Hate is a four-letter word

Disclaimer: Nope still nothing but my fevered imagination working overtime as per usual. So Eric Kripke has the honour of owning Supernatural and the characters we all love to hurt.

Disclaimer Number 2: Very important, this story is going to contain hate crime I just want to say that I do not advocate any kind of hate crime ever, in fact it goes against all of my principles but it will be a very important part of the story. I am hoping that the ending will resolve issues brought up throughout the plotline.

Warning: Graphic violence and sexual assault if you are squeamish about these things then please go read one of my tamer stories.

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to 1pagan3, take care sweetie am thinking about ya and that medical-miracle of a son of yours.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Dean sat back and stared in confusion at his brother as Sam writhed on the bed, he so wanted to help him but he didn't know what to do; so he did the only thing he knew to do. Help his brother.

'Ah Cal could you?'

'Already got it.' Caleb answered passing a basin of warm water and a cloth to Dean, 'just look after yer brother Dean, we got Rodgers and co sorted.'

'Bobby?'

'I'm fine yer eedjit ya look afta Sammy.' Bobby grumbled from the other bed.

Dean gave him a small grin and then refocused all of his attention on his brother; with innate gentleness, he washed the dried blood from Sam's face, throat and chest, the water in the basin turned red faster than Dean could remove it. His stomach roiled violently as the extent of the torture his brother endured became clearer. The masses of bruises, blooming in a macabre bouquet across his chest and sides. One in particular looked black, spongy and deep, he could feel the heat radiating from it as he ghosted his fingertips over the abused flesh. 'Damn it Sammy you got internal bleeding dude.' He muttered, as he finished cataloguing the injuries. Broken and cracked ribs down Sam's left side, a burn that ran from his shoulder to the centre of his chest, three broken fingers on his right hand, the cut on his arm reopened and now looked red and puffy. Slowly Dean worked down Sam's body, washing away the visible stains from the carnage, he prayed that he could wash away the invisible ones that were lurking beneath waiting to attack the already angst ridden Sammy. With a methodical mindset, he washed around Sam's groin, making sure that there were no more signs of his brother's degradation before he went to cover him with a towel giving him some modicum of privacy.

He swallowed deeply; his hand hovered over the swollen mess that was once Sam's right knee - he had to get his brother to a hospital: Now.

'Hang in there for me Sam please hang in there for me.' He whispered as he carefully covered Sam's semi-naked form once again, 'I'll be right back.'

'Dean?' Bobby's pain-filled voice broke the thick emotion charged air, 'what's wrong?'

'I gotta get you and Sammy to a hospital.'

'Don'tcha worry bout me boy, I'll be fine.' Bobby grunted as he tried to sit up and failed miserably, 'I'll just lie here and wallow.'

'Oh funny old man,' Dean managed a small smirk, 'how do I protect you and Sam in a public hospital?'

'Dean I wish I had … call 911 and you had better get the police as well as the ambulance.'

'What do I tell them?' Dean asked sounding more like a petulant nine year old than a grown man.

'Dean! Snap out of it now, no more of this pity it aint helpin' … tell em that you came back to find me and yer brother which aint a lie, the house got targeted by a militant group and we don' know what they want.'

Dean nodded his head and stared down at his brother while he ran his fingers through his hair, 'okay, alright we're gonna get this done.' He said more to himself than anyone else.

'Dean?' Bobby called as he watched the younger hunter stride out of the room without looking back, 'Dean!'

S—D

'Caleb get Rodgers ready to move, take em back to their lair I'm gonna call an ambulance and the police for Sammy and Bobby.'

'Dean?'

'After I make sure that they're okay I'll join ya there and we finish this once and for all.'

'Dean?'

'This is going to end tonight Caleb I'm gonna make sure of it.'

'Dean!'

'What?'

'Rodgers is dead.' Caleb said his succinct statement silencing Dean in an instant.

'What? How?' Dean blinked unsure of what he had just heard.

'He is as dead as a dodo, Dean it looks like he was possessed and whatever it was decided to up and leave, he was probably dead all along.'

'Sam said something about darkness and a trap.' Dean mused.

'Biggest problem is that we don't know where it's gone, or into who.' Caleb said without blinking as he stared at Dean, 'when I went to check on Rodgers he was cold Dean, his eyes … gone.'

'Clay and Will?' Dean choked out he felt cold and breathless suddenly, black spots danced in front of his eyes, he watched Caleb's mouth moving but all he could hear was a loud buzzing.

