Fic: I Got You (SPN)
Part of the Coda Series
I Got You
Dean was standing, holding the young and frail girl in his arms, muttering “I got you” over and over again. Sam saw his arms trembling and stepped in to help before he fell on his face and dropped her in the process.
“Dean.”
“I got you…”
“Dean, I got her.”
Dean’s breathing hitched and he finally looked away from her face up to his brother.
“I’ve got her. It’s okay,” Sam said.
Dean blinked and let her go.
“You okay?”
Dean swallowed and stumbled back a few steps, “Yeah, just… need’a sit down for a second.”
Sam held the girl in his arms as Dean sloppily slumped to the ground, licking his lips, looking pale and drawn.
“I’ll take her out to the car and come back for you.”
Dean just nodded.
Sam carried the girl out to the impala and lay her down in the backseat. He grabbed the two blankets from the trunk and lay one of them over her, throwing the other in the front seat. He closed the door and hurried back into the warehouse.
Dean was standing, leaning against the wall, legs shaking.
“Hey, take it easy,” Sam said, ducking under Dean’s shoulder and helping him up.
“She okay?” Dean mumbled, voice husky and dry.
Sam pursed his lips, “We’ll get her to a hospital.”
“Mm,” Dean moaned.
They made it back to the car and Dean closed his eyes, sagging a little, the very little energy keeping him going drained. He had nothing left in the tank.
“Come on. You’re alright,” Sam comforted, opening the passenger door.
Dean didn’t say anything.
Sam unfolded the thick woolen blanket and spread it over his brother.
Dean winced and craned his head to look at the girl in the backseat.
“We’ll get her help.”
Dean nodded.
…
Halfway to the nearest ED, Dean leaned forward, griping the dashboard, head lolling dangerously far down, chin to chest.
“Dean, hey!”
“Sammy,” his voice was feeble, wavering.
“Hang in there, man. We’re going to the hospital. I need you to keep it together until then,” Sam ordered firmly, feeling the most like his father he’d ever felt.
Sam spared a worried glance towards the passenger seat. Dean’s face and neck were white, not pale, white. Dean dropped the water bottle that was in his lap, the lid was off and the water spilled into the footwell. Dean didn’t make a move to pick it up, looking like he was barely clinging to consciousness as it was.
“Dean, hey. Listen to me. You’re going to be okay, the both of you. Just hang on.”
Dean slumped back in his seat breathing quickly, shallowly, through pale cracked lips.
Sam reached a hand across the gap between them and pressed his warm calloused fingers against Dean’s neck. His pulse was weak and thready, and way too fast, just like his breathing. In their line of work, and with the type of life they’d had, it was pretty easy for Sam to identify shock when he saw it.
Dean’s skin was cold and wet with sweat, steadily leaking from every pore.
“Dean, I need you to lie down for me. Put your head on my leg.”
“I might… throw up on you.”
“That’s okay, just lie down,” Sam grabbed his brother’s shoulder with one hand, keeping his eyes on the road and helped guide Dean down to his lap.
“Can you get your feet up on the dash? We need to elevate your legs.”
“Tired, Sam…”
“I know, but this is important. Do it, Dean.”
Dean grunted, huffing and puffing until he got one leg up and Sam considered that a small victory. They were still 15-20 minutes away from the hospital. Sam didn’t even know if the girl in the back was still breathing. He pumped the gas and tried to make it a 10 minute trip.
Dean shuddered against him, and Sam tried to rearrange the blanket to cover him more. He rubbed his palm up and down Dean’s arm, trying to create some warmth.
Eventually they pulled up at the hospital. Usually, something like this, they would have dumped the girl out the front of emergency and ran. They had no way to explain this. The girl was dehydrated, hypothermic, malnourished, and had lost a lot of blood. But Dean was all of those things too, just not so severely. And forcing a bottle of water on him and wrapping him in blankets was not going to fix this. Not this time.
“Hang on, man. I’ll be right back,” Sam gently lifted Dean’s head off his leg and placed it on the seat.
He opened the back seat and dragged the girl into his arms, glancing one last time at Dean before taking her through the emergency doors.
“Whoa, what happened here?”
“Help her, please.”
A gurney appeared and the girl was swept away quickly.
“My brother is outside too, he needs help.”
The nurse behind the desk called some people and they appeared, Sam breaking into a run to get back to the car, the nurses following behind him.
“Dean?” Sam crouched down in the driver’s side.
