FIC: Hear Her Calling (13/14)
Title: Hear Her Calling (13/14)
Author: Wysawyg
Summary: When a veteran marine friend of their father calls the boys for help when mysterious deaths start occurring on his fledgling cruise, it's not long before the boys end up in over their heads. Hurt!Dean and some Sammy!whumping for good measure.
Disclaimer: The Winchesters belong to Kripke and the CW. I am but a poor player who struts and frets her hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
Beta: Beta’d by the fabulous TraSan who correctly my hap-hazard tenses and took time out of her own writing to make this story better than it otherwise would have been.
Timeline: Mid-Season 2, after Sammy has found out The Big Secret.
Pairings: None, Gen.
Chapters: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
When Sam awoke to quiet voices and a bright light in his face, his first thought was to try and work out when he’d been asleep. His stirring obviously caught some attention as he heard a voice near him call, “Jerry, Sam’s awake.”
A hand landed on his injured shoulder prompting a squeak of protest and the hand being hastily removed, “Sam, you damn fool. Open your eyes.”
Sam obediently opened his eyes up to narrow slits and peered blearily up at the figure above him. “Bobby?” His vision cleared a little, enough to realise it wasn’t the older hunter somehow teleported to a craggy island in the Atlantic. “Jerry,” he concluded.
“You don’t have to sound so disappointed,” Jerry stated. “You damn boys are gonna give me an ulcer.”
Panic flooded Sam and he squeaked out, “D-Dean?” His teeth chattered together as burgeoning consciousness made him aware of the fact he was very, very cold.
Jerry turned his head to address a parka-shrouded figure, “Janey?” The tiny figure wasn’t recognisable under all the layers, “How’s Dean doing?”
“We need to get him to the infirmary now.” Janey’s voice emerged from somewhere in the midst of the bundle, her clipped tone implying ‘now’ was actually ‘hours ago.’
Sam tried to move towards his brother but his body had apparently staged a revolt during his brief slumber and refused to move from where it’d settled. “Dean!” Sam cried plaintively, hoping for a response from his brother. Answer came there none.
“Don’t worry, Janey is taking good care of your brother.”
Jerry’s words came at odds with the litany of information Janey was reeling off, “Resps shallow, got a pulse but it’s weak. Everybody got a corner?”
Sam got a glimpse of Dean’s clammy face as his unconscious brother was carried out past him. “S-Siren.” He stuttered in panic.
“You didn’t get it?” Jerry looked horrified and Sam saw his eyes track the progression of people to where the rescue boats were moored.
“Got it.” Sam reassured the man, “Just not dead yet. Takes a while.”
“Well, we didn’t see it on the way out and your brother can’t really wait so we’ll just have to take the risk,” Jerry stated matter-of-factly. “Nor can you for that matter, stupid bull-headed boys.” Jerry seemed like he was gearing up for a rant. “Next time you pull this shit, I want to know exactly where you are going and why. ‘Might be doing something tonight,’ is not enough.”
Before Sam had a chance to defend himself, there was the sound of returning footsteps and a stranger’s voice, “Jerry, we got Dean loaded up and Janey is headed back with him now. Second boat is ready for Sam.” Sam started a little at the unfamiliar use of his name.
“Give me a hand.” Jerry prompted and Sam felt arms beneath his knees and across his back, lifting him between the two men. The chill of the night air hit his cheek like a resounding slap and he felt his shivering intensify. “Steady, Sam,” He heard Jerry say. “We’ll get you into the warm soon.”
It wasn’t too long before Sam was settled on the base of the small wooden boat, hastily transformed into a human blanket pile. He couldn’t rest, his eyes scanning the sea lit up by the powerful search light bolted to the front. He wasn’t sure if he was looking for the Siren or his brother’s boat. He couldn’t see either; he hoped the latter meant Dean was already being tended to.
The journey back seemed to take six times as long as he remembered, despite the fact he was now being rowed back by one of the strongest crew members. The missing edge of desperation and fear made all the difference.
Finally the boat reached the ship and Sam was ferried away into the infirmary, hooked up to an IV, tucked up under an electric blanket and on five minute obs. Apart from that, he was left alone with his thoughts.
