"Sorry it took me so long to get here. I had an emergency over in Hillside." Doc Evans said. Tracey was escorting him down the hall to Dean's room.
"It's no problem, Jack. It's not life threatening. How's Dottie doing?"
"Well... I've been keeping her apprised of your results here and I think she has come around. I think we'll see if we can find a hunter when the current food ticket expires."
"I have to admit, they do taste different. It's like trying filet mignon when all you've ever had was beef jerky. It's amazing."
They got to Dean's room and she let him in. He walked in and stopped short. "What happened in here?" Tracey came around him and saw the smears of blood all over the floor.
"Oh. It's really not as bad as it looks. He's a fighter." Jack went over and knelt down next to Dean. He lifted the blanket away and gave Dean a cursory inspection.
"How long has he been like this?"
"Out, you mean?" Jack nodded and Tracey checked her watch. "About four hours now."
"Has he moved at all?" Jack reached down and grabbed Dean's wrist, checking his pulse.
Tracey looked at Dean. "I don't think so, no. Why?"
"His breathing is very slow. It reminds me of someone in a coma. But his heart rate is good and strong."
"Eric dosed him hard and fast. Maybe it's taking more for him to come down from it."
"These the only injuries?" He looked at Dean's hands and around at the blood again.
"Yeah. Sliced them open on the under side of the bed."
"Well, the one doesn't look too bad, but I think his left hand will need a couple stitches." He set to work cleaning and bandaging Dean's right hand. "Are they all like this?"
"Who?"
"The hunters. If they all fight like this, Dot won't go for having one."
"No. He's the only one. Probably because Eric keeps letting him come down from the toxin and then re-dosing him. It's messing with his head. All the others are drooling hot messes." Tracey chuckled.
"Good to know. Here, hold his hand open...like this." He proceeded to put three stitches in Dean's left hand and then bandaged it as well. "He seems healthy otherwise. Let me give him a tetanus shot, just in case. Roll him over a bit." Jack dug in his bag a bit and pulled out a syringe and a bottle. Once it was ready, he yanked down the top edge of Dean's pants and jabbed it into his butt. "All set."
"Thanks for coming."
"Not a bother. Glad to help. A healthy meal ticket is a tasty meal ticket." Doc Evans pulled the blanket back up over Dean and followed Tracey out of the room.
ooooooooooooooooooooooxxxxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooooooooooo
Sam paced around the motel room. His eyes were crossing with the research. He needed a break. He was getting frustrated. He wasn't finding jack squat and the whole time Dean was being held by who knew what! Who knew if he was even still... No. He couldn't allow himself to think that way. Just then his cell rang. He glanced at his watch, he was ten minutes late on checking in with Garth.
"Hey Garth. Sorry."
"It's okay, Sam. I'm just glad to hear your voice."
"I've just been sitting here digging fruitlessly for info. I'm getting nowhere."
"Well on that note, I think I may have found something. I'm not for sure. I really need to check some of Bobby's old books first."
"That's great, Garth." Sam sighed with relief. "What have you found?"
"Would you accept snake-like creatures that feed off the spinal cord fluid just below the skull?"
"Umm. I guess, at this point, I'd accept just about anything. How do we kill them?"
"Now hold on. That's why I need Bobby's books. I first need to confirm the creature and then see if I can find a way to stop it. I think the books I need are in a storage lock up I set up over in Riverside. Not too far from here. I'll keep you posted."
"Sounds good. Finally...anything is better than what we had. Keep in touch."
"Of course! I'll talk to you in two"
They hung up and Sam sat down at his computer to see what he could find. He woke up three hours later, head resting on his keyboard. He checked his watch. Shit. I missed Garth's call.
He grabbed his cell off the table and checked it. Odd. There were no missed calls. He hit the button to call Garth. It went straight to voice mail. Sam frowned. Knowing Garth, he had probably let his cell battery die.
He got up and stepped outside for some fresh air, surprised it was dark already. That's it. He couldn't just sit here any longer. He went back in and brought up a map of the area again. He could get to the asylum on foot in about twenty minutes if he went in a direct line through the fields and woods. He grabbed his flashlight and gun from his bag, threw on his jacket, and headed out.