'Dean?' Caleb watched in horror as the last of any colour drained from Dean's face, and he started to sway dizzily, 'whoa dude you okay?' Caleb just managed to catch Dean as his knees started to buckle and he seemed to crumple in on himself. 'Damn it Tiger looks like you need hospital yerself.' Caleb muttered he knew Dean's tendency to ignore his own needs in favour of his brother's needs.

'Cal?' Dean frowned and stared up at the face hovering over him. 'What happened?'

'You blacked out kiddo.' Caleb said relieved as he watched Dean's slow return to consciousness. 'Think you need a doctor as well.'

'Nah I'm fine.' Dean said but the waiver in his voice didn't add any weight to his statement.

'Yeah right and I'm Tinkerbelle.' Caleb quipped, 'just stay put while I make the phone calls.'

'Cal I'm perfectly able to make a – ahhh.' Dean winced as he tried to get up from the chair Caleb had put him in. 'Ah I hate this.'

'Sit Dean relax,' Caleb grinned, 'well as much as you can.'

'Oh funny haha, you're a freaking comedian.' Dean groused but stayed where he was, squeezing his eyes tightly, trying to alleviate the pain pounding through his skull.

'Dude you look like ya gonna puke.' Caleb said watching Dean turn a distinct shade of green, 'you okay?'

'Don't feel … ahhh something's wrong.' Dean got out just before he started to retch.

'Damn, Will? Clay gets in here will ya?' Caleb called as he grabbed a bowl and thrust it under Dean's chin just as the vomit erupted from the younger man's mouth.

'Caleb?' Will came hurrying into the room closely followed by Clay, 'what's wrong?'

'Not sure look we need to get Bobby, Sam and Dean to hospital and I don't think we got time to wait around for ambulances.'

'Will go and get Bobby's flat bed, we can set up a mattress and blankets for Sam and Dean, Bobby too the three of us will be right in the cabin.' Caleb said paling when he noticed the blood in Dean's vomit, 'okay we go and we go now.'

'Cal?' Dean spat out the last of the tainted bile and stared blearily up at the hunter, 'what's going on?'

'We can't wait for the ambulance, I'm gonna go and get Sammy while Will and Clay get the flatbed ready.'

'But … I can …'

'Stay there, that's an order Winchester, I'll get Bobby down here first and you can hold each other up until we get Sam settled.'

'Yes Sir.' Dean grimaced as he felt the quickening at the base of his stomach again, 'ah shit.'

S—D

Caleb drove as fast and as carefully as he could towards the hospital, he tried to keep an eye in the rear vision mirror for possible tails while they careened towards town. The local hospital was just off the main road they used to go into the town's centre, Caleb knew the road so well that he could probably drive it blindfold.

He pulled up in front of the emergency doors ignoring the yelled protests of the security guards, 'get help please, we got three down.' He shouted as he jumped out of the cabin and ran around to the back of the truck. 'Now damn it.'

'Caleb?' Bobby's voice sounded weaker than earlier when he protested being carried downstairs and deposited on the couch next to Dean. 'where?'

'Hospital now lie still and keep quiet.' Caleb shot back as he climbed up to check on his three charges, 'Sam? Dean?'

'Sam's still out of it,' Dean moaned, 'help him Cal.'

'Yeah, yeah we're looking after all of yer.' Cal shot back, 'where's the freaking help?'

Two hours later Caleb watched over two of three injured men, ensconced in a four-bed ward complete with a police guard stationed at the door. Will was still with the police back at Bobby's place and Clay rested in a large comfortable chair his injured shoulder treated and supported with a crisp white sling. He watched the others with his eyes slitted open, he gave an outward appearance of sleeping but he remained aware with a small smile ghosting his lips.

'Sammy?' Dean opened his eyes and stared around openly confused at his surroundings and lack of a little brother. 'Sammy?'

'Hey Dean it's okay you're in the hospital,' Caleb said laying a hand on Dean's arm, 'Sammy's still in surgery.'

'Surgery?' Dean frowned as he tried to piece together the last few hours, 'what?'

'We brought you all in, Clay's had his shoulder seen to, the doctors have patched up Bobby over there and they have you hooked up to some fluids and pain meds, they had to do a small operation on ya and they fixed yer hand and wrist.' Caleb took a breath and waited for the fallout as he counted down from five to one.

'Small what? I'm fine damn it, I aint sick.' Dean exploded, 'how long Caleb?'

'You've been out of it only a few hours Dean calm down before I call the nurse on ya.'

