Chapter Two
Sam shivered, feeling cold although he wasn't sure why. He opened his eyes cautiously and quickly squeezed them shut. Wherever he was it was blindingly bright. His mind felt foggy and when Sam tried to recall what had happened, he couldn't. Was he sick? Did he get hurt on a hunt? Sam slowly picked himself up and once again opened his eyes- this time with more success as he squinted. His head throbbed with pain at the tiniest movement and his stomach bucked uncomfortably.
Without looking at his surroundings, Sam shot forward in panic and heaved into a stainless steel bedpan that had been sitting in the corner.
Tears leaked from Sam's eyes as he retched miserably. Curling himself around the bedpan Sam groaned in pain as his head spiked with agony every time his stomach tried to turn itself inside out.
Through his sedative-fogged brain, one thought shone like a lighthouse beacon and terrified Sam.
Something is wrong. This isn't right.
Sam retched again, his throat burning and his cheeks wet with tears. Exhausted, Sam leaned his back against the whitewashed wall and just tried to control his breathing.
Suddenly Sam remembered the bus depot in Kettering. He remembered talking to the elderly employee and… and… nothing. Sam couldn't remember anything after that.
Groaning, Sam ducked his head and caught sight of the hospital bracelet on his wrist.
His heart began to pound fearfully. Sam lifted his arm and narrowed his streaming eyes to try and read what was printed on the plastic-coated bracelet. If he was indeed at a hospital then it would give him at least some clue as to what had happened.
Sam frowned as he read the series of numbers and letters printed on the laminated plastic. Setting the bedpan down, Sam peered around the room, wondering where the staff was. Certainly there should be a nurse with him.
One look and Sam realized that he was not in any type of hospital he recognized. Pushing himself up from the floor, Sam staggered towards the door and tried the handle and somehow wasn't surprised to find it was locked.
Sam peered out through the tiny window reinforced with chicken wire and saw nothing but a blank wall across from the room he was in. He stared for maybe ten long minutes without seeing anyone walk past and lifted a hand to run his fingers through his hair.
Sam's heart jolted when his fingertips brushed against stubble and scalp.
Eyes wide, Sam ran both hands over his newly bald head.
Dad always wanted you to cut your hair, Sam thought humourlessly and felt fresh tears roll down his cheeks.
What the hell had happened?
Sam wiped at his eyes and peered down at his outfit. His feet were bare and he was wearing only a pair of drawstring pants and a t-shirt that was definitely not his.
Where were his clothes?
Nearly hyperventilating with panic, Sam managed to reach the cot that stood against one wall before he could fall. Burying his face in the lumpy pillow, Sam heaved again and retreated back to the corner with the bedpan. The sour stench of old vomit clinging to the camp bed sent warning bells blaring in Sam's head.
The youngest Winchester folded himself into a ball, his knees pressed against his chest and his arms wrapped around his shins. Closing his eyes tightly, Sam called out silently to his family.
Dean! Dad! Where are you? What happened? Help me!
SPN
Dean sat down on his motel bed and pulled out his phone. He was all alone in the room, his father had gone down to the diner to get them some supper and he decided that now was as good a time as any to check in with Sam.
Dean knew his father was still simmering over Sam's decision to leave so he thought it best if he talked to his brother one-on-one without their Dad getting into the conversation.
Dean scrolled down his contact list and punched the TALK button when he stopped at Sam's number.
The phone rang once… twice… three times…
Dean frowned but shook his head, telling himself that Sam might not want to talk to him just yet.
Give him a week to get settled, Dean told himself. Seven days only and then call him.
Dean would have liked to hear his brother's voice right then, though and wasn't at all sure he'd be able to wait a whole week.
Tempted to call again and leave a message if necessary, Dean was stopped from doing so when his father knocked on the door.
Putting his phone away, Dean got up tiredly and opened the door for John.
"Hope you like burgers," the eldest Winchester said with a smile.
Dean rolled his eyes and stepped out of the way so that his father could enter. Dean took the brown paper bag from his Dad as the older man set the cardboard drink tray down on the kitchenette's Formica table.
Dean tore open the paper bag and grabbed the bacon cheeseburger waiting for him.
"Thanks Dad," Dean mumbled through a mouthful of ground beef and cheese.
"No problem, son," John said and dug into his own burger.
SPN
Sam looked up when the door opened and a hand wearing a latex glove slid a tray into the room.
Sam closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. He was exhausted; he hadn't slept at all and his abdomen felt as though a boxing champion had been using it as a punching bag. Slowly unfolding himself, Sam opened his eyes again and examined the food on the tray.
The tray itself was dark brown plastic with four separate sections. A sandwich sat in the largest section with a glob of green Jell-O in the section on the right. Someone had taken the time to make carrot and celery sticks- which sat on the sandwich's left side- and there was an apple juice box nestled in the last rectangular section.