He had nothing much to do apart from watch the brushed metal clocks tick away the seconds, minutes and hours. His shoulder was paining him like crazy and the muscle aches lead to tremors every time he tried to move. He knew better than to do anything to attract attention. When the nurse came in to do his obs, he could hear the distant noises of people tending to his brother.
It was a long time before Sam saw the door creak open again and this time instead of it being the usual nurse, it was Janey. She looked like herself again out of the layers though there was a red flush to her cheeks. Sam lurched up to a seated position, ignoring the stretching twinges of over-taxed muscles. “Dean?”
Janey walked over to sit down by Sam’s bedside, frowning down at him in a way that made Sam’s stomach clench. “Dean’s holding his own,” She reassured him. “If it weren’t for your unique situation, I would arrange for him to be airlifted to hospital. Fortunately we do have top of the range medical equipment to deal with hypothermia onboard and we’re doing everything we can for your brother.”
“Can I see him?”
Janey shook her head, “Not yet. You need to rest up and take care of yourself. Not to mention that Dean’s immune system is likely to be very weak at the moment from a combination of the hypothermia and the ongoing problems: we need to reduce all possible outside sources of infection.”
“When can I see him?”
“We’ve got him under heavy sedation at the moment to keep him from fighting the ventilator and to make sure he doesn’t do anything to hinder his own recovery. There’s another machine cycling and warming his blood. I would like to keep him under for at least a week and then we have to wait for him to come out of it.”
“Is that safe?”
“There are always risks to administering any drug but your brother showed no adverse effects the last time and he will be monitored very closely for any effects this time so the risks are minimal. Much smaller, in fact, than if we were take him off sedation and he tried to pull his IV out or anything else.”
That left Sam with the unenviable task of waiting, “Can I leave the infirmary yet?”
Janey snorted and shook her head, “Jerry always speaks highly of your daddy but how he managed to raise two boys without a lick of sense between them I don’t know.” Sam had briefly forgotten about Janey’s bedside manner or lack thereof. “No, you can’t leave. You came close to freezing to death on that rock.”
“But I didn’t,” Sam protested.
“Uh-huh. Given how much you and your brother have managed to get injured in the short amount of time that you’ve spent on this boat, I’m going to go ahead and assume you get injured fairly frequent. From that, I can assume you are well used to needing to recover. Surely you understand the concept of recovery?”
“Recovery is what you do in the car on the way to the next job,” Sam quipped.
“How are you boys not dead yet?” Janey said, half-awed and half-disgusted.
“We’re lucky.” Sam replied, refraining from adding, ‘And in one case, we have a father with a martyr complex.’
“Well, I’m a doctor and I don’t trust anything to luck. Don’t forget I still have a strong set of restraints and I’m half tempted to use them on you on principle just for letting your brother out of his.” Janey paused and frowned, “You know, I banned Jerry from this room to prevent anyone lecturing and disturbing you and now I’m about to do the same thing. I will promise you that the minute I think you are well enough we will be having words.”
---
After three days, Janey declared that Dean was out of the danger zone enough that she would risk Sam visiting and spreading nasty germs to his brother though she’d made it clear that it was only for an hour and if Sam even thought about complaining about that then he’d be banned altogether again. The moment Sam walked into the room, he wished that maybe she’d decided to wait a little longer. Dean looked like crap, like crap that had been ground underneath someone’s heel.
It was hard to find Dean beneath the machines. Sam would be ever grateful that he hadn’t seen Dean while the blood-warming machine was still attached. As it was, it was bad enough. There was a ventilator tube protruding from Dean’s cracked and dry lips, emitting a sibilant hiss that mirrored itself in the even rise and fall of Dean’s chest. A NG tube snaked up into his nose, providing the nutrition that Dean couldn’t provide for himself.
Other bags hung down below the bar of the bed but Sam didn’t really want to know about what they were for. He could guess the function of one of them from the yellow liquid it contained. Various wires and leads were attached to Dean and attached to the monitors around Dean’s bed; where they attached to Dean was mostly hidden beneath the electric blanket spread over his body.
