Two Brothers 21/?
Chapter 21
"Sam? You ready to get outa here?" Dean asked but didn't look quite ready to move himself.
Sam didn't answer, didn't even lift his head from where he was hanging over the dead monster's wing. When Dean tried to make a step in his direction his leg gave under him and he landed hard on his ass.
Somehow this made it better for me. It was like I was back in a busy ER where I had to focus on my patient and could blank out everything else. In this case everything else was a dead monster in a gory cave but I had two patients keeping me busy.
Dean insisted that I checked on Sam first who tried to wave me off demanding he was fine and I should focus on Dean instead.
"Brothers." I rolled my eyes. "Sam, you first." I wanted him in a horizontal position as soon as possible preferably in a hospital bed but I'd take a blanket on the forest floor as the next best thing.
Sam walked under his own steam, which was a good sign, but I stayed close just in case. I herded him back to the lightning struck tree where Dean's backpack still waited for us and I hurried to unfold the blanket he had in there.
"Go and get Dean." Sam tried to shoo me away when he finally lay stretched out on the blanket.
"He can wait a minute." I pushed his hands out of the way and in the light of my flashlight I had a look at his injured side. Two stitches were ripped out but all in all it didn't look too bad.
"How's your head?" I asked and shone the light in his eyes to test the reflex. The pupils reacted normal but I'd have liked to see a scan of his head. "Any problems with your sight? Dizziness, nausea, headache?"
Sam's eyes started to drop and I prayed this was due to exhaustion and not a sign of a new hematoma.
"I'm good." He tried to keep his eyes open. "Get Dean."
I didn't want to leave him alone but I couldn't leave Dean in that cave either.
When I squeezed myself through the narrow entrance of the cave I ran into Dean. He was trembling and sweating and I wasn't sure if he even recognized me and how he'd manage to get this far with a busted leg was a mystery on its own.
"How's Sam?" He asked and made a hopping step forward. He grimaced in pain and made another step.
"Exhausted." I stepped backwards when he made his next step. As soon as we got out of the cave I slung his arm over my shoulder and hold him around the waist, he only protested halfheartedly, and together we managed the short distance to where Sam was waiting for us. I'd expected him to be asleep by then but his eyes were on his brother.
"You okay, man?" Sam asked when I lowered Dean next to him. With a hiss he stretched out his leg and I took his boot off to have a look at it.
"Don't think it's broken. Let me wrap this up." I got bandages and some instant ice packs from my emergency kit and a few minutes later Dean lay back with a sigh of relief.
"We're definitely getting some of these ice thingies, Sammy."
"Sure." Sam smiled at him but the worry was clearly written on his face. His ankle wasn't Dean's biggest problem at the moment. I didn't know how long the poison had been in his system and I silently cursed at him for not taking the antidote with him.
Neither Winchester was in any condition to walk out of there and I had no clue where we were or how to get back to the cars so we had no other choice than to stay the night in the woods.
It wasn't a cold night but I spread the second blanket over the brothers and then went to find some fire wood. I'd never started a fire in my life but Sam assured me that he could get one going. If I got us some fire wood. Stumbling around the woods at night with only my flashlight was as much fun as it sounded and if I screamed at an owl I don't want to talk about it.
"Relax, Luis." Sam tried not to laugh. "Nothing dangerous out there anymore."
As soon as we had the fire I felt safer but I strained my ears nevertheless. I knew the monster was dead but were they sure it was the only one? And what about bears and wolves? Tigers? Homicidal monsters?
At some point Sam had given in to sleep and next to him Dean had fallen into a restless slumber as well which left me to keep watch. I tried to blind out everything else and focused on Dean. I was pretty sure he was in no immediate danger but the poison and the antidote were battling each other in his body and there was nothing else to do than to ride it out.
His erratic movements woke up Sam a few hours later and he rolled to his side and whispered reassuring words in his brother's ear. That was when Dean started to mumble in his sleep.
"Benny …" The word was almost unintelligible but judging by the flash of hurt on Sam's face, there was quite a story behind this name.
"Shhh, it's okay, Dean."
"Keep your eyes open, Benny." Dean didn't seem to hear his brother or he was mistaking him for this Benny. "Keep your eyes open …"
"You're not there anymore." Sam whispered and I wondered where there was.
"Don't let them …" Dean tossed his head from one side to the other. "We get outa here … get back to Sammy … back … need to … Sammy …"
Dean rolled towards Sam, blindly reaching for him and Sam wrapped his arm around his brother's trembling shoulder. Letting out a sigh Dean sank deeper into sleep, for now it even seemed peaceful, and I pretended to not notice the tears on Sam's face.
continue to chapter 22
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