ONE MORE DAY
The faint light coming from the window pulled him from his slumber. "Dean, what're you doing?" Sam asked drowsily.
"I just wanted to see the sunrise." "You know? I've never noticed how beautiful it is, until now."
"Oh, I guess so."
Dean turned to look at Sam with sadness in his eyes.
"You're ok man?" Sam was trying to get the sleep out of his voice. Dean needed him aware and he was going to be there for his brother.
"Yeah," he snorted. "It's just that, it's funny how something as beautiful could be so dreadful."
"What do you mean?"
"One less day left."
Sam did wake up completely at that.
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"Sammy, hurry up man. I'm starving!"
"Hey, you were the one who wanted me to take the car when I could've walked."
"How was I supposed to know there would be traffic?" Dean replied in mock indignation.
"You mean aside from the fact that I told you there would be?"
"Yeah, whatever man, just hurry ok?" "Oh, and Sam? No rabbit food, I mean it." Dean hung up and flicked the TV on. They were in between jobs, neither willing to take on another now that his time was running out. They were focused on getting him out of the deal instead and taking the whole "saving people, hunting things" by heart. They were trying to save him and hunt the demon holding the contract.
Daytime TV, however, proved once again to be terrible and Dean found himself leafing through his father's journal searching for… what? Some kind of answer? A way out? He didn't know, maybe it was simply a way to feel connected with his dad.
A piece of paper fell from the leather book. Dean bent to pick it up and froze when he saw what was written on it,
Layla Rourke
Her phone number was written below. Wow, that sure was a name he hadn't thought of in a while, not that he had forgotten about her either. He had kept his promise and had prayed for her, not that he had any reason to believe Layla's condition would change. He had just felt like doing something for her, anything.
Now that he had seen her name, Dean couldn't help thinking about her and whether her time on this earth had expired already. Dean wanted to believe that she had in fact survived, but logic told him that her six months had already passed.
"Well, at least she didn't go to hell." He said with a sigh suddenly feeling the burden of what was going to happen to him very real, slowly crashing him from inside. "Hey, maybe Sam will manage to open the gates again and I can pull a John Winchester."
He was lost in thought until he heard the familiar rumble of his baby and berated himself for the private chick flick moment. "Come on Winchester, pull it together, Sam doesn't need this crap." He stuffed Layla's number in this pocket and put his game face on back in place.
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Couple of weeks later
"Tell me again why I have to do the laundry?"
"Because you thought it would be funny to order me hospital food." Dean answered smirking.
Sam whined from the door. "Come on Dean, that was ages ago and I thought you would like fruit for a change."
"Well you thought wrong." Sam's reply was interrupted by Dean's "Besides, I'm older, which means you have to do what I tell you." He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes effectively ending the conversation.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. "Fine, I'm going, but not because you're older but because I can tell you need your beauty sleep, you know, with your vampire complex and all."
Dean opened his eyes and dared his brother to say one more thing. "Ok, all right, jeez, I'm going, I'm going."
Dean knew his brother didn't approve of his nights out gambling and hustling, especially now with the whole deal thing approaching, but frankly, they had agreed on Sam using that time to search for a way out while Dean earned them some cash and pretend he didn't know what Sam was up to. "That's better…bitch"
Dean smiled when he heard Sam's jerk before his brother closed the door. After he heard the Impala leaving, he headed for his duffle. He dialed Bobby's number while taking a wad of cash from said duffle. He couldn't get rid of all the demons, but at least he could earn enough money to help his brother get by. Sam didn't know this, but Dean had tripled Bella's "thank you money" in Atlantic City.
"Bobby," he said once the older hunter had answered. "I have it, I'm depositing the money in your account."
"You have it? How did you manage to earn that much money in such a short time boy?" Bobby couldn't help feeling proud of Dean though.
Dean shrugged. "Remember the "Winchester luck" I was telling you about? It turns out it's not always against us." If only that were true for other matters as well…
"Dean, I told you I would take care of Sam, he'll have everything he needs or wants until the day I die."
"I know Bobby and I appreciate it."
"You know? You shouldn't be doing all this and you should really give that brother of yours some credit, I mean with that brain of his, he could very well accomplish anything his heart desires."
Dean wasn't sure whether the older hunter was referring to Sam's capability of earning his own money or getting him out of the deal, maybe both, but seeing as how he couldn't wrap his mind on the latter, he chose the safer ground. "I know that, but I've always being the breadwinner and that doesn't have to change after I'm gone."
Bobby cleared his throat before speaking. "Yeah, but still, he's not a little boy anymore."
"True, but he'll always be my little brother, whether he's 25 or 95."
