Hi, I have returned. Ta-da, I have been so busy with work that I haven't had a single moment to work on any stories, and I was in Europe all of May and June for school, so…hi. Thank you to everyone who is following me/my stories and leaves comments. Here is just another one-shot to hold people over until I get the next chapters up on my bigger stories. Also PLEASE PLEASE leave some prompts for some whump!Caroline. Let's destroy her together.
Update:
So this is a lot longer than I thought it would be. It'll be a standalone.
ALSO ****** THIS IS NOT BY ANY MEANS MEDICALLY ACCURATE, THIS WAS PURELY FOR MY OWN ENTERTAINMENT. I WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS TYPE OF STUFF BUT UNFORTUNATELY I'M A LAZY DINGALING, SO JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND******
Caroline Winchester – One Shot: Fever-Appendix
Ages:
Dean, 23
Sam, 20 (at Stanford)
Caroline, 15
Dean and his sister had become quite the team after Sam had left for school. Dean tried his best to push Sam out of his thoughts, and focus on the remaining members of his family who had not ditched him. A part of him always felt obligated to his sister, and now that it was just the two of them (who could say where their dad was at any given moment), he was determined to make up for what he felt was years of neglect.
Naturally this was just his older brother guilt complex at play, but he couldn't help it. He and Sam had always been so close, but he begun to realize he did not know much about Caroline. They were more and more alike he kept discovering. Luckily she had not inherited the same erratic angry mood swings that he experienced, but was a fluid state of calm and chipper. Dean began to appreciate how many years he had taken that for granted.
After Sam left, Dean focused his days on training Caroline, and spending time with her. They went to movies, to bars, bowling, and on more than a few occasions it was his brainchild for her to play hooky.
He was relieved that she was not interested in academics, not that she hated them, just that it was neither here nor there. Dean still secretly felt swells of pride when he saw graded tests fall out of her open backpack, and could read the A's and high marks. She was a closet brianiac, and it made Dean happy to think of her as a mini Sam. But that still didn't stop him from telling her to skip school a few times…
John was back for the week, and the family packed up their things and headed to upper New Jersey, into a woodsy town to investigate suspicious attacks in the forests. Though John missed his youngest son immensely, and felt guilt for his last words exchanged, he felt more relaxed when he moved his family. Dean was always more than willing, and his daughter was so easy-going. He felt himself almost smile as he watched his kids load their things into the car, taunting each other nonstop.
Since the trip was long, John decided he wanted everyone in one car, so he sold his already stolen truck and the three settled into the Impala. John felt at ease with his eldest in the passenger seat, oozing confidence and bottled energy. Looking in the mirror John watched his daughter as the car stopped at a light. Normally she would be staring out the window contentedly, or poking Dean in the back of the head, but now she had her eyes toward the car roof as she gulped slowly.
John wanted to say something but only felt himself grow awkward; he was never good at these types of things. Get Dean to do it, that's the way it always is. And besides he wouldn't know if something was wrong anyways; Dean would be able to tell in two seconds.
"Dean, how's your sister?" John asked, not taking his eyes off the road. Dean snapped out of his funk and slowly turned to check, stretching his back methodically in the process.
"Yo, Care-Square, wh-" Dean's voice cut off as he realized his sister was completely spaced out and obviously something was wrong. He turned around all the way in his seat, John watching him out of the corner of his eye. Dean snapped his fingers in his sister's face; she just ignored him. Or didn't hear him, he wasn't sure. Carefully he reached out and placed his palm on her cheek. She leaned into the touch and closed her swollen eyes. Dean hissed at the touch, "Jesus, Dad she's burning up, something's wrong, we need to stop."
"Are you sure it's something major? Maybe just a cold. We need to keep driving."
Dean stopped listening after he heard his dad's irritated tone, he would fight after he took care of his sister. Knowing his dad wouldn't stop, Dean unbuckled his own seatbelt and began crawling into the backseat.
"Dean! What the hell?" John cried out, jerking the wheel as his son accidentally elbowed him in the shoulder.
Dean slid down to the left of Caroline, sitting sideways on the seat so he could face her. Finally she acknowledged him and blinked painfully, Dean felt goosebumps on his skin as he took in just how pale she had become. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and her skin had taken on a deathly shade of greyish blue. Her lips were cracked and she kept swallowing slowly, her shaking hand clutching at her throat.
"Aw, kiddo," Dean mumbled and undid Caroline's seatbelt. He slid his hands under her armpits and pulled her so she was propped up against his chest. Her body was radiating heat and he felt himself begin to sweat. Caroline warily grasped at his arm, trying to direct his cool hand back onto her burning forehead.
"I know kid, I know you're hot." Dean frowned and tried his best to cool off his sister, "Dad we have to stop, she can't keep going like this."
