John pulled the Impala into the parking lot. He was glad to finally be home. He was tired and would have liked nothing more than to have a nice shower and head to bed, but he had told Dean he would take them out to dinner.
"Dad, can Molly come with us to get pizza?" asked Dean.
"Sure, if she wants to." The more the merrier thought John.
As they were walking up to the front door John thought is was odd that there were no light on inside the condo. Something didn't seem right to the hunter. He went to unlock the front door, but it already was. Something's wrong here his brain screamed. Motioning for Dean to stay back, he pulled out his gun and opened the door slowly. Then he turned on the lights.
The eldest Winchester wasn't prepared for the sight that greeted him. Sammy lay on the floor motionless. Oh my god thought John rushing to his son's side. He gently took Sammy in to his arms. Dean was right next to them with a look of fear drawn across his face.
"Daddy," groaned Sammy weakly.
"I'm here Sammy, I'm here," said John wrapping his arms tighter around his baby boy.
Sammy screamed in pain when John tightened his hold.
"What's wrong Sammy? Where does it hurt?" a concerned John asked.
Sammy pointed to his stomach, unable to speak. John lifted up the front of Sammy's shirt to reveal a mass of dark bruises stretching across the boy's stomach. John suddenly felt like he was going to be sick. Someone had hurt his child. He could feel his anger rise, but John knew he had to remain calm for his son's sake.
"Who did this to you?" asked a now furious John.
"Molly said she wouldn't let him hurt me but she did," cried Sammy.
"Who?" prodded John.
"Where's Molly?" asked a worried Dean.
Sammy began to sob. John tried to get him to explain what happened, but this only made Sammy cried harder. When I find the bastard that did this, he'll wish he had never been born thought John.
John knew he needed to get Sammy to the hospital. Gathering up his youngest he rushed him to the car, with Dean following. He put Sammy in the back seat with Dean and drove to the hospital. John winced when Sammy cried out in pain when the seatbelt was put on him. John kept glancing in the mirror to look at Sammy. Dean held his little brother's hand the whole way there and tried his best to comfort him.
oooooOOOOooooo
When they got to the hospital John got Sammy out of the backseat and carried him into the ER. Dean was close behind. He walked over to the receptionist.
"My son's been hurt. He needs help," cried John.
Taking one look at the little boy in John's arms, the receptionist immediately called over a doctor.
"I'm Dr. Bombay. Can you tell me what happened?" asked Dr. Bombay. He was compassionate doctor in his mid-thirties with short sandy blond hair and green eyes. His patients always came first with him.
"I came home and found Sammy lying on the floor in pain. His stomach is all bruised up. I don't know what happened. Sammy hasn't been able to tell me what happened," said John his voice wavering slightly.
"What about your other son, does he know?" asked Dr. Bombay motioning towards Dean.
"He was with me. Sammy was with a babysitter. She's disappeared." Anger was slowly creeping into John voice as he spoke.
Dr. Bombay had Sammy put in a gurney and whisked him away to be examined. John and Dean wanted to go with him, but the doctor wouldn't allow it. He wasn't so sure he bought John's story and he wanted to talk to Sammy alone to find out what happened. Many times he had seen so-called concerned parents bring in their children with injuries they had inflicted on them. They lied and said it was an accident or said somebody else did it. He hoped that wasn't the case this time, but he didn't want to take any chances. He told the receptionist to call the police.
"Dad, we're going to get whoever hurt Sammy and make them pay right?" asked an angry Dean as he clenched and unclenched his hands.
John didn't have time to answer Dean because two police officers had arrived to speak with him. They introduced themselves as officers Gannon and Street. Since this case didn't seem to involve anything supernatural, John had used his real name.
"Mr. Winchester, can you please tell us what happened," asked Officer Gannon.
John explained again what happened and how they found Sammy. He told them that Sammy had been left in the care of a babysitter.
"This girl Molly, her last name wouldn't be Wadsworth would it?" asked Officer Street.
"Yes, why do you ask?" John wanted to know.
"Her parents reported her missing. They got worried when she didn't come home when she said she would and called us," said Street
Just then the doctor came back. He was finished his examination. He was relieved to find out his suspicions had been wrong. Sammy was adamant that his dad had not hurt him. He said it was a guy named Kenny. John grew anxious when he saw the doctor.
"How is he? How's Sammy?" asked the worried father.