Dean was out cold.
“Crap, Dean… wake up.”
“Move, sir. We’ll get him.”
“Sir, move out of the way!”
…
Dean woke up to harsh hospital lights overhead. There was an oxygen mask on his face and a pulling sensation in the side of his neck.
“Dean?”
Dean opened his mouth and tried to speak but no sound came out, his mouth and throat dry.
“Hey, don’t try and talk, man. You’re alright.”
Dean wanted to cough but he didn’t have the energy to do even that. He wanted to ask where he was, what happened, where was the girl and was she okay.
“You’re in the hospital. You lost a lot of blood, and were severely dehydrated. You’ve got a transfusion running now so hopefully you’ll feel better soon. You warm enough?”
Dean pressed his eyes shut, trying to process everything his brother had said, and still wanting to ask so many things.
“Just go back to sleep, Dean. It’s okay.”
Dean couldn’t open his eyes again but he managed to rasp out, “The girl?”
He heard Sam sigh, “They transferred her to the ICU. She’s, uh… they’re working on it.”
Dean couldn’t respond before sleep claimed him again.
…
They let Dean check out the next day around midday when all his results came back okay. He was still a little pale, and not eating right. When he finally got up he was wobbly on his feet and the nurses tried to talk him into a wheelchair but he flat out refused. Either way Sam had decided they were going to stay in a motel in town for the next few days while Dean got his strength back. Even given the situation Dean was uncharacteristically quiet. Sam knew something had happened with the Djinn, something it had made Dean see or feel had really affected him.
Sam dropped into the driver’s seat and glanced over at his slightly feeble looking brother, “You alright?”
Dean cleared his throat, “Yeah, I’m good.”
Sam tapped his thumb against the steering wheel, “I’ll call the ICU tonight for an update on the girl.”
“Thanks,” Dean muttered.
“Dean… what did the Djinn make you see?”
Dean sighed, “I’m a little tired right now, Sammy. I’d just like to get to the motel and sleep for a few hours... I’ll tell ya later.”
Sam nodded, “Okay, yeah… Sure, man.”
Dean reached out a hand and slapped Sam’s thigh, “Thanks for coming through, Sammy. I don't know how much longer I could have -“
Sam cut him off, smiling, “Don’t mention it.”
End
I Got You
Dean was standing, holding the young and frail girl in his arms, muttering “I got you” over and over again. Sam saw his arms trembling and stepped in to help before he fell on his face and dropped her in the process.
“Dean.”
“I got you…”
“Dean, I got her.”
Dean’s breathing hitched and he finally looked away from her face up to his brother.
“I’ve got her. It’s okay,” Sam said.
Dean blinked and let her go.
“You okay?”
Dean swallowed and stumbled back a few steps, “Yeah, just… need’a sit down for a second.”
Sam held the girl in his arms as Dean sloppily slumped to the ground, licking his lips, looking pale and drawn.
“I’ll take her out to the car and come back for you.”
Dean just nodded.
Sam carried the girl out to the impala and lay her down in the backseat. He grabbed the two blankets from the trunk and lay one of them over her, throwing the other in the front seat. He closed the door and hurried back into the warehouse.
Dean was standing, leaning against the wall, legs shaking.
“Hey, take it easy,” Sam said, ducking under Dean’s shoulder and helping him up.
“She okay?” Dean mumbled, voice husky and dry.
Sam pursed his lips, “We’ll get her to a hospital.”
“Mm,” Dean moaned.
They made it back to the car and Dean closed his eyes, sagging a little, the very little energy keeping him going drained. He had nothing left in the tank.
“Come on. You’re alright,” Sam comforted, opening the passenger door.
Dean didn’t say anything.
Sam unfolded the thick woolen blanket and spread it over his brother.
Dean winced and craned his head to look at the girl in the backseat.
“We’ll get her help.”
Dean nodded.
…
Halfway to the nearest ED, Dean leaned forward, griping the dashboard, head lolling dangerously far down, chin to chest.
“Dean, hey!”
“Sammy,” his voice was feeble, wavering.
“Hang in there, man. We’re going to the hospital. I need you to keep it together until then,” Sam ordered firmly, feeling the most like his father he’d ever felt.
Sam spared a worried glance towards the passenger seat. Dean’s face and neck were white, not pale, white. Dean dropped the water bottle that was in his lap, the lid was off and the water spilled into the footwell. Dean didn’t make a move to pick it up, looking like he was barely clinging to consciousness as it was.
