Chapter Six

Bobby Singer ran into the hospital's Emergency entrance, nearly colliding with a patient hobbling slowly outside as he did so.

The grizzled hunter scanned the family members sitting worriedly in the waiting room before spying Dean in the far corner, his face a mask of fear and guilt.

"Dean!" Bobby called breathlessly and the younger man stood to meet him.

"Have you heard anything yet?" Bobby asked and sat down in a green plastic chair beside the anxious brother.

Dean shook his head sadly.

"It just happened so quickly, Bobby," he muttered, "He was fine… well, not fine but you know… and then he started having a fit and he wasn't breathing and… and…"

Dean looked up at his friend with red-rimmed eyes and Bobby quietly slipped an arm around the young man's shoulders.

As soon as Bobby had finished hearing Dean's terrified message on his answering machine he had driven to the hospital the younger hunter had indicated with all-speed.

Whatever bug Sam had managed to pick up, it was a bad one.

Bobby wasn't all that surprised that the youngest Winchester had ended up in the hospital but that didn't mean he wasn't trouble by the unexpected turn of events. How did a flu end in an ambulance ride to Emergency?

"You sure it's a bug? You didn't piss off any witches or anything recently?" he asked Dean and the younger hunter shook his head.

"I couldn't get his fever to go down," he told Bobby, "I tried really hard but it never broke… He barely ate anything…"

The veteran hunter nodded. Dean had not said as much on the phone, only telling Bobby that Sam had had some kind of seizure and was en route to the nearest hospital but the grizzled hunter knew the Winchesters well enough to know how things were when the youngest was ill.

W

Bobby watched as Dean paced the floor in front of him. Three hours had passed since the grizzled hunter had arrived at the hospital and no doctor had made an appearance.

Dean was growing more and more anxious and Bobby knew it was only a matter of time before he rushed through the swinging doors labeled 'Staff Only' and tried to intimidate a doctor into giving him an update on Sam.

"You want some coffee from the cafeteria?" the older hunter suggested, knowing that caffeine probably wouldn't be good for Dean while he was almost frantic with worry but thought 'to hell with it' the kid looked like he could use a drink and since booze weren't allow in the hospital coffee would have to do.

But Dean shook his head. He raised his hands and rubbed his face.

"When was the last time you slept?" Bobby asked concernedly.

Dean shrugged, "Couple of days ago."

Bobby sighed and looked toward the swinging doors, hoping that a doctor would see them soon.

SPN

Dr. Munroe sighed tiredly as she walked down the mint-green hallway towards the Emergency waiting room.

Her newest patient, Samuel Winchester, was not doing well and she always hated to be the bearer of bad news.

Stepping into the waiting room, Dr. Munroe took in the half-dozen anxious families and called out, "Family of Samuel Winchester?"

A burly man wearing a stained tan vest and baseball cap stood and a young man- probably in his late twenties to early thirties- looked up from where he seemed to be pacing the small waiting area.

Dr. Munroe held out her hand to shake theirs as they approached.

"Is Sammy going to be okay?" the young man asked; his hazel eyes filled with worry.

"We don't know that yet," Dr. Munroe said vaguely, "Right now we're just trying to get his fever down."

The older man- who identified himself as Bobby Singer, the boys' uncle- nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, seeming to realize the gravity of the situation.

The younger man- Dean, Sam's older brother- didn't look happy already and Dr. Munroe just knew he was going to be trouble.

"How can you not know?" he asked angrily, "You're a doctor!"

"We won't know anything until Samuel wakes up," Dr. Munroe explained.

If he wakes up, she thought to herself.

Dean seemed to know what the doctor was thinking and his face paled, "Can we… we can see him, right?"

Dr. Munroe frowned, "Your brother's been moved to the ICU for testing. You told the paramedics that you don't know how he became ill?"

Dean nodded, "He was fine just a few days ago. Then out of nowhere he's got this raging fever that won't break."

"I'm going to have to ask you some more questions to rule out some causes for the fever," Dr. Munroe told the young man, "If you'll follow me?"

Dean went first, walking right behind the doctor and she could almost feel his eyes burning twin holes into the back of her white coat.

Dr. Munroe stepped into an empty exam room and closed the door.

"When can I see Sam?" Dean asked again as soon as the doctor turned to face him and his uncle.

"We need to determine that the fever is not the cause of anything infectious," Dr. Munroe explained, "Until then, only the nurses and I will be allowed into your brother's room. I'm sorry but it is for the safety of everyone."

"But if Sam's got some infection," Dean argued, his hazel eyes darkening, "Couldn't I be sick too? I've been taking care of him the past two days and I gave him mouth-to-mouth when he stopped breathing after that seizure!"

Dr. Munroe opened her mouth to speak but Bobby Singer beat her to it.

