Hell on the Heart

In My Time Of Dying

Sam awoke to the sound of ‘Bad Moon Rising’ playing on the radio unable to recall what had just happened until he saw the truck that had crashed into them on the highway and the unaffected driver get out of the cab, making his way towards them. The young hunter swallowed, barely able to focus but he kept his eyes on the man walking towards him aware that something wasn’t quite right. In fact, he was pretty sure that the truck driver was possessed by a demon and without taking his eyes off the man coming towards him; he reached down and wrapped his fingers around the Colt.

The possessed truck driver ripped the driver’s side door off its hinges, Sam pointing the Colt at him without any hesitation.

“Back or I’ll kill you. I swear to God,” He warned the trucker, the man’s little show of strength confirming his suspicions that he was indeed under a demonic possession.

“You won’t. You’re saving that bullet for someone else,” The demon taunted him and Sam cocked the gun in his hands, loading one of the bullets ready to fire.

“You wanna bet?”

The demon smiled but chose to go with its flight instinct rather than chance Sam shooting him and it escaped the truck driver’s body, black smoke pouring out of the man’s mouth and vanishing into the night sky. Sam watched as the truck driver collapsed to the ground and uncocked the Colt, dropping his head back against his seat in relief. If the demon had chosen to fight and he had missed the shot, he wasn’t sure what would have happened but he knew that it wouldn’t have been pretty. The demon had obviously run them off the road on purpose.

“Oh my God!” The trucker suddenly cried out, coming round and taking in the sight of the crash before him.

Sam was aware that the man was bound to be feeling confused but he was more concerned with the welfare of his father and brother. He looked at his dad beside him, noticing the blood on his face.

“Dad?”

“Did I do this?” The bewildered trucker asked Sam but the hunter ignored him, intent on trying to get a response out of his family.

“Dad!” Sam called out to his father, hoping that he would wake up before he turned his attention to his brother who was silent in the backseat. “Dean? Dean!!”

Harlow awoke with a start to the shrill sound of her phone ringing and immediately sat bolt upright in bed, her eyes scanning the darkness of the room as her hand slipped beneath her pillow and clutched the .45 she kept under there. Given what she had been through in the past with her father and everything she had previously discovered about what dangers lurked in the dark, the gun made her feel safe especially since Sam had made sure it was loaded with rock salt bullets before he left to hit the road with his family once more.

The piercing shriek of her cell phone still rang out throughout her home and, realizing that she wasn't in any imminent danger the redhead dropped her hold on the gun and reached over to switch on her bedside lamp, picking up her cell phone as she did so and noticing that it had just turned four in the morning. She cursed; whoever it was better have a good reason for calling her so damn early on her day off.

“Hello?” She asked, her voice still laden with the sleep she had just been disturbed from but the voice that answered her woke her up faster than any cold splash of water to the face ever could.

“Hey Harl', it's me...”

“Sam?! What is it? What's wrong?!” Harlow demanded to know, her instincts telling her that something had happened to her boyfriend. Why else would he be calling her early morning whilst away on a hunt with his family?

“I need you to do something for me, okay?” Sam asked, Harlow nodding even though she was well aware that he was unable to see her.

“What is it?”

“I need you to not freak out when I tell you something...”

“You playing Mr. Cryptic is hardly going to keep me from 'freaking out', Sam...” Harlow replied, throwing back the covers and swinging her legs out of the bed. “Just tell me what's wrong, I know this isn't a social call,” She told him, rising to her feet and making her way out of her bedroom intent on getting some caffeine in her system.

“Okay, just listen to me... There's been an accident, a demon ran us off the road and I'm okay, but...” Sam trailed off and Harlow came to a halt at the top of her stairs.

“But, what?” The redhead asked, leaning against the wall beside her and preparing herself for whatever news her boyfriend was about to share with her.

“Dad's laid up pretty bad and Dean...” Sam fell silent.

Harlow peeled herself away from the wall; “Is he okay? Sam? Sammy, baby, talk to me…”

“Dean's in a really bad way, he's in a coma and I don't know what to do…” Sam finally spoke again and Harlow could hear the worry and fear in his voice. “I'm a mess, Harl', and I guess I just needed to hear your voice...”

“Okay, now it's your turn to listen to me...” Harlow began assertively as she made her way back towards her bedroom. Her coffee could wait; she needed to get dressed and ready to go see Sam.
“You need to call Gina and tell her what's happened and where you guys are. I'm going to make my way over to her place and we're coming to be with you…”

“Harl’…”

“Don't try to fight me on this one, Sam Winchester, because you'll lose….” The redhead snapped, throwing the doors to her closet open as she cradled her phone between her ear and shoulder. “We're coming and that's that...”

“Okay…” Sam conceded, knowing that Harlow was right and that this wasn’t a fight he was going to win. Besides, a part of him really wanted her to be at the hospital with him while he waited for news on his brother.

“Right, I need to get dressed…” Harlow told him. “Call Gina and let her know that I’m on my way to get her…”

“I will…And Harl’?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you…”

“I love you too and I’ll see you soon….” Harlow told him with a smile before the line went dead and she snapped her phone shut, tossing it onto the bed so that she could get ready to drive over to her best friend’s house.

The sound of her phone ringing disturbed Gina from her work and she glanced up from her sketchbook to look over at the clock on her study wall. It was a little after four in the morning and it dawned on her then that she had stayed up all night again. In an attempt to keep herself busy while Dean was away the brunette had started staying late at her office and then returning home to continue working on sketches of her new designs. She rose from her seat at her desk, grabbing her phone out of her purse on the floor and answering the call.

“Hello?”

“Gina, it’s Sam…” Sam’s voice was weak and Gina guessed that the boys had just finished a hunt.
“Sam, you sound like hell, what happened?” The brunette wanted to know and Sam sighed before answering her.

“Gina… There was an accident…” He trailed off, his heart breaking at the thought of having to tell his brother’s girlfriend what had happened.

