Ancient Words - Ch.1 "Unknown Dangers"
Title/Chapter: Ancient Words - Ch. 1 "Unknown Dangers"
Author: Supernatural Mommy
Characters: Sam, Dean, OFC, OMC (child), OMC ; no pairings
Spoilers: None really, unless you've not seen Season one, to Nightmare
Warnings: PG-13 now but overall R: Language, violence (including non-con acts depicted with OC's and torture) hurt/comfort, religious references (seriously, this story uses lots of religious references, so if that bothers you, please don't read) I will try to label each chapter appropriately
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em *pity*, but new characters are my own creation.
Summary: The threat to Sam and Bobby becomes real.
Author's Notes: Follows directly on the heels of Look Into His Eyes. Now everyone is trying to deal with the aftermath of thier fight with a demon. But in the process of dealing, a new evil threatens them all. Please read through my author's notes Here (from first chapter) and Here (Chapter listing and summary with some minor plot spoilers) if you need more information, explanations, etc.
Chapter 1 - "Unknown Dangers"
Annie rubbed her eyes tiredly and eased away from her brother’s hospital bed.
Bobby was finally moved into a private room early in the morning, following their visit with the Winchesters. She was still in a bit of awe over what her brother had done there.
She shook her head. Who knew that her brother had that much power? She looked at the small huddled form asleep on the bed and decided it wasn’t power so much as blind faith, and innocence.
His prayers were special. Not just because of the ancient words he used, but because of how he wove the words together. She had known he was exceptionally gifted. But the proof of his true potential still overwhelmed her.
She laughed silently.
Who would have ever guessed it possible? She glanced back at the small slip of boy. He couldn’t even speak very well generally, but had perfect Latin pronunciation. At seven years old, he had memorized more of the Bible than most pastors - in at least two languages, no less.
Since their parents’ deaths just over three weeks ago, he had been a shell of his former self. He used to be a happy, easy to love child. He loved to learn about things. But overnight, with his parents gone, the little boy had turned inward. He used more self-soothing behavior than ever before: rocking, tearing things, covering his ears, and patting his leg. Of more of a concern, however, was how easily he seemed to melt down. He would lose control and at times even start hitting himself.
She knew it was a coping mechanism. Because of the autism, he felt things differently and reacted to stress in the only way he knew how: he retreated into his own little world.
Surprisingly, his kidnapping hadn’t pushed him further away. Instead, in the brief time she’d had with him, he spoke more and allowed her physically closer to him than ever before. He had obviously gotten close to Sam. She grinned to herself. The tall, skinny guy in the next room had really connected with her brother.
She was grateful to Sam, more than she could ever say. She knew Sam had done everything he could to keep her brother calm and safe. The only reason Sam was even taken along with her brother was because he had tried to stop Mr. Larkin from kidnapping Bobby.
She hadn’t been surprised last night when her brother had wanted to see Sam. She had even been secretly pleased he tried to manipulate the situation, bartering with the doctor to get his way. It was more interest than he had shown in several weeks towards anyone or anything outside his own little world.
She looked over at her brother again, looking so peaceful in sleep and felt thankful. Thanks for keeping him safe, Lord.
Her thoughts abruptly came to a stop at the guttural scream from next door.
"Sam!"
She frowned. That sounded like Dean. Throwing another look over her shoulder at her still sleeping brother, she left to go next door.
"Sammy, come on, man..." Annie stopped short at the raw emotion in the man's voice as she entered the room. She couldn't tell what had happened, but Sam looked . . . bad.
Two nurses were by the bed, trying to keep the tall man safe and checking vital signs. Another stood by Dean, hand against his mid-section in a losing battle to keep the man back from his brother.
She watched as he shoved the woman's arm gently away and stalked over to the bed. He took his brother's left hand. It looked like his right arm was jerking and his head was trembling, almost jerking as well. Except his head seemed twisted at a weird angle.
A seizure. Oh no. She studied Dean. He was barely holding it together. His bottom lip was shaking slightly and a dazed look was on his face as he pleaded softly for his brother to be okay.
"He's been seizing for five minutes now, page the on-call and put a call into Dr. Hale. See what he wants us to do.” Seconds later, a calm voice over the intercom asked for assistance to room 214, stat, from all available attendings.
As the room started to fill with more nurses and two doctors came in to start barking orders, Annie walked over to Dean. He was still staring in shock at his brother. Sam’s face was turning gray, and his lips were turning blue.
Annie placed her hand gently on Dean’s shoulder.
“Dean, why don’t we stand back and let the doctors do their job?” He glanced up at her. She swallowed back the gasp at the lost look in his eyes, the tears that shimmered in his red-rimmed eyes. She turned to glare at a nurse who tried to push them aside.
“This is his brother here, have a little compassion.” At her tone, the nurse shifted her eyes and stepped to the side, reaching around them to check the numbers on the monitor behind them. Annie sighed, and turned back to face Dean.
“Come on, we’ll stay right over here until they’re able to help him. They’ll take care of him.” She pulled gently on his arm with both of hers. He moved sluggishly, haltingly away from his brother. She guided him to sit in the high-back chair in the corner of the room and stood next to him.
