Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters. I and am not making any money on this…I'm just having fun!

Travelers Beware

Chapter 24 Hospital Bound

Rusty groaned as he opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that his head was pounding…as he tried to move his hand to his head he made his second discovery. "Damn…trussed up like a damn Thanksgiving Turkey!" he hissed as he began to feel his bonds. Moving his hands he managed to loosen the knots enough so that he could bring his hands from behind him to his front. Pausing for a moment to catch his breath…he began working on getting himself free.

It took a bit of time, but Rusty finally managed to get himself free. He stood on unsteady feet as he noted that he had been dragged into deep underbrush. Feeling the back of his head, Rusty could feel the large lump that was causing his headache. He was disgusted with himself…letting something get the jump on him didn't sit well with the former army ranger. But he had bigger concerns. Whatever had attacked him was probably after the boys.

Rusty moved quickly through the forest, being careful this time as he didn't want a repeat of the previous attack. As he came to the clearing where they had made camp, his breath hitched in his throat. He could see the evidence of a fight, but his concern grew as he saw Dean lying next to his brother…his arm resting in Sam's chest in a protective manner. Sam was laying on his back, his eyes closed and his breathing was rapid. Further on he saw the body of a young woman, minus her head.

"Dean?" Rusty moved quickly into the clearing. He was immediately concerned by the blood flowing down Dean's face and neck. Gently rolling the young man over, he could see that Dean was just unconscious. His heartbeat was strong and the wounds seemed superficial.

Moving over to Sam, Rusty noticed the new claw marks on the boy's chest and the shoulder wound had been re-opened. "Sam my boy…you just can't seem to keep the blood in you. While Sam was in worse condition, Rusty knew that the boy was a fighter. "You need to hang on Sam…your brother needs you." Rusty sighed as he moved Sam back to the travois and made him comfortable. He cleaned his wounds one more time and decided that he would have to try to wake the boy. He needed to get more medicine in him and fluids to replace the blood he had lost. Luckily this time, it didn't appear to be as extensive.

"Sam…can you hear me? I need you to wake up for me." Rusty watched but Sam remained unresponsive. He turned as he heard a soft groan from Dean. Moving over to the other man, he helped Dean sit up. "Whoa there…you've got a nasty gash on your head and your neck. Hold on while I fix you up." Rusty came back with his medical bag and quickly cleaned and bandaged Dean's new injuries. He also checked Dean's shoulder and side to make sure they had not been re-injured.

"Sammy…how is Sammy?" Dean whispered, afraid to speak louder as his head felt like it was going to fall from his shoulders. The last thing he remembered was crawling over to his brother and then collapsing.

"He's alive Dean, but we need to get him awake. I need to get fluids into him and some more antibiotics." Rusty watched as Dean processed the information. Rusty did a quick exam and breathed a sigh of relief…Dean probably would have a nasty headache…but his pupils were looking good and some of the color was coming back into the boy's face. "Here, take these…it will help with the headache."

Dean dry swallowed the pills and tried to stand. He pushed Rusty's hand away as he staggered over to Sam. He sat down and place a hand on his brother's face. "Come on Sammy…I know you're in there…open those hazel eyes for me."

Sam could hear his brother's voice, but he was so tired. He didn't know if he could respond. As he struggled, he felt a hand caress his face and then move to grab his hand. Sam knew that he would always find a way to answer his brother's need. He felt it in the slight tremor in the hand that now held his own. A soft moan escaped his lips as he forced his eyes to open. "Dean…you ok?" Sam couldn't believe how hard it was to talk.

Dean laughed softly. "Yeah a little tattered around the edges, but I'm in better shape than you little brother. But at least the wolf lady is gone along with our demonic fairy. All in all, I'd say it's time we packed up and headed back to the hotel…how about you?"

Sam smiled. "M'okay Dean…just give me a minute and I'll help you pack up." Sam rolled his head to the side and saw Rusty moving towards him with some bottles of water and sports drink. "Rusty…you ok?" Sam tried to keep the man in focus, but it was getting harder.