On the way, he called Garth and got his voice mail once again. "Garth why aren't you answering? I thought I was supposed to be the one in danger. Anyway, I'm about to do something stupid. I'm going to see if I can get inside and see what there is to see. Maybe find Dean or the others. I'll check in as planned. Don't worry."
Twenty five minutes later he was coming up outside the asylum. He made his way along the fencing until he found his entry point from the night before. Slipping in, he made his way toward where the Impala was. Not knowing for sure what he was truly up against, he wanted to get a silver blade from the trunk.
He sat in some bushes watching the loading area for over an hour. He was waiting to see what type of security there was, but he never saw anyone. He dialed Garth and, getting the voice mail again, left a message as to his well being.
He decided there wasn't any security to speak of. Outside of guards, he didn't see any security cameras either. The time wasn't going to get any better. He ran in a crouch over to the Impala and started pulling the boxes and crates off the trunk. He stopped to look at a scratch in the paint. Dean wasn't going to like that.
"Can I help you?"
Sam turned around. A man about Dean's size stood there in scrubs. He had a badge and a set of keys hanging from his waist as well as what looked like a tazer. "Um no. I um..."
"You new?"
Sam chuckled, embarrassed. "Yeah. They sent me out here to get, I don't even know what. They said it was sitting on the trunk of a car out here, but these are all just empty boxes."
"Yeah? Well those guys in food services like to mess with the new guys. I don't even see a badge...how new are you?"
"First night. They said they would have my ID to me before my shift was over."
"Freaking human resources. They're so slow. You do know you wouldn't have been able to get back in without your badge?"
Sam looked sheepishly at the ground. "Well, I hadn't thought about that."
The man chuckled. "I think that's what those fools were hoping for. Come on, then. I'll let you back in." He turned and started for the door. He stopped and turned back. "You coming, kid?"
Sam hurried to catch up and stumbled, falling into the man. "Whoa, there kid. You okay?"
Sam shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Yeah. A bit dizzy is all."
"Name's Harry, by the way. What's yours?"
They had made it to a small set of steps leading up to a door. Sam leaned heavily on the railing for a moment. "Sam. The name's Sam."
"Well, Sam, we've been waiting for you." Harry helped guide Sam up the steps where he stumbled again and fell into the door. "Take it easy. Let's get you inside where you can sit down and take a load off."
He held a steadying hand on Sam's shoulder and pulled out a walkie talkie with the other. "Kyle, get down to loading, I've bagged Eddie his meal ticket, but I'm going to need a hand." He put back the walkie talkie and heaved on Sam's arm, pulling him back off the door so that he could get it open. Once inside, Sam held a hand along the wall for support as they walked.
"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sure I've been drinking enough." Sam frowned. His head was so muddled.
"Meh. Probably the flu. It's going around. Just a bit further."
Suddenly the world tilted sideways. Sam fell back against the wall. He turned and looked to see if Harry was okay and saw a wraith in his place. Sam gasped and fumbled for the gun at his back. He started to fall to the side with the motion and the wraith placed it's forearm against his chest holding him up. This was all too surreal, thought Sam.
He finally pulled his gun out of the space between his back and the wall. The wraith, moving impossibly fast for Sam's confused and dizzy brain to keep up with, reached out and slammed Sam's gun hand to the wall. The gun went off and Sam let out a startled shout. He looked over at the gun in shock, as if he couldn't figure out how it had gotten there. He freaked out and dropped the gun.
"Settle down Sam. It'll be okay."
Sam, panting and sweating, turned back to the wraith and found Harry standing there. He frowned. Where did the wraith go?
"Come on, then. Let's get you someplace more comfortable." Just then, another man cam around a corner in the hall. "Kyle, good. I don't think he's going to make it to the room. Grab his other arm."
They each draped one of Sam's arms over their shoulders and started leading him down the hall. Sam's head was spinning and his vision kept fading in and out. He fought it but to no avail. He passed out.
"Damn it. I knew it." Harry grumbled.
"Only around the bend here. Dang this guy's a sasquatch!"
"Huh. Eddie should like him." The men chuckled and dragged Sam into an empty padded room around the corner. "You start getting him undressed. I'll go find a pair of scrub pants for him and let Eric know his latest guest has arrived."
