "Well, that won't be too bad, right?" he asked hopefully, but realized quickly by Johnny's laughter that it was going to be a long day.
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Mary was happy that they had finally gotten home after several false starts. Dean had insisted on making sure that his brother was alright before anyone else was allowed to see him. Once they had been given the ok and was allowed in the room, Ellie had accidentally jarred Johnny's hand making him collapse due to the pain, and sending the little girl deeper into her shell to the point that she had tucked herself close and continued to rock until Johnny finally came to and convinced her that he was alright. The doctor however had insisted on more x-rays to ensure that nothing had shifted, then another round of pain meds to ensure that they got him home as comfortable as possible, it had added another two hours to his release time. Between that incident, and John's sudden nervousness while driving, they all were all thankful to pull into the driveway in one piece.
Now though, she had to worry about a certain little girl who was showing that she did indeed have a stubborn streak, and that yes, she was having a very bad day. Trying to get Ellie to change her clothes had ended up with her screaming and sitting so rigid that Mary thought she was going to snap in two. Having seen Johnny sound asleep on the couch, she was surprised when she heard his voice in the doorway.
"Don't worry, Mary, I've got her." Afterwards he calmly laid on the floor in front of her and waited until Ellie looked at him, and then it didn't take long before they both were on the couch staring at the TV, she with a stuffed fox and he with her curled up next to him.
Watching the two lay on the couch, Mary wasn't sure how she felt. She was happy to have her family together, but it still broke her heart that her little boy still couldn't seem to accept them as his family. She had known it was going to be hard, she wasn't a fool, but after the night they all had, it was definitely a sore topic at the moment.
Lost in her thoughts, she didn't immediately hear the door bell. It wasn't until John had let a man inside and she heard Johnny talking to them that she realized suddenly that she knew the stranger. "Oh my… it's you! John… he's the one who stole Sammy!"
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Dean could have sworn he had only been gone for half an hour, just long enough to talk to his landlord and check on the progress in his apartment. He knew that he wasn't gone that long, so why did it sound like the whole world had gone mad inside his parents house in the time he'd been gone?
Stepping in the doorway, he wasn't sure what he was witnessing, but he was positive he didn't like it. Dad had some guy pinned to the wall, with Johnny trying to pull him off and Mom trying to convince his little brother that the guy wasn't a friend all while Ellie was frozen to the spot on the couch witnessing everything.
Running over he quickly put his hand on his brother's shoulder, trying to get him to leave their dad alone until he could figure everything out. "Johnny, come on, you don't need to be on your feet."
"Dean, he's trying to kill Bobby!" Johnny said as if it explained everything not bothering to look towards Dean as he continued to try and pull John off his friend. "Let him go! Damn it, I really don't need this today… LET HIM GO NOW!"
John had no idea what was really going on. One moment he was letting a friend of Johnny's inside the house and the next Mary is yelling that it was the man who took their baby from them, and now that very same baby was trying to convince him not to murder the man in front of him. If he hadn't had a long night already, he was sure he would have been able to make sense of the situation, but as it was he could only see the man named Bobby as a threat to his family. As he pulled his fist back to take care of the threat he was suddenly aware of two things. The first was something had grabbed his fist; the second was that Johnny was screaming in pain before he crumpled in a heap on the floor.
Dean was horrified by what just happened. He knew what was about to occur, but he just couldn't seem to respond in time to stop it. As their dad pulled his fist back to hit the stranger in the house, Johnny had stepped up and grabbed the offending fist with his right hand, sending him to the floor in pain. Rushing to his brother, he could tell that it was taking Johnny everything he had not to pass out, but he wasn't sure if it was going to be enough. From what he saw, Johnny had actually grabbed hold of their dad's fist and pulled. Praying that there wasn't more damage, Dean cradled his little brother's hand in his and tried to help him breath through the pain he knew the kid had to be experiencing. "Ok, it's ok, we're here and Dad's not killing the guy. Come on, breathe Johnny, in… out…" it took a few minutes, but finally he got a nod from his brother, but knew that he wasn't doing well when he was actually allowed to help him up off the floor. "Ok, time for you and Mr. Couch to get reacquainted."
Knowing that he had probably just screwed up his chances at keeping his hand, Johnny could only groan when Dean helped him back to the couch. He noticed through his pain that Ellie was rocking and humming with her eyes wide, it definitely wasn't a good sign. After sitting down, he tried to talk to Ellie, but the words just wouldn't come out, and it made him more frustrated. Finally, after letting his little princess know that he'd be alright, and that she was safe, he looked at Bobby and gritted out, "What the hell Bobby?"
The others looked at the other man and wondered the same thing, but waited for him to start talking. When he did, it wasn't anywhere close to what Johnny thought it would be.
"Johnny, It's true…I'm the one who took you out of your nursery when you were a baby, I had a damn good reason, but the one you'd better listen to is why I'm here now."