A/N: I am not a doctor! The doctor in this chapter gives Sam medical information regarding Evy. I did not do research to make it more realistic. So please don't expect it to be 100% accurate.

Chapter Thirteen

Brave Little Soul

Despite the weather outside getting worse, Dean drove at breakneck speed to get to the hospital. What should have been a twenty-minute trip from the house took less than twelve. Dean ran inside the emergency department, eyes scanning around for any sign of Sam or Evy. When he didn't see them, he ran to the admission desk.

"Excuse me." he said.

The admission nurse, who had been looking down at some paperwork, looked up at the sound of Dean's voice and smiled. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Sam or Evelyn Winchester." Dean said.

"Are you family?" the nurse said.

"Yes. Sam's my brother, Evelyn's my niece." Dean said. "Where are they?"

"Hang on, sweetie. I'll call and try to find out where they are." The nurse picked up a phone and dialed a number. She talked no more than thirty seconds, but it felt like hours to Dean. "Thank you." As she hung up the phone, she said to Dean, "Your brother's in the surgical waiting room, sweetie."

"Surgery? Who's in surgery?" Dean asked.

"That's all I know, sweetheart. Go down the hall, take that elevator three flights up."

Dean ran down to the elevator and took it up. The ride wasn't long, but again it felt like forever. When Dean arrived on the floor, the first thing he saw was Sam sitting in a chair, one knee bouncing up and down at the speed of light, his hands on his head.

"Sammy."

Sam looked up quickly and seemed relieved to finally have someone there with him. "Dean."
Dean took the chair in front of Sam. "Sam, what the hell happened?"

Sam took a ragged breath. "We, um, we were coming back from the movie. I was going through the intersection at Kennedy and Myers and somebody ran the red light."

"What the hell?" Dean said. "Where's Evy?"

"The car slammed right into her. God, Dean, it slammed right into her door." Sam said.

"Sam, come on. Tell me. Where's baby girl?" Dean asked.

"She's in surgery." Sam said.

"How bad is she hurt?" Dean asked.

Sam took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "Her leg's broken in three places. She's got cuts and bruises. She's in surgery so they can try and see if anything else is wrong with her."

"God." Dean said. "It's just like…"

"Don't say it." Sam said. "Please. I've been thinking the same thing all night."

"What happened to the other driver?"

Sam's knee immediately stopped bouncing and he stared at Dean. "I didn't even think about that."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Dean, she was awake until they took her into surgery." Sam said.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed loudly.

"I can't get the sound of her screaming out of my mind." Sam said, barely holding back tears. "She was pinned down by the door. The fire department had to cut it off. She was crying so much…"

"Sam, stop. Do not blame yourself for this. The only person whose fault this is is the asshole that slammed into you and ran away." Dean said.

Sam nodded.

"Are you hurt?" Dean asked.

"Um, I have a minor concussion and I had to get a few stitches. Other than that, I'm fine." Sam said.

Before Dean could ask anything else, a man and a woman came up to them. "Sam Winchester?"
"Yeah?"

"I'm detective Morris." the woman said. "This is detective Landau. We're with the Lebanon police department."

"Okay." Sam said.

"We need to ask you some questions about what happened tonight. Is that okay?" Detective Landau asked.

"I'd really rather not. I need to wait on…" Sam started.

"Sam." Dean said, stopping Sam in his tracks. "Baby girl's in surgery. They need to know what you know. Now's as good a time as any."

"I promise we'll be brief, Mr. Winchester." Detective Morris said. "May we sit?"

"I didn't really see anything." Sam said.

"That's okay." Detective Morris said. "Just tell us what you do remember. Every detail helps."

Sam recalled for them as best he could what had happened, starting with the conversation he and Evy had had after the movie and ending with coming to the hospital. He gave them a description of the boy at the scene who had called 911, and a couple other people that he saw there. When he was done, Detective Landau asked,

"So you didn't see the car at all?"

"No!" Sam said, his patience beginning to wear thin. "No, I didn't see the damn car! I was too busy trying to make my daughter stop crying."

"Mr. Winchester, it's okay." Detective Morris said. "What you gave us is enough. We'll leave you alone now. This is my card. If you remember anything else, or you have any questions, call me."

"Thank you." Dean said, taking the card for a now very distraught Sam.

As the detectives turned the corner, Sam said, "I was useless, wasn't I?"

"No. You kept baby girl safe. That's the most important thing, Sam." Dean assured him.

