The World You Thought You Live In 11/12
Chapter 11
Infection stroke the next day. Dean was out of it most of the time while the IV dribbled antibiotics and much needed fluids into his body. From time to time his eyelids flattered like he was about to wake up only to fall back into unconsciousness seconds later. Every time Sam was there, pleading for his big brother to open his eyes.
Dr Snyder had a worried look on his face but constantly repeated that Dean was fighter. He was still an arrogant bastard but now he hid it behind a mask of professionalism. Maybe by returning showered and in decent clothes - and with an insurance card for Dean - Sam and Victor had managed to step up from alcoholic hobos. That and the fact that they didn't go postal.
"Sam." Victor said in a low voice like he did every few hours. "You need to eat something." And maybe a good night's sleep but Victor never said that.
Sam turned his bloodshot eyes from his brother and looked at Victor. Sometimes, like now, he seemed to completely forget that Victor was in the room with him. What that told Victor about the brothers sent a sharp bolt of pain right through his heart. Sam didn't expect somebody to be with him in this situation. He was used to deal with this shit alone.
On the other hand he trusted Victor enough to forget he was in the room which made Victor proud in a twisted kind of way.
"You have to eat." Victor repeated when Sam didn't answer. "Get out half an hour. I'll keep watch."
Like the other times Sam pulled himself visibly together and stood up. "I'll be back in a few."
While the nice nurse - Amy, a motherly woman in her mid-fifties, who had fallen for Sam's puppy eyes - supplied them with plenty of coffee, they where not allowed to eat in here. So Victor kicked Sam out on a regular basis to stretch his legs and get something into his stomach.
Of course Dean chose one of those moments to wake up.
"S'm?" Unfocussed eyes were searching for a familiar face.
"He'll be back in a minute." Victor placed himself in Dean's line of sight. "How do you feel?"
Dean blinked a few times a puzzled look on his face. "Vic." He finally recognized him. With his dry tongue he licked his even dryer lips. "Sam?"
"Back in a few." Carefully he placed a cup of lukewarm water on Dean's lips who swallowed two sips before he lay back with a cough. "They fixed the internal damage but you lost a lot of blood. And to top that you got an infection."
"Never doing something halfway." He tried a smile. His eyes closed and Victor thought he had gone back to sleep. But then he spoke again. "What's my name?" The words were a scarcely audible mumble however it was enough to make Victor's heart skip a beat.
Shit, what was this? Amnesia? What should he say? Dammit, why had Dean to chose to wake up when Sam wasn't there?
A chuckle stopped his train of thought. "Relax." Dean had his eyes open again and he was clearly amused. "I know my name but that's not the name Sam used to check me in."
"Oh." Victor let out a sigh of relief. "Cooper. Dean Cooper."
"Good to know." He tried to reach for the cup of water by himself but he could barley lift his hand. Without fuss Victor hold the cup for him.
"By the way." He whipped some water from Dean's chin who made a face but let him. "Sam made me family. According to him I'm married with your sister Karen." This time the chuckle turned into a real laugh which soon became a painful groan. Dean leaned back into his pillow even paler than moments ago.
"As if I would let you go out with my sister." His voice was sleepy and when his eyes fell close they stayed closed.
When Sam returned ten minutes later Dean was fast asleep.
"Did I miss something?" Sam took his seat next to Dean's bed, his hand immediately reaching for Dean's. He stayed like this for hours, caressing the back of Dean's hand with his thumb which Victor assumed Sam didn't even recognize he did. Good thing Dean was out of it, Sam could never hope to live that one down.
"He woke up for a few minutes." Victor didn't need to see Sam's face which was focused once again on Dean to know he was disappointed. Sam had spend most of the last two days next to his brother just to be there when he finally woke up. And then he missed it.
"Was he coherent?"
"Yes. Drank some water and joked he wouldn't let me go out with your made up sister." As an afterthought he added: "He knows he is Cooper around here, too."
"Good."
Later when Dr Snyder checked Dean's results he had an actual smile on his face.