Hospital food, Sam thought and picked up the sandwich. He peeled apart the two slices of bread and decided that the ham and cheese looked harmless enough. Sam nibbled on a corner of the sandwich and peered around the room. Still the same blank whitewashed walls and slippery white tile floor as before. Still the same cot and bedpan. Looking up, Sam saw that the ceiling was made of the same fiberglass tiles that were often found in schools.
As he ate, Sam tried to recall the event leading up to his imprisonment in this mysterious place. Closing his eyes as he munched on a celery stick, Sam concentrated on the elderly gentleman from the Kettering bus station.
He remembered being disappointed that he'd missed the late bus and would have to wait until morning for the next one. The employee had suggested he go to a motel down the road but Sam didn't have a lot of money as it was and he could just hang out in the terminal for free.
Sam could almost taste the soda and chips he'd eaten and he stared down sadly at the unimaginative meal on its plastic tray.
There was another person in the waiting area with him… a woman- but he didn't think she was a threat- he'd never spoken to her and she had been fast asleep anyway.
A headache began to throb between Sam's eyes and he rubbed tiredly at the spot.
Sam drank the apple juice but ignored the Jell-O. Shoving the tray back toward the door, Sam returned to the corner of the room and sat down, wrapping his arms around his legs as he did so.
I should have just taken the old man's advice and gone to the motel for the night, Sam thought, I might not be here if I had.
Sam sniffed and wiped at his eyes as he began to cry again.
"I wanna go home," he mumbled out loud and rested his cheek against his knees and closed his eyes.
SPN
Doctor Bates glanced at his wristwatch. They were late.
Sighing, he straightened the instruments sitting on a metal tray covered by a sterile cloth. "Should I page them for you?" the nurse asked.
Bates shook his head, "They shouldn't be much longer."
He had expected some delay; it was always the most difficult the first time around.
Peering at his watch once more, Bates looked up when he heard the sound of shouting coming down the hallway.
"Get your fucking hands off me!"
The doctor smiled to himself and stood.
The doors of the examination room burst open and the two orderlies manhandled the kid inside. The young man was taller than the men holding him captive but what they lacked in height they made up in muscle. Each had an iron grip on the boy's upper arms, holding him in place.
The young man took one look at the dentist-like chair and the doctor and redoubled his efforts to escape.
Bates watched silently as the young man writhed in the orderlies' grasp. He managed to elbow one man in the gut but that was as far as he got before he was wrestled into the chair. The orderlies snatched at his flailing arms and one hand knocked against the tray of instruments, sending it crashing to the floor before they managed to restrain him, strapping his wrists down to the chair arms.
"What do you want with me?" the young man snarled fiercely.
Bates was shocked. By now he should be bawling his eyes out and begging to go home; that is what the others always did… but not this boy… no, he was angry.
"Nurse, would you go get me a fresh set of tools?" he asked and the woman nodded.
"And another blood bag," he added after a moment's pause.
"Another one doctor?" the nurse asked hesitantly.
"Did I stutter?" Bates mocked and the nurse left the room to do as he had ordered.
Turning his attention to his captive, Bates noted that the boy's pupils were dilated and that his chest was heaving.
"Calm down," he told the young man.
"Fuck you!" the boy snapped and strained against the straps, his hands clenched into fists.
Bates raised his eyebrows in amusement. The nurse returned with clean instruments and the requested blood bag.
The boy's eyes kept traveling to the IV pole standing beside the chair, a pouch for blood collection hanging from one of its spindly, silver arms.
Bates replaced the instruments on the tray and tore open a package of alcohol wipes.
"Don't you touch me!" the kid snapped but Bates ignored him.
"This won't hurt," Bates informed the young man as he swiped the alcohol wipe on the inside of his elbow.
"M-BSPN666," Bates smiled when he read the code printed on the hospital bracelet around the boy's wrist, "You are certainly living up to your name."
"Let me go! What are you doing?" the kid yelped, his eyes growing wide when Bates picked up a needle and attached it to the thin, clear tube that fed into the bag hooked up to the IV pole.
"No! Get that away from me!" Now Bates saw fear flare to life in the boy's mossy green eyes and he smiled wolfishly.
"You're very special, you know that?" Bates spoke as he inserted the needle into the crook of the boy's elbow, talking over the young man's outraged cries.
"You're blood type is rare and for you it's a saving grace, really," Bates frowned when there was no crimson liquid flowing up the tube.
"Relax," he told the young man, "Or it will only take longer."
"Let me go!" the boy replied.
"I can sedate you if you like," Bates suggested, "But I don't think you want me to do that, do you?"
The kid stared at him for a moment as if trying to decide if he was bluffing before he uncurled his fist.
Bates waited patiently as the blood flowed up into the bag until it was full. One of the orderlies moved to release the kid but the doctor held up a hand, "One more time I think."
"What?!" the boy gasped, "You can't!"
Bates pulled the needle out and handed the bag full of blood to the nurse to deal with.
