No Exit
NO EXIT
Dean moans in his sleep and Jo raises her head from the file she’s currently reading.
She watches as Dean’s brows contort like twin snakes above his closed eyes. His long body, too long for the chair he’s fallen asleep in, follows the brows’ cue, contorting into an impossible pretzel shape that can only be painful.
Jo smiles sadly. She has honestly never seen anyone that size squeeze himself to fit a space so tiny, like all the space that Dean Winchester occupies when he’s awake and moving just disappears into nothingness when he closes his eyes.
“No... please...” he whimpers, the words barely forming pass his lips. Jo stands up and moves closer, hand up and ready to shake Dean awake. She knows enough about bad dreams to recognized when someone is trapped inside one.
“Don’t,” Sam whispers from the bed where he is not asleep either. His gentle voice halts her gesture before she can touch Dean. “He needs the sleep. Just... give him a minute.”
They both sit in the dark, standing guard over Dean, watching as his facial muscles dance across all of his sad expressions, body closing into himself, unconscious protection from the outside.
“Dad... I’m sorry,” Dean whispers, before settling down and sinking back into sleep.