A Hard Road Ch. 5
Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story.
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Previously: "Shit Jim, he's burning up" John gasped as he picked Sammy up and cradled him in his arms. He quickly grabbed the keys to the Impala and headed out as Jim and Dean followed him out the door. John quickly tossed his keys to Jim while he climbed into the passenger side of the car cradling Sammy to his chest. Jim helped Dean into the backseat before climbing in himself. He then started the car and they raced off towards the nearest hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital, John signed his son in as Jim held the wailing infant. Sammy had woken up on the trip to the hospital and had started crying immediately. His little face took on a light shade of red as the intensity of his wails grew and his little body shook. They didn't have long to wait for treatment however as a middle aged blonde woman wearing a doctor's coat approached the sobbing child. She immediately took in the blotched look on his face and knew he had a high fever. "Follow me please" she stated as John took the baby from Jim's arm. John immediately fell in step behind the doctor as Jim pulled Dean into his lap to get comfortable for what was probably going to be a long wait.
As doctor Sarah Fields and John walked along, she started asking questions to help her diagnose what the baby could be suffering from. "Sir, how long has your son been sick?" Sarah asked as she opened the door to treatment room five while motioning a nurse to join them.
"He was cranky earlier when he woke up from his nap around noon, but he didn't show any signs of a fever then" John answered as he lay Sammy down on the examining table when motioned to do so.
"Was he doing anything unusual like pulling at his ears?" Sarah asked as she pulled a medical instrument from it's base on the wall.
"Yeah, yes he was" John answered as he remembered Sammy pulling at his ears a few times during the day. "He also refused to eat his baby food earlier. He kind of grimaced with the first bite and then spit the second spoonful out. He wouldn't eat anymore after that."
Nodding her head in understanding, Sarah turned the light on the medical instrument so that she could peer inside the baby's ear canal. "Sir, would you please hold the child and keep his head still while I peer into his ear?"
"Sure" John said as he picked up his baby boy and cradled his head while Sarah looked into both ears.
"Poor little fella has a middle ear infection" Sarah stated as she looked with sympathy towards the crying infant. She didn't like the heat rolling off the child and knew his fever had to be pretty high. Turning to nurse Emily she said "Emily, get me a rectal temp on the baby and then I want a lukewarm bath drawn for the child, I don't want him going into any febrile seizures."
"Yes Doctor" Emily stated as she motioned John to lay the crying infant down again. She pulled off his little jeans and undid his diaper. As she inserted the thermometer into Sammy's little bottom, his wailing increased. "Shhh, it's okay little one" she whispered as she placed a comforting hand on the baby's cheek while his father stroked his curly brown locks. After a few minutes she withdrew the thermometer and saw that Sammy had a temperature of 103. 5. "Sir, would you please strip your son down. We need to put him in a lukewarm bath to get his temperature down" Emily stated as she informed the doctor of the temperature.
John carried Sammy into another room where he sat his child in a small tub. Sammy began to instantly shiver as the water was scooped over his hot body. His sobbing continued however it wasn't as loud now since he was exhausted from crying so much. After about fifteen minutes. Sammy was removed from the tub and when Emily checked his temperature again it had dropped to 100.2. Emily took Sammy from John's arms and dried the infant off and carried him back to the initial treatment room and put a clean diaper on Sammy along with his shirt, but left the jeans off. "The doctor will be back shortly" she told John before leaving the room.
Sarah returned a few minutes later carrying a syringe with her in one of her hands. "I've read on Sammy's chart that he doesn't have any known allergies. I'm going to give him an antibiotic shot for the infection, but I want to keep him for at least an hour to make sure he doesn't have any reactions to it" Sarah informed John as she asked him to sit on the exam table with Sammy held securely in his lap. She grasped the fleshy part of Sammy's leg and slid the needle in causing Sammy to cry out in pain. She quickly depressed the plunger, injecting the medicine while Sammy's dad tried to soothe the screaming child. Sarah placed a small bandage on the injection sight as she watched John rocking the baby back and forth while rubbing the child's arms.
After Sarah had finished giving the injection, John asked for permission for his oldest child and his pastor to come back and sit with them while they waited. He knew Dean was probably going crazy with worry for his baby brother. Sarah gave her permission and a nurse was sent to fetch the other two and bring them back.
When Dean walked into the room, John could tell that his oldest had been crying from the tear stains that marked his small cheeks. He pulled Dean into a comforting side hug with his right arm while his left held a sleeping Sammy to his chest. "It's okay Champ, Sammy's sleeping now. Sammy had an ear infection and it caused him to have a high fever. The doctor gave him some medicine and he's going to be fine now" John said as he watched Dean reach over to rub Sammy's back.
