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Sam and Dean have had the kids for nearly a month and a half now and they would be bold enough to admit that they had gotten the ropes of it all down. They knew what they should and shouldn’t feed them, their likes and dislikes along with various other things that they’ve learned over time that they could have counted as parenting skills like dealing with them when they were fighting, were scared, and even when they were crying which was something that neither Dean or Sam ever really expected themselves to learn whilst in the family business. Bobby who had more experience with children was able to contribute to then, even if his area of expertise was with older children than what they had. But no amount of experience could have prepared them to for what was to come.
They had started their day off like nearly every other one so far. Dean came downstairs before Bobby and Sam early morning to find the toddlers sitting in front of the TV, wrapped in their blankets sleepily. How long have they’ve been awake he didn't know but it wasn’t exactly like it mattered, so long as they got so form of sleep. He said good morning to them (even though they barely acknowledged him) and moved on to the kitchen to get started on breakfast.
About an hour or two later and breakfast was ready and the children were fed. Finally Sam came downstairs and Bobby soon followed. After everyone had eaten and the kitchen was cleaned everyone went off to do their own thing. That usually consisted of Sam and bobby doing research for other cases, Cas, Balthazar, and Gabriel playing and watching tv in the living room, and Dean was usually outside either working on his car or polishing and cleaning his weaponry.
Sam opened the back door from the kitchen. “Dean?” he called from the porch.
“Yeah” he shouted back.
“The boys are coming outside to play can you keep an eye on them?”
“Yeah I got them” Dean answered looking over his shoulder to see them come up from behind. He turned to them “you know the rules, no walking past those cars and stay where I can see you.” The three boys nodded and ran past Dean.
“So what should we do?” Cas asked.
Dean heard it, a loud shrill scream and a dull thump. He walked around briskly trying to find which one had screamed. And then he found him. Balthazar was on the ground, lying in a heap, motionless. Cas and Gabriel nowhere to be seen; they probably had already gone in for dinner.
Dean felt himself grow cold, his heart began to beat heavily. Dean felt as though time was slowing down as he ran over to Balthazar’s side. Taking deep breathes to calm himself down, Dean turned Balthazar over.
The first thing he did was check if he was breathing. Dean placed his hand down to Balthazar’s forehead and ran his index and middle finger down from his chin down to the midpoint of his neck, feeling for a plus and watching for his chest to rise and fall. Thankfully they were both present. Dean felt a large amount of weight lift off his shoulders.
He was unconscious. Dean knew not to move him until he awoke. There was a pretty nasty gash across the little one’s forehead, the blood was streaming down the side of his head and went down to his neck. But that seemed to be it so far. Dean wiped up some of it with his sleeve. Dean was still shaking slightly. They weren’t out of the dark yet.
Seconds later Balthazar slowly began to stir. His eyes flew open. Fear and confusion was written all across his face once he gained some sense of his surroundings his face scrunched up and he let out one of the most pitiful cries Dean had ever heard. It was the type of crying where it starts out weak but then you can’t make a sound, can’t breathe, all you do is try to gasp for air and once you take one breath, it all comes out at once and you can’t stop crying. Hot tears streaked down Balthazar’s face. Dean quickly gathered him into his arms. Balthazar let out a sharp scream.
“My-my arm” were the only words Balthazar was able to get out. Dean practically ran into the house. Gabriel and Cas were beginning to help Sam out with setting the table for dinner when Dean burst in.
“What happened?” asked Sam urgently, placing the plates down in a stack on the kitchen counter.
“I don’t know I just found him passed out on the ground.” Dean was beginning to get more and more worried the longer and harder Balthazar cried. He seemed as though he didn’t plan to stop anytime soon.
“Let me see him” Bobby said pushing past Sam, Cas and Gabriel who were all crowding around Dean. He took him away from Dean. “And get them out of here.” He insisted, acknowledging the two younger toddlers.
Sam took both the boys’ hands and led them to the door “sorry guys”
“What about my brother” Gabriel fought
“Is he okay?” Cas added his voice full of worry.
“Yeah, he’ll be fine.” Sam said slowly, though he wasn’t sure himself. He closed the door.
Bobby placed Balthazar on the table so he could lie down. Balthazar was still crying and didn’t want to be let go of. “You have to tell me what’s wrong.” He said sternly. The gash was an obvious wound, but there had to be more. Balthazar couldn’t say anything; he just raised a shaky hand and rubbed the back of his head gingerly. “You’re head?” He looked over his shoulder.
Balthazar nodded. Bobby leaned him forward to see the back of his head. It was bad. There was no sugar coating this; there was a large purple bump that had broke skin and was bleeding. “Go get some ice” He ordered the boys, not really caring which one it was that got it. He began to undo Balthazar’s jacket to see if there were any bruising on his back. Balthazar let out another sharp cry as bobby tried to pull off his jacket for him. Balthazar screamed bloody Mary and cried as though it was torture to get the jacket off. But Bobby ignored him despite the protesting. Once off, Balthazar cradled his arm. Bobby began to understand the struggle. “Does your arm hurt?” Bobby asked. Balthazar nodded slowly “Then why didn’t you say so!” He shouted at him frustratingly. Balthazar flinched and his eyes began to refill with heavy tears. A few silently streamed down his face. Bobby softened just a little “Hey, it’s okay I’m sorry okay? You just need to tell me these things so we can help you.” Sam returned with a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. “Hold that to his head” he ordered. He turned around to face Dean. Dean was sitting back, against the kitchen counter uneasily staring down at his feet. He didn’t seem to know what to do. And bobby could see it “What the hell are you doing?” Dean looked up at him “Give me those scissors behind you.”
Once off, Balthazar cradled his arm. Bobby began to understand the struggle. “Does your arm hurt?” Bobby asked. Balthazar nodded slowly “Then why didn’t you say so!” He shouted at him frustratingly. Balthazar flinched and his eyes began to refill with heavy tears. A few silently streamed down his face. Bobby softened just a little “Hey, it’s okay I’m sorry okay? You just need to tell me these things so we can help you.” Sam returned with a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. “Hold that to his head” he ordered. He turned around to face Dean. Dean was sitting back, against the kitchen counter uneasily staring down at his feet. He didn’t seem to know what to do. And Bobby could see it “What the hell are you doing?” Dean looked up at him “Give me those scissors behind you.”