"Dean you know we have a time limit," John huffed, "what's wrong with her?"
Dean frowned even more, staring at John in the mirror, "I don't know but she needs to not be in the car any more. She's running a high temperature and needs somewhere with A/C."
"Roll down the windows and put some water on her head. We aren't stopping. She'll be fine."
It took every ounce of self-control for Dean not to attack his dad; how was he supposed to take care of his sister (something his father demanded of him daily) when he wouldn't let him? He tried instead to focus all his attention back on Caroline. Her hair was starting to curl from the sweat and was plastered on the sides of her face; Dean gently swept it back and put it into a messy bun using one of the hair ties on her wrist.
"What hurts?" he asked trying to keep her awake. She twitched her mouth a few times and her nostrils flared briefly and Dean was reminded so much of Sam's expression when asked questions. Then she blinked a few times and started to say something before Dean cut her off, "And none of that bullshit that you're fine."
"My throat," her voice sounded like someone had taken her voice box and ripped it to pieces, "my stomach...head…eyes…everything."
Dean felt worse, he hated watching his siblings in pain; especially when it changed his peppy sister into an immobile and miserable being. He was going to make his dad pull over if it killed him. Before he could yell at John, Caroline let out the saddest little mew of pain Dean had ever heard. Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks and she started whimpering illegible fragments that Dean couldn't quite make out.
"Dean what is happening back there?" John nearly yelled, and for once his fatherly instincts kicked in and he pulled the car to the side of the road. He had never heard his youngest ever make a sound like that before and it shot a pang of terror through his chest.
Dean was now restraining a hysterical Caroline who was limply trying to shove him off of her.
"'n I miss 'm, I jus' wan' it to stop!" her voice cracked at the end and Dean held her in a tight hug, cradling her head with his hand. His eyebrows were furrowed as he tried to find a way to help her. He was surprised to realize John had pulled over and was whipping the back door across from them open. He had never seen that look on his dad's face before.
The two made eye contact and John reached his arms out to his youngest child. Hesitantly, Dean helped pull her off of him and push her into John's arms. Their dad half carried/ half dragged Caroline out of the car and into the colder fall air. There, he slowly sat himself down into the grass on the side of the highway, clutching Caroline in his lap. The sun was setting and the closest streetlight was almost a quarter of a mile away. Dean hoped they would leave soon. The forest next to the road was looking unwelcoming.
Caroline was already in a state of fever-induced confusion, so she wasn't completely sure her if her father was hugging her or not. All she knew is that it felt nice and she didn't want it to stop. Her feverish brain was sprinting and an uncontrollable sadness kept taking over. In the car she had started crying from lack of control and sudden bursts of what she thought had been homesickness. But you couldn't be homesick without a home, could you? Then she had realized it was her brother she missed, Sam had been gone for almost two years and she missed him more than she could ever describe. For a person that moves around every few weeks, with no permanent residence, family becomes home. And the day her father had banished Sam, she had lost a part of her home.
Despite her lingering grudge against John, she still let his embrace help stop her shivering. On one hand could Caroline count the number of times John had hugged her, and it was surprisingly less awkward than she would have guessed.
Dean stood near the car watching his dad gently tuck his sister's sweaty hair behind her ears, and quietly shush her. He had never seen his dad spend more than a few minutes with his sick children and now he was hugging Caroline? Maybe he was possessed. Dean frowned again and felt a pang in his chest as he watched his father. He couldn't put a finger on this weird feeling he had…it wasn't suspicion…and it wasn't surprise…as John lightly pecked Caroline's forehead, Dean realized what it was. He felt jealous. He felt insanely jealous, and the rising growl in his stomach made it worse. Kind of like a mama bear seeing her cub being preyed on.
He didn't like someone else taking care of Caroline; she was his. Even if it was their dad he still didn't like it. Dean had always taken care of her while John was off parading in the woods.
"We need to get to a motel or something," Dean tried to interrupt, "before the sun is down. This place is giving me the creeps." He frowned even more when he was ignored.
John tried to look at his daughter in the eye but she kept avoiding his glance, focusing instead on the intense pains in her throat and head.
"Caroline, why are you crying?" He pried. Watching her cry was making him sick to his stomach.
"I m-miss him." She whispered, choking on tears.
"Miss who, kid?"
"Y-you know w-who."
John sighed, "No, Gun Bunny I don't."
Caroline let out a huge fake laugh that mixed in with her crying, her eyes were red and shining with tears and her nose was all splotchy, "I can't believe you-"
"Who are you talking about? You're sick. We'll take you to a motel-"
"I miss my brother, Dad! I miss Sam, and you're the reason he's gone!"