"Dean," the burly man growled warningly and although the younger man glared at the doctor, he said no more.

"I understand that you might not know the answer to all these questions but do your best," Dr. Munroe said in a kindly tone, "The more we know about Samuel, the closer we'll come to finding out what caused the fever and be able to help him."

"Sam," Dean almost growled.

Dr. Munroe's brow furrowed, "Pardon me?"

"It's Sam," Dean explained irritably, "Not Samuel."

"Sam," the doctor corrected herself, "Alright, when did the fever start?"

Dean sighed in exasperation, "Two days ago."

The doctor wrote that down on the clipboard she had brought with her, "Daytime or night?"

"Uh… I'm not sure… I found him in the morning after I… picked up breakfast," Dean answered, slightly uncomfortable and the doctor caught Bobby glance at the young man from the corner of his eye.

"I guess he got really sick in the middle of the night," Dean finished, a slightly ashamed look on his face.

And where were you? Dr. Munroe thought but kept the rude question to herself.

"Besides the seizure, what other symptoms occurred?" she continued.

"He could barely keep his eyes open, like all he wanted to do was sleep," Dean began, looking haggard as he no doubt went through the events of the past two days in his head to recall every detail of his brother's illness, "Said he was really cold… uh… hardly at anything… I tried to get him to drink some Ginger Ale but he couldn't… he was really weak too…"

"Any vomiting? Coughing? Sneezing?" Dr. Munroe asked and Dean shook his head.

"Are all of Sam's vaccinations up to date?" she asked and after a pause, Dean affirmed that they were.

The questioning continued. Dr. Munroe found out that the brothers were on a road trip across the States- but had not been to any international locations- and that, as far as Dean knew, no one around them had been sick. Dean didn't bat an eyelash when the doctor asked if his brother had ever taken (or was currently taking) illicit drugs or if he was on any medications. Dean almost laughed when he was asked if Sam had been around any animals recently but quickly sobered up after Bobby glared at him and answerer in the negative. Sam had had no recent surgeries or other illnesses, he had no relevant allergies. When Dr. Munroe asked about Sam's sexual history Dean commented that even priests had more sex than his brother, than an odd expression crossed his face and he confirmed that as far as he knew, Sam had had no sexual relations with anyone for a while.

Dr. Munroe deflated somewhat. There had been nothing in Dean's answers that pointed to what was causing Sam's fever.

"As soon as Sam wakes up I would like to perform some tests but I feel it's necessary to do some tests right away," Dr. Munroe told the two men and Bobby nodded, "Whatever you need to do, Doc."

"Thank you," she said, "I'm going to have a blood test run and hopefully that will give us some answers."

"Doctor," Dean said cautiously, "Sam's fever was pretty high… and well… he's going to be okay when he wakes up, right? I mean… he'll uh…"

Dr. Munroe felt her heart go out to the young man. A high fever that ran for long periods of time could cause serious damage, serious brain damage if left unchecked. Sam's fever had been 105.8 Fahrenheit

"We won't know until he wakes up," she confessed, hoping that the young man would be alright but knowing that there was a very high chance that something would be wrong.

Dean nodded resignedly.

"If you'll excuse me," Dr. Munroe said, "I'd like to get that blood test sent to the lab as soon as possible."

"Yeah," Dean muttered somewhat despondently, worried about his brother.

The doctor took her leave and walked down to the ICU, intent on finding out the cause of her young patient's illness.

SPN

Dean and Bobby returned to the waiting room. There was nothing more they could do until Sam woke up.

Dean hoped that his brother would be alright upon waking but the doctor hadn't sounded all too confident.

Dean was terrified that the fever would fry his brother's brain and Sam wouldn't remember how to walk or talk, wouldn't remember how to feed himself, would forget who he was…

The eldest Winchester put his head in his hands, leaning forward in the uncomfortable plastic chair. He felt Bobby's hand on his back, seeming to know exactly what he was thinking.

"We'll get through it, son," Bobby murmured, "We always do."

Dean nodded but he didn't feel very positive. He couldn't help feeling guilty. He should have stayed with his brother when Sam had asked him to. He shouldn't have gone out for a one-night stand with some ditzy waitress. He should have taken Sam to the hospital sooner.

Now, because of his negligence, Sam could be serious hurt. Because Dean hadn't been thinking, Sam could be the one to pay the price.

Author's Note:

1. Thanks to reannablue, AshleyMarie84, Sparkiebunny, mandancie, cold kagome, livi, L.A.H.H, Mutilated Pancake, Jeanny, , Alex, emebalia, belleblack101, sammynanci, doyleshuny, BranchSuper, SPN Mum, and Olive-Pizza for reviewing.

2. Thanks to everyone who alerted, followed or favourited.

3. Please leave a review and I'll promise to update more quickly.