A/N This is far too addictive...couldn't help but whump Dean a little bit more. This chapter is full of lots of Sick!Dean so I hope you enjoy! Thanks all for your reviews! Keep 'em coming...they make me write faster :)

They took out the breathing tube a little less than an hour after Dean woke up, after the respiratory tests they'd administered indicated he could breathe well enough on his own without its added assistance. Sam had sent Jess home shortly after that to get some rest and grab a shower and change of clothes. He knew he'd have to stop at the apartment too at some point, knew he couldn't keep functioning on such minimal sleep. But for now, at least, Sam refused to leave his brother's side.

Dean had fallen back to sleep after the breathing tube had been removed, comforted by the fact that Sam was with him. Sam was dozing in the chair when he heard Dean start to shift, moaning softly.

"Hey man," Sam whispered, putting a cool hand on Dean's forehead and feeling the high fever that still lingered there, indication that Dean was still very sick.

Dean's lips parted in a breathy sigh and he winced as he felt the pull of his broken ribs. "S…a…m," he whispered painfully, closing his eyes, his throat too dry and sore for him to continue.

Sam quickly got up and filled a cup with water from a pitcher that was nearby, holding it up to his brother's lips for him to drink. "Thanks," Dean told him when he could speak more easily. Sam nodded, placing the cup back on the table.

"How are you feeling?"

Dean looked thoughtful for a second. "Like I got hit by a truck. Or a jeep." Sam smiled at Dean's answer.

"I bet. I called Dad," he admitted, saw the surprise in Dean's face. "He didn't answer," he continued, knowing Dean was wondering whether the two had actually spoken. "I told him I was with you at the hospital."

Dean nodded and closed his eyes again, didn't ask Sam to continue. Sam knew it bothered Dean that he and John didn't talk, knew that if Dean had his way the three of them would continue hunting together for the rest of their lives.

Sam watched as Dean winced again. "Dean?" Sam asked, getting up from the chair and hovering by his brother's side. "Hey, do you need me to get a nurse? The doc said you could have more pain meds when you woke up."

Dean wanted to reject the offer because he knew if he said yes he'd only worry Sam more. But the pain was beyond intense and Dean could feel tears prickling at the corners of his eyes.

"I'll be right back, Dean," he heard Sam saying, wondered how his kid brother could still read him so well after being away for so long. He heard Sam return a minute later and opened his eyes to see that he'd brought a nurse with him.

"Hey Sweetie," she said to him. "I'm just going to check a few things first, okay?" he nodded tightly as she took down his vitals, frowning at how high his temperature still was. "Is your chest feeling tight?" she asked when Dean stifled a cough.

"A little," he admitted, wincing again.

"Okay, I'll give you the pain meds that the doctor authorized, but I'm going to have Dr. Conway come in and check on you in a little too." She injected the meds into Dean's IV and left the room.

Sam watched as the pain lines around Dean's face slowly disappeared, saw his brother relax as the medication took effect. "Better?" he asked.

Dean huffed out a breath. "Much. Man that sucked," he broke off in a short cough, putting a hand to his chest to minimize the shifting of his broken ribs. Dr. Conway entered just as the cough abated, frowning as he took in his patient's condition.

"Hey Dean, Sam," he addressed them. He'd been calling them by their first names ever since Dean had told him in no uncertain terms that the only Mr. Winchester around was their father. He pulled out a stethoscope and instructed Dean to sit up so he could listen to his lungs.

He frowned again as he heard the crackling in Dean's chest, a sure sign that the antibiotics had yet to get a handle on the pneumonia.

"Okay Dean," he said to his patient, helping him to lie back down. "Your fever is still too high and I can hear from your breath sounds that the meds aren't working as well as I'd hoped."

Sam sat up straighter in his chair. "What does that mean, Doc?"

"Means I'm going to change up the meds a little, see if we can't stop the illness from worsening." He turned to Dean now. "These antibiotics may be a little harder on your system, Dean. Let the nurse know if you start to feel nauseous."

Dean nodded slightly, not liking the way this was sounding. Couldn't things ever be easy for him?

By the time Jess returned to the hospital room around noon, Dean was once again in a fitful slumber, shivering underneath the blankets. Jess looked at the machines monitoring Dean's vitals, frowned when she saw his temperature was up past 102 again.

