Saints or Sinners | {BOOK 3}

9| Bobby Dies

I was in the waiting room of the trauma center with Maddie and Zep. Sam and Dean had followed Bobby back to where they were trying to save him. We were all on edge.

"Mommy? Is Grandpa Bobby going to die?" Maddie asked.

I stopped bouncing Zep on my knee for a second to look over at my daughter.

"I don't know, baby girl," I replied, voice breaking. "The doctors are going to do everything they can to save him."

Dean came back then, Sam on his heels. They both had tears in their eyes.

"Well?" I asked.

"They... they're trying to get him stabilized now," Dean explained monotonously. "After that... we'll have to see."

He came over and sat on the other side of Maddie. She immediately turned and buried her face in his side. I went back to bouncing Zeppelin to keep him happy while Sam also joined us on the other side of me.

⁘

Sam and Dean took turns going back to get updates on Bobby while I stayed in the waiting room with the kids. They offered to watch them while I took a turn going back, but I refused. I didn't want to see Bobby like that. In a hospital bed on the brink of death. I'd had enough experiences seeing Dean in that position to know that seeing the man who was like a second father to me like that would break me more than it already had.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally let us know that he was stable, they just had to wait for the swelling in his brain to go down so they could find out if it was safe to remove the bullet.

"Ellie?" Dean's voice cut through my thoughts. "Ellie, why don't you take the kids? Go get some fresh air."

"What about you and Sam?" I asked him.

He hesitated, swallowing hard.

"If you're staying here, then so are we, Dean."

"Ellie, please. Maddie's getting restless and you and Zep both need a break. Go find a park or something close by. We'll call you if we hear anything change."

⁘

I couldn't stay away long, and despite the fact that it gave her a chance to stretch her legs, even Maddie got bored of the park quicker than usual. As we were approaching the hospital, I noticed a large group of people outside with their phones out. When we got closer, I realized why. Dean was having a showdown with Dick Roman.

"We're coming for you, and not just to hurt you- to kill you," Dean spat. "You understand me?"

"Come on, Dean. I can't be killed," Dick smirked.

"You're gonna wish you could, then."

Dick laughed and I bit my lip worriedly.

"That's some conviction. You'd really crush it on the motivational circuit."

"You're either laughing because you're scared or you're laughing because you're stupid," Dean growled. "I'll see you soon, Dick."

Dean turned and made eye contact with me briefly before heading back into the hospital. As the crowd began to disperse now that the confrontation was over, I made eye contact with Dick. Then he rolled up the window of the car and it drove off.

"Mommy? Who was that?"

"Don't worry about it, darling. Come on. Let's go inside and find Daddy."

I led my daughter inside and we wandered the halls until we found Sam and Dean. They were talking outside of Bobby's room.

"The swelling's down a little," Sam was saying. "They took him off sedation. Apparently, he- he started fighting his tube. So they pulled  them out, and he's breathing on his own."

"That's good, right? Is that good?"

"Yeah. Well, the doctor said best-case scenario."

"Alright, so when they gonna take the bullet out?"

"Dean, t-they're not even- they're not even gonna try that, not yet."

"What does that mean?"

"The word's 'abrading', I think."

"English."

"Cutting out the dead brain tissue. That's if the doctor even thinks it's worth the risk."

They both glanced over and noticed me and the kids then.

"Can I talk to you?" Sam shot at Dean.

As they moved further away from us, I turned, grabbing one of Maddie's hands.

"Come on, darling. Let's go."

I tried to pull Maddie back toward the waiting room with me, but she had planted her feet. I looked down at her to see her gaze fixed on Bobby's room.

"Maddie, come on," I tried again, but I didn't even move this time.

We were both just staring in at Bobby laying on the hospital bed. His head was bandaged and there were machines all around him making noises. As we stood there, Dean came over once he finished talking with Sam and picked Maddie up. She buried her face in his neck and he put one hand against the back of her head as he held her.

"Come on," he coaxed me gently. "Don't look. Come on."

I followed him, cradling Zep in my arms as he carried Maddie out to the waiting room.

⁘

The doctor came by and said Bobby was starting to show signs of responsiveness and that they were prepping to take him into surgery. If we wanted to see him before, we'd have to pop in quick. We met Sam in the room.

"Grandpa Bobby?" Maddie asked.

"Sorry, we need to get moving," a nurse informed us.

"Right. Yeah," Sam said, glancing at Dean and I then back at Bobby. "Hey, um... Bobby, um, hey..."

He grabbed one of Bobby's hands.

"Just... thanks... for everything."

He let go of the hand and gave it a pat.

"Alright. Please step back," the nurse ordered.

"Yeah," Dean nodded numbly.

Just then, Bobby raised the hand Sam had been holding and opened his eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, stop," I told the nurse. "His eyes are open."

"Bobby?" Dean asked.

"Hey," Sam said.

He put a hand on Bobby's shoulder and Bobby removed the respirator covering his mouth and nose. Sam moved to take both his hands.

"What- don't talk. Don't talk," Dean said. "A pen- I-"

I grabbed the pen and chart at the end of the bed and passed him the pen. He handed it to Sam who handed it to Bobby.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

Breathing heavily, Bobby wrote the numbers "45489" on Sam's hand. When he'd finished he smiled at all of us as we leaned in close.

"Idjits," he rasped.

His head fell back on his pillow and his eyes closed, the monitor closest to him starting to beep. I buried Maddie into my side so she wouldn't have to watch anymore as Dean frantically called out Bobby's name. A second later, the monitor switched to a flatline.