People Are Strange
Chapter Six
"We need to bring the cage." Annie and Dee-Dee had been arguing back and forth for, what felt to Sam, like hours now on this subject. "We can't just let a monkey roam around the back of the van."
"He'll be fine," Dee-Dee dismissed yet again. Sam was only half listening to them, he was much more preoccupied with the monkey in question, who was currently sitting across from the child on the floor, completely and utterly fascinated by Sam's every move.
The seven-year-old was thoroughly wrapped up in the attention, not used to anybody looking up to him and imitating him like the monkey was. He was all too used to being the baby of the family.
"No," Annie said slowly, "He'll be excited and loud. And distracting as hell if Kenny's driving. This whole plan's not gonna work if we crash the van before we get to the reserve."
"The cage is too small." Dee-Dee whined as the monkey mirrored Sam and stuck a long finger in either of its ears. Sam laughed at the sight, drawing all the adults' attentions to him.
Cal, who was standing off to the side by a computer, finally put the situation to rest. "We'll have to have the cage when we get there anyway."
Annie smirked triumphantly and Dee-Dee sighed in defeat.
"But take him last." Cal added. "Sam likes him."
"He's funny." The young boy spoke up at him.
"Yeah, he is." Cal agreed softly as the two females trickled out of the background again, carrying some of the last cages.
In fact, as Sam glanced around, he noticed all that was left were large, glass tanks holding gigantic snakes that Sam was torn between being frightened of and finding completely awesome.
Those tanks looked much bigger and heavier than the metal-barred cages that Annie and Dee-Dee had been carrying out for the past half hour; and he figured they would go one at a time with two people hefting each side. Like when dad and Pastor Jim had both needed to carry the dead werewolf to the hole they'd dug for it out in the woods surrounding Jim's church last month.
"Hey, Sam?" Cal called. He'd been clicking away at the computer for the last few minutes while the younger boy had been preoccupied with the monkey he'd let out.
"Huh?"
"What's your last name?"
"What?" He turned - he was sitting crossed-legged on the floor and had to move his whole body to face Cal - and the small monkey copied him, making a slightly disgruntled noise at the sudden shift.
"Your last name." He repeated, pointing to the glowing computer. "I need it to find your brother."
"He's not in there." Sam said, confused. He didn't know what a computer was exactly, only that many places used them to harbor information and long lists of numbers. The way his dad always spoke of them, he believed them to be a bad thing.
Cal cracked a smile. "Yeah he is. Or well, information about him is."
Sam looked at a loss.
The tall man gestured for him to come closer and Sam did after only a moment's hesitation, holding out his own hand and letting the monkey grasp it with a cold, oddly scaly hand once he was up.
Cal pulled a chair over so Sam could stand on it and see the screen; the computer was almost eye level with Cal and not behind a desk like the ones Sam always saw in offices and in waiting rooms, but propped up on a shelf of sorts.
"See, when someone comes to a hospital, the doctors get their name and information and file it away in this thing." He explained, tapping the side of the boxy machine almost affectionately. Sam saw a long column of words and a small white box.
"So anyone can see it?" He asked, wondering if it was that easy, why his dad didn't use one of these things when they were trying to find people during a hunt.
"Well…no." Cal scratched the back of his neck like Dean often did when he did something he knew he wasn't supposed to do. "Only doctors are supposed to be able to see this stuff. See, they protect all this information with a password. But this hospital is kinda old and…not technologically up to date. You know what I mean?"
Sam shook his head back and forth.
"Never mind." Cal said. "You'll understand when you're a little older. Basically, though, I need your brother's last name to run a search for him throughout the hospital. I tried just Dean, but there were eight matches."
"Eight people here are named Dean too?" Somehow, that baffled him more than the overall concept of technology.
The monkey, who was sitting on the floor next to the chair Sam was standing on, scratched his head; silently agreeing with Sam's tone.
"Yup." Cal nodded, snickering at the primate. "'Course three of 'em are doctors."
"Cool." Sam breathed, then decided, after everything he'd been through tonight, everything he'd shared with Cal, Dee-Dee, Annie and Kenny, after seeing that what they were doing was kind of like what his family did for people…well, he'd come to trust these strangers. "Winchester."
"What?" Cal, who had started clicking something while Sam pondered his options, now turned to face him.
"My last name." He said. "Dean's last name. Winchester."
Cal's eyebrows raised as a smile broke out on his face. "Like the gun?" Sam didn't know it yet, but that was the first of hundreds of times he would hear that throughout the course of his life.
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Righteous." Cal turned back to the glowing screen and the monkey clapped his hands excitedly.
"Look, lady." John let out a deep sigh, not knowing how he could possibly explain the ghost's handprints, and deciding to simply ignore it for the moment. "I appreciate what you do. Really. But I have to find my son now." And get the hell outta here.
John started walking away from the well-intentioned but overly cynical woman in front of him, thinking with a flare that she wouldn't say anything to him.
Only then she did. "Sir, if you take another step, I will have you arrested."
"Arrested?" The eldest Winchester whirled in place to confront her pointy face again. "For what?"
"Suspected child abuse." She ticked off on a manicured hand. "Hindering an investigation."
"An investigation?" He parroted.
"The police are trying to find a missing child." She said with an air of false calm.
"My Child." He growled.
"Mr. Winchester you have two options right now." She took a threatening step forward. "You can either stay with me here and answer my questions, or I can get an officer down here to arrest you, take you to the station, and you can answer my questions, and theirs, there." Her face was set as tightly as John's jaw. "And remember, if you really care that much about your youngest son, that any police officer involved in your arrest is one less able body out there looking for Sam."
John met her gaze head on. "You have no idea what you're doing." He informed her.
She took that as his acceptance and gestured a long arm to the waiting room area. "Oh, I think I do."
