(no subject)
Random Acts of Kindness Part 2
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"Dean. Hey, Dean. You with us?" he heard a voice call him.
He really wanted to tell them to go away. He just wanted to sleep.
"Dean!" he heard the voice call sharply to him once more.
Reluctantly he opened his eyes and saw the doctor standing before him. He groaned when he felt the pain still present in his side. His eyes immediately slid to the right, looking for his father or his brother, until he remembered they weren't here and they weren't coming. The only thing that was next to his bed was a big yellow bag of peanut M&M's sitting on his bedside table.
"Bobby insisted," the doctor replied.
It took Dean a few moments to remember that it was the paramedic and not his Bobby. "I'm going to give you a quick exam," the doctor announced. “How's the pain on a scale of one to ten?"
"Eleven," Dean admitted in a rare moment of honesty. His dad wasn't there. Why did he need to lie?
"That sounds about right. I'll just need to get some readings and then I can give you some painkillers. I don't think I introduced myself the other day. I'm Dr. John Castiel."
You have got to be freaking' kiddin me. This was all just getting to be little overwhelming. "What happened to me?" Dean asked, trying not to think about the fact that in the last two days, he'd been helped by Sam, Joshua, Bobby and now John.
"You've been out for the last three days. You developed an infection. Definitely not something we needed with the pneumothorax. We seemed to have gotten a handle on the infection, but you still have a low grade fever, so we'll be keeping you on the antibiotics for the next couple of days. Your lung is still not fully healed so we'll give it another few days."
"If it doesn't heal?" Dean asked a little fearfully.
"We may need to go in and repair it."
"Surgery?" Dean asked. No way.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. No point in borrowing trouble. I'll be back in a bit. I’ll arrange for a TV to be brought it. It can be a long day in here, or I can get you some books if you like."
"TV's fine," Dean replied.
"Kay. Oh, by the way, a man named Sam Uriel came by. He was the guy that called the ambulance for you. He wanted me to give you a message. This is a direct quote. He was very insistent I phrase it this way. He said ' I towed your car to my garage and I'll watch her for you.' He left his card at the nurses’ station. It's in with your personal belongings.”
Dean suddenly had to get out of there. What if Sam found the weapons in the trunk? His gun was on the front seat. He attempted to sit up when he felt pain explode in his chest.
"Hey, you have to lie still," Dr. Castiel cautioned strongly.
"I have to go," Dean insisted.
"Calm down or I'm going to have to sedate you," Dr. Castiel ordered.
The words seem to have an effect on Dean as the doctor had eerily sounded like his dad. "I'll have a phone brought in and you can call Mr. Uriel and make arrangements about your car. If it makes you feel better, I've known Sam Uriel for 10 years and he's a really good guy. You can trust him," he offered, thinking that was the cause of Dean's distress. "You can sign out AMA, but you wouldn’t make it to the front door with the shape your lung's in."
Dean realized that he had no choice. Maybe he should call his dad. "Okay," he conceded. "Can you get me that business card?"
"Sure, give me about a half hour."
Despite how wary he felt, Dean tried to stay awake. He needed to know about his car, but he soon found the effects of his medication drag him back under. When he awoke a few hours later, it was to the sight of a pretty blond dressed in nurse’s scrubs. Things seemed to be looking up.
"Good morning," she said brightly.
"It's looking better," Dean flirted.
The young girl blushed. Dean wondered who she was. She seemed too young to be a nurse, yet too old to be a candy striper. The girl smiled. "Dr. Castiel sent me in with your phone. I just got the TV hooked up." Dean nodded his thanks. "I'm going to take your vitals. Don't worry I'm a pro at this," the girl said.
"Are you a nurse?" Dean asked bluntly.
"Not yet," she supplied. "I'm a student. This is a teaching hospital." She stuck the thermometer in Dean's ear and waited for it to beep. "My name’s..."
If she says her name's Mary, I swear to God, I'm pulling out every tube and walking out of here, Dean thought.
"Jessica, Jessica Moore."
"I'm Dean Rose." That’s what his ID said this week. That was one benefit of hunting on his own, he got to pick his own alias. "Maybe we could get to know each other a little more?" he asked suggestively.
"As much fun as that sounds, I really think my boyfriend would frown on that."
"Figures," Dean replied. "Can't blame a guy for trying. Will I live?" He asked as Jessica finished noting everything on his chart.
"I think so," she replied with a smile. "I haven't lost a patient yet."
"How many have you had?"
"Including you?"
"Yeah."
"One," she said with a grin.
"My luck, I guess," Dean replied. He shifted, trying to get comfortable, and grimaced when he felt the tug of the chest tube.
"You okay?" Jessica asked when she noted his sudden discomfort.
"Just pulled this thing. It hurts like hell."
