Chapter 14– Home
Sam was watching the clock above his door, each tick of the second hand was a second closer to John and Dean returning to take him out of this place. When the door finally opens and the two men in question walked through it, Sam's face broke into a smile. "Good morning guys" he exclaimed happily
"Hi Sam, you're in a good mood today aren't you?" John asks as he walks in and sits on one of the chairs beside Sam's bed.
"Well I'm getting out of here today… I'm ecstatic" Sam says with a laugh
Dean walks up to the bed and stands close enough to put his hand on Sam's shoulder rubbing his thumb back and forth soothingly "Has the Doc come in to see you?" he asks gently
"Not yet" Sam replies with a shake of his head
Dean takes a seat in the other available chair beside the bed "We'll just wait then" He watched as Sam picked at the blanket over his legs nervously. "Don't you worry Sammy, he should be coming by soon"
"I know, I just feel ready to get out of here… I have to contact my professors and let them know what happened and I need to do some reading…" Sam lets out a frustrated sigh
"Hey, Hey… don't get all stressed about it… I already contacted your professors, they all know what happened and they're going to send you through some readying material and a few quizzes for you to complete so they can help you catch up if you need it" Dean said with a smile
"Wow, you really did all that?" Sam asks with an appreciative smile
"I know how much of a nerd you are so I went into the administration office and just told them you were injured and organised for your professors to give you extensions. The ladies in the office love you so they were more than happy to help out. I think they want to take care of you when you go back to your room so be prepared" Dean said with a chuckle.
"They were very helpful when I got here…I was a little lost" Sam replied with a pink tinge to his face
"I'm sure the minute they saw your tall, skinny, sad looking ass, those old ladies would have wanted to adopt you" Dean said with a gentle swipe of his thumb against Sam's wrist in reassurance.
"When he was growing up, all the ladies in any motel we were staying in wanted to adopt him, feed him, even cloth him… I didn't really have to worry about him when I was off hunting" John said
"Yeah, I was always getting sandwiches or soup that I could heat up in a microwave. One lady even tried to set me up with her daughter" Sam said with a chuckle "Her daughter was 5 foot nothing and I was already 50 feet tall so you can imagine the difference" Sam had his hands in the air, showing the exaggerated difference in heights.
"Oh you didn't want to date the hotel heiress then?" Dean asked sarcastically
"Ah no I did not… and she wasn't that interested either… I was too much of a nerd" Sam replied with a laugh
Dean was laughing in reply "Ah, well your nerdiness is an acquired taste" Dean replied with a cheeky smile
"Ugh, shut up" Sam said giving Dean a small shove.
"Ok you two, don't resort to violence" John said with amusement
The two young men smiled and laughed at each other "Fine… there will be no violence" Dean said without taking his eyes of Sam as his cheeks flushed pink.
There was a knock on the door as the doctor walked into the room "Good morning, Samuel… how are we feeling today?" he asked with a smile
"Morning… Um well… by ribs are still a little achy but I'm able to breathe a little better today" Sam replied with a rub of his ribs
"Your ribs are healing nicely and... your bruises and abrasions are also healing… the lump on your head has gone down, but there was a small hairline fracture on the back of your head where you were struck with something, so your eyes might be sensitive to light, and your lungs are still sensitive, so you will have to do some lung exercises to get them stronger"
Sam makes at face at that, he has already had to do a few of those lung exercises, and they were not a pleasant experience. He hopes that he doesn't need to do many or for very long. "OK, I can do that" Sam replies
"Any other restrictions doc?" Dean asked.
"Well, no heavy lifting while your ribs are healing, no excessive exercise either for your lungs and for your ribs and limited time on your phone or computer, you had your bell rung so you may get headaches and they might get sore and tired, so I would recommend you get some eye drops and a pair of mild reading glasses. We have an optometrist in the hospital, so I'll give you a recommendation"
Sam sat back against his pillows "Will I be able to return to my studies?" Sam asked anxiously
"I think you should return to your studies progressively, in 2 to 3 weeks … you won't be able to spend hours in those uncomfortable chairs in the lecture calls or in the library because if your ribs and with your head injury, you'll have to reduce your reading or working on your computer because you'll get headaches and sore dry eyes" the doctor stated.
