Chapter Twenty-Five
Ty couldn't breath. Her lungs couldn't expand to let any air in. She suddenly started to shake. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Then, something hit her. She had been dreaming about Dean as if he was still alive. She had felt his touch when he had been nowhere around. Was it possible that he could still be alive? She shook her head. She was certain that he was dead. She had watched him die!
"Lily," Ty started. "He is dead! I watched him die. There was blood everywhere, and his eyes."
Lily grabbed Ty up in a tight hug. "I know, Ty. I was there too, but I swear to you he is alive."
"But how?"
Lily pulled Ty to her feet and shook her head. She didn't know how Dean had managed to survive. She had been wondered that for days. She wasn't even sure how she managed to live through Lilith. But Dean was supposed to die. She had couldn't believe that he was still alive.
Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps coming down the sidewalk. Ty and Lily looked up and saw Sam rushing to them. He had a smile on his face until he saw Ty. He knew that Lily had told her what was happening. Ty was on her feet and coming at him.
"Where is he?" she snapped.
"Ty," he almost stammered. "Just calm down."
"Calm down! I have been punishing myself for four days now. I thought that it was my fault. I thought he was dead, and he is alive! Sam, how is he alive? He pushed me when I tried to save him. I saw the dog tear him up. How is he alive?"
Sam looked at her and saw the confusion, heartbreak, and loss in her eyes. She had a right to now everything. Of all of them, Ty deserved to know what she had done. She had somehow managed to save Dean. He didn't know how, but she had. He ran a finger down her cheek and finally smiled.
"Come with me," Sam said, taking her arm and taking her to the small house where Father Harper's sister lived with her husband, who was another priest.
Ty walked into the house and felt a wave of comfort wash over her. It was warm and bright in the house a she looked around. There was no one in the living room. David stood in the kitchen talking to another man. He nodded when Sam came in. Sam took Ty's arm and lead her into bedroom.
Ty looked around and stopped short as she stared at the bed. It was a large, oak bed with four posts. There was also some wires and tubes that were creeping out both sides of the bed. She felt sick as she moved closer, noticing a woman standing next to the bed. She was dressed in simple black and blue. She turned at hearing them.
"Sam," she said softly and then she noticed Sam's guest. "You must Ty. I'm Rachel."
Ty could only nod. She kept trying to see past the woman and catch a glimpse at Dean. The woman watched her and smiled, moving aside. Ty caught her breath again as she looked at his limp form laying in the bed. He looked like a mummy with bandages all over his arms, face, neck, and chest. There was an iv tube hanging next to the bed and there was also a blood machine. Each one of them was connected to Dean's arm.
"Where did you get this stuff?" Ty asked, not taking her eyes off Dean.
"I work at a hospital and my mom was sick recently so this room was ready for another patient."
Ty nodded. "Is he going to be ok?"
"It's difficult to tell," the nurse said. "He lost almost two pints of blood and there was a lot of internal bleeding, but he has this crazy desire to live. He has been fighting hard for almost two weeks. His fever has gone down and some of the wounds have healed, but he hasn't woke up."
Ty walked toward the bed. She expected Sam or the woman to stop her, but they didn't. They even left the room. Ty stood beside the bed, looking at Dean. He was pale with cuts and bruises all over his face. The cuts seemed to have gotten deeper as you moved down his body. She laid her hand on top of the bandage over his heart. She could feel the faint thump against her hand.
"Dean," she said softly. "Come back to me. I can't fight this war without you."
She moved closer to the bed and felt something warm against her neck. She looked down and noticed the amulet. She held it up, feeling the warmth on her fingers. It hadn't felt that way in days. It had been a cold piece of gold against her chest. She slipped it off her neck and put it into Dean's hand. She closed his hand around it and then kissed his feverish skin. Then there was a light tap on the door. She looked up to see the nurse standing there.
"I'm sorry, but I need to change the bandage on your arm," she said.
Ty nodded and stepped back from the bed. Rachel led her into the bathroom and started unraveling the white gauze. Ty looked down at the claw marks and had to catch her breath. It had been twelve days since it happened, but it looked like they had barely healed. Rachel didn't seemed surprised.
"It will take time," she said.
"How do you know about this stuff?"
"Well David is a hunter, so why shouldn't I?"
Ty smiled at hearing Rachel's simple answer. She watched Rachel rewrap her arm. She kept looking over at Dean and silently praying. Rachel must have sensed her thoughts.
"He'll make it," she said. "He has been fighting this whole time."
Ty felt a small smile creep across her face. Rachel finished with her and went over to check on Dean. Ty watched her and Dean. He hadn't moved.
"Rachel," Ty said. "Can I stay with him?"
Rachel smiled and nodded. "I'll get you a blanket."
Ty grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the bed. She sat down heavily, still looking at Dean. She slipped her hand into his. She felt the amulet brush against her palm. She closed her eyes as she held tighter to his hand. David walked in and put a blanket on the back of the chair. Ty turned and looked at him.