'Bobby okay?' Dean asked but immediately regretted trying to shake the fogginess from his mind, when the dizziness spiked.

'Yeah he's resting comfortably considering, the bastards fractured his skull.' Caleb spat out, 'but he's a tough ol'coot.'

'Caleb what … my stomach?'

'Dean did you … did you get hurt at all when we were fighting at their lair?' Caleb asked his eyes darkening slightly in curiosity.

'Ah I dunno things happened so fast…'

'Don't lie Dean please…'

'Alright, yeah I guess I took a few umm blows to the gut why?'

'You had a ruptured spleen Dean that was the operation they had to remove it.'

'No shitting?'

'Nope no shitting, damn it … yer gonna get yourself killed one of these days Winchester and still aint gonna admit to it.'

'Yeah it hurt but I thought it was just bruising.' Dean tried to fob Caleb off but he saw the determined look on his friend's face and settled himself back on the pillows, 'so ah got another scar huh?'

'Yes Dean you got yerself another scar.' Caleb sighed and shook his head it was like talking to a brick wall. 'I should get em to turn ya pain meds off and then you might actually admit to having pain.'

'You're a sadist ya know that Reeves,' Dean quipped, suddenly he found a small spot on his bedcovering interesting and started to dig at his with his fingers, 'thanks Cal for … well … you know.'

'Yeah, yeah hey I can hear movement outside maybe they're bringing Sammy back.' Caleb said relieved at the break in tensions. The two hunters watched the door eagerly as it swung open and a surgical gurney was pushed in and stopped against the bed next to Dean.

Caleb helped Dean to sit up a little more so he could get a good look at his little brother as they transferred him into the bed. At first Dean could barely see anything as the nurses, bustled around resetting medical machinery, and screens, muted voices droned on, giving small short orders as IVs were set up and started, oxygen flowed through the nasal cannula and an OX pulse meter was placed on one of Sam's non-broken fingers before they finally started to leave. One nurse remained and took Sam's vital statistics down once again, checking the automatic blood pressure pump, the various drainage tubes, and finally the cage over Sam's knee keeping the bedding away from the surgical wound but giving him the warmth from the covering. His injured arm propped up on pillows and his broken fingers all had small splints covering them. All in all, he looked more like an extra from some sort of medical horror movie, than anything else.

Finally, she hung the charts at the bottom of Sam's bed and then moved over to Dean's side, 'hey nice to see you awake.' She said with a smile, pretty in a soft feminine way, her brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and minimal make up made her look more like a school girl than a qualified senior trauma nurse. 'My name's Karen and I'm your nurse until the next shift arrives.'

'How's my brother doing Karen?' Dean demanded he kept his gaze fixed on his brother's pale face.

'The surgeon will be in shortly to talk to you, I can't really tell you much but he is resting as comfortably as he can be.' She said as she clicked a button on Dean's blood pressure pump and waited for the reading, jotting it down she checked his temperature and respirations before she lifted the sheets and checked his surgical wound. 'Looking good there Mister Winchester.'

'Dean please, Mister Winchester was my dad.' Dean muttered unable to hide the wince when she pressed a particularly tender area.

'Sorry bout that Dean,' Karen said and replaced the blankets back, 'how's the pain levels?'

'Fine.'

'Dean.' Caleb said in a half-growl.

'So on a scale of one to ten how bad?' Karen said glancing up at Caleb with a thankful glance.

'Bout a seven.' Dean grumbled, 'I'm fine.'

'Well you down for some more meds, I'll just go and get it before I do Mister Singer's ops.'

'Nah it can wait … I want ya to check Bobby first.' Dean said gripping her hand tightly, 'please.'

'Oh, oh yeah sure if you're sure.'

'Positive.' Dean said releasing her hand, 'thanks Karen.'

'No problems at all Dean.' Karen replaced his chart and then went to check on her third patient though she kept glancing back at the stoic man behind her. A frown creased her brow as she took Bobby's blood pressure, suddenly she put the chart on the trolley table and hurried out of the room without another word.

Curious, Caleb got up and went to Bobby's side, something had the nurse spooked glancing down his gaze was drawn to the drainage tube coming from the base of Bobby's skull, the pinkish fluid started to darken a crimson red. 'Oh God Bobby.'

'Caleb what is it?' Dean demanded as he struggled to sit up, 'what's wrong?'

Just then a doctor in surgical scrubs came running in behind Karen and another nurse they pulled the screens around Bobby's bed and pushed Caleb out as they started to assess their patient.

'Caleb?' Dean's voice pierced through the fog surrounding the hunter.