She knew he wasn’t the type to normally accept comfort. But she didn’t think he was used to seeing his brother this vulnerable. Seizures were scary. And it looked like Sam was going into a doozy. He had even stopped breathing. She closed her eyes. An empathetic tear rolled down her cheek.
Dear Lord, please protect and help heal Sam. Whatever is causing this seizure, I just pray that you would help it to stop. Give Dean strength and comfort his soul. I don’t think he can take anything hurting his brother. Please help him, God.
She opened her eyes to see the terrifying scene in front of her unchanged. Her hand rested softly on Dean’s shoulder.
“Ten minutes in and no reaction to the Ativan.” A nurse reported. She sounded so¼professional.
“Push through the Diastat, let’s up the Ativan. Keep the compressions up. We’ll give him a couple more minutes, but then we’ll have to bag him.” The doctor was staring at the heart monitor. It was still beeping, but slowly.
A nurse to the side continued CPR as another inserted a needle into the IV line. Then another. A third nurse watched the clock intently, keeping track of their deadline.
And then it came: A deep, shuddering breath. A cough.
“OK, he’s breathing again.” The doctor put a stethoscope to Sam’s chest, checking something with a frown on his face. “He might have aspirated some mucus. Ginny, suck his throat out, he’ll choke on this crap. His breath sounds are irregular on the right side. We’ll have to take him for an X-ray later, check his lungs.”
The doctor looked at Sam's face, checking his pupils and finally took his pulse.
“He’s only partially responsive. Push another 5 ml’s of Ativan.”
Dean was shaking slightly. Annie couldn’t blame him, she would be doing more than shaking if anything like this happened to her brother. As it was, she was just glad he was asleep next door. It would destroy him to see Sam this way.
“Fifteen minutes. Are we out of the woods yet?” The younger doctor glanced up at the nurse’s question and looked at his colleague, shaking his head.
“He’s not fully responsive, but he is breaking out of the seizure.” The younger doctor ran a hand through his hair.
“Pulse is coming down, Heart rate is returning to normal. Doctor¼” A nurse was reporting the monitor changes. She was getting the doctor’s attention because Sam’s eyes were fluttering open and he was trying to say something. His wide eyes took in all the people surrounding him.
“Dean?” He seemed suddenly scared, looking from nurse to nurse. “Where’s my brother? Dean!”
Dean jumped up and pushed his way through the nurses to stand at the bedside. He grabbed Sam’s hand and met his eyes.
“Hey little brother¼scared me for a minute there.” He studied his brother’s face. “How you feeling?”
“Wha’ happened?” Sam ignored Dean’s question and asked his own, looking confused at the entourage that had converged on his room.
“You had a seizure Sam. I need to ask you a couple questions, see if you can answer them.” Dean glared at the doctor for interrupting and tightened his hold on Sam’s hand. The doctor swallowed. “Do you remember anything about the seizure?”
Sam shook his head, still looking confused. Panicked slightly, his eyes found Dean again.
“Can you tell me your full name? Birth date?” Dean stared incredulously at the doctor and would have said something about the man’s idiocy, but Sam stopped him with a hand squeeze.
“Yeah, Sam¼Richards. And my birth date¼” He paused, and then his face brightened as he found the answer. “May 2, 1983.”
The doctor checked the information against the chart, but Dean’s squeeze told Sam he had the answers right. He leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes.
“ ‘M tired.” The doctor nodded his head, though Sam’s eyes stayed shut. The man met Dean’s eyes.
“We have to ask a couple questions if we can, to make sure that a person coming out of a seizure doesn’t have some temporary loss of functioning. We’re going to need to take him for a couple tests. I’m a little concerned that he might have aspirated.” He frowned at Sam.
“What does that mean¼why does it matter if he aspirated. And what’s the deal with the seizure? Why did it last so long? Why did he stop breathing? Is that going to happen again?” Dean paused to take a breath. “Is he going to have any other problems because of this?”
“When a person seizes, sometimes muscles stop working temporarily. And sometimes their brain forgets to tell the body to breath. When that happens a person can choke on their own mucus because it will get caught in their throat. If he aspirated, that means the mucus got sucked down into his lungs.” The doctor met Dean’s eyes.
“I’m not sure if he aspirated or got choked on the mucus that was in his throat. I just don’t want to take any chances. In his weakened condition he could catch pneumonia.” The doctor glanced again at Sam and looked at the monitors. By this time, the rest of the room had cleared except for Annie.
“As for the seizure itself, sometimes once the brain gets started in a seizure, it isn’t able to stop. It’s called status epilepticus and it can be life threatening¼” He paused, taking in Dean’s look of panic. “We were able to stop it before it caused any major problems for your brother. As for whether this will happen again? I don’t know. It’s a possibility because of the damage that hit to his head caused.”
“Now, he’s in the period after a seizure known as the ‘post-ictal’ state. The body is recovering from the trauma of having a seizure. After that one, he might be sleeping for quite a while. It’s normal.” He paused and seemed to study Dean. “We’re going to have to take him for the X-ray and I want to have another CT scan run for comparison. Since he’s asleep we’ll try and push him ahead of everyone else and get them done quickly. You are going to need to remain here.”