Sam slumped down into the metal seat next to the bed, resting his hands on his thighs. He wanted to reach out and touch his brother, reassure himself that Dean really was there and this wasn’t some induced hallucination but Dean looked so fragile right now and that’s a word Sam never thought he’d have to apply to his brother.
In the end, Sam just rested a hand on top of the blankets over Dean’s arm, keeping the pressure as light as he could while still being present. “Hey Dean, it’s me.” Sam cursed himself, how pathetic could he sound? “Janey would only now let me in. Apparently she was worried I’d spread the lurgie to you. Wouldn’t be the first time. I used to bring every infection back from school that there was and I’d always be a nice little brother and share.”
“Of course, being a typical older brother, you always had to go one better.” Sam chuckled, “I got a bit of a stomach bug, you’d spend a week hugging the toilet puking every hour on the hour. I got a nasty cold, you got the bug that probably wiped out the dinosaurs. Even now you have to go one better on me, I get hypothermia and you have to go and get severe hypothermia. Just for once, couldn’t you have condescended to get the same illness as me?”
If Sam was honest with himself, he was hoping that any moment now Dean would flutter open his eyes and talk to Sam. He knew that the strong sedatives Janey had him hooked up to made that virtually impossible but Dean had never usually been one to let something as small as impossibility stand in his way.
“Yeah, didn’t think so.” He mumbled, lifting his hand away from his brother and settling it back on himself.
---
Four days after that, Janey began weaning Dean off the sedation. Three anxiety filled days after that, Dean woke up. Being Dean, he couldn’t do a nice normal wake-up like everyone else. Dean just had to wake up shrieking and gagging on his intubation tube and forcing Janey to sedate him all over again before he could do himself some serious damage.
Sam was fairly sure he was one step closer to a heart attack than he had been before Dean’s little awakening too.
The second time that Dean awoke was more peaceful. Janey had extubated Dean so he wasn’t choking on that at least. It began with a rather girly noise and then Dean immediately tried to curl onto his side, pulling at the numerous wires and leads that currently made him into a poor man’s Terminator.
Sam surged up from his half-doze in the chair to grip onto his brother’s arms, hoping the tight hold would reassure rather than threaten. “Dean, it’s me. Settle down.” Dean stilled almost immediately and his eyelids cracked open to reveal thin slits of green. “You are back in the infirmary.”
Dean tried to speak but his throat must have been too sore still from having the tube down as no words came out, just a pained croak. Sam saw Dean’s Adam ’s apple bob as he swallowed compulsively, trying to force some liquid down his parched throat. “’Gain?” He finally managed to force the word out.
“Yep. I think Janey just has a crush on you.” Sam jested half-heartedly, keeping his hold on Dean even though it wasn’t necessary anymore.
Dean was never one to let something like that pass as his eyes cracked open a little wider and he croaked out, “Arms.”
“Not letting go,” Sam informed his brother, even if he shifted his hold a little to make sure he didn’t jostle any of Dean’s existing injuries.
“Girl,” Dean muttered in response.
Sam couldn’t help the half-hysterical laugh that pushed past pursed lips as he felt the past week catch up with him, all his hastily erected mental defences dropping at this first sign that his brother really was okay.
By the look on Dean’s face, he didn’t get the joke and was also pondering the possibility that his brother had turned bat-shit insane.
“Just glad to see you awake is all,” Sam clarified before Dean tried to call the men in white coats in. Dean just rolled his eyes and gave Sam his ‘You are being a drama queen’ look. Sam shook his head, “You’ve been out a week and a half, Dean.”
Sam regretted the words as soon as Dean took them to mean he’d been in bed long enough and tried to stand up. Perhaps fortunately Dean’s strength was somewhat meagre so Sam was able to push him down with one hand firmly planted on his chest. Dean landed back on the pillows with a whuff and glared up at Sam with a comically offended expression.
“Sorry, Dean. You are on strict bed rest. Doctor’s orders.” When Dean opened his mouth to object, Sam just railroaded over him and kept talking, “If I were you, I’d play it up for its worth. Janey and Jerry are both saving up lectures for when we are well enough to hear them.” Dean’s face took on a panicked expression and Sam nodded, “I’m still considering the possibility of playing dead.”
