The Thomas Case: Part 1: The clinic

The Thomas Case: Part 1: The clinic

A/N : finally tackling this one, so at least I could leave those poor Thomas alone when this case is over.

Xxxxx

« Are you okay? » -Dean asked as he parked the car and turned off the engine.-

« I am trying. » -Oya said, her fingers tapped against her knee and she looked past the car window-

« I know. » -He put his hand over hers. « I want you to know that I'm here. »

« As you've always been. » -Oya turned to face him and gave him a soft smile. -

Dean was there when Oya received the hysterical call from Sarah Thomas. He was there when she dropped the phone and had a mental breakdown when she realized that her « brother » had been attacked and might not survive it. He helped her get herself together and decided that he would not let her hunt alone. Oya was reckless, especially when her emotions were twisted-up. He had never met Sarah and Joshua Thomas, but he knew that Oya considered them family and they had been friends since they were teenagers. He knew that she didn't care about her safety when she was emotionally troubled, just like she did when she faced the Asanbosam that slaughtered her family. The deep scars on her arms proved that she could potentially kill herself while trying to get the monsters responsible for what happened to her family. So he wouldn't leave her alone.

« Ready? » She asked him.

« I am. » -They left the car, Dean followed Oya who was brisk-walking into the hospital with just one goal in mind, find Sarah Thomas.-

Sarah was sitting on the hospital chair. She had not been sleeping for days now and her eyes were puffy and red from all the tears she had cried. Ever since she was called by doctors, she was unable to find some rest. How could she, when the life of her brother was on the line? As soon as she arrived at the hospital and saw how mangled Joshua, she called Oya. Since then, she just lost track of time, so much so that when she saw Oya, she stood up from her chair and ran towards her.

« Oya !!! Oya... oh my god. » -Oya blinked and wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her into a tight hug while the blonde let her hands hold onto the hunter's shoulders.-

« I came... I'm here... » -Oya's voice was a whisper as she held onto her friend as tight as she could. Her lips were trembling as she was trying to hold back a sob.-

« Thank you. » She said, pulling away so she could wipe out the tears that fell on her cheeks « I'm sorry Dean. This wasn't the way I wanted us to first meet. I'm Sarah...Sarah Thomas. » -She said outstretching her hand towards Dean.-

« I know who you are. » He said shaking her hand. « It's fine. »

He looked at her blue eyes, at the conflict between how she felt since she finally met him and how she felt about the situation she was in. She had teased Oya about meeting Dean for years now and had always imagined the moment to somewhat be as « apple pie » as it came. Ever since she rekindled her relationship with the brunette, Sarah noticed the joy on Oya's face. She knew how important Dean was to her friend and wanted to welcome him in her family as well. Yes, as « apple pie » as they come. However, her mind was scrambled since her brother was attacked. Sarah was nervous, restless and her dry lips were breaking. she glanced at Oya who was fighting hard to keep it together and gently cupped her cheek. It warmed her heart to see the concern in the eyes of her friend. It warmed her heart to see that she actually came.

« Can I see him? » -Oya asked while she looked up to her friend, who nodded quietly and turned on her heels. -

« Visits aren't allowed, for now, his room has to be sterile. But we can see him through the windows and we can... talk to him. A nurse agreed to use her phone so I could record a message for him. It had excellent results. » -She kept walking, leading Oya and Dean to the hospital rooms.-

« Ah... we can't see him... » Oya sounded disappointed and horrified. She realized how serious the situation was, so serious that she couldn't even come to visit him. « But.. we can record messages, right ? I recorded one, while Dean drove me here. It's errr... Can I send it over so you can send it to the nurse? » She asked while flipping her phone out of her pocket. Sarah nodded and kept walking.

« I'm sure he's going to love it. » -She kept silent for a while and led them to the elevator.- « I've gathered all I know about Joshua's whereabouts,. I can fill you in after we saw Joshua if you're okay with it? We could go to the hospital's cantina? »

« It'll be great. We need to have an idea of where he went, what he did in order to know where to start. » -Dean intervened.-,

While Oya was being silent and leaned against the elevator. Dean glanced at her and his hand found hers, brushing lightly the soft skin of her hand. Oya looked up at his face and gave him a tight smile before she looked at Sarah who walked out of the elevator once it's stopped. Oya held back her breath. For her, it felt like slow motion. Everyone was walking slowly around her. The words, the sounds, everything came distorted because she was getting closer to Joshua. She knew it would be bad, if it wasn't, Sarah wouldn't have had puffy red eyes, she wouldn't look so exhausted. She was trying to brace herself for the shock, so much so that when she finally reached the hospital room, the young woman gasped. The sight before her was traumatic. Joshua was intubated and sedated so he wouldn't feel pain. His left side was badly burned. He still had a huge open chest and the sight of his damaged ribcage, and his burned skin and his painful groans hurt her soul.

« Joshua... » -Oya put her hand over her mouth and started to cry and put her hand over the window.- « Joshua... Hold on, please. I'm here. »

She cried harder and Dean quickly grabbed her hand, allowing her to squeeze as hard as she could. Sarah gently put her hand on her shoulder and wiped fresh tears. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage, from the renewed pain to see her brother between life-and-death and from the sight of her sister understanding and sharing her pain. She gently removed her hand from Oya's shoulder. The ebony hunter turned around and wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug. The world became dark again, so dark that she couldn't breathe. She was so angry. So determined to find who did this to her brother.

Sarah lifted her eyebrows and looked down at her feet. She knew Oya needed a moment to get herself together and accept that Joshua was in a very dire situation. Watching her cry was painful and Sarah scratched the back of her head. The only silver lining was to see Dean comforting Oya. Seeing how much he cared for her, comforted the blonde who could see that he truly cared for the ebony hunter and he was committed to helping her find who did this to Joshua. They needed to know where to start and Sarah was eager to share her knowledge.