"You're gonna stay here now," Sam explained to Ian where he sat beside Dean. "This is gonna be your new family, if you'd like that. You think you'd like that, Ian?"

Ian nodded hesitantly, looking a bit sadly at Sam and Dean.

"Hey, kid," Dean added. "Don't worry. We'll be back to visit some time. Garth can teach you how to text us, and you can talk to us any time you want, okay?" Ian smiled up at him, taking Dean's hand and kissing the palm before standing up on the cushion and pressing it to Dean's cheek. He turned and gave Sam a quick hug around the neck and bounced off of the couch toward the kitchen.

Sam smiled at his brother. "He really likes you, man," he said with a grin.

"I'm a likable guy," Dean replied, then swallowed, shutting his eyes as pain washed over him.

The smile fell from Sam's face. "You gonna let me check you?"

"Not here, okay?" Dean asked, voice tight. "Let's get a room. I know I need restitching." Sam's jaw clenched in frustration. "Yeah yeah, bitch at me later. I just wanna crash for a while, okay?"

Sam took a calming breath. "I'll let Garth know we're heading out."

Dean was almost to the car by the time Sam pried himself away from the house. He hurried to Dean's side when he saw him lean on the passenger door.

"You couldn't wait five minutes?" Sam argued, then his face fell when he saw his brother's pallor. "I knew it," he said, taking in Dean's appearance. He was covered in a sheen layer of sweat, his eyes noticeably circled with a pale purplish color now that they were in the sunlight. Sam put his hand on Dean's face. His skin was cool and clammy. "You are not fine, Dean. I'm taking you to a hospital."

"Okay," Dean replied, no argument in his voice at all, which really made Sam all the more nervous. "Hey Sam? I...I can't seem to be able to open the door. Could you...?" Dean swallowed against what he knew was bile rising in his throat. Sam's eyes widened as his brother vomited beside the car, coloring the dirt below them red. He looked back up to Dean as blood dribbled down his chin.

"Shit!" Sam panicked. "Shit, Dean!"

"Don't let Ian see me like this, Sam. Just get us outta here, okay?"

Sam couldn't bring himself to argue with him. He hurriedly helped Dean into the car and shut the door, rushing to get in the driver side.

"Hey!" Garth's voice caused Sam to pause at the open door, watching Garth quickly approach them. "What's going on?" he asked, alarmed at the sight of Dean.

"Where's the nearest hospital?" Sam asked.

Garth shook his head. "Uh...east about ten miles. Sam?"

"I...I'll call you!"

The Impala left a cloud of dirt behind it as she roared down the road. Sam was trying to concentrate on keeping them on the road while glancing at Dean every fifteen seconds. The older brother had started breathing more rapidly since he'd thrown up. That, added with all the other symptoms, made it pretty clear to Sam that Dean was bleeding internally, and likely now in shock. The bastard had lied to him the whole way to Garth's.

"'m sorry, Sam," Dean said looking at his worried brother. "I wasn't thinkin'."

"Damn straight you weren't," Sam spat back. "You big idiot!"

"I know," he said without any fight. "You're right. I..." Dean trailed off, his breath becoming more labored. "Sammy, I...I can't breathe, man..."

The anger left Sam, replaced with terror as Dean coughed bloody spittle onto the window beside him. "We're almost there, Dean. Just hang on, okay?" He could see Dean's hand on the seat, seeking out Sam's. Sam grabbed onto it, and Dean was grateful.

"'m sorry," he said again, and closed his eyes.

"Dean!" Sam shouted. "Dean, wake up!" The car swerved, and Sam fought and kept it on the road, reaching out to check Dean's pulse at his neck. It was there, but it was slow and shallow, and Sam kept yelling for him to wake up, even as he screeched to a halt in front of the ambulance bay.

"S'm," Dean said, though his eyes were still closed.

Sam rushed out and to Dean's door, opening it and pulling his brother out, lifting him in his arms. He ran through the doors to the ER, frantically searching for someone who could help. "Somebody help!" he cried out. "Please!"

"I's okay, S'mmy," Dean tried to assure him, tried his best to smile. "'m okay." But Sam wasn't falling for his bullshit. He could see how scared the kid was. Angry, but scared. He really wished he hadn't put that look on his face.

"Sir, let us take him," someone said, and Sam looked up from Dean's face to see medical staff there with a stretcher.

Sam carefully laid Dean down onto it. "H-he's in shock," Sam told them, feeling himself shake as he spoke. The woman was saying something to him, but he couldn't concentrate on anything but the bed with his brother being wheeled away beyond another set of doors. "We didn't know it was this bad." He felt himself suddenly being pushed to sit on a spare bed that sat in the hallway, then the voice seemed more understandable.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Sam."

"Okay, Sam. And can you tell me the name of the man you brought in?"

"Dean. He's my brother. Fitzgerald."

"Okay great. Now can you tell me what happened, Sam?"

She was sitting beside him now. He felt her arm around his shoulders. "Uh...he uh..." Sam couldn't think. Not right this second. There wasn't enough free space to make something up. "He was in a fight yesterday," he began.

"What time was that?"

"Um..." Sam closed his eyes to think. "Around seven. We stopped to get dinner and he was ambushed in the parking lot. The guy stabbed him, but Dean...he said it wasn't that bad. He just wanted me to stitch him up so we could get back on the road."

