In which Alec finally succumbs to his injuries, and Ben steps up to care for his family...
Alec paced. Careful and deliberate. Normally it would have been a cat prowl, but he had been reduced to a far less graceful and far more shuffling pace. He ached like he was one giant bone deep bruise.
He was only now thinking about separating the hurts to categories. And that was harder than it should have been. Normally he would mentally lay them out as life threatening or not. Broken or bruised, cut or torn. Internal or visible. But he was so tired that things fell into dull or sharp, which was useless because everything was both, or grinding versus pressure. He had both of those too, it just depended on where one was talking about.
He was going to have to stop pacing soon though. One of those grinding feeling was definitely in his leg. He'd ask Kutner to look at it when the man had a free minute. He'd let Kutner get a look at the rest of him to, because he was pretty sure he couldn't see it all himself.
For now though, he'd wait. Here, with the rest of the family for news of Sam. There was no rule saying he couldn't wait while sitting down though. After all he needed some rest or donating blood to Sam would make him pass out. He shuffled-paced his way over to were Amy was sitting and took up residence in the seat next to her.
Which may have been a mistake. He felt things shift that shouldn't move at all. He didn't think it was just bone either, it wasn't that sort of hurt. Both arms were pressed tight across his belly and the pain. He just wanted to curl up around the hurt. He coughed a little and swallowed the blood.
Eventually he just leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes to get a little rest.
It would be a long time before he could open them again.
Almost instantly, Jinx lifted his head from where he had been watching Alec pace. He smelt the blood on Alec's lips and wuffed, going over to nuzzle Alec's arm.
Ben had been sitting in a chair across from Amy, watching Alec pace, watching Dean pacing in opposite circles... all waiting on news about Sam. Ben had wrapped his mental shields around him tightly because everyone was hurt and giving off pain - and not just their brood but the entire hospital. It was really starting to hurt and Ben was almost tempted to get up and ask the nurse for an aspirin when he felt another stab of pain hit the back of his mind.
"Alec?" Ben asked, the pain linking to a name and Ben shifted his eyes to his brother. Almost instantly he was out of the chair and kneeling in front of him. "Alec?! Dad!" Ben turned to get Dean's attention. "Something's wrong!"
"Alec?" Amy frowned, reaching over to run a hand over his face lightly. "Alec, honey? Wake up." There may have been a bit of a hint of panic in her voice as she went. "C'mon sweetie, now's not the time to screw with me."
Panic flashed in Dean's eyes and he looked over at the doctor who had pushed himself up on the counter. "Aren't you going to do something?"
House looked over at Alec, before dropping off the counter and hobbling his way over, reaching over and placing his fingers against Alec's pulse point, before moving his hands lower, and starting to feel along his stomach gently. Jinx lifted his lip and growled at the man who smelt too clean and like drugs, but knew he was trying to help so he let him near. "Someone get me a gurney and page Doctor Chase!" he shouted back in the direction of the nurses, before moving his hands up to Alec's face again to check his eyes. "Damn adrenaline."
Ben had scooted out of the way when House came over, then whimpered more when House started to push along Alec's stomach. He could hear Alec hissing in his head. "That's where it is," he told House, his own hands coming up to rub his temples. "Stop pushing there."
House looked over at him, before sighing softly. "I have to. It's part of the exam." He moved aside, before looking over between Dean and Ben as the gurney rolled up. "You're not going to make the cripple do all the work, are you?"
Dean glared back at him, before moving alongside the other nurses. "What do you need me to do?" Jinx moved closer to where Ben and Amy were, staying out of the way.
"Be careful," House sighed before moving towards Alec's shoulders. "His insides are basically pudding right now, so we don't want to do any more damage than's already done. I need you to gently take one side of him, and lift him carefully but quickly onto the gurney." He handed his cane off to Amy who moved out of the way to give Dean room to get on the other side.
Ben just scuttled back, watching with tear filled eyes and working to block out the pain. Eventually he pressed up against Amy's legs. He didn't know what to do, but it was starting to get to be too much for him, and coming from Alec... and then Dean's fear and worrying on top that Ben couldn't shut out...
"Amy, can you get me something for my head?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Amy looked over at him, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders and starting to pull him away from the group, trying to get him further from the noise. "C'mon, honey. Let's go see if the nurses have some aspirin."
House and several nurses surrounded Dean and he moved towards Alec's shoulders, starting to slide his arms around his son, and waiting for House's signal. House looked over to make sure that everyone was in place before nodding. "On my count -- one, two." His voice dropped off and they all moved at the same time, lifting him up and hauling him onto the gurney, just as a blond doctor made his way into the waiting room, looking over at House with a frown.
"You paged me?"
"I've got a patient with massive internal injuries from blunt force trauma," House sighed, reaching for one of the nurse's stethoscope's and starting to check Alec's heart. "He needs surgery now. Kutner and Hadley are flying in and they'll probably get there halfway through the surgery, but we need to get him started now or he's going to bleed out."
Ben nodded, getting up to his feet. "Dad, go with him until Kutner gets here. In case he wakes up," Ben stated. They both knew how much Alec enjoyed being in hospitals.
Dean nodded, before looking over at House. "You can watch from the observation room," House replied. "Trust me -- you don't want to see these injuries up close."
"Is there anything I need to know?" Chase asked, looking over to House as he clearly knew the patient better than he did.
