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Interlude: Lady of Mercy Hospital, Baltimore

"At least you can still see him," Fuller offered, though he had no idea why he was trying to comfort Dean Smith. Whether or not he was an abuser, he was definitely one of the creepiest men Fuller had ever seen – and he was saying that after twenty years as a member of the city's law enforcement.

"Yeah, right," Dean snorted. "I can see the door of the room where he is. They won't even let me near it in case Sam sees me in that tiny window and panics."

"Dora's just doing her job. And so's Rob."

"Keeping Sammy away from his big brother? It's working because he's out cold. The second he wakes up he's going to throw a bitchfit if I'm not there."

"When Sam wakes up, if he asks for you, I'm sure they'll let you see him. In the meantime why don't you try and relax? You're not helping anyone by getting worked up about it." Dean looked mutinous, and Fuller sighed. "Look at it this way… You said Sam has an ex living in Texas?"

"Yeah. So?"

"What if she were hurting Sam?"

Dean scoffed. "Have you seen Sam? She's like a quarter his size."

"But you're not."

Dean stared at him. Fuller had a feeling he'd either be getting an uppercut to his jaw or a manly pat on the back. He braced himself for either.

Before anything could happen, Rob appeared, looking flustered and glaring at Dean. "Jim, good thing you're still here. Mr. Smith?"

"Yeah?" Dean said warily.

"I have a man here who claims he saw you hurting Sam. He says you caused your brother's injuries."

Fuller's breath left him in a gasp. He'd been warming to Dean – he'd been feeling sorry for Dean – and all along –

His hand closed around Dean's arm. "I'm going to need you to come with me."

"The hell you are!" Dean spat. "I'm not going anywhere till I know Sam's going to be OK. This is ridiculous. It's some random guy's word against mine. You have no proof that I'm the one who's lying. You have no proof that Sam was abused at all, just some suspicions."

Rob's eyes narrowed. "Let's take this discussion to my office."

"I'm not leaving my little brother."

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