I do not own any of the characters or affiliates and such they all belong to the people who own Supernatural.
And maybe if you are all nice and review I will add another two or more chapters tonight :D
Also, I am Australian and relying solely on Google for any information about American towns and places and such, so if names or anything don't work or are wrong, sorry!
12.
Six weeks later; Sioux Falls...
It had been four days since Bobby and Sam had been given permission to bring Dean home, after two slow days on the road they had finally managed to settle in a little and enjoy being back in familiar surroundings. There had only been a little argument about where the boys would go, Dean had argued about now wanting to get in Bobby's way and then he had battled that he would have no other way and insisted that the doctor demand Dean go somewhere familiar to him.
Not long after, Dean had begrudgingly admitted defeat and resigned himself to Bobby's care. They had quickly packed up his small room on the rehab ward, bundled him in to his wheelchair and made a fast getaway, putting the hospital quickly behind them. The only thought of returning, when they got the call for Dean's Cornea Transplant.
With no surprise, Dean had made a quick, if not forced recovery and had kicked the chair in turn for the walking stick. With a small amount from Sam, he was able to get around for short periods of time, but otherwise stayed pretty immobile, learning new tricks and techniques such as preparing food or drinks, or how to judge how far he had gone and make sure his memory retained the information.
Dean had promised his therapist to be safe, and continue the muscle building exercises for his legs and upper body, as he would need them for getting in and out of the bath/shower.
At the moment, Dean was sweating heavily as he leaned on the walking stick, counting under his breath as he made his way for the seventh time to the kitchen and fridge from the lounge room. Each time he managed to stub his toe, bump his shoulder or directly walk in to something. This time though, he had been successful to miss any barriers in his way. Hand out, he smiled in relief as his hands settled on the door to the fridge.
Opening the door, he sighed as the cool air rushed at his sweating body, cooling him down from the exertion. Flailing his hand around a little, his fingers reflexively closed around the chilled neck of a beer. He had promised Sam and Bobby he wouldn't move from the sofa while they were gone to get supplies, but he couldn't resist the chance to do something on his own. Dressed in nothing but boxers, he settled back against the fridge and let the cold emanate through his body as he rubbed a bruise already rising from meeting the table before.
Lost for a moment in his own silent victory, Dean startled and dropped his beer at the sound of car doors shutting. Swearing when the bottle shattered around his feet, spraying his legs with cold beer he leant on his stick in attempt to move away from the mess and cursed even louder when he brought his foot down on a jagged piece of glass. Unable to keep his footing, Dean slid to the ground and groaned, swearing more insults under his breath.
'Dean?' Sam's voice called from behind the kitchen door, he heard it thrown open moments later and heavy footfalls come towards him before coming up short. 'Leave you for half an hour!' Sam whined, calling Bobby to bring in the mop and brush and shovel.
'I was thirsty.' All Dean could offer, a little sheepishly. He could just imagine the mothering look Sam would have on his face right now, all concern and anger but the caring side of him would outweigh the other. And it did.
'Come on, let's get you out of there and cleaned up.' Sam's footsteps sounded well placed and a little wet as hands reached out for him and closed around his forearm, another wrapping around his left side, supporting most of his weight. 'Dude you're bleeding.' Sam groaned.
'Yeah guess I should have stayed where I was when I dropped the bottle.' Sam grunted under his weight for a minute before resting him in a kitchen chair. 'It's just my foot.'
'And your thigh and arm and back, you practically sat in the glass man.'
'What in hell?' Bobby entered the kitchen then. 'Balls.'
'Sorry Bobby.' Dean muttered.
'It's alright son, this is what I signed up for anyway. Damn knows how many times I gave you a spanking for getting in to things you shouldn't have as a kid anyhow.' Bobby laughed. 'Especially the beer.' Dean laughed too then, remembering that memory all too well from when he was sixteen years old and their dad had left them with Bobby for near a month. Dean had snuck in to kitchen late at night and decided beer was better then soda, Bobby had busted him and given him a spanking so hard he didn't try again till he was seventeen.