"Room two seventy." Cal declared with triumph. "Just a floor below us."
Sam felt relief flood him at the knowledge that his brother was indeed here. "Is he okay?"
"Ahh..." Cal turned back to the screen for a moment, clicked a few times, skimmed, and then faced Sam, who had taken a seat on the chair he'd been standing on. "It says he hurt his lung and they had to perform a surgery. A small one. Says he'd stopped breathing before he got here, but I guess you knew that."
Sam's eyes were wide and Cal rushed to reassure, kneeling so he was at eye level with the boy, and the Chimp, who had crawled into his lap when he'd sat down.
"He's fine. It says he'll have to take medicine for a while, but they're letting him out the day after tomorrow."
"He's okay?" Sam confirmed, not noticing his furry friend plucking at the collar of his T-shirt.
"Yup." Cal seemed as happy as Sam was to hear this.
"Okay." Sam said, and removed himself from the chair, causing the monkey to make disagreeing sounds. "I'm gonna go find him. Thanks, Cal!"
Sam practically ran to the door, beyond eager to find his big brother, and only Cal's last minute, "Wait!" stopped him.
Turning to face the older man, he watched as Cal stood, straightening his black shirt as he did. "Do you remember the room number?"
"Two seventy." Sam said at once. Like he was going to forget where his brother was.
"Right," Cal fidgeted. "You're right."
"I know."
"Uh..." He seemed to deflate a little then, which baffled the child. "Alright. Be careful. Oh, and don't tell anyone about-" he waved his hand, motioning around them. "You know. This."
"I won't." Sam said.
"Promise?" Cal pressed.
The seven-year-old knew better than to ever tell his family about this little adventure, he knew how much both his brother and his dad worried about him talking to strangers and getting into trouble. "I promise."
"Good." He said, but still wouldn't let go of Sam's gaze. "Don't get caught by the man, Sam. Fight the powers."
"I will." And this time the seven-year-old actually had some clue as to what he was talking about.
"Good." Cal repeated, but still wouldn't say goodbye. "It's really late." He glanced at a clock on the wall. Sam followed his gaze, but had no idea how to tell time on a clock that wasn't digital, so it didn't do him much good. "Or early. So... Be careful."
"You said that already." Sam pointed out.
Cal just smiled, his face looking sad, and the young boy thought perhaps he was going to say something more, but Dee-Dee and Annie chose that moment to come back into the room -which was now completely lacking any animal other than the monkey.
Which Annie made a few cooing sounds at and scooped up like a small child when it came to her, obviously missing the attention Sam had been giving it. She didn't say anything, but looked meaningfully at Cal and Dee-Dee before leaving the room.
Dee-Dee scooped up the Chimp's cage in one hand and faced Cal. "Come on," she said with a smile, looking at Sam. "Let him go."
"But..." It was the first time Sam had heard Cal whine and the young boy finally entertained the thought that this stranger might have grown to like him.
Making a split second decision, he ran back across the room and flung himself at Cal's waist, holding on as tight as his bruised stomach would let him. Hugging wasn't a regular thing with the Winchester's, but his brother had been known to cave when Sam was upset. Plus, he'd seen normal people do it.
Cal reeled back at first, surprised, but slowly lowered his arms and placed them on Sam's back. He held on for a few long moments and they both heard Dee-Dee sniffle a little.
"Alright, Sam," Cal took a deep breath and let go; the younger boy stepped back slowly. "Get outta here."
Sam nodded, waved good-bye to Dee-Dee and shot one final glance at the stranger he had come to know, trust and even like; before turning around and walking out.
This adventure was over.
Finding Dean proved easier than he thought it would. His brother's room was right where it was supposed to be on the second floor, and Sam was able to walk in easily. He was surprised that he hadn't accidentally alerted a doctor or security guard to his presence yet.
His father had taught him how to be sneaky - it was part of their job - but usually when a lot of people were looking for one kid, it was hard to hide.
Sam wasn't overly concerned with it though, because now he was in his brother's room. Dean was lying on the hospital bed; his eyes were closed and he looked paler than normal, his breathing was too shallow.
A machine beeped rhythmically next to him and suddenly, Sam had never been so happy in his whole life. His eyes filled with tears that he tried to blink away but wouldn't quite let up.
He knew he should call out to his brother, to wake him up and let him know that he was okay, but just as soon as the thought occurred to him - exhaustion hit.
Just like that, everything caught up with him.
The hunt, the ghost, his fear, his father's fear, the doctor, his injury, sneaking around the hospital, helping Cal, Dee-Dee, Annie and Kenny, the animals. All night he'd been worried about Dean. Scared that he wasn't really at the hospital, that he'd gotten hurt really bad and would die like their mommy. He hadn't realized this is what he'd been thinking, but seeing his brother okay now, he knew it had been. All night it had been chewing a hole through the pit of his stomach.
And now, seeing Dean alive on the bed, knowing he would be okay, Sam was a tiny baby again, and wanted nothing more than his big brother to comfort him.
He pulled a chair - that had been conveniently placed right next to his brother's hospital bed - a little closer and used too heavy limbs to crawl up the side of the stiff mattress.
Dean was lying flat on his back and the seven-year-old took the liberty of moving his arm just enough so he could slip underneath it, resting his head on Dean's chest.
Sam's breathing evened out just right, in time with his brother's. Because shallow or not, the older boy took deeper breaths.
The last thing Sam remembered was the feeling of security, safety, as his big brother's arm subconsciously tightened around him and he snuggled further into his side.
Now the adventure was over.
TBC...
A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, I've been scattered lately. But tell me what you thought? All that's left now is for John to get himself out of his little predicament. Of course, I never really liked Papa Winchester...
Review!