They were both certainly good looking but Sam by far more tall, dark and dreamy. I invited them in and immediately things started changing. Some of the hunters there said their goodbyes and left without any explanation, the two that stayed went to their rooms and I didn't see much of them and honestly don't remember when they left for good. Within 48 hours it was just me, Dean and Sam. At first I didn't really notice the connection. I just figured it was all a coincidence and didn't really concern myself with it. Of course now after knowing them I know what some hunters think of them. They told me they were in town working on a case. A recent influx in the number of people drowning in the local lake. At first they thought it was a siren but something persuaded them from that. I couldn't help but stare at Sam. It's not that he was good looking, which he was, he was smart and funny. I hadn't had a man I thought about dating in the house in years and I myself hadn't had a boyfriend in a very long time. I swept those thoughts and feelings aside and continued to work and help the brothers as much as I could.
It was a week out and the brothers were stumped. The killings had paused, whoever it was probably realizing they were in town. I began to look forward to coming home from work and finding them there. I think they started to enjoy it as well. They were cooking and watching movies, doing regular things like regular people. These were two guys I would be totally okay with living with for the rest of my life, corny as that sounds. Things were moving along pretty routinely until one day while I was upstairs in my office typing up some papers for work and doing some research of my own I heard Dean yell for me to come downstairs. When I arrived at the foot of the stairs I could see a man in a pretty expensive suit standing by the door smiling. Dean pulled me aside, "I need to know if you have any demon traps in this house." I looked cautiously toward the man at the front door. "Why would you ask that Dean?" He looked down and sighed, "Look I know you're new to this stuff and this isn't going to sound good but that guy at the door is our shot at information on the monster we're looking for right now and unfortunately he happens to be a demon." I was shocked. Monsters were something hunters killed and demons were monsters. I couldn't align what I knew with what he was now telling me. I also knew that the brothers were good men and could be trusted. As much as I didn't want a demon near me I decided to trust him. "I have traps throughout the entire house it's just that you can't see them. I grabbed the black light I used when I checked the traps and shut off the lights. Dean looked up at all of the traps near every entrance and some in the middle of nowhere just in case one was compromised. "Wow." Just that one word was all he said. I flipped the light switch and we could see normally. The demon decided to join the conversation, "Who are you pet? You're much too smart to be a hunter." I laughed. I gave Dean the light and decided he could let the demon out of that trap but they best talk outside. He scraped into the drawing I had made and they both went outside to the porch. The demon tipped his head and smiled at me. What a strange encounter, why would a demon not be here to maim and destroy like I'd been told? I decided it was a conversation for later and grabbed my paint to right the trap again.
I resumed my work in my office and woke up to Sam shaking me. What? What? "I need you to come look at Dean something is wrong with him." I ran behind him to the room Dean was in. He was laying on the bed shaking, diaphoretic and his eyes were dilated. I sent Sam to my room to grab my nursing bag and when he returned I did an assessment. He was tachycardic but his pulses were even. His blood pressure was elevated but not too high. He had a low grade fever but nothing to worry about. I was more concerned with the way his eyes looked and he wasn't responding to any external stimuli. I turned to Sam, "Tell me exactly what happened." His face was so worried. I could tell in the time I got to know them how much they loved each other and I wondered how many times they had to go through things like this. I would find out later and it never stops breaking my heart. "Well you know Dean talked to Crowley, he told me about you being here and the trap. He had some info about a barn that's abandoned on the edge of town. We went to check it out. I went in the back and Dean went in through the front. I was in a room with a lot of old equipment and heard him yell. When I finally got to him he was laying on the ground just like this. I drug him to the car and then into here. I have no idea what happened to him and there was nothing near him or in the barn that explains anything. I can't help you at all." I left him and went to the basement. When I first decided to use the house for hunters I bought some used equipment on ebay and stashed it in case I ever needed it. I used my connection at the hospital to order routine supplies like IV fluid, IV supplies and bought wound supplies from the local store. Everyone at the hospital thought I rescued sick animals and took care of them. Well there was that diabetic cat that one time, but I digress. I grabbed everything I could carry and brought it into Deans room. Sam looked at me cautiously. "Look Sam I don't know what's going on with him but we'll figure it out. I need to start an IV and hook him up to a monitor that way if anything changes, we'll know right away." He looked down at his brother, "Whatever you have to do. Just so you know, he doesn't like needles." I grinned, wasn't the first or last time I would ever hear that one. I had him hold his arm when I put the IV in just in case he reacted. Except for the shaking he just laid there staring at nothing. I hooked him up to a three lead EKG, BP cuff and pulse oximeter. All of his vitals were stable and unchanged since my assessment. I started some saline to keep the IV open in case I had to try to give him something else. Sam sat in the chair beside his bed keeping vigil and I asked him about the case and any other info we could have on what he may have been exposed to. He said they were looking at a monster that was luring men into the lake and they were willingly wandering to their death. They originally thought it was a siren but decided against it because these men weren't having any odd behaviors or interactions prior to the drowning. One day they were their normal selves and the next day they intentionally walked into the lake to their death. There were no local legends about the lake and other monsters had proved to be a dead end.