"Allergic to aspirin, and he'll eat through whatever drugs you're giving him faster than you can administer them. You'll want to double up on the anesthesia."
Chase nodded. "I'll go get ready to scrub in. Get him prepped and ready to go, stat." Jinx was behind the gurney, planning on following wherever they took Alec. And when they wouldn't let the dog into the surgery room, he went to the observation room with Dean and put his paws up on the window, watching.
***
Ben rested his head on Amy's shoulder and wrapped an arm around her. He was feeling dizzy so she'd have to guide him a bit. His own adrenaline would be seeping away soon.
Amy pulled him in close as she guided him away from the action, finding a much more quiet waiting area. "You sit," she murmured as she moved him towards one of the chairs. "I'll go find a nurse." She paused for a minute before crouching down in front of him. "Are you okay? You're not going to pass out on me like your brother did?" Her tone was humorous, but there was a real layer of concern there. Because apparently the Winchesters had issues with letting people know when they were bleeding internally.
Ben nodded, curling up on the chair. "Yeah, Alloces didn't touch me. I'm fine. I can just feel everyone else's pain, that's all."
"Okay," she said, running a hand over his face lightly. "You know, we're probably going to be waiting a while. I could help you get some sleep, block out the voices for a little bit."
He looked up at her, shaking a bit. He was tempted, but he shook his head. "No, Dad'll freak out. He's already got Sam and Alec to worry over."
"Okay," she said with a nod. "I'll go find some aspirin." She pushed herself up and made her way over to the nurse's station, talking to one of the nurses for a moment before coming back with a cup holding two aspirin and a glass of water.
Sitting up, he took the aspirin and downed it, followed by the water. "Thanks," he said, sitting up and resting his head in his hands. "This isn't going to end well..." he said softly.
Amy sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer. "It'll get better. Maybe not right away, but it'll get better."
Ben just put his head in Amy's lap, curling on his side again. He was trying to keep his shields together but he was worn out, worried, and overwhelmed with his own senses. "Amy, maybe you could put me out... just until Dad gets back? I'm so tired."
"Of course, honey," she murmured softly, starting to rub his back lightly. "I'll wake you up as soon as he comes out." After that she started to murmur the magic under her breath, keeping herself calm and projecting to the calm into the man soon to be sleeping in her lap.
Ben felt her magic and opened his shield to let her in. Almost instantly he felt her magic overtake him and his head just went limp in her lap. A dreamless sleep was what he needed to keep sane at the moment, and he welcomed it openly.
As long as she really did wake him up when Dad came to find them.
It was hours before Dean and Jinx returned from the observation room. Dean looked very, very tired -- Amy wouldn't have been surprised if Jinx was almost holding the man up from falling over -- and Jinx looked just worried, mostly. She was a demon. She could read hellhounds. She gave him a small smile, and he nodded, before he looked over at Ben and his eyes started to widen slightly.
"Is he -- "
Amy shook her head quickly. "He's just sleeping." She paused for a moment, before starting to shake Ben's shoulders lightly. "I'm supposed to wake him up, actually."
"No, you can let him sleep."
"He asked me to, Dean," she replied. "He can sleep when your finished too."
Ben's eyes scrunched as he fought his way back awake. He whimpered, rushing to pull his shields over his mind. It had to be later because it was quieter, so he could block most of it. Except for the man in the room. Blue eyes opened to look up at Dean, worried.
"Dad. How... how are they?" He pushed himself up gently, rubbing at his face. "Thank you," he said softly to Amy.
Amy gave him a small smile, before turning back to Dean, wanting news as well. Dean just rubbed his eyes before speaking. "Alec should be okay once he wakes up. They managed to fix everything in the surgery he just -- has a really long recovery. Sam, though -- " There was another heavy sigh. " -- they don't know what's wrong, so -- they don't know if he'll ever wake up."
"This is because of his powers, isn't it?" Ben bit his lip, and figured he should explain. "Sam told me before we went to find you that he was afraid that he might not make it, and wanted to warn me about how bad my powers could be over time."
Dean swallowed slightly, before nodding. "Kutner can explain it better than I can -- when he gets here, anyway. He said he was going to meet me out here and explain more."
"We could try and find some kind of priestess to do some kind of magic on him, can't we?" Ben asked. "If it's supernatural, we just have to find the right kind of help, right?"
"I don't know," Dean said with a shrug. "I'll have to talk to Ruby, see what they already tried. Sam seemed to think he's exhausted every option."
"There's gotta be something they haven't tried." Ben sighed. "I felt the amount of power he gave off. I didn't know he could do that."
"Lilith didn't either," Dean muttered. There was a beat before there was the squeak of sneakers on the floor behind him, and Kutner came sliding into view, coming to a stop and looking at Dean with wide eyes.
"Dean?"
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the doctor in confusion. "Yeah, Kutner?"
Kutner didn't say anything at first, just made his way closer to him and then throwing his arms around the man's shoulders, hugging him tightly. "So good to see you, man."
Ben looked up at Kutner. It had been a long time since Ben had seen the doctor, and this obviously wasn't the best idea of a reunion.
"Kutner?" Dean gasped, patting the man on the back lightly. "Kutner? Can't breathe."
"Oh." The doctor let go of him immediately, and then looked over at Ben and gave him a wave. "No one remembered to mention to me that Dean was alive again."