Dean obeyed and walked over to hand them over to Bobby. “Is he alright?” Dean asked.
Bobby cut the shirt to get Balthazar out painlessly. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Bobby said, “How long was he out?”
“I don’t know 30 seconds, maybe a minute?”
He pulled off the shredded shirt, leaving Balthazar bare. He had stopped crying now but it there was still stray tears and whimpers coming from him. They all took a small breath when they saw it. Balthazar’s right arm was red with a bluish tinge, at the spot of discoloration, his arm was bent in a somewhat awkward position and swollen. It was more than likely broken.
“Okay, we need to take him to the hospital,” Dean spoke up.
Balthazar’s eyes widened and shot from his arm to Dean “No he’s fine, nothing we can’t solve ourselves.” Bobby said in a matter of fact tone.
Dean knew that Bobby knew what he was doing but this was a toddler. He was way too uneasy about this. “No, we’re taking him to the hospital.”
“I said we can handle this.”
He was already on edge, and beginning to grow frustrated “His arm’s most likely broken, and he has a bump on the back of his head the size of a golf ball. And you’re telling me he’s fine” Dean shouted.
Balthazar who was still lying on the table began to breathe heavily. His head was pounding hard. “Dean” Sam, who was kneeling next to the table to hold the ice, spoke up, “I think Bobby’s ri-” Sam didn’t get to finish his sentence. Balthazar groaned and lurched over the edge of the table and threw up all over the floor. All three of them grimaced and the sight and scent of the fresh vomit. Balthazar withdrew, curling up into a little loose ball; he let out a small whimper as he almost began to cry once more. Balthazar sucked in a shaky breathe and began to shiver.
Bobby sighed “No Sam, he’s right, you two better go take him” Bobby began to walk out of the room towards his office “I made up some certificates and insurance cards in case something like this happened.”
Dean took some newspaper and magazines from one of the drawers and hand them to Sam. “Here splint his arm.” Sam nodded in understanding and began to slowly and gingerly bind the hurt arm using both the paper and parts of the shredded t-shirt. “I’ll be right back.” Dean walked briskly out of the room and into the living room. He was greeted by both Gabriel and Cas who Dean very nearly stepped on because they were sitting right next to the door.
“Is he okay?” Gabriel asked hesitantly. Cas followed next to his older brother while he followed Dean around the room.
Dean picked up Balthazar’s blanket and began to make his way back to the kitchen. “He’s fine,” Dean said half mindedly.
“Can we see him then?”
Dean turned to them just as he was about to enter. Both of the boys looked fairly worried for their other sibling. Cas was clinging tightly to Gabriel’s arm; Gabriel was looking seriously up to Dean. “Not right now, Okay.” He said in a gentler tone, closing the kitchen door once more.
Sam was finished and Bobby had returned with a thin cream folder. “This is his birth certificate,” He said opening the file to show him the papers, here’s his shot records, medical history, and a copy of his insurance card. Just tell them you’re new to the area and not everything is going to be in the local system yet” He handed the folder to Dean.
Dean looked down at the folder. He was somewhat surprised that he had actually taken the time to forge all these papers for the kids. Bobby, as usual, was prepared for every possible scenario. “Thanks,” He said and placed the file next to Balthazar and used the blanket to wrap him up instead having to put Balthazar in another shirt.
He handed the bundle to Sam. Sam could feel Balthazar shivering in his arms. He was light but at the same time, Balthazar felt loose and floppy. It hurt him to see Balthazar like this but there wasn’t much he could do to help him. Dean picked up the file and checked his pocket for the keys. “Alright let’s get going.” He led way out of the kitchen.
They were both instantly met by Gabriel and Cas. “You call this ‘okay?” Gabriel shouted following closing behind Sam trying to get a better look at his brother. “Where the hell are you going?”
Cas tugged at Dean’s pant leg. “What’s going on?” He asked.
Dean stopped and turned around. “Well you see,” He tried to make it sound much simpler than it really was. “We need to take him to see a doctor.”
Gabriel was more than obviously worried. “Well we’re coming too then,” He grabbed Cas’s arm and began to drag him towards the door. Dean stood in the doorway, blocking their path. “Get out of the way” He said looking him in the eye.
“You’re staying.”
Gabriel let go of Cas and began to try and push him aside. Dean bent over and grabbed him by the shoulders. “I said you’re staying here.” Dean was trying to keep his cool. Gabriel said nothing but kicked him in the shin. Dean barely felt anything but it sure pushed his buttons. “Oh my God” He shouted “For once in your life would you just listen to me!” Dean regretted what he said almost as instantly as he said it. He could see some hurt flash across Gabriel’s face but not enough to extinguish the flame already burning within his small body. Cas shrunk back behind Gabriel.
Balthazar was beginning to stir in Sam’s arms. He groaned and choked out a sob. Bobby stepped in “Just go already. Sam and Dean walked out through the doorway, the younger two tried to follow. “I’ve got them” he said grabbing onto them.
The last words they heard as they left was Gabriel yell “Let go of me old man!”
Dean got into the driver’s seat and started up the car. Sam opened the back door to strap in Balthazar. “Don’t.” Dean said “Just sit with him in the back on your lap. Sam nodded and quickly took out one of the car seats with one hand to give himself enough room to squeeze into the back.
“Okay let’s go”
Dean sped down the road trying to avoid any cops on the way. “How’s he doing?” Dean asked
“I don’t know.” Sam spoke up “He isn’t running a fever.” He felt his arms. “If anything he feels cold. He’s shaking too, a little.” Dean sped up a little more. It was a good 20-30 minute drive to the hospital.
“Wake me up when we get there.” Balthazar spoke up; his voice was barely a whisper.
Dean knew that this was also a bad idea.”No Balthazar.” He called back to them “Buddy, you’ve got to stay awake. Sam talk to him, do whatever it takes to keep him awake.” Dean knew that letting him close his eyes, could be dangerous for him if he was in shock, or had a concussion because he might not wake up. Honestly Dean just wanted to play it as safe as possible.