“I heard that,” Janey said in a surprising sing-song voice behind him and Sam spun to find the diminutive doctor framed in the doorway. “Sounds like you are almost well enough. You, on the other hand.” Janey’s gaze swivelled to take in Dean and she strode over to the bedside, tutting over the tangling Dean had achieved in his mobility bid, “Don’t make me get out the restraints again.”
“Kinky,” Dean said though his usual salubrious grin was missing.
“Sorry, half-dead men just aren’t a kink of mine,” Janey retorted.
“Half-dead?” Sam queried, glancing over his brother’s pale form for anything else wrong that he could see.
“Sorry, bad word use,” Janey apologised. “Entirely alive but looking half-dead. Anyway, I didn’t just come in here to worry you. Jerry wants a quick word. He did mean just Sam but I guess if you are awake too then you can try to join in. How’s your throat?”
“It’s sore,” Sam answered for his brother.
“Hmm but the ventriloquist act is really coming along though.” Janey disappeared out of the room for a moment and returned with a small cup full of ice chips, “Here, suck on these. They’ll ease it.”
Dean awkwardly held the cup in his right hand, hindered by the cast and dipped the spoon into the ice, lifting it up to his mouth and then smiling in relief. “S’good,” He complimented as if Janey had brought a three course meal rather than a small cup of ice.
Janey reached out and patted Dean’s hair like he was an obedient puppy, “Compliments aren’t you getting out of the lecture that’s coming, boy.” Janey glanced towards the door, “Don’t worry, Jerry ain’t here for the lecture yet. Just need to figure a cover story. There’s a fair few folk found out about the impromptu rescue mission and rumours are running rife.”
“Bet Dan is at the forefront of them,” Sam said with a groan.
“Actually by the sounds of it, he’s been doing damage control,” Janey answered. “I think he is mighty suspicious about what is up though. You’ll owe him an explanation.”
“That’ll be fun,” Sam muttered though he could tell from the disapproving look in Janey’s face that she heard.
Sam was saved from any comments by Jerry finally entering the room and heading over to the cluster of people around Dean’s bed. “He show any sign of…” The bluff marine’s words trailed off as he noticed Dean sitting up, spoon of ice halfway to his mouth. “Hey there, sleeping ugly. Glad you decided to join us.”
Dean slurped a few more ice chips into his mouth.
Jerry shrugged and continued, “Anyway, we need to discuss some sort of cover story for the passengers. I figured you boys would like a say.”
“How nice of you,” Sam snarked, disliking the marine on principle for interrupting his first chance to talk properly to Dean in weeks. He felt something cold on the side of his head and raised his hand to find a damp spot. He glanced over to the direction it’d come from and saw his brother readying another ice chip missile. Sam scowled in response.
“Right.” Jerry looked a little perturbed by the brothers. He walked over and settled himself in a chair close to the bed. “I’ve had everyone keep quiet but the rumours are flying.”
“Tell ‘em,” Dean’s still weak voice croaked and he sucked down a couple more ice chips. “Tell ‘em we’re fraud investigators and we heard the island was being used a drop-off point for money.” Dean spooned more ice in, the quick working of his throat an indicator that he had more to say and was just trying to make himself well enough to say it, “Most of ‘em will be so busy panicking that they won’t question the cover story.”
“And how do I explain you getting rescued?” Jerry asked, nodding along with the story.
Sam jumped in here to save his brother’s throat, “We’re dumb fraud investigators. We forgot to tie up our boat. Then they’ll be too busy chuckling to investigate.” Dean nodded his approval of that.
“Fine. I’ll mention it to Dan and he’ll ‘let it slip’ at some point,” Jerry said, not making any move to leave the room. “So, how are you both feeling?”
Dean rubbed his throat, both as an excuse to get out of answering and a good part of his answer at the same time. Sam wished he could think up something similar or just any way to make Janey and Jerry go away so he could talk to his brother.
Sam was wondering if he had perhaps become a projecting telepath when Janey said, “No chit-chat. Dean needs plenty of rest.” However when Sam didn’t make a move, Janey huffed at him, “That means you too, Sam.”
“But I need to talk to Dean.”
“That’s probably true but I don’t think Dean needs to talk to you. Dean needs to rest.”
