Fork in the Road

Scrubbing her hands frantically in the sink, Sophie sighed as she rubbed some soap into her hands. The short haired woman didn't know why she still was in the business - she hated blood on her hands,even if it's human. Her and her father, Daniel, ran a small 'safehouse' for wounded hunters - where they would recover and be nursed back to health.

Sophie graduated from University with an impressive degree in medicine and neurology, so she was chosen by her dad to be the 'Chief Medic', much to her dismay. Sophie couldn't stomach most of the wounds she saw come in through those doors, but she knew she had too - if she didn't, that wouldn't calm down the wounded. The pale haired woman knew that the best medicine, sometimes, is love and reassurance. Her job required her to be at the safehouse around six days a week, five if she's lucky.

Being snapped out of her thoughts at the bang on the door, she turned off the tap and patted her hands in an attempt to dry them on her jeans. "Yeah?"

"Sophie, we've got a case we need you to look at."

With a sigh, Sophie opened the door and forced a smile at her dad. "Sure... Lead the way."

When they came to the area which they designated for the newcomers, Sophie frowned when she saw a rather tall man sitting with their back to them, a rather hesitant looking smaller man beside him.

"Dean, we can take it from here.. Sam, this is Sophie - she's the best medic here."

Sam? The Sam who was her first real friend, then abandoned her? No, it's not him... It couldn't be him.

Sam struggled to even walk with his brother's support, an arm wrapped delicately around the younger brother's waist, not wanting to aggravate the wound any further. Dean had finally clued into the fact that something was wrong because that night, Sam had tossed back and forth in his sleep, a thin layer of sweat shining over his skin and much to his horror, blood had seeped into Sam's shirt when Dean tried to figure out what was wrong.

Slumped over in the chair, Sam grimaced as he pressed a hand to his side. Dean was rambling about something and yet, he couldn't focus on the words because the only thing that seemed to matter as the throbbing, burning pain in his side that only seemed to worsen by the minute.

At the sound of Daniel's voice, Sam raised his head enough to give a slight nod of his head. "I'm," his voice thick, he had to pause to lick over his lips before continuing, "fine."

Dean scoffed, gave a slight shake of his head before he raised to his feet to turn and face the two. "We were hunting a vampire a week or so ago. We got separated and when we found each other again, Sam was hurt but he said he was fine," he spoke, scoffing at the idea. He motioned toward his brother, gritting his teeth, irritation clear as day.

"Which, if you ask me, is a fuckin' lie. A gaping wound on his side that is clearly infected doesn't strike me as fine but what do I know?" Dean finished, glaring daggers at Sam. He shifted his weight from one side to the other, crossing his arms.

It really was them.. The Winchester brothers. After four years, she'd found them again - but in a situation she didn't want to ever be in. When Dean was clearly making Sam tense, which would mean the wound on his side would be under more friction and pain, she let out a small sigh.

"Stress isn't good for someone with an infected wound." Sophie finally spoke up, taking a step forward. She didn't meet Sam's gaze - frankly, she was pissed at him for leaving her without a note or anything. "Lacerations generally start to heal within a few days, but when they become infected it takes longer with the possible chance of the infection spreading.. Now, would you like your brother to become healed, or would you like to push more stress on him which will aggravate the wound?"

When Dean looked at her quizzically, wondering how he knew Sam was his brother, Sophie finally looked at Sam. "Hey, Sam. It's been a while, huh?" She managed a small smile, as she walked away briefly to return with a large med-kit.

Casting a glance over at Dean, she frowned when she saw a small cut along his finger which looked fresh - probably from the hunt. "... That cut on your finger, if it gets too close to this wound it may become much worse." That was her subtle way of telling the other Winchester to go away - and she hoped he got the idea.

Her gaze returned to Sam, when she pointed at the blood soaked side of his shirt. "Can I see what we're dealing with?"