“What?!” Gina shrieked, grabbing her purse and heading out of her study, forgetting all about her sketches. “What happened, Sam?!”

“Some truck driver, he was possessed, and he ran the Impala off the road…”

“Where are you guys? I’m leaving right now!”

“Gina, slow down and listen to me…”

Gina stopped running around just long enough to listen to what Sam was trying to tell her; “What is it?”

“Dean’s laid up real bad…” Sam sighed. “They’re not sure if he’s gonna wake up, G’…”

Gina felt the world around her crumble. Her entire life, everything that had seemed so perfect up until those words had left Sam’s mouth had seemingly gone up in flames in less than a minute.

“Gina?” Sam’s voice sounded distant to her, more distant than it should have, even over the phone.

“Sam, please tell me the truth about him. I’ve only just got him back, I’m not prepared to lose him again,” Gina sobbed. “What have the doctors said?”

“I haven’t heard from any of them in a while but they say it’s not looking good…” Sam replied honestly. “G’, if this is it for him; he’d want you to be here… Harlow said that…”

Their conversation was cut short by someone banging at Gina’s front door and Gina glanced out of the window to see her red-haired friend pacing anxiously on her doorstep.

“Harlow’s here, Sammy…” Gina announced, running downstairs with her phone still glued to her ear. She swung the door open to reveal the distressed redhead, dressed in jeans and a hoodie with a small overnight bag slung over her shoulder. “Come in, I’m still on the phone with Sam…”

“Has he told you where they are yet? I told him to tell you while I drove over here…” Harlow said, walking into the house and Gina shook her head before speaking into the phone.

“Sam, you need to tell me where you guys are so that we can head out…”

Sam was silent on the other end and Gina started to pace, gesturing to Harlow to go get her bag and purse from upstairs. The redhead nodded and shot up the stairs to retrieve her friend’s belongings.

“Sam?”

“We’re in St Michael’s Memorial Hospital, South Dakota…” Sam sighed.

“We’re on our way; we should be with you in a few hours….” Gina told him as Harlow came down the stairs, carrying the bag Gina had packed hastily and her black purse.

“Okay but Gina…”

“Yeah?”

“Drive safe…” Sam told her, Gina smiling at the irony of his request as she watched Harlow dig around in the purse she was holding for the keys to the brunette’s car.

“We’ll see you in a few hours, Sammy…” Gina gung up the phone, holding her hand out towards Harlow for the car keys the redhead had just fished out of the purse and Harlow passed them to her. “Okay, we’ve got a long drive ahead of us so let’s boogie…”

Gina took hold of her overnight bag, slinging a small jacket over her arm before heading towards the door and Harlow stood watching her, a look of worry suddenly falling across her face. The brunette noticed that her friend wasn’t following her and turned around to face her.

“What is it, Harl’?”

“Gina…” Harlow walked up to her friend slowly. “What if what was after the boys comes after us?”
She asked in a small voice and Gina patted her bag, offering the redhead a small reassuring smile.

“I’m fully prepared for that, Harl’…” The brunette told her. “You don’t date a Winchester boy and not pick up a trick or two along the way...”

“Are you sure?” Harlow looked scared, something was after the Winchesters and she knew that herself or the brunette facing her could easily be the ‘thing’s’ next target just for being associated with them.

“Harlow, I’m sure…” Gina moved to put her arm around her surrogate little sister and guided her out of her home. “Not only do I date a hunter but I was raised by one. Don’t worry; if anything comes at us, I’ve got it covered…”

Taking comfort in the knowledge that Harlow and Gina were both on their way to the hospital, despite being hours out, Sam decided that he was going to pay Dean a visit. He headed down the hallway towards the room his big brother was being kept in, stopping at the doorway and staring at Dean lying lifelessly on the bed and hooked up to all kinds of machines.

“Oh, no…” Sam sniffed, walking into the room, his gaze never once leaving Dean’s face. The last time he had seen his brother in a hospital bed, Dean had been told that his heart was so messed up he only had a short time to live. Sam hadn’t accepted that, convincing his sibling to go and see a faith healer and as he stood at Dean’s bedside he knew that he wasn’t going to give up this time either.
A doctor came into the room behind him to do a routine check on Dean’s vitals and he glanced at Sam, offering him a small friendly smile.

“Your father’s awake. You can go see him if you like.”

Sam glanced at the doctor; “Doc, what about my brother?”

The doctor looked up from reading the chart in his hands; “Well, he sustained serious injury; blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But it’s the head trauma I’m worried about. There’s early signs of cerebral oedema.”

“Well, what can we do?” Sam asked, the doctor looking back at him sympathetically.

“Well, we won’t know his full condition until he wakes up…” He glanced at Dean. “If he wakes up.”
“If?”

The doctor looked back at the anxious young man knowing that he was desperate for some reassurance that his brother was going to be okay but he had no choice but to tell him the truth.

“I have to be honest…” He placed Dean’s chart back into its holder at the end of Dean’s bed and made eye contact with Sam. “Most people with this degree of injury wouldn’t have survived this long. He’s fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations.”

The doctor left the room, leaving Sam to process his words and Sam looked at his brother, feeling helpless but making a solemn vow not to give up on him. Not yet.

A while later, John Winchester rested in his hospital bed, one arm in a sling. Like his eldest son, he had been admitted to the hospital but had come around from his concussion and was now under observation while Dean was down the corridor fighting for his life. The subject of medical insurance had been brought up and Sam stood beside his father’s bed, watching as he pulled a card awkwardly out of his wallet using his single good hand.

“Here. Give them my insurance,” John offered the card out to his youngest child who took it, smiling as he read the name embossed on it.

“Elroy McGillicutty?” Sam asked with a grin, John smiling as he watched him take a seat in the empty chair beside his bed.

“And his two loving sons,” He said before his face fell into a more serious expression. “So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?”