Sam shook Balthazar a little. “Hey come on. What happened? How did you get hurt?”
“We were playing hide and seek” He slurred “And I hid in one of the cars higher up.”
“And then what?”
“It was time to go in. I-I fell. Then I was in the kitchen.” Sam did his best to keep Balthazar awake. He did almost everything from talking about favorite things to past women, which wasn’t exactly a fruitful subject on Sam’s part.
Eventually, they made it to the hospital. Dean pulled up to the front. “Go in. I’ll go park the car.” He handed him the files. Sam took them and opened the door and got out. Sam took a deep breath and walked into the main entrance. It was pretty empty, thankfully. He walked up to the front check-in desk.
A nurse with pink flowery scrubs and a warm caring smile greeted them. “What can I help you with?”
Sam wasn’t exactly sure what to say, they’ve never really went to an ER before unless it was by ambulance. “Um…It’s my er- nephew.” He began uneasily. He began again, “My nephew, he fell. We think he may have broken his arm,” Sam pulled back the blanket to give her a better look. Balthazar must have looked strange seeing that he was shirtless and wearing a makeshift splint. But appearances did matter in that scenario. “And he hit his head pretty badly.”, Sam repositioned Balthazar from cradling him to holding him so that his head could be rest on Sam’s shoulder. Sam held the icepack in the Same hand as the file.
The nurse sucked in air through his teeth. “Poor thing” She said sympathetically. The nurse handed him the clip board and pen. “Just fill this out and you’ll be seen to shortly.” Sam nodded and thanked her, he took a seat. He quickly looked over Balthazar before wrapping him back up tightly. Sam balanced him on one knee and the clipboard and pen on the other.
Dean came into the hospital. His eyes scanned around quickly from the entrance. He spotted Sam sitting in a pretty secluded part of the waiting area with Balthazar on his lap as he tried to finish filling out the paperwork.
Dean went over to them and took a seat. Sam could tell that Dean must have run or at least have sped walked there. “Here let me see him.” He said holding his arms out to take the boy from Sam. Dean tightly held onto Balthazar. He never really liked hospitals. Balthazar looked pretty pale and tired; his eyes were a bit puffy from crying. “How do you feel?” Dean asked
“My arm feels dull and my head is throbbing, you tell me.” He answered glumly. At least he hadn’t lost his sass. Dean continued to press the wrapped ice pack onto the back of his head.
A nurse came in, calling them to a room for evaluation.
“So what seems to be the problem?” An elderly nurse in pink and yellow scrubs said while typing away at her computer. They told them a bs story that he had fallen out of tree, knowing that if they had told the real story they would probably have to face a social worker or something like that. After they told their version of the story Sam proceeded “when he fell, he hit the back of his head and we think he may have broken his arm.”
The nurse turned to him. Balthazar withdrew as she came up to them. Dean eased him forward so that the nurse could check him out. “It’s okay.” She said sweetly, “I don’t bite.” Balthazar still seemed shy but he let her proceed anyways. The nurse checked his temperature, blood pressure, eye dilation and weight. Afterward, she moved on to the real problems at hand. The nurse took Balthazar’s bad arm. Balthazar tried to pull it away from her, but she had a stronger grip. She undid the wrapping to look at his arm. It was reddened with a small bend in a place they knew his arm shouldn’t be bending; at this small curve, a bluish-purple bruise was forming. “We’ll get an x-ray for that.” The nurse turned and typed in a few words into the computer. “Now about his head” she picked up a small flashlight. She signaled for Dean to turn him around, which he quickly understood and followed. Dean turned Balthazar so that his head was against his chest. Dean lowered the ice pack so she could get a proper look. The nurse looked at the grotesque lump on the back of his head. The bleeding had stopped by now. “Was he unconscious?”
“Yes” Sam answered.
“For how long”
“At least a minute” Dean said.
“And any nausea” The nurse added.
“Yes, he vomited once before we left.”
The nurse nodded and typed up a few more words into the computer, “We’ll evaluate that too and see where we go from there.” The nurse printed out a few papers. “We’re going to get you into a room and have a doctor come in as soon as possible. The nurse attached a bracelet to Balthazar’s good arm. She took the folder from Sam to enter the rest of the info in the system and had another nurse lead them to a small cubical, it was like most standard hospital emergency rooms. There was a bed, which was surrounded by all sorts of medical equipment. On one side of the bed, there was a small chest which had a few drawers, which were more than likely, filled with supplies. On the other side (the same wall that the door was built into) was a small metal tray being held up by stand with wheels, a computer with a mini desk for the doctors to use, also built into the wall and a TV was attached to the wall across from the foot of bed.
Dean set Balthazar onto the bed and sat on the edge while Sam sat in the chair next to it. And now they must wait.
They tried their best to distract themselves, which was mainly limited to watching the TV that was also in the room. But luckily the doctor had come in pretty quickly.
The doctor looked like most stereotypical male doctors. He was fairly tall and lean. He came in carrying a clipboard and a small tub with what Sam saw contained a needle, test tubes and gauze. He could guess this wasn’t going to be an easy night.
The doctor quickly read the clipboard and greeted them with a warm smile. “Hello, I’m Dr. Berk. I’ll be the one helping you today.” He held out a hand, which both Sam and Dean shook. “And I’m assuming this is our little patient.” Balthazar shrunk back to hide behind Dean shyly. “It’s okay. So I hear you’re here because of an arm?” Balthazar nodded but didn’t say anything. “Can I see?” Dean took Balthazar and placed him on his lap. The doctor undid the bindings and took the splint off completely. He lifted the arm slowly and tried to make it flex. Balthazar winced in pain and tried to pull it away from him. “Hey, it’s okay. Does it hurt?” Balthazar gave him a face that would have been translated to ‘no shit Sherlock’. The doctor pulled out a small chart with all sorts of faces on a spectrum each labeled with numbers 1-10 from a drawer next to him “Point to the one that you feel”. Balthazar looked at the chart and pointed to the 5th face. “Okay then.” He said writing onto the clipboard. “The next is your head, right?” The doctor pulled checked his head, shining a light on to it and applied pressure in some places. “The good thing is that it’s not going to need stitches. Does your head hurt?” He nodded again. “How much” Balthazar once again pointed to five on the chart. The doctor recorded it onto the clipboard. “So what we’re going to do is get an IV and give him some pain meds and I’ll have some ice come in for his head. And get him an x-ray, which shouldn’t take too long”
“So what’s first?” Sam asked
The doctor stepped out of the room slightly and called in a nurse. “We’re going to need to give him an IV to administer some pain killers and we’ll need fresh blood. We’re going to splint the arm.”