"I'll get Dr. Castiel; he can give you something for it. In the mean time, try to keep your breathing steady."
"Easier said than done." Dean was glad he didn't have to put on a brave face for once. The pain from his chest tube was unrelenting and he wasn't refusing meds.
"I know," Jessica sympathized. "I broke my collar bone a year ago. Hurt like the blazes. My boyfriend told me to breathe through the pain. I told Sam that if he said that one more time, he was going to know just how hard it was to breathe through pain."
Breathe through the pain. It was something his father always said to him or his brother when they couldn't get help right away. It seemed strange to hear someone else say it. Wait did she say her boyfriend's name was Sam. Could it be? No, this girl was way out of his Sammy's league.
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"Come on, just do it, wuss," Dean tried to convince himself. He needed to call his father. He had been in the hospital for five days now. His dad could be trying to get a hold of him. Despite the fact that his father never picked up the phone, John would get really mad if Dean didn't answer his.
First he dialed his voice mail. "You have no new messages," the electronic voice greeted him. So his dad hadn't called. He shouldn't have been surprised. Still, he felt that someone should know where he was. He quickly dialed his father's number before he could change his mind. "This is John Winchester, leave a message," his father’s gravelly voice greeted him. Dean hung up without doing so.
Before he could allow his himself to think, he suddenly dialed the number for Singer Salvage. He got the garage manager, who informed him that Bobby was out of town and he wouldn't be back for another month. Getting desperate, Dean dialed Caleb's number. There was no answer.
To his complete and utter horror, he felt tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. He had always wondered if anyone would miss him if he fell off the face of the earth. Apparently, he had just received his answer.
He pushed those feelings down quickly, letting anger take its place. He threw the phone as hard as he could and watched it crash against the wall. What the hell did he need it for anyway? Before he could do anything else, two German Sheppard’s suddenly burst into his room. A man was close on their heels, calling for them. “Michael, Zachariah, no! Bad! I’m so sorry,” the stranger apologized. “They normally obey me. I hope they didn’t hurt you.”
Dean shrugged, trying to get his heartbeat under control. “I’m okay. Just surprised. Hey boy,” Dean said when the dog came closer to his bed.”
“Michael, get away.” The dog ignored its master and licked Dean’s outstretched hand.
“He can stay,” Dean said as he stroked the dog’s head. He didn’t care if they were demons. He didn’t want to be alone.
“I think he likes you,” the guy added when Michael continued to ignore him and enjoy Dean’s attention. “Any reason why the phone had to die?” The man asked curiously as Zachariah walked over and sniffed the broken equipment.
“It slipped,” Dean said in a warning tone. Maybe being alone was a much better idea.
"Bad day?”
"I'm fine. You a shrink or something? If you are, you can turn around and march right out that door."
"No, I'm not a shrink. My name is Jim Pastor."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Someone or something was enjoying screwing with him.
"No," the man replied a little taken aback. "I know Pastor's not a common name."
"Sorry," Dean apologized. "It's just that I know a Pastor Jim. It just came as a bit of a surprise."
"I can see how it would be," the man conceded. “I promise this was just one of those things. I run a pet therapy program on the geriatric ward. I was just on my way out when Zachariah and Michael decided they decided that they wanted to visit.” Jim wisely left out the part that sometimes animals could tell when someone was lonely. The guy in the bed reminded him of some of the seniors he visited. The ones that had no family. “Mikeand Zach seem to really like you. I need to get them outside for before the janitors kill me.”
“Kay,” Dean said reluctantly. “See ya.”
“I’ll be here tomorrow with my St. Bernard. I can bring him to see you if you want,” Jim offered.
"Sure," Dean agreed, ashamed for feeling so needy. “Your dog’s name wouldn’t be Caleb would it?”
"How did you know that?” Jim shook his head.
"Lucky guess," Dean replied. There was no point in explaining. He'd just end up the psych ward.
------
Although the next few days passed slowly, they weren't all bad. Since Dean hadn't called him, Sam Uriel stopped by to visit. He promised Dean that his car was still safe and that he had replaced the spark plugs for him, and that he had also given the Impala a complete tune up and that he hoped Dean didn't mind. Once he started working on the classic, it had been too good to pass up. Dean offered to pay him but Sam refused, saying it was his pleasure and that he was glad he could help.
He did mention the gun on the seat, but all Sam said was that he had locked it in the glove compartment. Dean guessed luck had been with him and Sam hadn't found the hidden compartment in his trunk.
Paramedic Bobby stopped by a few times, just to talk. It left Dean shaking his head that apparently Bobby’s last name was Jefferson. They didn't speak about much more than movies or TV shows, but Dean looked forward to his visits. Bobby seemed like a nice guy and in a lot of ways, he reminded Dean of his Bobby.
Even paramedic Joshua visited him once to see how he was doing.