John's paternal soft-side was gone instantly and he let go of his daughter, pushing her away from him, "Don't you dare use that tone with me young lady. I don't care if you're sick or not, you never speak to me li-"
Caroline was staggering drunkenly back up while holding her stomach in pain, her rage building; trying her best not to punch John square in the face. "I can't believe you just erased Sam from our family, what the hell? I mean- I can't- ERGH- all because of your stupid fucking ego!"
John didn't even have time to process what he was doing. Next thing he knew he was on his feet, slapping his daughter across the face. Something held his hand from hitting her very hard, that something probably would be his conscience, but he struck her nonetheless.
Then he was being shoved back. He blinked and saw his eldest standing in front of him, crouched protectively in front of Caroline. Dean's face was pure anger, a look that always chilled John to the bone. Father and son made cold eye contact until John huffed and walked back to the car.
Dean's eyes trailed him and finally turned to his sister who was sitting on the ground again. She was half-heartedly dabbing her freshly bleeding nose, as she stared into space.
Dean crouched down next to her and rubbed the blood off her face with his sleeve. Before he could speak she cut him off.
"I'm tired, Dean."
"I know, we'll go somewhere soon to sleep-"
"No, I'm tired of this."
"What? Of Dad? You know he didn't mean it-"
"Of this life. I just want it to stop."
"Caroline-"
"I finally realized things aren't going to change back to 'normal'. Whatever 'normal' is to us. Back when Sam was here and we were happy. That's gone."
"Kid, things will get better-"
"No they won't. I'm tired of moving. I'm tired of feeling lost and I miss my brother." Her tears were gone and her voice was suddenly devoid of emotion and it freaked Dean out.
"Any one of these days I'm gonna mess up on a hunt and I'll be done." She whispered. That made Dean nearly jump out of his skin.
"I don't know what you're insinuating, but you had better never say that again," he said getting angry, "and I don't know what is up with you lately but you had better pull your shit together."
"Yeah that's how it always is isn't it? Sam gets to spill his guts and it's fine. Dean gets to have explosions and break motel furniture, sure that's great. But if Caroline complains she's suddenly a brat with no morals."
"That's not what I said."
"I don't care. I don't want to go back in the car. I just want to be alone."
"Well that'll happen when Hell freezes over."
"I'm not going with you guys."
"Caroline quit sulking and get up."
Dean was starting to freak out. He had dealt with resentful Caroline before, but this one was amped up from the raging fever she currently had. He glanced at John in the car but he was facing front and not watching.
Running a hand through his hair Dean stared at the lump of a sister seated in front of him.
"Caroline! We will work on all of this later; right now you need to go to sleep. In a bed. At the motel!"
She stopped acknowledging him and kept looking forward, tears popping up again. Dean could see the sweat starting to build up on her forehead again and the chills that were making her whole body shiver. Stubborn ass, kid.
He finally took a deep breath and bent over, tucking his arms under her armpits to begin picking her up. She was dead weight in his arms so he started to move his arms lower around her stomach. As his arms constricted to pull her up she let out a blood-curdling scream and Dean nearly dropped her.
John's head cocked up and was out of the car in two seconds running to his kids. Dean was holding Caroline's shoulders as she violently shook while propped up on her hands and knees. Vomit started to pour out of her shaking mouth.
John had never seen or heard anything like it. Shrieks of pain mixed with vomiting and sobbing. Dean was a wreck, running his hands through her hair and on her back.
"Baby, what is it?! What happened?! Dad!" Dean was terrified.
"Dean what the hell? What is going on!" John yelled.
"Dad-she needs a doctor!"
"We don't know where the hospital is-"
"Then call an ambulance!"
John went running back to the car to grab his phone. He always drove his kids to the hospital; ambulances were a hassle, trying to pay them off through fraud took a long time. But exceptions can always be made.
The vomit had begun to turn bloody and the panic Dean felt grew. His hands moved faster and more nervously as they stroked Caroline's shaking shoulders and head.
She looked at him mid heave; eyes wide with fear, bottom lip trembling with blood seeping down it. "Dean, make it stop!" She shrieked and grabbed her midsection, letting herself fall onto the ground where she curled up in a ball. Dean was traumatized and didn't want to pick her up again for fear of inciting another scream.
What the hell had just happened? He distantly heard John yelling at the dispatcher while trying to figure out where they were. Dean didn't know what to do, so he took off his over-shirt and began wiping the bloody vomit off his sister's lips and chin. He was propped on his knees, almost aggressively rubbing his little sister's back and shoulders, shushing her and trying to calm himself down.
"You're gonna be ok kid, I promise." His voice was choking from nerves and he began to get the Sam/Rory migraine he was so familiar with. Any time one of his siblings was in danger he would get the most absolute awful headache and chest pains. Despite what some people might think, if his brother or sister died, he would most likely not survive a week longer.