Balthazar knew what this meant, basically a shot. He didn’t want to be here, he wanted to go home but he knew that it wasn’t going to happen. A nurse came in holding a dressing gown and a roll of an ace bandage. The nurse took a small antiseptic wipe from the drawers next to the bed.
“Hi honey,” The nurse said sweetly as she tied the elastic band around his arm. “We’re just going to give you a little pinch, okay?” The nurse felt on the top of his hand for a good vein. When she found it the doctor came over to her, Dean and Balthazar; to help hold him down if needed. “Now you’re barely going to feel a thing.”
A wave of fear washed over Balthazar just when the nurse nearly stuck him with the needle. “No!” Balthazar shouted and tried to evade her. “Get away from me” He kicked and thrashed. Dean was much stronger than the two and a half year old. He held him in a fairly tight embrace while Sam tired his best to help the doctor keep the arm that as going to be given the IV steady. The nurse felt once more for the vein and then pushed the needle in. Balthazar froze up and let out a shriek. The nurse pressed on and held it down by placing a piece of medical tape at the base so keep the IV from coming out when they gave him the medication. The doctor and Sam loosened their grips. Balthazar held tightly onto Dean, crying. The nurse filled up the empty tubes with blood that was going to go to the lab for testing.
“See its okay, right; that didn’t hurt too much.” The nurse said as she was throwing away the disposable parts of the IV. Dean could have sworn that he heard Balthazar mutter ‘that bitch’ in between sobs. The doctor excused himself from the room saying, he needed to go back another patient for a follow up. The nurse turned back to them with the ace band in one hand and what looked like cloth-covered foam in the other. “Now, I’m just going to splint your arm”
The nurse was trying her best to communicate with Balthazar but she could tell that it wasn’t working. He was a fish out of water; scared, confused and not sure where his place was in there. She went up to him, but Balthazar refused to comply. He squirmed and pushed her away. And Dean tried to get him to listen but that wasn’t exactly working either.
Sam stepped in, “Here give him to me” He said holding his arms out. Dean sighed, not seeing the real point in it, and handed him off to his little brother. Balthazar still kept screaming while tears were beginning to form and fall down his cheeks. Sam walked to the hospital bed and sat down next to Dean. “Come on. You know you’re stronger than this.” Sam whispered softly “You’re an angel remember?” Balthazar calmed down and stared at Sam waiting to see where he was going with this. “You kept the titanic from sinking for god’s sake.”
“Yeah” Balthazar sniffed “Because of that awful song.”
“Now do you really think the old Balthazar would be acting like this? Scared of everything he didn’t know about, and refusing to get help when he needed it?”
Balthazar shook his head, “No, he’d stick it to the man and keep going” he thought about Sam’s words, courage was beginning to grow inside him; he took a deep breath and stared at the nurse, as a signal to get on with it.
The nurse was confused by what Sam had just said to the toddler and even more confused but his response, but it worked, allowing her to do her job so it didn’t really matter too much. She took Balthazar’s arm. He flinched and held onto Dean’s shoulder next to him but let her keep going without any protest. The bad arm was set onto the foam and then wrapped with the ace bandage.
Balthazar winced in pain during the binding but looked curiously at his arm. That’s it? It seemed almost too simple to him. “What a big boy!” The nurse praised him. He felt a little bit of self-pride build up, he gave her a small uneasy smile. “Now if you’re up to it I want to ask you a few questions?” she turned to Sam and Dean “This is just to check for a possible concussion”
She took out an eye test card but this one had shapes and numbers instead of letters. She pointed to each one that anyone with normal vision could have been able to see. “Vision is fine.” She said writing in down onto a form. “can you stand up?” She asked him. Balthazar climbed off the bed with some help from Dean. “Good, balance on one foot” He listened, lifting one leg off the ground, keeping his balance the best he could, “Now touch your nose” Balthazar kept bad arm to his side but was able to touch his nose with his good arm. “Balance is good.” She said recording her results. “Now do you know your abc’s” Balthazar nodded. “Can I hear them?” Balthazar began to recite it with ease but also some confusion, because he couldn’t really see the point in it. “And he’s got a perfect memory” The nurse wrote down the results. She read over the paper. “He seems to not have anything wrong with his head internally, but we’ll keep a close eye on him just to be safe” She collected what she had brought in preparation to leave, “I’ll have another nurse come in with the pain meds” she said to Sam and Dean and with that she left.
Dean had to admit, he was fairly surprised at how well Sam had been able to fix the situation. Another nurse came in, this time it was a tall male, he wore white Looney Tunes scrubs. In his hand he held two thin shots with a clear, slightly yellow tinted liquid inside. “I’m here to give the medication.” The nurse began; he picked up the clip board and double checked it before coming to stand at the side of the bed. “This” he said busily “Is just a form of morphine” he took the top off the first shot. Balthazar quickly clung onto Sam. he seemed to be trying to make himself seem as small and unseen as possible. “This doesn’t go into you” The nurse explained seeing his fright. “See the tube you have in your hand? It’s used so I won’t have to poke you at all.” Balthazar’s grip loosened up and he turned to face the nurse. “I need him to be lying down on the bed.” Both Sam and Dean stood up and Sam laid him down onto the bed. Balthazar took a few distressed deep breathes when Sam let go of him. He sat up and tried to reach out for either Sam or Dean to hold him again.
Dean sat back down on the edge of the bed and tried to ease him back down. Balthazar clung onto him. “This is going to make you feel better.” Dean said. Balthazar nodded and rested his head back onto the pillow but still held onto Dean’s hand.