"I think we had other more important things to worry about," Dean said with a sigh. "Any word on Alec and Sam?"
"Right. Alec should be good as new once things heal up, but it's going to take a while for him to get there. He's in recovery now, and we can let you go in to see him in a little bit. Sam, however, is a bit more complicated."
"Yeah, sorry, kinda got sidetracked with kidnappings and such," Ben apologized. First Anna, then Sam, and then Dean. right after each other. No rest for the Winchesters.
Being able to see Alec was good. Ben felt a bit guilty having stayed outside, but Alec had told him to, and Ben knew if he had gone in, Dean would be hearing about another son's condition on a surgery table. Ben wasn't the fighter in this group, and the more they coddled him, the worse he got in being useful.
"Complicated?"
Kutner nodded slowly, before moving closer to Ben and Amy and sitting down on the edge of the coffee table. "So Sam came to see me and Doctor Foreman around Thanksgiving, to see if there was anything that modern medicine could do for the problems he was having with his visions. We took some film, had a look, and we discovered that with the way Sam's abilities presented, certain chemicals were misfiring in his brain, and subsequently literally frying certain areas of it. We weren't able to figure out what chemical exactly it was, but we gave him some meds to try anyway, just to keep things going. However, with from what Dean told me about how things went down? The level he had to reach to do that particular feat was way more than his brain could handle, and it just fried him completely."
"So he's basically a vegetable?"
"At this point, yes," Kutner nodded. "Frankly, I'm surprised he's even alive. But since he is alive -- I wouldn't give up hope yet. There still might be something we could do."
He looked at his father, knowing he was probably going crazy - no, Ben knew his father was. he could feel it. That meant Ben needed to think about making some kind of arrangements. And Ben had done this twice already in over the last 16 months. "Is there a way we can get Sam and Alec in the same room? Just to make it easier on us... and most of the staff."
Kutner paused for a minute, thinking this over before nodding slowly. "They're both going to be in the ICU, so -- I don't see any reason why not. I'll make sure Alec winds up in a double -- we don't want to move him too much, and I'll see about moving Sam up as soon as that's in place."
"Thanks. We'll figure out what we need to do to move our home base here." He looked over at his father. "Maybe see if we can figure out if there's a reason why Sam's still alive."
Kutner shrugged before getting up and clapping a hand down on Dean's shoulders. "I'll go make the arrangements. You guys get some rest. There's a few good hotels in the area, or, if you'd rather stay close, I can point you in the direction of the on-call rooms."
Ben watched Kutner leave, then sighed and got up. "Want me to go find a motel for us?"
Dean considered that for a minute, before shaking his head. "I want to stay close, in case something happens." Not that there would be much he could do either way, but he wanted to be there anyway.
"Alright." He walked over to his father, putting a hand on his arm. "Want me to get you something to eat. I should make a few calls to let people know what's going on."
Dean nodded slowly. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Just -- make the calls, and I'll be here."
"I'm gonna worry about you anyway," Ben pointed out, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It's my family in there too," he added softly as he turned to go, thinking about who needed to be called.
Dean sighed slightly as Ben walked away, before dropping himself down into one of the chairs next to Amy, running a hand over his face. He was so tired, and to be honest he was starving, but he didn't really care. That wasn't what was important at the moment. Amy however, wasn't going to let it go.
"You should eat something."
"I'm not hungry."
"You know, Dean -- you have two sons. It'd be nice if you put on a show that you cared at least enough for your own well-being to take care of yourself for both of them, as oppose to losing your mind for just one."
"In case you hadn't noticed, Sam's in there too."
"Mmm, right. So just starve yourself to death while your brother wastes away in a vegetative state. Real impressive logic there."
Dean glared at her for a moment, burying his face in his hands again. "Shut up."
Ben kept his cool all the way outside of the hospital and until he crossed the street to the diner. He stopped a moment, then he turned and slammed his hand against the wall. He did it two, three more times before giving a cry and just slumping to the ground in the mouth of the alley. First Anna, now Sam and Alec? And Dean was trying to act tough and block him out. No, he couldn't handle this on his own. Not Again.
Finally he felt a brush of fur. Ben started and leaned back, and saw Jinx's face in front of him. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked, pushing the dog away. "You're supposed to be with Alec."
The dog just looked at him, putting a paw on Ben's knee. He sighed, realizing the dog wasn't going anywhere while Ben was alone outside the hospital. Then Jinx came closer and just nuzzled under Ben's chin.
"He's going to be alright, Jinx," Ben said softly, trying to convince himself or the dog, he wasn't sure. He scruffed the dog's fur, just relaxing a moment. Then he pulled himself up. "Come on, let's get Dean and Amy something to eat, then you can get back to Alec."
***
About an hour later, Ben walked back into the waiting room with a bag of food. "I didn't know what you'd want, so I got everyone burgers and fries," Ben announced as he claimed a seat across from them.
Amy reached for the burgers with an appreciative smile, before throwing a look at Dean. He rolled his eyes at her slightly before reaching for the bag and picking up a burger for himself, starting to eat as he looked at Ben. "Manage to get a hold of everyone?"
"I got a few people, and managed to talk Bobby down from driving out this way," Ben said. He had pulled his sweatshirt sleeves over most of his hands so only his fingertips showed as he ate his burger. He'd get a nurse to look at his knuckles later.