"No no no no-" Caroline was moaning in agony and curled into an even tighter ball. As the sun was almost completely set now, all Dean had to go off of was the streetlight and the car's headlights. But he didn't need light to tell how much his sister was shivering. He slid down onto the grass beside her and wrapped his arms around hers; if anything it would keep her from thrashing around and further damaging whatever was wrong.
Caroline bawled and her head whipped around his jaw area where he felt her sweat rub onto his stubble. His right hand held the back of her head still.
"Rory, please be calm. Please. An ambulance will be here soon."
"Don't need one-" She mumbled mid gasps.
"Shh, try to calm down."
"I f-feel like someone's s-sawing my stomach in h-half."
"I'm so sorry kid," Dean put his hand over her forehead, "Jesus you're hot again-"
"Dean!" John was off the phone and quickly making his way to them, "How is she?"
"Christ, Dad she's burning up. I don't understand what happened."
"I need to check her-"
"Dad she's not possessed-"
"We don't know for sure-"
"Now is not the time to try and find out!" Dean spat out as he rocked his increasingly limp sister. Caroline moaned, her eyes rolled back and she passed out.
"Christo," whispered John at his daughter. Dean glared at him.
"When is the ambulance coming?"
"Shouldn't be too much longer-" John was rubbing Caroline's heated forehead with holy water.
"Oh God, Caroline," Dean murmured into her hair, "why do these things always happen to you?"
"She'll be ok," John said. He was an absolute mess but the day he let his kids know that would be two days after pigs flew.
"This doesn't happen to people who are 'ok'."
Before John could answer they heard the sirens approaching down the highway. John ran to the side of the road to make sure they saw them.
Dean returned his attention to Caroline. All he could really see now was just slivers of light over her body, and the way the moonlight was hitting her made her look entirely black and white.
Voices approached him and he soon found himself swept up in a muddled confusion. His sister was being pried from his grasp and taken away from him while someone briefly gave him a onceover. Then John had his hand on Dean's shoulder and was telling him to ride with Caroline while he took the car and Dean only distantly felt himself nod in response.
The ride to the hospital was short and he barely remembered it. He clutched his sister's hand as she was poked and prodded and stuck with needles. It was a struggle for the EMTs again at the hospital to remove his hand from hers. Like a friggin' benign tumor, one medic had muttered as they yanked Dean off of Caroline.
And now Dean and John sat in the waiting room after Caroline had been wheeled off to intensive care. Before he realized what he was doing, Dean was calling Sam. He was shocked when his younger brother actually answered.
"Dean? What-why are you calling? It's like one a.m. here."
Dean took a moment to cherish hearing his brother's voice again after so long. Then got back to it, "It's Rory, we're in the emergency room right now-"
"Holy shit dude what happened?"
"Don't know. She was sick earlier then was screamin' and seizin' and throwin' up blood…"
"Oh my God-what do the doctors say?"
"They haven't come back yet."
"Well what are you gonna do?"
"Dunno Sammy-boy," Dean chuckled dryly before his voice cracked, "I don't know."
"Should I…should I come?"
"You don't need to travel across the country, no. Just thought you should know your sister might not make it through the night."
"So you're saying I should come…"
"I'm not saying anything, Sam. She wouldn't shut up about you earlier and she misses you a lot so I thought you should know where she is. That's it."
"Dean you need to calm down. Is Dad there? Freaking out won't help her."
"I'm not freaking out!" He got the attention of at least four other patrons.
"…I miss her too. I miss both of you guys."
"Don't get touchy feely on me now."
"Where are you?"
"Powell Memorial Hospital…Cliffridge, New Jersey."
"You think you'll be there for a while?"
"Even if she does make it through and is ok, I'm making her stay in bed for at least a week. No hunts."
"I'll take the next flight I can."
"Sam you don't have t-"
"I'll call you when I know more."
"What about Dad?"
"We'll deal with that later."
Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Great."
"I'll see you soon."
"Yeah," Dean felt a rush of excitement underneath his layers of exhaustion. He finally would see his brother again, "and Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"Sure."
Dean shut his phone and returned to his plastic seat. John came back from the bathroom where he had gone to scrub the bloody vomit that had dried to his hands.
Dean wouldn't tell him about Sam, he couldn't handle that right now. He just wanted news on Caroline.
"Family of Caroline Winchester?" an exhausted looking nurse asked from across the room. Before she had finished Dean was already almost next to her.
"What is it? Is she ok? What does she have?" Dean bombarded. John wiped a hand across his chin and furrowed his brow in wait of response.
"We can talk and walk," the nurse said and began back down the long hallway of rooms, "we realized that shortly before you called 911 Caroline's appendix ruptured and that was the source of the intense pain, it also meant that we had to do an immediate emergency surgery to remove it and try to ward off infection. Since we didn't catch it before it burst, she still is fighting the contamination from the appendix and will need an extreme amount of bed rest. I checked her throat for esophageal scarring from the vomit and she tested positive for strep throat. So we started her on antibiotics for that as well. Your girl got hit with everything, so we'll see how she pulls through."
