Living on a Prayer Ch. 6
Disclaimer: I don't anything recognizable in this story, nor am I making any profit from it.
Author's Note: Please remember I have no medical knowledge whatsoever, so forgive me if there is any glaring errors in treatment. Also, this chapter has not been beta'ed, so all mistakes are mine.
Previously: "I'm sorry, but the doctors need room to work and you will only be in their way," The male nurse informed John before re-entering Sam's room and closing the curtain behind him.
Leaning against the wall for support as his legs nearly failed him; John silently cursed the closed curtain in front of him. He needed to see his boy. He needed to know that Sam wasn't slipping away from him as he just stood there watching.
"Please, don't leave me Sammy," he pleaded, his knees finally giving way as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
Sucking in a labored breath, he closed his eyes and prayed that Sam had the strength to fight; otherwise, he would be losing two boys tonight.
Meanwhile, inside Sam's room.
"Damn it, this kid's blood pressure is bottoming out again," Dr. Brad Folsom cursed as he glanced at the monitor beeping out a glaring warning that Sam was in dire straits due to severe hypotension. "Janet, get a couple of pillows from the supply closet and get his feet raised ASAP. Jodie, I need 8 mgs of norepinephrine. We gotta get this kid's pressure up before he slips into cardiac arrest."
"Right away Doctor," Jodie states as she quickly made her way over the drug cabinet and unlocked it to get the requested medication. Grasping the require drug and a syringe, she quickly ripped off the sterile packaging and plunged the needle deep into the vial to draw out the required amount.
"Here you go Dr. Folsom," Jodie voiced as she handed over the medication
Chewing on his bottom lip, Brad knew it could be dangerous for Sam to receive the medication since his hypotensive from blood volume loss, but he also knew that without it, the kid would most likely die. Dispensing the medicine into Sam's IV, he could only hope that the medication would help maintain coronary and cerebral artery perfusion until his blood volume replacement therapy could be completed through transfusion.
Turning to his trusted nurse, Brad said, "Jodie, I want the rate of flow monitored constantly to make sure his blood pressure doesn't rise too high too fast, and also I need you to keep an eye on the infusion site for any signs of necrosis."
Nodding her head in affirmation that the doctor's orders were understood, Jodie pulled up a chair beside Sam's bed and sat down to watch her young patient.
"If you need me, I'll be outside talking to the youngster's father," Dr. Brad Folsom informed the ICU nurse before taking his leave.
~~Supernatural~~
Kneeling at the base of the stone cross, Dean couldn't help but feel a little out of place. It had been a very long time since he had bowed his head in prayer, and he wasn't sure he even remembered how. But he knew it was something he had to do. Closing his eyes, he tried to remember back to the time when he and Sam had stayed with Pastor Jim while their father was away on a hunt. Jim had taken him and Sammy to church with him on Sunday morning and the two of them sat in the front pew as he delivered his sermon. Dean could remember Sammy being amazed by the way the pastor spoke, even at the tender age of four. Sammy had taken the Pastor's words to heart and had thoroughly questioned the man of God afterwards about Heaven and why people prayed. And it was now something he had to do, even if he wasn't totally sure whether or not he believed in an actual Higher Being watching over them.
"Um, I guess I should tell you that I'm not sure how to do this, but if You really are there, then I am asking You to help save my baby brother," Dean began as he glanced towards the Heavens before returning his focus back to the cross. 'Sammy is a good kid and he doesn't deserve to die. He's the reason me and my Dad keep going. Without him, I don't know what we would do. I mean, he is our light, the one who keeps us from going totally darkside Ya know?" Scrubbing a calloused hand across his hair-stubbled jaw, Dean took a deep breath and then went on.
"Sammy, he, uh, he believes in You. He hasn't outright said those words to me, but I can tell sometimes by his actions. Even with the life we live, the things we have been through, Sam still believes and that has got to mean something, right?" Dean queried as he once again looked Heavenward.
