The Way Home
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Returning his focus to the boy before him, Jim gently reached forward, taking Dean's face between his hands, turning the boys head so that their eyes could meet. "Dean? I need you to look at me Son."
It took a moment before the unfocused expression changed and the tear-filled, moss-green eyes of the teen met the calming blue ones of the Pastor, "Jim?" Dean glanced to where his father had been only moments ago, "Where's Dad?" the boys voice hinting toward panic, "Where'd he go? Is he okay?" Dean struggled to get to his feet, faltering slightly, Jim steadying him.
"Your father's been taken to surgery." The calm sound of another man's voice brought the attention of the group to the doctor that had returned to the room.
Dean tried to pull from Jim's grip, stepping toward the physician, "Please, how is he? He's gonna be okay right?"
The doctor glanced at Jim, "Perhaps we should talk somewhere where you gentlemen can sit down, the boy looks a little unsteady."
"Just tell me…" Dean pleaded, but Jim's quiet voice interrupted him.
"Dean it would be best if you had a seat, that way we can focus on what the doctor has to say." Jim placed his hand on the teen's shoulder, steering the boy toward the door as the doctor led them to a private room across the hall.
The doctor waited a minute for the group to have a seat, before he took one across from Jim. "My name is Dr. Allen…" he then looked at Dean, "Your father has been taken up to surgery, I'm sorry to say that his condition is grave." glancing back toward Jim and Bobby the physician continued, "I understand you believe he had an accident while hiking, but somehow was able to make it back for help."
Jim nodded, "Jonathon had been missing for several hours, we'd been out looking for him and were working on calling in more help when he came stumbling down the drive at Robert's. He was unconscious before he could tell us exactly what happened."
Dr. Allen straightened some, running his hand over his face, "Well, to be totally honest with you," again the older man's gaze met Dean's, "Your father must be one hell of a fighter, because with his illness and his injuries on top of it, it's a miracle he survived the night outside."
Dean paled at the gravity of his father's condition, "What do you mean?"
"Mr. Winchester, has several broken ribs, one of which punctured his left lung, that's why we had to intubate him, on top of that he has pneumonia, which is causing him to run a temperature just below 104*, we believe that is what triggered the seizure before he arrived." Jim and Bobby quickly looked toward Dean, neither man had known that Dean apparently witnessed his father have a seizure, which would explain the condition they found Dean in when they followed the nurse back. "We are doing what we can to bring it down and honestly it is not the best conditions for him to be going into surgery with, but we need to take care of his ribs and repair the hole in his lung. His left arm is broken in two places and his shoulder is dislocated. He also has a severe concussion and there are numerous cuts and bruises covering his body. We are hoping there are no other internal injuries, but the surgeon will have more information on that once they are finished." Dr. Allen watched as the two men and teenage boy before him took in the information about their friend and father.
Dean's quiet voice sounded so much younger than his age when he spoke again, "But he's going to be okay right?" The young boy's eyes pleaded with the doctor, begging him to say that his father would survive this.
The doctor leaned forward, staring straight into Dean's face. "Son, the strength that it took for your Dad to get himself help, against all the odds, battling against his injuries, his illness and the weather, I honestly believe that if anyone can survive this it will be your father."
Dean closed his eyes, he knew the type of fighter his father was, he knew the man would never give up. The teen opened his eyes, a tear slipping free as he looked back at the physician, "If my Dad knows anything it's how to fight and not give up."
Dr. Allen nodded as he stood, looking toward Jim and Bobby, "The OR is on the third floor, there is a waiting area up there. The surgery may last several hours, but the surgeon will come out and speak with you once Mr. Winchester is in recovery."
Jim stood, extending his hand, "Thank you for everything." Dr. Allen shook the Pastor's hand and left the room. Looking at Dean, who was leaning forward, head in his hands, then back toward Bobby, the older man spoke, "I think we should head upstairs, I need to try and contact Mackland to let him know about Jonathon and see if there have been any changes with Caleb."
Oxoxoxoxox
"How in God's name did he make it back to Bobby's?" Mac asked Jim, who had called from the hospital in South Dakota to let the Scholar and John's youngest son know that the Knight had been found and was currently in surgery.