I left Sam with Dean and went to the library to do some research of my own. I was so new to the game that I didn't come up with any good leads and eventually went back to Dean's room to see how he was. Sam was asleep in the chair by his bed and Dean was still the same. Vitals stable, the beeping and monitors showing he was still with us. He still maintained that vacant stare and shook throughout. I checked his temperature again, it was unchanged. I covered him up with a sheet and draped the blanket over Sam. I knew he wasn't going to bed with his brother in here like that. The next morning I got him and Sam was still with his brother. No changes at all in his condition. I sent him down for some breakfast and sat with Dean until he returned. We made small talk. I told him I wanted to go into the hospital and see if anyone else had shown up with similar symptoms since the killings started. He had my cell phone and if anything happened he could call me. I began my shift and then started asking around about the symptoms Dean was exhibiting. I said it was something going on where my cousin was a nurse and they were stumped on it. One of the nurses in the unit said she had gotten pulled to another floor last week and had a patient with the same symptoms. She didn't know how his case ended up but she remembered his name. I looked him up to see if he was in the hospital, which he wasn't, so on my lunch hour I looked at his chart. He came into ER a month ago with the same symptoms as Dean. His wife found him in the driveway like that when he went to his car to leave for work in the morning. He was in the hospital until two days ago. Seems his symptoms got better with time but in the chart I noted the medications they switched him to toward the end and figured we could at least try those now. Both drugs were something I could get ahold of so I did and took them home with me at the end of the day. I spoke with Sam and explained what I found out, I hung the new medications and sat down in the chair to watch Dean while Sam went to interview the man who was released from the hospital.
Dean seemed a little more peaceful than when I had left this morning. His vitals were still stable and his temperature had actually gone down. As I watched the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest I began to nod off in the chair. I'm not sure what time it was when Sam returned but it was dark outside when he woke me from my nap in the chair. I hated sleeping sitting up, you always wake up with a sore neck or back. Maybe I was just getting too damn old. I smiled and got up for Sam to be able to sit. "Hey Laney, I just want to thank you for everything you've done for us. We've had a nice place to stay, it kind of feels like home here, ya know. And now you got some good information to help with the case and Dean. Taking care of Dean is the best part of all, thank you." He looked so concerned and god help me so sexy just staring at me like that, "No problem, it's what I'm here for. Did you eat dinner yet?" "No, but I want to sit with Dean. I think we can get this thing I just want to wait until he's well." I sighed, "Sam, I understand what you're saying but we don't want this monster to kill someone else and you're brother really is doing better. You should just take care of it and then we'll get your brother back up in no time. This effect seems to last a while, it may be a week or more until he's up and ready to go." Sam seemed to mull this over in his head, "You're right. I think I can take care of it by myself. I'll get my stuff together and I should be back by morning." "Okay let me grab a sandwich and I'll stay here with him until you return." I went downstairs, grabbed a tomato and mayo sandwich and headed back to Dean's room with my laptop. I Figured I could get some work done and babysit til Sam came back. It never even occurred to me something might happen to him. He did make it back after he killed the monster and saved the day, again.