Dean took a while to process all the nurse had just told him. Yes that certainly was a lot, and he felt undeniably terrible for Caroline. Any nerves he had for inviting Sam were gone. She was going to need him.
"I know that's a lot of information to take in, and I'll have someone make sure to go over it with you again once you've settled down," the nurse continued, "for now you can go see her in her room. She's still deeply sedated and probably won't wake up for another hour at least."
Dean saw John nod but still wasn't absorbing anything himself. His hands were actually shaking with anxiety over not being with Caroline right now.
They came to a stop and the nurse opened the door for the men, following them inside.
"Aw geez," John scrubbed a hand over his beard; taking in his youngest's pale and limp form.
"You two can stay for a while as long as you keep quiet and let her have her rest. She's fighting so many infections that really she shouldn't have any visitors but…"she glanced at the terrifying looks of the Winchesters, "I don't think you'd listen either way."
"Thank you," John said walking past the lady who wearily took her leave and gently closed the door behind her.
John dropped in the seat next to his daughter and sighed. He carefully cupped Caroline's face in his hand and stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"Oh little miss," John was mumbling with his eyes closed in exhaustion and worry, "my best girl, you're a tough kid…"
Dean was watching his dad and sister in fascination; finally deciding to take a seat on the other side of the bed. As he sat in the hard plastic chair he took in the dark veins that were now very obvious through her papery skin. A cannula tube was at her nose and he noticed how many freckles Caroline actually had.
John was sighing again and leaned on his elbows as he buried his face in his hands. Dean felt the need to say something but didn't even know where to begin.
Sam's coming, was what almost exploded out of his mouth, thank God he held that in. That was the last thing they needed right now, to have a full blown fight in front of their near lifeless Caroline.
So instead they fell into the semi normal, comfortable Winchester silence. John made occasional eye contact with his eldest and gave sharp, quick nods, preferring the quiet. Finally after an hour he left briefly to go find some coffee or any liquid form of caffeine.
Dean spent his time alone feeling increasingly more guilty as he replayed the initial incident over and over in his head. Maybe she was suffering before, who knows, all Dean did know was that he had grabbed Caroline around the stomach and was responsible for her appendix bursting. This was his fault, he had failed, and now Caroline was suffering. Regardless that the appendix was close to bursting on its own anyway, he had kick started it and that was making him nearly nauseous.
John had been gone seven minutes when Dean's phone went off.
"Hello?"
"Hey it's me," said Sam, "dude you sound terrible. What's happening?"
"Just got out of surgery, she's still unconscious."
"What was it?"
"Appendicitis. When I was trying to pick her up, I made her appendix rupture."
"Dean, please don't do that thing where you blame yourself, this isn't your fault."
"It is Sam and you know I always will. Why'd you call?"
"Well I mean to find out how she's doing, and also to tell you I have a plane I'm taking in about forty minutes. I should get to the airport by six or seven your time, and then take a taxi."
'Sounds good."
"Try to get some sleep, Dean. Where's Dad?"
"Getting coffee."
"Well, you being exhausted isn't going to help Caroline so take a nap."
"Thanks…see you soon Sammy."
Sam sighed, "See you soon."
Dean closed his phone again and rubbed his temples just like before. He would love to sleep but that was just not going to happen until his sister woke up and he saw that she was ok.
So he waited, and he waited. John obviously was stalling in returning to the room, and didn't reappear until an hour later. He thrust a lukewarm coffee at Dean and sat on the opposite side of the bed. The circles under his eyes were darker than normal, and Dean noticed the roots of John's hair were beginning to grey.
Normally Sam would have been asleep for hours at this time, but instead he was midair on his way to the east coast. The circumstances weren't the best, but he couldn't help feeling excited to see his family. He had left a note for Jess, not wanting to wake her up, and given her a goodbye peck on the cheek. Just thinking about her filled his chest with a warm and pleasant rush and was helping to keep him awake. The plane was coming to a landing, and Sam watched out the window as the plane slowly made it's way to the terminal.
After a painfully long twenty minute parking procedure, Sam snatched up his backpack and quickly made his way off the plane. Working through his sleep deprived mind he found the line of cabs outside and was soon on his way to the hospital. The driver told him it was an hour drive, and he was more than free to sleep in the back. Sam smiled wearily in thanks, but his Winchester blood wouldn't allow him to trust a stranger. So he stared out the window, and at his phone, back and forth until they came to the intersection across from the hospital.
"Mind me asking what brings you here this early?" The driver asked, scratching his head as he watched the red light.
"My sister has appendicitis."
"Ooh, that's rough. They catch it in time?"
