AN: Hope you like this one... enjoy!!!
Dean was more than a little surprised by the reception he got at the firehouse, not to mention the sight of a full crew already accounted for. Puzzled, he was about to ask why everyone was staring at him like he was an alien when the door to the Captain's office swung open and he heard the man bellow.
"Winchester, what the hell are you doing here? Get your ass back up to the hospital or home to that niece of yours. You're not on the roster for another four days, and if you need more time call; until then, don't show your face here, got it?"
Stunned, Dean looked around and saw the nods of agreement on the other faces and he didn't know what to say, but tried to anyway. "That's really nice and all Captain, but…"
Captain Smythe wasn't in the mood to hear it. Dean had only been in the department for a short time compared to the others in his house, but had already shown an understanding of the brotherhood and fellowship they shared, not to mention the drive to do his job and do it well; there was no way he was going to allow that to go unnoticed. "Dean, we all know what's going on. You're parents might be next door, but Ellie only responds to certain circumstances to you or your brother. Now in case you haven't noticed, your brother is in the hospital after being shot in the chest by some maniac that the cops haven't found yet. I don't know about you, but if that happened to one of my brother's, I'd be haunting either his hospital room or making sure that his little girl was as comfortable as she could be. Now, do I have to make it any plainer?"
Shaking his head Dean understood and felt extremely grateful. "Uh Captain, if it's alright, I was hoping to bring Ellie around and let her meet the guys and Rusty." He had a feeling he already knew the answer and wasn't disappointed when the guys all readily agreed.
Smiling, Captain Smythe nodded in agreement before answering, "Just make sure to bring a fresh bone while you're at it, ok?"
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Mary had no idea what had set Ellie off this morning, but the dining room had bits of eggs and jelly everywhere. It had taken Caleb to physically remove the little girl from the table and take her in the living room before she stopped screaming and throwing herself around. Trying to think about what happened the moments before everything hit the fan, she wondered if possible it was something as simple as where they had been eating. She knew the boys usually ate in the kitchen either at the small table or the breakfast bar.
"Caleb, have you ever noticed the boys and Ellie eating in the dining room before?" she asked, hoping for an answer to the outburst. There was a pause while Caleb finished cleaning the jelly off Ellie's hands before he answered.
"You know, I can't think of a time they have. I know they said something about it, but it seemed like an inside joke of some sort."
Rolling her eyes, she wondered how she had missed it. It was bad enough that the boys weren't home, and Ellie obviously sensed that something was wrong, but for her to have missed where they ate was ridiculous to her. Sighing, she continued to clean up the mess while she wondered what else she had failed to notice. It wasn't that she and Ellie had problems, in fact most days they were able to go about their routine without incident, but obviously having that routine disturbed the previous evening was causing a problem this morning.
"Hey Mary, do you recognize the car outside?" Caleb asked, more than slightly distracted with Ellie still trying to keep her from using the remaining jelly as finger paint.
Puzzled, Mary glanced out the window to the car that was parked across the street under the large oak. Seeing someone sitting in the shadows of the vehicle, but not able to tell who it was she felt uneasy. "Caleb, you know there's someone in it, right?"
"Yep, that's why I wanted to know if you knew them. I didn't want to take the chance of confronting a friend who's stopped in for tea." He said as he finished with Ellie and gave her her colored pencils and drawing pad. "I'll go out the back, don't open the door for anyone no matter what."
Sitting next to Ellie, Mary refused the urge to keep watch out the window. Instead she watched as the little girl in front of her started to draw the house in minute detail and it made Mary wonder what else he would be able to do if she continued to improve. She knew that Sammy had been researching different methods to engage her, and had even started going to a support group that met a couple times a month, but the progress that Ellie had made in such a short time was phenomenal in her opinion, she spent less time staring off into space and more time drawing or playing with her dolls.
Caleb walked back in looking agitated, "Well, that went well. We need to make sure that Bobby knows we have someone watching the house. I don't want you to be by yourself even if you're just running to the store for some milk."
"Caleb, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" Mary said perturbed. It was one thing for them to protect her boys or even Ellie, but to include her into the group was absurd in her opinion.