Next chapter
Author: Wysawyg
Summary: When a veteran marine friend of their father calls the boys for help when mysterious deaths start occurring on his fledgling cruise, it's not long before the boys end up in over their heads. Hurt!Dean and some Sammy!whumping for good measure.
Disclaimer: The Winchesters belong to Kripke and the CW. I am but a poor player who struts and frets her hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
Beta: Beta’d by the fabulous TraSan who correctly my hap-hazard tenses and took time out of her own writing to make this story better than it otherwise would have been.
Timeline: Mid-Season 2, after Sammy has found out The Big Secret.
Pairings: None, Gen.
Chapters: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 ]
When Sam awoke to quiet voices and a bright light in his face, his first thought was to try and work out when he’d been asleep. His stirring obviously caught some attention as he heard a voice near him call, “Jerry, Sam’s awake.”
A hand landed on his injured shoulder prompting a squeak of protest and the hand being hastily removed, “Sam, you damn fool. Open your eyes.”
Sam obediently opened his eyes up to narrow slits and peered blearily up at the figure above him. “Bobby?” His vision cleared a little, enough to realise it wasn’t the older hunter somehow teleported to a craggy island in the Atlantic. “Jerry,” he concluded.
“You don’t have to sound so disappointed,” Jerry stated. “You damn boys are gonna give me an ulcer.”
Panic flooded Sam and he squeaked out, “D-Dean?” His teeth chattered together as burgeoning consciousness made him aware of the fact he was very, very cold.
Jerry turned his head to address a parka-shrouded figure, “Janey?” The tiny figure wasn’t recognisable under all the layers, “How’s Dean doing?”
“We need to get him to the infirmary now.” Janey’s voice emerged from somewhere in the midst of the bundle, her clipped tone implying ‘now’ was actually ‘hours ago.’
Sam tried to move towards his brother but his body had apparently staged a revolt during his brief slumber and refused to move from where it’d settled. “Dean!” Sam cried plaintively, hoping for a response from his brother. Answer came there none.
“Don’t worry, Janey is taking good care of your brother.”
Jerry’s words came at odds with the litany of information Janey was reeling off, “Resps shallow, got a pulse but it’s weak. Everybody got a corner?”
Sam got a glimpse of Dean’s clammy face as his unconscious brother was carried out past him. “S-Siren.” He stuttered in panic.
“You didn’t get it?” Jerry looked horrified and Sam saw his eyes track the progression of people to where the rescue boats were moored.
“Got it.” Sam reassured the man, “Just not dead yet. Takes a while.”
“Well, we didn’t see it on the way out and your brother can’t really wait so we’ll just have to take the risk,” Jerry stated matter-of-factly. “Nor can you for that matter, stupid bull-headed boys.” Jerry seemed like he was gearing up for a rant. “Next time you pull this shit, I want to know exactly where you are going and why. ‘Might be doing something tonight,’ is not enough.”
Before Sam had a chance to defend himself, there was the sound of returning footsteps and a stranger’s voice, “Jerry, we got Dean loaded up and Janey is headed back with him now. Second boat is ready for Sam.” Sam started a little at the unfamiliar use of his name.
“Give me a hand.” Jerry prompted and Sam felt arms beneath his knees and across his back, lifting him between the two men. The chill of the night air hit his cheek like a resounding slap and he felt his shivering intensify. “Steady, Sam,” He heard Jerry say. “We’ll get you into the warm soon.”
It wasn’t too long before Sam was settled on the base of the small wooden boat, hastily transformed into a human blanket pile. He couldn’t rest, his eyes scanning the sea lit up by the powerful search light bolted to the front. He wasn’t sure if he was looking for the Siren or his brother’s boat. He couldn’t see either; he hoped the latter meant Dean was already being tended to.
The journey back seemed to take six times as long as he remembered, despite the fact he was now being rowed back by one of the strongest crew members. The missing edge of desperation and fear made all the difference.
Finally the boat reached the ship and Sam was ferried away into the infirmary, hooked up to an IV, tucked up under an electric blanket and on five minute obs. Apart from that, he was left alone with his thoughts.