An hour later, Sammy was given the okay to go home after his fever dropped below 100 and he showed no signs of reacting to the antibiotic. John was given a prescription to pick up for the infection and told to make sure that Sammy took it all or the infection could return.
Over the next week, John dutifully gave Sammy his medicine as he worked on learning the Latin exorcisms with help from Jim. John knew he would never learn them by heart and would need a journal to keep them in, but at least his pronunciation was getting much better and so was Sammy.
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A few week passed uneventfully and when John looked at the date on the calendar, his mood became somber. It was December 20th and it was unseasonably warm for this time of year in Minnesota. Christmas was quickly approaching and it would be the family's first without Mary. He hadn't yet bought the boys any toys for the holiday and honestly didn't want to even think about running into town to buy them. He knew the town would be fully decorated with signs of Christmas everywhere. How could he expose the boys to so much cheeriness when they had just lost their mother and he had lost his wife. He hoped the holiday would just past quietly and he would make it up to the boys next year.
But as usual, Winchester luck hit and John had to sit back and watch as Pastor Jim's congregation showed up to decorate the house. He sucked in a breath as he saw Dean walk over and look out the window while the porch was decorated with garland and lights. But instead of a sad and wistful look, he noticed the sparkle that Dean's eyes took on as lawn ornaments were placed about. A huge smile lit his face as the manger scene was placed and lit up.
About thirty minutes later, Jim and the Winchesters watched as three men carried in a huge Christmas tree and placed it in the living room by the bay windows. Turning around to face Pastor Jim, Jamie said "We know things have been quite hectic for you Jim with the young family staying here with you and that you haven't had a chance to decorate so we though we would get it done for you. Amy and a few of the other ladies will be in shortly to decorate the tree."
"That will be wonderful, thank you Jamie" Pastor Jim said as he shook the young man's hand. "What a wonderful thing for you to do and I am sure the boys here will love it" Jim said as he motioned to Dean and Sammy. Dean was standing by the tree and Sammy was crawling over to the boxes of decorations that one of the other men had placed on the floor.
"Oh no you don't" said John as he swept a giggling Sammy up off the floor to keep him from destroying the ornaments. Even though he felt like crying inside from missing Mary so bad, John plastered a smile on his face to hide the hurt. Mary loved this holiday season most of all and reveled in decorating the house and yard. It hurt not to have her here now joining in with the festivities.
John placed Sammy into the playpen to watch as the ladies came in to decorate the tree to keep him out of the way. He watched as the one called Amy walked over to his youngest child.
"Hey there honey, would you like to help us decorate the tree?" she asked as she handed over a few ornaments to Dean.
Dean looked over to his dad for permission before nodding his head yes. Amy smiled and led him over to the tree. "Just place them anywhere you think they'll look good" Amy said as she handed Dean some plastic figurines. She smiled as Dean took a minute to contemplate where he would hang each and every figure. John noticed that Dean was happier right now than he had seen him in a long time.
Seeing that the children were occupied, Jamie walked up to John. "Mr. Winchester, I hope you don't take offense, but we all got together and bought the boys some clothing and toys for Christmas. Please don't think of it as charity. We know things have been kind of rough for you and your children and we just wanted to help out. We talked to Pastor Jim and got the boys sizes and then the ladies went out and did the shopping. We hope you'll accepts the gifts for the children in the way that it was meant, as a gesture of friendship."
John felt a lump form in his throat as tears came to his eyes. He didn't even know these people, yet they gave to his family out of the generosity of their hearts and expected nothing in return. At least he knew now that there was still some good in the world to combat the bad. "I don't know what to say" John said as he ran a calloused hand over his mouth.
"All you have to do is say yes" Jamie informed him with a grin upon his face.
"Yes, thank you fall or making Christmas special for my boys this year" John said as he reached out to shake the offered hand.
"No sir, thank you for allowing us to do it" Jamie replied before returning outside to help finish putting up the lights around the house.
As they finished decorating and the people of the congregation left, Jim and the Winchesters sat in the living room and gazed at the splendid beauty of the evergreen tree.
Five short days later, the boys awoke to find that the beautiful tree was surrounded by brightly wrapped packages. Jim sorted them out and John helped Sammy to open his while Dean took care of unwrapping his all on his own. Each child had seven new outfits along with new winter coats with hats and boots that would get them through the snowy weather to come. Dean had some matchbox cars, a farm animal set, and some action figures while Sammy had a see-n-say spinning toy along with some teethers and stacking blocks. There was also various children's books along with coloring books and crayons. John also found himself with some new clothing and a new winter jacket himself.
After all the gifts were opened, John relished in watching his children play with their new toys as he stood by the bay window. "Our boys are happy Mary" he whispered as he glanced out the window towards the brilliant blue sky. "I just wish you were here to see it."
TBC