"It doesn't sound like it. I haven't seen her in two years, this wasn't really how I wanted our reunion to go…"
"At least you're visiting her. I hear a lot of stories in my line of work, a lot of broken families who hate each other; nothing worse in the world than that, in my opinion."
Sam was thoughtfully quiet, "You're right…"
The light turned green and the driver pulled in front of the emergency room. Sam paid him and took his bag out, shutting the door gently behind him. The driver rolled down the passenger window and stuck his head out,
"I hope everything goes ok. Never take your family for granted kid, they're with you from beginning to end." Then he winked and drove off. Sam was left with an empty feeling in his gut.
He really didn't want to have to ask for directions from the staff, but he also knew Dean wouldn't leave their sister's side to come and help him. So he tiredly approached the main desk and asked "Kelly" where Caroline Winchester was. Kelly escorted him up a floor and down two hallways to room 218 before she yawned and gave him a small smile.
She hesitated in leaving when she saw Sam stop in front of the closed door.
"Do you want me to-" she gestured at the door handle, snapping Sam out of his funk.
"Oh no," he stuttered, "it's fine, I just zoned out. Thank you."
Kelly nodded and headed back downstairs.
Sam sighed and slowly opened the door. He wasn't sure if John would be inside or not, but the chaos might as well happen now.
He instantly saw that John was not in the room, it was just his brother and sister. Relief flooded through him, and that warm feeling flooded through him again when his older brother made eye contact.
Dean had dark circles under his eyes and his face looked defeated, but the sparkled appeared in his eyes when he saw Sam. A big grin broke out across his face as he bounded across the room and wrapped Sam into a hug.
"Sammy," he mumbled, crushing his giant brother in his arms.
"Hey, Dean," Sam answered, as they stepped back apart. They each surveyed each other, biting back remarks of lack of sleep, or 'you look terrible'. Instead they mentally relayed to each other that they had the next few days to catch up, and now wasn't the time. Sam looked to Dean for permission to approach Caroline and Dean nodded, his arms folded. Sam gingerly sat on the other side of the bed and placed his hand on her greying skin.
"She looks dead." Sam whispered. Dean frowned and sat back down,
"She's getting better." He sounded offended that Sam would say that. Like he was insulting Dean's work as main caregiver.
"I know she is Dean," Sam sighed, "poor kid. The weird crap always happens to her."
"You're telling me." Dean scoffed, "the amount of junk that's happened in the past two years since you left is ridiculous. I could write a book."
Sam snorted, "I'd love to see you write a book. 'Dean's Guide to Wearing Flannel; How to Be a Manly Man'."
"Flannel happens to be a very manly fabric you pretentious dick."
"'Pretentious', that's a big word for you."
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
"Sam?" John made his appearance in the doorway. The youngest brother nearly choked in surprise and whipped his head around. Dean was already up in a flash, blocking Sam from whatever terrors their dad might unleash.
Neither of the brothers was expecting this though; John let emotion flood into his tired face and his eyes looked like they teared up.
"Oh God, Sam." He shuffled over, past Dean, and took Sam into a tight bear hug. Dean's eyebrows raised in shock and confused relief. Sam was flustered and stuttered before returning the hug.
"Hi, Dad."
"I'm so sorry Sam," John whispered into his son's ear, "I'm so sorry for what I said. You're a part of this family, you always will be. I almost lost your sister, I can't lose you too."
"You won't Dad, I promise." Sam felt like he was going to cry, John had never done anything like this before. But he didn't mind. It felt nice. John stepped back and put a calloused hand on his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow at Dean.
"I called him a few hours ago," Dean looked like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar.
"I wish you had told me he was coming," John said, then looked back at Sam, "you flew out here for this?"
"I'd do anything for my family." Sam said quietly. Dean rolled his eyes.
"This family, is turning into a TLC show. Jesus." The older brother went back to his post by Caroline and sat down. Sam and John smiled tiredly at each other. Sam still looked unsure and John noticed.
"I'm not going to freak out at you Sam," he said quietly, "we've argued enough to last a lifetime. I'm just glad you're here. I've-we've missed you. Especially this one." He gestured at Caroline. Sam looked at his sister, feeling his voice catch in his throat.
"I've missed her too."
Never one to miss her cue, Caroline let out a moan in her sleep, twitching her right hand and wrinkling her nose.
Without taking his eyes off of her, Sam moved back over to the chair and took his sister's hand in his.
"Hope she wakes up soon," John said, taking in the sight of his youngest, "she'll be excited to see you."
"'Excited' doesn't even come close," Dean muttered.