After I finished some work and my sandwich I had laid on the floor so that I could wake up with less pain than earlier. Dean was still stable with no change since I had started the medicine. I woke up to sunlight coming in through the window. Well, it was better than sitting but my back still hurt royally. I got off the floor, checked all of Dean's monitors and lines and went to go make some coffee. I was off but I needed to be up and awake. When I left his room I could hear the shower running in the hall. Must be Sam I thought and went downstairs and started up the coffee pot. I was sitting at the kitchen table staring at the coffee brewing when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It startled me, I was spacing out and didn't hear anyone walk near me. I jumped out of the chair and turned around to see Sam had come into the kitchen without a shirt on. My heart leapt into my stomach and I suddenly forgot how to speak. "Hey sorry I scared you. I thought you were still upstairs and you seemed to be a little out of it down here. Dean's okay, I checked on him. What's going on with you." You blushed. Staring at him with his jeans hung low on his hips and no shirt, showing off his rather impressive physique, thoughts were had and intentions were squashed away. "Hey, no I'm okay, just sore from sleeping on the floor and the chair, my desk. I don't think I've slept in my bed this week at all. How did the hunt go? Any problems?" He smiled down at me, "No. Pretty straight forward. I got some good intel from the other patient. I tracked her and killed her, end of story. It was a mermaid, the first one I've ever seen. Mermaids are monsters but if you catch them they die pretty easily." "Oh. Well hopefully Dean will start to make some real progress. We know he will get better, it's just a matter of time." The coffee was done so I grabbed two cups and filled them up. Though I was getting used to spending time with both of them in the house, spending time with just Sam (especially half naked) was a little unnerving to say the least. We sat at the table in silence just enjoying the coffee when all of a sudden there was a crash upstairs and I heard the monitor start alarming. We both ran upstairs with Sam ahead of me. Dean was awake and not very happy. He was pulling at his IV, his catheter, the cables, he was not a happy guy. I ran over and Sam helped hold him down to the bed. "Dean it's Laney, you've been out of it for days we had to take care of you. Calm down and I'll take everything out." He looked at me and seemed to finally process where he was and what I was saying. Having Sam there verified what I was saying was true and needed to be done. I took out the IV and took off all the leads. Then I looked to Sam, "Sam you need to step outside for a minute. He has a catheter and I don't think you want to see me take that out." He nodded and stepped just outside the door. I removed the catheter and Dean gave me one of his uncomfortable smiles that didn't reach his eyes. I understood that look, especially from men after catheter removal. "Okay" I yelled and Sam bound back into the room. Dean was okay, Sam was okay and the monster was banished. I had a sudden ache in my chest because I knew they would probably be leaving soon and I would be alone again.
I went downstairs and cooked up some hamburgers. I knew Dean would be hungry and I don't think Sam or I had been eating or sleeping very well either. Within a half hour Dean was dressed and downstairs. "Oh that smells good." Dean could barely contain his hungry gaze. Sam just smiled and the look of relief on his face warmed my heart. I couldn't imagine having a sibling that felt that way about me and for the first time I wished I wasn't an only child. We all ate and then Dean laid down. He had been on his back for too long and really needed to rest. Sam said they didn't have any leads on another job so they could use a little more downtime for Dean to recover. Sam and I moved into the living room to watch a movie. There was nothing new on so Sam settled on some movie we had both seen, I don't remember what it was. Sitting next to him on the couch made me self conscious. I felt we were sitting so close and though I was attracted to him, I didn't want to push myself on him or make a pass and be rejected, which I assumed I would be. As I was trying to pay attention to the movie I suddenly felt his shoulder touch mine. I startled, we weren't that close just a minute ago. I looked over and Sam was falling asleep and leaning into me. I immediately relaxed and decided I could at least sleep next to the guy. He was exhausted and had been staying up to watch Dean and then killing a monster. He needed sleep and frankly so did I. I was taking a vacation day tomorrow and that's all there was to it. I grabbed my cell phone and called off. I leaned back into Sam and relaxed, falling asleep very soon.