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Thanks to emebalia, L.A.H.H, hotshow, AriSophAlmah, firstcatfish, BranchSuper, lovejensenacklesforever, doyleshuny, criminally charmed, SayLo, SPN Mum, twomoms, KKBELVIS and Jeanny for the reviews and to Cheryl for the beta.

Interlude: Lady of Mercy Hospital, Baltimore

A quiet cough diverted both men from the argument.

"Rob," Fuller said.

The man who'd come in behind Dora acknowledged him with a nod. "Nice to see you again, Jim. Wish it were better circumstances." He turned to Dean. "I'm Robert Hartley. I'll be your brother's attending while he's here."

"How is he?" Dean asked, and either he was a really good actor or he was really worried.

"He came through surgery as well as could be hoped. We lost him on the table, but only for a very short time. He's a fighter."

"Yeah," Dean said, sounding proud now. "Yeah, he is. So he's going to be OK?"

"It was a severe injury. You know that. But he's breathing on his own, and, to be frank, that's more than I'd hoped for at this point. I thought we'd have to have him on a vent, at least tonight. What does worry me, though, is the head injury."

"Just tell me," Dean snapped.

"Hairline fracture to his skull," Rob said. "I don't think there's any brain damage, but that isn't my area of expertise and I didn't want to put him through any more testing tonight. If all goes well, he should wake up on his own in a few hours and then we'll be able to get a better idea. I'll leave word for someone from Neurosciences to come by in the morning."

"He'll be fine," Dean said forcefully. "You don't know Sam. He's lived through worse than this."

"I'm sure he has. As I said, he does seem to be a fighter. We'll know more in the morning." Then Rob's face became serious. "There is one other thing I wanted to discuss with you."

Dean stiffened. "Is this about that abuse crap again? Because I'm telling you, one more person comes through here trying to tell me I've been secretly torturing my baby brother –"

"I'm not making any accusations. But try to look at things from my point of view, Mr. Smith. Dr. Jenkins and I both think Sam's earlier injuries are… unusual. We have a responsibility to our patient. I'm not necessarily saying you hurt him, but… Well. That's another thing we can deal with in the morning. Until then… I'm sorry, and I know you won't like this, but until then you cannot see your brother. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

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