“Nothing,” Sam shrugged. “Look. The doctors won’t do anything, then we’ll have to, that’s all. I don’t know. I’ll find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him…” He told his father, a strange feeling that he had heard those exact words somewhere before but he couldn’t quite place where.

“We’ll look for someone,” John agreed, Sam nodding his head.

“Yeah…”

“But Sam, I don’t know if we’re gonna find anyone,” John told his son who looked back at him in disbelief, his dark gaze questioning his fathers doubt.

“Why not? I found that faith healer before,” Sam reminded him, purposely leaving out the part when they found out that Roy LeGrange was actually getting a little help from his wife Sue Anne who was in cahoots with a Reaper.

“Right, that was, that was one in a million,” John argued, Sam becoming angry at his words.

“So what? Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?” He snapped and John shook his head at him.

“No, I said we’d look. All right? I’ll check under every stone…” The head of the Winchester family insisted and there was a moment of silence between him and his son before he asked the question that had been on his mind since the moment he had regained consciousness. “Where’s the Colt?”

Sam stared at his father in disbelief; “Your son is dying, and you’re worried about the Colt?”

“We’re hunting this demon, and maybe it’s hunting us too. That gun may be our only card.”

Sam conceded, too tired to argue with his Dad about his priorities; “It’s in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83.”

“All right…” John nodded his head slowly. “You’ve gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man see’s what’s inside.”

“I already called Bobby. He’s like an hour out, he’s gonna tow the Impala back to his place,” Sam explained wishing that his father would show more concern about Dean than the damn Colt.

“All right. You,” John paused. “You go meet up with Bobby, you get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security.”

“I think I’ve got it covered,” Sam replied bluntly. “The girls should be here soon by the way…”

John looked at his son in surprise; “You called them?”

“Well, yeah…” Sam nodded. “Gina needs to be here for Dean, Dad…”

“You shouldn’t have involved her…” John shook his head.

“Why not? She has every right to be here. She’s Dean’s girlfriend…” Sam argued, sitting forward in his seat.

“Because they could get followed, Sam…” John replied harshly. “And then what?”

“The girls can handle themselves, Dad. You’re forgetting that Gina’s a Baker…” Sam rose from his seat, looking back at his Dad and gesturing to the medical insurance card he held in his hand. “I’m going to go deal with this; I’ll be back in a little bit…”

“Hey,” John stopped Sam from moving away from the bed, picking up a slip of paper and handing it to him. “Here. I made a list of things I need, have Bobby pick them up for me.”

Sam took the list, reading over what his father had written down; “Acacia? Oil of Abramelin? What’s this stuff for?”

He looked up at John who simply stared back at him blankly.

“Protection,” He told his son bluntly.

Sam nodded, folding over the list and heading towards the door. He paused, turning back to glance at his father, remembering what Yellow Eyes had said to him.

“Hey, Dad? You know, the demon, he said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?” The young hunter asked, watching in disappointment as his father shook his head.

“No, I don’t…”

Sam stared at him for a moment before accepting his answer and leaving the room, heading towards the nurses station to hand in his father’s medical insurance card.

The girls arrived at the hospital a lot quicker than expected thanks to Gina driving like a maniac down the highway to get to South Dakota in record time. It had still taken them five hours to get there but they had finally made it. They rushed into the building, both eager to be with their boys and were just about to ask the nurse behind the reception desk for details on the Winchester’s when Harlow spotted Sam, his face swollen and bruised, walking towards the hot drinks machine.

“Sam!” She called out, running up to him as he spun around to face her and she threw her arms around him in a hug that was fuelled by happiness and relief.

“Hey Harl’” Sam greeted her, returning her embrace and burying his nose in her hair. “I can’t believe you’re here…”

Harlow stepped back to look up at him, holding him at arms length.

“Are you crazy? Of course I was going to come…” The redhead stated as she studied him. He had cuts on his face and blood stains on the brown jacket he was wearing but he was alive and that was all that mattered to her. She knew that things could have been a lot worse.

They shared a small smile before Sam stepped to her and pulled her into another hug, kissing the side of her head; “I’m so glad that you’re here, Harl’…”

Gina approached them, her green eyes filled with worry; “Sam, where is he?”

Sam looked back at her, holding Harlow close to his chest and his eyes telling a tale of imminent heartbreak; “Gina, it’s not looking good, just so you know…”

“I don’t care,” Gina stated adamantly. “Just tell me where he is, Sammy…” She demanded fiercely and Sam nodded his head, moving to place his arm around Harlow’s shoulders so that he could keep her close to him.

“Follow me…”

The trio walked towards Dean’s room in silence, Gina anxious about her boyfriend’s current condition as she followed Sam and Harlow down the corridor. She felt her heart fall through to the pit of her stomach when Sam stopped outside an open door and stepped aside allowing her to catch her first glimpse of an unconscious Dean hooked up to all kinds of machines.

“Oh my God…” She whispered, walking into the room and standing beside Dean’s bed.

Sam and Harlow walked into the room behind her, Sam letting go of Harlow to stand next to Gina.
“The doctor says we won’t know his full condition until he wakes up…” The young hunter cast a sideways glance at the woman he already considered to be his sister-in-law. “If he wakes up…”

Gina glanced at him; “He’s going to wake up, Sam. There’s no ‘if’ about it…”

“Gina…”

“No…” The brunette shook her head, staring back at Dean. “He’s going to wake up and I’m going to be right here when he does…”

Gina pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed, taking hold of Dean’s hand and stroking the pad of her thumb across his skin.

“It’s okay, baby, I’m right here…” She told him. “We’re going to get through this… I’m not losing you again, you hear me?”

Sam exchanged a glance with Harlow before clearing his throat and pulling his father’s list out of his jeans pocket.

“Uh, Dad needs me to go to Bobby’s and pick up some things…” He informed the girls and Gina dug one-handed into the purse on her lap, pulling out her car keys.

“Of course he does…” The brunette muttered, knowing that John was probably still on the hunt. “Take my car, Harlow will go with you…” She offered her car keys out to Sam, her gaze never leaving Dean’s face.

