"Dean…hey…time to get up." Dean stirred slightly at the sound of Sam's voice, but he did not rouse. "You have to get cleaned up before supper, man." The promise of food had more effect.
"Wha?...What time is it?" Dean started to sit up, then groaned loudly. Everything, every square inch of his body, screamed in protest. "Oh…son of a bitch, that hurts…" He blinked slowly and looked up to see Sam sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why am I on the floor? How long was I asleep?"
"Probably because that's where you collapsed…and several hours," Sam answered. He stood and reached down to help Dean up from the floor. Dean stood slowly, his eyes searching Sam's face and body for any lingering effects from the vampire change and remedy. His brother still looked tired and drawn, but his skin color was better and he seemed sound enough.
"You okay, man?"
"I'm up, I'm walking, I got a shower," Sam replied. "I'm probably doing better than you are right now."
"So, no…?"
"No more blood jonesing," Sam said, knowing what Dean needed to hear. "I had a glass of milk, and then threw up some more, and then had more milk. I'm okay."
"Good…good." Dean cleared his throat, patting Sam on the shoulder as he walked past him. "Well, I'm about to take every damn bandage off my body and take a real shower, so if you'll excuse me..."
The meal with Garth's family was a celebratory affair. Most of the household had spent the day resting and recuperating from the previous night, so Abuelita had happily puttered in the kitchen with Emmie by her side, preparing a mixture of family-style Mexican food and werewolf friendly raw meats. All of it was heartily appreciated. Sam was still only able to nibble at some rice and fruit, which caused Abuelita to fuss over him and Dean to rag him with the gusto of a relieved sibling, but Sam took it all with good graces.
Garth got a little teary-eyed when he realized that Mateo had spent the afternoon napping because the young boy had spent the night before sitting half-awake on the front porch. He had been determined to defend the family in case there should be any more unexpected visitors while Garth was away. Mateo, for his part, brushed off Garth's gratitude with an embarrassed shrug. But he was obviously happy to have everyone back home and safe – so happy that he nearly kept pace with Dean in eating.
Despite the family's protests, the Winchesters helped with dishes and then prepared to leave. It was time to get home. The hugs and thank-you's and take-care's took quite some time, even Emmie joining in to hug them both around the legs, but eventually they were on the road.
They had been driving for a few hours, the radio playing low, when Dean cut his eyes over to check on Sam and saw that he was awake.
"Hey, how're you feeling?"
"I'm good, I'm okay," Sam said, reflexively. Then, after a little hesitation, he continued. "Why do you think it was so bad?"
Dean knew what his brother meant. Why had the vampire transformation been so hard on him? Why had it made him lose himself? Why had it nearly killed him?
"You've been through a lot of stuff in your life…" Dean began, his tone mild.
"Am I really that broken? That damaged?"
"Sam. It's not that…it's just…you know what? I don't know. I just know you're better now and that's all that matters."
They both fell back into silence and the minutes stretched out. Then Dean heard a faint sound and cut his eyes quickly in Sam's direction. Sam was sitting with his head turned to the window, his shoulders shaking.
"Sam, hey…" Sam turned to face him, and Dean saw that his brother was laughing. Stunned, Dean's face went through several emotions in comic succession – worry, shock, relief. "What the hell is so funny?"
"I just realized, man…" Sam was taking deep breathes through his laughter, "…I just realized I'm sitting here feeling bad about myself because I can't even turn into a damn vampire right…"
"The hell…" Dean said with a grin, and then he was laughing, too.