CHAPTER 10

Bobby had been in the waiting room for hours, pulling out what little hair he had left, when the doctor finally walked in the door. Bobby jumped to his feet when the doctor stopped in front of him. "Please tell me ya got good news, Doc!", Bobby was frantic for answers. "How's my boy?" The doctor smiled warmly, placing a comforting hand on Bobby's shoulder.

"Sam's gonna be OK. He has a fractured skull, but it's not as bad as we feared. He has a small amount of blood on his brain, but it's minimal and should resolve itself in a week or so. He has a pretty bad concussion, but it could have been worse. Sam got lucky in that respect", the doctor said quietly. Bobby breathed a sigh of relief. "He doesn't have a fractured eye socket, just badly bruised. He had an open fracture of his right arm, but fortunately, he won't need surgery. He is very fortunate that his brachial artery wasn't severed. The break was clean and we were able to set it without too much trouble. We cleaned and sutured the wound. He won't be able to be casted until the wound heals enough to remove the stitches. We have him in a temporary splint for now. He is on antibiotics to prevent infection".

"Thanks, Doc. Can I see him?", Bobby croaked, his voice thick with unshed tears. The doctor led him to a quiet, dimly lit recovery room and silently left Bobby alone as the door clicked shut. Bobby instantly regretted asking to see him. The young hunter looked utterly broken. Thick bandages covered most of Sam's head and his right arm was encased in a heavy black contraption with straps to keep in immobilized. His face was swollen and covered in dark bruises. There was an oxygen tube under his nose and an IV stuck in the back of his left hand. Sam looked like he had been hit by a train! Bobby had to clap a hand over his mouth and squeeze his eyes shut to keep in a sob. The Winchesters had been in tough scrapes before and had taken their share of lumps, but neither of them had ever taken a beating like this from their own brother.

Bobby crept closer and gently grabbed Sam's hand in his. Even though Sam was a giant of a man(well over 6 feet tall), Bobby thought he never looked so small and fragile. He was conflicted. Bobby loved both boys like they were his own, but he was facing the real possibility that he would have to kill one of them. He had been a hunter for decades, but nothing he had ever experienced doing the job had prepared him for this and he honestly didn't know what to do. Bobby felt Sam squeeze his hand and his eyebrows twitched. "Sam? SAM! Can you hear me?", Bobby asked, squeezing back.

"Mmmmmm... Bobby?", Sam croaked weakly. His eyes fluttered open and then squeezed shut again trying to focus. He licked his dry, chapped lips. His tongue felt like a wad of cotton. "Where...where am I?" Where's Y/N? Sam tried to sit up and Bobby pushed his shoulders back down on the bed. Sam groaned loudly writhing in pain. He glared at Bobby waiting for answers when they didn't coming right away.

"You're in the hospital, Sam. Please lay still. You have a fractured skull, a bad concussion, and a bad broken arm, but the Doc said you're gonna be OK.", Bobby rambled. "Not to mention you're covered in bruises! You just gotta stay..." Sam interrupted him before he could say another word.

"Where's Y/N/N? Is she OK?" Sam's watery eyes bore into Bobby for a long moment until, finally, Bobby had to look away. What was he supposed to say? "B-Bobby?", Sam stammered. "WHERE'S Y/N!", Sam's abrupt outburst made Bobby flinch and his jaw twitched. He didn't want to have this conversation. Bobby'd give anything not to have to have this conversation. "BOBBY!", Sam screamed, clenching the old man's hand.

"HE TOOK HER, SAM! D-Dean took her...", Bobby started yelling but he ended in a whisper. Sam's eyes grew wide and his mouth hung opened. He just laid their staring at the ceiling. His lower lip quivered like he was going to cry. Bobby had been dreading this moment and he felt guilty for taking his anger at himself out on Sam. "It's my fault, Sam. I'm the one who restrained him and when he got loose, I had a chance to save Y/N and I fucked it up", Bobby growled out the words.

"It's not your fault, Bobby", Sam whispered. "None of this is your fault". Sam looked over at Bobby and a single tear rolled down the side of his face and into his ear. "Dean would have killed both of you had you tried to stop him". Bobby sighed and nodded in defeat. He knew in his head that Sam was right, but his heart told him otherwise. "You should go home, Bobby. Check your books. See if there's anything that you can find that may help us find Dean and cure him".

"Sam...", Bobby started to protest. He didn't want to leave Sam alone right now. He was afraid Sam would do something stupid like try to leave the hospital before he was ready. Sam wasn't as impulsive as Dean, but after what happened, Bobby didn't know what Sam was capable of.

"Please, Bobby", Sam blurted. "I promise not to do anything crazy. I just need to think, OK?" Sam's voice quivered and his breathing was shallow. Silent tears finally burst through the dam that Sam tried desperately to control. "Please".

Bobby nodded curtly without looking at Sam and turned to leave. As he reached the door and swung it open, Sam called out to him. Bobby froze there with his hand on the door.

"I can't kill my brother, Bobby", Sam's voice broke. Bobby's head dropped and he closed his eyes. The silence was deafening.

"I know, Sam. I know". Bobby walked through the door and closed it gently.

He didn't look back.