'Now I know where Johnny gets it,' Caleb thought, 'he never thought he needed to be taken care of either.' Sighing, he watched as Mary helped Ellie sharpen a pencil before he spoke again. "Mary, how do you think Johnny will feel if something happened to you while he's laid up in the hospital?" he asked, then watched as his words had the affect that he was banking on.
"Fine, but if you think I'm going to be bullied into not doing my normal activities, you have another thing coming." She said firmly, and then a mischievous smile graced her face. "So Caleb, are you a knitter, or is crocheting more your style?"
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Dean rushed up to his brother's room and was surprised to see that not only was Sam off the ventilator, but was sitting up and drinking water through a straw while their dad napped next to the bed.
"Hey Sammy, you look better." Dean said as he walked into the room trying not to wake their dad.
Smiling, Sam motioned that he was doing alright then motioned to another chair.
"Yeah, I bet your throat's a little sore. Has the doctor been in yet?" he asked while looking out towards the doorway to see if he could see anyone.
Nodding, Sam pointed to their dad and Dean understood that he'd probably get more information from Sleeping Beauty than what he'd manage to actually hear from his brother. "Everything's alright though, right?" he asked, hoping that nothing was delaying Sammy's recovery.
John barely had his eyes open when he answered, "He's doing better, but he's not allowed to talk for a couple of days at least; there apparently was slight damage when they intubated him." Looking over to his youngest son, he smiled "Hey Sammy, how you doing buddy?"
Looking over at Dean, Sam rolled his eyes making his brother laugh. "I think he's doing better Dad, he's complaining about being called Sammy."
Thinking that it was a joke, John looked between his son's waiting for someone to let him in on the punch line; when none of them fessed up he wondered what he had done for both boys to give him a hard time. "Alright you two, I think it's time we had a chat about respecting your elders." He said and wasn't prepared for both his sons laughing at him.
"I see that everyone's awake now." Josh said as he walked into the room. "Dean, have they mentioned that Sam's being moved into a regular room today?" seeing the other man's surprise he smiled, "Ah, looks like I ruined the surprise."
"Damn, are you sure that its not too soon, I mean c'mon… he just got off the vent and now…"
"Dean" Sam rasped out "knock it off."
Josh looked at Sam sternly, "Sam, keep your mouth shut or I'll have to let the doctor know."
Hearing that, Sam suddenly closed his mouth and his looked at Josh harshly. When Dean looked between the three men in concern John shook his head and explained, "Apparently our Sammy and his doctor don't get along." When Dean looked questioningly, he elaborated. "Your brother had a little problem with the doctor's bedside manner and basically told him exactly what he thought, which led the doctor to threaten sedation, which caused Sammy's arm to accidentally connect with the man's face."
Dean wasn't sure which he was more surprised about, that his brother hit a doctor, that his dad hadn't done anything to stop it, or that the nurse seemed content to sic that same doctor on his brother. "Alright, has everyone lost their damn mind?" he demanded before Josh answered.
"Don't worry, I already took care of the problem, he'll have another doctor in here to make sure he's well enough to be moved. Now, I need to check on a few other patients, but I'll make sure to be back when Dr. Jackson comes in to meet you, ok Sam?" Josh said as he watched the younger Winchester closely. Seeing the agreement, he felt better about the arrangement, now if he could only convince Brian that it was the right thing to bring in their doc to keep an eye on the kid. 'Maybe I can get some sleep.' He thought, trying to remember the last time he had more than an hour's nap.
Watching Josh leave, Dean couldn't get rid of the feeling that they were being given a load of crap. Checking that his brother was alright, he stepped out of the room and followed the male nurse. He was about to call out to the man when he saw him step in the stairwell and heard him on his phone.
"You got my message… no, it's the only way to keep an eye on him… damn it Brian, I can't be here the whole time…well what do you want me to do… no, he's actually healing pretty well, must be his mother's genes… yeah, ok, I'll let you know as soon as he's settled."
Hearing the conversation and sensing that it involved his little brother, Dean didn't hesitate in flinging the door open and looking straight at the larger man, "Something you want to tell me Josh?"