A Whiter Shade of Pale Ch. 7
Disclaimer: See first chapter
Author's Note: Please remember that I have no medical knowledge whatsoever and any medical information comes from searching Google. All mistakes are my own.
Previously: "Okay, thanks Doc," John voiced, reaching out to shake the doctor's hand. Escorting the doctor to the door, he sat down in the far corner of the room so he could keep a close eye on his boys, yet allow them the privacy for Dean to coddle their youngest while Sammy half-heartedly protested the treatment. Finally, things seemed to be going their way for a change.
Surreptitiously watching his boys from the corner of his eye as he supposedly perused a Car and Driver magazine, John couldn't help but grin as he watched Dean drive his baby brother absolutely crazy with his overbearing protectiveness.
"Dean, sto-op, I'm not a baby," Sam whined, as Dean picked up a Kleenex from the nearby dresser and proceeded to wipe away the pinkish water droppings from the cherry pedialyte popsicle his brother was currently slurping on from his chin.
"Yes you are," Dean retorted as he threw the paper napkin towards the trash, scoring a hole in one. "You're my baby brother,"
"Da'ad, tell Dean to stop treating my like I'm a baby," Sam pleaded as he glanced over at his father with his puppy dog eyes working at full force.
"Dean, stop treating your brother like a baby," John lightly chastised, keeping the smirk on his face hidden by the magazine he was holding. "As for me on the other hand, now that's a different story."
"Da'ad, not you too," Sam moaned as he watched his father place the magazine on the windowsill and walk over towards his bed.
"Hey Tiger, whether you like it or not, you and Dean will always be my babies," John informed his youngest as he tucked the blanket in around Sammy to keep his youngest child from becoming chilled. Sam was already running a low grade fever as it was, and he didn't want it to become worse.
"Hey, does that mean I can have a popsicle too?" Dean asked hopefully, as his tongue licked his lips in anticipation of getting the cool treat.
"Sorry Ace, but those are only for Sammy," John answered, gracing his youngest with a wink before hitting the nurse call button to ask if they could have another popsicle, much to Dean's delight.
~~Supernatural~~
Sitting on the edge of Sam's bed as they played a game of 'Go Fish' with a deck of playing cards, Dean couldn't help but notice how much his baby brother was beginning to squirm around and it gave him immediate cause for concern. Sure, Sammy had always been a wiggle worm, but never as much as he was moving about now. It was if the kid had ants in his pants or something.
"What the matter squirt?" Dean voiced with worry as he reached out to palm Sammy's forehead with his right hand to see if his fever had increased.
"Nothing. M'okay," Sam answered hurriedly as he shifted his eyes towards the cards he was holding in his hand and asked, "You got any eights?"
"Un uh, Sammy. I can tell something is bothering you so time to fess up Kiddo," Dean retorted, placing his cards face down on the portable bedside table and giving Sam a knowing glance.
"I already told you, nothing's wrong, Sam answered, still unable to look his brother in the eye since he was being untruthful with him. Dean had always been able to read him like a book.
"Your butt hurts doesn't it, Sammy?" Dean asked softly, noticing the wince his sibling was trying to hide as he shifted in the bed once again in an attempt to get more comfortable. Sure, any other time, he would have picked on the kid unmercifully about being 'a pain in the ass,' but not now, not while he brother was so sick.
"Yeah," Sam answered honestly, his cheeks tingeing a slight pink with embarrassment at having to admit where he was actually feeling discomfort.
"Dad," Dean left the statement unspoken knowing his father was probably thinking along the same lines as him.
"I'm on it Dean," John informed his eldest as pushed himself up from the chair he was sitting in and strode quickly from the room to alert the nurse. He fully remembered the doctor having questioned Sammy earlier about whether or not he had been feeling any rectal tenderness or fullness and it left him feeling anxious as to what could be wrong with his son.
