I blinked awake in the florescent lights. They blinded me for a single moment, but I blinked, and things started coming into focus. The pale blue walls. The ugly checkered curtain pushed so that it was against the wall.

A beeping noise broke began to register and I realized I was hooked up to a machine and a IV was sticking out of my arm. I tried to sit myself up, but failed miserably. I felt a presence in the room, and looked up to see Tori standing in the doorway, Marcus, Sam and Dean not far behind.

"You're awake," Tori said quietly.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Day and a half," she said, coming in to sit at the end of my bed. Sam, Dean and Marcus followed, but they all stood at the foot of my bed.

"Has it been that long?" I asked.

Dean nodded. "You blacked out in the impala about thirty seconds before I realized what was going on," he said quietly. "There was a moment when she said something about the baby after you blacked out, and I knew it had to be her. Makes sense too. Work in the NICU and you've got access to all the baby's records. You can find out everything about them by a few sheets of paper in a file."

"What happened while I was blacked out?" I asked. Tori smirked.

"I lied and said that I was your sister. That meant I had total control over your medical as your only surviving relative. First they drugged you pretty heavily, then they gave you some contrast through an IV and gave you a CT scan. It came back fine, thank goodness, so they did an ultrasound and once again, found tried every test they had, and everything came up negative. So the doctor chalked it up as abdominal migraines and said that until you woke up you were to keep getting low doses of pain medicine. That was last night. He also said once you woke up he was going to keep you one more night before he released you just in case. But from what I hear everything's taken care of," she said, glancing at Dean.

"How'd you gank her?" I asked.

"I just exorcised her. I was driving 70 miles an hour and she knew I was gonna find her no matter what. She must've met a hunter before," he said. "Anyway, she's gone now. Back in hell where she belongs."

I nodded slowly, letting it all sink in. It was a lot to take in. Slowly, everything started to sink in and I looked at Dean intently.

"You saved my life," I said to him.

He shrugged. "Not really. The doctor didn't find anything wrong with you. I just sent that bitch back where she can rot forever if we're lucky."

I chuckled and tried to sit up in bed once more. Tori reached over and helped me by adjusting the slope of the head of the bed.

"Better?" she asked when I had situated myself in a near upright position.

I nodded in agreement.

Marcus and Sam stood silently in the back of the pack, not saying a word. Marcus wasn't a chatty Cathy at the best of times but it surprised me that he hadn't spoken up. And I had expected Sam to at least add something to the conversation.

"We're not in a library, guys. You two can talk," I said, addressing both Sam and Marcus. Marcus chuckled and Sam gave a small smile, the latter finally speaking to me.

"You gave us quite a scare there, when you didn't wake up after a day," Sam said.

"I had to get my beauty rest, Sam," I said as seriously as I could muster.

Tori snickered and Dean cracked a small smile. I could see the wheels turning in Marcus' head before he finally spoke up.

"Honey I think you need to go back to sleep," he said playfully.

I looked down at my arm, which of course had an IV in it, and then to my chest, where I could see the hospital gown in all it's ugly glory. I heaved a sigh.

"If I wasn't tied down with this IV and wearing a nearly transparent gown you'd be getting beat up by a girl," I said, once again feining seriousness but not succeeding quite well enough.

Marcus came over and kissed me on the forehead before stepping back.

"I've gotta go, love. My momma keeps insisting I come for dinner and doesn't seem to care if my best friend is in the hospital," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'll try to be up later and if not I'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright. Have fun," I teased, knowing he'd be having anything but.

Marcus left and Tori stood, throwing a glance at Sam and Dean who nodded behind her.

"We're gonna let you get some rest. We'll be up in the morning," Tori said.

"Alrighty. Thanks for being up here even when I was conked out," I told them.

"It's nothing, really," Dean and Tori replied simultaneously, before looking at each other like they'd never spoke the same thing as someone else before.

"You alright there, guys?" I asked. They both chuckled and looked at their feet.

"We'd better get going," Dean said. Tori nodded but Sam waved them away.

"Give me five minutes?" he asked. Dean looked confused but nodded and both he and Tori left the room.

Sam walked over without speaking and sat in the hard chair residing next to my bed. I stared at him intently, but he just stared at his hands, which were folded in his lap. After a few moments, I finally spoke up.

"Tick tock," I said. Sam smirked slightly before looking up at me.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Sorry for what?" I asked, concerned.

"Sorry for you being in there. It's kinda my fault. I kept pushing you and you finally agreed to hunt and-" he began to babble. I silenced him with a hard look.

"Sam, I was probably going to end up doing it anyway. I missed hunting a little too much. It's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up about it," I told him. He nodded slightly.

"Let you in on a little secret?" I asked. He wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion but nodded.

"That hunt was one of the best things that could've happened to me. I needed to go out one last time and risk my life to realize that I'm better off without it," I told him. The voice in the back of my head whispered, if ever so softly, lie, but I ignored it. Right now I was being rational.