“But Gina…” Harlow started to protest but Gina shook her head.

“Not now, Harl’…” She scolded the redhead. “Just go with Sam to Bobby’s. I’m going to wait here for this son of a bitch to wake up…”

“Gina…” Sam trailed off when Gina shot him a meaningful glare.

“Go, Sam…” She snapped, thrusting the keys at him and Sam looked at Harlow helplessly, unsure of what he should do. Demons and other scary creatures, he could handle, but Gina when she was concerned about Dean was a force to be reckoned with and one that he wasn’t willing to take on alone.

Harlow shrugged her shoulders at her boyfriend before stepping forward and taking the keys out of the brunettes hand; “We’ll be back as soon as we can, Gina…”

Gina nodded, watching the redhead lead Sam out into the hallway before turning her attention back to Dean and bringing his hand up to her lips.

“I swear to God, Dean Winchester, when you wake up, I’m going to kick your ass for scaring the hell out of me…” She whispered, kissing his fingers.

Sam and Harlow stared at the mangled wreck that had once been Dean’s beloved car as they stood hand in hand in Bobby’s junkyard.

“Oh man, Dean is gonna be pissed…” Sam sighed, Harlow glancing up at him.

“Understatement of the year, Sammy…”

Bobby walked around the smashed Impala, inspecting it. He had to be honest; there wasn’t much of a car left.

“Look, Sam…” He glanced over at the youngest of the Winchester brothers. “I say we empty the trunk, sell the rest for scrap…”

Sam shook his head, letting go of Harlow’s hand to walk over to the car wreck; “No. Dean would kill me if we did that. When he gets better he’s gonna want to fix this.”

He reached inside the car, pulling out his laptop and sighing when the screen came right off in his hands and Bobby shook his head as he looked under the hood of the Impala.

“There’s nothing to fix,” He stated, slamming the hood down and looking back at Sam. “The frame’s a pretzel, and the engine’s ruined. There’s barely any part worth salvaging…”

Sam leaned on the car, looking across at the man who had been more of a father to him at times than his own had; “Listen to me, Bobby. If there’s only one working part, that’s enough. We’re not just going to give up on…”

Harlow came to stand next to him, sensing how upset he was getting and placed her hand on the small of his back, leaning into him. Bobby looked over at the young couple and could see how much hope they both held in their hearts not just for the car but for Dean as well and he nodded his head slowly.

“Okay…” The old hunter said quietly. “You got it…”

Sam pulled his father’s list of his jacket pocket, offering it out to Bobby; “Here, uh, Dad asked for you to get this stuff for him.”

Bobby took the slip of paper, reading over what was written on it and frowning; “What’s John want with this?”

“Protection from the demon?” Sam guessed but the look Bobby gave him told him there was something his father wasn’t telling him about the items on the list. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just, um…” Bobby trailed off, unsure of what to tell the young man in front of him.

“Bobby? What’s going on?” Sam asked, Harlow clutching his arm as if to hold him back from flying off the handle and Bobby stared at them for a moment before letting out a breath.

“You two better follow me….” He said, gesturing to the couple to accompany him to his house where he knew he could tell them what he had to tell them in safety.

Gina sat beside Dean, her hand clutching his as her green eyes stared at his face willing him to open his eyes and look back at her.

“Hey Gina…” John said softly and the brunette looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

“Hey…” She greeted him, turning back to look at Dean.

“How’s he doing?”

“He’s fighting, as always…” Gina replied bluntly and John smiled slightly as he walked further into the room.

“That’s my boy…” He said, walking around to the other side of Dean’s bed and pulling up a chair.

“Have you called anyone for help?” Gina asked suddenly, glancing up at the man she knew would one day class as her father-in-law. “I mean, the doctors are just sitting around with their thumbs up their asses waiting for him to wake up but we know people, right? People who can help…” She looked back at Dean, stroking her fingers over his hand. “Sam found that faith healer to fix him that one time…”

“That was a lucky shot in the dark, Gina…” John replied, looking over at the brunette.

“So, what? We just sit here and wait for nature to take its course?” Gina snapped, John shaking his head at her.

“No…”

“Then call somebody for help, John! Surely you know someone who can lay some hoodoo mojo on him?” She implored, her green eyes pleading with the man across from her to do something other than sit there and watch Dean slowly fade away from them.

“I’m working on something….”

“You’re working on sitting on your ass while your son dies…” Gina bit out angrily. “You know, he’s done everything you’ve ever asked him to. Everything. He’s sacrificed a Hell of a lot for you and this is how you’re going to repay him? You’re just going to sit there and watch him fight for his life? I mean, what the Hell kind of father are you, John?!”

John remained calm as he looked back at the brunette who was glaring at him. He knew she was only angry because of how scared she was for Dean; he understood that, he was scared too. He was just dealing with it in a different way.

“I told you I’ve got a plan…”

“Yeah, as always, the great John Winchester has a plan…”Gina huffed, shaking her head at him as he stood up out of his seat. “Where are you going now?” She demanded to know and John looked back at her.

“I’m getting off my ass and helping my son like you want me to….” He said taking one last look at his son before walking out of the room and Gina watched him go before turning back to Dean and squeezing his hand.

“No offence, baby, but your Dad’s a jackass…”

Sam and Harlow returned from Bobby’s and Sam was far from happy. He stalked into his father’s room carrying the duffel bag full of things he had picked up at Bobby’s, Harlow close behind him and hoping that he wasn’t about to explode like he did at the junkyard when he’d discovered what his dad was really planning.

“You’re quiet…” John pointed out, looking over at Sam who was staring out of the window, seething in anger.

Sam turned around at his fathers words, hurling the bag onto John’s bed with a loud crash uncaring if he had broken anything inside of it as he glared at his dad; “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

“Sam…” Harlow attempted to keep the peace, stepping forward to placate Sam but he shrugged her off.

