A Whiter Shade of Pale Ch. 5
Disclaimer: See first chapter
Author's Note: Please remember that I have no medical knowledge whatsoever and my medical information comes from searching Google.
Previously: Filling his son in on the events that transpired earlier at the motel, John could see the guilt taking hold in Dean's eyes at not having been there for his brother so he wasn't the least bit surprised by Dean's words once he had finished his spiel.
"I'm going to find that sonuvabitch and make him pay for what he did to Sammy. By the time I'm finished with him, he'll wish he had never been born, Dean swore strongly, vengeance gleaming in his angry green eyes
"Dean, calm down, son. Your brother needs you here instead of running off half cocked and getting yourself into trouble," John voiced lowly, glancing over at the door to Sam's room to make sure no one was close enough to hear Dean's oath.
Looking at his father in total disbelief, Dean couldn't help but roll his eyes at his father's comment even though he knew it would most likely piss off the man. "Dad, you damn well know me better than that. I would NEVER leave the hospital while Sammy is in surgery fighting for his life. That kid has been my whole world since the day he was born and that's not about to change now. Besides, I'm not the one who…" Dean drifted off, unwilling to voice his thoughts about how he wasn't the one who always took off for the hunt when Sammy needed him around. No that trophy of disappointment solely belonged to his father
Reeling in the anger he felt at Dean's attitude, John chose to let Dean's words slide this time. He knew Dean wasn't thinking clearly since he was totally distraught over the situation with Sam. No, this time he would ignore Dean's disrespect for the boy's sake, but he and the boy would definitely be having words if it happened again. Tugging calloused fingers through his disheveled hair, he gave Dean 'the look' that warned his eldest he was currently treading on thin ice, just as the sound of another person entering the room could be heard.
"Excuse me," a young nurse stated hesitantly as she walked into the small treatment room to the feel of tension in the air. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait for news of the surgery out in the waiting room as we're going to need this room for our E.R. patients."
"Of course, we were just leaving," John stated as he started towards the door. "Will you please let Sammy's doctors know where we'll be when the surgery is finished?"
"Yes Sir, I'll make sure to let Dr. Spencer know just as soon as they are finished in the O.R.," the young nurse stated with an apologetic smile. She hated having to usher the men out into the ER waiting Room where there would be less privacy for them. "If you'll follow me."
Following the young lady out into the waiting room, John sat down in one of the hard plastic chairs with a melancholy sigh while his oldest began to pace impatiently across the hard tile floor. Glancing up at the clock to see that it was only 3:15 in the morning, he couldn't help but think it had already been one hell of a long night and was only going to get much longer.
~~Supernatural~~
"Damn it, this is definitely not good," Dr. Brad Spencer swore vehemently upon noticing the flow of intestinal contents leaking into his young patient's abdominal cavity as he operated on the thirteen year old. The last thing his young patient needed to deal with the possibility of developing a bacteria infection known as chemical peritonitis on top of everything else he was already going through. He needed to find the area of perforation soon and close it before more blood and intestinal contents leaked into the kid's stomach.
"Suction," he called out as the flow of blood began to obstruct his view. Leaning over for one of the nurses to wipe the sweat from his brow, he waited for the suction to be completed by the head O.R. nurse before once again exploring the intestinal lining of his young patient.
"There you are," he voiced in triumph upon finding the small hole in the lining of Sam's large intestine. Breathing a sigh of relief that he could take care of the perforation without having to remove a part of the teen's intestine, thereby negating the need for a temporary colostomy, he began to stitch up the small hole.
"Alison, once I get this perforation closed up, I am going to need the equipment to do a gastric lavage on the kid. Hopefully that will keep him from developing chemical peritonitis or sepsis from the leakage," the doctor informed his nurse as he worked diligently to sew up the hole in Sam's intestines.
"Yes Doctor, I'll get the equipment right away," Nurse Alison replied before walking over to gather the materials that the handsome doctor we need to perform the peritoneal wash.
