Carnival of Death Ch. 6
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so late. I am having major problems with my internet provider.
John had just arrived back at the motel where his sons were presently staying. He felt a tightness in his heart and a lump in his throat wondering what he would find when he walked into the room. He quickly jogged over to the door, key in hand. As he was getting ready to unlock the door, he watched as it suddenly swung inward to reveal his youngest son.
"Daddy" he heard his youngest say as he watched Sammy's eyes roll up into his head and his body start slumping to the floor. He reacted quickly on instinct and reached out to catch Sammy in his arms before his baby could complete his trip towards the floor. As he picked Sammy up to carry him inside, he could feel the heat that was radiating through his shirt.
"Damn it son, you're burning up" he stated as he deposited his baby boy on the bed and walked quickly to the bathroom. He set the nozzles on the bathtub to fill it with lukewarm to cool water. He knew he had to bring the kid's fever down and he had to do it quickly.
Upon re-entering the room, he looked over to see Dean who was also bathed in sweat and lying under the blankets. What the freaking hell happened to you boys?" he asked aloud knowing that neither of his children had heard him. He walked over to Sammy's bed and stripped him completely knowing how embarrassed Sammy was going to be if he woke up. He blanched as he saw the cuts and welts that adorned Sammy's back, some of which were obviously infected. He picked Sammy up and cradled him in his arms as he gently carried him into the bathroom to deposit him into the rapidly filling bathtub.
Sammy's eyes shot open as he yelled out from the intense pain his body felt from the rapid change in temperature due to the cool water. He started shivering immediately as his body struggled to adjust to the cool water. Sammy tried to climb out of the tub, but was held immobile by his father's hands.
"No Sammy, you have to stay in there until your temperature comes down" John said as he held him in the water, knowing how frigid it must have felt to his youngest in his fevered state.
"N-no, please d-daddy, it's t-too c-cold" Sammy pleaded as his full body shivered severely at the drastic cold he was experiencing. He began to cry as he struggled once more to get out of the tub. His body felt like it was being stabbed all over by needles frozen in ice, and he felt helpless to stop it from happening.
Back inside the room, Dean heard his brother crying out in pain and it roused him from the brink of unconsciousness. He agonizingly climbed out of his bed and struggled to walk the few steps to the bathroom. His mind was still hazy from the pain that he was suffering as he saw a man holding Sammy inside the tub while the kid was shrieking in pain, not recognizing that man as their father. Dean automatically went into protective mode and threw himself on the man's back as he hollered "Get the hell away from my brother." He then put his hands around the man's throat and began to squeeze with what little strength he had left not caring about the pain it was inflicting on his own body.
John was surprised as he was tackled from behind by his oldest son. "Dean, it's me" he said as he pulled at his son's hands to keep them from strangling his throat. Luckily for him, Dean was in a very weakened state and he was able to easily dislodge his son's hands.
Dean continued to struggle, not yet recognizing his father. John grasped Dean's hands as he held them firmly in his own and said "Stand down soldier" in an authoritative voice.
Dean instantly stopped struggling as he finally recognized the man before him. "Dad" he said as he relaxed completely and looked over towards his baby brother.
"Oh God, what's wrong with Sammy?" he asked as he saw how pale his little brother looked and how hard he was shaking.
"He's got a high fever Dean, I have to get it down" John stated as he used a washcloth to start wiping down Sammy's shivering body. As he did so, he looked over Dean and saw the wounds that were covering his oldest son's torso.
"What the hell happened Dean?" he asked trying to find out just what had happened to put both of his sons in such bad shape while he was gone, but before Dean could answer, they heard a pounding at the motel room door.
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John instructed Dean to support a very weak Sammy in the bathtub while he went to find out who was at the door. As he opened the door, he was relieved to see Bobby standing there with a look of worry on his face.
"Damn, I'm glad to see you" John said to his hunter friend with a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" Bobby asked as he followed John into the room.
"That's what I was about to find out" John answered as he walked back into the bathroom with Bobby following him. Bobby was surprised to see Sammy sitting in the bathtub shivering and that Dean looked even worse as he grimaced from the pain of supporting his baby brother. John took over Dean's position and watched as Dean slumped to the wall.
"Alright Dean, time to spill soldier, just tell me what the hell happened to you and your brother to leave you in the shape that I am seeing now" John said with a questioning tone to his voice. He was careful not to allow any anger to be heard in his voice.