To his surprise, he really enjoyed the visit with Jim Pastor, and his dogs. They helped break up the monotony of the days.
The person who visited him the most was Jessica. Dean really liked her a lot. She was very friendly and smart. She was exactly the type of girl he wished his brother could meet.
He even liked his doctor, which was rare for him. Dr. Castiel was always honest with him, and he really appreciated that. Plus he had a sense of humor.
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It was the morning of his eighth day in the hospital when Dr. Castiel approached him, and told him that his lung wasn't healing and that they were going to have to repair it surgically.
Dean wanted to refuse. He didn't want to do this. Not by himself anyway. Sure there were people that were nice to him, but they weren't family.
"The procedure is very non-invasive. Unless there are major complications, we don't need to cut the chest open. We can do it with video-assisted thoracic surgery. We make 3 or 4 small incisions and use a camera to see what we’re doing when we repair your lung," the doctor explained.
"Can't we wait and see if it heals?" Dean asked.
"We could, but it's been over a week and you’re showing no improvement. I really think this needs to be taken care of surgically."
"If I agree, will you take this out?" Dean asked pointing at his chest tube.
"You'll still have it when you wake up and you'll be intubated as well. It's standard procedure when a person has thoracic surgery, but the ET tube will be removed shortly after you come out of the anesthetic," Dr. Castiel added quickly when Dean visibly tensed up. "The chest tube will be a day at a time.”
"Can we just get this over with?" Dean conceded.
"I'll have everything set up for the day after tomorrow,” Dr. Castiel said kindly.
------
Jessica spent the whole evening with him the night before his surgery. Dean appreciated it more than he could say.
"Can you do me a favor?" Dean asked just before Jessica was getting ready to leave for the evening.
"Sure," Jessica agreed readily.
"My jacket, there's something in the pocket. It's a gold pendant, kind of looks like a Viking. Will you get it for me?"
Jessica retrieved the object Dean had requested. It was the ugliest thing she had ever seen, but something about it seemed familiar, she just couldn't quite place it, she could tell it was important to her patient though, as she handed it to him. "My brother gave it to me," Dean explained when he saw her staring at it.
"I didn't know you had a brother," she replied. "I thought you said you didn't have family."
"My brother and I don't really speak," Dean explained. "I just..." He stopped. As nice as Jessica was, she would never understand.
"You really should call him," Jessica encouraged. "Anything can happen." Her boyfriend had told her that he had a brother he didn't speak to either, and no matter how much she encouraged him, Sam wouldn't contact him either. Sam was convinced his brother wanted nothing to do with him. Jessica had never even seen a picture of him. She knew Sam had one in his wallet, and she had caught him staring at it a few times, but he always put it away quickly when she entered the room.
"I might," Dean mumbled even though he had no intentions of doing so. He really wished he hadn't brought up Sammy. "Can you get me something so I can sleep?" Dean didn't want to think anymore.
"Sure, I'll be right back."
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Sam Winchester sat at the desk in his study going over tort procedures. They were some of the most boring things he'd ever studied, but the class was required for graduation.
"Sam, I'm home," he heard his girlfriend’s voice calling from the front hallway.
Grateful for the excuse, Sam closed his text book and went to kiss his girl. "You're home late."
"Yeah. I was with that patient I told you about. I just feel so bad for him. He told me today he and his brother didn't speak. Having no family around and the fact that he's facing surgery in the morning has to be rough."
Sam pulled Jessica into a big hug. Her compassion was one of the things he loved most about her. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"
"Many times," Jessica whispered as she returned his kiss.
It was a little later in the evening when fate intervened once again. She had been putting some things away when she accidentally knocked a box off the shelf. It was Sam's keepsake box. He threw odds and ends in there that he didn't want to throw away but didn't know what else to do with. Only one thing actually fell out of the box. It was a picture of Sam. He looked like a teenager and around his neck was the exact same pendant, like the one she had handed the young man in the hospital. Goosebumps suddenly broke out on her flesh as a theory began to take shape in mind.
"Hey Sam," she called. She grabbed the picture and walked into their study. She respected that he didn't like to talk about his family, but if her theory was correct, she could help both Sam and Dean.
"Yeah."
"What's this necklace?" she asked as she handed Sam the picture.
"Where did you get this?" he asked uncomfortably.
"I actually knocked your box off the shelf. It fell out. I wasn't snooping. I swear."
"It's nothing."
"Tell me," Jessica requested.
"Why?" Sam asked curiously.
"You remember me telling you about that patient. He had a pendant just like this."
Sam startled. It couldn't be, could it? "The patient's name is Dean, Sam. Didn't you tell me that was your brother's name?"
"Yeah," Sam said softly. There was no way. The patient Jessica had talked about endlessly couldn't be his brother. "I was 16 and about to go take my driver’s test for the second time. I was so nervous the first time that I failed. Dean gave me his necklace so that I would know he was with me. I passed with a perfect score," he added fondly as he recalled the memory and Dean snapping the photo.
