Two Brothers 14/?
Chapter 14
When we arrived at the hospital, fruit salad and vanilla cappuccino in tow, Dean went straight for Sam's room while I dropped off my bag at my office and checked in with the nurses before I went upstairs to see Sam.
He had slept through the night, his O2-level was nearly up where it should be and there didn't seem to be any complications from the recent surgery. I breathed in relief.
When I entered his room Sam was halfway through his fruit salad and was slurping the cappuccino through a straw with hawk-eye Dean right next to him making sure he didn't choke on a piece of pineapple or something.
"Good morning, Sam." I greeted him. "Good to see you more awake today." I put on a sheepish smile and didn't know what to do next. How do you interact with a person you haven't seen in years and who you met again under circumstances like this? I had no idea. Yesterday I'd masked my insecurity with professionalism but today, with Sam awake and with that hopeful look at me?
"Hey, Luis." He greeted me with a warm and honest smile. "You look good, man."
"Thanks." I smoothed over my insecurity with checking the monitors. "I have to say, you looked better the last time I saw you. How do you feel?"
"Tired." He sank deeper into the pillow Dean had stuffed behind his back to keep him upright. "And my head hurts. Not bad, but it feels like somebody drilled a hole in my skull."
I overlooked him squeezing Dean's hand who tensed up as soon as Sam admitted that he was hurting.
"Hey, Doc Frankenstein." Dean mask his worries with a cheerful grin. "Sure you didn't cross some wires in there? He suddenly thinks he's funny."
"Ha, ha, Dean." But there was no heat behind Sam's words. "I'm going to be fine now. Right, Luis?" For a second Sam was just a patient like everybody else, worried and unsure, hoping for the doctor to tell him that everything would be alright. When I looked at the brothers I saw identical expressions on their faces. Hope that I would nod and tell them that everything was going to be fine.
"I've scheduled some tests for today." I said instead because I didn't know. So far Sam looked fine but that wasn't a guarantee that he was fine.
Sam made a face but didn't object, maybe because of the stern expression on his brother's face.
"But if those tests come back clear, I'm free to go." Sam insisted. This was the first time he'd been awake and actually there for more than ten minutes and he was talking about leaving. No way. To my surprise I had Dean on my side.
"Dude, Luis here was literally poking around in your head the other day." Dean cut him off before I could do so. "You park your ass in this bed until Luis here gives you the all clear. He's risking his job by covering up for us so you do as he tells you."
I have to say that I was a little taken aback by the fact that Dean realized and even cared about the fact that I was risking my job here. Everybody in the hospital knew that Sam Carter was my old college buddy. There would be some interesting questions as soon as the insurance fraud came out, that was for sure. But at that point I didn't care.
Sam opened his mouth to protest but Dean just used the opportunity to force feed him a grape and with that it was settled. Sam would stay put as long as I said so.
I would have loved to stay and to actually talk to Sam but I had other patients and I could already tell that Sam's energy was fading fast.
"Nancy will bring you to your tests in about half an hour. You should rest until then." I made sure to make eye contact with Dean for the last part and he gave me a small nod. "Okay, I'll be back in as soon as I get the results."
I turned, ready to leave.
"Luis?" Sam hold me back.
"Yeah?" I stopped in the door, not sure what to expect.
"Thanks, man." Looked like he had no problem with saying those words. But he had always been that kind of person, open and caring. At least that was the part he'd let us see back at Stanford a million years ago.
"That's what friends are for." I gave him a nod. "But you owe me a monster story."
Now he gave me a warm smile. "Sure thing."
"Yeah, we're making a slumber party over at Luis' with hot chocolate and marshmallows and we'll braid Sam's hair … what's left of it anyway and we'll share ghost stories."
"Shut up, asshole." Sam gave his brother a half-hearted punch to his thigh but then his hand was up at the bandage around his head. "It isn't that bad, isn't it?"
"It ain't bad and at least Nancy thinks you're adorable." Dean reassured him.
I left while the brothers were still bantering about Sam's hair and his influence on women.
After I had seen Sam that morning I was sure that the tests would confirm that he was healing nicely. He was coherent and hadn't noticed anything pointing at severe nerve damage.
When I checked in on him in the evening Sam was sleeping but Dean was as at his side like always. He must have made a trip to the gift shop at some point because he was reading a magazine and there was a plush giraffe sitting on his brother's pillow.
Sam slept peacefully through us discussing his condition but basically the only thing I had to say was that everything looked good but he needed time to heal. No strenuous activities like monster hunting in the near future and I could count on Dean to enforce that rule.
With such good news it was easy to coax Dean into coming home with me when my shift ended. I didn't ask him about his gun and even if I was sure he had it still on him I didn't see it again. We actually had an enjoyable evening with pizza and a movie. Who knew?
continue to chapter 15
back to Masterpost