A/N: I seem to have this weird obsession with Dean's time in hell. It just interested me, and I want to get into Dean's head coming out of his 40 year experience. PLEASE let me know if the Dean-and-his-damaged-psyche thing gets annoying or repetitive!

E/O Drabble Challenge: Thermometer

Disclaimer: Come on. Really? Do I need to say it? They're not mine. But I pretend.

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Its an infection, and the fever rages, exhausting and delirium-inducing. Sam bathes his fevered brow as Dean tosses and turns, and lashes out at imaginary foes.

In his dreams, Dean fights off Alistair. And when Sam places cool compresses on his body, Dean's muddled mind interrupts it as icicles slashing through his skin, and he convinces himself he's back in hell.

Then the thin plastic of the thermometer is placed under his tongue, and the shock of Sam's calm, controlled voice in his ear makes him pause. Because in his forty years in hell, Sam was never once there.