Dean shook his head but before he could say anything, the doctor spoke.
“You can’t do anything for him and he’s out. He won’t know you aren’t there. And by the looks of things, you could use a few minutes to grab a coffee or at least take a breather.” In atypical Dean fashion, he slumped his shoulders and nodded.
As the doctor left the room, Annie came over to stand beside Dean.
“You okay, Dean?” She pulled her hand back from him, afraid to actually touch him at this point. He looked like he could break.
“Yeah, yeah... I’m fine. Just worried about Sammy.” He squared his shoulders and looked at her, daring her to say different.
“Why don’t you come next door after you grab a coffee. You can stay in there with Bobby and I until they bring him back.” And you won’t have to be alone. She added silently. He looked at her considering. “In fact, could I give you a dollar and maybe you could grab me a coffee too.”
She actually was exhausted and she couldn’t take time to rest now. Andy had left to join the morning church services and she didn’t want to take a chance on Bobby awakening without her aware of it.
He nodded.
“Don’t worry about the coffee, I’ll get it. You look about ready to drop.” He considered her. “You rested at all?”
“Have you?” She countered.
“Yeah, fine, I get your point. No lectures from the hypocrite.” He grinned slightly and looked almost like the self-assured man she knew.
“Meet you back in your room in a few.” With that he walked out the door, holding it open for her to pass through. They went separate directions and she watched him out of the corner of her eye. She admired the man. She shook her head and went towards her room, smiling as she took in the sight of her brother dwarfed in the middle of white sheets and pillows.
*****************************************************
Dean walked back down the hallway from the family lounge, holding two Styrofoam cups full of hot coffee. He didn’t know if Annie needed anything in hers so he had grabbed a little of everything and heaped it in a nice neat little pile on top of her lid. He took a cautious sip of his.
Ah, caffeine.
It was like a balm to his bruised soul right now. Seeing Sam like that¼man. He gave himself a mental shake, trying to wipe his brothers gray face and blue lips from his mind’s eye.
He hadn’t wanted to leave Sam alone for those tests, asleep or not he had wanted to stay with his brother. But the doctor was right - he couldn’t do anything to help and he needed to take a breather.
He was nearing their rooms. He glanced in Sam’s room and saw it was empty. Good, the tests were still going; Sam’d be back soon enough now.
He walked a few feet further to stand outside Bobby’s door and smiled as he walked hesitantly into the room.
“Oh, good. Coffee.” Annie was reaching for the coffee before he could cross the room, grinning in anticipation.
“Wasn’t sure what you took in it, so there’s a little bit of everything.”
Dean considered the woman before him. She had dealt with a lot over the last several weeks. Her parents had died, horribly, in a fire. Then a demon attacked her brother. As if that weren’t enough, then the little guy had been kidnapped. She had held up pretty good, considering. In fact, she surprised him by how well she seemed to be holding up. Her eyes skittered from him to her brother and around the room as she sipped her black coffee.
Every instinct told him to say something stupid and beat it to the door.
But he could see the big sister in her trying to slap on a brave face; trying to hide emotions she couldn’t afford the luxury of feeling. It felt all too familiar. So instead of running, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.
”Sorry.” Annie pulled away, eyes down.
“For what?” He watched her, waiting for an answer.
“Obviously I’m just barely holding on. You can tell, can’t you?” Annie raised her eyes to hesitantly take in what he hoped was an understanding expression “Thanks for being so nice.”
“Yeah, well, don’t let it get around.” He could ignore her almost-breakdown. They could talk around it. No problem. But, really . . . he stopped himself from just walking away. No one ever tried to help him when things were rough, except maybe Sam. But little brothers didn’t count. “Thanks for being there when Sam was¼well, you know.”
He met her eyes and nodded quickly. Then he walked to the door, opened it and turned to leave.
“No problem.” Her soft words followed him into the hallway. He grinned softly to himself. She was¼sweet. He couldn’t help feeling a bit protective of her. She looked to him like she could use someone to look out for her.
He opened the door to Sam’s room, relieved when he saw the room was still empty. He’d only taken 20 minutes, so hopefully that meant Sam would be back anytime now.
He took up position in the room’s one chair, tucked into the corner of the room. Eyes vigilant, he silently sipped the hot coffee.
[hr]
Jalmari watched his older charge, eyes flashing dangerously.
He looked back toward the bed and frowned. The smallest child looked asleep, but something was wrong. He knew another man had entered the room before his other charge returned. That man had been furtive, sneaking into the room and doing something to the line that ran to the child’s arm. He had only left just before the sister showed.
Looking back to the sister, he saw she was finished with her prayers. He bent again to whisper an instinctive warning into her subconscious.
“Check your brother. Check him carefully.”
[hr]
At the same time in the room next door, Mika’el was all but shouting to get Dean to listen to the angel’s still voice in his subconscious.
They did not have the luxury of time. His brother was in trouble and the angel had to get the message to the elder. Mika’el reached for the tiny part of this human’s subconscious that was open and shouted.
“You must find your brother. NOW!”
On to Ch. 2