It was past midnight at that point, but neither Dean nor Sam even thought about falling asleep. Dean called Jody, who agreed to come as fast as she could; he also called his boss Scott, who agreed to have Sam's car towed and keep a lookout at the shop for any damaged cars that contained traces of the same color paint as Sam's car. Sam called Linda, who agreed to come to the hospital after dropping Lily off at school. It was approaching five am when a doctor finally came into the waiting room.

"Evelyn Winchester?"

Sam and Dean jumped up off their seats immediately. "Yes?"

"Are you her family?" the doctor asked.

"I'm her father." Sam said. "Is she okay?"

"You need to sit down." the doctor said. "She's alive, but we need to talk." As Sam sat back down, the doctor began. "I'm Dr. Monroe. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Evelyn has no other bone breaks than in her leg. The leg was broken in several places, as we told you. We inserted a rod to help it heal, but she's going to be in the hospital for a while. She'll need some physical therapy. She also had to have quite a few stitches put in."
"Okay." Sam said. "You said that was the good news?"

"Yes. Evelyn sustained a head wound in the accident. She had pressure building up in her brain. We gave her another X-Ray and checked, but there's no skull fracture. We put in a shunt to help relieve the pressure, but she's still unconscious." Dr. Monroe said. "That's the bad news. There's no way to tell how long she'll be unconscious."

"Is she in a coma?" Sam asked.

"No. But it is possible that she'll slip into one. We'll have to keep monitoring her reflexes every couple of hours. I'm sorry, I wish I had better news for you." Dr. Monroe asked.

"Does she have brain damage?" Sam asked.

"We can't tell that until she wakes up."

"She seemed okay after the car hit us." Sam said. "She knew what was going on."

"Sometimes it takes time for the damage to become clear." Dr. Monroe said. "Mr. Winchester, I'm gonna be honest with you. Your daughter's got a long road ahead of her. But it's amazing she's even alive. I know it's hard to see right now, but that is a blessing."

"You're right." Sam said. "You're right. That's everything."

"Can we see her?" Dean asked.

"Yes." Dr. Monroe said. "Although she's in the ICU. I can only allow a parent to stay in the room with her unless it's visiting hours."
"That's okay." Dean said. "I just want to see her for a minute. We have family coming over, I can come back in the morning." When Dean looked out the window and saw the sun was coming up, he said, "Well, later this morning, anyway."
"I should warn you." Dr. Monroe said. "She doesn't look like herself."
"Please." Sam begged. "Please just take me to her."

"Alright. Let's go."

Dr. Monroe led them down the hall towards the other end of the hall, where ICU was located. Dr. Monroe led them into a room, where Evy was lying on the bed. Sam paled at the sight of her. Her leg was in a heavy cast, and the top of her head was wrapped in gauze. She had stitches all over, and so many bruises that from a distance, her entire left side looked black and blue.
"Mr. Winchester? Are you all right?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"I will be. When she's okay." Sam said.

"I understand. I'll have a cot brought in for you." Dr. Monroe said.

"Thank you." Sam replied, without looking at the doctor.

Once the doctor was out of the room, Sam approached the bed as if it was full of snakes. He sat on the chair closest to the bed and stared at her. Dean walked up behind him, in almost as much shock as Sam. To Dean, Evy looked like a porcelain doll that would break easily if so much as touched the wrong way. As if Sam heard what Dean was thinking, he said,

"I'm almost afraid to touch her. I might break her."

"Wasn't it you when she was little who was always telling me and dad not to treat her like she would break?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam said, letting out a chuckle.

"She needs you, Sam." Dean said, laying an encouraging hand on Sam's back.

"I wonder if she can even hear me." Sam asked. "If she even knows we're here."

Dean hesitated; he didn't know whether or not adult Evy had ever revealed this to Sam before she died. "She can."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Remember when she was in the coma? When she was attacked by the Shtriga?" Sam nodded. "She told me later she knew everything that was going on. She saw us talking to her, felt it when we were holding her hand."

Sam looked at Evy again, this time grabbing her hand gingerly. "I'm here, baby. I'm not gonna leave you."

"Sam, I'm gonna head home and wait for Jody. You gonna be okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm not really sure how to answer that right now." Sam said. "But it's okay if you go."

"I'll be back once Jody's here." Dean promised. "It won't be long." Sam nodded and Dean walked around the chair to face Evy. He gently kissed her cheek and squeezed her arm. "Get better, baby girl. We love you."