Sam stood up and gave Jess a peck on the cheek, pulling up another chair for her to sit in. "How's he doing?" she asked him once she'd taken a seat.

Sam shook his head slightly. "The doctor seemed concerned about his breathing, and his temperature's been holding steady at around 102."

"What about his ribs?" she asked, seeing as how that had been their main concern when this whole nightmare had started.

"Okay, I guess. But I can tell he's still in a lot of pain, even if he won't admit it."

The two sat side by side for more than an hour, neither talking, just comforted by the other's presence.

When Jess saw that Sam was starting to doze again, she pulled rank on him, insisting that he go home for a bit.

"I'll be here with Dean, Sam. He'll be fine for a few hours."

Sam nodded, knowing he'd be more use to both of them if he didn't feel like he was going to fall flat on his face any minute. "Okay," he relented, "but just for a few hours. I'll pick up some dinner for us on the way back," he added, realizing he hadn't eaten since dinner the night before. Had that only been last night? He thought in disbelief; so much had happened since then.

"Sounds great," Jess said, pulling Sam out of his thoughts. He turned to leave, taking one last look at his brother as he left the room.

"He really cares about you," she whispered to Dean once Sam had left, pulling the blankets up higher around Dean when he started to shiver again.

Jess looked up from the book that she had been reading when she heard Dean stirring. "Hey Jess," he rasped, and he looked so miserable that Jess wished for his sake that he was still sleeping.

"Hey Hon," she said back, leaning forward in her chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he told her, though his appearance told a different story. He kept a hand pressed tightly against his chest as shifted in the bed, and Jess noticed that his face had taken on a green tinge. Sam had told her about the new medications, how the doctor had warned of nausea as a side effect. She stood up, holding out the emesis basin that one of the nurses had left for Dean.

Dean gratefully took the bowl, closing his eyes and swallowing hard, desperately trying not to be sick. He gagged as he felt bile flooding his mouth and vomited into the basin, letting out an involuntary whimper as the action jolted his ribs. He heard Jess moving around, felt her place a cool washcloth on the back of his neck as he heaved again. "Shhh," she soothed, and he realized that he was still whimpering.

After a few minutes he felt Jess gently take the basin from his hands, replacing it with a cool glass of water. "You okay now?" she asked him, and he nodded slightly.

"Stupid medicine," he coughed, knew he sounded like a petulant child but he was so ready for this all to be over. He looked at Jess who was looking on with concern.

"I'm going to let the nurse know, okay?" she said. "You try and rest."

Dean nodded, closing his eyes again and settling back to sleep.

Sam entered the room two hours later to see Dean once again throwing up, Jess by his side with her hand on his back. He hurried over to his brother's side.

"Sammy," Dean said when his stomach had calmed again.

"Hey Dean," Sam responded with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He turned to Jess then, "How long has this been going on? " he asked quietly, concerned.

"On and off for the last two hours. Dr. Conway came by and said he was giving him something for the nausea but he didn't want to change the medications yet."

Sam turned his attention back to his brother when Dean started to cough, a painful barking sound that had Sam wincing for his brother. He switched places with Jess while she went to rinse out the basin, taking the glass of water that Jess had been holding.

"Slow sips," he said as Dean tried to drink the glass down in one gulp. "You don't wanna puke again do you, man?"

Dean obeyed because he knew if he threw up any more he might just start crying. The pain was that bad. He handed the glass back to Sam after he'd finished a little more than half.

"Not doing so well, huh Bro?" Sam asked him.

"Feels...like I'm being stabbed...every time I...cough," he choked out, breaking off into another coughing fit. Sam noticed the oxygen mask that was sitting on the table.

"Oh yeah," Jess came up behind him, "Dr. Conway brought that in about an hour ago, told him to keep it on, but we keep having to take if off when he throws up so I'm not sure how much good it's been doing him."

Sam shook his head sadly, picking up the mask and helping Dean put it on, noticing a slight improvement in Dean's breathing. "Don't worry man. You'll start to feel better soon," he reassured him, hoping for his brother's sake that he was right.

So that chapter was a whole lot of h/c and not much else. Poor Dean. NOW there's one or two more chapters left. Maybe just one more long one. We'll see - don't worry, I haven't forgotten about John. Let me know what you guys think!