He had nothing much to do apart from watch the brushed metal clocks tick away the seconds, minutes and hours. His shoulder was paining him like crazy and the muscle aches lead to tremors every time he tried to move. He knew better than to do anything to attract attention. When the nurse came in to do his obs, he could hear the distant noises of people tending to his brother.
It was a long time before Sam saw the door creak open again and this time instead of it being the usual nurse, it was Janey. She looked like herself again out of the layers though there was a red flush to her cheeks. Sam lurched up to a seated position, ignoring the stretching twinges of over-taxed muscles. “Dean?”
Janey walked over to sit down by Sam’s bedside, frowning down at him in a way that made Sam’s stomach clench. “Dean’s holding his own,” She reassured him. “If it weren’t for your unique situation, I would arrange for him to be airlifted to hospital. Fortunately we do have top of the range medical equipment to deal with hypothermia onboard and we’re doing everything we can for your brother.”
“Can I see him?”
Janey shook her head, “Not yet. You need to rest up and take care of yourself. Not to mention that Dean’s immune system is likely to be very weak at the moment from a combination of the hypothermia and the ongoing problems: we need to reduce all possible outside sources of infection.”
“When can I see him?”
“We’ve got him under heavy sedation at the moment to keep him from fighting the ventilator and to make sure he doesn’t do anything to hinder his own recovery. There’s another machine cycling and warming his blood. I would like to keep him under for at least a week and then we have to wait for him to come out of it.”
“Is that safe?”
“There are always risks to administering any drug but your brother showed no adverse effects the last time and he will be monitored very closely for any effects this time so the risks are minimal. Much smaller, in fact, than if we were take him off sedation and he tried to pull his IV out or anything else.”
That left Sam with the unenviable task of waiting, “Can I leave the infirmary yet?”
Janey snorted and shook her head, “Jerry always speaks highly of your daddy but how he managed to raise two boys without a lick of sense between them I don’t know.” Sam had briefly forgotten about Janey’s bedside manner or lack thereof. “No, you can’t leave. You came close to freezing to death on that rock.”
“But I didn’t,” Sam protested.
“Uh-huh. Given how much you and your brother have managed to get injured in the short amount of time that you’ve spent on this boat, I’m going to go ahead and assume you get injured fairly frequent. From that, I can assume you are well used to needing to recover. Surely you understand the concept of recovery?”
“Recovery is what you do in the car on the way to the next job,” Sam quipped.
“How are you boys not dead yet?” Janey said, half-awed and half-disgusted.
“We’re lucky.” Sam replied, refraining from adding, ‘And in one case, we have a father with a martyr complex.’
“Well, I’m a doctor and I don’t trust anything to luck. Don’t forget I still have a strong set of restraints and I’m half tempted to use them on you on principle just for letting your brother out of his.” Janey paused and frowned, “You know, I banned Jerry from this room to prevent anyone lecturing and disturbing you and now I’m about to do the same thing. I will promise you that the minute I think you are well enough we will be having words.”
---
After three days, Janey declared that Dean was out of the danger zone enough that she would risk Sam visiting and spreading nasty germs to his brother though she’d made it clear that it was only for an hour and if Sam even thought about complaining about that then he’d be banned altogether again. The moment Sam walked into the room, he wished that maybe she’d decided to wait a little longer. Dean looked like crap, like crap that had been ground underneath someone’s heel.
It was hard to find Dean beneath the machines. Sam would be ever grateful that he hadn’t seen Dean while the blood-warming machine was still attached. As it was, it was bad enough. There was a ventilator tube protruding from Dean’s cracked and dry lips, emitting a sibilant hiss that mirrored itself in the even rise and fall of Dean’s chest. A NG tube snaked up into his nose, providing the nutrition that Dean couldn’t provide for himself.
Other bags hung down below the bar of the bed but Sam didn’t really want to know about what they were for. He could guess the function of one of them from the yellow liquid it contained. Various wires and leads were attached to Dean and attached to the monitors around Dean’s bed; where they attached to Dean was mostly hidden beneath the electric blanket spread over his body.