Dean looked at his dad with tear filled eyes. "It's all my fault dad. Sammy's sick because of me" he stated with a trembling lower lip.
John hated the way that Dean always took the responsibility on himself every time that Sammy got hurt, even when it wasn't his fault. He tried to ease Dean's pain by saying "Dean, I know you wouldn't have let Sammy get hurt if you could
have kept it from happening. I can see that you're in pretty bad shape yourself too son, so tell me exactly what happened."
"Well, we were watching television" Dean said as he started to tell his dad the whole story. "A news report came on talking about a few deaths that had occurred at a carnival that was here in town"
John immediately blanched as he figured out what had happened just from the little bit of information Dean had given him. "Shit Dean, you two went out on a hunt together by yourselves didn't you, knowing that I damn well had told you to stay in this room until I had got back."
"I-I'm sorry dad" Dean said as he lowered his eyes in shame for not following his dad's orders. It hurt to hear the anger and disappointment in his father's voice.
John was crestfallen as he saw the look of hurt in Dean's eyes before he lowered his gaze. Dean was already hurting enough without him placing blame on the kid. "No, I'm sorry son. I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. Now tell me what happened when you went to the carnival to check things out."
Dean told John and Bobby everything that had happened from the moment they started the hunt until it had ended. He told them about the fight with the rakshasa and how they had eventually killed it, but not before being hurt themselves. Later, John's eyes grew huge as Dean explained how he had been too injured to drive which forced Sammy to be the one who had to drive them back to the motel room.
John felt immense pride in his youngest knowing how terrified the kid must have been since he had only driven a few times previously. But at the same time, it also terrified John to know that he could have lost both his sons if Sammy hadn't got them back to safety.
John was about to question Dean further, but saw the look of exhaustion and pain that was on his face.
"Bobby, can you help Dean back into the room and take a look at his injuries while I finish up here with Sammy?" John asked as he pulled the plug to drain the water out of the tub.
"You don't even have to ask" Bobby stated as he reached down to help Dean up. He put his arm around Dean's waist and slowly led him towards the bed and helped him to lie down. Dean was grateful for the help since he knew he probably couldn't have made it on his own.
"Dean, I'm going to change your bandages so I can get a close look at your wounds" Bobby said as began to gently ease the bandage off of Dean's shoulder. He used his fingers to prod the skin around the wound. "These stitches look pretty good" he said as he saw Dean wince in pain from his prodding.
Bobby then moved his hands down to check the wound in Dean's side. As he took off the bandage, he noticed that the area around the stitches was beginning to become inflamed. "This doesn't look good" he said as he felt the skin around the stitches. When he prodded the area a little too hard, Dean shot up in pain and gasped "Son of a bitch, don't do that again Bobby" as he tried to regain control of his breathing.
Bobby helped Dean to lie back down and then rubbed his hand along his hairy chin. He knew that infection was beginning to take hold and that they were going to have to reopen the wound and take care of it before the infection could really take hold forcing a trip to the hospital.
Meanwhile, John helped Sammy to stand up so he could dry him off before helping him out of the tub. As he stood, Sammy noticed that he was fully naked and blushed a deep, crimson red at being completely undressed in front of his father.
Seeing the look of embarrassment on Sammy's face, John said "There's no reason to be ashamed son. This isn't the first time I've seen you naked you know. Who do you think changed your diaper and gave you baths until Dean took over that responsibility when you were little."
John quickly wrapped a towel around Sammy after getting him dry and carried him into the room as Sammy protested that he could walk himself. John laid him down gently on his stomach so that he could have take a closer look at the wounds on Sammy's back.
John knew that he was going to have to clean the wounds out and that it was going to be pretty painful for his baby boy unless he used the last of the morphine that they had left. "Sammy, I'm going to have to sterilize these wounds on your back" he said as he got the peroxide and the morphine out of the first aid kit. He then warned Sammy that he was going to give him an injection in his hip as pulled the towel down just a little and swabbed a small area before injecting the needle.
Sammy hissed as he felt the needle entering his skin, but then relaxed only a few moments later as the morphine started taking hold. Sammy entered a drug induced sleep as John cleaned and sterilized the infected wounds on his back. After he finished, John covered the wounds on Sammy's back and then pulled a blanket over his snoring son before focusing his attention on helping Bobby take care of Dean.
TBC