Ok, so I read, re-read and re-read some more of this one, changing my mind where I wanted this story to go. I didn't want it to get repetitive but I think it turned out pretty well. So I hope you all enjoy!
Please forgive all mistakes they're mine alone.
A/N: I have absolutely NO medical training so please forgive any inaccuracies.
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of the wonderful characters that I am taking on this journey.
Chapter 4 - Fast and Furious
Just as Sam, Bobby and Hope, in her baby capsule, drove away, kicking up dust and leaving a cloud in their wake, Dean runs to the drivers side of his beloved impala, then waits until he hears their car touch asphalt, then starts the engine and she rumbles to life, he puts the car in gear and takes off slowly towards the main road. He looks both ways and sees Bobby's car in the distance, so he turns in their direction but continues to drive slowly and when they go over a hill, he speeds up so he doesn't loose them but stays at a safe enough distance so they won't see him.
He makes it to the hospital parking lot without them spotting the classic car and watches as they park around the back of the hospital where the Physical Therapy and Outpatient gym is located and after helping Sam with his wheel chair and taking Hope out of her baby seat, grabbing her bag and settling her on Sam's lap, they enter the main doors.
Dean quickly finds a parking space 4 aisles away from the entrance and jumps out to run to the thick bushes that are shielding the large windows of the gym, so he can watch his brother with is therapy. After a few minutes he spots them walking into the gym with a young brunette, dressed in blue and black gym pants and a tank top. Bobby takes a seat with Hope to watch Sam and the previously mentioned brunette move towards the blue mats that lay in front of the two parallel bars that Dean presumes Sam will use to practice his walking.
Sam maneuvers himself out of his wheelchair and onto a mat so he and the brunette can start his stretches. From outside Dean can't hear what they are saying but he can see that she instructs Sam to lay down on his back. She then picks up his right leg and bends it towards his chest then moves it so the bend leg crosses over his body to the left and instructs him to hold his leg, she then rolls him back to the starting position and lifts his leg up and partially bends it and then leans into it so Sam can feel the stretch, Dean can tell that Sam is already feeling the pain, just from doing these first few stretches, but is managing to work through it which fills Dean with pride at his strength of will, as well as sorrow that due to their upbringing Sam is compelled to not show his pain.
The instructor works on bending and stretching his right leg a number of times then, takes up his left leg and repeats the process. After completing these stretches he then rolls on his stomach and completes a series of stretches with his arms and legs. This process of stretches continues for about 20 minutes, then Sam drags himself over to his wheelchair, pulling himself into it and moves over to the parallel bars where the instructor pulls him out of his chair with the aid of a large orderly, to stand up in front of the 2 bars in front of him.
"Come on Sammy you can do it" Dean whispers, then goes to move to the entry doors so he can slip inside and listen to what they are saying.
He watches from a partially closed gym closet, as Sam holds himself up with his 2 strong arms, muscles bulging and twitching with the effort and try's to move his right foot ever so slightly into a step forward, then he moves his arms forward so his left foot can also be dragged into its first step, Dean watches as his brother struggles to get his feet to cooperate, sliding rather than lifting and stepping forward, he moves his arms again so his right foot can take its second step, all the while Sam's red face is scrunched up in the pain and effort of holding his body up, he has a layer of sweat on his face and is talking through clenched teeth, to the gym instructor who is quite tiny compared to his Sasquatch of a brother, now that he is at his full height, but looks to not be intimidated by his size, is trying to be encouraging "That's it, you can do it, don't focus on the fact that you're dragging your feet but on the fact that you are using your muscles to take each step, re-teaching them how to do it" she says in a gentle voice that Dean knows is something that Sam responds to rather than barked orders.
"I should be able to do it by now, Damn it!" Sam says as his left arm doesn't lock and he slips when he tries to take another step, the orderly who helped his stand, now helps him to his wheelchair at the end of the bars.
"Sh#t" Dean whispers as he sees the disappointed, downcast eyes of his little brother.
The gym instructor crouches down in front of him and stalks softly to him, Dean struggles to hear their conversation "Hey now, you where doing so good until you tried rushing it, you need to slow it down, Sam, I know how hard you've been working and I can tell that you must have been an overachiever at school but... cut yourself some slack, you're already doing above and beyond my other patients with your injury." She finishes rubbing his arm in a comforting way. She looks over at Bobby who is gathering Hope into his arms and walking slowly towards them.
"Give us a minute Tracy would you?" He says to the instructor, who Dean vows to thank later.
"Sam, son look at me, please..."
Sam slowly lifts his head to look at Bobby, a tear falls down his chin falling into his lap as he says "Sorry Pa"
"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, ya hear me, I am SO proud of you, of what you've achieved, I know you think you should be walking by now, but trust me. You'll get there, you're the most stubborn idjit I've had the privilege of knowing and I don't want to see you get hurt, so please, take your time, if not for yourself, then at least do it for this little one" he says smiling down at the blonde haired baby, clapping her hands and reaching toward her daddy, making him laugh wetly.
"Now, are we done gettin girly?" Bobby asks standing up and clearing his throat.
Dean is wiping away the tears as he creeps out of the closet. In his opinion Sam Winchester is the strongest and bravest young man/father/son/brother he has ever known and if his father was here to see what just happened, he would be just as, if not more, proud than Dean and Bobby combined.