"Your son has extensive bruising on his abdomen. Fortunately there were no broken ribs. I would like to keep him over night to monitor for internal bleeding. Right now, he is being sent up to have an MRI of his abdomen. When he is done I will have a nurse take you up see him," said Dr. Bombay.
"Oh my god, internal bleeding?" said John. He knew that internal bleeding was not good.
"It's just a precaution. I'll know more after I have the results of the MRI," said Dr. Bombay.
"Doctor did he say who did this to him?" asked Street.
"Kenny, he said his name was Kenny," answered Dr. Bombay.
"Kenny. Mr. Wadsworth said his daughter dates a Kenny Miller," said Street.
Kenny Miller, that's the kid Dean was telling him about. That bastard hurt my baby boy thought John. When I get a hold of him. He let that thought trail off.
"We saw Kenny in the parking lot this morning when left. Didn't we Dad?" Dean was formulating methods of torture for Kenny in his mind.
"We'll go see if we can pick Kenny up for questioning. We may need Sam to pick him out of a line up," said Street.
"Okay," said John. If he found that bastard first there wouldn't be a need for a lineup.
Officer Gannon could tell by the look on John's face that he was thinking about taking revenge on Kenny Miller. He knew from past experience that would that wouldn't be a good idea. John wouldn't be able to help his son get better if he was in jail.
"Mr. Winchester, I know you want Kenny to pay for hurting your son, but you need to let us handle this," said Gannon sympathetically.
Just then the nurse appeared and said that Sammy was settled in his room and they could go see him. John and Dean followed her, both anxious to see Sammy.
"Daddy, Dean," cried Sammy when they walked in the door.
Sammy was so glad to see them. He didn't like all those test they made him take. He didn't like that machine they put him in for the MRI. He had to lay there perfectly still for twenty minutes. He felt scared and alone trapped in there.
"Daddy, don't leave me," pleaded Sammy.
"I'm not going anywhere," replied John. He felt tears in the corners of his eyes. He hated seeing his son like this.
John pulled a chair up to Sammy's bed and sat down. He took Sammy's hand in his. It was so tiny compared to his much larger hand. Dean sat on the other side of the bed. He needed to be near Sammy as well.
Sammy was tired but was afraid to go to sleep. He was afraid that Kenny would come and hurt him again. He was afraid that Kenny might try to hurt Dean or his dad. My daddy's a marine he thought. Kenny wouldn't be able to hurt a marine would he.
"Daddy tell me a story. Tell me the mud story," said Sammy trying to put off going to sleep.
Sammy loved hearing stories about John's days in the marines, especially the one where John fell into a big muddy hole during basic training. He had to wear those muddy clothes for three days straight. The mud story always made Sammy laugh.
"Well, it was my third week in basic training. We were going on a long three day march and the only clothes we were allowed to bring were the ones we had on," began John.
By the time John finished the story both Sam and Dean were asleep. John picked up Dean and tucked him into the empty bed next to Sammy's. Dr. Bombay came and spoke to John. The MRI showed no signs of internal bleeding, but they wanted him to stay the night to be on the safe side. John was extremely relieved to hear this. After the doctor left, John resumed his position at Sammy's side. He stayed there all night long.
oooooOOOOooooo
John woke up the next morning feeling a little stiff from sleeping in the chair. Standing up to stretch, he looked down at Sammy. He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping thought John. His mind turned to the events of yesterday. Sammy was in the hospital because some scumbag used him as a punching bag. John wanted to hunt that bastard down and kill him. Sammy started to stir in bed. He was beginning to wake up.
"Good morning sleepyhead," said John smiling down at his youngest.
"Daddy," said a groggy Sammy.
"How are you feeling?" asked John.
"My tummy hurts," said Sammy.
"Sammy, can you tell me what happened yesterday?" asked John. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he felt he needed to know what his son went through in order to help him heal.
Sammy was crying by the time he finished tell his dad what had happened. Being as gentle as he could, John picked up Sammy and held him in his arms. He held his son as he sobbed. When I find this bastard thought John, he'll pay for hurting Sammy. He hadn't noticed that Dean had woken up and had heard every word of what Sammy said.
Dr. Bombay came to check on Sammy one last time before signing his release papers. He instructed John that Sammy was going need bed rest for the next couple of days.
Officer Gannon showed up to tell them that Kenny Miller was in custody and they needed Sammy for a line up. John wasn't so sure that Sammy was up to it. Once Officer Gannon told them that they couldn't hold Kenny for much longer, John relented.
More to Come