Like all of his classmates, Dean's excited about the field trip to the Amish farm. All he knows about Amish people is that they drive around in horse-drawn buggies that go real slow, and when they get stuck behind one on a two-lane road, Dad says a lot of words that Dean and Sam are not allowed to repeat until they're old enough to have a driver's license.
As they're lining up to get on the bus, the student teacher, Miss Hicks, hands Dean his inhaler, which she's retrieved from the teacher's desk. He thinks it's stupid that he's not allowed to have it in his pocket during class, but that's what the rules say and Dean knows better than to make a fuss about it. He tucks it into the pocket of his jean jacket and follows the line out to the school bus.
The bus takes them out of town and way into the country, past cows grazing on hillsides and long fields of cornstalks that look taller even than Mr. Oberholtzer. Finally they arrive at the Amish farm and file off the bus and into the farmhouse, where a volunteer tells them about how the Amish live without electricity and telephones and anything else they consider too "worldly." An Amish girl in a blue dress and black apron shows the kids how the women make the famous quilts and cook over an open fire. Then they go out to the barn and another volunteer tells them about the community barn-raising ritual and then shows them how to churn butter.
The go outside to a picnic area to eat lunch and then Mr. Oberholtzer and Miss Hicks take them to the corn maze. Dean's never seen a corn maze before. The corn is much taller than his teacher and forms a solid wall impossible to see through. Mr. Oberholtzer breaks the class into groups of four and sends the groups into the maze one at a time. There are a few lookout points where you can climb up on a ladder and look out over all the corn to see where you need to go. Dean's group goes third and he naturally takes the lead. Two of the kids in his group seem happy to follow Dean but the other girl, Ashley, wants to have her own way. They stop at a four-way intersection and hear yelling coming from their right.
"Let's go that way," says Ashley, pointing towards the commotion.
"No, we're going straight," counters Dean, a little breathlessly. His chest feels a bit tight. He doesn't want to use his inhaler in front of his classmates if he can possibly help it, so he charges forward and vows to get out of the maze as fast as soon as he can so he can go off and take his meds without anyone seeing.
Dean has a good sense of direction and he's pretty sure he knows where he's going, but fighting with Ashley at every corner is starting to take a toll on him. His chest is so tight it hurts and he can barely get three words out at a time. The other girl in his group, Lauren, is starting to give him weird looks.
Finally they come to one of the lookout points. Dean jumps on the ladder and starts climbing up to the platform so he can use his inhaler, but a few rungs up he starts to feel dizzy. He stops and tries to get his bearings but he can't breathe and his chest feels like an elephant stomped on it and the edges of his vision are getting dark. He wraps one arm around the side of the ladder and takes his inhaler out of his pocket. He shakes it a couple times and takes a puff from it, trying to pull as much of the icky medicine into his lungs as he can. His hands are starting to tingle and it's hard to keep a hold of the ladder. He takes another puff and fights to suck in the much-needed medicine. White sparks explode in front of his eyes and he's so tired, he just wants to lay down and sleep.
"Dean? Dean!"
He feels hands on his back. "Dad?" he chokes out before a coughing fit overtakes him. Next thing he feels is hard, cold ground underneath his butt and something firm but softer under his head. Somehow, the inhaler has made its way to his lips and he inhales as much as he can when he tastes the bitter medicine on his tongue.
"Hold on, Dean. Just hold on." The voice is soft, muffled by the buzzing in his ears and the sound of his own wheezing.
It all gets a little fuzzy after that, but he comes back to full awareness when a nebulizer forces its way into his mouth and a rough but instantly recognizable hand surrounds his. He looks over and sees his dad standing next to him, looking almost as worried as he did when they first found out Dean had asthma. Dad's eyes widen when he catches Dean looking at him. "Hey, kiddo, you feelin' better?"
Dean nods slightly, wincing when the motion makes his head throb. Dad brushes a hand through Dean's hair. "Take it easy. You've really been through the wringer today, haven't you?"
The nurse comes in then to check Dean's vitals and make some small adjustments to the nebulizer. She talks to Dad for a little while, but it's too much effort to listen closely, so Dean just drifts and lets the medicine do its thing. His chest feels a lot better but he's completely exhausted, plus his head hurts and his body feels heavy, like his arms and legs are made of cement. He must doze off again because the next thing he feels is movement and when he opens his eyes he's in his dad's arms and they're outside. "Are we going home?" he asks, his voice weak and raspy.
"After we pick your brother up from school," Dad answers, laying him down in the backseat of the car. He takes off his leather jacket and spreads it over Dean like a blanket. "Go 'head and sleep, I'll wake you up when we get home."
Dean curls up under the warm leather and dozes off to the soothing strains of Metallica.