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Three days later
Dean was starting to get worried, Sam had left saying he needed to take care of something and that he would be back soon. That had been three hours ago. "Ok Sammy, you have ten more minutes or I'm coming to get you." The problem was, he had no idea where Sam was and his brother had taken the Impala. The fact that Sam wasn't answering his phone was not helping his anxiety any. The only reason he wasn't killing something right now was that Sam had warned him that he may not be able to answer his phone until he was finished doing whatever it was he needed to do. "I hope he's not doing anything stupid or I'm so kicking his butt."
Dean knew he was fooling no one, the truth was he was getting concerned Sam might be doing something to jeopardize his wellbeing in order to save him. "I shouldn't have left him go alone."
Dean's musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Finally," he picked up his gun just in case, and went to open the door. "Where the he-"
Layla Rourke was standing there.
"Layla." Dean whispered astounded.
"Hey, Dean. May I come in?"
"Huh?" Dean was speechless.
Layla patiently waited for Dean to get his bearings. "You're here." He said.
She simply smiled and Dean awkwardly invited her in.
"It's, uh, good to see you." stuttered Dean.
"And you too."
He gestured for her to have a seat. "I don't understand, how-?"
"Your brother," she said cutting in.
"Sam didn't mention any of this to me."
"Yes, I could tell by your reaction when you saw me."
"Yeah, well."
"He said to tell you that he would bring back dinner." Before Dean could say anything she continued, "he also said that you have two months left." said Layla uncertainly. Dean just stared at her, not sure what Sam had said or why; but more importantly, he still couldn't believe Layla had survived.
"It's Ok, that's why I'm here."
"To remind me of my impending doom?"
"To tell you that not all hope is lost." She hadn't exactly planned on getting straight to business, but Sam's heart-retching sobs reminded her that they didn't have time for subtleties.
"Layla…"
"Dean, I thought I had six months left and look at me, still alive and completely healed."
"How? I mean, I thought your tumor was inoperable."
"It was."
"Then how-?"
"When Roy couldn't heal me, I thought I would be devastated but instead I found peace. You want to know why?"
Suddenly, Dean wasn't so sure he did. Layla kept going anyway. "Because I realized Roy didn't have the last word, God did."
Dean shook his head at that. "Layla, don't."
"What?" she asked innocently. "I thought I had turned you around on the subject." She said with a knowing smile.
"Yeah," he answered resigned "not so much."
"I prayed Dean, and God listened."
Dean stood up and started pacing the room. "Listen, I'm glad that you're alive, I am. But whatever Sam's told you, there's nothing anyone can do for me."
"You sound like you've already given up."
"Maybe I have." He said sitting back down. Layla silently vowed to erase that defeated look from his face. "If that were true, your brother wouldn't have asked me to come see you."
Dean smiled sadly. "My brother will never give up on me."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Did you pray for me?"
That question was unexpected to say the least and for a minute Dean was caught off guard. He quickly recovered. "I did, but that doesn't change anything."
"It does, and it did. I'm living proof of that."
They both felt silent, lost in their own thoughts. After a while it was Layla who broke the silence, "Dean?"
Dean had been looking down and when Layla spoke, he turned to look at her, not trusting his voice at the moment.
"I'll pray for you, but you have to have faith."
Dean swallowed the lump in his throat.
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"You could've warned me man. She was the last person I'd expected to see." Dean said not taking his eyes off the road. They had dropped Layla off at the airport and now they were heading to Bobby's.
Being a Winchester, Dean couldn't express his feelings, but he was grateful to Sam for what he did. His little brother had even paid for the round-trip ticket to get Layla to come quickly. The three of them had dinner together and she happily told them about her husband and how she had moved to Florida after getting married. She told them plenty stories about her new and improved life.
It was nice for both brothers to talk about normal things for a change. Sam had been right; it really was good to have monster-free conversations once in a while.
"I told you, I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Your surprise almost gave me a heart attack." Sam wisely chose not to comment.
"Seriously man, why did you do it?"
"You know why," he whispered. "I saw her phone number and I just had to know what had happened to her. It was weird, you know? I never expected her to answer, and at the same time I wasn't surprised that she did." He turned to look at the window. "I guess I never lost faith."
Somehow Dean knew his brother wasn't talking about Layla anymore.
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Two months later Dean's contract came to an end.
The following morning Sam sat on the bench outside Bobby's house waiting for sunrise.
"Here."
Sam turned to look at the older hunter and accepted the blanket gratefully. He made room for him to sit.
"Didn't I tell you? Isn't this beautiful?"
Sam nodded. "It sure is." Now that his brother was free of that contract and had one more day to live.
"Told you…" said Dean smiling his first real smile in a long time "bitch," which of course translated in thanks for not giving up on me Sammy.
Sam grinned affectionately. "Jerk" Thanks for having faith Dean.
THE END