"Looks like we got the infection under control, Mr Cooper." He kept his attention on the clipboard in his hands but he referred to Sam as a Mister which was kind of an improvement. "I want to see how he is doing over night but I think we can transfer him to a normal room tomorrow." He nodded to himself and left the room without another word.
"He's still a dick." Victor could only shake his head. But apparently the doctor knew what he was doing. Or so Victor hoped.
"Somebody need a coffee?" The door had barley closed behind the doctor when Amy came in two cups of steaming coffee in hand.
"You are an angel." Sam took a cup and leaned back in his chair a huge smile with dimples and everything on his face. Amy giggled like a schoolgirl and tried to hide her blush by fiddling with the IV. "The fever went down and the signs of infection in his blood are getting down, too." She took flight into business talk. "If there are no complications Dean will be on his feet again in no time." She patted Sam's shoulder before she left.
"My little brother the cougar bait. What did I do wrong?"
"Dean." The word was a rough whisper which had nothing to do with Sam's still abused throat. At this point Victor decided it was time for him to leave the room and give the brothers some privacy. Sipping his coffee he strolled down the corridor not sure where to go. Still limping he had no intention to go for a walk. So he sat down in a small waiting area with his coffee.
"They are really close, aren't they?" Amy joined him. Visiting hours were over so the station was quiet. Thanks to Sam's puppy dog eyes they were allowed to stay.
"Yes, they are." Co-dependent was the term in the FBI files. Dominant aggressive for Dean and submissive devote for Sam. Co-dependent? Yes, Victor could see that. But honestly, they had only themselves who else should they depend on? It was their way to survive. And the rest was bullshit. After a few days with the Winchesters he had given up to figure out the depth of their relationship. On the first glance Dean was clearly the dominant partner, on the second it was Sam - Dean could never say no to his little brother - and on the third it all got mixed up.
They chatted for a little while till Amy had to return to work with the promise to check on Dean later.
When Victor returned into the room both Winchesters were asleep, Sam's head in the crock of his elbow right next to Dean's shoulder. Some color had returned to Dean's face and this time not from the fever.
The next day Dean got a normal room, healing should only be a matter of time. Dr Snyder checked his vitals and wasn't seen for the rest of the day. Victor took that as a good sign. In the evening Victor tried to convince Sam to come with him back to the motel to sleep in a real bed for a change.
"Dude, I'm fine here." Dean was on Victor's side in this matter. "Besides you really need a shower and a shave. You look like Grizzly Adams."
"It can't be that bad." Sam ran a hand over his face. "Otherwise Doc Snyder would have thrown me out days ago."
"I'm fine, Sam. Get some sleep."
They returned first thing in the morning. Sam looked well rested and Victor even managed to force some kind of breakfast into him that was more than a coffee. That he ate it out of a paper bag in Dean's room Victor could life with.
The fact that Dean slept through the rustling and the smell of real food was a sure sign that Dean was far from being on top of his game. While they waited for Dean to wake up, Sam buried his nose in the book he found in Libbey's house.
"Now I know I'll live." Dean suddenly broke the silence. "A book is more interesting than the injured brother."
"How are you?" Sam closed the book but marked the page with his finger. It was the page with the ritual Libbey had used, Victor was pretty sure.
"I would feel better with a cup of that." Dean nodded hopefully toward Sam's coffee.
"Not without the doctor's permission."
Dean actually pouted and he came close to that puppy dog eyes of Sam. But close wasn't enough. So he turned toward Victor.
"Don't look at me like that." Victor hold his hands up in mock surrender. Dean mumbled something under his breath which Victor didn't try to understand.
"So what's with the book? We got rid of Donny, right?" Dean asked and snacked some of Sam's leftovers.
"Yeah." Sam shifted uncomfortable on his chair. The was a big but hanging in the air.
"But?" Dean asked when Sam didn't continue.
"On our way out of the house, after we burned her remains." He finally said. "I saw Scully."
back to Masterpost
continue to chapter 12