~~Supernatural~~
Leaning back in his seat as he watched his eldest child pace the floor to the point of nearly having worn a path in it, John hoped and prayed they would hear something soon on Sam's condition. His nerves were frazzled to the point where he was seriously considering stomping over to the nurse's desk and grabbing the matronly woman by the scruff of her throat to give her a good shake. Of course, he knew it wasn't the woman's fault that they had yet to hear anything, but it just annoyed the hell out of him to walk up to the desk only to be given a curt reply each time he asked if there was any news.
Just when he thought he and Dean couldn't take one more moment of waiting, Sam's doctor finally entered the nearly deserted waiting room with an exhausted look upon his sweat glistened face. Pushing himself to his feet, John met the weary doctor half way across the floor, with Dean standing right there by his side.
"Doc, how's my son?"
"It was pretty hectic there for a little while, but your son is a fighter," Brad answered with a smile as he pulled the light blue surgical cap from his hair. "Barring any complications, young Sam should make a full recovery."
"That's fantastic," Dean voiced excitedly as he bounced nervously from foot to foot. "When can we see him?"
As soon as Sam is moved from the recovery room and into his room in the PICU, I'll have a nurse come and get you."
"PICU? But I thought you said…" Dean's voiced trailed off as his face significantly paled upon hearing the words.
"That Sam should make a full recovery, yes. But you have to understand, your brother went through a very serious trauma to the abdomen and it is going to take his body some time to fully heal," Brad explained as he motioned for Dean to take a seat. He was afraid the young might pass out on him.
"Doc, you said, barring any complications. Does that mean you think Sammy could suffer a setback?" John inquired as he stood beside Dean and placed a comforting hand on his son's tense shoulder to give it a light squeeze.
"I'm hoping not. I have started Sam on a round of intravenous antibiotics in hopes of staving off any infection that might result from the intestinal leakage that we discovered in his abdominal cavity during surgery," Brad answered truthfully. "With a little luck, your son should be up and moving around within a few days."
'Yeah, well you don't know Winchester Luck,' Dean thought to himself after hearing the doctor's words. 'If it weren't for bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all.'
"Okay, so how long before we'll know if Sammy is out of the woods as far as the risk of infection goes?" John asked, needing to know what kind of time frame they were looking at.
"I wish I could answer that for you Mr. Slade, but there is no set time limit when it comes to injuries such as the one your son has suffered. It's basically up to your son and his will to recover," Brad answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to return to the recovery room and check on Sam before seeing to some of my other patients."
"Of course," John voiced as he held out his hand to give the doctor's a firm shake. "Thank you for everything you've done to save my boy."
"You don't have to thank me, John, I'm glad I could help," Dr. Brad Spencer stated with a smile before taking his leave.
~~Supernatural~~
Walking through the door of Sammy's room in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit approximately an hour or so later, Dean couldn't help but gasp in angst at the sight of his baby brother looking so pale and fragile looking lying there in the hospital bed. He had expected Sammy to look weak and , but not to the point of being so frail that he looked near death with the way his eyes were sunken in with dark smudges beneath them, not to mention the almost translucent look of his skin. Even Sammy's lips were nearly white.
"I know things look bad, but your brother is doing about as well as can be expected right now," Judy, Sam's pediatric nurse informed Dean with a smile as she led the small family over to their loved one's bedside.
"Why is he so pale?" Dean questioned as he reached down to take Sam's hand in his, being careful not to disturb the I.V. line. "I mean, they were giving him some blood in the emergency room earlier, so shouldn't his clor be better."
"It's really not surprising that he is so pale considering what his system went through from the trauma of the stab wound and the resulting blood loss. Combine that with the added shock of having to go through surgery recently, well, it's just going to take your brother some time to recover," Judy explained as she began to assess her young patient's vitals.
"Can we stay with him? I know visiting hours haven't officially started yet, but…"
"Of course you can stay. Here in the intensive care pediatric unit, we like to keep family as close as possible for the well being of the child," Judy answered John as she patted him lightly on the arm. "Now, I have to go check on some of the other children assigned to me, but I will be back soon. Just hit the call button if you need me before then."
"We will. Thanks," John replied, before turning to focus his attention on his youngest son. Reaching out to card his fingers through Sammy's chestnut colored hair while Dean stroked his brother's palm with his thumb, John said, "We're here for you Tiger, and we'll be here until you are ready to wake up."
TBC