Dean nodded slowly. Sure, he'd like to have seen Bobby, but that could wait till later, when things were less hectic. "Did you call back to the Mama's and let them know I was alright?" Because he had a feeling that they all knew about him being grabbed at this point. He didn't want Gina worrying.
"Yeah. Seth, Gina and Noah all say they'll be here if you need them. And Mama will send food with them because she knows you won't eat." Anna's also still in her own coma, Ben added silently as he had asked about that as well.
Dean snorted slightly at that, before sighing slightly. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep but he knew that he wasn't going to get it and there were too many things to do. "We're probably gonna be here a while. Kutner said it's probably going to be a few days at least before Alec wakes up completely."
"Alright. Then we'll sleep in shifts. You first." Ben looked at his father, almost challenging him.
Dean looked up at him before starting to shake his head. "I won't be able to -- "
"I'll help," Amy said, cutting him off. "You need the sleep. You were held by demons for a couple days and you need your sleep."
"Fine," Dean sighed, not pleased, but going along with it.
"I'm a big boy. I think I can watch over everyone for a few hours." Ben reached into the bag, pulling out three tiny styrafoam containers. Inside was slices of apple pie.
Dean looked up at him for a moment, smirking slightly as he smelled the pie. "That wasn't what I was worried about."
"You're worried, I know," Ben said, tossing a fork at his father. "So am I. I've been living in a world of constant worry since Anna was taken back at the New Year. You need to rest, even if you don't think you're able to. If you don't, you're no good to any of us." Ben smirked a bit, repeating words that had been spoken to him by many people the last few months.
Dean looked up at him for a minute, before running a hand on his face. Dean was still thinking that he wasn't much good to anyone anyway, but Ben didn't need that right now, and frankly, neither did he. "Yeah, I know."
"And right now... I need you," Ben said softly, picking at his pie.
Dean looked over at him again quietly, before reaching forward and placing a hand on Ben's shoulder rubbing it back and forth lightly. "We'll figure it out, okay? This ain't over till it's over."
Ben nodded, putting a hand up to squeeze his father's hand. Which might show off the busted knuckles just a bit. "Yeah, it's no where near over yet."
Dean noticed, but didn't say anything, just rubbed Ben's shoulder lightly before reaching for his pie to finish it off. A set of busted knuckles wasn't the worst thing he could have at the moment. He'd ask him about it later.
Once he was finished with his dinner, Ben reclined back and twisted a bit in his seat, straddling across two or three and half leaning against the wall. He pulled out his cell phone, looking for a game to play because he didn't have anything else to do now but wait.
"Alright," Dean sighed as he finished as well. "I'm going to go see where the on-call room is. Wake me up if anything happens, alright? And I mean anything."
"I will wake you up when I hear the butterfly flap it's wings," Ben looked up at his father, smirking.
Dean gave him a look. "Don't be a smartass," he rolled his eyes, before leaving the room and heading out to find Kutner, leaving Ben with Amy.
"Kinda hard when it's genetic," Ben muttered to himself after dean was out of earshot, then gave Amy a smile.
Amy smiled back at him, before moving closer. "You okay, honey?"
"Not really. But I can't do anything to change the situation at the moment so I'm trying to do something else to take my mind off it." Ben looked over at her. "Have you heard anything about Ruby in your demonic grapevine?"
"She got back to Seattle alright," Amy said with a nod. She didn't need to confirm that. She knew she would be. "She should be back out here soon."
"Ok. Cause I need to talk to her when she does get back."
Amy nodded slowly. "I don't know if there's anything you'll be able to do for Sam, sweetie. Short of a miracle, this may be it."
"I'm not thinking about Sam," Ben said softly. "I'm thinking about his army. IF the demons find out Sam's gone and there's no one leading that army, what's going to happen?"
"You put someone up there who's bigger and scarier than Sam," Amy said tilting her head to the side slightly. "Demons will fall in line so long as someone's there to lead them. Ruby seemed to do most of the brute enforcement, anyway, all she needs is the muscle to back it up."
"Alec's the muscle." Ben pointed out. "But I'm all that's left standing."
"Alec isn't the only muscle she has, Ben," she said with a sigh. "Demons are capable of leading other demons."
"The army looks to a human with demon blood from Azazel's line to lead them," Ben stated. "That's Sam. But Alec and I have it too because of Meg. And with Alec... that just leaves me, doesn't it?"
Amy paused for a minute. "We'll see, I guess. But Ruby probably has a plan. You probably won't have to step up if you don't want to."
"I want to keep my family safe," Ben said. "I don't want to step up, especially if doing that is going to lead me to the same bed Sam's in now. But if I have to do it to keep them safe, I will."
Amy sighed, before moving in closer to him. "Ruby wants to keep your family safe as well, and that includes you. If you don't want to do this -- she won't make you."
"I know she won't." He took a deep breath. "Don't tell my Dad about this talk, alright. The shit's gonna hit the fan if he finds out what might happen. I'd rather him deal with definites and not maybes."
"Secret's safe with me," Amy nodded.
"Good." Ben looked back at his phone again, pulling up another game. Just to keep his mind off things. Because he knew that butterfly was going to flap it's wings eventually and he wasn't sure he was going to like the end result.
