The hydromorphone Dr. O'Brien added to Sam's IV line worked almost instantly. Dean watched silently as Sam sighed and closed his eyes, his hand relaxing in Dean's though the tremors remained.
"We should let him rest for a while," the doctor advised.
Dean wanted to laugh. His brother had been resting for the past week. He wanted the doctor to take Sam to do his tests so he could tell them exactly what they were dealing with now. He wanted to be able to check Sam out of the hospital and head to Sioux Falls.
But he knew that if he rushed things, it would only hurt Sam. So Dean nodded and waited patiently, flipping through the same National Geographic magazine he had been all week even though he had read every article, for his brother to be all right.
W
An hour crept by slowly, Dean reading and re-reading the same articles in the magazine over and over again, before the doctor returned.
"Sam should be quite comfortable now," Dr. O'Brien told Dean and approached the younger Winchester.
"Sam? Sam, can you hear me?"
For a moment the hunter didn't respond and Dean wondered if the drugs had put his brother to sleep. Then, slowly, reluctantly, Sam opened his eyes halfway.
Dr. O'Brien bent down so that he was within Sam's line of sight.
"Can you hear me, Sam?" he asked.
Sam blinked slowly at the doctor.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Sam's chin tilted up, ever so slightly, in what was clearly meant to be a nod.
"You are in the hospital," the doctor repeated his earlier explanation in case Sam had been in too much pain to focus on what he'd been told previously, "You were struck by lightning a week ago. Do you understand?"
Again Sam jerked his chin upwards.
"I'm going to do some tests now," Dr. O'Brien explained, "See how your are doing, okay?"
Sam closed his eyes, the hydromorphone making him groggy.
"He's gonna be okay now, right?" Dean asked, "He can understand you. His brain can't have been fried then."
Dr. O'Brien straightened up, "It is a good sign that he appears to know what I'm saying to him. But this is a tricky thing; very few people survive being struck by lightning so we don't know all the effects it has on a person's body."
Dean nodded.
"What about his arm? Do you think you'll have to amputate it?"
Dr. O'Brien shook his head; "The nurses tell me the tissue hasn't gone necrotic, as we expected, so we should be able to save it. Sam will most likely need surgery on it but just to remove any damaged tissue but I don't think it will call for a full amputation. With physiotherapy, your brother should have use of the arm again."
Dean nodded, relieved. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for his right leg, now missing it's foot.
A nurse stepped into the room and assisted Dr. O'Brien with the task of wheeling Sam's hospital bed out the door and down the hallway.
Unsure of how long he would have to wait for his brother to return, Dean decided to give Bobby a call and keep him posted on what was going on.
The grizzled hunter answered almost instantly.
"Is he okay?" Bobby asked before Dean could get a word out.
"He woke up for a little while," Dean told him, "Dr. O'Brien's taken him for some tests right now. He says they shouldn't have to cut Sam's arm off."
"Thank God," Bobby muttered, "How're you holding up?"
Dean sighed, "I'm fine. I just want to get out of here. I hate hospitals."
"I know," the older hunter replied sympathetically, "But you just wait until the doc gives Sam the green light before you come this way, you hear me?"
Dean did, "I will, Bobby."
As much as he wanted to leave, he knew his brother needed to stay as long as Dr. O'Brien thought he should. He had no ideas of checking Sam out of here early.
"Good," the other hunter grumped. Dean heard another telephone begin to ring on Bobby's end and the grizzled hunter sighed, "Gotta go. Call me later when Sam's back from his tests?"
Dean told Bobby he would and ended the call.
Deciding he needed to stretch his legs, Dean left the room, assuming Sam would be out for a while, and went for a walk around the hospital while he waited.
W
Dr. O'Brien returned Sam three hours later; the younger Winchester appearing to be fast asleep as the surgeon and a nurse rolled his bed back into its proper position.
Dean, sitting in the visitors' chair with a donut and a cup of coffee he'd grabbed from the cafeteria, looked at the doctor expectantly.
Dr. O'Brien turned to the hunter, unsmiling.
"I have good news and I have bad news."
Author's Note:
Thanks to jensensgirl3, elliereynolds777, bagelcat1, TXKimsonFan, Trucklady53, Kas3y, need2no, Hacked It Out and Fell, NAVILLUS, whatnosheep, kandilyn, AlxM, and BonanzaRocks for reviewing.
As you will know if you've been following my stories, I am not a doctor or medical professional. I have knowledge of medical practices from watching TV, movies or the Internet, or the nurses I work with. If I have made any glaring medical errors, I apologize.
Please leave a review and I'll update again as soon as possible!