"Sam, can I see that picture of you and Dean?"
Immediately he pulled out his wallet and handed Jessica the picture. He was young, but there was no mistaking that Dean Rose was the guy sitting next to Sam. Jessica didn't bother to ask why the last name was different. Sam wouldn't answer anyway. Sam saw the recognition flood Jessica’s eyes as she looked at Dean in the photograph.
"My brother's been in the hospital this week," Sam stated in disbelief. "You said he's having surgery. I have to go see him."
"Sam, wait," Jessica called after him. "He's been sedated for the evening."
"I don't care. I need to see him. I just have to know he's okay."
"Wait, I'm coming with you."
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Morning arrived way too quickly for Dean. He didn't want to open his eyes because the doctors were coming for him. Knowing it was inevitable, and wanting to get this over with, he forced his eyes to cooperate and found himself staring at the guy that looked like a carbon copy of his little brother. Maybe he really was going crazy.
"Dean," the voice called out tentatively.
It even sounded like his little brother. "Sam?" he asked tentatively.
"Yeah, I'm here Dean."
"Sam." Dean didn't want to let himself believe Sam was here. He couldn't take it if he wasn't.
"I can't believe you didn't call me, jerk," Sam said affectionately.
"I didn't want to bother you," Dean said sincerely.
"You're my brother. I would have come if you called."
"I believe you, Sammy," Dean said softly. If he was honest with himself though, he wasn't sure if he believed it or not.
"You ready to go?" a new voice said joining them.
Dean swallowed nervously and looked to Sam.
"I'll be here when you wake up," he promised.
"I'm ready," Dean said with conviction.
"I'm Travis," the orderly said as he started unhooking Dean's lines. "I'll be taking you to the OR."
"We know a..."
"Sam, forget it, okay?" Dean said cryptically. "You can't fight it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Nothing important. Let’s go."
Sam watched as Dean was wheeled out of the room. He picked up his phone and made a decision to dial a number he hadn't dialed in a long time.
"Hello, this is John Winchester. Leave a Message."
Sam was fully prepared to do so. He just hoped his dad's answering machine had enough space because he had a lot he wanted to say to the man.
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Sam kept his promise and was sitting next to his brother’s bed when Dean woke up. He had to fight with Dean to keep him from trying to pull out the ventilator tube, but to Sam it, was an encouraging sign.
The second time Dean awoke, he found his father sitting next to his bed, leading him to believe that he had been hallucinating again, but his dad was able to assure him he wasn't.
The next several days passed steadily. Sam and John were never in the room at the same time, but Dean would take what he could get. His Bobby even called to tell him that he was an idjit for not trying harder to get in touch with him. His garage manager had known how. Their friends Jefferson, Joshua and Caleb had called as well to see how he was doing.
Dean had almost wished he'd gotten hurt sooner and was now dreading his release from the hospital. He didn't want to go back to being alone again.
The night before he was released, Sam came to see him. He told Dean to keep in touch and Dean said he would, but neither brother felt the other really would. It was almost as if too much had happened.
"Do you belief in fate, Sam?" Dean asked his brother.
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "What brought that on?"
Dean held up his amulet. "If you hadn't given me this, I would have walked out of that campsite. When I realized the cord had broken I went searching for it. If I hadn't gone searching for it, the creature wouldn't have gotten the drop on me and I wouldn't have gotten hurt. If I hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't have met Jessica."
"Who recognized the amulet and let me know that you were here." Sam finished.
"Yeah."
"Coincidence or fate, it was good to see you, bro. I missed you. I'm sorry you had to go through most of this yourself."
"I missed you too, Sammy." Dean smiled and he thought of Sam Uriel, John Castiel, Jessica, Bobby Jefferson, Joshua, Jim Pastor, and his dogs Zachariah, Michael and Caleb. "And I wasn't alone, not completely."
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When he was released from the hospital, Dean went to Uriel's Garage and picked up his car. It was just as the man had promised. He wouldn't take any money, but Dean supplied him with Bobby's business card as well as his cell phone number and told him to call if he ever needed anything. Sam made Dean do the same.
On the way out of town, Dean stopped by his Sam's apartment. It was tough leaving, but his father had said they'd work their next job together and Dean wanted to get going. After all, there was some good in this world that needed saving.
Dean smiled for the first time in weeks as he reached over and flipped on the radio. His smile turned into a huge grin as Metallica's Nothing Else Matters played on the radio.
So Close no matter how far...
When Dean drove toward the city limits of Palo Alto, he reached his hand up and gripped the amulet that was now bound around his neck with a new sturdy leather cord. Truer words were never spoken.