Dean left and Sam was finally faced with what he'd been dreading ever since the accident. Being alone with Evy. A nurse came in with the cot, but Sam wasn't able to sleep until he got on the bed next to Evy. He couldn't help but think that he had to be there in case she had a nightmare, even if she wouldn't be able to tell him about it. Jody came the following day and mothered Sam, forcing him to eat and drink at regular intervals. Laura came by, encouraging Sam to take the time he needed. Linda came, and offered her support to Sam. Everything was in one ear and out the other for Sam. All he could focus on Evy. She wasn't getting better, but wasn't getting worse.

Later that night, another visitor came by. It was Scott, Dean's boss. He quickly visited with Evy, but seemed eager to talk to Dean about something. Dean walked out into the hallway with him, assuming that Scott wanted to discuss when he'd be able to work next.

"Scott, just give me a couple days to figure this out…"

"Dean, wait. That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about." Scott said. "Listen, the guys at the shop all donated three vacation days each for you to stay here with Evy. You don't have to use all of it if you don't want to, but that gives you close to a month if you need it."

Dean, who clearly wasn't used to such generosity, stuttered as he said, "Tell them I sa…said thanks."

"I will. But listen, I wanted to talk to you privately for a different reason." Scott pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Dean. "The car you asked me about came into the garage."

"What?" Dean asked. "Are you sure?"

"It's a Honda Civic, front end damage, paint matches Sam's car." Scott said. "I have to let the police know…"
"Give me two hours. Please." Dean said.

"Dean, what are you gonna do?" Scott asked. "I know you want to get this guy, but…"

"I'm just gonna scare him." Dean said. "I swear. Try to get him to turn himself in. If he won't, I'll call you and you can call the cops."

"Alright, Dean. Whatever you do, just don't get arrested. And if you do, this" Scott said, pointing at the paper in Dean's hand, "does not come back to me."

"You got it." Dean said, grabbing and shaking Scott's hand. "Thanks, bud."

"Anytime." Scott said. He took another look at Evy. "Get in a shot for me. I can't stand assholes that hurt kids. Especially ones that run away."

"Thanks again." Dean said. "For everything." Scott left, and Dean walked back into the room. "Sam, I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Sam asked. Not that I really care, he thought.

"Work errand." Dean said. "Scott wants me to take care of something before I take my vacation days."
"Okay." Sam said. "Wait, what vacation days?" Dean told him about the offer from the guys at the shop, and Sam let out his first smile since the accident. "Dean, that's great."

"Yeah." Dean said. "It is. I'll be back soon." He turned to Evy and said, "I'll be back, baby girl."

Thirty minutes later, Dean and Cass had arrived at the destination Scott had given him. Dean had expected Cass to be against the plan, but he supported it whole heartedly. He'd also assured Dean he'd be able to tell if the suspect, Jason Kensington, was lying. Dean knocked at the door and waited impatiently. A few seconds later, a teenager, no older than twenty, came to the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Jason Kensington?" Cass asked.

"That depends. Who's asking?" Jason said.

"Look, are you him or not?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I am. What's it to you?" Before Jason could react, Dean and Cass had pushed him inside. "Dude, what the hell?"

"Do you drive a Honda Civic?" Dean asked.

"What? Yeah…."
"You were in an accident last night." Cass stated matter of factly.

"No, I wasn't." Jason said.

"You were." Cass said. "You have whiplash."
"Really?" Dean said. "You see, that's interesting. My brother and my niece were in an accident last night too."

Jason started to run out the door.

"Cass. Now."

Just as Jason got to the door, he suddenly doubled over in pain. He lay on the floor, screaming like a baby. Dean took note he was crying, and shook his head. An unsympathetic Cass stood watch at the door. Dean knew he was muting Jason's screams from the neighbors. Dean bent down and got two inches away from Jason's face.

"Shut the hell up and look at me."

Jason stopped screaming but looked at Dean, crying and clutching his leg.

"Hurts, don't it?" Dean asked. Jason nodded pitifully. "Well, there's nothing wrong with you. What you're feeling right now, is exactly the pain you put my niece in last night."

"I'm sorry!" Jason said. "I just got scared…."
"You got scared?" Dean asked. "Do you know she was awake after you hit her? The door pinned her down and broke her leg in three places. She's got fifty stitches from broken glass. She hit her head so hard they had to drain blood out of it. How scared do you think she was?"