"Where was this? Did you call the police?"

"Huh? Y-yeah. It was all taken care of before we left Wyoming." Damnit. Get it together!

"Wyoming?"

"No. Did...did I say Wyoming? God I'm sorry, I'm just...I'm so worried about my brother... I meant Winona. We were heading up here from Madison to visit Garth, a friend of ours here in town. We were there when Dean started to get real bad..." Sam's stomach sank again, like making up the story had made it less real for a moment, and the reality came flooding back. "Oh god...I shouldn't have listened to him when he said he was fine. I should've got him here sooner..."

"Listen, Sam," the nurse squeezed his shoulders a bit. "You got him here now. He's in good hands. We've got one of the best trauma surgeons on staff today, as luck would have it. Whatever's going on with your brother, they'll figure it out. Don't give up hope," she told him. He tried to smile at her. "I'm gonna pass this information to the doctors now. If you go to the waiting room, the receptionist will bring you some paperwork to fill out, okay? It'll blow some time." Sam swallowed, nodded and stood at the same time the nurse did.

He'd made his way to the waiting room and was handed the paperwork before he could even begin to decide where to sit. He didn't even bother. He saw the Impala still sitting in the ambulance bay, clearly no one was worried it would end up being in the way. Sam went out to move it. He had to close the passenger door before getting into the driver seat. The keys were still in the ignition. The engine was still running. Anyone could've walked up and taken her, and Dean would've had a meltdown.

Sam sat there just breathing for a moment. He couldn't seem to get his hand to put the car into gear just yet. Dean's shaky, weakened voice kept playing over and over in his head. "'m sorry, Sammy. I's okay. 'm okay." Sam looked over at where Dean had been sitting beside him. His eyes shot right to the red splatter on the window. The picture in front of him suddenly blurred, and he realized it was the tears building in his eyes. He quickly swiped them away and took a deep breath. He had to get himself together. For Dean...

*~.~*

Sam had filled out the paperwork and was back outside again, pacing the sidewalk in front of the ER as he waited for Garth to pick up his phone.

"Sam? What's going on with Dean?" was Garth's opening question. "Ian smelled the blood and had a little freak-out on us."

Sam's eyes watered at that. "Dean's uh...he was bleeding internally. I had no idea. He's been taken into surgery. They're gonna try and find where he's bleeding exactly..."

Garth could hear the slight shake in Sam's voice, along with the heavy breathing that no doubt stemmed from Sam's own freak-out. "What can we do? Do you need anything? Anything at all..."

"Actually uh...I need an insurance card for Dean..."

"Don't you have like five billion of those things?"

"I panicked and gave them a name we don't have. Fitzgerald."

"Aww Sam, that's so-"

"Can you do it?"

"I've gotta cook something up for Ian's new identity anyway. I can manage. Give them my business number and tell them it's the insurance company. I'll send them over a set of numbers that should hold you over."

"Thanks, man. I appreciate it."

"You want me to come down there?"

"Uh...I'll uh...let you know when I hear anything from the doc, okay? Just uh...tell Ian not to worry, and that we'll call him when I...when Dean's awake."

"Okay. Sam, you know I'm here for you, right?"

"I know," Sam let out a breath. "I...thanks, Garth. I gotta go." He ended the call and ran a hand down his face. Dean hadn't wanted Ian to know he was sick. So much for that. He opened the call list again and scrolled to Jody's number, hitting dial and taking one more deep breath before putting the phone to his ear. It rang a few times, then went to voicemail, which probably meant she was out on a call.

"Hey, Jody. It's Sam again. Uh...turns out Dean was worse than he was letting on," he said with a small, nervous laugh...

*~.~*

"We're at a hospital in Grantsburg. Dean's in surgery." Jody's heart sank as she listened to Sam's voice as it cracked, though he'd been trying to keep it together. "He's bleeding internally and they're working on him now. I just wanted to...ya know, keep you posted. I dunno if we can make it to see you." Sam seemed to break, then, Jody could tell as she put her hand over her mouth to hide her sad frown. "I dunno if we're...leaving here, Jody." He sniffled. "I uh...I'll call you when I know anything else." The call ended.

He'd called her almost an hour ago, and she'd been having a late lunch out. She'd left her phone in the car without realizing it, and hadn't noticed the message until she'd gotten back to the office. A huge part of her was afraid to call back. Sam hadn't called again, and that could mean anything. Not anything good. Maybe nothing bad either, but if Dean had come through okay, she was sure Sam would've called by now.

Jody remembered how Sam was after the last time he'd lost Dean, and wasn't it just so fucked up that there was a last time... She'd had a taste of that with her son, him coming back and then having to be put down again. It didn't matter how much it happened, it hurt all the same. In fact, it hurt even worse. She refused to let him shut her out like that again; forced to leave him to drink himself half to death, and to hell with the rest of the world.

Oh god, but that'd mean Dean was gone, and she really hoped that that wasn't true. Sam and Dean were her family. They were a package deal. If she lost one, she'd lose them both. That'd never change. She couldn't just sit here and wait around for that call. It was a five hour drive, but she'd be damned if she was gonna let Sam do this alone...

tbc...