The three Winchester men sat for a while, John asking Sam about school, Sam telling stories about his classes and friends and of course Jess; Dean hadn't felt this happy in a while. John and Sam were getting along, and Sam was having the time of his life at college. It was the life he always wanted for his brother and sister, but looking over at Caroline he felt guilt. He honestly didn't know what she wanted out of life. He had hunting, Sam had school and a career, what the hell did Caroline want? She had always willingly tagged along with her family, never complaining. She had to have some secret dreams, all humans do. That thought made Dean snort. As if she wasn't a human, maybe she was a robot. Well, she's a shit robot then, Dean thought again. This time his snort caught the attention of his dad and brother who stared at him. He shrugged at them and looked back at his sister.
After insisting the boys go back to the motel to get some sleep and losing that argument very badly, John retired to a nearby hotel; after Dean promised to call him with any updates in the next few hours. Dean felt bad, their father was getting older, and sitting in hard hospital chairs for hours wasn't something he was up to anymore. But John knew his sons would diligently guard their sister with their lives. It's not every teenager that has two massive, ruthless brothers to kick ass. He was proud of his kids.
It was 10 hours after Sam arrived that Caroline finally started to wake up. Sam had given up his seat for John and had gone off on a search for food. Dean was passed out on a rollaway cot that the nurse had supplied after she realized the boys weren't leaving, and John was struggling to keep his eyes open.
It started as a couple of groans, then she opened her mouth slowly, breaking through the cracked lips that were stuck together. John knew what was coming next. He may not know everything about his kids, but one thing he knew was their hatred of hospitals. With Caroline it went deeper, she had a arcane fear of hospitals that John had never quite been able to figure out.
His daughter twitched, and her right hand limply moved to her face, rubbing her eyes and over her nose and mouth. It stopped at the cannula under her nose as it tried to figure out what this foreign object was. Any second now the panic would set in. John leaned over and held her shaking hand, whispering into her ear.
"You're ok, you're ok, I'm here, and you're not alone. You're safe."
Caroline's eyes shot open and she took in her surroundings all at once. The wires, the IV's, the tube, the lights, the beeping, it was too much. She started to squirm and squeal, her breathing picking up into a frightening pace. She was blind to her father on her right and Dean on her left. She clawed at the tube in her nose, fighting off John's hands as he kept her from yanking it off.
Dean woke immediately at the noise and was off his cot in a second. He held Caroline's face until she finally looked at him.
"Rory, hey. It's Dean, let me see those eyes. Hmm? C'mon, look at me kid." She finally looked at him in confused desperation. Dean could see the drugs were still in her system and she seemed to barely be functioning. But he gave her a smile, "There they are. Welcome back Sunshine. You look great."
She blinked in response, obviously starting to recognize where she was. That blink led to more, until she was back asleep, her arms clutching John's hand like a teddy bear. With his other hand, John stroke Caroline's tangled hair. He closed his eyes and sighed.
The next time she woke up, the drugs had worn off and she was calmer. The pain from her surgery and her throat were getting worse though, and the infection kept her whole body in a constant state of achiness.
John had returned to the motel for some sleep, and Sam had taken Dean's place on the cot. Dean saw his sister was waking up and had a selfish moment of contentment when he realized he was the only one with his sister when she woke up.
Caroline stared at him with her unfocused eyes and Dean could see her trying to say something but her mouth was too dry. He brought a cup of water over to her mouth and helped her get it down.
Before he could bring his hand back, to throw the cup away, his sister had his hand held tight and was holding it against her cheek, her eyes shut.
"D'n," she slurred, rubbing his hand back and forth like she had when she was little. She reached her other hand out and Dean took that invitation to hug her. He held her for a good full minute before letting go. Now her eyes were more focused and she gave him an empty grin.
"You sure had us worried, kid." Dean said, his worry very much apparent.
"I don't remember what happened," Caroline said quietly, her throat on fire, "how long have we been here?"
"Almost two days, you went all out." Dean answered, taking in every inch of his sick sister's face. Every shiver, every twitch, and every frown she made gave him even more anxiety.
"I don't half-ass things," she mumbled.
"I should call Dad, tell him you're up."
"Why…why call him, he's right there." Caroline blinked in confusion at the sleeping form.
Dean froze for a second, confused himself until he realized what she meant.
"Oh…oh! Hold on." Dean smiled, he picked up the TV remote and threw it at his brother's sleeping body. Caroline inhaled a sharp gasp of shock, not believing Dean just threw that at their dad.
Dean was giddy as he watched his sister's reactions. Sam bolted up and whipped around. Caroline gasped, her hand covering her mouth.
"S-sam?"
Sam, over the initial shock, smiled and padded over to his sister.
"Hey there," he said grinning. Tears swarmed into her eyes and her mouth trembled. Her brother grabbed her into a hug and she burrowed her face into his neck. Dean knew she'd cry, but he didn't expect the loud and intense sobbing that came next. Crying usually made him angry, it was a dumb concept, but this was…this was ridiculous. It's like Sam had come back from the dead, Caroline wouldn't let go of her brother, her fists clenching the back of his shirt as her tears soaked through the front.