Dean turns around to see Sam and his entourage move out of the gym towards the back of the building where the heated pools where located. This he presumes is so Sam can cool down his muscles after the workout he just had. Dean hides again in a changing room in the pool area so he can watch. Sam takes his sweat pants off to reveal swimming trunks; his now bare legs show a multitude of scars and burn marks from the accident that claimed his ability to walk. Dean now comes to realize just how much Sam has been dealing with without him and will be forever grateful to these people including Bobby for being here for his little brother.
Dean walks out of the gym towards the impala so he can get back to Bobby's place before them, he takes the time to think about everything that he's seen and heard. He's ashamed to think that he hadn't wanted to see or speak to his brother again when he had first left to go to Stanford. He sits there with the motor running for a minute, when he sees two men dressed in black over by Bobby's car, they look in the back seat, then walk over towards the front door and slip around the side to hide in the bushes. Dean is suddenly on high alert, "Who the hell are you, and what do you want with my brother" He whispers harshly. He grabs his shotgun from behind the front seat and checks to make sure he has salt rounds in it, his Taurus resting in the waistband of his jeans as a back up. He gets out of the impala and runs around to where the two men are hiding, going the long way so they don't see him. When he gets closer he hears them talking to each other "He's inside the pool, let's wait til he come out with the old man and follow them back to their place" one of them turns and he sees black eyes reflecting in the window.
Dean turns around and sprints back to the impala and charges out of the parking lot, tires squealing, he wants to get back to Bobby's so he can set up an ambush, he needs to know why demons are after his brother.
Dean is racing back to Bobby's at record speed, it's a good 45 minute trip when doing the speed limit, he'll cut it down to 20 at this rate. He makes a plan to catch these guys, so they can find out what is going on once and for all.
As Sam and Bobby move towards their car with Hope on his lap, Sam's rusty hunter instincts kick in when the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he says softly "Do you feel that?"
"Yeah, I feel it too, we're being followed" Bobby answers
"I felt it earlier but I thought I was imagining it, now it's is a million times worse. Let's get out of here"
Bobby puts Hope in her baby capsule, as Sam lifts himself into the passenger seat and turns to the side to fold his chair up so Bobby can grab it and put it in the back.
"Let's go, keep an eye out for me" Bobby asks Sam seriously
Sam breathes deeply, trying to calm himself down so he can keep his head and wits about him in case the sh#t hits the fan.
Bobby speeds down the road towards his house, hoping that Dean isn't going to be too surprised when they come screeching down his driveway.
Dean is standing in the living room, with the shot guns loaded, salt rounds piled on the coffee table, a few bottles of holy water, exorcism books open to the appropriate page and devils traps painted under the rug by the front door. He can hear a car coming towards the house at great speed, it stops in a cloud of dirt.
Dean comes to the door and opens it quickly, slamming the door, making it bounce of the frame, he barrels down the stairs toward the passenger door, opening it for Sam and grabbing the wheelchair out of the back, "quick we have company coming!" he yells urgently
Bobby yanks open the back door and scoops a sleeping Hope out of her seat and slips her bag over his shoulder "let's move it NOW!"
They move into the house in a storm of commotion and noise, Hope wakes up and grumbles at the unkind way she was woken up, Bobby try's to calm her down and moves to the guest bedroom to put her down again. "Shhh sweet heart shhhh, don't cry, go back to sleep sweety" he whispers trying to calm his pounding heart, Hope knows the calm is a lie but trusts her grandpa enough to close her eyes and when he puts her into her crib, keeps them closed and sighs.
"Ok can you want to tell me what the hell is going on, how did you know we were being followed?"
" Umm well, I sort of followed you to your therapy session and I noticed that you were being followed, I heard them say they wanted to follow you back here, so I came back to set up"
Closing his shocked mouth so he could speak, Sam says "Ok I'll forget for a moment that you went behind my back, what else did they say?"
"That's it, just that they were going to wait and follow you back here, I don't think they know that Bobby lives in a fortress"
Bobby walks back into the room after closing the bedroom door softly "so what's happening?"
"Well Dean followed us to my therapy session and noticed the two demons following us, heard them say they would follow us back here and he came back early to get ready"
"He what? Dean you were supposed to stay here" Bobby looks at Dean questioningly
"I know and I'm sorry about that but if I hadn't we wouldn't be as prepared as we are now"
"That's what I felt earlier, it was you!" Sam exclaims
Just then they hear a car come charging down the driveway and stop with a screech.
Two men jump out of the car and one of then yells mockingly "Sammy, Come out and play!"
Sam swallows and takes a breath, "What do they want with me? I don't know anything, I didn't do anything...Ah sh#t!"
"What?"
Sam sits in his wheelchair stunned, in shock and freaked the hell out.
Dean crouches down in front of him and puts his hand on his knee "Sam, kiddo, what's wrong?"
Sam blinks and lifts his head up to look into Deans expectant green eyes and says "I know why there're here... I forgot all about it"
Dean looks up at Bobby who shakes his head "What?"
"You're never going to believe me, please believe me!"
"Okay kiddo, I'll believe you, but you gotta tell me what's got you all worked up"
"I... I think it was my second year at Stanford and I kept getting migraines, and one night I had a nightmare about a man telling me that I'd let you down when I left, that I put you in danger and that it was my fault every time you got hurt, cause I had left you alone and the only way that I could make it up to you, to keep you and Dad safe, was if I gave him something..."
"Oh god no" Bobby whispers, shocked to his core and crossing his fingers behind his back that he was wrong.
"What did he ask for, Sam?" Dean asks not really wanting to hear the answer but knowing already in his breaking heart.
"He said he wanted to have a few minutes alone with my first born child, on their 6 month birthday, I of course thought he was nuts… that I was nuts, but god help me I said yes!"