Chapter 26

Eric looked in the backseat at Dean, who was still unconscious from the battle with Ariah. They had lost yet again, and only Sam managed to leave unscathed. Dean was suffering from minor head injuries, four deep gashes to his abdomen, and a broken arm. Emerald was almost as bad. He had a dislocated shoulder, a broken wrist, broken nose, and three or four broken ribs. Eric was a little worse for wear. A broken leg, three broken ribs, possible internal bleeding, and a fractured hip bone, he himself was amazed he was still awake.

"Listen, Sam," he said, "I'm really sorry about Dean. I thought we'd caught her off guard. I should have been a lot more careful."

"Don't worry. Dean'll be okay. He's suffered a lot worse than that. Emerald, you okay back there?"

Emerald gave a thumbs up and sneezed. "OWWW!"

Sam bit his lip to keep from laughing. "What about you, Eric?"

"I've been better." He hissed in pain as they went over a bump. "Pain!" His phone rang and he carefully pulled it out of his pocket. "It's Lei." He flipped it open. "Leila?"

"Oh, thank God. I knew she was lying."

"Who was lying? About what?"

"Ariah sent me a package with your skull chain in it, and it was all bloody. But I knew she was lying, because the clasp wasn't broken. And that meant she didn't pull it off."

He felt around his neck. "Oh. I didn't even realize it was gone. Huh. Where are you?"

"In Emerald's car. I'm gonna go hunt that girl down. Don't worry, I have help." He heard Isis bark in the background.

"Leila, no! She's just a dog!"

"She won't get hurt. She's gonna stay in the car, I promise."

"But you could get hurt, Leila!"

"No, I have a plan. Ariah's a demon, right?"

"Leila, don't--"

"Sorry, Eric, I've already found her. I'll call you soon, okay?"

"Leila, please--"

"Love you." She hung up.

"Sam, we have to go back," Eric begged, "I think Leila's in trouble."

"And do what?" he asked. "You have a broken leg, Emerald's no use, and Dean's out cold. How could we help her? If we go back and Leila's fighting Ariah, we'd just get in the way."

"Sam, please."

"No. We'll get you three to a hospital first, and then I'll go back for Leila. No negotiations on this one, kid, sorry."

"But she--"

"No."

Eric grumbled something and sat back. "By the way, Emerald, she's driving your car."

"WHAAT?!" He moaned. "Stop that!"

"I'm serious. And Isis is with her."

Emerald sighed. Sam got the three to a hospital and got them checked in before he went back to the last place he'd seen Ariah. When he got there, he saw Leila and Ariah fighting near the edge of the woods. Leila collapsed to the ground, covering her head with her hands, and Sam grabbed a gun. A blinding light flashed in front of him and he had to cover his eyes. Ariah screamed and the light suddenly went away.

"Sammy!" Leila shouted, walking toward him, "What the Hell are you doing here?"

"Eric was worried about you. What just happened?"

"I got rid of Ariah for good this time. Although, it did take quite a bit out of me. So, I'll follow you to wherever Eric is, then I'll say hi, and then I'll find someplace to crash. How is Eric? And Emerald and Dean?"

"Not too bright," he laughed.

She chuckled. "How so?"

"You should see them. Eric broke his leg, and possibly a few ribs, Dean was out cold. He has a broken arm. And Emerald. Oh, God, he broke his nose, dislocated his shoulder, snapped his wrist in half, and broke some ribs. I'm the only one that didn't get hurt... other than you, of course."

She laughed. "Sounds like you all had a fun time?"

"Eh."

"How'd you manage not to get hurt?"

"I don't know. It could either have been the fact that Dean kept jumping in front of me at just the right time, or maybe because she didn't really go after me. Ever." He shrugged. "We'll never know."

"Dean kept jumping in front of you?"

He laughed as she threw her bag in the backseat of Emerald's car. "Well, actually he more like got thrown in front of me by Ariah"

She laughed. "Joy. So, I'll follow you, then."

"Okay."

She followed Sam to the hospital and made Isis stay in the car. When she was sure Eric was in his room, she went to visit him.

"Hey," she said when she saw him. His casted leg was up on two pillows, and his upper body was bandaged, along with his hips. "Boy," she laughed, "Sam wasn't kidding, was he? You look like Hell!"

"Yeah, shuddup."

She sat in a chair next to him. "So, who's your favorite waitress?"

He looked confused. "Huh?"

"I just got rid of Ariah." She looked very proud of herself.

He smiled skeptically. "You?"

"Yes. I did. Proud?"

"Heh. How?"

"Some spell I found in a book Emerald left."

"You took a spell from Emerald's book?! That could've killed you, Leila! You don't know what kind of stuff his spells can do!" He grimaced at the pain that flashed through his chest.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Who cares? I'm not dead, I'm not hurt-- well except for the parts where Ariah kept hitting me, but that's not that bad-- I'm just tired. So, kiss me and I'll go get some sleep."

He glared, put his hand behind her neck, and pulled her face tightly to his own. He kissed her hard, wanting her to realize how much he hated it when she went off on her own. He was quickly getting more and more tired by the second, and Leila seemed to realize it. She pulled away and sighed.

"You need to get some sleep as well, baby," she laughed, "I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she stood and left.

He had just started to get to sleep, when he heard several gunshots and people screaming.

Eric shot up in bed, sweat pouring down his face. He was in his old motel room, and Isis was lying next to him, sleeping soundly. He moved the blanket and looked at his leg. It wasn't broken.

"What the Hell?"

A/N Betcha didn't see that one coming. Right?