"Please, please take it away…." Jason begged.
"Why should I? My niece has to deal with it." Dean said. "Tell me the truth. Right now. Were you drunk? High? Both?"

"High." Jason answered.

"So you got high on a night where visibility was next to zero, got behind the wheel of a car, hurt my niece, totaled my brother's car, and ran. Does that about sum it up?" Dean asked.

"YES!" Jason screamed. "Please, I'll do anything, just please make it stop!"

"Shut. The hell. Up." Dean said again, this time low and dangerously. "You are gonna do something. We're gonna heal you. We're gonna make the pain go away. And as soon as it's gone, you're gonna get your ass up, and take yourself down to Lebanon PD. You're gonna turn yourself in to Detective Monroe or Detective Landau. You've got six hours to do that. If we don't get a call by tomorrow morning that you've turned yourself in, we'll be back. And you'll feel this all over again when you hit the sidewalk outside from that window right there. Got it?"

"Got it!" Jason said. "I'll do it, I'll turn myself in, I swear."

"One more thing." Dean said. "My niece is in the third grade. She was out with her dad celebrating Halloween. She loves school, and it's pretty damn likely her dad's gonna have to tell her she can't go until she can learn to walk again. That could take months. If you had done this two years ago, it's likely I never would have given you a chance to turn yourself in. I suggest doing it quick. Because if my niece wakes up anytime soon, and I have to listen to her cry about not being able to go to school or because she's in pain, I might just change my mind about giving you the chance to do the right thing."

"Dude, please…"

Dean and Cass walked back out to the Impala. Cass healed Jason from the car, and they headed back to the hospital. There was no change in Evy's condition, and Dean had to take everyone and go home again. The call eventually came that Jason had turned himself in. While Dean and Jody were happy to hear it, Sam was too worried about Evy to react much. The next three days were more of the same. Sam keeping a practically constant vigil at Evy's bedside, broken only by Jody making him leave for fifteen to twenty minutes to eat three times a day. Sam slept in the same position every night, lying down next to Evy to try and fend off any nightmares.

The day finally came. Sam was half asleep, in the process of waking up and beginning another long day of hoping for Evy to wake up. Sam almost missed it. It was like a bug running across his hand-that light, that airy. Sam almost reached down and brushed it away. Until he saw it. Evy's eyes were open. It wasn't a bug running across his hand, it was Evy squeezing it.

"Daddy." she whispered.

A relieved Sam smiled and almost laughed. "Hey!" he said.

"What happened?" Evy asked.

"I'll tell you, honey, I promise." Sam said. "Hang on one second, okay?"

Sam went into the hallway and called for Dr. Monroe. After a quick examination, Dean and Jody had showed up. Dr. Monroe sat himself on the edge of the bed and faced Evy.

"I need to ask you a few questions, sweetie. They might seem like silly questions, but I need you to answer them, okay?"
"Why?" Evy asked.

"Well, you hurt your head. I want to make sure you haven't hurt your memory. Does that make sense?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"I guess."

"Do you know your name?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"Evelyn Winchester."
"Very good. Do you know where you are?"

"The hospital." Evy said.

"Right. Do you know why you're in the hospital?"

"We got hit by a car." Evy said.

"Who did? Who was in the car with you?"

"My daddy." Evy said.

"Alright. That's good, sweetie. Do you have any questions for me?" Dr. Monroe asked.

"How long do I have to stay? When can I go home, go back to school?"

"I'm sorry, honey." Dr. Monroe said, and he was genuinely sorry. "You're gonna be here at least a couple weeks. Your leg is hurt really bad. And it's gonna take some time for you to be able to walk on it again."

Any happiness Sam had been feeling over Evy waking up went out the door when Evy's eyes filled with tears. Sam asked the doctor to give them a few minutes alone. Once he was gone, Sam turned back to Evy.

"Talk to me."
"I want to go home." Evy said.

"I know. But you have to stay here for a while, baby. You have to get better before you can be at home." Sam noticed a tear slipping down. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry I gave you a hard time at the movie."

"A hard time? What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"About carrying me." Evy said.

"Baby, don't worry about that. That's not important." Sam said. "Why is it bothering you?"

"'Cause I wish you could do it now." Evy said, tears starting to fall faster and faster.