“What are you talking about?” John asked, feigning innocence which just seemed to make Sam angrier.

“That stuff from Bobby, you don’t use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one. You’re planning on bringing the demon here, aren’t you? Having some stupid macho showdown?!” Sam started to pace the room, Harlow watching him.

“Sam, calm down…” She said but Sam shook his head, bringing his hands up to his hair and tugging at it in frustration as he looked back at her.

“No, Harlow, he’s being an idiot…”

“I have a plan, Sam.” John spoke up, making Sam turn quickly to look back at him.

“That’s exactly my point! Dean is dying, and you have a plan!” He threw his hands up in the air as he stared his father down. “You know what; you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!”

“Come on, Sam, don’t do this…” Harlow pleaded with him, knowing that now was neither the time nor the place to have a heated argument. They all needed to focus on helping Dean get better, not turning on each other.

“Do not tell me how I feel! I am doing this for Dean!” John snapped, angry at his youngest son for accusing him of loving the cause more than his own flesh and blood.

“How? How is revenge going to help him? You’re not thinking about anybody but yourself, it’s the same selfish obsession!” Sam argued as Harlow tried to come between the two Winchester men in a bid to stop a war breaking out between them.

“Guys, come on…”

“You know, it’s funny, I thought it was your obsession too! This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you’d killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened.” John shouted at his son who looked back at him in disbelief.

“It was possessing you, Dad, I would have killed you too.” Sam pointed out.

“Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now.” John snapped, Sam glaring back at him.

“Will you two stop? This is not helping anyone!” Harlow insisted but the two men didn’t even acknowledge the fact that she had even spoke, two busy fighting with each other to notice anything.

“Go to Hell.” Sam moved away from his father’s bed, hurt by his words.

“I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong…” John continued and Harlow had finally had enough.

“Just SHUT UP!” She yelled before John’s glass of water flew off the table beside them and crashed to the ground, the glass shattering instantly.

The trio looked at each other in confusion, stunned by what had just happened just as alarms started to ring in the hallway and nurses and doctors ran past the room.

“Something’s going on out there,” John said, jerking his head at Sam telling him without words that he wanted him to go find out what was happening.

Gina stood in the doorway of Dean’s room, her hands clasped together as she watched a team of doctors and nurses surround Dean’s bed, resuscitating him as his vital signs monitor beeped relentlessly in the corner. Sam and Harlow ran up to her, desperate to know what was going on inside Dean’s room.

“Gina, what is it?!” Harlow asked, watching as Gina shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, fighting back her tears.

“I don’t know….” The brunette whispered. “The machines just started beeping and then everyone rushed in…”

Sam peered into the room, tears in his eyes as he watched the doctors and nurses fight to save his big brother’s life; “No…”

“Come on, baby, keep fighting….” Gina urged Dean, Harlow rubbing a hand against her back soothingly as she held onto Sam’s hand.

They watched as the medical staff went through the resuscitating procedure again, all three praying that Dean was going to pull through. Sam held onto Harlow’s hand, his eyes never leaving his brother’s body lying on the bed and then he felt something push past him, rushing into the room. He blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion when he realized that no one had entered the room.

“We have sinus rhythm…” One of the nurses called out and Gina let out a sigh of relief as she watched Dean’s vital signs monitor show his heartbeat again.

“Damn you, Dean Winchester, for scaring me like that…” She muttered under her breath, staring over at her boyfriend as the medical staff started to leave his room.

“Hey, did you guys feel something just then?” Sam asked, looking down at the girls.

“Yeah, a whole load of relief…” Gina smiled back at him. “I’m going back in…”

Sam watched Gina walk back into Dean’s room, taking up her rightful place at his bedside and Harlow looked up at him, knowing that something was playing on his mind.

“What is it, Sam? What did you feel?” She asked and Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m not sure….” He sighed, pulling Harlow to him in a hug and kissing her hair. “I don’t know what it was but… I think Dean’s trying to reach out to me, Harl’. I swear I just felt him…”

Harlow pulled back to look back up into her boyfriend’s eyes; “Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know….” Sam shook his head and Harlow offered him a small, accepting smile before reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth.

“Let’s go talk to your Dad about it….” She suggested. “If anyone knows about this sort of stuff, it’ll be him, right?”

“Right…” Sam nodded, smiling back at her as she took his hand and led him back towards John’s room.

“What do you mean, you felt something?” John asked, looking up at Sam and Harlow who were standing beside his bed looking just as perplexed as he was.

“I mean, it felt like, like Dean. Like he was there, just out of eyeshot or something. I don’t know if it’s my psychic thing or what…” Sam trailed off, looking at his dad questioningly. “But do you think it’s even possible? I mean, do you think his spirit could be around?”

John smiled up at him; “Anything’s possible.”

“Well, there’s one way to find out.” Sam declared already turning to move towards the door.

“Where are you going?” John asked, Sam looking back at him.

“I gotta pick something up, I’ll be back.” He went to walk out into the hallway as Harlow watched him in silence, wondering where he was off to in such a hurry.

“Wait, Sam…” John called out to his son who stopped and looked back at him again. “I promise I won’t hunt this demon. Not until we know Dean’s okay,” He vowed and Sam nodded his head acceptingly before leaving the room.

Harlow watched him go before looking back at John who inclined his head towards the door slightly, gesturing to her to go after Sam. She smiled before rushing out of the room, calling out to her boyfriend who turned to see her running up to him.

“Hey…” Harlow said when she reached Sam, looking up at him quizzically. “Are you going to tell me where you’re going?”

“I’ve got an idea, that’s all….” Sam replied, bringing his hand up to brush her fiery hair back away from her face as he looked at her. “Stay here with Dad and Gina, Harl’…”He told her. “I’ll be right back, I swear…”

“Okay…” Harlow nodded and Sam sealed his vow with a kiss before walking off down the corridor and Harlow watched him go before deciding to go and check in with Gina.

