He's my son
Chapter 19
Dean entered the house with Sam, which was nicer than the ones they usually rented. Then again considering Sam's health issues Dean knew his father didn't want to add to their already considerable worries. Dean frowned as he looked down at Sam. Sam was looking tired and sick.
"Lets go little man" Dean said as he led Sam over to the couch and helped him lay down. "Get some rest, I will be here to give you your meds when you wake up."
Sam nods and lays his head back against the pillow, pulling up the blanket that Dean had lain over him. Closing his eyes he drifts off to sleep, leaving a worried Dean to straighten up around him. He hoped and prayed that his father would find the demon responsible for this. Dean was sick and tired of watching Sam suffer. If he had anything to do with it he would kill the demon himself, but John had wanted him to stay with Sam, so that Sam wasn't alone in case something happened.
A few hours later, Dean still hadn't heard anything from his Dad and he wasn't sure whether to be worried or not. He hoped they could destroy the demon before Sam's condition got any worse. He didn't know what he would do, if Sam didn't beat this disease. Dean had just moved to stand in front of the window, when he heard a whimper come from the couch, turning Dean noticed that Sam's face was pinched in fear, and he knew his little brother was in the throes of a nightmare. Dean's heart twisted, as he heard Sam's pained cries.
Crossing the room, Dean kneeled down on the carpeted floor beside the couch. Reaching out he touched Sam's forehead gently.
"Hey, bud it's okay, it's only a nightmare." Sam whimpered as he opened his eyes. Dean's heart broke at the terrified look in his little brother's eyes.
"I'm here Sammy, you don't need to be scared anymore. I won't let anything happen to you" Dean spoke calmly, his voice slowly soothing Sam's fears.
"I dreamed that the demon killed Dad and Bobby" Sam said "the demon said it was my fault, that he wasn't responsible for my cancer, but they died because of me. My cancer also came back because Dad was messing around with the demon, the demon decided to make me pay for what Dad's doing." Sam said, swallowing hard and looking at his brother.
"That's not what's going to happen" Dean said firmly, his heart aching even more for his brother. "Demons lie, it's what they do. We are certain the demon is what caused your cancer. Dad and Bobby will be fine, they will kill the demon and you will be healthy again in no time."
"What if he's right, Dean, I know demons lie, but for what reason would this one lie about hurting Dad and Bobby."
"Dude, they're trained hunters they know how to deal with this. You don't need to worry." Dean assured Sam, though he wondered if what Sam said was true. Could Sam's disease be caused by natural causes and if so would the demon really make things worse for him because their father was hunting it. If that was true, then Dean should be finding a way to get John off the hunt, but how was he supposed to know that. He could wait and see if Sam got worse, but Dean didn't want to take that kind of risk with Sam's life. It wasn't fair to Sam and it would be too stressful on Dean.
"I promise you, Dad and Bobby are fine, and none of this is your fault. Bad things happen to good people all the time, there's no good way to explain it." Dean said softly.
"I know" Sam said "but I can't but think if this the cancer hadn't happened, we wouldn't be in this situation right now."
"No, for all you know our situation could be worse." Dean remarked "it's not your job to shoulder all of the responsibility and since you're the one dealing with this, its not your job to worry. Let us do that for you, let us make your job of fighting the cancer a little easier."
"I'm glad your my big brother" Sam murmured starting to feel sleepy again. Dean's heart warmed at the words coming from Sam's lips. He was glad he had Sam for a brother too, he was proud of the fact that Sam kept fighting against the cancer even though it was hard.
"I love you too little brother" Dean murmured as he recovered Sam with the blanket. "Just keep fighting for me, and we will be there to guide you when you feel like you are lost."
Dean stayed by Sam's side until the kid had drifted off to sleep again, he didn't want to go too far in case he had another nightmare. But he needed to know where their father was and whether or not progress was being made. Dialing his dad's number, Dean stared out the window at the trees while he listened to his dad's phone ring.