Two weeks passed, and although Evy was getting better, she still hadn't been released. She did well with her physical therapy, but was frustrated at being stuck inside the majority of the time. She could walk a short distance with crutches, but the cast was so heavy she couldn't stand up for very long. Sam pulled her outside one day in a wheelchair, out into a garden kept on the bottom floor of the hospital. She was quiet, and Sam wanted to know why. He had a feeling he knew, but if she didn't talk about it, he was afraid she'd get so frustrated that it would hinder her recover. She'd been in the hospital for nearly three weeks. Dean was going back to work soon. Lily had been to visit a few times, and caught Evy up with what they'd been doing in school. She did a good job keeping up a bright face for Jody, Dean, and Lily, but Sam saw the truth once everyone went home. She was sad, sadder than Sam had ever seen her. She missed her life, and wanted it back. Sam wheeled the chair next to a stone wall and sat down beside her.
"Talk to me." he said. "Why are you so sad?"

Evy waited a minute before she spoke. "I feel like a baby." she said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"I can't do anything without help. I can't get dressed, I can't take a bath, I can't even walk. I hate this." Evy said, her voice cracking.

Sam sighed; he'd been spot on with what was wrong with her. She'd expressed the same frustrations several times. But she surprised him with something else that was on her mind.

"And it's not fair."

"What's not fair?" Sam asked.

"Whoever hit us." Evy said. "I got hurt and they got to run away. I wish it was them here instead of me." She suddenly looked mildly ashamed. "Is that bad?"

"No." Sam said without hesitation. "No, baby, it's not." Because I wish the same thing, he thought, but kept to himself.

He decided to try a different approach. Sam kneeled down in front of her, one hand each on either side of her wheelchair. He wiped the few tears that were starting to fall down. He finally said,

"The man that hit you? You're right, he didn't get hurt in the accident, and that's not fair. I can't really explain it, but he shouldn't have been driving that night, and he knew that. But Uncle Dean and Cass made sure he couldn't hurt anyone else." Sam said. "He's in jail now. He won't get out for a long time. And as for feeling like a baby, do you know what I see when I look at you?"

"What?" Evy asked.

"I see a superhero." Sam said seriously.

"You do?" Evy asked, surprised at his answer.

"You bet I do." Sam said. "Baby, you had a car on top of you and you're still here. You're being brave and doing everything you can to get better and get back out there."

"I don't feel very brave." Evy said.

"That's what I'm here for." Sam said. "When you don't feel brave, you find me. Or uncle Dean, or aunt Jody. We're all here for you, baby."

Evy thought about what Sam was saying, and finally nodded her head. "Okay, daddy. I will." She looked up at Sam and asked, "Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"You're crying."

Sam hadn't even realized it, but he was crying. Comforting Evy had made him think about how close he'd been to losing her. The sheer panic brought on by seeing her pinned in the car had started to bubble back to the surface. He'd thought he'd done a good job hiding that panic, but apparently had not been completely successful.

"I was scared too, baby." he admitted. "When I saw you in that car. Watching you get better sometimes reminds me of that and I get scared again."

Evy reached over and wiped the rear off Sam's face. "I have an idea."

"What's your idea?" Sam asked.

"I'll be brave for you if you'll be brave for me." Evy said, finally smiling.

Sam laughed in relief that she finally felt better. "You got a deal, baby." They shared a hug and Sam asked, "I'm hungry. How about you?"

Evy scrunched her face in disgust. "Do we have to eat the gross hospital food?"

"No." Sam said. "Miss Laura's bringing you some of her mac and cheese. Mr. Scott's bringing you some of his burgers."

"Really?" Evy asked, her eyes growing to the size of saucers.

"Really." Sam said.

Laura, Scott, Dean and Claire had been taking turns bringing Evy one meal a day, but it had typically been dinner, as they all had to work. Jody had spent every weekend with them since the accident, and Claire had been there the entire time. It was lunchtime now, and Sam felt a heavy weight off his soul at the look in Evy's eyes for the unexpected treat. Sam kissed her cheek and stood up.

"You ready to go back to the room?" Sam asked.

"Can we eat out here?" Evy asked. "Please?"

"Sure, baby." Sam said. He knew he should take her back to her room, but she more than deserved to be a little spoiled at the moment. "Sure. I'll call Miss Laura."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

Evy grabbed his hand and pulled on it a little. Sam knelt back down and Evy threw her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Sam said. "I love you too, my brave little soul."

Next Chapter: Evy goes home.