Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, but I wouldn't mind if Sam belonged to me. I am not a doctor, so please excuse any medical mistakes.
Raising A Winchester
Chapter 2
Doctor Jordan examined baby Nathan carefully and spent extra time listening to his fragile lungs. "I'm afraid we have a lung infection setting in, possibly pneumonia," the doctor explained gravely.
"How serious is this in an infant?" Dean asked as he watched Sam stroke the tiny baby's downy brown hair.
"Well, we've caught it early. We will get him started on antibiotics and breathing treatments. Hopefully, we can keep things from getting too bad." Doctor Jordan made some notes on Nathan's chart. "Sandy will get the antibiotics started in just a few minutes and then I will reevaluate Nathaniel in a few hours. I'd also like to do a chest x-ray to see if we're dealing with pneumonia."
"But he'll be all right?" Sam asked anxiously, never taking his eyes from his son.
"The antibiotics should take care of the infection barring any complications," the doctor informed him. "Let's get the medication started and see what the x-rays show us."
Sandy returned with the medication and Sam felt tears prick his eyes as an IV was started on his infant son. The baby cried, but it was not as robust as it had sounded earlier. Nathan was struggling to breathe. Once the antibiotics had been started, Sandy hooked Nathan up to oxygen to help him breathe better. She patted Sam on the shoulder as she finished up. "Hang in there, Hon," she soothed. "I've seen a lot in my years as a NICU nurse, and your son will be just fine."
"Thank you, Sandy," Sam managed a brief smile up at the nurse before turning his attention to his son once again.
When the nurse moved on to check on her other patients, Sam sighed. "He's so small, Dean. I would do anything to suffer in his place."
"Me, too, Sammy," Dean admitted. "But we'll have him home before you know it. Were you and Amber all ready for him?"
Sam frowned thoughtfully. "His nursery is ready. I put the crib together the night before Amber found out about…..everything." Sam paused and cleared his throat before continuing. "The only other thing we needed to do was wash all of the new clothes we got for him."
Dean nodded. "No worries. When we think it's almost time for him to head home, I'll go to your place and wash everything up."
"Thanks, Dean," Sam responded gratefully. He was so relieved Dean was here with him. Just having his brother by his side made dealing with Nathan's illness and Amber's leaving just a tiny bit easier.
The night drug on slowly. Sam sat with Nathan while Dean tried to grab a little sleep on one of the couches outside in the waiting room. The hospital was freezing and the couch was hard, so Dean mostly just tossed and turned. Finally, around six in the morning he went in search of coffee. After having two cups of the hospital's strong brew, he headed back to the NICU to relieve his brother and check on his nephew.
Nathan was still running a fever and needed oxygen to help him breathe. The worried lines on Sam's brow had deepened and now exhaustion had caused dark circles to form beneath the younger Winchester's eyes.
Dean placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Go get some rest, Sam. I'll stay with Nathan. Maybe you should think about heading home for a while. Those couches out there aren't any better than sleeping on the hard ground."
Sam shook his head. "I'm not leaving the hospital. What if he needs me?" He bit back the words he wanted to add. His son's mother had left him; his father certainly wasn't going to leave him, too.
"Then I'll call you," Dean told his brother calmly. "You're no good to Nathan if you wear yourself down." Dean's heart ached at the sight of his tiny nephew hooked up to so many wires, tubes, and monitors. He honestly wasn't sure if he'd be able to leave the baby either. He had hoped Sam's son would have escaped the rotten Winchester luck, but so far it seemed to have the baby tightly in its grasp.
"I'll sleep in the waiting room," Sam said quietly.
"Get something to eat, too," Dean ordered. "I'll be right here with Nathan, and I'll call you if he needs you."
Sam ran a gentle hand over his son's head. "Thanks, Dean," he said quietly, his voice heavy with exhaustion as he took one last look at his son before leaving the NICU.
Dean stroked Nathan's tiny arm with the tips of his fingers and watched the worried faces of parents as they passed by him. There were mothers, fathers, and grandparents all worried about the tiny little babies that were fighting for their lives. Dean looked back at Nathan. The only family the little boy had was right here in this hospital. Anger boiled in Dean's gut as he thought about Amber and Doreen. How could they just toss this kid to the side like he was some sort of monster?
"Don't worry, kiddo," Dean told the baby softly. "You're gonna love your dad. He's a great guy, and he'll take good care of you. It won't matter that you don't have a mom. Your dad will read you bedtime stories and tuck you in at night. He'll help you with your homework and patch up your scraped knees." Dean chuckled. "But the fun stuff, you leave that up to Uncle Dean. Me and you are going to have a blast, kid. You just wait and see."
Dean sighed. "You've got to get well so we can take you home. You're scaring your dad to death, Nathan. He needs you to get better and be strong."
The monitor next to the baby's bed began beeping as an alarm went off. Dean looked up in fear as his heart began pounding harder in his chest. "What is it? What's wrong?" he asked as Sandy came over to check the numbers on the screen.
"His oxygen level has dropped a bit. I'll tell the day shift nurse to keep an eye on him."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Dean asked worriedly.
"Hon, I have to get home to my husband. You'll be in good hands. Sarah will give Nathan excellent care." As she spoke, Sandy increased the oxygen that Nathan was getting and checked the baby's temperature. "Doctor Jordan will be in to speak with you before he leaves."
"Thanks, Sandy," Dean nodded. "You've been great."
The nurse patted Dean's shoulder reassuringly. "It's going to be okay, Hon. We'll take good care of your nephew."
Once she left, Dean studied the monitors attached to Nathan and paid careful attention to the numbers so that he would be able to give Sam a detailed report of what was going on with his son.