Shifting his focus back to his brother once his father had exited the room, Dean couldn't help but worry at seeing the rigid way his brother was lying in the bed, almost as if he was deathly afraid of something. "Sammy, you okay?"
"Dean, I don't want the doctor to come in and check me, uh…down there," Sammy muttered, tears filling his eyes as he thought about the doctor prodding his bottom. The thought was just too mortifying for him to handle.
"I know you don't Kiddo, but I'll be right here with you," Dean soothed, reaching out to thumb away the tears that leaked from his baby brother's eyes. "You won't have to go through it alone and I promise, I won't even pick on you about it afterwards."
"Thanks De," Sam voiced gratefully, just before his Dad and doctor walked back into the room. Even though he didn't want to Dean to see ihim going through such an embarrassing exam, he really didn't want to go through it by himself either.
"No thanks needed, munchkin," Dean voiced as he sat on the edge of the bed facing Sammy so that he could give Sam as much privacy as possible for the examination. "Besides, have I ever told you about the time…"
Dean then went on to tell his brother a totally made up story that kept the kid's attention focused on him instead of what the doctor was doing at the time.
~~Supernatural~~
"Well doc?" John queried anxiously as the doctor pulled the sterile gloves off his hand and tossed them into the trash after examining Sam.
"I cant be positive until I do some further testing, but I think Sam has developed an Intra-abdominal abscess," Dr. Brad Spencer informed John as he placed his hand on Sam's stomach to check for abdominal distention. "The fever and rectal fullness that Sam is experiencing are both signs that indicate he has developed an abscess."
"But how could that happen? I mean, wouldn't you have noticed that when you did the surgery on his stomach," Dean asked, noticeably upset with the fact that the doctor had apparently missed something that was obviously causing his brother pain.
"Dean, these kinds of abscess have been known to develop after surgery where the leakage of bowel matter was found present in the abdominal cavity during a surgical procedure. We flushed out your brother's stomach with the gastric lavage in hopes of staving off an infection such as this, but apparently, it wasn't enough," Brad explained, not taking any offence with the fact that Dean was so upset with him. If he were in Dean's place, he would be mad as hell too.
"So these tests you mentioned doing, what will they entail?" John asked inquisitively, reaching out to brush a calloused hand through Sammy's chestnut colored hair, not sure whether it was for his son's comfort or his own.
"First, I need to do a CBC or complete blood count. If my diagnosis is correct, it should show a higher level of white blood cells than normal. Afterwards, I would like to do a CT scan or an abdominal ultrasound to confirm the diagnosis.
"Sure Doc, whatever you need to do to make my son better," John agreed wholeheartedly knowing that he and Dean would never survive the loss of their youngest.
"I'll go get the tests set up then," Dr. Spencer stated as he traipsed over towards the door.
"Hey Doc, before you leave, can I ask you just one more question?" Dean queried with a whisper, noting the fact that his baby brother had drifted off to sleep during the conversation.
"Sure, what do you need to know Dean?" Brad asked, turning to face the young hunter.
"If Sammy does have the abscess thing, how will you treat it?" Dean asked, wanting to know all the pertinent facts.
"That depends on the severity of the abscess. Best case scenario, we would stick a needle into Sam's abdomen and drain he abscess over a couple of days or a week at the most. Worst case scenario, we would have to do another surgery to drain the abscess," Brad answered, hating the haunted look that the mention of surgery put on the young man's already tense and strained looking face.
"Just…just make sure it doesn't come to that, will ya?" Dean pleaded before gently climbing into Sam's bed and wrapping a protective arm around him since Sam was beginning to whine softly in his sleep. "The kid's already been through more than enough."
"I'll do my best," the doctor promised, smiling at the way his young patiently immediately calmed within his brother's hold. It was nice to know the brother's had such a close connection. It would definitely help with his young patient's recovery. Nodding at John, he silently made his way out of the room to give the small family some time alone together before the tests had to be done.
TBC