Taking a deep-breath, Jim ran his hand over his tired face, "That's the million-dollar question at the moment. However, I'm worried about Dean," Jim glanced across the waiting room; Dean was sitting in one of the chairs facing the doors that led toward the operating rooms. His legs were pulled up close, his arms wrapped around them again, his expression looked as lost and scared as when the nurse had led him and Bobby back to the trauma room. The Preacher's heart was heavy in his worry for the boy. "In the last twenty-four hours he's watched his best friend and father collapse in front of him, then having witnessed Jonathon's seizure in the ambulance, finally with everything the doctor said was wrong with Jonathon, Dean's withdrawing. Since we've come upstairs he hasn't spoken, he's fighting sleep and I'm not really sure how to get through to him."
Mac's mind flashed back to the small withdrawn boy he'd met barely ten-years ago, he remembered watching as none of the adult in the boy's life had been able to get through the self-imposed silent world the child had disappeared into. That was until his son, the same young man that now lay unconscious in a room just down the hall, had taken it upon himself to be the five-year olds life line. The Doctor remembered the first day Dean had whispered to his son, how Caleb had helped the little lost boy work through the pain of losing his mother, something the two had in common. Mac's heart ached that now, Dean had to face another heartbreaking situation and Caleb couldn't help the boy. "I'm sure you will be able to find a way to keep him grounded, Jim."
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Jim brought his attention back to the phone, "I hope you're right." Clearing his throat he asked the next question, his worry and fear for another young member of his family weighing heavily on his soul as well. "How is Caleb doing? Are there any change?" Jim asked quietly, praying the young man back home was better.
Glancing toward his son's room, Mac still wasn't one-hundred percent sure that what was happening with his son was related to his psychic abilities and that scared him. Though all the test had ruled out any physical reasons for his son's continued state of unconsciousness, his son's gifts weren't exactly something he could share with the doctor. The Scholar just hoped if it was his abilities keeping him this way, that Caleb would soon be able to work his way back to him. "There have been some changes, but he's still unconscious."
"What kind of changes?" The worry in Jim's voice was unmistakable.
"Well, the only good news so far is that his vitals have finally stabilized to the levels of someone who is unconscious. His last scan showed most of his brain activity has also leveled off. The injuries he sustained from the wreck are healing and the low-grade fever he was running has disappeared since his vitals leveled off. Now we are just waiting to see when he will wake up." Mac blew out a deep-breath, he was worried and exhausted, but he resisted the urge to sleep until his son was awake.
"We have to have faith that both Caleb and Jonathon will be all right and that once their conditions improve that Dean will come back to us as well." Again Jim's glance returned to the teen, whose head occasionally bobbing as he fought the rest his mind and body needed. "I'll let you get back to Caleb and I'll call as soon as we know anything else about Jonathon." Jim listened as Mac tiredly agreed, before the phone line disconnected.
Mac returned the phone to its cradle rubbing his tired eyes. He was a doctor, use to finding the problem and fixing it, but right now he felt completely useless to help either his son, who was only steps away, or the man who had become like a brother to him, who was hundreds of mile away, nor his brother's son who had again been witness to things no child should have to endure.
The tired Doctor slowly made his way back toward his son's room, which also contained John's youngest. He had to figure a way to explain to the younger boy the condition his father was in. Sammy was smart beyond his years and could always tell if someone was holding back information, so it was always best to tell the younger boy the truth rather than sugar-coat things.
Stopping at the door, Mac's thoughts returned to the statement Jim had made about having faith everything would turn out and their family would be all right. Mac would never give up on his son, and though John's injures sound as bad as they did, the older man prayed he could hold onto the faith that all would be well. It was times like these that Mac envied Jim, that with all they've seen, all the evil that they've come face to face with, that the Guardian could remain so unwavering in his faith. Yes they needed faith, especially now, but when so much of your world was crumbling around you, you wouldn't be human if you didn't question God's role in what was happening, you wouldn't be human if you didn't question just how much faith you had left to hold on to.
A/N: I really struggled with this chapter, I'm sure I again took liberty with how the doctor was speaking to Dean some of the time, but I didn't feel right having the doctor only speak to Jim or Bobby, especially with the distress that Dean was obviously in. Hope you forgive and still enjoy. Thanks to everyone who's still with me, you guys are awesome!-Montez