January 24
Chapter 2
John lifted Dean carefully in his arms, the boy curling up, pressing his head against John's chest. Soft whimpers came out of Dean's mouth though he was still unconscious, making John's heart clench painfully.
"Ssh, I got you. You'll be alright." John balanced his duffel bag on his shoulder and joggled Dean as gently as he could, but the moan his son gave off made him cringe.
"Oh, sorry, but I've got to get you out of here now," he murmured to deaf ears. "We'll get you to the hospital in no time soon, you hear me? We'll patch you up. You'll be as good as new."
Soon John did not know what else to say. Hardening his jaw, he slowly moved through the trees and shrubs. Thank God he left the Impala not far from the park.
A waitress came bringing a petite round of chocolate cake with a lit candle on it. Jessica's eyes glimmered and the girl cheered softly.
"Oh, Sam." The lightened eyes shifted to his boyfriend. "This is very beautiful." She reached out, squeezing Sam's hand. "Thank you," she mouthed, smiling tenderly.
Sam smiled back, but the smile did not reach his eyes. He genuinely felt happy for Jessica but the rumbles in his stomach kept reminding him of the vision of Dean. Sam nodded to his girl, asking her wordlessly to blow the candle, yet at the same time he shifted in his chair, feeling restless, wanting to do something, to get away and maybe – maybe call his brother to check if there was anything wrong.
But he had not called him for almost a year now, and he would learn the true meaning of the word awkward should Dean prove to be all right.
To make things worse, Sam looked dead to the world by staring blankly there when Jessica finished making a wish and putting off the candle in one smooth whoosh. There was no applaud, cheer, or even a small smile coming from Sam. The girl frowned. She might as well be facing a wall right now.
"Sam?' Jessica kept reminding herself to count to ten, or perhaps a hundred, before she burst. "Sam!" All right. She almost slapped Sam. But that was just not her.
Instead of jerking awake, Sam simply blinked there, and mumbled to himself, and Jessica still had the feeling that Sam was barely aware of what she had just done.
"Have to make a phone call," Sam muttered as he stood from the chair.
Jessica was left frozen at the table. It had better not be another girl. But somehow, Jess knew that was not the case.
Sam slipped into the restroom and took his cell from his pants' pocket. He searched for the name Dean and pressed the picture of a tiny green telephone.
One ring, two ring, three ring
Four, five
And… Hi, this is Dean Winchester…
Sam jabbed the gadget away from his ear, staring in disbelief to the cell monitor. Ah, perhaps Dean just did not hear it ring. Sam gave it another try.
But the same thing happened.
Pressing to cancel the call, Sam felt all the air leave his lungs completely. He staggered back and crashed into the closed restroom door, sliding down to sit curled on the floor. Thousands of alarming images of Dean being hurt—or worse—flashed through his mind. No, no, no. Sam almost crushed the cell phone in his big hand; couldn't stop a sob from shaking his entire body.
Six, ten times, an excerpt of Dean's favorite AC/DC song jarred the stillness of the night in the park. The cell monitor blinked in dazzling light through the dense shrub as the mobile rang and rang. But no one was there to notice, let alone pick it up. Not even the dead creature John had mowed down previously.
TBC