The nurse took the end of the IV’s tube and the needle through the nozzle. He slowly pressed down on the syringe. The liquid filled the tube and entered his blood stream. Once a fourth of the liquid was administered the nurse let the syringe sit on the bed. He pulled a few wires out of the middle drawer and hooked them up to the monitors behind the bed. “This is just to monitor his heart rate” The nurse took the long white wire that had a small white plastic clip at the end and clipped it to Balthazar’s finger, making it glow red once he turned the monitor on. He went back to Balthazar and finished off the rest of the syringe slowly.
Balthazar was beginning to feel light and drowsy. He let his hand slide away from Dean’s “Oh my” Balthazar slurred “This feels nice” he looked around the room slowly. “I don’t feel anything.” The nurse began to inject him with the next syringe. Balthazar squinted at him, mainly his clothing “Why aren’t the cartoons moving?” He asked in all seriousness. “Dean, look they’re not moving” Sam bit his lip to try to hold back the laughter. “It’s the 70’s all over again.” He giggled. “Man I have some good memories from that.” Sam let out a laugh which he quickly tried to mask as a cough
Dean looked at the nurse then Balthazar. “Is he okay?” he asked worryingly.
“Yeah, it’s just the medication. It makes them loopy.”
Balthazar laughed again. “Loopy” He said exaggerating the syllables as if he was testing them out on his tongue. “loopy” He whispered once more. The nurse finished the final injection and threw them both away into the hazardous waste bin and covered Balthazar with the blanket. He shifted into a more comfortable position and let his eyes droop a little.
“It’s okay if he falls asleep that’s usually normal. If you have any other questions or concerns just press that button over there.” The nurse said to them pointing to a button on the bed. They both thanked him as he left.
After a good 20 minutes of Balthazar laughing and ranting at everything he saw (which was actually very entertaining to watch) he calmed down, but the pain was still numbed. But they were still waiting to get the x-ray done.
Another half hour later the doctor from earlier, Dr. Berk, came in.
“We’re ready for him now”
They looked at Balthazar who was actually now much more relaxed than when he first came in. “I’ll take him” Dean spoke up, standing up from his seat on the bed. “Come on, let’s go” He helped Balthazar into the dressing gown, which they had put off doing for some reason. After all the little strings were tied Dean scooped him up into his arms, and followed the doctor down the hall and into a separate room. Sam stayed behind.
It was a dim room with a few other nurses inside. The room had two x-ray machines; one looked like a table and the other like an oversized camera. There was a small separate room in the corner that could be seen from the entrance because of the large glass window it had.
“Just set him down here.” The doctor patted the table and spread a blanket out for him. Dean placed him onto the table. One of the nurses come over and helped the doctor arrange Balthazar so his arm could be imaged properly. Dean stood back to not get involved but still watched them closely. When the nurse from the small room gave them the okay for the x-rays to begin Dean was handed a heavy protective vest which he put on along with the other doctor and Balthazar was covered by a mat version of the Same thing.
The doctor, nurse, and Dean were called over to the other room in order to take the pictures. “Dean?” Balthazar called.
“Yeah I’m right here. Just relax.”
After they had gotten all the imaging they needed, Dean was lead back to the room.
“How was it?” Sam asked when they reentered through the curtain.
“Fine” Dean answered putting Balthazar on the bed “We’ll get the pictures back in a few minutes”
Balthazar laid down wrapping himself in the blanket with a singular hand. He seemed to have gotten a little more used to the setting he was in but there was still some uneasiness in him. Sam got up and walked over to him. “How are you feeling?” Sam pulled the covers up a little more and smoothed back some of his tousled hair.
“Numb, tired and bored” He responded in a quite flat voice.
The doctor came in holding a yellow envelope which they all guessed contained x-ray results. By the expression the doctor had, they could guess that he wasn’t about to deliver good news. He switched to light that would illuminate the panel to show the x-ray results on. Turning to the three boys he heaved a little sigh, as though trying to find the right way to put the results.
Sam peered over the doctor’s side and took a look at the x-ray. Balthazar’s bone was definitely broken; it was in the lower half of his arm, near the elbow. The break wasn’t a clean break and yet it wasn’t crushed, it looked as though someone had tried to break a chop stick in half but wasn’t able to complete the job. It made him cringe just looking at it.
The doctor seemed to have noticed Sam’s expression.”He has what would be defined as a Greenstick fracture.” The doctor took his pen out from his front pocket.”Right here” he outlined circle around the break “the bone was hit down at a force so strong that it basically almost snapped in two, which luckily it didn’t”
Sam’s gaze trailed from the wall to Balthazar. The doctor must have assumed that he had no idea that the youngest one in the room could understand exactly what the doctor was talking about, but all because he understood it like an adult doesn’t mean that he was able to interpret it and take it in like one.
“So what are we going to do about it?” Dean asked, finally breaking the short-lived silence in the room. Dean thought back to when Sam had broken his arm when they were kids, jumping off a shed dressed as superheroes. It was pretty terrifying for the both of them, and since Dean was a minor he wasn’t even allowed to be in the room with Sam for the majority of it until Bobby had come, the whole time he waited he was able to hear Sam screaming and wailing, it wasn’t exactly something he was able to forget very easily.
“Well there are a few treatment options out there but because of his age and the type of break” The doctor said pulling up a few papers to read on that was on a lower layer “Amongst all of them the best would be to put a pin or two, to have the bone be set back in place”
“And how would that is done?” Sam asked warily.
The doctor eyed over to Balthazar. He seemed to have finally caught on that this may not be for Balthazar’s ears. But it was also a thought that he seemed to have dismissed fairly quickly because he continued his explanation. “Well usually we would use a general anesthetic, something just to numb it, but because of his age we would prefer to put him to sleep completely. And then we’d have a doctor insert a few pins which will hold the bone in place to hold it in place until it straightens back out.”
“So it's surgery?” Dean spoke up.
The doctor turned to face Dean, “well yes, to an extent. He will be put under, but he will not be cut open as much as he would be in normal sized arm surgery.”
