All Sam wanted to do was run away and never look back and that was mostly because he felt like he couldn't face Dean again, but at the same time he was so mad at Dean that he didn't know how to suppress the anger.

The selfless jerk had once again ignored his limits for so long that he was on the verge of falling apart. Maybe it was a good thing that Sam had lost his control; at least that punch had landed Dean in a hospital, making it impossible for Dean not to receive some medical attention for his more serious injuries.

As he sat by his brother's side, Sam started to think about the past few hours. He'd sent Kevin home, knowing that the younger man needed rest and more importantly he needed the safety that only their bunker could offer.

Hell's gate had stayed open after all.

Sighing deeply while questioning his decisions, for the umpteenth time in the last week, about not finishing the last trial, Sam noticed that Dean was coming around.

"Dean?... Hey, you with me, Man?"

It took Dean a few minutes and more than a couple of tries to finally open his eyes and take his surroundings in.

The whole time, Sam stood by his side and just waited for him to wake up completely and become aware.

Dean had a deep frown on his face when finally his eyes landed on him. "Sa-" he croaked, unable to finish that single word.

Quickly Sam grabbed the glass of water from the nightstand and helped Dean with it.

"Hey, man." he smiled down at his brother, not knowing what else to say.

Dean blinked in response and then closed his eyes, trying to remember what had landed him in a hospital this time. Surprisingly, he didn't feel groggy and without much effort he could remember everything clearly, which could explain why the first thing out of his mouth was: "You punched me."

Dean's statement clearly caught Sam off guard. "Um... I..." he was at a loss for words; deep down, he'd kinda wished that Dean wouldn't remember that.

"Whatever." Dean sighed. "Call the doctor or a nurse; I'm getting out of here."

That simple phrase managed to irritate Sam to no end. "You what? Are you completely out of your mind?" he growled. "What am I saying; of course you are. You son of a bitch ignored your injuries for so long that now they don't even know if you can get back to normal. Aren't you even slightly rattled that you can't see a freaking thing out of your left eye?"

Dean closed his eyes and swallowed.

'Slightly rattled?' That actually had really unsettled him and that was why he wanted to get the hell out of there. Dean didn't know how to do nervous. He was also thinking that it was already too late and he'd gone half blind and if that was the case, then there was no reason for him to waste his time in a stupid hospital just to be treated like a pincushion.

The look of anguish on Dean's face deflated Sam's anger. "Dean?"

His brother opened his eyes and just stared at him with an unreadable look in his eyes.

"I'm sorry... I-" Sam trailed off. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into me lately. I shouldn't have punched you and I shouldn't have forgotten about your arm and eye and-"

"Enough."

"Dean-"

"No, Sam. Seriously. I'm not in the mood for a guilt trip here and in case you haven't noticed, I'm not really up to get you out of your funk. What happened was not your fault and that's it. Drop it."

Dean's tone had a hard edge to it that Sam hadn't heard for years. It was a serious tone; like every time that Dean meant what he was saying and was actually too tired to hide his true feelings, and yet it showed how exhausted he was. It really tore at Sam's heart.

"I... I'll get your doctor. They want to perform a surgery on your arm and one on your eye. It's not too late, Dean." Sam said, knowing full well what had scared his brother like that. Heck he'd be beside himself with fear if he was in Dean's shoes. So, all things considered, Dean was handling the situation pretty well, in Sam's opinion.

Saying that, Sam quickly walked out, not waiting for Dean to protest or talk back.

Before the doctor could meet Dean, Sam warned him about Dean's mood and although Dr. Shelton wasn't one to sugarcoat things, he inserted some extra optimism in his words once he tried to explain the situation to Dean. Losing hopes was the first step of giving up and he wasn't about to let his patient give up.

"So far, you seem to be in a good condition and I think it's safe to schedule your surgeries for tomorrow morning. If we perform both of them at the same time, we'll be able to spare you the extra discomfort. How does that sound?" he smiled down at the younger man who was lying in the bed and while clearly disconcerted, he was trying to look totally indifferent.

Dean sighed. "I don't think I have any other options here."

"Well, for tonight, we can leave you alone with your brother. But I'll be back to prepare you for your operations, first thing in the morning. Try and get some rest." he said and left the room.

The moment they were alone, Dean closed his eyes and turned to the left as much as the IV in his arm would allow him.

Sam wanted to talk to Dean and make sure that things were as good as possible between them, but somewhere along the way, he'd kinda lost his ability to talk about his feelings and he wasn't sure that they'd stay all civil if he broached that subject so soon. So, instead of talking, he just sat there quietly and studied his brother as he tried hard, too hard, to hide his anxiety.

Knowing that Sam was probably having a hard time, Dean tried to think of something to say to reassure his brother and to get rid of the palpable tension in the air. But truth to be told, he was merely too spent to keep his mask up and although he wasn't blaming Sam for his current condition -make no mistake, he was mad for that punch, but he could forgive Sam for that and besides, they'd never talked about those kinda things before and he wasn't about to start now-, he didn't know what to say to him. So, for his part, Dean just tried not to show any emotion and tried hard to just get back to sleep. That way he might stop thinking about the less pleasant aspects of his life at that moment; say, being half blind and having an almost completely numb right arm.

Soon, Dean finally fell asleep and that actually made him lose control over his feelings; instead of looking relaxed, his brows drew together in a frown and lines of pain appeared around his mouth.

Sam wished he could lighten the burden his brother was clearly carrying or at least, make him talk about things. Bottling up those feeling sure couldn't be healthy, but who was he kidding? Bottling up emotions was Dean's specialty, except maybe in rare occasions or when he was around just two or three certain people who could look past his smoke and mirrors.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Sam and despite the dire situation, a small smile crept out of the corner of his mouth.

Maybe there was still a way to help Dean.

Standing from the chair he'd been occupying the last few hours, he left the room to make some phone calls.

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... TBC ...

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A/N: Share your ideas with me and again, thanks for your comments! :)

Sorry for any mistakes.

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