Day By Day
Mahsati: :) ok, I know you're on vacation, but if you decide to take more prompts, here's another one: an ear infection (or something supernatural) leaves Sam with temporary poor or inexistent hearing sense
Muted
The first hint Dean got that something was wrong was Sam falling out of bed.
"Sam?"
His brother didn't respond, instead levering himself onto hands and knees, shaking slightly.
"Dean?" Sam's voice was tentative in a way that made Dean fearful in spite of himself. Sam had probably just woken up from a nightmare.
"Hey, buddy, what's up?" Dean knelt next to Sam, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
Sam's reaction made Dean fall back on his rear, as Sam shoved his hand away, yelling in fright—anger?—and scrambling away.
"Get back! Who are you? What did you do to me?"
Dean gaped at him. "Dude, what's your deal?"
Sam was fumbling, arm finding the bed. His movement was a swift lunge, throwing himself onto the bed and slipping his gun out from under his pillow.
"Stay away from me and tell me where Dean is!"
"Sam, it's me."
With one hand, Sam reached up to his ear, rubbing at it with a frown. "What did you do to me?"
"Sam . . ." Dean kept a careful eye on Sam's gun, slowly moving forward. Sam obviously had no idea what was going on, and neither did Dean.
"I swear, if you hurt my brother, I will kill you."
Right. This had passed far beyond territory Dean was comfortable with. He slammed into Sam, pushing the gun hand aside, blocking Sam's fist with his other.
"Sammy! It's me, stop it!" Dean growled, but Sam wasn't listening. With a grunt, Dean absorbed the knee to the gut and snagged Sam's left hand, pulling it close to Dean's chest, against the amulet.
Sam froze, fist uncurling and softly touching the amulet. "Dean?" he asked.
Dean took his hand and moved it to his face, letting Sam know it was him.
"Dean, I can't . . .why can't I hear you?"
"I dunno," Dean answered automatically. He groaned when he realized Sam couldn't hear him, and instead put Sam's hand on his shoulder so he would feel Dean's shrug.
"My head's killing me," Sam told him.
Dean frowned, gently maneuvering Sam's head to peek at Sam's ears. Were they supposed to be that red on the inside?
"Maybe we should get you checked out," he muttered. Carefully, he traced out 'doctor?' on Sam's palm.
Sam shook his head, looking a little green after he did so. "Probably ear infection," he said too loudly.
"Can you hear me at all?" Dean asked. When he didn't get any response, he sighed. "This is gonna be real fun, I can tell."
His head felt heavy and light, full of hot air. Sam couldn't remember feeling so disoriented since . . . well, since he was first blinded. He relied so heavily on hearing. What if he never got his hearing back? What if it was damaged, and he would be forever blind and deaf, completely helpless, as if he hadn't been helpless enough before.
"Dean?" he called.
There was no response, and Sam felt terror writhe in his insides. It was fine. Dean was just going to the bar. Or getting some food.
Slowly, Sam stood, not able to hear the bedspread shifting from his motion. A step. No echo to read his location to other objects. Another step.
He had to get out of the room. Sam hid his gun in his jacket and shrugged it on. He could do this.
There was warmth. The sun. A light breeze that made his hair pull across his forehead.
No sound, though. No indication of anything or anyone.
It should have been peaceful, but Sam just found it terrifyingly lonely.
Someone bumped into him, and Sam had to force himself not to completely freak.
How could he even be worth anything? Like this, he was practically a vegetable. Pull the plug already, right?
A warm hand fell on his neck, and Sam flinched before another hand dragged Sam's to the amulet.
"Dean," Sam murmured.
There was no response, but Sam could sense his brother anyway. Hands propelled him forward, back towards the room. Sam struggled a little, shaking his head.
"Too close. Can't feel anything in there," he said.
Dean turned Sam, taking him in some other direction. Leaning on Dean heavily, Sam tried to use his other senses to get a feel for his surroundings, but there was no chance.
When Sam was settled inside the Impala, a weight dropped off of him. He was safe.
The car started, and Sam jerked in surprise. Duh. Of course they would be going somewhere. But where?
"Where are we going?" Sam asked into the silence.
His hand was taken, and a 'B' traced out.
"No, Dean," Sam said urgently. "C'mon, no."
'Y?'
"I can't have Bobby . . ." Sam nearly swallowed his words, but continued through. "I don't want him to see me like this."
Dean's hand came down gently on Sam's aching head. Sam had no way of knowing whether Dean would ignore his opinion or not, but when it came down to it, he trusted his brother. That was all he had to remember.
Pills were placed in his hand, and Sam docilely swallowed them.
The thrum of vibrations went through the car in a beat Sam knew better than his own heartbeat. He could imagine Dean singing along to the Metallica soundtrack, and he smiled.
Everything was going to be fine.
A/N: This is super short, I apologize. I have had zero inspiration, what with school starting and whatnot. Though there is another AU I have been working on that I'm kinda excited for. Not sure how it's gonna turn out, we'll see. Anyway, as my birthday gift to you: this short piece. Hopefully I'll come up with something more later! :)