Just the thought of Balthazar having to have any form of treatment, so serious that he would need to be knocked out to do, made Dean and Sam worry, Dean more so.
The doctor continued, “Afterwards, he’ll have to stay here until tomorrow for observation, and then he’ll have to be in a full arm cast that can be taken off in about 7 weeks.”
The doctor seemed to make it sound so simple. It was simple in its self, but on and emotional level it wasn’t. This was the toddler that Sam and Dean have spent well over a month caring for and though they probably would never admit it out loud they’ve grown somewhat attached to him and his brothers. And to suddenly be put in a position where he was in trouble and they had no control or ways to help was hard on the both of the Winchester brothers. But Balthazar, on the other hand, didn’t really seem to understand the extent of the situation, which was kind of a good thing for all of them.
“We’ll get him prepped and ready, it’ll all take at least an hour and a half maybe to get him in. “
Sam and Dean both thanked the doctor and he wished them good luck and left.
“Damn” Dean murmured quietly, running his hand through his hair front to back once. He needed some air. He looked at his watch, 7:49; he’s been there for over 2 hours. “You want coffee?” He asked Sam. Dean didn’t even give him a chance to answer. Dean quickly got up and left.
“Is he okay?” Balthazar asked.
“Yeah he’ll be fine.”
Dean was in the café filling up two cups and adding both sugar and cream to both of them. This was giving him a chance to collect his thoughts.his all his fault, he was the one who was supposed to be watching the kids, but he wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on them. Maybe he should have been clearer on his rules. He felt like it was entirely his fault even though part of him knew it wasn’t’. Dean felt guilty that he couldn’t have been there to stop him from climbing up those cars, and now he was going to need surgery. It was eating at him. Dean took his time getting back to where Sam and Balthazar were waiting.
This was all his fault, he was the one who was supposed to be watching the kids, but he wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on them; maybe he should have been clearer on his rules. He still felt like it was entirely his fault even though part of him knew it wasn’t’. Dean felt guilty that he couldn’t have been there to stop him from climbing up those cars, and now he was going to need surgery. It was eating at him. Dean took his time getting back to where Sam and Balthazar were waiting.
He walked in and handed Sam his coffee cup. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, where Balthazar was, Sam sat in the chair, still watching both the TV and them.
“Dean” Balthazar spoke up. Dean turned to see what he wanted. “Come sit here” He said patting the space next to him. Maybe he had noticed the Dean was stressed out and was trying to help in his own way?
“No I’m fine.” Dean declined
“I’m sick you’re not allowed to say no to me.”
Well, Balthazar had a point, not a good one, but he was small and young and his face had a small brightness, despite the fact that his arm immobile and in his eyes Dean could see he was tired, it was times like this that made Dean feel that small warmth inside. He patted the empty space once more, Dean sighed and scooted himself closer to the side of the bed. Once close enough, Balthazar maneuvered himself around so that he could climb into Dean’s lap in a way that didn’t hurt and didn’t give Dean enough time to react. Dean felt kind of awkward but at the same time he didn’t do anything to stop to object. This was pretty out of character for Balthazar seeing that he and Gabriel was usually more reserved versus Cas who loved being closer with the adults because he was closer and knew them better.
Dean catching Sam’s expression shot him a glance that could have been read as ‘speak of this and you die’. “What are you doing?” He finally asked once Balthazar was done moving around which wasn’t that painless on Dean’s part as one would think. Dean didn’t really have much of a choice other than hold Balthazar in his arms to keep him from falling off the bed. He propped himself up against the bed, with Balthazar lied against his chest while Dean covered him back up with the blankets on the bed. Balthazar didn’t answer his question.
Sam’s phone rang. He pulled it out and checked the caller id. “It’s Bobby.” He said answering the phone. “Hello. Yes he should be fine, and how the other kids? Not until tomorrow.” Sam continued on the conversation. Balthazar and Dean were able to gather what they could from what Sam was saying.
“I want to talk to them.” Balthazar interrupted impatiently. Sam held up a hand showing that he understood but needed to wait. Balthazar sat up and held a hand out “Let me talk.”
“Just was a second and I’ll put it on face time, okay?” Balthazar nodded but was still being impatient about it. Once Sam had finished the conversation and brought Bobby back up to date with everything, he handed Balthazar the phone so that he could do the necessary commands on the phone to allow him to switch to face time.
Gabriel and Cas in the living room crowed around the other phone came up on Sam’s screen. Balthazar rested himself back down against Dean and began to talk to his siblings. This was the most relaxed Balthazar seemed to be since before his fall.
“When are you coming back?” Cas asked somewhat pushing Gabriel out of the way of the camera.
“I don’t know.” Balthazar answered. Dean was looking over Balthazar’s shoulder to see the phone as well.
“Are you okay?” Asked Gabriel
“I broke my arm, but I’m on some really good drugs right now.”
They continued talking. Both Sam and Dean could see the calmness in him while he talked with his other siblings; he was hunched over it, almost protectively, with the screen that shed light on the warm fondness spread across his face. That was up until Balthazar’s eyes began to slowly close. “Hey, Balthazar” Cas said loudly. Balthazar snapped back up.
“Yeah, yeah I’m here.” Balthazar relaxed, but began dose off once more.
Dean noticed that he was falling asleep. “Hey guys” He spoke up “We’re going to finish this up tomorrow okay.” He could hear and partially see Gabriel and Cas trying to tell Dean otherwise, but that didn’t matter to him, “Make sure you take your baths and go to bed on time. I’ll know if you didn’t.” And with that he hung up. Balthazar was now more or less asleep. His head was drooping over slightly against Dean’s chest. Dean eased out Sam’s phone from Balthazar’s grip. Balthazar opened his eyes quickly and looked around the room once before closing them once more and snuggling in closer to Dean. Dean repositioned himself and the one his arms into a more comfortable position. He pulled his legs onto the bed and cradled him in his arms in a way to have Balthazar still laid against him with his good arm on the inside and his bad one slung across his legs and to have his head tucked under Dean’s chin.