'Dean ah it doesn't look too good.' Caleb finally admitted dropping back down into his seat, 'he's got blood in the drainage tube from his head.'

'B-blood?' Dean visibly sagged against the pillows, lines of pain tightened around his eyes, 'argh no Bobby.'

The screens around Bobby's bed parted and in seconds, they had him loaded onto a gurney and rushed away, shouted orders echoed through the hallways. Karen remained in the room; she turned to her other patients with a grim look on her face.

'What is it?' Dean whispered.

'There appears to be a bleeder that might have been missed.' Karen said and then she straightened her shoulders and placed her professional mask back on her pretty face, 'so Dean how about I get you that pain medication now?'

'Sammy?' Dean deflected the attention on him by turning his head and staring at his brother, 'check Sammy first.'

'Dean, Dean I am going to get your meds and the doctor will be in to talk to you about Sam there's no need to worry.'

'Yeah right.' Dean scoffed, 'and that's why you just rushed Bobby outta here coz there was nothing to worry bout.'

Karen blushed under his scrutiny and then hurried from the room, unable to meet the intense gaze from the forest green eyes.

Clay sat and watched the goings on with a hidden smirk, it was going better than he could ever have imagined.

S—D

'Dean, Caleb this is Doctor Ethan Strong, he was Sam's main physician.' Karen introduced the young doctor a short time later.

Dean stared openly at the medic with an appraising eye before he spoke. 'So Doc if ya don't mind me asking, how long you been practicing medicine for?'

'I don't mind at all Dean, you're not the first to ask,' Ethan Strong smiled warmly, his blue eyes sparkling with intelligence and good humour, 'believe it or not but I am actually forty-five years old, I got good genes from my mom's side of the family.'

'Damn it doc you don't look any older than Sammy.' Dean muttered his gaze flittered over the tall, tanned and muscular man; he had shoulder length blond hair and looked more like a surfer than a surgeon. 'So what's going on with my brother?'

The humour disappeared from the doctor's eyes and face as he sighed this was the part of his job he sometimes loathed, he had saved his patient but …

'Dean I won't pull any punches with you, Sam was tortured as you know and he was barely alive when you brought him in. We were able to repair the broken bones to a satisfactory point, the welts on his back took over two hundred sutures and staples combined a plastic surgeon will come in to assess him when he is more stable. We had to remove a part of his liver and his right kidney.' Ethan paused and watched Dean for a few minutes taking his cues from the older brother, when he saw a small nod he took a breath and continued. 'The laceration in his arm was cleaned and restitched, we couldn't save his kneecap however, the orthopaedic surgeon replaced it with a prosthetic one and it should heal with minimal hindrance to him in the long run.'

'Doc he ah…'

Ethan nodded his head and took a deep breath, 'Sam's anus was severely torn and bruised we used dissolvable sutures and repaired as much of the damage as we could. We also did tests for STDs and HIV and started him on a broad-spectrum anti-biotic, he ah … his anus was inflamed and infected.'

'Will he?'

'He is literally a medical miracle Dean, no one expected your brother to survive the surgeries or anything else he is a real fighter.'

'Yeah he is.' Dean glanced over at the other bed, 'he's the strongest person I have ever known.'

'Most of his injuries were repaired with minimal risk, what I am most worried about …'

'Doc what is it?' Dean's stare returned to the doctor's face, 'what's wrong with my brother?'

'Physically he will need a lot of rehab, especially with his knee and broken hand, I am worried about the stress on his heart. His blood pressure plummeted during the operation and again in recovery at the moment his heart rate, and pulse are all over the place.'

'His heart?' Dean blinked, he tried to listen to the doctor but all he could hear was the loud buzzing again.

'The heart can only take so much stress before … we need to monitor Sam closely, he may go into cardiac arrest at any time, until we can stabilise his heart rate and blood pressure. A cardiologist will be down in the morning to do a consult we'll know more then.' Ethan stared down at Dean, 'Dean what is it?'

'Huh?' Dean looked up at the doctor and tried to focus on the blurred shapes in front of him.

'Okay Dean we're just gonna get you a little more comfortable here.' Ethan quickly assessed the distraught Winchester, he placed an oxygen mask over Dean's mouth as he quickly took his pulse and blood pressure readings, 'I want to take nice deep breathes Dean, that's it.' He checked the syringe Karen held up and okayed her to inject into the IV port. 'That's it, nice and slow breathes, much better.'

'Doc what happened?' A panicked looking Caleb asked.