"Dad, I really need you to call me back, Sam had a nightmare and I need to discuss it with you. Things were said that made me think that you hunting this demon was a mistake. The consequences could be bad for Sam. Call me back." Dean hung up and turned back to his brother. He really hoped that Sam's nightmare had been just that, a nightmare. It wouldn't surprise him though if it did come true, that the demon had somehow been able to communicate with Sam. Which brought up another question, if the demon could communicate just by dreams, just how powerful was it? Was it even something John and Bobby and the other guys could handle? Dean wasn't sure and that wasn't a feeling he liked. Because of Sam he preferred the certainty that they could handle whatever came their way.
Sighing, Dean moved away from the window and turning on the TV he went and sat down in front of the couch that Sam was sleeping on. If Sam needed him Dean wasn't going to be too far away to get to him.
A couple of hours later, when John still had not returned, Dean started to feel worried. It wasn't like his father to go this long without communicating, especially with Sam still being sick. Speaking of Dean could now hear the kid vomiting in the bathroom. Wining, Dean stood and headed into the bathroom. Wetting a wash cloth down, Dean wiped at the back of Sam's neck and his forehead.
"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling bad?" Dean asked softly hating that his brother was so sick. It wasn't fair that he had to watch Sam suffer through out this whole ordeal.
"I didn't want to worry you" Sam mumbled and Dean shook his head. Leave it to Sam to worry about them when he was the one that had to deal with fighting cancer. This was just one of the many reasons Dean loved his little brother, Sam had a heart bigger than Texas.
"I'm always going to worry about you, it's my job remember?" Dean smirked causing a small smile to form on Dean's lips.
"I don't want my experience to change you" Sam said "and it is, the more I fight slowly the less you laugh and joke. I don't like that you feel like you can't still be an annoying big brother." Dean's eyebrows shot straight up, he hadn't realized that Sam had noticed how little he'd joked around lately. Of course that was because Dean hadn't felt like there was anything to joke about. Cancer was serious, people died from it everyday, to Dean that was certainly no laughing matter, especially as he watched Sam suffer the effects of the chemo.
"I'll try to not be so serious" Dean said chuckling "But in the meantime, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Sam nodded before replying.
"I'm feeling okay considering this situation." Sam said sighing, he couldn't believe how tired he still was. He had slept much of the day away, he should feel at least a little rested shouldn't he?
"Have you heard from Dad?" Sam asked suddenly and Dean could hear the worry in his little brother's voice. Dean shook his head no.
"I called him earlier but he hasn't responded. I'm not sure if it's because he's tracking the demon and can't afford to get caught or if he's been caught by the demon. Either option isn't that great." Dean said as he helped Sam back to the couch.
"Worrying won't do us any good" Deans says as Sam sat down "so do you feel well enough to eat?" Sam shook his head no. even if he was hungry he wasn't sure he could keep it down.
"I just want to sleep some more, but I'm afraid something has happened to dad and Bobby and the others." Sam admitted staring down at the floor.
"They're going to be okay, Sam, they're tough whatever is going on they can deal with it. They will be back here before you know it. So don't worry yourself gray headed about it." Dean assured Sam as he helped him lay down. "Besides I am here, there is no need to worry when your awesome big brother is right beside you."
"You are awesome" Sam agreed sleepily as he closed his eyes and quickly drifted back to sleep.
"I couldn't ask for a better brother either" Dean murmured as he lay down on the floor beside Sam and went to sleep.
Dean woke up the next morning to Sam tossing and turning and mumbling incoherently, and Dean knew he was having another nightmare.
"No," Sam called out "Don't take Dean, take me" Sam's voice pleaded "I would rather die than watch you hurt my brother. Please leave him alone! Dean!" Dean's heart froze for a moment before he shook himself out of his shock and sat up and shook Sam awake.
"Just a nightmare, Sammy, I'm right here" Dean said softly as Sam opened his eyes and sobs tore through him. Dean got up and sat on the couch beside Sam and pulled Sam into his arms. "Shhh. Little brother you're okay. I've got you." Dean murmured into Sam's hair.
"The demon decided to go after you, to make you pay for what Dad's doing. You have to tell Dad to stop, he's going to get this family killed." Sam sobbed, the pain in his voice breaking Dean's heart.
