IT'S ALL IN THE CARDS

DISCLAIMER: The usual, not mine to own but I love to play ... no money passes hands for this story or any other I write. I wish but nope not yet. No Laundromat washers or dryers were harmed or destroyed in the writing of this story

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the combination of three story ideas, and thanks and LovinJackson for the wonderful input and ideas for this story.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: Sam is 18 and Dean is 22 – 23 (set between new years day and Dean's birthday to begin with.) Before Sam goes to Stanford.

Chapter Four

Then:

'I'm right here Sammy.' Dean pushed his way through to his brother's side on the gurney, the glare he gave the paramedics dared them to remove him, as soon as their hands touched Sam started to calm down. 'Not going anywhere Sammy.'

'De?' Sam breathed out before succumbing to the medications and the pain.

'Okay so one of you can go with us in the bus.' The paramedic looked at John and Dean, 'well?'

'You go Dean,' John said hoarsely, 'I'll finish up here with the cops and meet ya at the hospital.'

'We're taking him to Tower General.'

'Thanks.'

'Dad?' Dean rasped his hand tightly gripping Sam's lax one.

'Go son, we'll work out the cars later.'

Tess watched silently as they guarded Sam on the way out of the house, she stayed a respectful distance, but her senses spiked and she just knew that it was not over yet for the Winchester family, the danger was still around and in fact very close.

S—D

Now:

Five hours in surgery, two hours in recovery and another twelve hours of unconsciousness and Sam Winchester finally, opened glassy green eyes and tried to focus on the face hovering above him, but the bright lights burnt his sensitive eyes and he whimpered softly, squeezed his eyes shut and tried to roll his head away from the offending brightness.

'Sammy, hey the lights are turned down, it's okay.' Dean's voice carried through the buzzing static in Sam's ears, blearily he opened his eyes again and squinted at his brother, he opened his mouth to speak but nothing except a wheezing breath came out. 'It's okay got some ice chips for ya.'

Dean spooned the cool treat into Sam's mouth and smiled tenderly at his little brother while he waited for the ice to do its magic. 'Easy Sammy, just let it ease that throat of yours.'

'Dad?' Sam breathed out, his voice barely above a breathy whisper.

'He'll be back soon, he had to go and talk to the cops again.' Dean shrugged off their father's absence preferring to concentrate on taking care of his brother.

'He ... h-hates ... me?' Teary-eyed Sam accepted some more ice after his voice failed again, the abject desolation in his face and posture spoke so much to Dean, it shattered the young hunter's heart.

'No, no he doesn't hate you Sam, no one does.' Dean protested keeping his voice calm and soft, not wanting to startle his ailing brother. 'I am so sorry this happened to you Sammy.'

'Wha? Why?' Sammy choked slightly when Dean apologised.

'It happened on my watch, I should've stayed there with ya I just left without looking back...'

'No, no Dean ...' Sam gasped out and then started to cough not harshly but a niggling breath-taking bout of coughing.

'Easy Sammy ... that's it breath through it.' Dean coached, though inwardly he was already berating himself for upsetting his brother to the point of inducing a coughing fit.

'Dean ... quit – quit it.' Sam rasped out between sips of water and ice.

'Quit what?' Dean blinked.

Sam smiled and with his good hand patted his brother's cheek, 'st-stop ... b-beating ... yerself ... up.'

'Ah I missed you kiddo.'

'Wh-what doc s-say?' Sam asked as he sank back against the pillows his coughing fit wearing him out.

'Before Dean answers that...' John spoke softly as he came into Sam's room, crossing the floor he stood at the end of the bed and stared down at his youngest son suddenly feeling very awkward and exposed under the shy gaze of his baby. 'Hey Sammy.'

'Hey Dad.' Sam blinked away his tears and then leaving all stubbornness and ill feeling behind he reached out to his father with his good arm. John grinned happily and showed his own set of dimples that matched Sam's and hurried to his son's side, carefully he pulled Sam into a hug both of them needing the contact and comfort.

Finally, he pulled away but remained perched on the side of the bed his large hand resting comfortingly on Sam's leg; Dean stayed on the other side of the bed and kept contact with his Sammy by occasionally running his fingers through his brother's unruly hair.

A tapping on the door made all three Winchesters freeze and had John and Dean moving to block Sam from who ever was on the other side. The door opened and a very surprised looking doctor came in. Doctor Markus Welby stood and stared at the very protective family of his patient and shook his head in wonder, 'ah I'm Doctor Markus Welby Sam's doctor.'

'Markus Welby?' John couldn't help but grinning, 'did your parents?'