The end
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"Dean. Hey, Dean. You with us?" he heard a voice call him.
He really wanted to tell them to go away. He just wanted to sleep.
"Dean!" he heard the voice call sharply to him once more.
Reluctantly he opened his eyes and saw the doctor standing before him. He groaned when he felt the pain still present in his side. His eyes immediately slid to the right, looking for his father or his brother, until he remembered they weren't here and they weren't coming. The only thing that was next to his bed was a big yellow bag of peanut M&M's sitting on his bedside table.
"Bobby insisted," the doctor replied.
It took Dean a few moments to remember that it was the paramedic and not his Bobby. "I'm going to give you a quick exam," the doctor announced. “How's the pain on a scale of one to ten?"
"Eleven," Dean admitted in a rare moment of honesty. His dad wasn't there. Why did he need to lie?
"That sounds about right. I'll just need to get some readings and then I can give you some painkillers. I don't think I introduced myself the other day. I'm Dr. John Castiel."
You have got to be freaking' kiddin me. This was all just getting to be little overwhelming. "What happened to me?" Dean asked, trying not to think about the fact that in the last two days, he'd been helped by Sam, Joshua, Bobby and now John.
"You've been out for the last three days. You developed an infection. Definitely not something we needed with the pneumothorax. We seemed to have gotten a handle on the infection, but you still have a low grade fever, so we'll be keeping you on the antibiotics for the next couple of days. Your lung is still not fully healed so we'll give it another few days."
"If it doesn't heal?" Dean asked a little fearfully.
"We may need to go in and repair it."
"Surgery?" Dean asked. No way.
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it. No point in borrowing trouble. I'll be back in a bit. I’ll arrange for a TV to be brought it. It can be a long day in here, or I can get you some books if you like."
"TV's fine," Dean replied.
"Kay. Oh, by the way, a man named Sam Uriel came by. He was the guy that called the ambulance for you. He wanted me to give you a message. This is a direct quote. He was very insistent I phrase it this way. He said ' I towed your car to my garage and I'll watch her for you.' He left his card at the nurses’ station. It's in with your personal belongings.”
Dean suddenly had to get out of there. What if Sam found the weapons in the trunk? His gun was on the front seat. He attempted to sit up when he felt pain explode in his chest.
"Hey, you have to lie still," Dr. Castiel cautioned strongly.
"I have to go," Dean insisted.
"Calm down or I'm going to have to sedate you," Dr. Castiel ordered.
The words seem to have an effect on Dean as the doctor had eerily sounded like his dad. "I'll have a phone brought in and you can call Mr. Uriel and make arrangements about your car. If it makes you feel better, I've known Sam Uriel for 10 years and he's a really good guy. You can trust him," he offered, thinking that was the cause of Dean's distress. "You can sign out AMA, but you wouldn’t make it to the front door with the shape your lung's in."
Dean realized that he had no choice. Maybe he should call his dad. "Okay," he conceded. "Can you get me that business card?"
"Sure, give me about a half hour."
Despite how wary he felt, Dean tried to stay awake. He needed to know about his car, but he soon found the effects of his medication drag him back under. When he awoke a few hours later, it was to the sight of a pretty blond dressed in nurse’s scrubs. Things seemed to be looking up.
"Good morning," she said brightly.
"It's looking better," Dean flirted.
The young girl blushed. Dean wondered who she was. She seemed too young to be a nurse, yet too old to be a candy striper. The girl smiled. "Dr. Castiel sent me in with your phone. I just got the TV hooked up." Dean nodded his thanks. "I'm going to take your vitals. Don't worry I'm a pro at this," the girl said.
"Are you a nurse?" Dean asked bluntly.
"Not yet," she supplied. "I'm a student. This is a teaching hospital." She stuck the thermometer in Dean's ear and waited for it to beep. "My name’s..."
If she says her name's Mary, I swear to God, I'm pulling out every tube and walking out of here, Dean thought.
"Jessica, Jessica Moore."
"I'm Dean Rose." That’s what his ID said this week. That was one benefit of hunting on his own, he got to pick his own alias. "Maybe we could get to know each other a little more?" he asked suggestively.
"As much fun as that sounds, I really think my boyfriend would frown on that."
"Figures," Dean replied. "Can't blame a guy for trying. Will I live?" He asked as Jessica finished noting everything on his chart.
"I think so," she replied with a smile. "I haven't lost a patient yet."
"How many have you had?"
"Including you?"
"Yeah."
"One," she said with a grin.
"My luck, I guess," Dean replied. He shifted, trying to get comfortable, and grimaced when he felt the tug of the chest tube.
"You okay?" Jessica asked when she noted his sudden discomfort.
"Just pulled this thing. It hurts like hell."
"I'll get Dr. Castiel; he can give you something for it. In the mean time, try to keep your breathing steady."