"Look, I know I probably don't have a right to ask for Your help. I haven't always had the best of intentions and I know I can be an ass at times, but I need the kid in my life. I can't go on without him. He's been mine since they day our Dad placed him in my arms and I carried him out of that burning house. So that kind of makes him my kid. So please, I am begging You to save Sammy. I…I can't live wi-without…." Dean broke off as tears began to cascade down his face.
"Please?" he whispered once more before swiping the wetness away from his face with the sleeve of his jacket and pushing himself to a standing position. Glancing around, he was happy that no one had witnessed his meltdown, and he was especially his father hasn't been there to see it either. His dad needed him to be strong for both their sakes. Reaching out to reverently run his hand across the gleaming cross, he closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer once more before walking towards the path that would take him back to the Impala. He felt a desperate need to get back to his Sammy.
~~Supernatural~~
Opening his eyes as a firm hand was placed upon his shoulder, John looked up to see Dr. Folsom standing in front of him.
"How…How's my boy?" John questioned, almost afraid to hear the answer by the look on the young doctor's face.
"He's still alive, but he's in critical condition. We almost lost him to a severe drop in blood pressure, but I gave him some medication that brought it up to a more tolerable level. I'm hoping that this medication will keep his pressure stabilized until the blood transfusion is over. His heart can't take much more stress. Another couple of drops like the one he just experienced, well, let's just say it would be catastrophic to Sam's health. " Brad explained, knowing that the man before him needed to hear the whole truth.
"Can I see him?" John asked as he pushed himself up from the floor and stood at eye level with the doctor.
"Yes, but only for a few minutes. I want him to rest as much as possible without any distractions. It's what his body needs most if he is going to survive this latest setback," Brad informed the angst filled father.
"Thanks," John muttered, reaching out to shake the doctor's hand once more before walking over and pushing the curtain aside so that he could enter the cubicle Sam was stationed in.
Treading quietly into the room, John acknowledged the nurse sitting at Sam's beside with a wan smile before walking up the side of the bed and grasping his young child's hand.
"Ya know, you really gave me a scare there Tiger," John muttered softly as he used his other hand to brush back the long bangs that fell across his baby's forehead. "How about not scaring your old man like that anymore?"
Of course, John wasn't expecting an answer, but he had hoped on some level that Sam would have acknowledged his voice, maybe with a slight squeeze of his fingers, but it wasn't to be.
Sighing deeply, he pulled another chair up beside the bed and sat down to keep vigil over his baby for as long as they would let him.
He had been sitting with Sam quietly for roughly twenty minutes, when suddenly he felt a hand upon his shoulder and looked up into the moist green eyes of his eldest.
"Dad?" Dean questioned nervously as he took in the sight of his extremely pale brother lying so still on the bed.
"Where the hell have you been Ace? You had me worried?" John voiced sternly, before softening his expression at seeing just how upset Dean was.
"I had…I had to do something," Dean answered as he kept his gaze solely focused on his younger sibling. "How's he doing?"
"It was rough there for a while, and Sam is still critical, but the doctor is hoping that he finally has things under control," John answered, unwilling to divulge just how close they had come to losing Sam.
"Has he been awake at all?" Dean asked as he sat on the edge of Sam's bed and took his baby brother's hand into his own and began to lightly stroke it with his thumb.
"No, the doctor thinks that he will probably remain unconscious for the next twenty-four hours or so because he is so weak from blood loss," John answered with a sigh.
"Yeah, well that doctor doesn't know Sammy very well then does he?" Dean stated with conviction. Of course, Sam chose that very moment to turn his head toward the sound of his big brother's voice.
"Sammy, can you hear me kiddo?" Dean asked with baited breath, eyes gazing intently at his sibling as he waited for Sammy to open his eyes.
TBC. I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to get it posted. We are supposed to get an ice storm and could lose power for a few days.