'Hey Bobby can you pass me the first aid kit?' Sam asked, using a tea towel to mop up the blood pooling beneath Dean's foot, he could feel it running warm over his heel before dripping in large droplets too the floor. He heard a drawer open and something being passed, Dean swore when he was met with a burning pain.
'Son of a bitch Sammy! A little more warning would be nice next time, if you wouldn't mind. Punish me another way!' Dean cursed, biting his lip as Sam cleaned the wound with more Peroxide. He gritted his teeth when his brother moved to the other cuts he had managed to collect.
'I think you punished your self with this Dean, you're back in the wheelchair till your foot heals. That's going to need stitches.' Sam mused, smiling to himself. He knew how pigheaded Dean was, and hadn't in the least expected him to stay sitting while he and Bobby were gone. But Bobby had convinced him Dean needed to learn from his mistakes, and this was definitely a lesson learnt in Sam's books. He just hoped Dean would see it that way too.
Looking his brother over for any more cuts or abrasions, he probed the welting bruise blossoming on his brother's side. 'How did you get this?' he asked when his brother tensed beneath his touch.
'Uh I met the table on my way over, thought it might say hello a little to violently.' Dean tried to laugh it off, but Sam just shook his head. His hands moved down Dean's body, a little uneasy over the bruising. Eyes resting on the mess of scars and missing muscle that made up Dean's thigh and calf.
'You still plan on cooking tea Sam or are you going to baby your brother all night?' Bobby asked, back door clanging shut behind him as he moved back out to the car, mess cleaned up off the floor now, bring back in the groceries.
'You heard the man Sam, going to baby me all night or cook us something completely inedible?' Dean joked, rubbing his thigh a little.
'Guess I should start, I will grab your chair first since you are going to help me, cripple.' Sam smirked, it was his new joke name for Dean over jerk. At first he wasn't sure how it would go down but Dean had simply laughed it off and called him a mothering little bitch.
'Shut up bitch.' Dean retorted, a small sigh escaping his lips as he leant back in the chair, rubbing his painful leg. He wasn't due painkillers for at least another two hours, he tried to remember his breathing techniques and how to clear his mind and distract himself. His phone rang then, across the room on the sofa. He heard running feet and Sam's voice as he answered.
'Ellen hi, yeah sorry Dean is in the kitchen so I answered for him. That's great, yeah we will see you in half an hour then, is Ash coming with or just Jo?' Dean listened, a little annoyed he didn't get to talk on his phone, the call was clearly for him or else they would have called Sam or Bobby. 'Right, well we will see you both shortly.' He heard the click of his phone being closed and sighed again.
'I didn't know we were expecting visitors, or that people didn't get to talk to people who called them; on their own phones.' He grumbled, but Sam had left the room again, returning shortly to lift him in to the wheel chair.
'Yeah they called me last night and asked if they could come see you. Apparently Jo has been hassling Ellen something chronic about you, so she finally said she would leave shop to Ash and come down for a few days I think.' Dean smirked, Jo had always had a soft spot for him and he for her.
'Sounds good, would be nice to see them both, strictly speaking.' Sam laughed at the irony of the words. 'Stitches first or food first?' Dean asked.
'Stitches then food, don't need you bleeding out on the spot now do we?' Dean jumped when suddenly the chair spun around and he began to move. He still wasn't used to that sensation, it made his stomach turn and bile burn in his throat. It definitely didn't feel normal to him. 'You alright?' Sam asked, concerned voice again.
'Think I'm going to chuck, you moved me too quick.' Dean warned, holding his stomach as sweat broke out on his forehead. The wheelchair stopped as a bucket was gently placed on his lap, head being softly guided to the buckets lip.
As Dean was throwing up, Bobby came back in with an arm full of groceries and grimaced at the sound. Poor kid couldn't catch a break too easily, Sam looked guilty and sad and Bobby realised what had happened. Dean was suffering a rare case of motion sickness from being in the wheelchair. The doctors had explained the movement and lack of eyesight would play havoc on his system for a while, but eventually he would get used to it. Slowly he had been, but anything to sudden or violent and he would throw up almost immediately.