"Easier said than done." Dean was glad he didn't have to put on a brave face for once. The pain from his chest tube was unrelenting and he wasn't refusing meds.
"I know," Jessica sympathized. "I broke my collar bone a year ago. Hurt like the blazes. My boyfriend told me to breathe through the pain. I told Sam that if he said that one more time, he was going to know just how hard it was to breathe through pain."
Breathe through the pain. It was something his father always said to him or his brother when they couldn't get help right away. It seemed strange to hear someone else say it. Wait did she say her boyfriend's name was Sam. Could it be? No, this girl was way out of his Sammy's league.
------
"Come on, just do it, wuss," Dean tried to convince himself. He needed to call his father. He had been in the hospital for five days now. His dad could be trying to get a hold of him. Despite the fact that his father never picked up the phone, John would get really mad if Dean didn't answer his.
First he dialed his voice mail. "You have no new messages," the electronic voice greeted him. So his dad hadn't called. He shouldn't have been surprised. Still, he felt that someone should know where he was. He quickly dialed his father's number before he could change his mind. "This is John Winchester, leave a message," his father’s gravelly voice greeted him. Dean hung up without doing so.
Before he could allow his himself to think, he suddenly dialed the number for Singer Salvage. He got the garage manager, who informed him that Bobby was out of town and he wouldn't be back for another month. Getting desperate, Dean dialed Caleb's number. There was no answer.
To his complete and utter horror, he felt tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. He had always wondered if anyone would miss him if he fell off the face of the earth. Apparently, he had just received his answer.
He pushed those feelings down quickly, letting anger take its place. He threw the phone as hard as he could and watched it crash against the wall. What the hell did he need it for anyway? Before he could do anything else, two German Sheppard’s suddenly burst into his room. A man was close on their heels, calling for them. “Michael, Zachariah, no! Bad! I’m so sorry,” the stranger apologized. “They normally obey me. I hope they didn’t hurt you.”
Dean shrugged, trying to get his heartbeat under control. “I’m okay. Just surprised. Hey boy,” Dean said when the dog came closer to his bed.”
“Michael, get away.” The dog ignored its master and licked Dean’s outstretched hand.
“He can stay,” Dean said as he stroked the dog’s head. He didn’t care if they were demons. He didn’t want to be alone.
“I think he likes you,” the guy added when Michael continued to ignore him and enjoy Dean’s attention. “Any reason why the phone had to die?” The man asked curiously as Zachariah walked over and sniffed the broken equipment.
“It slipped,” Dean said in a warning tone. Maybe being alone was a much better idea.
"Bad day?”
"I'm fine. You a shrink or something? If you are, you can turn around and march right out that door."
"No, I'm not a shrink. My name is Jim Pastor."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Someone or something was enjoying screwing with him.
"No," the man replied a little taken aback. "I know Pastor's not a common name."
"Sorry," Dean apologized. "It's just that I know a Pastor Jim. It just came as a bit of a surprise."
"I can see how it would be," the man conceded. “I promise this was just one of those things. I run a pet therapy program on the geriatric ward. I was just on my way out when Zachariah and Michael decided they decided that they wanted to visit.” Jim wisely left out the part that sometimes animals could tell when someone was lonely. The guy in the bed reminded him of some of the seniors he visited. The ones that had no family. “Mikeand Zach seem to really like you. I need to get them outside for before the janitors kill me.”
“Kay,” Dean said reluctantly. “See ya.”
“I’ll be here tomorrow with my St. Bernard. I can bring him to see you if you want,” Jim offered.
"Sure," Dean agreed, ashamed for feeling so needy. “Your dog’s name wouldn’t be Caleb would it?”
"How did you know that?” Jim shook his head.
"Lucky guess," Dean replied. There was no point in explaining. He'd just end up the psych ward.
------
Although the next few days passed slowly, they weren't all bad. Since Dean hadn't called him, Sam Uriel stopped by to visit. He promised Dean that his car was still safe and that he had replaced the spark plugs for him, and that he had also given the Impala a complete tune up and that he hoped Dean didn't mind. Once he started working on the classic, it had been too good to pass up. Dean offered to pay him but Sam refused, saying it was his pleasure and that he was glad he could help.
He did mention the gun on the seat, but all Sam said was that he had locked it in the glove compartment. Dean guessed luck had been with him and Sam hadn't found the hidden compartment in his trunk.
Paramedic Bobby stopped by a few times, just to talk. It left Dean shaking his head that apparently Bobby’s last name was Jefferson. They didn't speak about much more than movies or TV shows, but Dean looked forward to his visits. Bobby seemed like a nice guy and in a lot of ways, he reminded Dean of his Bobby.
Even paramedic Joshua visited him once to see how he was doing.
To his surprise, he really enjoyed the visit with Jim Pastor, and his dogs. They helped break up the monotony of the days.
