"Sam, he is coming to consciousness." Castiel alerted the man's younger brother. Dean opened his green eyes and coughed a little, obviously trying to hold it in.

"Dean!" Sam's voice had just the right amount of urgency in it.

"What the hell happened?" the older man croaked, shivering. He pawed at his soaked shirt. "And why am I all wet?"

"You fever spiked at 104 and you fainted. I… caught you."

"We had to lower your temperature fast, so we took you back home and loaded you down with some wet cloths." Sam explained, gesturing to the multiple, dripping paper towels covering Dean's torso and forehead. He turned away from them and coughed loudly, unable to get a breath. Castiel hoisted the man into a sitting position and rubbed his back. Sam chose not to say anything and instead mumbled that he would "go make some coffee."

Dean finished coughing and winced slightly, trying to hide the pain he was feeling. Castiel stepped back and pulled up a chair. "You should've told me, Dean. I didn't find out until last night, when you fell into my arms. You have bronchitis. Left untreated, it can become quite painful for the lungs."

The oldest Winchester's breath caught in his throat. "Hehh... KSHchh! Htchoo!" He groaned involuntarily. "Cas…"

The angel put a hand on his forehead. "You're still very warm, Dean. I'd suggest a copious amount of rest."

"'m cold."

Castiel gently covered the sick man with the motel's cheap blankets and sighed. He didn't like Dean in this weakened state and it made him nervous to see him in this way. The Winchester went into another coughing fit,

"Coffee's ready." Sam announced. "Wake up and drink this."

The angel raised an eyebrow, looking to protest but Sam quickly shook his head. "Dean, I need you to drink this now, okay? Cas and I are going to investigate another murder. Plus, the girl's body was found, so we might go look at that too. You can stay here and, uh, rest."

"No. I'm up." He grabbed the cup of coffee and took a big gulp, smacking his lips. In no time, he'd finished the cup and was blinking sleepily. Sam put a hand on his brother's chest and gently eased him down into the bed. "Sweet dreams. We'll be back."

He winked at Cas as they locked the motel room door before they left. "When you have a brother like Dean who is so obnoxiously stubborn, you learn some things to keep 'em down. His coffee was spiked with Nyquil."

Dean tossed and turned in a fevered sleep, snoring congestedly. He was sweating when he awoke, so he kicked off all the blankets and then realised how parched his mouth was. A quick sound made him jump in alarm. He glanced around the room wildly, looking for invisible intruders.

"Wh-who's there?!" he called out shakily. "S-Sammy?"

His eyes detected movement by the window, which was wide open, the latch broken.

"Looking for someone?" a tall blonde asked him before hitting him in the head with a lamp.

"Wake up, sweetie!" a sugary sweet voice cooed in his ear before cruelly drenching him in ice water.

"Huh!" Dean gasped, blinked wildly, water dripping down the ends of his golden hair into his eyes. He was tied to chair, wrists behind his back. His head was hurting something awful and he recalled being decked by a chick wielding a lamp. A sick realization suddenly hit him hard: he was in the Parker & Son Funeral Home. The head coroner was unconcious, gagged and bound, in the corner. He had a slit in his throat, but a small one. Dean guessed the man might be alive.

He glanced around and the woman chuckled. "Recognise the place? I figured. This really is the best place for someone like me to hide out, you know, given the circumstances. I mean, it's totally normal for someone in here to be handling corpses and bodies."

"And what are you? I'm guessing not a-" he broke off in a quick fit of coughing that burned his lungs, "vampire."

"Nope. Ghoul. But those are just useless details. The only thing I care about is you. Well, your flesh rather. Blood."

Dean laughed gruffly, then resisted the overwhelming urge to cough again. "Oh, sweetheart, you don't want my blood; I'm diseased." He sneezed, as if to prove his point.

"No matter. I can't get sick. Sorry. Looks like you're still on the menu."

She stepped behind him and stuck a rag in Dean's mouth before he could protest. Then, as one manicured hand traced his jawline and felt its way down to his chest, the other hand made a small incision from his ear to his cheek. He made a sound, muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

"Sorry babe. I know that must've hurt. I didn't want to eat you all in one bite, though… just a taste." Her lips found the slow, red, trickle of blood on his flushed cheek and her tongue danced around it.

"Now, for a larger cut." the woman purred.

AN - Another thanks to Tricia for her sweet review! :) More chapters to come, hopefully! Continue giving me feed back, I can't get enough!