Amy just nodded slowly, before settling in and reaching for one of the magazines sitting on the side table, ready to wait out whatever the time period was.
He was only now thinking about separating the hurts to categories. And that was harder than it should have been. Normally he would mentally lay them out as life threatening or not. Broken or bruised, cut or torn. Internal or visible. But he was so tired that things fell into dull or sharp, which was useless because everything was both, or grinding versus pressure. He had both of those too, it just depended on where one was talking about.
He was going to have to stop pacing soon though. One of those grinding feeling was definitely in his leg. He'd ask Kutner to look at it when the man had a free minute. He'd let Kutner get a look at the rest of him to, because he was pretty sure he couldn't see it all himself.
For now though, he'd wait. Here, with the rest of the family for news of Sam. There was no rule saying he couldn't wait while sitting down though. After all he needed some rest or donating blood to Sam would make him pass out. He shuffled-paced his way over to were Amy was sitting and took up residence in the seat next to her.
Which may have been a mistake. He felt things shift that shouldn't move at all. He didn't think it was just bone either, it wasn't that sort of hurt. Both arms were pressed tight across his belly and the pain. He just wanted to curl up around the hurt. He coughed a little and swallowed the blood.
Eventually he just leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes to get a little rest.
It would be a long time before he could open them again.
Almost instantly, Jinx lifted his head from where he had been watching Alec pace. He smelt the blood on Alec's lips and wuffed, going over to nuzzle Alec's arm.
Ben had been sitting in a chair across from Amy, watching Alec pace, watching Dean pacing in opposite circles... all waiting on news about Sam. Ben had wrapped his mental shields around him tightly because everyone was hurt and giving off pain - and not just their brood but the entire hospital. It was really starting to hurt and Ben was almost tempted to get up and ask the nurse for an aspirin when he felt another stab of pain hit the back of his mind.
"Alec?" Ben asked, the pain linking to a name and Ben shifted his eyes to his brother. Almost instantly he was out of the chair and kneeling in front of him. "Alec?! Dad!" Ben turned to get Dean's attention. "Something's wrong!"
"Alec?" Amy frowned, reaching over to run a hand over his face lightly. "Alec, honey? Wake up." There may have been a bit of a hint of panic in her voice as she went. "C'mon sweetie, now's not the time to screw with me."
Panic flashed in Dean's eyes and he looked over at the doctor who had pushed himself up on the counter. "Aren't you going to do something?"
House looked over at Alec, before dropping off the counter and hobbling his way over, reaching over and placing his fingers against Alec's pulse point, before moving his hands lower, and starting to feel along his stomach gently. Jinx lifted his lip and growled at the man who smelt too clean and like drugs, but knew he was trying to help so he let him near. "Someone get me a gurney and page Doctor Chase!" he shouted back in the direction of the nurses, before moving his hands up to Alec's face again to check his eyes. "Damn adrenaline."
Ben had scooted out of the way when House came over, then whimpered more when House started to push along Alec's stomach. He could hear Alec hissing in his head. "That's where it is," he told House, his own hands coming up to rub his temples. "Stop pushing there."
House looked over at him, before sighing softly. "I have to. It's part of the exam." He moved aside, before looking over between Dean and Ben as the gurney rolled up. "You're not going to make the cripple do all the work, are you?"
Dean glared back at him, before moving alongside the other nurses. "What do you need me to do?" Jinx moved closer to where Ben and Amy were, staying out of the way.
"Be careful," House sighed before moving towards Alec's shoulders. "His insides are basically pudding right now, so we don't want to do any more damage than's already done. I need you to gently take one side of him, and lift him carefully but quickly onto the gurney." He handed his cane off to Amy who moved out of the way to give Dean room to get on the other side.
Ben just scuttled back, watching with tear filled eyes and working to block out the pain. Eventually he pressed up against Amy's legs. He didn't know what to do, but it was starting to get to be too much for him, and coming from Alec... and then Dean's fear and worrying on top that Ben couldn't shut out...
"Amy, can you get me something for my head?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Amy looked over at him, before wrapping an arm around his shoulders and starting to pull him away from the group, trying to get him further from the noise. "C'mon, honey. Let's go see if the nurses have some aspirin."
House and several nurses surrounded Dean and he moved towards Alec's shoulders, starting to slide his arms around his son, and waiting for House's signal. House looked over to make sure that everyone was in place before nodding. "On my count -- one, two." His voice dropped off and they all moved at the same time, lifting him up and hauling him onto the gurney, just as a blond doctor made his way into the waiting room, looking over at House with a frown.
"You paged me?"
"I've got a patient with massive internal injuries from blunt force trauma," House sighed, reaching for one of the nurse's stethoscope's and starting to check Alec's heart. "He needs surgery now. Kutner and Hadley are flying in and they'll probably get there halfway through the surgery, but we need to get him started now or he's going to bleed out."
Ben nodded, getting up to his feet. "Dad, go with him until Kutner gets here. In case he wakes up," Ben stated. They both knew how much Alec enjoyed being in hospitals.
Dean nodded, before looking over at House. "You can watch from the observation room," House replied. "Trust me -- you don't want to see these injuries up close."
"Is there anything I need to know?" Chase asked, looking over to House as he clearly knew the patient better than he did.
"Allergic to aspirin, and he'll eat through whatever drugs you're giving him faster than you can administer them. You'll want to double up on the anesthesia."