The person who visited him the most was Jessica. Dean really liked her a lot. She was very friendly and smart. She was exactly the type of girl he wished his brother could meet.
He even liked his doctor, which was rare for him. Dr. Castiel was always honest with him, and he really appreciated that. Plus he had a sense of humor.
------
It was the morning of his eighth day in the hospital when Dr. Castiel approached him, and told him that his lung wasn't healing and that they were going to have to repair it surgically.
Dean wanted to refuse. He didn't want to do this. Not by himself anyway. Sure there were people that were nice to him, but they weren't family.
"The procedure is very non-invasive. Unless there are major complications, we don't need to cut the chest open. We can do it with video-assisted thoracic surgery. We make 3 or 4 small incisions and use a camera to see what we’re doing when we repair your lung," the doctor explained.
"Can't we wait and see if it heals?" Dean asked.
"We could, but it's been over a week and you’re showing no improvement. I really think this needs to be taken care of surgically."
"If I agree, will you take this out?" Dean asked pointing at his chest tube.
"You'll still have it when you wake up and you'll be intubated as well. It's standard procedure when a person has thoracic surgery, but the ET tube will be removed shortly after you come out of the anesthetic," Dr. Castiel added quickly when Dean visibly tensed up. "The chest tube will be a day at a time.”
"Can we just get this over with?" Dean conceded.
"I'll have everything set up for the day after tomorrow,” Dr. Castiel said kindly.
------
Jessica spent the whole evening with him the night before his surgery. Dean appreciated it more than he could say.
"Can you do me a favor?" Dean asked just before Jessica was getting ready to leave for the evening.
"Sure," Jessica agreed readily.
"My jacket, there's something in the pocket. It's a gold pendant, kind of looks like a Viking. Will you get it for me?"
Jessica retrieved the object Dean had requested. It was the ugliest thing she had ever seen, but something about it seemed familiar, she just couldn't quite place it, she could tell it was important to her patient though, as she handed it to him. "My brother gave it to me," Dean explained when he saw her staring at it.
"I didn't know you had a brother," she replied. "I thought you said you didn't have family."
"My brother and I don't really speak," Dean explained. "I just..." He stopped. As nice as Jessica was, she would never understand.
"You really should call him," Jessica encouraged. "Anything can happen." Her boyfriend had told her that he had a brother he didn't speak to either, and no matter how much she encouraged him, Sam wouldn't contact him either. Sam was convinced his brother wanted nothing to do with him. Jessica had never even seen a picture of him. She knew Sam had one in his wallet, and she had caught him staring at it a few times, but he always put it away quickly when she entered the room.
"I might," Dean mumbled even though he had no intentions of doing so. He really wished he hadn't brought up Sammy. "Can you get me something so I can sleep?" Dean didn't want to think anymore.
"Sure, I'll be right back."
--------
Sam Winchester sat at the desk in his study going over tort procedures. They were some of the most boring things he'd ever studied, but the class was required for graduation.
"Sam, I'm home," he heard his girlfriend’s voice calling from the front hallway.
Grateful for the excuse, Sam closed his text book and went to kiss his girl. "You're home late."
"Yeah. I was with that patient I told you about. I just feel so bad for him. He told me today he and his brother didn't speak. Having no family around and the fact that he's facing surgery in the morning has to be rough."
Sam pulled Jessica into a big hug. Her compassion was one of the things he loved most about her. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"
"Many times," Jessica whispered as she returned his kiss.
It was a little later in the evening when fate intervened once again. She had been putting some things away when she accidentally knocked a box off the shelf. It was Sam's keepsake box. He threw odds and ends in there that he didn't want to throw away but didn't know what else to do with. Only one thing actually fell out of the box. It was a picture of Sam. He looked like a teenager and around his neck was the exact same pendant, like the one she had handed the young man in the hospital. Goosebumps suddenly broke out on her flesh as a theory began to take shape in mind.
"Hey Sam," she called. She grabbed the picture and walked into their study. She respected that he didn't like to talk about his family, but if her theory was correct, she could help both Sam and Dean.
"Yeah."
"What's this necklace?" she asked as she handed Sam the picture.
"Where did you get this?" he asked uncomfortably.
"I actually knocked your box off the shelf. It fell out. I wasn't snooping. I swear."
"It's nothing."
"Tell me," Jessica requested.
"Why?" Sam asked curiously.
"You remember me telling you about that patient. He had a pendant just like this."
Sam startled. It couldn't be, could it? "The patient's name is Dean, Sam. Didn't you tell me that was your brother's name?"
"Yeah," Sam said softly. There was no way. The patient Jessica had talked about endlessly couldn't be his brother. "I was 16 and about to go take my driver’s test for the second time. I was so nervous the first time that I failed. Dean gave me his necklace so that I would know he was with me. I passed with a perfect score," he added fondly as he recalled the memory and Dean snapping the photo.
