Chapter 10
Adam cried out when he heard the gunshot. The deafening, sharp blast of the gun caused him to forcefully press his face deeper into Josh's back, and he began sobbing. He heard the pained scream of whoever was shot, but he was too terrified to look up and find out if it was his brother. The thought of Sam dying terrified him.
What felt like minutes to Adam, but were only seconds in reality, Adam heard a crashing sound and shouting, loud shouting, then a number of voices that Adam could not make out. All he could do was press his face into Josh's back and continue to grip his shirt like a lifeline. Suddenly, someone pulled Adam away from Josh, but in his panicked state he lashed out. His heart clenched when he heard another pained yelp from whomever he had hit. Never before had he hit anyone. He hated the thought of becoming like his father, of causing people unnecessary pain, and the thought of what that person whom he just hit was going through made him break down all over again. He couldn't concentrate through all the things going on in the living room, until finally he felt a pair of strong, warm hands on his face, and he was finally able to look into the eyes of one of the only people he trusted.
Sam heard the gunshot and clenched his eyes shut, bracing himself for impact, but the white-hot pain never came. Instead, Sam heard the pain-filled shout of someone behind him.
He turned his head, fearing that his little brother had been hit. He could never forgive himself if that was the case. But he caught sight of a taller body hitting the ground, and he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding when he saw his brother's stricken face press deeper into Josh's back.
Looking back at his father, Sam realized the man was out for blood and wouldn't stop until they were all dead. Within seconds, Sam leapt at John with no awareness of the cold metal weapon still glistening in his hand.
Just as Sam reached him, John swung back and whipped Sam in the face with his pistol, but Sam grabbed hold of John's sleeve and pulled him to the ground as he fell. When they hit, they front door burst open, wood cracking as the frame broke from the force.
Sam stayed on the ground, attempting to keep his father from doing more damage, until John was yanked off of him by the police officers. His head was spinning. A dull throb was making itself known on the side of his head, but he gently pushed through the loud static and shouting and forced his mind to clear.
An officer carefully took his upper arm to help him up, and when Sam finally regained his balance and vision, he saw Josh, still standing in the middle of the room with shock written all over his face. His eyes were wide and filled with terrified tears. He was obviously in complete shock.
Sam saw an officer reach for Adam, and he rushed forward, knowing Adam would panic if someone else touched him right now. He gently pulled his tortured little brother back and placed his hands on either side of Adam's face and forced the boy to look him in the eyes.
Adam's eyes were twitching back and forth in panic, obviously having no idea what was happening. He was completely unable to calm himself down enough to see that his brother was alive. Sam began brushing his fingers through Adam's hair in a desperate attempt to soothe his brother. He began whispering nonsensical words of comfort while trying to ignore the chaos of the room. He could see Derek being placed on a stretcher, and he very quickly saw John led from the room in handcuffs.
Sam got down on his knees and drew himself closer to his brother when he saw that nothing was helping the situation. "Adam, look at me," he calmly said as he brushed his thumb up and down his brother's cheek, but Adam began to shake his head back and forth and clenched his eyes shut.
"Adam," Sam gripped Adam's face a little more forcefully. "Open your eyes, buddy. I'm right here," Sam whispered. He leaned his forward against his brother's and closed his own eyes, finally letting one tear slip under his eyelid. "I'm right here. You're safe now."
The ride to the hospital was a blur for Sam. Adam wouldn't let anyone touch him. The first time one of the officers placed his hand on Adam's shoulder the boy violently flinched and thrown himself into his brother's arms. It was the first time Adam had acknowledged his brother since John had arrived at the house. Adam simply buried his head into the crook of Sam's neck, threw his arms around him, and began sobbing.
Sam sat on the floor for what felt like hours cradling Adam on his lap as they waited for another ambulance to arrive. The paramedics that were already on site wanted nothing more than to look at Adam whom they could tell was in terrible shape, but Sam continuously insisted that they what to examine him until they arrived at the hospital.
While sitting there, Sam gathered that Jessica had seen John pulling into the driveway and had immediately called the police, expecting the worse to be happening inside. Sam had never wanted to kiss the girl more than now. She had most likely saved all of their lives.
Eventually the second ambulance arrived, and Sam begged the paramedics to let him hold Adam on the ride to the hospital. The boy sat on Sam's lap for the whole time and only fussed when Sam had to forcefully hold his arm down while the paramedics stuck the IV in it. Sam made up for the moment by constant reassurances and more loving touches, until they finally made it to the hospital.
The emergency room was an entirely different story. Adam immediately began hyperventilating as soon as they entered the bustling and noisy. It was so bad that the staff had to place an oxygen mask on the boy's face and was seconds away from sedating the boy if Sam had not mentioned Dean.
Just as they placed on the oxygen mask, Sam enveloped the boy in an even deeper hug, softly whispering in his ear, "Adam, if you don't calm down they're going to have to sedate you to keep you safe, and if they do that, it'll be longer until you see Dean again."
Sam hated pulling this card, but Adam was going to injure himself even more if something wasn't done, and he knew Adam was desperate to see Dean. When Adam was able to finally concentrate on what Sam said, on his constant reassurances of "You're safe now. You're fine. Just breathe, Baby." Adam listened to his brother's voice and attempted to follow his breathing until he was able to slowly force himself to breathe at a normal pace and was simply reduced to sobbing into his brother's neck.
