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"You have to save him. He's my brother." Sam stated calmly to the doctor from his perching position on the end of Dean's bed. Dr. Erikson, that's what the crisp white coat he wore stated his name was, stilled his writing. This was the third doctor to come through today, Sam had said the exact same this to all of them, their answers had all been the same. 'I'll do everything I can.' The man looked up from his clipboard, pen poised and glasses slipped down over the bridge of his nose, he stared at Sam for a moment. Not quite sure what to make of the 12 year old who spent every waking moment at his comatose brother's bedside.
"I'll do everything…."
"that you can. Yeah I know, I've heard it before." Sam spat back, looking down at his swinging feet that were barely scraping the tiled floor below. Dr. Erikson was about to go back to the chart when the boy's voice resumed, "What if that isn't good enough?"
The comment was quite, an airy whisper that barely brushed past his lips, but the doctor heard it clearly. He took a moment to consider it, trying to find the right words. Dr. Erikson had seen his fair share of child patients. Seen their parents and siblings sit by their bedside. Seen them get better and go home or slowly waste away in a hospital bed. Seen parents forced to turn their child's life support off and the aftermath if they chose not to. But no matter how much he saw it never got easier, the look of despair in a young boy's eyes. "Son, I'm going to tell you something you probably haven't heard yet."
"What is that?" He sounded tired, like his hopes had been risen to many times and he just couldn't lift it again. It broke the older man's heart.
"It's about the accident." That got his attention. Sam's head snapped up and his legs went still, full attention on the Doctor. "Your brother woke up in the car."
"What?" Sam stated, straightening up and bringing a protective hand to his brother's ankle. "Why did nobody tell me that?"
"Because the way in which he went unconscious afterword was unpleasant. But I think you need to hear what happened. I think you need to hear what he said." A question was sitting on Sam's lips but Dr. Erikson cut him off, "He was awake upon arrival of paramedics and remained conscious for exactly 1 minute and 27 seconds."
Dr. Erikson looked down at the clipboard searching for the details before continuing, "When asked he would not give his name, didn't say anything about himself, he just talked about the passenger. 'He is allergic to penicillin, don't give him penicillin, and he doesn't like shots. I heard his head hit the dash, he has a concussion, you have to wake him up…'"
Sam took it in for a moment, "What was the unpleasant way in which he passed out?"
Dr. Erikson gave a loud sigh, debating revealing the unpleasant information, but he knew Sam would formulate something of his own if he didn't. "He seized due to the head injury and was unable to bring in enough oxygen due to the excess blood in his lungs."
Sam swallowed hard, nodding his head and squeezing Dean's ankle tightly in his hand, needing to know he was still there. "Thanks for telling me."
This voice was broken; his head drooped and bangs covering up half his face. Dr. Erikson continued, steeping forward and making his voice stronger, "But what I want you to hear is that your brother woke up and talked about you. He woke up for you."
Tears were welling up in Sam's eyes and he averted them in order to blink the tears back. "Do you think he'll do that again?"
"I can't say for certain, but I do know he loves you enough too." With that Dr. Erikson turned on his heels and stalked towards the door almost exiting before remembering one final thing. "He also said, 'It's okay Sammy.' Any idea what he meant?"
Sam shifted at that, twisting his torso completely to his brother, "Yes."
After waiting a moment for elaboration, and getting none, the doctor left. Sam listened to his rubber soled shoes thump all the way down the hallway until he was sure it was just him and Dean. He brought his gangly legs up onto the bed and placed his head in the center of Dean's chest, relishing in the feeling of his heartbeat, careful not to hit any tubing or wires. "Yeah, I know exactly what he meant."