"Sam, can I see that picture of you and Dean?"
Immediately he pulled out his wallet and handed Jessica the picture. He was young, but there was no mistaking that Dean Rose was the guy sitting next to Sam. Jessica didn't bother to ask why the last name was different. Sam wouldn't answer anyway. Sam saw the recognition flood Jessica’s eyes as she looked at Dean in the photograph.
"My brother's been in the hospital this week," Sam stated in disbelief. "You said he's having surgery. I have to go see him."
"Sam, wait," Jessica called after him. "He's been sedated for the evening."
"I don't care. I need to see him. I just have to know he's okay."
"Wait, I'm coming with you."
--------
Morning arrived way too quickly for Dean. He didn't want to open his eyes because the doctors were coming for him. Knowing it was inevitable, and wanting to get this over with, he forced his eyes to cooperate and found himself staring at the guy that looked like a carbon copy of his little brother. Maybe he really was going crazy.
"Dean," the voice called out tentatively.
It even sounded like his little brother. "Sam?" he asked tentatively.
"Yeah, I'm here Dean."
"Sam." Dean didn't want to let himself believe Sam was here. He couldn't take it if he wasn't.
"I can't believe you didn't call me, jerk," Sam said affectionately.
"I didn't want to bother you," Dean said sincerely.
"You're my brother. I would have come if you called."
"I believe you, Sammy," Dean said softly. If he was honest with himself though, he wasn't sure if he believed it or not.
"You ready to go?" a new voice said joining them.
Dean swallowed nervously and looked to Sam.
"I'll be here when you wake up," he promised.
"I'm ready," Dean said with conviction.
"I'm Travis," the orderly said as he started unhooking Dean's lines. "I'll be taking you to the OR."
"We know a..."
"Sam, forget it, okay?" Dean said cryptically. "You can't fight it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Sam asked in confusion.
"Nothing important. Let’s go."
Sam watched as Dean was wheeled out of the room. He picked up his phone and made a decision to dial a number he hadn't dialed in a long time.
"Hello, this is John Winchester. Leave a Message."
Sam was fully prepared to do so. He just hoped his dad's answering machine had enough space because he had a lot he wanted to say to the man.
---------
Sam kept his promise and was sitting next to his brother’s bed when Dean woke up. He had to fight with Dean to keep him from trying to pull out the ventilator tube, but to Sam it, was an encouraging sign.
The second time Dean awoke, he found his father sitting next to his bed, leading him to believe that he had been hallucinating again, but his dad was able to assure him he wasn't.
The next several days passed steadily. Sam and John were never in the room at the same time, but Dean would take what he could get. His Bobby even called to tell him that he was an idjit for not trying harder to get in touch with him. His garage manager had known how. Their friends Jefferson, Joshua and Caleb had called as well to see how he was doing.
Dean had almost wished he'd gotten hurt sooner and was now dreading his release from the hospital. He didn't want to go back to being alone again.
The night before he was released, Sam came to see him. He told Dean to keep in touch and Dean said he would, but neither brother felt the other really would. It was almost as if too much had happened.
"Do you belief in fate, Sam?" Dean asked his brother.
"I don't know," Sam admitted. "What brought that on?"
Dean held up his amulet. "If you hadn't given me this, I would have walked out of that campsite. When I realized the cord had broken I went searching for it. If I hadn't gone searching for it, the creature wouldn't have gotten the drop on me and I wouldn't have gotten hurt. If I hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't have met Jessica."
"Who recognized the amulet and let me know that you were here." Sam finished.
"Yeah."
"Coincidence or fate, it was good to see you, bro. I missed you. I'm sorry you had to go through most of this yourself."
"I missed you too, Sammy." Dean smiled and he thought of Sam Uriel, John Castiel, Jessica, Bobby Jefferson, Joshua, Jim Pastor, and his dogs Zachariah, Michael and Caleb. "And I wasn't alone, not completely."
-------
When he was released from the hospital, Dean went to Uriel's Garage and picked up his car. It was just as the man had promised. He wouldn't take any money, but Dean supplied him with Bobby's business card as well as his cell phone number and told him to call if he ever needed anything. Sam made Dean do the same.
On the way out of town, Dean stopped by his Sam's apartment. It was tough leaving, but his father had said they'd work their next job together and Dean wanted to get going. After all, there was some good in this world that needed saving.
Dean smiled for the first time in weeks as he reached over and flipped on the radio. His smile turned into a huge grin as Metallica's Nothing Else Matters played on the radio.
So Close no matter how far...
When Dean drove toward the city limits of Palo Alto, he reached his hand up and gripped the amulet that was now bound around his neck with a new sturdy leather cord. Truer words were never spoken.
The end