Sam stroked her hair, shushing her deplorable weeping, looking to Dean for help. Dean just shrugged and called John.
Caroline finally looked at Sam's face, her own was red and puffy and just the most adorable and sad thing Sam had ever seen.
"You came back." She whispered.
"I came back." Sam responded, trying his best not to cry. Dean was right. They belonged on TLC. Although Lifetime was probably more accurate.
Despite the circumstances, things had never been better between the Winchesters. No arguments, no angry feelings, nothing bad happening; it made Caroline happier than she had been in years. Which in turn made Dean happy. It was the day before she was set to be released that things went back to shit.
Dean and John were at the motel, it was 11 p.m., and Sam had volunteered to stay with Caroline.
She had been getting better at a phenomenal speed, pain receding, throat healing, just everything in general. It was near impossible for Sam to leave his perch next to her and go seek out food and sleep. She finally had her brother back and wasn't planning on letting him go back just yet. Every day she begged the nurses to let her be released early. When they'd deny her she'd turn to Dean first; eyes glistening, face crumpled, the look that usually made him crack instantly. But he had been diligent in making her stay til she was 100%. So then she'd look at Sam, and had managed a whole of three times to get him to ask the nurses as well.
Of course it never worked. John would hear about it, smack his forehead and lecture Caroline for the umpteenth time about needing to stay til she was better.
But she talked a mile a minute, had more smiles than Dean had seen on her in two years, and was eating and drinking like normal again.
"You think you'll marry Jess?" Caroline asked, looking at her brother out of the corner of her eye. She had really taken a liking to the Jess she heard about in Sam's stories, and the idea of having a sister made her so excited. That's why Sam wasn't expecting to see her begin violently shivering and sweating.
"I don't know kid," he said carefully, eyeing her in concern, "are you ok?"
Her teeth chattered a bit, and she looked at her lap.
"Yeah I'm fine."
Sam brushed her forehead with his hand, while Caroline tried her best to dodge him. His hand recoiled wet from a fresh layer of sweat.
"I think you're getting another fever."
"N-no I'm n-n-,"
The heart monitor's beeping picked up, and his sister's body began seizing. It took Sam a moment to process what was happening, and he quickly smacked the emergency button over and over before desperately touching his sister's shoulders and forehead.
Dean hadn't had this feeling of pure relaxation for over three years and it was something he could definitely get used to. Caroline was almost fully recovered, his family was together in perfect symbiosis with minimal fighting, and that constant raw ache in his stomach had disappeared. There was something about having a sibling stuck in a hospital recuperating that actually made him calm. Knowing that if anything happened to his sister, she was already surrounded by medical help. The only thing that would be even safer for her is if Dean was there. But he was enjoying his full night's sleep.
Always something though, right? His phone began dinging with a new call, and he hazily read the I.D. Sam.
"S'm what?" He barely mumbled out, rubbing his eyes, "sl-slow down, Sam…Sammy what?" his eyebrows were dramatically furrowed and then shot up, "she's what?!"
As it turned out, the nurses had missed a slow growing infection, and once again Caroline was on antibiotics. However after a thorough examination, she was allowed to finally leave and begin recuperating at the motel.
John was signing her out while Sam collected her few belongings and stuffed them carefully into her duffel bag. Dean was forcefully shoving his sister into the mandatory wheelchair, smirking all the while. Caroline was still pent up on painkillers for her surgery and infection, and the concept of being wheeled out of the hospital was not registering as a good one. But after a week and a half being stuck in bed, the chances of her walking more than two yards without her knees collapsing was pretty small.
So Dean pushed her to the hospital exit, while Sam ran ahead and pulled the Impala up. Caroline was surprised Dean let their brother drive the car for even two seconds, but it made sense in a way. Dean hadn't let her out of his sight since her relapse, and though he taunted and joked, he still looked at her as though she might snap into pieces at any second.
Sam opened the back door, and Caroline struggled to stand up on her own.
"Whoa there Sunshine," Dean said, grabbing her shoulders, "I don't want to go back because you broke your arm."
Caroline gave a half-hearted groan in response and stared at him with her heavily bagged eyes. He gave a loud sigh and held his hands out. She let him pull her up and then he swept her into a bridal carry. She began laughing tiredly.
"Thanks," she said quietly, closing her eyes and letting the sun soak into her skin.
John came out and watched as his sons carefully helped their sister into the backseat and began wrapping her in blankets and stuffing a hat on her head and all around just mothering her. He couldn't help but smile.
*****PLEASE SEND IN SOME IDEAS FOR MORE WHUMP/SICK/DYING/WHATEVER ACTION!********