On the outside, Dean looked somewhat unamused and maybe even bored, but Sam new that Dean loved it when the kids showed these kinds of affections no matter how annoyed he may look.
Sam propped his legs up onto the bed after Dean handed him his phone back.
After nearly another hour of waiting a nurse came in to inform them exactly of what the procedure will be and informed them up as much as they needed to be. Once given all their information, the nurse left, and their actual doctor came back in with a couple other nurses. “The OR is prepped and ready to go.” The doctor said almost as soon as he came in. He looked at the still sleeping toddler in Dean’s arms “Hey looks like you were able to knock him out before we did.” The doctor was trying his best to lighten the mood, but it wasn’t exactly working. “I would recommend that you wake him before he goes in.”
Dean nodded and got up to place him on the bed. Sam leaned over the edge of the bed and shook his shoulder him at the legs to wake him up. “Hey Balthazar” He said coolly as Balthazar’s eyes slowly began to open. “Come on time to get up.”
Balthazar looked around the room and moved his head around to get a good look. He stretched and tried to rub his eyes. He winced in pain and took a look at his arm and groaned as he put it back down. “What’s going on” he whispered in a tired strained voice.
The doctor stepped in “Well, we are going to take you to another room where you can go back to sleep and we’re going to fix your arm. Okay?” Balthazar didn’t really respond but looked to both Sam and Dean nervously. “We’re ready to go” He said more over to the nurses than the toddler.
The nurses nodded and both got to each side of the bed and pulled up the railing of the bed. Sam and Dean followed them out of the room, only to have them be stopped by the doctor, which also stopped the nurses. “Due to protocol, we can only let one of you in the room until he’s under.”
Sam and Dean looked at each other, trying to figure out who would be going in, wordlessly. “You should go” Dean finally said. Sam tried to protest but Dean held up a hand. “It’s okay really, you should go.” Sam sighed and gave up.
Dean walked over to the bed’s side. “so” He said trying to find a way to put it quickly and yet gently enough “This is as far as I’m going. Sam is going to be with you the rest of the way though. Just know that you’re going to be fine okay? And I’m sorry, this is my-“
Balthazar cut him off, “No it’s not.” His used his good hand to make a fist. “No chick-flick moments right?” Dean nodded and fist bumped him. He wished him luck while he watched both Balthazar and his younger brother walk away with the other nurses and doctor.
Sam was fairly surprised the kind of brave and nearly uncaring front he had going for Dean. What he wasn’t surprised by was how quickly that front faded once they reached the entrance of the OR.
They continued onto the room. Sam had to be stopped midway to be given scrubs which one of the other nurses helped him finish putting on. Once fully clad in the protective gear and sterile enough Sam was allowed into the Operation Room.
Upon entering the room Sam was instantly greeted by the doctor at Balthazar’s side. “There he is.” The doctor said while Sam came closer and closer to them. There was quite a buzz going on about all about them. Nurses and doctors alike were busying themselves in preparing for this procedure. Sam did as instructed and waited at the edge of the bed, another nurse came over and strapped a mask to Balthazar’s face. Up until them it seemed so surreal to him, Balthazar didn’t really seem to fully understand how serious of an ordeal it was, but lying there now on that bed, the extent of the situation finally hit him. A tube was attached to the mask and screwed into place. Balthazar’s eyes widened with fear.
“We’re ready to begin now” said a nurse from behind.
He quickly reached for Sam’s hand and tried to sit up, but Sam eased him back down. He held onto Balthazar’s hand. “Shh” he said “It’ll all going to be over soon, okay?” Balthazar nodded. “Me and Dean are going to be right there when you wake up.” The leading nurse came over to tell them that they were going to start the gas. Sam nodded in understanding. Balthazar held more tightly onto Sam’s hand. As the nurse began counting down a few tears formed in his eyes, Sam noticed. “Hey you have to think happy for good dreams.” Sam said gently rubbing Balthazar’s hand with his thumb. Balthazar’s eyes were beginning to slide closed. “You’re going to be just fine.” He said this more as a comfort to himself than the other. And with that Balthazar was out and the surgery began.
After the toddler had been put to sleep Sam was lead into an empty waiting area, lined with a few other chairs, large TV, and magazines on different tables which Dean was already there and waiting alone. Dean looked pretty worried and out of his usual flow. He was in a whole new atmosphere and scenario that he wasn’t exactly that prepared for what was coming so for him to be nervous wasn’t that surprising to Sam.
After a few minutes another nurse came in and sat directly across the Winchesters and explained a little more in depth of what was going to happen. They learned it was going to take a few hours for the entire procedure. The doctors were cutting away the skin and muscle to expose the bone. It would then be moved into a place and then the pins will be put into place and the bone will be stabilized slowly and slowly until the bone is close enough to its proper shape as possible. Afterwards, the arm’s stitched and closed off and Balthazar will be sent to recovery to be monitored, and then moved to the pediatric ward for the night.
It sounded simple but it was going to take over a 2 hours for the procedure to be over. This was going to be their longest 2 hours yet. They sat in the waiting room, mindlessly trying to busy themselves, to make time pass more quickly. They went to cafeteria to get dinner but neither of them ate much and they were eager to get back to the waiting area, in case there were any other updates.
What felt like an eternity was finally up; a nurse came in to tell the Winchesters that he was out of surgery and did fine, he then lead them to the recovery area. It was a large room sectioned off with sliding curtains to provide some privacy between the different patients. They were lead to the Balthazar’s space were they found him in a soft bound cast, propped up on pillows and tucked in with several blankets, there was also a small stuffed teddy bear that looked like an angel right above his head. He was just waking up as they came in.
Sam and Dean sat on each side of the bed, whilst he came to. Balthazar’s eyes opened slowly and looked around the room, his eyes shifted from Sam to Dean. He let out a tired whine and tried to stretch but seemed too fatigued.
After an hour of being monitored, Balthazar was moved to the pediatric wing. Balthazar settled in pretty quickly and was out like a light almost instantly.