"We can't just leave him to keep killing people however he feels like it" Dean said "he or she has to pay the price for what they are doing. Its not right for any family to have to go through what we are going through right now."
"I don't want to lose you guys" Sam cried, tears still streaming down his face, causing Dean's heart to break even more. "Without you, I'll lose this battle because I don't know how to fight without you."
"No matter what happens, you can't stop fighting Sammy. If something happens to me and you quit fighting, I will kick your butt all over heaven." Dean threatened. Sam chuckled softly as he pulled back. "And I hate to say it, but I think I had a little bit of an accident" Sam said his ears flaming red as he admitted to accidentally peeing on himself. Dean's face turned white briefly before he turned back to Sam.
"Accidents happen, but if this is going to a continuing occurrence then we're going to need to get you some diapers." Sam chuckled, still embarrassed.
"Dude, you have cancer" Dean said "these things can be expected to happen. Don't worry your pretty little head over it. We'll just get you cleaned up, and into a proper bed so that you can rest. I don't think Dad and the others will be back for a while."
Dean helped Sam to his feet and helped him into the shower.
"I'm pretty sure I don't need to help you take a shower do I?" Sam shook his head.
"I just need some clean clothes." Sam said and Dean nodded leaving the restroom, and headed up the stairs to find Sam some clothes. Dean couldn't believe how much things had changed in the last few months. They were a fairly average family (other than the hunting stuff that is) and now they were dealing with this cancer crisis. Now Dean wasn't exactly sure what they were, he was trying to not let the cancer define them, but watching Sam struggle so much, that was hard to do. He thought of the stories he'd heard of families losing their loved ones to cancer, how they felt empty for a long time. Dean couldn't do it, he couldn't think of having to burn Sam's body so that he wouldn't haunt them. Dean figured that was too late, Sam's battle was already haunting them and no amount of burning was going to take care of that.
Hearing the doorbell, Dean headed downstairs to see Sam's teacher at the door.
"What can I do for you?" Dean asked as he opened the door.
"I heard Sam was home and I thought it would be nice to drop by and see how he was doing" Adam brown said. "My students are worried about him, we've heard about his battle with cancer and we want him to know that we are thinking about him."
"He's not really feeling too great right now, he really isn't up for visitors right now." Dean said thinking why didn't he just send a card, instead of showing up out of nowhere. After Sam was in remission. "I''ll tell Sam you stopped by, I'm sure he'll appreciate it."
"Thanks, Sam's one of my brightest students and I just want him to know that we are rooting for him to beat this disease." Adam said as he turned and walked away, leaving Dean thinking that he didn't like Sam's teacher one bit.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dean grabbed Sam some clean clothes and headed back inside. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a loud thump coming from the bathroom. Dean swallowing his heart rushed into the bathroom, to find Sam lying unconscious and face down, the water from the shower starting to pool around him.
Dean reached in and pulled Sam out, and lay him gently on the floor. Dean wasn't sure what was going on because Sam had been fine a few minutes ago. Now it was obvious that Sam had a high fever, his eyes had a glassy sheen to them, one that had not been there previously. That scared Dean, that Sam could get that sick that quickly meant only one thing. Sam had been talking to the demon and now it looked like Sam was going to pay the price for whatever their father was doing.
"Come on Sammy, I'm taking you to the ER." Dean mumbled as he started pulling clothes on Sam. Dean knew it wasn't likely that the ER could deal with the supernatural issue they were dealing with but he had to do something. At least the doctors could deal with the fever.
"Just hang on kiddo" Dean uttered as he picked the unconscious kid up and headed for the front door. "Don't give up on us, we're not letting you go." even as Dean was loading Sam into the car. It was then that Sam's words came to his mind.
"I'm going to pay for what dad's doing if he doesn't stop hunting the demon." and it was in that moment that Dean knew exactly who the demon was, because Sam had been just fine before he'd shown up.
Sorry for taking so long to update, hope you enjoy. P.S. not a deathfic. In fact I'm already planning the sequel for when this one is finished. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Have a great day. Liz