Sam slumped down into the metal seat next to the bed, resting his hands on his thighs. He wanted to reach out and touch his brother, reassure himself that Dean really was there and this wasn’t some induced hallucination but Dean looked so fragile right now and that’s a word Sam never thought he’d have to apply to his brother.
In the end, Sam just rested a hand on top of the blankets over Dean’s arm, keeping the pressure as light as he could while still being present. “Hey Dean, it’s me.” Sam cursed himself, how pathetic could he sound? “Janey would only now let me in. Apparently she was worried I’d spread the lurgie to you. Wouldn’t be the first time. I used to bring every infection back from school that there was and I’d always be a nice little brother and share.”
“Of course, being a typical older brother, you always had to go one better.” Sam chuckled, “I got a bit of a stomach bug, you’d spend a week hugging the toilet puking every hour on the hour. I got a nasty cold, you got the bug that probably wiped out the dinosaurs. Even now you have to go one better on me, I get hypothermia and you have to go and get severe hypothermia. Just for once, couldn’t you have condescended to get the same illness as me?”
If Sam was honest with himself, he was hoping that any moment now Dean would flutter open his eyes and talk to Sam. He knew that the strong sedatives Janey had him hooked up to made that virtually impossible but Dean had never usually been one to let something as small as impossibility stand in his way.
“Yeah, didn’t think so.” He mumbled, lifting his hand away from his brother and settling it back on himself.
---
Four days after that, Janey began weaning Dean off the sedation. Three anxiety filled days after that, Dean woke up. Being Dean, he couldn’t do a nice normal wake-up like everyone else. Dean just had to wake up shrieking and gagging on his intubation tube and forcing Janey to sedate him all over again before he could do himself some serious damage.
Sam was fairly sure he was one step closer to a heart attack than he had been before Dean’s little awakening too.
The second time that Dean awoke was more peaceful. Janey had extubated Dean so he wasn’t choking on that at least. It began with a rather girly noise and then Dean immediately tried to curl onto his side, pulling at the numerous wires and leads that currently made him into a poor man’s Terminator.
Sam surged up from his half-doze in the chair to grip onto his brother’s arms, hoping the tight hold would reassure rather than threaten. “Dean, it’s me. Settle down.” Dean stilled almost immediately and his eyelids cracked open to reveal thin slits of green. “You are back in the infirmary.”
Dean tried to speak but his throat must have been too sore still from having the tube down as no words came out, just a pained croak. Sam saw Dean’s Adam ’s apple bob as he swallowed compulsively, trying to force some liquid down his parched throat. “’Gain?” He finally managed to force the word out.
“Yep. I think Janey just has a crush on you.” Sam jested half-heartedly, keeping his hold on Dean even though it wasn’t necessary anymore.
Dean was never one to let something like that pass as his eyes cracked open a little wider and he croaked out, “Arms.”
“Not letting go,” Sam informed his brother, even if he shifted his hold a little to make sure he didn’t jostle any of Dean’s existing injuries.
“Girl,” Dean muttered in response.
Sam couldn’t help the half-hysterical laugh that pushed past pursed lips as he felt the past week catch up with him, all his hastily erected mental defences dropping at this first sign that his brother really was okay.
By the look on Dean’s face, he didn’t get the joke and was also pondering the possibility that his brother had turned bat-shit insane.
“Just glad to see you awake is all,” Sam clarified before Dean tried to call the men in white coats in. Dean just rolled his eyes and gave Sam his ‘You are being a drama queen’ look. Sam shook his head, “You’ve been out a week and a half, Dean.”
Sam regretted the words as soon as Dean took them to mean he’d been in bed long enough and tried to stand up. Perhaps fortunately Dean’s strength was somewhat meagre so Sam was able to push him down with one hand firmly planted on his chest. Dean landed back on the pillows with a whuff and glared up at Sam with a comically offended expression.
“Sorry, Dean. You are on strict bed rest. Doctor’s orders.” When Dean opened his mouth to object, Sam just railroaded over him and kept talking, “If I were you, I’d play it up for its worth. Janey and Jerry are both saving up lectures for when we are well enough to hear them.” Dean’s face took on a panicked expression and Sam nodded, “I’m still considering the possibility of playing dead.”