"Sure sport…I'm just a little battered. Damn she wolf got the drop on my and trussed me for Thanksgiving Dinner…but she didn't count on me being a tough old bird. Now you need to drink as much of this fluid as you can and take all these pills. We need to keep your fluid levels up…seems you might be a quart low again." Rusty handed the supplies to Dean. "Meanwhile, I'm going to build that fire and make us all a feast. I think we deserve a little celebration…too bad somebody had to go and get rid of my whiskey though…could have toasted in real style!"

Sam laughed softly at the guilty look on Dean's face. "Dean?"

"Yeah Sam?"

"Are you sure, I mean…she can't come back can she?" Sam saw the figure that Rusty had covered.

"I'm sure Sammy…don't worry. You just rest here and I'll salt and burn what's left. That way we know she can't come back…you'll just have to find yourself another puppy to love." Dean rose stiffly and moved to get what he needed. After a few moments, Sam could see that Dean had managed to finish what they had started. He sighed with relief.

Dean watched the flames and shivered. It had been close this time. If Sammy hadn't been a walking encyclopedia of weirdness, things might have turned out differently. He teased Sam all the time about being a geek, but in truth. If it weren't for Sam…Dean probably would have been dead a long time ago. He just wished he could make Sam see it. Dean moved back to help his brother drink the rest of the liquids and watched as Sam's eyes began to close. "It's ok Sammy…you get some rest. Tomorrow we get you out of here."

A week later….

Dean pulled the Impala to a stop outside Rusty's cabin. He moved around to open the passenger door, pulling out the crutches from the back seat and handed them to Sam. "Now remember Grace…you need to take it slow and easy. I don't want to have to haul your heavy ass back to the hospital. Although, Stacy was really warming up to me…" Dean quipped.

"Sure Dean…that's why she joined the rest of the staff in cheering when you left. I mean really dude, you could have left and taken a shower, cleaned up instead of sitting there guarding me." Sam rolled his eyes. Dean had stayed by his side for the whole 4 days that he had been forced to stay in the hospital. And he had insisted that Sam rest for another 3 days in the hotel before he finally gave in to letting Sam have a day out.

Sam's wounds were mostly healed. The stitches would need to come out in about another week and his leg was healing nicely. The cast would come off in about 5 weeks. After a couple units of blood and some heavy duty antibiotics, Sam was almost as good as new and hated that Dean insisted on treating him like he was spun glass. "Come on Dean, Rusty said he'd have dinner ready by 4:00 and it's already 4:15…we are going to be late!"

Dean smiled. His brother was looking and obviously feeling much better. It had been touch and go the first couple of days after he had rushed Sam to the emergency room. His brother had been unconscious for the rest of the journey and nothing Dean or Rusty had tried could get him to wake up. The doctors said it had been close. A little more blood lost and they would not have been able to help Sam. But somehow his stubborn brother had pulled through once again.

As Dean approached the door to knock, he almost fell in as the door was wrenched open revealing a grinning Rusty. "It's about time…my biscuits are getting cold!"

Before Dean could move inside, he felt Rusty's hand on his chest stopping him. "Did you bring the price of admission?"

"Aw…come on Rusty!" Dean whined, the smell of the food making his mouth water.

"No Whiskey…no food. You owe me a bottle remember?" Rusty said as he moved aside to let Sam in. "When you have the whiskey…you can join us. Until then…you get to stay outside." Rusty closed the door on Dean's astonished face.

Sam giggled as he saw his brother standing just outside the door, trying to figure out what just happened. "So how long should I make him stand there Rusty?" Sam asked as he reached inside his coat and pulled out a bottle of whiskey.

"Well I'll be…how did you manage that?" Rusty smiled as he accepted the bottle.

"Let's just say I have my connections…even guard dogs have to sleep…and the clerk at the hotel, well she felt a little sorry for me…so she helped." Sam giggled again as he saw Dean hang his head and sigh. Dean was starting back to the Impala.

Rusty laughed and moved to open the door. "Come on in here Dean…seems your brother had your back on this one!" Rusty held up the bottle of whiskey and smiled as Dean turned and hurried back towards the door.

"And I'll always have your back too Dean" Sam whispered softly as Dean came inside and they all sat down to eat.

THE END!

Raven524: As another story come to a close, I'd like to thank all of you who have responded to this story and those who have read it.