Doctor Jordan stopped by a little while later and reviewed Nathan's chart. "We got some bloodwork back, and I'd like to change Nathaniel's antibiotics. The new one should work better and get him feeling better faster."
Dean nodded. "Sandy just had to increase his oxygen."
"Little ones like this can have a hard time until the medication really takes hold," Doctor Jordan cautioned. "We should start seeing improvement within forty eight hours if this medicine works like I think it will."
Dean let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "That's great. Sam will be so glad to hear that. Thank you, Doctor."
"My pleasure. Now, my shift is over, but Doctor Harrison will be taking over for me. He is excellent with babies that struggle with lung conditions."
"Thanks again, Doctor Jordan," Dean told man as he shook his hand gratefully.
The hours passed by slowly. Dean typed oxygen amounts into his phone and decided he would purchase a notebook he and Sam could pass back and forth as they took turns sitting with the baby to monitor his progress or struggles.
When Sam returned a few hours later, he still looked haggard and worried. His long hair was sleep-mussed and greasy and he needed to shave. Dean frowned. "Dude, have you looked in a mirror?"
Sam grimaced and ran a hand over the scruff on his face. "I could say the same to you."
Dean shook his head and allowed the corners of his mouth to hook upward in a smile. "Nah, the five o'clock shadow makes me look sexy."
Sam snorted and then rubbed a gentle fingertip over the soft skin of Nathan's arm. "How's he doing?"
"They had to increase his oxygen a little bit, but other than that he's holding his own. Doctor Jordan changed his medicine. Said we should see improvement in about forty eight hours if the medicine works like he expects it to."
Sam smiled tiredly. "Here that, Nathan? You'll be feeling better soon, buddy." He turned his attention to his brother. "If that medicine works, maybe Nathan can go home soon."
Dean stood and stretched, his muscles protesting after hours of sitting still. "I'll head back to your place and get some laundry started. Call me if there's a change."
"I will," Sam replied as he sank tiredly into the chair his brother had just vacated.
Dean drove to Sam's house and let himself in the front door. The house felt empty, but Dean knew that Sam would make it feel like a home for his son's sake. Anger spiked in the older Winchester's gut as he thought about Amber leaving her husband and newborn son. He longed to confront her face to face and let her know just how he felt about the matter.
With a heavy sigh, he trudged upstairs and went into the room Sam and Amber had fixed up as a nursery. The room had been painted a pale blue. The crib and changing table were dark mahogany in color. White curtains dotted with blue and tan puppies hung at the windows. They matched the crib bumper Amber or Sam had already placed in the baby's bed. A stack of new clothes was lying on top of the changing table. Dean picked up the top sleeper and marveled at how tiny it was. He tugged his pocket knife out of his pocket and used it to trim the tags off of the clothing before he gathered them up and carried them downstairs to the washing machine.
Once the load of wash had started, Dean shrugged out of his t-shirt and threw it in the laundry bin before stepping out of his jeans and tossing them on top of his shirt. It was time for a shower and a shave.
When he exited the bathroom twenty minutes later, Dean felt and looked much better although he was still exhausted. He heard his phone ringing and hurried to the bed where he had tossed it to snatch it up.
Sam dozed off in the chair at his son's side, but snapped awake when his chin bobbed down to his chest. He sighed. "I'm sorry, buddy. Daddy is tired, but I'll try really hard to stay awake in case you need me."
Nathan squirmed under Sam's touch as the young father ran his hands over the soft, downy hair.
Sam smiled. "You act like you're starting to feel better."
The nurse, Sarah, smiled as she approached and checked on Nathan. "I'm sure he is feeling better. Looks like his fever broke." She adjusted a few things and gave Sam a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I think he's on the road to recovery."
"Really?" Sam sat up in excitement.
Sarah nodded. "The doctor will probably order another chest x-ray to check on things this evening and we will make plans from there."
Sam nodded. "I need to slip out and call my brother with the news. Can you keep an eye on my son for me?"
"Sure," Sarah smiled. "I'll be right here at the desk, so I'll be close by if he needs anything."
"Thanks," Sam grinned. "I'll only be gone a few minutes."
Sam slipped out of the NICU and eagerly called Dean, anxious to share the good news.
Dean snatched up the phone as it continued to ring; his heart was beating wildly in his chest when he saw Sam's name on the screen. What if something was wrong with Nathan? Had he taken a turn for the worse? "Sam?" Dean asked worriedly as he answered the phone.
"Dean, his fever broke," Sam babbled excitedly. "The nurse said they'll do another chest x-ray tonight, but she thinks he's on the road to recovery."
Dean heaved a sigh of relief and sank down onto the bed. "That's great, Sam."
"He's even moving around more like he feels better," Sam enthused.
Dean grinned, suddenly eager to see his nephew again.
"Stay home and get some rest, and come back tonight," Sam told him. "Then, if Nathan is doing well, I'll go home and sleep."
The older Winchester yawned, suddenly feeling his exhaustion despite his eagerness to see the tiny baby. "Okay, Sammy. I'll see you and Nathan later tonight." He hung up the phone and flopped back on the bed, closing his eyes and sighing at the feel of the soft mattress beneath him. He would close his eyes for just a minute and then go check on the clothes. It was only mere seconds before sleep claimed him.
To be continued…
Author's Note: It's my plan for this story to eventually become a series of one shots featuring Sam, Nathan, and Dean. Hopefully, my muse will cooperate. If you are hankering for more SPN fan fiction, check out "Not Right Now." You can find it on my profile page. I co-wrote it with LadyWallace and update it each Thursday. Thanks so much!