'Yeah they always wanted a doctor for a son,' Markus quipped, 'though I was named for my Grandfather.' Recently turned forty, Markus cut a striking figure in as much as he was just over six feet tall, dark haired with just a hint of silver streaking through it, soft grey eyes hidden behind rimless glasses and impeccably dressed with dress pants and shirts under the obligatory white lab coat. 'So just call me Mark and we'll do fine.'

'Doc ... Mark I'm John Sam's father and this is his older brother Dean.' John quickly did the introductions and then visibly relaxing and standing down from his bodyguard stance asked 'So Mark how's my boy doing?'

'Mind if I sit while we talk?' Mark took the chair near the head of the bed, while John sat in the chair on the other side of the bed and Dean remained on the edge of the bed close to Sam, he hadn't said a word and he didn't try to hide the mistrust and suspicion in the look on his face and in his eyes. 'How you feeling Sam?'

'M'kay.' Sam said shyly unable to meet the doctor's direct stare.

'What about your pain level?' Mark continued as though he hadn't noticed Sam's awkwardness and shyness. 'From one to ten with ten being the highest?'

'Umm bout a – a seven I guess.'

'Okay I'll get you set up with some good stuff don't worry,' Mark smiled and then straightened his shoulders and looked directly at John, 'okay now, before I give Sam a complete check up, I thought we might discuss his injuries and prognosis.'

'What is it Doc?' Dean finally broke his self-imposed silence and stared down at the medic, 'what's wrong with my brother?'

'Now it's going to sound a lot worse than ... let me get started alright?' Mark cleared his throat and then glanced down at Sam's chart and surgery reports. 'When the paramedics brought Sam in he was in respiratory distress, once that was under control and he was given a cursory exam, we had a portable x-ray machine brought in, as well as an ultra-sound wand. The x-ray confirmed the breaks in his left ankle.'

'Hey on Doc breaks?' Dean interrupted Mark.

'The x-ray confirmed three definite breaks, one seemed older than the others and there were a lot of bone fragments in the joint itself, our orthopaedic surgeon will be in to see Sam later today, but he had to place rods along the bones to repair the damage, suction out the bone debris and well screw it all back together again.'

'Will, will it affect his walking?' John asked paling even more as he listened to the description of one of many injuries inflicted on his baby. His eighteen year old baby.

'With rehab and physiotherapy the prognosis is cautiously optimistic,' Mark glanced down at the notes and then back up at Sam, 'I'll talk about your shoulder next because the same surgeon operated on both injuries.'

'He had surgery on his shoulder as well as his ankle?' Dean fought to contain his anger and felt a light squeeze on his hand making him make eye contact with his brother.

'His shoulder joint, I'm sorry Sam but for lack of a better way of describing it, your shoulder joint was literally pulled apart, not just dislocated. Now the surgeons did the best that they could and wired the bones together, and repaired what they could of the tendons. You'll have to wear the immobilising sling for eight weeks to give your shoulder the greatest chance to heal and then intensive physiotherapy to help you regain movement.'

'How? How much movement?' John once again broke in with his question, his voice cracking with emotion.

'That won't be known until Sam is assessed after the first eight weeks.' Mark waited a couple of seconds before he continued, 'Now, Sam you also have two fractured ribs and the ribs on your right side are all bruised in varying degrees. The bruising to your face will heal without permanent damage but with your continued sensitivity to light and possible headaches I want an ophthalmologist to have a look at your eyes, someone did stitch up the welts on your back however, most of became infected, so we had to remove the stitches, debride them and restitch all of them so you'll be pretty stiff and sore for a couple of weeks, our resident plastic surgeon did the stitching while you were under general anaesthetic so there will be minimal scarring. Whatever drugs they gave you were still in your system when you were brought in but there doesn't seem to be any lasting effects now, you were severely dehydrated and borderline malnourished hence the nasal feeding tube and extra IV for fluids and the Foley catheter but all going well we should be able to take the feeding tube and catheter out in the next couple of days.' Mark took a breath and looked at the Winchesters in turn, 'I know it sounds a lot, and there is a long recovery ahead for you Sam but if you can survive your imprisonment Sam you can get through any rehab and therapy thrown your way. I am in awe of you Sam, I don't normally say things like this to patients but the fact that you are lying in that bed, after surviving torture and kidnapping and then hours of surgery, you young man can get through anything life throws at you.'

'Wow Doc you ramble.' Dean smirked lightly and patted Sam's leg, 'whatcha think Sammy? I reckon he missed his calling shoulda been a politician.'

'Thanks Dean I'll remember that.' Mark grinned, 'now I'm sorry to lay all of that on you and then shoo you away but I have to give Sam an examination, should only be about fifteen minutes if you want to get coffee or something.'

'Sounds like a plan Doc.' John said glad of a reprieve so he could ingest everything the doctor said about Sammy's injuries and prognosis. Dean eyed his father suspiciously but remained silent for Sam's sake.