Placing the groceries on the table, Bobby rifled through the paper bags until he found what he was looking for. Pulling the short stubby out, he popped off the lid and walked over to Dean, taking the used bucket from him. Sam wiped away any sweat or vomit from the boys face before Bobby placed the drink in Dean's hand.
'What's this?' He mumbled.
'Just drink it son, will make you feel better.' Bobby guided the hand holding the bottle towards Dean's mouth and smiled when he took a deep mouthful, a small amount of relief showing on his face as the cool fizzy liquid hit his weak stomach. 'Better?'
Dean nodded in reply, taking another larger mouthful. 'Sorry Dean, I should have known, warned you or something.'
'It's okay Sammy, not exactly something easy to remember. I mean seriously, who gets motion sickness in a damn wheel chair?' Dean brushed the apology off, Bobby patted the younger brother on the shoulder before turning back to the groceries to unpack them.
'Was that Ellen on the phone before?' He asked as Sam knelt beside Dean, threading a needle with cat gut before r resterilising the wound on Dean's foot, still dripping blood.
'Yeah they are only like, fifteen minutes away by now.' Sam replied, focus turned to Dean's foot now as he began the stitches.
'Well when you're done there how about you start dinner and I will help Dean put something more appropriate on for female company?' Bobby offered, placing tins in the cupboard and arranging them in order. He turned to find Dean looking rather sheepish now, sitting there in nothing but a pair of boxers. He found it most comfortable to navigate around the house in, usually he wore a t-shirt but this morning had been warmer so he had opted to go shirtless. His skinny frame, paler then normal nothing to really be embarrassed about around his family.
'Sounds good, though I don't think there is much I can do without Dean's advice, but I am sure I can at least cut some things up.' Sam finished the final stitch, trying not to laugh. Dean had darkened a shade in embarrassment after Bobby had brought up how he was dressed.
It was so pleasant to have his brother out of the hospital, it had been so tense while they were there and none of them were really sleeping or getting along very well. The hospital sent their tempers high, and they had very few good days. They were still a long way from normal. But Sam knew they only had to try a little harder, and work more towards a better outcome with all this.
Tomorrow he had plans of heading down to the local library and picking up some books that taught you how to learn brail, and a few audio books for Dean to listen to when he was bored. Having Ellen and Jo come visit wasn't on his planned schedule for Dean's recovery, but he had seen the smile when he told them they were coming, and it made him smile too. Maybe while they were there, he would help Dean relearn how to shoot, put together and cleans a gun without his sight.
'You still alive in their Sammy?' He felt Dean knock on the top of his head like a door and shook himself back to the present. 'It lives!' Dean cheered.
'Sorry,' he mumbled before straightening up 'he's all yours now Bobby, but be careful, he's ever so fragile.' Laughing, Sam ruffled Dean's hair playfully, dodging out of the way of Dean's blind swing that came too close for comfort. With or without his sight, the boy could still be dangerous.
'Picking on a blind man, I dunno.'
'You ready to start moving?' Bobby asked Dean before he pushed the chair forward, not waiting for a reply as a honk alerted them to Ellen and Jo's arrival.
'Quicker if you could, the thought of the shit those two would give me for being in this chair, half naked would be never ending.' Dean sighed, great full when the voices were suddenly muffled and the door closed behind them.
'Track pants and a t-shirt sound good to you?' Bobby asked, pulling the items from the duffel bag and placing the t-shirt in Dean's hands as he made a move to help him put the pants on. It hurt to know Dean was still too weak with his left leg to dress himself, the scars were an even more painful tug on his heart. 'Lift your leg Dean.' He mumbled, carefully easing the fabric over the missing muscle.
By the time they were done, Dean was wiping sheen of sweat from his brow with one hand, massaging his leg with the other. 'Thanks Bobby.'
'Don't mention it you idjit.' Pushing Dean back out in to the kitchen, Bobby stepped aside as Jo ran towards them and threw her arms around Dean, tears spilling down her cheek in an uncharacteristic fashion.
Cliff hanger, what could make Jo so happy to see Dean :3 but at least, now Dean is doing better and on the road to recovery, but what could be awaiting him in the future? A romance, transplant? A hunt or maybe even abduction? What would you like to see?