“I heard that,” Janey said in a surprising sing-song voice behind him and Sam spun to find the diminutive doctor framed in the doorway. “Sounds like you are almost well enough. You, on the other hand.” Janey’s gaze swivelled to take in Dean and she strode over to the bedside, tutting over the tangling Dean had achieved in his mobility bid, “Don’t make me get out the restraints again.”
“Kinky,” Dean said though his usual salubrious grin was missing.
“Sorry, half-dead men just aren’t a kink of mine,” Janey retorted.
“Half-dead?” Sam queried, glancing over his brother’s pale form for anything else wrong that he could see.
“Sorry, bad word use,” Janey apologised. “Entirely alive but looking half-dead. Anyway, I didn’t just come in here to worry you. Jerry wants a quick word. He did mean just Sam but I guess if you are awake too then you can try to join in. How’s your throat?”
“It’s sore,” Sam answered for his brother.
“Hmm but the ventriloquist act is really coming along though.” Janey disappeared out of the room for a moment and returned with a small cup full of ice chips, “Here, suck on these. They’ll ease it.”
Dean awkwardly held the cup in his right hand, hindered by the cast and dipped the spoon into the ice, lifting it up to his mouth and then smiling in relief. “S’good,” He complimented as if Janey had brought a three course meal rather than a small cup of ice.
Janey reached out and patted Dean’s hair like he was an obedient puppy, “Compliments aren’t you getting out of the lecture that’s coming, boy.” Janey glanced towards the door, “Don’t worry, Jerry ain’t here for the lecture yet. Just need to figure a cover story. There’s a fair few folk found out about the impromptu rescue mission and rumours are running rife.”
“Bet Dan is at the forefront of them,” Sam said with a groan.
“Actually by the sounds of it, he’s been doing damage control,” Janey answered. “I think he is mighty suspicious about what is up though. You’ll owe him an explanation.”
“That’ll be fun,” Sam muttered though he could tell from the disapproving look in Janey’s face that she heard.
Sam was saved from any comments by Jerry finally entering the room and heading over to the cluster of people around Dean’s bed. “He show any sign of…” The bluff marine’s words trailed off as he noticed Dean sitting up, spoon of ice halfway to his mouth. “Hey there, sleeping ugly. Glad you decided to join us.”
Dean slurped a few more ice chips into his mouth.
Jerry shrugged and continued, “Anyway, we need to discuss some sort of cover story for the passengers. I figured you boys would like a say.”
“How nice of you,” Sam snarked, disliking the marine on principle for interrupting his first chance to talk properly to Dean in weeks. He felt something cold on the side of his head and raised his hand to find a damp spot. He glanced over to the direction it’d come from and saw his brother readying another ice chip missile. Sam scowled in response.
“Right.” Jerry looked a little perturbed by the brothers. He walked over and settled himself in a chair close to the bed. “I’ve had everyone keep quiet but the rumours are flying.”
“Tell ‘em,” Dean’s still weak voice croaked and he sucked down a couple more ice chips. “Tell ‘em we’re fraud investigators and we heard the island was being used a drop-off point for money.” Dean spooned more ice in, the quick working of his throat an indicator that he had more to say and was just trying to make himself well enough to say it, “Most of ‘em will be so busy panicking that they won’t question the cover story.”
“And how do I explain you getting rescued?” Jerry asked, nodding along with the story.
Sam jumped in here to save his brother’s throat, “We’re dumb fraud investigators. We forgot to tie up our boat. Then they’ll be too busy chuckling to investigate.” Dean nodded his approval of that.
“Fine. I’ll mention it to Dan and he’ll ‘let it slip’ at some point,” Jerry said, not making any move to leave the room. “So, how are you both feeling?”
Dean rubbed his throat, both as an excuse to get out of answering and a good part of his answer at the same time. Sam wished he could think up something similar or just any way to make Janey and Jerry go away so he could talk to his brother.
Sam was wondering if he had perhaps become a projecting telepath when Janey said, “No chit-chat. Dean needs plenty of rest.” However when Sam didn’t make a move, Janey huffed at him, “That means you too, Sam.”
“But I need to talk to Dean.”
“That’s probably true but I don’t think Dean needs to talk to you. Dean needs to rest.”
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