"De, De, De," Adam cried, the oxygen mask fogging up from his heaving breaths. "Want De."
"I know, Buddy," Sam soothed. "He'll be here soon." Sam saw the doctor stepping forward to begin his examination, and reached out a hand to shake with Sam's.
"Hi, Mr. Winchester. I'm Dr. Jones; I'll be examining you and your brother this evening. The young woman in the waiting room told me your name."
"Hi, Dr. Jones. Um Adam doesn't really like being around being he doesn't know, so you may have to take it slowly," Sam mentioned as he continued to softly rub his brother's broken back.
"That's fine. I can do slow." Dr. Jones slowly walked up to Adam and knelt in front of the traumatized boy. "Hey, Adam. My name's Dr. Jones. I heard you were a very brave boy today, but that you're pretty hurt. Do you think you can tell me what hurts the most right now?"
Adam didn't respond, but simply tried to press himself even closer into his brother's body. Dr. Jones looked to Sam for help, knowing they couldn't rush or push the boy into anything. That would only worsen the situation.
"Adam," Sam whispered into his little brother's ear, "Dr. Jones is only here to help you. Would I ever let anyone near who whom I didn't trust?" Sam smiled when he felt Adam shake his head. "He only wants to make you feel better. Can you tell him what hurts, Buddy?"
After a few hesitant moments, Adam peeked his eyes up at the doctor and whispered, "Everything."
"Everything," Dr. Jones paused and moved a little closer, "That doesn't sound good. Can you tell me what hurts the most?"
"My wrist," Adam whispered, and he very slightly held out his wrist.
"Would it be okay if I took I look at it?" Dr. Jones leaned in a little closer to the boy.
Adam nodded and held out his wrist a little more.
Dr. Jones gently picked up the boy's wrist and held it in his hands. He carefully felt it and turned it, trying to feel if it was broken or simply sprained. He noticed Adam wincing and saw a few tears fall from the boy's eyes. "I think it's broken," he directed at the two boys. "How 'bout I wrap it up for now while we take a look at the rest of you and then we'll take an x-ray?"
"That sounds fine," Sam said as he brushed away Adam's tears.
"Okay," Dr. Jones stood up and walked over to one of the many cabinets located in the small hospital room. He pulled out a child-sized hospital gown, one with dinosaurs on it, and a pair of hospital socks, and handed them to Sam. "He's going to have to stay overnight tonight, so have him change into this and then we can begin a more extensive examination.
"Thank y—" Sam was interrupted by the banging of the hospital room door.
Adam jumped when he heard the door bang open and once again hid his face in Sam's neck. Sam looked relieved when he saw who was entering the room.
"Dean," he sighed.
"Sir, you can't be in here," Dr. Jones said, moving to force the man to leave.
"They're my brothers," Dean shrugged off the doctor and shortly gripped Sam's shoulder before kneeling in front of Adam. He placed a hand on the boy's knee, ignoring the shudder that ran through the boy. "Adam."
That was the only word Dean had to say. Adam recognized the voice and looked up with his teary eyes before throwing himself off of Sam's lap and into Dean's waiting arms. The sobbing began anew, while Dean gripped his brother like a lifeline and buried his face in his baby brother's hair. He took in the smell of his hair and rubbed an arm up and down his back. Dean desperately fought back his own tears as he attempted to alleviate Adam's. "I'm here, Baby. You're fine now. I'm never letting the bastard take you again."
Sam eventually joined Adam and Dean on the ground, and Dr. Jones left the room for a few minutes as the brothers comforted each other. He checked on a couple of other patients before coming back to the room. Adam way not lying on the bed, now dressed in a hospital gown and socks that were too ig for his small feet, while Dean laid beside him, Adam's head resting in Dean's shoulder while Dean's other arm continuously ran through his baby brother's hair. Adam's eyes were closed as he listened to the constant words of his brother, and let them offer him some form of comfort.
After some coaxing from Dean, Dr. Jones was able to perform a complete examination on Adam and treat his extensive wounds. He had lacerations from the belt and bruised ribs. The worst was his broken wrist and the belt last across the face. At the end of the examination, Dr. Jones replaced the IV in Adam's arm and made sure to add painkillers to it. After a few minutes, Adam had passed out from exhaustion, once more wrapped up in Dean's arms.
"Dean," Sam tiredly said from the corner of the small hospital room. "Go to sleep, you look terrible, and Adam's safe now."
"I should've been there, Sammy," Dean muttered as he buried his face deeper into Adam's hair. The boy looked so peaceful in his sleep. Much more different than the terrified look he always wore when awake. "I should've been there to protect him."
"Dean, you couldn't have been there. You couldn't have known that was going to happen." Sam figured Dean's self-loathing attitude would come out eventually. He had just hoped it would have been later rather than sooner. He hated that Dean blamed himself for every bad thing that happened to them.
"Of course we knew it was going to happen, Sam. It's Dad we're talking about," Dean spat. "The man couldn't go two days without hitting one of us."
Sam sat in silence, not knowing what to say.
"This probably wasn't the first time it happened these past few weeks. He was probably so scared." Dean finally began sobbing, and Sam reached up to feel tears on his own face.
He no longer knew what to say to Dean. They laid in the room in silence for what seemed like hours, both crying for their brother's pain and for their own lost childhoods, until finally they both fell asleep.
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