Chapter 3

Sam sat down on the other bed. He had felt a knot on the back of his brother's head. He wanted to call 9-1-1, but he knew that that could not be an option. Not at this time. They had been on the local news, just a few days back blamed for the latest murders. Just because they had been seen in town around the same time the murders had occurred. They had come to this place, this out-of-the-way motel, to lay low for a while. They had had nothing to do with the murders, but the thing that they had been hunting did. So, they killed the monster and removed the threat. But, of course, the news media could not and would not report that.

So Sam sat and waited. He paced the floor and waited. He was starving, but he had waited on that, too. He just knew Dean would wake up in the time it took him to run and get their order. He finally had to give in; his stomach was practically talking to him. Sam returned about 15 minutes later. The younger hunter panicked when he found Dean's bed empty. He heard retching in the bathroom. He dropped the bags of food on the bed.

"Dean!" Sam called to his brother as he hurried to see what was going on.

Sam knelt down beside Dean who was kneeling on the floor, throwing up in the toilet. Sam had no idea how Dean had made it to the bathroom, at all. His color was horrible, and he looked like he was ready to pass out. Sam put his hand to the nape of his brother's neck to provide a little comfort. He was also ready to grab Dean's shoulders and pull him back so he wouldn't take a header into the toilet.

Dean was too busy being sick and hurting to even know his brother was there. He had woken up with a killer headache and a strong urge to empty his stomach of all its contents. He could not find the trashcan, so he decided to take his chances. He managed to stumble into the bathroom and fall to his knees in front of the toilet. His chest was burning from his repeated dry heaving and from the bruising he had gotten from Sam a few hours earlier. Sam pulled Dean back against him when he saw the elder Winchester's head drop forward, and felt his body go limp. Dean had passed out from exhaustion.

Sam again carried his brother to his bed. He placed the trashcan close. And he took advantage of the fact that Dean was unconscious to really look at the older man's wounds again, since the bruising had now shown up. He also checked out his previous stitch work and bandaging. Everything still looked good. Dean hadn't pulled anything out of place with his moving around and his dry heaving.

Sam sat down on his own bed. Then he remembered the food he had brought. He ate while he waited for Dean to wake up. He put Dean's food in the fridge for him to eat later.

Dean opened his eyes just a few moments later. Sam helped him to sit up and gave him a little water. Dean took the water gratefully. His throat was parched, and he had an acidic taste in his mouth. He leaned back against his brother, exhausted, grateful Sam was there. He closed his eyes again as his breathing evened out.

"Dean!" Sam panicked when Dean closed his eyes. He was very afraid his brother had passed out again.

Dean opened his eyes. He patted Sam's forearm, reassuringly. "Okay…Sammy." He closed his eyes again. "Head hurts, sore…need to sleep."

"No, Dean." Sam said, shaking his brother gently to get him to open his eyes. "That wouldn't be a good idea right now."

Dean looked at his little brother. He didn't get what the big deal was, then he remembered…their fight. He had fallen backwards, and his head hit the edge of the metal dining table, hard. It had knocked him out, instantly. But he had come to a few minutes later, after Sam had left. The elder Winchester had looked around the room. But nobody was there, and there were no sounds coming from the bathroom. Sam had left him, his anger flared before the pain took over and he passed out.

Dean rolled onto his side so that he was lying on the bed with his back to his brother. "You left me!"

"What?" Sam asked as he stood up.

Dean rolled over and looked at Sam. "You left me! You left me," He hissed out. ", in my car! And you went to see that bitch!"

Sam started to shake his head. "No, Dean."

"I woke up and you weren't here." Dean informed him. "I was alone. What the hell, Sam?" He was getting more and more angry. "You chose that bitch over me, yet again!" He was going to say more, but he moved the wrong way. He groaned as he pressed his hand to his bruised ribs. He glared at Sam.

"Dean, I…." Sam started.

Dean took a moment and breathed through the pain before he spoke. "What is this…hold she has on you?"

"She saved my life." Sam stated.

Dean opened his mouth. But he couldn't find any words for a moment. "What?"

Sam took a deep breath and plunged into his story, going into far too much detail at some points. Dean took a moment to speak when Sam paused.

"Too much information, Dude!" Dean told him, a nauseated look on his face. "Just way, way…way too much information."

Sam continued on with his story, trying to make Dean understand. And the elder Winchester did, in a way. He understood the need to repay a debt you feel you owe. But the whole demon thing, that still was not something he could really wrap his mind around.

"I…I get you were alone. But…but Ruby, Dude…anybody else, go to a bar and get a drunk chick. Anything…."

TBC