“Dean, hey. Listen to me. You’re going to be okay, the both of you. Just hang on.”
Dean slumped back in his seat breathing quickly, shallowly, through pale cracked lips.
Sam reached a hand across the gap between them and pressed his warm calloused fingers against Dean’s neck. His pulse was weak and thready, and way too fast, just like his breathing. In their line of work, and with the type of life they’d had, it was pretty easy for Sam to identify shock when he saw it.
Dean’s skin was cold and wet with sweat, steadily leaking from every pore.
“Dean, I need you to lie down for me. Put your head on my leg.”
“I might… throw up on you.”
“That’s okay, just lie down,” Sam grabbed his brother’s shoulder with one hand, keeping his eyes on the road and helped guide Dean down to his lap.
“Can you get your feet up on the dash? We need to elevate your legs.”
“Tired, Sam…”
“I know, but this is important. Do it, Dean.”
Dean grunted, huffing and puffing until he got one leg up and Sam considered that a small victory. They were still 15-20 minutes away from the hospital. Sam didn’t even know if the girl in the back was still breathing. He pumped the gas and tried to make it a 10 minute trip.
Dean shuddered against him, and Sam tried to rearrange the blanket to cover him more. He rubbed his palm up and down Dean’s arm, trying to create some warmth.
Eventually they pulled up at the hospital. Usually, something like this, they would have dumped the girl out the front of emergency and ran. They had no way to explain this. The girl was dehydrated, hypothermic, malnourished, and had lost a lot of blood. But Dean was all of those things too, just not so severely. And forcing a bottle of water on him and wrapping him in blankets was not going to fix this. Not this time.
“Hang on, man. I’ll be right back,” Sam gently lifted Dean’s head off his leg and placed it on the seat.
He opened the back seat and dragged the girl into his arms, glancing one last time at Dean before taking her through the emergency doors.
“Whoa, what happened here?”
“Help her, please.”
A gurney appeared and the girl was swept away quickly.
“My brother is outside too, he needs help.”
The nurse behind the desk called some people and they appeared, Sam breaking into a run to get back to the car, the nurses following behind him.
“Dean?” Sam crouched down in the driver’s side.
Dean was out cold.
“Crap, Dean… wake up.”
“Move, sir. We’ll get him.”
“Sir, move out of the way!”
…
Dean woke up to harsh hospital lights overhead. There was an oxygen mask on his face and a pulling sensation in the side of his neck.
“Dean?”
Dean opened his mouth and tried to speak but no sound came out, his mouth and throat dry.
“Hey, don’t try and talk, man. You’re alright.”
Dean wanted to cough but he didn’t have the energy to do even that. He wanted to ask where he was, what happened, where was the girl and was she okay.
“You’re in the hospital. You lost a lot of blood, and were severely dehydrated. You’ve got a transfusion running now so hopefully you’ll feel better soon. You warm enough?”
Dean pressed his eyes shut, trying to process everything his brother had said, and still wanting to ask so many things.
“Just go back to sleep, Dean. It’s okay.”
Dean couldn’t open his eyes again but he managed to rasp out, “The girl?”
He heard Sam sigh, “They transferred her to the ICU. She’s, uh… they’re working on it.”
Dean couldn’t respond before sleep claimed him again.
…
They let Dean check out the next day around midday when all his results came back okay. He was still a little pale, and not eating right. When he finally got up he was wobbly on his feet and the nurses tried to talk him into a wheelchair but he flat out refused. Either way Sam had decided they were going to stay in a motel in town for the next few days while Dean got his strength back. Even given the situation Dean was uncharacteristically quiet. Sam knew something had happened with the Djinn, something it had made Dean see or feel had really affected him.
Sam dropped into the driver’s seat and glanced over at his slightly feeble looking brother, “You alright?”
Dean cleared his throat, “Yeah, I’m good.”
Sam tapped his thumb against the steering wheel, “I’ll call the ICU tonight for an update on the girl.”
“Thanks,” Dean muttered.
“Dean… what did the Djinn make you see?”
Dean sighed, “I’m a little tired right now, Sammy. I’d just like to get to the motel and sleep for a few hours... I’ll tell ya later.”
Sam nodded, “Okay, yeah… Sure, man.”
Dean reached out a hand and slapped Sam’s thigh, “Thanks for coming through, Sammy. I don't know how much longer I could have -“
Sam cut him off, smiling, “Don’t mention it.”
End