Chase nodded. "I'll go get ready to scrub in. Get him prepped and ready to go, stat." Jinx was behind the gurney, planning on following wherever they took Alec. And when they wouldn't let the dog into the surgery room, he went to the observation room with Dean and put his paws up on the window, watching.
***
Ben rested his head on Amy's shoulder and wrapped an arm around her. He was feeling dizzy so she'd have to guide him a bit. His own adrenaline would be seeping away soon.
Amy pulled him in close as she guided him away from the action, finding a much more quiet waiting area. "You sit," she murmured as she moved him towards one of the chairs. "I'll go find a nurse." She paused for a minute before crouching down in front of him. "Are you okay? You're not going to pass out on me like your brother did?" Her tone was humorous, but there was a real layer of concern there. Because apparently the Winchesters had issues with letting people know when they were bleeding internally.
Ben nodded, curling up on the chair. "Yeah, Alloces didn't touch me. I'm fine. I can just feel everyone else's pain, that's all."
"Okay," she said, running a hand over his face lightly. "You know, we're probably going to be waiting a while. I could help you get some sleep, block out the voices for a little bit."
He looked up at her, shaking a bit. He was tempted, but he shook his head. "No, Dad'll freak out. He's already got Sam and Alec to worry over."
"Okay," she said with a nod. "I'll go find some aspirin." She pushed herself up and made her way over to the nurse's station, talking to one of the nurses for a moment before coming back with a cup holding two aspirin and a glass of water.
Sitting up, he took the aspirin and downed it, followed by the water. "Thanks," he said, sitting up and resting his head in his hands. "This isn't going to end well..." he said softly.
Amy sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him closer. "It'll get better. Maybe not right away, but it'll get better."
Ben just put his head in Amy's lap, curling on his side again. He was trying to keep his shields together but he was worn out, worried, and overwhelmed with his own senses. "Amy, maybe you could put me out... just until Dad gets back? I'm so tired."
"Of course, honey," she murmured softly, starting to rub his back lightly. "I'll wake you up as soon as he comes out." After that she started to murmur the magic under her breath, keeping herself calm and projecting to the calm into the man soon to be sleeping in her lap.
Ben felt her magic and opened his shield to let her in. Almost instantly he felt her magic overtake him and his head just went limp in her lap. A dreamless sleep was what he needed to keep sane at the moment, and he welcomed it openly.
As long as she really did wake him up when Dad came to find them.
It was hours before Dean and Jinx returned from the observation room. Dean looked very, very tired -- Amy wouldn't have been surprised if Jinx was almost holding the man up from falling over -- and Jinx looked just worried, mostly. She was a demon. She could read hellhounds. She gave him a small smile, and he nodded, before he looked over at Ben and his eyes started to widen slightly.
"Is he -- "
Amy shook her head quickly. "He's just sleeping." She paused for a moment, before starting to shake Ben's shoulders lightly. "I'm supposed to wake him up, actually."
"No, you can let him sleep."
"He asked me to, Dean," she replied. "He can sleep when your finished too."
Ben's eyes scrunched as he fought his way back awake. He whimpered, rushing to pull his shields over his mind. It had to be later because it was quieter, so he could block most of it. Except for the man in the room. Blue eyes opened to look up at Dean, worried.
"Dad. How... how are they?" He pushed himself up gently, rubbing at his face. "Thank you," he said softly to Amy.
Amy gave him a small smile, before turning back to Dean, wanting news as well. Dean just rubbed his eyes before speaking. "Alec should be okay once he wakes up. They managed to fix everything in the surgery he just -- has a really long recovery. Sam, though -- " There was another heavy sigh. " -- they don't know what's wrong, so -- they don't know if he'll ever wake up."
"This is because of his powers, isn't it?" Ben bit his lip, and figured he should explain. "Sam told me before we went to find you that he was afraid that he might not make it, and wanted to warn me about how bad my powers could be over time."
Dean swallowed slightly, before nodding. "Kutner can explain it better than I can -- when he gets here, anyway. He said he was going to meet me out here and explain more."
"We could try and find some kind of priestess to do some kind of magic on him, can't we?" Ben asked. "If it's supernatural, we just have to find the right kind of help, right?"
"I don't know," Dean said with a shrug. "I'll have to talk to Ruby, see what they already tried. Sam seemed to think he's exhausted every option."
"There's gotta be something they haven't tried." Ben sighed. "I felt the amount of power he gave off. I didn't know he could do that."
"Lilith didn't either," Dean muttered. There was a beat before there was the squeak of sneakers on the floor behind him, and Kutner came sliding into view, coming to a stop and looking at Dean with wide eyes.
"Dean?"
Dean raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the doctor in confusion. "Yeah, Kutner?"
Kutner didn't say anything at first, just made his way closer to him and then throwing his arms around the man's shoulders, hugging him tightly. "So good to see you, man."
Ben looked up at Kutner. It had been a long time since Ben had seen the doctor, and this obviously wasn't the best idea of a reunion.
"Kutner?" Dean gasped, patting the man on the back lightly. "Kutner? Can't breathe."
"Oh." The doctor let go of him immediately, and then looked over at Ben and gave him a wave. "No one remembered to mention to me that Dean was alive again."
"I think we had other more important things to worry about," Dean said with a sigh. "Any word on Alec and Sam?"