Sam pushed the door to his brother’s room open, entering quietly and smiling softly when he saw Harlow glance over at him from her spot at the end of Dean’s bed; “Hey…”

“Hey…” The redhead jumped up off the bed and greeted her boyfriend with a hug. “What’s that?” She wanted to know, pointing to the brown paper bag in his arms.

“Well, don’t make fun of me for this but…” Sam started to explain as Gina turned around in her seat to look at him. “I think that Dean’s around and if he is then there’s one way we can talk to him…” He pulled a box labeled ‘Mystical Talking Board’ out of the bag and looked back at the girls expectantly.

“I’m not sitting down to do a séance with you, Sam…” Gina shook her head defiantly, clutching onto Dean’s hand as she looked up at his younger brother.

“Gina, he’s here…. Like a spirit, I just know it,” Sam insisted, holding the box against his chest. “You may think that using this is stupid but what if it’s the only way we can talk to him right now?”

“Do you really think Dean would approve of you using that dumb thing to try and contact him?” Gina asked, Sam glancing at his brother lying lifeless on the hospital bed.

“No,” He shook his head. “He’d probably make some off-hand comment about slumber parties but I’ve got to do this…” He looked back at the brunette sitting beside his brother’s bed. “I’ve at least got to give it a try anyhow. He’d do it for me; I just know that he would…”

Gina dropped her hold on Dean’s hand, shaking her head at Sam; “You’re nuts! And I can’t deal with this right now!”

She walked out of the room, Sam watching her go as Harlow walked up to him placing her hand on his arm and he looked at her.

“Don’t worry about her, okay? She’s just scared out of her mind right now, Sam. I would be too if that was you lying there,” The redhead told him, the pair glancing back at Dean.

There was a moment of silence as they gathered their thoughts, watching the machine breathe for the one man that had always seemed so unbreakable before the young couple looked back at each other.

“I don’t know what else to do, Harl’…” Sam admitted and Harlow rubbed her hand against his arm as she offered him a small sympathetic smile.

“Look, don’t worry, okay? Just do what you need to do and I’ll go talk to Gina,” She reached up and placed a tender kiss to his lips. “Tell him from me to hurry up and get his ass back where’s he’s needed…”

“I will, thanks Harlow…” Sam smiled gratefully at his girlfriend and she kissed him again.

“No problem, baby, it’s why I’m here…” Harlow told him with a sweet smile before leaving the room so that he could attempt to contact Dean.

Sam circled around the bed and sat cross legged on the floor, opening the box and pulling out the board. He laid it flat out on the floor in front of him and positioned the pointer in the centre of the board.

“Dean? Dean, are you here?” He asked cautiously, glancing around as if to be expecting to see something move as he placed his fingers on the pointer.

Slowly the pointer started to move, sliding towards the word ‘YES’ on the board and Sam gasped, amazed that the board was working.

“It’s good to hear from you, man. It hasn’t been the same without you, Dean.” He laughed with relief, watching as the pointer started to slide again, this time spelling out a word.

“Dean, what? H? U? Hunt? Hunting? What, are you hunting?” Sam asked his brother, his gaze focused on the pointer as it slid back to ‘YES’.

“It’s in the hospital, what are you hunting? Do, do you know what it is?” He paused, waiting for Dean’s response before rephrasing his question. “What is it?”

Sam watched as the pointer started to slide again, spelling out another word.

“A reaper….” He said, figuring out what his brother was trying to tell him. “Dean. Is it after you?”

The pointer slid to ‘YES’ again and Sam sighed, there was no way to stop a Reaper, none that he knew of anyway.

“If it’s here naturally, there’s no way to stop it.” He told Dean. “Man, you’re, um…” He thought for a moment, staring down at the board before shaking his head. “No. No, no, no, um, there’s gotta be a way….” He rose to his feet, pacing the floor as he tried to come up with a solution to his brother’s problem. “There’s gotta be a way. Dad’ll know what to do.”

Sam walked out of Dean’s room, heading straight down the corridor to where he knew he would find his dad but when he got there he saw that the bed was empty and his dad was missing, as was the duffel bag Bobby had given him.

“Dad.” He whispered, suspecting that his father had gone after the demon but at that moment in time he was more concerned about Dean so he walked into the room, grabbing his dad’s journal from his personal effects drawer and heading back out into the corridor.

Walking down the hall, Sam bumped into Gina and Harlow who were returning from grabbing some coffee from the machine at the end of the corridor whilst Dean’s doctor performed his hourly vitals check on his patient.

“Hey, have you seen Dad?” He asked, both girls shaking their heads at him in response.

“No, isn’t he in his room?” Harlow looked up at Sam, watching as he shook his head and let out a sigh.

“No…”

“Maybe he’s actually got off his ass to help Dean…” Gina sniped and Harlow looked back at her warningly.

“Gina…”

Sam let out a breath before attempting to change the topic of their conversation; “So, the board worked…”

Gina looked up at him instantly, her green eyes wide with surprise; “It did? I’ll be damned…”

Sam nodded; “Dean’s hunting…”

“Are you kidding me?” Gina rolled her eyes. That was just like her boyfriend, unconscious and on the brink of death but still on the job.

“He’s after a Reaper…” Sam told her, Harlow glancing up at him in concern.

“But, Sam…” The redhead began capturing her boyfriend’s attention. “Reaper’s….”

“Take people when their time is up, I know…” Sam nodded again.

“Is it after Dean?” Harlow wanted to know, her heart breaking at the sight of Sam looking so defeated as he answered her.

“Yeah…”

“No, it can go to Hell…” Gina snapped, shaking her head. “It’s not taking him….”

“Gina, if it’s here naturally then we can’t stop it….” Sam pointed out as Harlow nodded her head in agreement.

