Yay! Second chapter! Finally, some Hurt Sam to make up for our lack of new Supernaturals for a couple of weeks. ;) Without further ado...
"We're looking at a high Class 3, possibly 4 here. Hypovolemic shock most likely." Dean opened his eyes to slits as he watched his limp brother surrounded by a mass of people.
"S'mmy..." He slurred, but Dean wasn't even sure he made a sound. "Sam..." Before he could gather anyone's attention, his eyes had closed again...
Dean woke up slowly, his eyelids heavy and tired. He couldn't feel Sam's heartbeat anymore. Where was it?
His eyes snapped open and he was shocked to find out he was sitting in front of a large group of people.
Flashing lights hit Dean's eyes from outside the store and only then did he acknowledge that the people before him were paramedics. Looks like that old man didn't die for nothing after all.
"Hold still." One man said, pressing a bandage to Dean's head. Dean felt blood running down the side of his neck, which only stopped once the bandage was firmly in place.
"Where's Sam?" Dean questioned. The man turned to one of the women behind him. She whispered something to him.
"Sam Johnson?" Dean nodded. Sure, whatever. "He left already. He went up in the copter... five minutes ago? He seemed to be in a more desperate situation."
Dean groaned and touched his hand to his head. "Take me to him."
The paramedic shook his head. "Sorry, son, he's in ICU. But tell you what, we'll take you to the same hospital."
Dean nodded and protested as he was put on a stretcher and loaded into another ambulance.
"What about the other guys?" Dean asked in the ambulance, grabbing one of the medics' attention.
"Not now." The man said, taking Dean's blood pressure. "Worry about your health."But the only thing Dean could worry about was Sam.
...
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The first thing Dean saw when he woke up was white. White ceiling, white walls, white bed, white sheets, white everything. It smelled like cleaning products, so sterile it made his skin crawl.
Dean sat up and felt the back of his head, bandaged but better. he gathered his bearings, attempting to recollect what had happened. Sam.
With a wince, Dean yanked his IV out and stood up, ignoring the fact that he was in a hospital gown. "What do you think you're doing?" Crap, he didn't get far at all.
"I-I was just-" The young nurse's ponytail swung as she guided him back to his bed. "Down, now."
"I want to see my brother." Dean told her. "I need to. He's okay, right?" The nurse picked up the clipboard by his bed and flipped through a few pages. "Sam Johnson... Oh. Oh. Um, I'll see if I can arrange a visit for you." Dean nodded thankfully, but her tone as she'd read about his baby brother freaked him out.
"Dean?" Another reason Dean hated doctors. The man knocked on the door when it was open. What was Dean supposed to say to that? Come in? Stay in? He settled on looking up an making eye contact.
"You're doing better. You've been out for two days." He said. "By the way, I'm Dr. Bennett." Dean shook the man's hand weakly.
"My brother?"
"Oh, yes, about that. You seem to be his only living family member in our records."
"That's correct."
"I hate to ask, but I'll need to see your insurance?" Dean looked around and noticed a small pile of his possessions on the table beside him. "I didn't want to just take it, you know?"
Dean gave a very fake smile. "Yes, you're so polite, now take me to my brother."
Dr. Bennett sighed. "Alright, but if you get dizzy I'll take you straight back to your room." Dean waved him off, though the second he stood up the room began to spin. After steadying himself, he followed the doctor out of the room.
They traveled down the hall and passed into ICU, at which point Dean's heart began to beat faster. "In here," He pointed into one room with Sam's current name on the door.
Dean stopped at the sight of his brother. Pale, bruised, and unconscious, he lay deathly still. Dean thought people were supposed to look peaceful when they were like this, like they were sleeping. Apparently, Dean didn't get that privilege.
"Break me down easy." Dean mumbled, pulling up a chair next to his brother.
"When we found you two, Sam had been stabbed in the side, presumably by the thieves?"
"Y-yes."
"Well, he'd lost a very large amount of blood- what we'd call a Class 4, which is a lot of blood. That's where the transfusion came in. You're lucky, too, we almost didn't have enough."
Dean took in all the information. "So because of the blood bank, Sam's alive?"
"No. There were still other problems." Dean frowned.
"After we got that situated we focused on the infection and, therefore, the fever." Dean glanced at Sam's clammy skin. "Hopefully with antibiotics, it'll work itself out, but until then we'll keep him closely monitored."
Dean breathed a sigh of relief.
"He's been waking up for a few minutes at a time, but until the fever breaks we won't know what further steps to take."
"Can I stay in here?" Dean asked, though he had no intentions of leaving either way. To his surprise, Dr. Bennett nodded. "Let's get you some clothes."
...
Dean was filling out paperwork next to Sam when he finally woke up again. He groaned and rubbed his eyes with his hands, looking around in confusion. "Dean?"