The moment that voice reached his ears, Sam let out a bitter curse because he knew exactly who it belonged to. He didn't need to be told who because that voice would never belong to anyone other than one Sophie Williams. He swallowed around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and tried to force away the nerves that grew.

A half smile twisted onto his lips as she returned and he gave a half-hearted nod of his head at the question. A while. Too long even.

"Go stuff your face, Dean," Sam muttered, taking a deep breath as he locked eyes with his brother. Dean raised an eyebrow but when Sam gave a nod, he twisted around and headed off to find whatever the nearest food was.

Sam looked like he wanted to deny Sophie's request but another wave of pain washed over him and he knew that anything but lifting his shirt up would be detrimental. Inching his hips forward so he could lay back as much as possible, Sam used his right arm to push his shirt up his torso to reveal a deep wound on his left side.

"Dean worries too much," Sam said, dropping his head backward. "It's just gotta heal, it's not that damn serious."

Upon seeing the wound, Sophie shook her head before looking up at Sam with a small smirk. "I see why he worries - that wound is too deep for your own safety. This won't heal without stitches and some tender care." She turned serious again, as she opened the med-kit and looked inside of it before pulling out a small bottle. "This will take the pain off slightly, it will sting at first like a bitch... But just give it a couple of seconds, okay?"

Placing a glove on her left hand, she squeezed out the contents and gently rubbed it into the surrounding skin - but not on the wound itself. She flinched herself when Sam showed signs of pain, as she tried to push it into the back of her mind.

Pulling away, she threw the glove into the trash and turned back towards Sam. "So, ur.. How've you been...?" It sounded more like a question, as Sophie wasn't sure what to say. What could she say to the man who she was about to confess her love to the day he vanished?

"Looks like Dean hasn't changed from his usual stubborn self.." Now equipped with the equipment to patch him up, she hesitated before looking directly into his eyes. "I don't care what you say, this needs to be stitched up... I don't wanna' see you in pai-" Stopping herself mid sentence, she cleared her throat. "Just focus on my voice and it'll be over soon, okay?"

Way to fuck that one up

Sam gritted his teeth against the pain that flared up and he struggled to contain the whimper that slipped to the tip of his tongue. No way in hell was he going to start acting like a coward in front of a girl, let alone someone like Sophie. Rolling his head in the direction away from her, Sam let out a dry sounding laugh.

"Hunting, don't really get a time to relax," Sam answered through gritted teeth. He exhaled slowly, struggling to pull his mind back to reality so that he could focus on ignoring the burning in his side.

At the mention of Dean, Sam couldn't help but let out a full bodied laugh, only to grunt and pull his knees closer at the irritation that it caused. "Dean is still the same old, stubborn bastard he was all those years ago."

The next words out of Sophie's mouth surprised him and yet, he laid there without saying a thing, looking into her brilliant brown eyes. The left side of his mouth quirked upward in a smirk as he leaned forward as much as he dared, "it's nice to see that you made it so far, Soph. I never would have guessed you'd be the most sought after medic for hunters."

After his words, Sophie looked up from attending to the wound and found herself caught under his gaze. Being the nervous little thing she saw, she felt heat rise to her cheeks, as she smiled softly, before quickly averting her line of sight to his wound. "It's not my favourite job in the world - but it helps people, and that's what I aim to do with my life."

With a final stitch, Sophie cut the thread and then placed a dressing over the wound, in order to allow it to heal without getting snagged on anything.

Throwing the gloves that were on her hands quickly into the bin, she wiped her hands on her jeans - just to be sure the germs were off. "My advice would be to take a rest for at least two days, so that means you'll keep your ass in bed." Pointing an accusing finger, her serious exterior was busted by the smile making it's way onto her face.

"You're welcome to stay, I mean.. If you want, of course. My shift technically ended forty minutes ago, so we could... Catch up? Like, over a coffee or something. It's totally fine if not, because... Yeah." Rubbing the back of her neck realising she was going on about a little thing, she let out a small laugh. "I still have my habit of talking too much when nervous.."

Why did you say you were nervous?