Dean watched Sam's shoulders sink and he vowed to make the following months as easy for Sam as possible. "Don't worry Sammy, you'll be showing your classmates how it's done in no time... just get better first" Dean said
Sam nodded in reply "I know" he said softly looking down at his hands.
"So, can I take my son home now?" John asked interrupting his thoughts
The doctor nodded his head at the eldest Winchester "Yes, I'll write up my instructions and your scripts will be ready to fill when you leave. Please take care of yourself Samuel… I don't want to fix you up again ok young man… you keep yourself safe now" the doctor gave him a smile and stepped away from the bed, he turned patting John on the shoulder and walked out the door.
As Sam was wheeled out the hospital doors, he took a deep breath and pointed his face up towards the sun, letting it's heated rays to warm his face. "It's nice to be outside again" he said with a smile
"You were only in the hospital for a week Sam" John said as he pushed the wheelchair towards the car.
"It felt like a month" Sam replied, "Is Dean meeting us at my dorm room?" he asked shyly looking through the window in embarrassment.
John smiles to himself knowingly "Yes Sam, Dean was just making sure that your room was fully stocked, because you're not going to be able to go out, he has a little surprise for you as well" John says with a chuckle as he pulls up to the car and moves around his son to open the passenger door.
Sam wondered what Dean could possibly have cooked up for him when he already had a mini fridge, a record player and a microwave. His life in the dorm rooms were now immeasurably more comfortable. His father came over to the wheelchair and helped him to stand and the walk the few steps to the open passenger door and assisted him to sit down in the chair. "Thanks" Sam said breathlessly. He didn't think that the small trip would exhaust him so much.
John smiled at him and walked around the car and got in "Let's get you back to your room and you can rest up"
They take the short drive in silence and once they park the car John assists him to stand, then gives him the walking stick that he had to use and guides him into the building and up the steps, through the hall and around the corner. Sam is panting and sweaty when they finally get up to his room. Other students are smiling and calling out greetings and concerns to Sam as they made their way to his room.
John knocks on the door and when it opens, Johns walks them both through the door, Sam gasps at what Dean has done to his room.
The small room has been decorated with movie posters on the once blank walls, there is a single plush reclining chair on one side and on the opposite wall, Dean has hung a white sheet where a movie is currently being projected. Dean has turned his small room into a movie theatre and Sam couldn't be happier. "Wow Dean! I can't believe you did all this" Sam says as he moves further into the room.
"Well, I just thought because you'll be staying in for a while, you'll need to entertain yourself" Dean replied with a smile.
Sam moved further into the room, keeping his eyes on Dean as he went. "Gosh… thanks so much Dean… I love it" Sam said with a smile
John looked from one to the other and chuckled to himself. "Ok then, I've gotta go guys… I have a poltergeist over in Baltimore so…." John moved over to Sam and pulled him in for a hug.
"Oh, OK, thanks Dad… thanks for everything" Sam said returning the hug "Keep in touch OK, I need to know you're doing alright"
"You're very welcome, Sam… " John replied "Don't worry about me, if I can't contact you myself, Bobby will know where I am"
"What about you Dean?" John asked the younger hunter
"I'm going to stick around for a while, keep Sam company… I'll let you know when I'm on the road and we can look after that Vamp nest in Detroit together" Dean replied with a nod
"Alright, no problems" John said shaking Deans hand "I expect you to make sure my son doesn't hurt himself again, so no strenuous activities please?" John asks sarcastically.
"Oh my god" Sam says covering his face with his hands in embarrassment.
"Ok, we aren't discussing this with you John… I'm putting my foot down now… our relationship is off limits" Dean says with a smirk
"Why are you smiling?" Sam asks
"I'm not smiling… I'm happy that your father thinks he can stop us from…" Dean starts
"From?" John asked interrupting Deans flow.
"Being close… Dad? Dean and I are going to be dating… I'm an adult… you can't stop us from doing the things that people who are dating want to do?" Sam replies.
"And I don't want to know what that is… but please restrain yourselves while you're still healing OK Sam… that's all I'm saying" John replies.
Dean smirked at John "I can restrain myself… I'm not sure about Sam"
"Oh my god… please just go Dad… I swear we will be doing nothing until I am all healed up... so don't worry" Sam said matter-of-factly
"OK good… see you boys later" John said waving as he walks out of the room.
TBC