'He'll be fine, just a minor anxiety attack and after everything that has happened … well let's say that I would be more worried if Dean showed no signs of anxiety.'

'Thanks doc.' Caleb said as he felt the tension ease a little as Dean started to relax a little as the medication and oxygen began to work.

Ethan grinned and replaced the oxygen mask with a nasal cannula. 'Just for tonight and we'll see how you are tomorrow.'

'What about Bobby?' Dean rasped determined to find out everything before he gave in to the pull of the pretty-awesome drugs flowing through his system.

'We'll know more once he comes back from theatre, there was a small bleed near the fracture, he should be back soon.'

'Doc…'

'Doctor's orders Dean rest!' Ethan said firmly but with a smile still on his lips. 'or do I need to sedate you totally?'

'Nah I'm good Doc.'

S—D

Two days later Sam opened his eyes, he stared up at the ceiling and showed no signs of acknowledging anyone or anything around him.

'Sammy?' Dean leant over and brushed a stray hair from his brother's face, after a lot of debating or rather arguing with Ethan, Dean finally got his own way and got to sit next to Sam for a few hours at a time. 'Sammy you waking up dude?'

'De-Deanie?' Sammy slowly turned his head so he could focus on his big brother, 'I's scared Deanie.'

'Little Sammy?' Dean felt his heartbreak a little more, 'where's Sam?'

'He broke.' Sammy's luminous eyes flooded with tears, 'bad smoke.'

'Sammy can I talk to Sam?'

'Nuhhuh, he won' wakey up.' Sammy pouted, 'hurts Deanie.'

'I know little man but I need Sam to wake up so you can feel better.' Dean spoke gently keeping his voice low and soft, 'it's really important Sammy can you try to wake him for me?'

'The bad smoke hurts him, he-he…' Sammy stuttered and then his eyes fluttered closed and slumped back against the pillows. Loud screeching came from the heart monitor close to the bed.

'Ah no damn it, you gotta keep fighting!' Dean cried out as Karen helped him back to his bed, 'Sammy!'

'He's gonna be okay Dean.' She murmured, 'Ethan will look after Sammy.'

'No I lost him Karen, I've lost him.' Dean mumbled.

'Don't yer give up on him ya eedjit.' A gruff but frail sounding voice came from the other side of the room, 'do I haveta come over there and clip yer ear hole?'

'Hey Bobby.' Dean smiled, 'can ya help me sit up a bit please Karen?'

'Sure.' She smiled relieved that someone was able to get through to him.

'Hey yerself … whatcha think yer doin?'

'Bobby?' Dean couldn't help smiling, maybe things were gonna start looking up after all.

'Whatcha all lookin' at?' Bobby grumbled, 'can't a fella git some sleep anymore?'

'Dean we got Sam stabilised.' Ethan came to stand next to Dean's bed but effectively blocked the brother's view of each other. 'We need to run some more tests.'

'What is it Doc?'

'Sam seems to have regressed…'

'Little Sammy came back?' Dean looked up at the doctor sadly, 'yeah he came out after they ….'

'Ah I see, perhaps I should organise a psych consul for him.'

'No, no Doc honestly he doesn't need a shrink … he'll be fine once everything settles.'

'I don't know Dean perhaps all of you should…'

'What?' Dean blinked.

'You were all victims of this white supremacist group Dean it might be prudent for all of you to speak to a therapist.' Ethan said but when he took in the look on Dean's face and unconsciously took a step back, 'ahh okay how about we'll see how things go.'

'Yeah Doc we'll do that.' Dean snapped and then shook his head calming down instantly, 'sorry Doc I didn't mean to snap your head off, not sure why I did that.'

He added sheepishly.

'No need to apologise Dean,' Ethan smiled but it failed to show in his eyes, 'I'll be back in a while to check Sam.'

'Thanks Doc I mean it.' Dean said.

'Dean?' Sam turned his head to face his brother, 'you okay?'

'Me? Sam is that you?' Dean went to get out of his bed only to be stopped by both the doctor and Caleb.

'Yeah why? Oh did he?'

'Yeah only for a minute, good to have ya back man.'

'Thanks I ah … I ah think.' Sam squeezed his eyes shut and let out a loud moan, 'no not now.'

'Sam?'

'Argh.' Sam clasped his head and writhed in pain as another vision assaulted him.

Clay sat up and watched with a smirk playing across his lips, 'yeah this is just too good.' He mumbled softly.

'Sammy?' Dean pushed harder to try to get out of bed, 'damn it Caleb he's having a vision.'

TBC