Chapter 2

Sam followed behind the ambulance to the hospital. Tears were streaming down his cheeks as he tried to get his phone out of his pocket and drive at the same time. Dean still hadn't woken up and his breathing had become more irregular before the paramedics had arrived. They had put a breathing mask on him and told Sam he should follow them to the hospital.

He hit Bobby's speed dial number and held the phone to his ear. He prayed Bobby was home to answer.

"Hello?" the gruff voice answered.

"Bobby! Bobby, it's… its Sam," Sam barely was able to choke out.

"Sam? What is it? What happened?"

"Dean… he … he … they're taking to the hospital. In an ambulance. He's… God, Bobby! He's not conscious! He was on the floor and barely breathing…"

"What!? Son of a bitch, Sam, what the hell happened!?"

"I don't know! I went to the library and he stayed at the motel. When I got back he was on the floor. There were bottles… he had been drinking…"

"Drinking? Drinking what? Beer?"

"No… liquor… whiskey…"

"How much?"

Sam swallowed hard. "A lot. A lot more than he normally drinks. The bottles were big. And he finished at least two of them, was almost done a third."

"What!? Son of a bitch! Sam, where are you? I'm on my way!"

Sam managed to tell him where his was and where the hospital was. He then hung up and gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"God, please! You can't take him! You can't!"

They finally arrived at the hospital. Sam quickly parked and bolted into the ER. He ran over to the desk where a nurse was sitting.

"Please! My brother! He just came in on the ambulance!"

She quickly got up and motioned him to follow her. She led him to one of the rooms where Sam could see them working on Dean. One person was listening to his chest. Another one was checking his blood pressure. A third setting up some kind of equipment that Sam didn't recognize.

"Doctor Morris," the nurse said to one of the men standing next to Dean's stretcher. "This is the patient's brother. He was the one to find him."

Dr. Morris came over to Sam. "You are the one who found him?"

Sam nodded. "Is he going to be OK?"

"We're going to help him. I need you to answer some questions for me, though. OK?"

Sam nodded desperately.

"Does your brother take any medications?"

"No."

"What about any drugs? Marijuana? Cocaine?"

"No!"

"But he does drink?"

Sam swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah. But I didn't think it was that bad. He's never drank this much before!"

"How much does he normally drink a day?"

Sam had to think about that. He had never really given it much thought before, but realized it was quite a bit. "I… I don't know. Maybe five or six beers."

"Every day?"

Sam nodded. "Sometimes we go to the bars and he'll have some shots too. Not every day."

"And how long has he been doing this for?"

Again, Sam had to think hard. "Well, he's had beer every day for awhile. But I guess he's been drinking more the last few months."

Dr. Morris frowned hard. "What about his medical history? Any medical problems? Heart problems? Breathing problems?"

"No, sir."

"Any surgeries?"

"No."

"What about any psychological problems?"

Sam felt his heart jump. "What?"

"Has he been acting different? Depressed? Moody? Angry?"

Sam closed his eyes, fresh tears pricking his eyelids. He slowly nodded.

"He… he's been through a lot. He's… he's trying to cope."

Dr. Morris nodded. "What about being suicidal? Anything like that?"

Sam's eyes flew open. "No! No, he wouldn't do that! He's not like that!"

Suddenly, one of the machines began to alarm loudly. When they turned to look the heart monitor showed the lines going up and down in rapid succession.

"He's in v tach!"

"He's not breathing!"

Everyone began rapidly moving around the room. Sam stood there, frozen. Instead of being pale Dean's lips had begun to look blue-tinged. One of the people in the room covered his face with a mask and began bagging him. The cart holding the defibrillator was brought over and opened. They began pulling out various syringes and injecting them into the IV in his arm.

Suddenly, Sam felt a hand on his arm. Another nurse stood next to him.

"They're going to do everything they can to help him," she said gently.

Sam could barely breathe. Tears of terror rolled down his cheeks. This was impossible. This just could not be happening. Not after everything they had gone through. He had barely been back six months. Sam couldn't lose him again. He couldn't go back to the way it was when Dean had been gone before. He couldn't.

"The medication isn't working."

"Everyone get ready."

Dr. Morris switched on the defibrillator and pulled out the paddles. Everyone moved away from the gurney while he squirted the gel on the paddles.

"Dean…" Sam whispered hoarsely.

"Everybody stand clear!"

Sam squeezed his eyes shut.

Suddenly, the heart monitor stopped alarming. A normal steady rhythm appeared on the screen. Sam opened his eyes. Then, just as suddenly, Dean's eyes flew open and he let out a huge gasp of air.

"Normal sinus rhythm! Respirations restored! Patient appears awake now," one of the nurses called out.

Before anyone could do anything else Dean let out a blood curdling scream. He began swinging at the people near the gurney.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me you mother fuckers! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill every last mother fucking one of you!"

He tried to jump off the gurney and it took everyone surrounding him to hold him down.

"Mr. Winchester! It's OK! You're in the hospital!" Dr. Morris yelled out him.

Dean showed no sign of hearing him. "Not again! I won't let you do it again! I won't do it again! Noooooooo!"

He continued to fight against the staff. Sam rushed over to him and got in front of his face.

"Dean! Dean, its Sam! I'm right here, Dean! It's OK. You're OK! You're in the hospital! You're safe! No one is going to hurt you!"

Dean saw Sam. He stopped screaming and fighting. Tears filled his eyes.

"Sammy?"

Sam smiled in relief. "Yeah. It's me. It's OK. Stop fighting them, Dean. Let them help you. I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you."

Dean's face visibly relaxed. His body went limp and he closed his eyes, falling asleep. Sam let out a relieved sigh.

Dr. Morris came up next to Sam. "He's OK. We're going to send admit him. We need to keep an eye on him."