"How did this happen?" she asked.
David sat down on the arm of the chair and put an arm around Ty's shoulder in that brotherly manner she always loved. He looked at Dean, shaking his head.
"The only thing that I think of is that you saved him," David said.
Ty looked at him. "That's impossible. When I tried to stop that last hound, he pushed me out of the way. It was like he was telling me not to save him."
"Or that he didn't want you to die for him."
Ty only nodded. That sounded like Dean. He never thought that he was worthy enough to be saved, and he never thought that anyone deserved to die for him. He would have done anything to keep her from dying. Even if it meant he had to die.
"So he saved me," Ty said. "That doesn't mean anything."
David smiled a little. "Actually it does. In that one second that he decided to save you, he saved himself. He found that there was someone he cared about more than himself, and he would rather die for you than let you die for him."
Ty shook her head. This didn't really make sense. This would make his soul all the more valuable there had to be something more to all this. She turned back to Dean. There was no way that he should still be here unless his soul was no longer his. She suddenly snatched up the necklace and stared at it. Dean had not been wearing it when he had been caught. Ty jumped to her feet, almost knocking David off the chair.
"Where's Sam?" she asked at the door.
"With Lily in the church," David said as he got to his feet.
Ty ran out of the room and headed straight to the church. She looked around and found Sam and Lily in the front row. She ran forward and slid in next to him. She held up the necklace.
"How long has Dean had this necklace?" she asked.
Sam shrugged. "A long time. I gave to him when we were kids."
Ty felt tears in eyes. For once they were happy tears. She couldn't believe that saving Dean had been this simple. She looked at the small amulet in her hand. It was still warm in her hand. She turned back to Sam with a smile. It was the first real one that she had had in a long time.
"What is it, Ty?" Lily asked.
"I know how Dean is still alive," she said, slipping the amulet around her neck. "This necklace is a part of him. He never takes it off until he gave it to me."
Sam shook his head. He didn't understand any of this.
"For a debt to be fulfilled, the demon has to have a full soul," Ty said.
"And Dean's soul was not in tact!" Lily suddenly shouted. "Ty, had part of it!"
Ty nodded. She couldn't believe that all of this was so simple. She had fought so hard when all she had to do was let Dean in, which she did then night before all this happened. But there was one thing she hadn't done. She had not returned Dean's sentiment. She looked back at Sam and Lily.
"Why didn't any of you tell me when I first woke up?" Ty asked.
Sam sighed and held up his hand to Lily to keep her from answering. "We didn't know if he would make it. When you were so bad, he was too. It was like your lives hung on to each other. You got better and so has he, but his wounds were so much worse than yours.
"We just didn't know if he would actually make it. I couldn't bear to tell you and then have him die. And we weren't even sure that you would make it, but you are here, and he is getting better."
Ty nodded. She knew Sam had his reasons for protecting both her and Dean. She looked back at the amulet and stood up. She smiled at both of them, noticing how happy they looked. Ty hoped it didn't take them as long as it was taking her to put things in perspective. She waved to them and went back to Dean.
"Wonder why she left so fast?" Sam asked.
Lily only smiled as if she knew everything that Sam would never understand. "She has something to tell him."
"So, she does love him?"
Lily leaned against Sam as he pulled her closer. "I sure hope so."
Ty sat back down next to Dean's bed. She pulled the amulet from her neck and slipped it around his. She didn't know if that would help him, but she had try this. She sat back down and took his hand and held it tightly.
"Dean, please wake up," she said, fighting back tears. "We have come so far together in these last few weeks, and I don't want to go the rest of the way without you." She choked a little on her tears and ran a hand over his face. "There is something I need to tell you. I was going to wait until we after this mess was done and we were in some motel together, but it can't wait until then."
Ty felt tears fall down her face. She had not felt this way in so long. Even when Sarah had died, she had not cried this much. She couldn't even remember ever needing something this much. She had been confused for four long years about who she was, and now with Dean here, she knew who she was and what she meant to do. It didn't matter if he was the one she was meant to save or not, because she had.
"Dean," Ty said, taking a deep breath. "I love you. I have loved you from the first dream I had of you. And I know you love me too."
She gently kissed his hand. As she let go she felt something brush against her lips. She looked down and saw Dean moving his fingers across her lips. She turned to him, and he was trying to open his eyes.
"It's about time you told me that," he said weakly.
Ty had to restrain herself from jumping into the bed and hugging him. She just felt tears of joy as she felt Dean's grip tighten around her hand.
"I figured that out the day you got in my face," he said with a small chuckle.
Ty laughed. She couldn't believe how all this had happened. He was here. He was alive. The rest of the world and the war didn't matter. She had it all. Dean slowly looked over at her, opening his eyes. They were bright and full of life. Nothing like she had seen when the hellhound had him.
"How am I still here?" he asked.
"You complaining?" Ty asked with a grin.
"Hell no," this is the best day of my life."
8