"Right. Alec should be good as new once things heal up, but it's going to take a while for him to get there. He's in recovery now, and we can let you go in to see him in a little bit. Sam, however, is a bit more complicated."
"Yeah, sorry, kinda got sidetracked with kidnappings and such," Ben apologized. First Anna, then Sam, and then Dean. right after each other. No rest for the Winchesters.
Being able to see Alec was good. Ben felt a bit guilty having stayed outside, but Alec had told him to, and Ben knew if he had gone in, Dean would be hearing about another son's condition on a surgery table. Ben wasn't the fighter in this group, and the more they coddled him, the worse he got in being useful.
"Complicated?"
Kutner nodded slowly, before moving closer to Ben and Amy and sitting down on the edge of the coffee table. "So Sam came to see me and Doctor Foreman around Thanksgiving, to see if there was anything that modern medicine could do for the problems he was having with his visions. We took some film, had a look, and we discovered that with the way Sam's abilities presented, certain chemicals were misfiring in his brain, and subsequently literally frying certain areas of it. We weren't able to figure out what chemical exactly it was, but we gave him some meds to try anyway, just to keep things going. However, with from what Dean told me about how things went down? The level he had to reach to do that particular feat was way more than his brain could handle, and it just fried him completely."
"So he's basically a vegetable?"
"At this point, yes," Kutner nodded. "Frankly, I'm surprised he's even alive. But since he is alive -- I wouldn't give up hope yet. There still might be something we could do."
He looked at his father, knowing he was probably going crazy - no, Ben knew his father was. he could feel it. That meant Ben needed to think about making some kind of arrangements. And Ben had done this twice already in over the last 16 months. "Is there a way we can get Sam and Alec in the same room? Just to make it easier on us... and most of the staff."
Kutner paused for a minute, thinking this over before nodding slowly. "They're both going to be in the ICU, so -- I don't see any reason why not. I'll make sure Alec winds up in a double -- we don't want to move him too much, and I'll see about moving Sam up as soon as that's in place."
"Thanks. We'll figure out what we need to do to move our home base here." He looked over at his father. "Maybe see if we can figure out if there's a reason why Sam's still alive."
Kutner shrugged before getting up and clapping a hand down on Dean's shoulders. "I'll go make the arrangements. You guys get some rest. There's a few good hotels in the area, or, if you'd rather stay close, I can point you in the direction of the on-call rooms."
Ben watched Kutner leave, then sighed and got up. "Want me to go find a motel for us?"
Dean considered that for a minute, before shaking his head. "I want to stay close, in case something happens." Not that there would be much he could do either way, but he wanted to be there anyway.
"Alright." He walked over to his father, putting a hand on his arm. "Want me to get you something to eat. I should make a few calls to let people know what's going on."
Dean nodded slowly. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. Just -- make the calls, and I'll be here."
"I'm gonna worry about you anyway," Ben pointed out, shoving his hands in his pockets. "It's my family in there too," he added softly as he turned to go, thinking about who needed to be called.
Dean sighed slightly as Ben walked away, before dropping himself down into one of the chairs next to Amy, running a hand over his face. He was so tired, and to be honest he was starving, but he didn't really care. That wasn't what was important at the moment. Amy however, wasn't going to let it go.
"You should eat something."
"I'm not hungry."
"You know, Dean -- you have two sons. It'd be nice if you put on a show that you cared at least enough for your own well-being to take care of yourself for both of them, as oppose to losing your mind for just one."
"In case you hadn't noticed, Sam's in there too."
"Mmm, right. So just starve yourself to death while your brother wastes away in a vegetative state. Real impressive logic there."
Dean glared at her for a moment, burying his face in his hands again. "Shut up."
Ben kept his cool all the way outside of the hospital and until he crossed the street to the diner. He stopped a moment, then he turned and slammed his hand against the wall. He did it two, three more times before giving a cry and just slumping to the ground in the mouth of the alley. First Anna, now Sam and Alec? And Dean was trying to act tough and block him out. No, he couldn't handle this on his own. Not Again.
Finally he felt a brush of fur. Ben started and leaned back, and saw Jinx's face in front of him. "What are you doing here?" Ben asked, pushing the dog away. "You're supposed to be with Alec."
The dog just looked at him, putting a paw on Ben's knee. He sighed, realizing the dog wasn't going anywhere while Ben was alone outside the hospital. Then Jinx came closer and just nuzzled under Ben's chin.
"He's going to be alright, Jinx," Ben said softly, trying to convince himself or the dog, he wasn't sure. He scruffed the dog's fur, just relaxing a moment. Then he pulled himself up. "Come on, let's get Dean and Amy something to eat, then you can get back to Alec."
***
About an hour later, Ben walked back into the waiting room with a bag of food. "I didn't know what you'd want, so I got everyone burgers and fries," Ben announced as he claimed a seat across from them.
Amy reached for the burgers with an appreciative smile, before throwing a look at Dean. He rolled his eyes at her slightly before reaching for the bag and picking up a burger for himself, starting to eat as he looked at Ben. "Manage to get a hold of everyone?"
"I got a few people, and managed to talk Bobby down from driving out this way," Ben said. He had pulled his sweatshirt sleeves over most of his hands so only his fingertips showed as he ate his burger. He'd get a nurse to look at his knuckles later.