Dean quickly set down the clipboard and touched the hand his brother reached toward him. Sam relaxed at the contact. "Don' feel so bad today." He announced, proudly. "We can leave."
Dean smiled a little. "Not yet, almost. Just as soon as you feel a hundred percent."
A nurse bustled in, armed with tools, followed by a woman carrying trays. "Food?" Sam questioned. The nurse chuckled. "Not until you let me take your vitals."
Sam complied as the thermometer was stuck under his tongue.
"Chicken noodle or tomato?" The older lady asked when a path had finally been cleared for her.
"Neither, I'm not hungry." Sam explained. The woman pursed her lips and set a bowl of tomato harshly onto Sam's tray, the liquid sloshing dangerously close to the edge.
Sam pushed the bowl away.
"Sam, you need to eat. You've been out for days."
But Sam's face turned an ugly shade of green as he stared at the food. "Ugh, I can't, Dean."
Dean sighed at Sam's pleading eyes to let this one go. "Fine. You'll eat soon?"
Sam nodded, but not convincingly. "Of cour-" He gave a large, racking cough that shook his whole body. Dean watched nervously as he quivered in pain.
"Sammy?" Dean put his hand on the small of Sam's back. "Are you okay?"
Sam clutched his abdomen right where he was stabbed. Dean realized for the first time the large bandages wrapped around his chest.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Sam choked out. "It just hurts a little, that's all."
"The stitches?"
"Uh-huh." Sam grimaced and laid back down. "Look, I'm kinda tired so..."
"Yeah, yeah." Dean hope the cough was nothing. Sam was getting better, so this wasn't supposed to happen. "You get some sleep."
Sam turned and pulled the sheets up to his chin, twisting on his side and closing his eyes. Dean sat back in the chair and tapped his pen in thought. The cough is nothing, he thought. Nothing at all.
THREE DAYS LATER
"Dean?" Dr. Bennett motioned to him as Dean unfolded himself from the chair and glanced at his sleeping brother. "Is Sam ready to leave?" Dean asked hopefully, grinning. He'd called Bobby and told him to come and grab the Impala, but hopefully it wasn't necessary after all.
Dr. Bennett sighed and scratched his head. "Actually, that's what we needed to talk about." Dean's smile vanished. "What's wrong."
"Have you noticed your brother's eating habits?"
"You mean his lack of appetite?" Dean asked.
The doctor nodded. "A big lack. He hasn't been eating at all. Dean, it's serious, I'm sorry to say we can't release your brother as planned."
Dean's jaw dropped. "W-what?"
"Sam has anorexia."
"Oh, come on, Doc, Sam has very high self esteem." Come to think of it, Sam hadn't been eating much, but when he did he usually threw up. Dean had thought it was just the fever.
"This is no funny business, son, it could be a sign of many problems."
"Like what?"
"Chron's disease, pneumonia, cancer, depression, AIDS, tuberculosis-"
"I get it but- he'll be okay, right?" Sam stirred. He was still young, not ready for this.
The doctor shook his head seriously. "Probably not."
Dean fell into his chair in shock, the back of the seat banging against the wall loudly. Sam woke up with a start. His face was sunken, his eyes more tired than before.
"What's going on?" Sam asked innocently, brow furrowed in confusion.
Dean opened his mouth to answer but Dr. Bennett beat him to it. "You're most likely going to die."
Sam choked on the water he'd been sipping, swallowing harshly as his face paled. "Dean... Is it true?"
Dean cursed and faced the doctor angrily. "Well, don't sugar coat it!" Add abruptness to the list of reasons he hated doctors. He turned back to face his little brother and put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Sammy."
Sam smiled sadly, doubt clear on his face. "Sure, Dean,"
...
Bobby felt uncomfortably awkward as he walked down the hall. The Impala's keys jingled in his pocket and he had the feeling the food he'd brought for the boys was going to get cold if he didn't find Sam's room soon.
663... 664... 665... 66- There it was. Bobby approached the doorway but stopped in his tracks.
Dean and Sam were hugging, which made sense considering what they'd just been through. Dean's back was to him and he was shaking, his arms wrapped around his brother, almost as if he was... crying.
Sam looked up and Bobby noticed his pale skin and sickly shape. Ah, crap, Dean'd said Sam was getting better, but this wasn't better.
Sam shook his head subtly. He knew Bobby, being an old softy, would want to know what had happened. His head shake gave Bobby the impression that the brothers needed some alone time, obviously, and he nodded.
He'd just wait out here. Bobby knew Dean would kill him if he realized Bobby had seen him crying. But he also knew something else. Whatever happened to Sam, Dean would want to go after the men that brought this all on his only family. And he'd kill them all.
Another chapter! Any reviews are welcome. I appreciate any alerts or favorites, too. I'll try to update faster next week!