'Want us to bring ya back something kiddo? Ice cream?'

'Please.' Sam whispered keeping his gaze fixed on the traction sling holding his ankle up and in position to allow ultimate healing.

'Sammy?' Dean went back to his brother's side and leant in close, shutting out everyone and everything else, 'Sammy what is it?'

'De? Do-don't g-g-go.' Sammy whispered,'s-scared.' He admitted his face burning with humiliation at feeling so weak.

'Doc?' Dean glanced up at Doctor Welby, 'can I stay with Sam?'

'Of course if Sam'll feel better about it, I just want you to feel as comfortable as possible Sam.'

'Th-thanks Doc.' Sam gave his doctor a tremulous smile before turning his tear-filled gaze to his father,'s-sorry D-Dad.'

'Hey nothing to be sorry for kiddo, I'm gonna go and make a few phone calls anyway and I'll bring back coffee and pie for Dean and some ice cream for you Sam.' John said with a small smile though it didn't make it all the way to his eyes.

S—D

Markus Welby couldn't help but notice the flinches his patient made each time he had to make physical contact during the exam, it left the doctor feeling sad and in a way impotent, unable to help Sam feel at ease.

'So-sorry Doctor Welby.' Sam stammered hoarsely, his overtaxed energy reserves all most depleted, his abused throat still dry and strained.

'Nearly done now Sam and you're doing brilliantly so don't sweat it.' Markus tried to sooth Sam's fears as he worked, 'okay Dean can you help Sam roll over a little so I can check his back? Actually, it might be easier for Sam if you help him sit up and brace him against you.' Markus watched as Dean helped his brother to sit up and then to cradle him tenderly against his chest, 'that's great guys,' he enthused as he checked the dressings and sutures. 'All done.' He announced finally and helped Dean to settle Sam back in bed, 'I'm just going to write up Sam's chart and order the pain relief for him, as I said the Orthopaedic surgeon will be in later today to check on his handy work so I'll be back in after that just before dinner, if you have any questions or you feel worse in any way I want you to get me paged ... okay Sam?'

'Yeah sure thanks Doc.' Sam said but all the while, he stared down at his toes, 'for everything.'

'No problems at all Sam, now you get some rest okay.' Markus glanced up at Dean and then with an almost imperceptible nod indicated that he wanted to speak with Dean in the hallway.

'Go to sleep Sammy, I'm gonna be right back.'

'You're not leaving me?' Sam's eyes went wide with fear and gripped Dean's hand with his own.

'Not getting rid of me that easily Sammy, so don't sweat it, I just want to chat with the doctor for a minute and don't want to keep you awake anymore, and I'll be right in front of the door so you can still see me.'

'Oh owkay thanks Dean, Doctor Welby.' Sam yawned again but tried to stay awake and keep an eye on Dean, not that he had anything to worry about but it helped.

S—D

'So what's up Doc?' Dean smirked, 'sorry had to get that in.'

'That's fine Dean,' Mark grinned he was fast warming up to the entire family not just his patient and he had a feeling that he was going to get along with Dean if not anyone else. 'I'm ordering a PCA pump for Sam.'

'A PCA? That's where they hit the button and get pain relief?'

'Yes, even though Sam said that his pain level was only seven ...'

'yeah preaching to the choir here Doc, he'll be gasping for his last breath and say that he's fine nothing to worry bout.'

'It will be a morphine pump Sam's not allergic is he?'

'Not that I'm aware of and I know most of his ... issues.'

'Fine the other thing I am worried about I'm not really qualified to deal with, but hell Dean I'm worried about Sam's emotional state, after receiving the kind of abuse and attempted brainwashing ... perhaps he would benefit from speaking to a professional?'

'Actually dad is ringing a family friend who is a Preacher and counsellor, he'll get Jim to come and work with Sam.'

'Ah even better he might open up more with someone he feels comfortable with,' Markus nodded his approval, 'okay well I'll get the PCA organised and an interim injection now to relieve his pain. Page me if you or Sam need me for anything at all.'

'Sure will thanks Mark.' Dean shook hands with the doctor and then turned to go back into Sam's room when he stopped and looked at his little brother.

Even though he was finally growing into his gigantic feet, Sam looked small in the bed surrounded by the medical equipment and all of the tubes and drainage bags attached to him without the dressings and traction sling. 'Aww Sammy.' He muttered, even asleep Sam looked like he was in pain, fine lines etched around his eyes and mouth but it was the tears leaking down his face that was the give away.

'Hey Doc?' Dean called just as the Doctor reached the nurses' station, 'you better hurry up with that pain stuff.' He said before disappearing into the room.

Markus wrote up the order and took it in to administer himself while nurse Kaylee Aston went to get the PCA organised for him.