“Yeah, you can’t kill Death, G’…”

Gina shook her head defiantly, moving to look into Dean’s room through the observation window and watching as the doctor went about his checks; “No, there has to be a way and if your idiot father isn’t around to help then maybe we’ll find something in his damn journal…”

Sam tapped his fingers against the journal in his hands and smiled back at the girls; “That’s exactly what I was thinking…”

The doctor walked out of Dean’s rooms, smiling at the trio as he passed them and they entered the room, closing the door behind them. Sam perched himself at the end of Dean’s bed, Harlow taking up the space beside him as Gina sat down in the chair she had claimed as her own the moment she had arrived.

“Hey…” Sam greeted his brother. “So, Dad wasn’t in his room. But I’ve got his journal, so who knows? Maybe there’s something here.” He flipped open the journal in his hands, leafing through it as Harlow placed a supportive hand on his shoulder and read the pages with him.

“Sam…” Gina spoke up suddenly, glancing over at the young hunter and Sam looked up from reading the journal.

“Yeah?”

Gina smiled at him, holding Dean’s hand tightly within her own; “Thanks for not giving up on him. I’m sure he appreciates it…”

Sam smiled back at her before allowing his gaze to fall upon his siblings unconscious form; “He’s my brother, Gina. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him…”

The night rolled on and there was still no change in Dean’s current condition. Gina had fallen asleep in her chair, her head resting on the bed and her chestnut locks covering her face. Harlow was slumped in another chair near the back of the room, nestled down inside her oversized hoodie and sleeping off what had been quite an eventful day for everyone. There was still no sign of John to be found and as Sam walked back into his brother’s room he realized that he was probably the only one still awake thanks to all the coffee he had been consuming.

He closed the door quietly, smiling slightly at the sight of the girls sleeping and crossed the room to stare out of the window into the darkness of the world outside the hospital. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he decided to attempt to make contact with his brother again.

“Dean, are you here?” Sam looked around; waiting patiently for any sign that his sibling’s spirit form was with him but when he got nothing he turned around to face Dean lying on the bed. “I couldn’t find anything in the book. I don’t know how to help you. But I’ll keep trying, all right? As long as you keep fighting….I mean, come on, you can’t, you can’t leave me here alone with dad, we’ll kill each other, you know that...” He paused, walking over to the bed. “Dean you’ve got to hold on. You can’t go, man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again. Can you hear me?” He reached down and allowed his hand to find Dean’s, smiling slightly when he thought about how pissed his brother would be if he attempted to do something like this if he was conscious. “You can’t go, man. I need you, Gina needs you…” He gave Dean’s hand a squeeze, holding back his tears as he glanced over at the sleeping redhead at the back of the room. “Hell, I think even Harlow needs you…” Sam looked back at Dean, giving his hand a shake as he urged him to return to them. “We all need you, Dean, so you have to come back to us, all right?”

Sam sat down on the end of his brother’s bed, watching the vital signs monitor and praying to whoever was listening that Dean was going to be okay. Harlow stirred in the corner of the room, opening her eyes and lifting her head to look over at Sam. She smiled when he glanced over at her, taking a moment to allow herself to wake up properly before getting up out of the chair and walking over to him.

“Hey you,” Sam stretched his arms out towards the sleepy redhead, pulling her to him as soon as she was close enough.

“Hey…” Harlow stifled a yawn as she snuggled into Sam, gripping fistfuls of his jacket and breathing in his scent.

Sam buried his nose in her hair, kissing her head before moving to rest his own head against it; “I’m glad you’re here, you know?”

“I know,” Harlow giggled a little. “You’ve told me so enough times today…”

“I’d be going crazy right now if you weren’t here,” Sam admitted, allowing his fingers to curl the ends of her hair. “I don’t know what I’d do without you…”

Harlow pulled back out of his embrace slightly to look up at him; “Let’s not ever find out…”

She reached up, brushing her lips against his before Sam pulled her into a tight hug.

“Man, I love you…” He whispered and Harlow smiled, resting her head against his chest and listening to the steady beat of his heart.

“I love you too…”

Their moment of bliss was suddenly interrupted by a gargling sound and they broke apart to see Dean wide awake and choking on the tube in his throat.

“Dean?” Sam asked in surprise, rushing over to his brother as Harlow looked on, stunned by what was happening.

Gina snapped awake, jumping up from her seat and leaning over her boyfriend in concern; “Dean!”

Sam rushed out into the hallway, yelling to the nurses; “Help! I need help!”

“I can’t explain it,” Dean’s doctor shook his head, staring at the clipboard in his hand in amazement. “The oedema’s vanished. The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good…” He looked up at Dean, smiling at him. “You have some kind of angel watching over you.”

“Thanks doc” Dean smiled gratefully at his doctor, watching as he left the room before turning his attention back to his brother who was standing next to his bed along with Gina and Harlow. “So, you said a reaper was after me?”

Sam nodded; “Yeah.”

“How’d I ditch it?” Dean wanted to know and Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“You got me…” He replied. “Dean, you really don’t remember anything?”

“No…” Dean shook his head, gesturing with his hand towards his midriff. “Except this pit in my stomach. Sam, something’s wrong.”

Gina leaned forward, smoothing her hand over Dean’s short locks and smiling at him; “Well, I’m just glad to have you back, baby. We all are….”

Dean smiled up at her and Gina laced her fingers with his before brushing her lips against his forehead. There was a small knock at the door and Dean looked over to see his dad standing in the doorway, unsure if he should come into the room or not.

“How you feeling, dude?” He asked, trying to ignore the glare he was receiving off the feisty brunette beside his eldest son.

“Fine, I guess. I’m alive.” Dean replied, watching as John walked cautiously into the room.

“That’s what matters.” He smiled.

“Where were you last night?” Sam demanded to know, still angry that his father hadn’t been in his room when he needed him.

“I had some things to take care of,” John stated, Sam rolling his eyes at him.

“Well, that’s specific.”

Dean glanced up at his little brother, his eyes pleading with him not to start a fight; “Come on, Sam”

Sam ignored his older brother’s request, determined to get an answer out of his father; “Did you go after the demon?”

