Deuce and Damien
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: See chapter one
Dean was scared; he knew what it meant when someone died. His daddy had explained it to him when he had kept asking for his mother the night of the fire. When people died they were gone forever, they never came home again. But as the boat drifted back and he saw the image of his mother on the shore, he remembered how sad his father had been. Dean remembered the nights he would hear his father crying and he didn't want his father to cry anymore.
The small boy jumped as water shot up in the air around the pond, he stared in wonder since that had never happened before, he could barely make out his mother and Caleb through the liquid that surrounded him. However, he through his hands over his ears as a loud thunderclap echoed over the farm, then he heard his mother yell Caleb's name.
Dean tried to look for the older boy through the water, but couldn't see him or his mother any longer. Yet what he did see caused him to stare in wonder, for in the reflection of the water that now surrounded him was the image of a Lady in a shimmering silver dress.
Oxoxoxoxox
"Caleb!" Mary called for the teen as she ran to his side, "this isn't suppose to be happening" she whispered as she laid her hand on the boy's chest, feeling a faint heartbeat beneath. Leaning over him she gave Caleb a gentle shake, "Caleb?"
He could hear a woman's voice calling his name, for a moment he thought it was his mother again. The image of her in the blowing snow filled his mind as her voice filled his head, 'you will protect him with your life.' Opening his eye's he recalled Dean running toward the pond, making into the boat before he could be stopped. Caleb's fear of water drove him to want the small child out of the boat, but something stopped him.
"Caleb, can you hear me?" Mary asked as she watched the teen's eyes open, them finally focusing in on her.
"Where's Deuce?" He asked, trying to sit up.
"Easy." She helped him as he continued to his feet, "He's in the boat, the water is blocking us from getting to him."
Shaking the woman off Caleb stumbled back toward the pond, barely making out the boat floating in the middle.
Oxoxoxoxo
"Who are you?" Dean asked as he watched the woman, he knew he should have probably been scared, but something about her made him feel safe.
"That's not important for you to know now." She spoke without moving her mouth.
"Why are you here? You haven't been before." The small child could barely make out the two figures reappear behind the water as he spoke.
"You needed me this time Dean. You are a very important little boy. I know you miss your mother and she misses you too, but your family needs you very much." The Lady seemed to whisper, "But you must choose to go back to them, neither I, nor your mother or Caleb can make that choice for you."
"Caleb said if I stay he would stay and mommy is here." Dean answered.
"Caleb's father needs him, just as your father needs you. Caleb will do anything to protect you, even if it means leaving his father. However it is not your time to be here yet. When it is your mother will be waiting." The image flickered with the ripples of the water.
"I miss mommy so much." Dean whispered as tears fell from his eyes.
The Lady seemed to draw closer to the boat as tears escaped the child's eyes. Her shimmering hand reached toward the child's face as his tears were turned into tiny crystals the shape of a sunflower seed. "She's always with you Dean, in your heart, no one can remove the memory of your mother from there. She's in Sammy when he looks at you and calls your name and I promise…" She held his little hand in hers placing the three tiny crystals in his hand, closing it over them. "She will be with you in your dreams whenever you need her."
Dean felt the warmth of the small stones in his hand as he pulled his hand close to him, covering his heart with it; a tear-filled gaze looked into the Lady's ice blue one. "I want to go home to daddy and Sammy."
With that the water surrounding the pond dropped away as the child felt the boat being gently pushed toward shore.
Oxoxoxoxoxo
It had been nearly thirty minutes since Bobby and Jim had arrived in the waiting area, seeing a doctor rush toward the ICU. Nothing had been said and no one had emerged through the doors. Finally the doors opened, Mac and John emerging with the same doctor following them. "They are both being prepped for surgery, hopefully it won't take long and you will be back with them soon. I will do everything I can and as you requested they will be placed in the same room after they return from recovery. I will be back out as soon as I can." Mac shook the man's hand as the doctor returned through the doors.
The two men stood as the exhausted, fearful father's approached, "Mackland? Jonathon?"
John bypassed the Pastor and took a seat on the couch next to a sleeping Sammy, the man's larger hand running gently through the small boy's chocolate brown hair. Mac watched his friend try to find comfort in the son he could be with, that he could hold, before he looked back at the worried gazes of the Guardian and Mechanic. "The boys are being prepped for surgery; they have to place a drain in their lungs to remove the build up of fluid the pneumonia has caused. It had progressed quicker than anyone expected and the antibiotics and fever reducing measures haven't been working."
"Is that safe with their fevers so high?" Jim asked as Mac took a seat, Jim and Bobby following suit.
"There really isn't any choice, both boys are on a ventilator and they don't expect them to make it through the night without the fluid being removed." Mac rubbed his tired face as he again glanced toward John, who had pulled Sammy into his lap, the still sleeping child snuggling closer to the warmth of his father. When the Scholar spoke again, it was barely a whisper, "I don't even know if that will help, if their fevers don't break, they may not make it anyway." Pleading eye's looked at Jim as the Pastor took in the news, Bobby's quiet swear was heard as the Hunter stood making his way toward the lone window in the room.
Without another word Mac stood and slowly made his way down the hallway, Jim watching as some of the strongest men he knew were falling apart in front of him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. However there was one thing he could do as he stood and made his way toward the elevator, taking it down to the first floor. He inquired at the desk for the room he was looking for, pausing only a moment as his hand came in contact with the dark wood door. Pushing it open a sense of peace seemed in envelop the Pastor as he stepped through and allowed the door to the Chapel to close quietly behind him.
Oxoxoxoxoxo
As soon as the boat was within reach Caleb pulled it to shore, Mary reaching inside, taking Dean in her arms. Caleb stepped up to the smaller boy, fear and anger flashing on his face, "Damn it Deuce, do pull that shit again."
"Caleb!" Mary reprimanded the teen's language as she read the fear in his face.
"Sorry," Caleb looked at her then back to Dean, "Just don't do it again, I can't lose you too." The last words nearly whispered as Dean learned toward Caleb, the older boy taking the smaller on in his arms, Dean's hands latching around Caleb's neck.
"I'm sorry Damien." Dean whispered as Caleb couldn't help but chuckle a little at his newfound nickname holding the little boy tight in his arms.
Turning in the older boy's arms Dean looked at his mother. "I'm sorry mommy, but I want to go home to daddy and Sammy now."
Relief showed in Mary's face as she pulled her son back into her arms. "I'll miss you more than anything, but that is what I wanted to hear baby." She kissed Dean on the forehead as she held him tight, his arms squeezing her.
"I love you mommy." Dean sobbed.
"I love you too baby." Tears slipped from her eyes as she met Caleb's gaze. "You promise me you will take care of him, you protect him."
Despite his best effort a tear fell from Caleb's eye. "With my life." And he meant it. He knew now, watching the small child in his mother's arms, Caleb knew this was the brother his mother had spoken of. The one that would come from another, he knew without a doubt that 'Deuce' would be the perfect name for him, the 'wild card' that had come into his life and gave him a purpose.