Sam checked his watch. It was nearly 1 am; he hadn’t even realized how long they’ve been there. He figured that it probably would be best for one of them to go home and be there for when Cas and Gabriel woke, that is even if they were asleep right now. But another part of him didn’t want to leave Balthazar now and like this. “Hey man” Sam said, “I think one of us need to go home, at least for Bobby’s sake. The kids aren’t going to be too happy when Balthazar isn’t there, at least of us should go.
Dean turned from looking at Balthazar to Sam, “What?” He said apparently he hadn’t heard him.
Sam made up his mind, he was the one that was going. Dean could stay overnight, he doubted that Dean would really have wanted to go anyways. “I think I’m going to head out and be there for the boys in the morning, I think they’d like to be able to see one of us when they get up.”
“Yeah okay” Dean responded in a somewhat awkward yet confused tone “Here” he fished out the impala’s keys and handed them to Sam. “Drive safe”
“I will” He promised, “And call me to keep us updated; I’ll be here to pick you guys up.”
They said goodnight to each other and Sam left for the night.
Sam was on his way back to the hospital to pick up his brother and Balthazar. Gabriel and Cas, who both had stayed up until Sam had come home, were strapped in the back seat. They didn’t really get the right amount of sleep they needed to be in the greatest mood. They were both tired and edgy but that didn’t keep them from wanting to come with Sam. Only on the condition that they were both on their best behavior and weren’t too were they allowed to come, Sam didn’t really want to take them but they weren’t taking no for an answer and Sam knew that if he were in the same position he would have wanted to see his brother too.
Gabriel and Cas sat in their car seats impatiently looking out the window as Sam drove. Cas was holding onto a card that he made for his older brother that he got everybody (except for Dean of course) to sign, he was quite proud of his work. But Gabriel, on the other hand, was pretty cranky because of sleep deprivation.
“Sam” Cas piped up “What’s Balthazar doing right now?”
Before Sam even had the chance to respond Gabriel jumped in “He’s dying. “ Gabriel sneered “Sam’s just taking us to say good bye.”
“Gabriel!” Sam shouted at him
“Oh sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you that yet.”
Cas was already pretty gullible as an adult, but as a baby, it was even worse. He began to breathe heavily and his lower lip began to tremble. “Really?” He said with tear filled eyes.
“No Cas he’s just messing with you.” Sam said trying to avoid what he was hoping wasn’t going to happen next. They weren’t even 10 minutes away from the hospital. “Gabriel tell him the truth.”
Gabriel mouthed to Cas nodded while he mouthed ‘he’s lying’. That did it. In seconds Cas was in full on tears, crying and sobbing. Cas cried saying it was his entire fault, he wasn’t an angel to help his brother and that he didn’t want him to die. It made Gabriel feel guilty but not guilty enough to tell him the truth. Sam tried his best to calm Cas down without taking his eyes off the road. Sam knew he shouldn’t have brought them.
It wasn’t until they were nearly in the parking lot that Cas began to stop crying. Sam parked the car and turned around to the two of them. “Gabriel you better tell your brother the truth right now or so help me god-“
“Okay fine” Gabriel gave in He turned to Cas and apologized and explained himself.
Cas didn’t really seem mad, he didn’t say anything to him accept that it was okay. “Right then let’s go.” Sam said. He unbuckled the two of them and they made their way to the door. Nearly half way there Cas raised his arms to be picked up, which Sam did.
He entered the hospital holding Cas in one hand and hold Gabriel’s hand in the other. They went up the elevator to the ward to meet the rest of their group.
The children’s ward was a pretty good place for any kid really. It was well decorated with all sorts of murals and other décor. The center of the ward, where the front desk and waiting room was located, had a mini aquarium of exotic fishes around the perimeter. By the time Sam had reached the desk to ask the receptionist for Balthazar’s room number, Gabriel was already trying to let go of his had to look at the tanks.
Sam let Gabriel’s hand go. “Okay but stay close, I want to be able to see you.” Gabriel took off before he was even able to even finish, and when Cas saw that Gabriel was able to go, he wanted to go off as well. “And keep an eye on your brother.” He added, watching the both of them run off.
He asked for the room number and was given a visitor’s pass. “Come on, say bye to the fishes.” He called to them. They both ran up to Dean without any quarrel, they pretty happy to finally see their brother.
Sam found the room quickly enough. “We have to be quiet,” Sam said in a low tone, seemingly demonstrating how they should sound “they’ve had a long night.” He knocked twice and opened the door, “easily now.”
He followed in after Gabriel and Cas who walked in somewhat slowly. There was a doctor who putting some supplies back into a cart, preparing to leave.
“Balthazar!” Both Cas and Gabriel chimed, surging forward to see their brother, also ignoring Sam’s earlier warning. Upon hearing their voices, Balthazar tried to sit up slowly, he was drowsy with the pain killers he was given. Dean had to help Balthazar to prop himself up against the bed.
“Well hi to you too” Dean said in a fake angry tone.
Gabriel tried to climb up the side of the bed but his short height didn’t really help that much.
“You’re going to have to be easy now, said the doctor preparing to leave “He just got his cast on, so don’t touch it and no moving him around too much.”
Gabriel nodded in understanding and Dean picked him up and placed him onto the bed. Cas mimicked his older brother and received the same result. Both Cas and Gabriel sat with their brother talking, Cas handed him the card he made. Balthazar opened it and a white powder fell out of it. “It’s salt.” Cas explained, “And see there’s a devil's trap and anti-possession on one side, and the angel warding on the other and Gabriel helped me draw all of us on the back.” Balthazar seemed to be thoroughly impressed and appreciative for the card. But the on-looking doctor, on the other hand, was pretty confused but played it off as kids being kids while he left the room.
A half hour later, Balthazar was discharged and wheeled out (Cas and Gabriel also joined in for the ride) to the front of the hospital; where Dean had driven up to pick everyone up. Soon they were all strapped in and ready to go.
It was one of the quietest and most peaceful rides home they’ve had yet. Neither of the younger boys dared make a noise on a count of their brothers who had fallen asleep almost as soon as they left the hospital.
It was over. Balthazar was coming home, for the most part okay, and everyone was safe. These toddlers brought on chaos and really kept the Winchesters and Bobby on their toes but honestly they wouldn’t have it any other way.