Dean nodded slowly. Sure, he'd like to have seen Bobby, but that could wait till later, when things were less hectic. "Did you call back to the Mama's and let them know I was alright?" Because he had a feeling that they all knew about him being grabbed at this point. He didn't want Gina worrying.
"Yeah. Seth, Gina and Noah all say they'll be here if you need them. And Mama will send food with them because she knows you won't eat." Anna's also still in her own coma, Ben added silently as he had asked about that as well.
Dean snorted slightly at that, before sighing slightly. He was so tired. He just wanted to sleep but he knew that he wasn't going to get it and there were too many things to do. "We're probably gonna be here a while. Kutner said it's probably going to be a few days at least before Alec wakes up completely."
"Alright. Then we'll sleep in shifts. You first." Ben looked at his father, almost challenging him.
Dean looked up at him before starting to shake his head. "I won't be able to -- "
"I'll help," Amy said, cutting him off. "You need the sleep. You were held by demons for a couple days and you need your sleep."
"Fine," Dean sighed, not pleased, but going along with it.
"I'm a big boy. I think I can watch over everyone for a few hours." Ben reached into the bag, pulling out three tiny styrafoam containers. Inside was slices of apple pie.
Dean looked up at him for a moment, smirking slightly as he smelled the pie. "That wasn't what I was worried about."
"You're worried, I know," Ben said, tossing a fork at his father. "So am I. I've been living in a world of constant worry since Anna was taken back at the New Year. You need to rest, even if you don't think you're able to. If you don't, you're no good to any of us." Ben smirked a bit, repeating words that had been spoken to him by many people the last few months.
Dean looked up at him for a minute, before running a hand on his face. Dean was still thinking that he wasn't much good to anyone anyway, but Ben didn't need that right now, and frankly, neither did he. "Yeah, I know."
"And right now... I need you," Ben said softly, picking at his pie.
Dean looked over at him again quietly, before reaching forward and placing a hand on Ben's shoulder rubbing it back and forth lightly. "We'll figure it out, okay? This ain't over till it's over."
Ben nodded, putting a hand up to squeeze his father's hand. Which might show off the busted knuckles just a bit. "Yeah, it's no where near over yet."
Dean noticed, but didn't say anything, just rubbed Ben's shoulder lightly before reaching for his pie to finish it off. A set of busted knuckles wasn't the worst thing he could have at the moment. He'd ask him about it later.
Once he was finished with his dinner, Ben reclined back and twisted a bit in his seat, straddling across two or three and half leaning against the wall. He pulled out his cell phone, looking for a game to play because he didn't have anything else to do now but wait.
"Alright," Dean sighed as he finished as well. "I'm going to go see where the on-call room is. Wake me up if anything happens, alright? And I mean anything."
"I will wake you up when I hear the butterfly flap it's wings," Ben looked up at his father, smirking.
Dean gave him a look. "Don't be a smartass," he rolled his eyes, before leaving the room and heading out to find Kutner, leaving Ben with Amy.
"Kinda hard when it's genetic," Ben muttered to himself after dean was out of earshot, then gave Amy a smile.
Amy smiled back at him, before moving closer. "You okay, honey?"
"Not really. But I can't do anything to change the situation at the moment so I'm trying to do something else to take my mind off it." Ben looked over at her. "Have you heard anything about Ruby in your demonic grapevine?"
"She got back to Seattle alright," Amy said with a nod. She didn't need to confirm that. She knew she would be. "She should be back out here soon."
"Ok. Cause I need to talk to her when she does get back."
Amy nodded slowly. "I don't know if there's anything you'll be able to do for Sam, sweetie. Short of a miracle, this may be it."
"I'm not thinking about Sam," Ben said softly. "I'm thinking about his army. IF the demons find out Sam's gone and there's no one leading that army, what's going to happen?"
"You put someone up there who's bigger and scarier than Sam," Amy said tilting her head to the side slightly. "Demons will fall in line so long as someone's there to lead them. Ruby seemed to do most of the brute enforcement, anyway, all she needs is the muscle to back it up."
"Alec's the muscle." Ben pointed out. "But I'm all that's left standing."
"Alec isn't the only muscle she has, Ben," she said with a sigh. "Demons are capable of leading other demons."
"The army looks to a human with demon blood from Azazel's line to lead them," Ben stated. "That's Sam. But Alec and I have it too because of Meg. And with Alec... that just leaves me, doesn't it?"
Amy paused for a minute. "We'll see, I guess. But Ruby probably has a plan. You probably won't have to step up if you don't want to."
"I want to keep my family safe," Ben said. "I don't want to step up, especially if doing that is going to lead me to the same bed Sam's in now. But if I have to do it to keep them safe, I will."
Amy sighed, before moving in closer to him. "Ruby wants to keep your family safe as well, and that includes you. If you don't want to do this -- she won't make you."
"I know she won't." He took a deep breath. "Don't tell my Dad about this talk, alright. The shit's gonna hit the fan if he finds out what might happen. I'd rather him deal with definites and not maybes."
"Secret's safe with me," Amy nodded.
"Good." Ben looked back at his phone again, pulling up another game. Just to keep his mind off things. Because he knew that butterfly was going to flap it's wings eventually and he wasn't sure he was going to like the end result.
Amy just nodded slowly, before settling in and reaching for one of the magazines sitting on the side table, ready to wait out whatever the time period was.