“Sammy, drop it.” Harlow scolded him.

“No…” John answered his youngest son, lowering his head and Sam scoffed, throwing his arms out to either side as he started to pace the floor.

“You know, why don’t I believe you right now?”

John raised his gaze to meet that of Sam’s, a pleading look on his face; “Can we not fight? You know, half the time we’re fighting, I don’t know what we’re fighting about. We’re just butting heads. Sammy, I, I’ve made some mistakes. But I’ve always done the best I could. I just don’t want to fight anymore, okay?”

Sam stopped pacing, looking his father straight in the eye; “Dad, are you alright?”

“Yeah….” John nodded, smiling slightly. “Yeah, I’m just a little tired…” He let out a breath and glanced at Dean before looking back at Sam. “Hey son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?”

“Yeah….” Sam agreed, nodding his head. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’ll go with you.” Harlow offered, looping her arm around Sam’s and walking out of the room with him.

Dean glanced at Gina, knowing that his father wanted to talk to him on his own and worked his jaw before clearing his throat a little.

“G’, do you mind asking the nurse if I can have some water?” He asked, looking at his girlfriend and gesturing with his hand towards the empty pitcher on his table. “My mouth’s as dry as the Sahara desert…”

“Sure, baby, I’ll be right back…” Gina smiled, pressing her lips to Dean’s forehead and moving to pick up the water pitcher. “John…” She muttered, pushing past the older man as she left the room.

“Gina…” John watched her go before looking back at Dean. “She’s a firecracker that one…”

Dean smiled proudly; “She sure is…”

“You make sure you hold onto her…” John told him and Dean nodded his head.

“I will…” He studied his father’s face, noticing the sad look in his eyes. “What is it?”

John looked back at Dean, unsure of how to start the conversation he knew would be his last one with him. They’d been through so much together and throughout it all, Dean had been the one holding the family together. A job that should have been John’s cross to bear, not Deans.

“You know, when you were a kid, I’d come home from a hunt, and after what I’d seen, I’d be, I’d be wrecked. And you, you’d come up to me and you, you’d put your hand on my shoulder and you’d look me in the eye and you’d… You’d say “Its okay, Dad”” John paused. “Dean, I’m sorry…”

“What?” Dean looked puzzled by what his father was telling him, he didn’t understand why his dad suddenly felt like he had to share his feelings with him. The feeling that something was wrong in the pit of his stomach grew heavier, weighing him down as he looked up into his father’s sad eyes.

“You shouldn’t have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn’t complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you.” John continued with his speech, intent on letting his son know how he felt as best as he could. He’d never been good at showing his emotions, not since Mary had died.
Dean eyed his father suspiciously; “This really you talking?”

“Yeah…” John nodded. “Yeah, it’s really me.”

“Why are you saying this stuff?” Dean wanted to know and John stepped closer to him, placing his hand on his shoulder as he looked down at him with a sad smile.

“I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?”

“Yeah, Dad, you know I will...” Dean looked worried. “You’re scaring me.”

“Don’t be scared, Dean…” John said soothingly before leaning over and whispering a secret into Dean’s ear. One that tore the young hunter’s world apart and he pulled back from his dad, looking at him in shock as he processed his hushed words.

John patted his son’s shoulder and turned to walk out of the room, knowing that it was time for him to leave and Dean stared after him, willing him to turn around and stay.

“So, do you think that everything is going to go back to normal now?” Harlow asked, linking arms with Sam as they walked back towards Dean’s room with John’s requested cup of coffee.

“As normal as it gets for us, sure….” Sam nodded, smiling at her. “We still have to gank Yellow Eyes though, I’m pretty sure that’s still on the agenda unless there’s something Dad’s not telling us…”

Harlow glanced up at him; “Yeah, but I guess first we have to break the news to Dean about Baby…”

“Yeah, he’s not going to be pleased about that…” Sam frowned at the thought of having to tell his brother the bad news about his car. “Maybe we should let Gina tell him…”

Harlow laughed; “Yeah, that might actually soften the blow a little…”

They continued on down the hall, talking softly to each other the way couples do. Harlow was just telling Sam about the new book she had been reading lately when they passed by a seemingly empty room and Sam glanced into it out of curiosity but soon wished that he hadn’t.

“Dad?!” He gasped and Harlow stopped talking, immediately looking over to where Sam was staring and saw John bleeding on the floor, unconscious.

“Oh God…” She cried and then everything seemed to slow right down.

Sam dropped the cup of coffee to the floor and Harlow dodged out of the way of the hot dark liquid as she screamed, watching Sam rush to his fathers side. He kneeled over the lifeless body of the man who had seemed perfectly fine only moments ago and grabbed him in his arms, urging him to wake up as he called out for help.

“Help! Somebody help!”

Sam and Harlow stood in the doorway, watching as the crowd of doctors and nurses tried in vain to resuscitate John. Dean came up behind them, Gina at his side and pushed past his brother to get a look at what was going on inside the room. A young nurse noticed the foursome hovering in the doorway and walked over, ushering them outside into the hall.

“No, no, no, it’s our dad…” Dean told her as she attempted to push him out of the room. “It’s our dad!” He glanced over her shoulder, watching as the doctors and nurses surrounding his father attempted to shock him awake. “Come on.” He pleaded with his dad, hoping that he was going to come back to them but knowing in the pit of his stomach that this was the end.

“Okay, stop compressions.” A doctor called out as Dean, Sam and the girls watched anxiously from the doorway.

“Come on, come on.” Dean urged his dad, not wanting to believe what he already knew to be the truth.

“Still no pulse.” A nurse stated, glancing over at the doctor who had been amazed by Dean’s miraculous recovery.

“Okay, that’s it everybody….” He said, his team stepping back from John’s bed and as the four young twenty-something’s looked on in a mixture of shock and disbelief he looked down at his wrist watch.
“I’ll call it. Time of death: 10:41am.”

To Be Continued…..