Markus injected the morphine into Sam's IV port and then took his temperature and checked his blood pressure again, just to double check everything, his patient's pallor and the sheen of perspiration on his face worrying the attentive medic.

'Mark what is it?' Dean asked when he saw the doctor scribble notes down after checking Sam's temperature and blood pressure.

'Sam's temp has gone up slightly but it's still not too high to worry about, I'm ordering a fever reducer now to pre-empt any further complications, his blood pressure is still a little elevated but I would be worried more if it was not or if it was lower than it should be.'

'So he's good? Stable?'

'Yeah he is, so I'll get going and have Kaylee bring in the fever reducer when she brings in the PCA.'

'Thanks Mark, sorry if ...'

'Like I said earlier Dean, if ya need me for anything at all, no matter what it is.' Markus smiled and clapped Dean on the shoulder, 'get some rest ... Doctor's orders.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Dean went to sit next to Sam's bed again and started to wonder where their dad was, he was taking a helluva long time getting coffees.

S—D

John paced the footpath like a caged wild beast, radiating fear and rage anyone who came near him suddenly diverted their route, not wanting to disturb the big man or to look at him the wrong way. A very natural and expected response when John Winchester's children were threatened or hurt.

'Jim, it's John.' He left this call to the last, not wanting to hear the lecture; he was due from the Preacher about the boys.

'John? What is wrong? You sound terrible.' The cleric sounded honestly concerned when he heard the tone of voice over the cell phone.

'Something's happened Jim, it's bad.'

'John what is it? One of the boys?'

'Sam was kidnapped, it seems by a demon who ...' The words stuck in John's throat when he tried to explain to Jim what happened to Sammy, 'he thinks that he's Sammy's biological father, which is impossible, he wanted to turn Sam, to break him and have him acknowledge the bastard as his father.'

'Dear Lord ... John is Sam?'

'We got him back, the demon is still out there, Sam's in a bad, bad way Jim physically he's a mess but ... this demon messed with his head, seriously messed with it.'

'Tell me where you're staying and what hospital Sam's in, I'll be there first thing in the morning.'

'Thanks Jim I didn't know who else to call.'

'What about Bobby Singer? He is the best demonologist around.'

'Yeah well we kind of had a bit of a falling out ... not a good idea there Jim.' John admitted ruefully.

'I'll call him after we finish up, you might be fighting but I know that he does care about those boys of yours John, we all do.'

'Thanks Jim.' John sighed wearily; he ran his fingers through his dark hair as he gave Jim the address of the motel, the hospital and directions before thanking him once again and hanging up.

'John?' Tess hurried towards the harried looking man, 'is Sam alright?'

'Huh? Oh hey Tess didn't see ya coming.' John looked suitably chagrined when he turned to look at the woman standing next to him. 'Yeah, or rather he will be, want to come up with me?'

'If it's okay,' Tess smiled and laid a gentle hand on John's arm, he immediately felt calmer about things, his chest not so tight and heartbeat just a little slower, she sure was a packet full of surprises.

'Yeah, just have to stop by the cafeteria to pick up some coffee and pie for Dean and some ice cream for Sammy.'

'Have you spoken to the doctor yet?'

'Yeah, it's gonna be a long haul to get Sam back to his old self but it will happen for him.'

They chatted while they walked back into the hospital in search of coffee, pie and ice cream, John felt himself relax he never made small talk, and yet this slip of a woman had him feeling at ease and almost optimistic about Sam's recovery and a resolution for all of it. A painful resolution for the bastards that did this, but hey no one's completely perfect.

S—D

Max stood across the street and watched John Winchester carefully; he couldn't believe his luck when he saw the big man come out of the hospital cell phone already in hand. He had come originally to find out how Sam fared but this was better than he had ever hoped for.

He couldn't hear the conversations, although at times he could tell that the hunter was getting very agitated with the first couple of calls but seemed to calm down a bit with the last one. But, then this honey of a woman came up and started to talk to Winchester. Intrigued Max took a step off the curb, intending to get close enough to the couple to hear their conversation. He never heard the car racing towards him; he never heard the shouts of warning or the blaring of car horns. All he felt was the connection of metal and iron against his flesh, a cold numbness flood through his body and then nothing.

Bonelessly Max's body hit the bonnet of the car and then somersaulted away from it sending him sprawling down the road. A woman's scream filled the shock-filled witnesses, John and Tess turning just as the car connected with Max.

A chill ran up John's spine and he suddenly had an urge to see both of his sons, gripping Tess' elbow a little tighter than he should have, he guided her towards the lifts and gave her a half-hearted apology.

He could barely swallow down on the bile rising up his throat or barely hear anything save for the pounding of his heartbeat and pulse. 'We have to get to the boys now.' Was all he said in defence of his actions.

TBC