As he prepared the second needle and blood collection bag, Bates listened to the kid protest.
"You're insane! This is insane! Let me go you bastard!"
"I'm not crazy!" Bates snapped and jabbed the needle into the boy's elbow, causing him to cry out in pain.
"I'm just greedy," the doctor corrected calmly.
The boy's eyes narrowed and he asked a question that confused but delighted Bates with its irony.
"Are you vampires?"
"Of a sort," the doctor answered with a smile. He had never thought about it like that but he supposed that, yes, he was a vampire.
Once the second bag of blood was full, the boy quieted down. He was pale and his forehead was beaded with sweat.
"One more thing before you go," Bates picked up a needle full of a clear liquid.
"What's that?" the young man asked warily.
"Antibiotics," Bates said.
After the injection, the orderlies took the boy's restraints off and heaved him up. Grabbing hold of his arms, the men marched the boy to the door but he didn't struggle this time.
SPN
The elevator was spinning wildly and it was all Sam could do not to puke. He lowered his head so that he was staring at his feet and wished he could just lie down.
The men gripping his arms seemed immune to his misery and quickly ushered him down the hallway to his room.
One of the men unlocked the door while the other held Sam's arm in a painful grip. The youngest Winchester began to list to the side- he was just so tired- and stumbled when he was pushed into the room.
Sam didn't even bother turning around when he heard the lock slide into place. He lowered himself to the floor and pressed his cheek to the cool tile.
W
Sam kicked one of the men in the crotch before he could grab him and ran down the hallway. He hit the elevator door and slammed the palm of his hand on the buttons, praying that the doors would open for him.
"Damn it," he muttered when he glanced back and saw the two men coming for him.
Sam cried out when one of the men grabbed the back of his neck and jerked him away from the elevator doors.
"You're gonna pay for that," the man he'd kicked snarled and punched Sam in the face.
"Bates will have your head if you mess 'im up," the second man cautioned.
"Piece of shit's gonna pay for sacking me," the first man argued. Sam raised his hands to protect his face from further punishment when the second man pulled him to safety.
"C'mon," he grumbled, "Let the doc deal with him."
Sam didn't try and escape again. He was sure he'd be pummeled to pulp if he tried. He could already feel his eye starting to swell where the man had punched him.
They rode the elevator down and stepped out onto a floor Sam didn't recognize. He stopped walking, forcing his handlers to halt as well.
"Where are we?" he asked, even if he didn't receive an answer.
"You think Doc Bates is just gonna take your blood?" the man who'd punched him grinned cruelly.
Sam's heart beat increased and he began to struggle.
"Take me back! No! Get off me! Put me back in the room! Please!" Sam begged in fear.
"Don't have time for this," the man who had a penchant for hitting said and sucker punched Sam in the abdomen, knocking the wind- and the fight- from him.
Sam looked up when they entered the new room and whimpered fearfully.
"No," he begged as he caught sight of Bates and a female nurse wearing a green hospital gown, gloves, a mask and cap.
"Please," Sam tried again, "I'll be good… I won't fight… you can take my blood… I don't care…"
Bates' eyes narrowed from over their mask and he pointed at Sam's face, "Who did that?"
"Little bastard was trying to get away," the perpetrator answered shamelessly.
"God damn you, Elridge! What have I told you about hitting them?" Bates shouted, "If you hit them then nobody is going to want them!"
Sam cringed at the doctor's words.
"Why do I always have to remind you? We serve a very elite clientele and they want everything to be perfect!" Bates continued angrily.
"Sorry Doc," Elridge apologized, "But the little fucker kicked me in the nuts! Don't tell me you wouldn't teach 'im a lesson?"
Bates heaved a sigh and approached Sam. The young man flinched when the doctor touched the side of his face with one gloved hand.
"I would be more subtle about it," he answered his crony's question quietly.
"Please… please don't do this," Sam begged but Bates wasn't paying any attention to him anymore.
"Get him onto the table," the doctor said distractedly and Sam made one last-ditch attempt at freedom.
The orderlies manhandled Sam onto the operating table and strapped him down when he was lying on his stomach.
Sam was practically panting; his heart was pounding as Doctor Bates approached with a gas mask.
"Since I can't trust you to behave, you must be put out," the doctor explained, his annoyance clear in his tone.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked fearfully.
The doctor ignored him and pressed the plastic mask down hard over Sam's mouth and nose.
A sickly sweet-smelling gas filled Sam's lungs and the lights seemed to grow amazingly bright for a moment before he closed his eyes and drifted into welcoming darkness.
Author's Note:
1. Thanks to AshleyMarie84, SPN Mum, cold kagome, avidreader33, reannablue, MysteryMadchen, Souless666, L.A.H.H, fixusi, missingmikey, DianaLadris802, jam, samigail, Kailene, sammynanci, BranchSuper, Priya723, lexi'ssorryforthis and Guest for reviewing.
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