"Now get out of here and let me rest," I teased gruffly. Sam smiled and headed to the door.

"You know, you can make it up to me by smuggling me some fried chicken," I teased as he was almost out the door.

Sam just rolled his eyes and proceeded to leave, shutting the door behind him.

I reached for the remote so I could call for the nurse, but she was already at the door, knocking. She peeked her head in around the door, and smiled when she saw me sitting up with the remote in hand.

"You're finally awake," she said, making the small walk across the room. She stood at the side of my bed and waited for me to reply.

"Haven't been for long. Just long enough to talk with my sister and a few friends," I told her.

She began inspecting all the wires I was hooked up to, but still kept her interest on me.

"I bet you're hungry," she said, and I nodded my head vigorously.

"We'll get you some dinner, then. Are you in pain?" the nurse asked.

"None so far. Although that's probably because I've been pumped full of painkillers," I said. She nodded slowly, working something over in her brain.

"I think we should keep you off the painkillers for now. If you need some more then we can get it to you but we need to see how you'll feel without them if you're going home tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm going home tomorrow," I said decisively. The nurse chuckled.

"We'll see when the doctor comes in to talk to you," she said. "Do you need anything else?"

"Not at the moment," I said with a shake of my head.

"Alright, buzz if you need me," she said with a soft smile. I nodded and she left the room.

I turned on the tiny TV that dangled over my bed and tried to find something worth watching. Most of the things on were old black and white westerns and movies that my grandfather would watch, if I'd known him.

Even though I'd slept for a day and a half straight after an hour and a half of watching I Dream of Jeannie, I felt myself drifting off. I wasn't out long though, when I was awoken by a knock at the door.

A handsome man in a lab coat peeked in and I figured that he was my doctor. I raised my head slightly off the pillow and he stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him.

He crossed the floor to my bedside, where he stood for a moment, looking down at me with slight concern as I adjusted myself so that I could sit up. He finally spoke when I'd gotten myself in a comfortable position.

"My name is Doctor Joseph Walsh. I've been your doctor during the duration of your stay here at the hospital. I suppose you've been filled in on your diagnosis," he said, as if he had no time to be retelling such unimportant things.

"Briefly," I replied. "They told me you weren't exactly sure what was going on but ruled it to be abdominal migraines."

Doctor Walsh nodded and stepped to the end of my bed to grab my chart. "This here says that you have no history of that problem, is that correct?" he asked.

I nodded. "Never had them before."

Doctor Walsh shook his head, unsatisfied by my answer. He strolled over to the window and stared out, as if he longed to be out beyond it instead of in here with me. I found his lack of compassion rather annoying, but ignored it.

"Abdominal migraines are hardly ever found in adults, and in the rare cases that they are, these adults had the problem as adolescents. As you did not, abdominal migraines do not seem to fit the bill. How are you feeling?" he asked, as if remembering that I wasn't just a case, and was in fact, a human being that could feel.

"Fine, really, if not a bit tired and loopy from all the pain meds you had them pump into me," I said to him.

"It was necessary. I didn't want you in any more pain than you had to be. According to your boyfriend, you were in a lot of pain before he got you here," the doctor said.

"Boyfriend?" I asked.

"Tall, dark hair. Stocky," he described. It took me a moment to realize that he was describing Dean.

"He's not my boyfriend," I told the doctor. "Family friend."

The doctor nodded, but he seemed to have forgotten the subject altogether as he stepped away from the window and rifled through my chart for a second time.

"How did your mother die?" he asked finally.

"I don't see how that's relevant," I said bitterly.

"It may help me to properly diagnose you," he said.

I sighed heavily and stared at my hands. "Animal attack," I said softly. He seemed to sense I was lying, but did nothing more than raise his eyebrows at me.

"Dear me. As of this moment I cannot give you a definitive diagnosis. I will, however, keep by my word and release you from this God forsaken place tomorrow as I promised to your sister," he said. I could tell from the way he put an emphasis on sister that he didn't believe she was my sister, either. He was a peculiar fellow.

"I'll leave you to your rest, then," he said when I didn't reply. He made his way to the door but stopped before leaving.

"Be careful. They might get the best of you next time," he said, and then wrinkled his eyebrows, as if he had no idea why he had spoken those words. He left soon after, and for that, I was grateful.

The next morning, the nurse came in bright and early and unhooked me from the ungodly amount of machinery they had me hooked up to. After signing a few papers, I was in the car with Tori and Sam, who had offered to come with her to pick me up. The ride was mostly silent, with only a few words spoken to ask me how I was feeling, or if the doctor had said anything of importance to me before I left. I didn't tell them about how strange he was, but I did tell them that he had given me a prescription for valium and told me that if the pain got too unbearable to come back in. I had asked Tori to take me to the drugstore to get it filled; not because I thought I would need it now, but because you never knew when the pain would strike.

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