Fic: Capture the Flag 5/?
"Unless you'd prefer I scry for ya. Call if anything changes."
Bobby hung up the phone and let out a breath. "Damnit, Dean."
:::
Sam came back about fifteen minutes later balancing two coffees and a large bag of ice. He initially had been very unwilling to leave Dean alone and had threatened to manhandle him into the car. The argument had gone around in circles until Sam realized that Dean was being honest when he said he felt like he was breathing better, able to take deeper breaths now that the sharpness of the pain in his side had eased. Finally, they made the agreement that Sam would leave Dean at the motel so long as they kept texting each other. Proof of life, Sam had called it. Proof of how obnoxious his younger brother could be was more Dean's line of thinking. And if Dean hadn't pulled the exact same thing when Sam had been sick or injured, maybe he would have had a leg to stand on.
As was the norm in many of the smaller towns they worked, the entire town closed up shop by nine o'clock a night. Sam ended up having to go back to the mini-mart to get the coffee and was quite anxious by the time he got back. Texts were proof Dean was healthy enough to text, not exactly a polygraph. His hands full, Sam managed to turn the knob and then bump the door open the rest of the way with his shoulder. His older brother was in the same spot he had left him, leaning back against his pillows, still ashen and sweaty, but…smiling. It was very odd.
"Heeeey, Sammy."
"…Dean?" The first thing that went through Sam's mind was that the fever must be raging out of control and on its way to causing delirium. Putting down the cups of coffee carefully, Sam crouched by his brother's bedside and cautiously laid a hand on him. He didn't feel any warmer than before that Sam could tell. It was only then that he noticed that about half the cough medicine was gone. And then Sam remembered - the Percocet too. "You're pretty high aren't ya, man?"
That stupid silly smile plastered on Dean's face was Sam's answer.
All at once, Sam began laughing , relief breaking over him.
"Whusso funny, Sammy? Haha, Sammy. Your name is awesome."
"Sure, man. Whatever you say." Sam grinned and shook his head. On the bright side, a spacey Dean was going to be a lot more docile and easier to take care of. "Okay, dude, time to sit up. Temp first."
Even in the state he was in, Dean rolled his eyes, but he let Sam stick the thermometer under his tongue.
"Now, can you shut up for a few minutes so we can get an accurate reading?"
Dean simply made a noise that sounded like *pisshhh!* You would have thought that meant, 'of course a full grown adult can keep his trap shut for less than two minutes.' Still, every few moments Sam found himself punching Dean in the leg to stop him from muttering words around the thermometer.
So much for docile.
"102.2, Dean. 102.2 with aspirin and Tylenol in your system. Good job at letting yourself get so sick. I really appreciate it." The biting sarcasm escaped Sam's lips before he even realized it was there. "I'm sorry, dude. I know you didn't ask for this. I just wish you'd take better care of yourself."
Sam handed Dean one of the cups of coffee and sat next to him. "Drink a bit of this and then some cold water, okay?"
"Coffee, Sam?! And I'm the one who's high? It is past… late o'clock."
"Bobby said it would help."
Dean simply made a face to say, 'Ah, of course.'
Sam strolled into the bathroom, toting the plastic bag of ice along with him.
Deans rasping voice rounded around the door jamb, the sound effects of his breathing providing an awful accompaniment. "Sam…?" *hack*
"Yeah?"
"You didn't," *wheeze* "tell Bobby it was serious or nothing, did you?"
"I didn't say anything that wasn't true." Sam re-entered the room and pointedly ignored the seething glare Dean tried to give him.
"Well, that's just friggin' awesome. When'll he be here, then?"
"In the morning."
Dean growled, but all it really managed to do was clear his throat a little.
"Get some sleep, man. Maybe you'll be feeling well enough to intimidate me in the morning." Sam busied himself packing ice into the plastic freezer bags they used for evidence and began stashing them around Dean's body. Maybe he was being pre-emptive (okay, he knew he was), but he really didn't want to chance Dean's fever spiking up past the finish line that Bobby had set.
"You just gave me coffee. Maybe you should've thought of sleep before that - huh genius? Also, the ice makes it kinda hard. "
Sam chuckled to himself. The next time he looked over, his brother was sound asleep.
Part 6