Aria sat next to her sister, the older girl's hand resting in hers. The younger hunter's dark head was bowed and she was sobbing quietly into the hospital sheets.

"You have to be have to wake up. Please, Chase, I can't do this without you," she whispered, her usually steady voice shaking.

It had been four days, almost five, since Chase was admitted, and she still hadn't woken up. Aria was a wreck. She had barely eaten and had had to be physically dragged back to the hotel room to shower and change her clothes. The Winchesters weren't fairing much better. None of the hunters had gotten a wink of real sleep, a fact which was emphasized by the dark circles under their eyes. And, of course, they were all worried out of their minds.

Aria looked up as Dean entered the room with a coffee in his hand. He offered a sad little smile, but it only made Aria feel worse.

"The nurse was in here a few minutes ago," Aria started, trying to force herself to sound like she had things together. "She said Chase hasn't gotten any worse and that she might be waking up soon…" She trailed off. Coming from her own mouth, the words sounded even more like weak and empty promises than they had coming from the nurse. Dean sat beside Aria and she let her head slump onto his shoulder. A strand of dark hair fell in front of her face, swinging with each breath of air that she exhaled. Dean's arm found its way across her shoulders, a warm and grounding presence. She took comfort in the fact that he was there, sitting beside her, an extension of Chase herself. Dean hugged her closer.

"She'll wake up, Ari. I know she will," he whispered. She nodded silently into his shoulder.


Chase's lips were dry. She could feel the way they tightened each time she inhaled. She couldn't feel much else, though. Except… There was something. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. A series of sounds, a warm presence. It was always near her, sometimes on her left, other times on her right.

Right now, there were two different sounds, one deep and gravely and one soft and sad. They were both familiar, so familiar and she couldn't quite figure out…

"Chase?" This sound was clearer, she could understand it now…

Chase. That's my name. Someone is talking to me.

Her eyebrows drew together as she fought to hear more of the sound. It was familiar, it was the warmth that hadn't left her side since…

Demon house Reyna save them family family family mom dead rain Aria Sam Dean family muddy knife pain sleep stars-

"Chase! Calm down!"

That was Aria is she alright is the demon dead where are-

"Chase, listen to me. Deep breaths, nice and slow. In and out. In and out."

The deep voice. Dean.

"That's it, Chase. It's okay. We're all okay."

Okay. We're okay.

"Open your eyes, big sis."

And Chase did.


For the first time since they got to the hospital, Aria noticed how beautiful the view from Chase's room was. Enormous pine trees stood like guardians around the building, their dark trunks speckled with moss. Behind them, the forest sprawled out, deep and majestic and perfectly green. The sky was a beautiful shade of marbled grey, covering everything like a blanket. Chase would love it.

Aria turned away from the window, her gaze falling instead on her older sister. The hunter's blonde hair was settled around her head in a golden halo, her face a picture of serenity. Aria felt as if she could cry.

Chase had woken up.

Sure, she had fallen back asleep before she was able to open her eyes, but Aria knew that that was to be expected. It didn't matter. Chase was getting better. Even the doctors had said so. Aria took Chase's hand in her own and looked across the bed to where Sam sat, his long limbs draped awkwardly across the hospital chair as he slept. She smiled. A real, genuine, I'm almost perfectly fine smile, and wondered whether Chase's hand really did feel warmer than it had yesterday. She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice the twitch of the fingers enclosed in her own, the miniscule shift of the form beside her.

"Fuck," Chase rasped.

Aria leapt to her feet, startling Sam, who almost fell out his chair.

"Chase!" She whispered, a choked laugh/sob falling from her lips as her eyes met her sister's grey-blue ones. She wrapped her arms around Chase's shoulders.

"Oww," Chase whispered in response. Aria quickly released her sister.

"Sorry… It's just… Well, we didn't know if you would make it," Aria said quietly, her eyes flicking down to her feet. "I'm really glad you're not dead."

Chase squeezed her little sister's hand weakly.

"Me too, Aria," she agreed.

"You sure did give us a scare, kid." Sam told Chase from his spot on the other side of her bed.

"Sorry," She breathed, her eyes falling shut again.

"I'll go get Dean," Sam told Aria. She nodded and brushed the hair out of her older sister's face. Chase sighed quietly, leaning her head towards Aria's warm hand before letting herself fall asleep again.


Hello, everyone! Sorry for taking so long to update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite it being kind of short.

So, a few things.

1) Chase is on the mend (yay)

2) Please leave any questions that you have in a review... I'd be more than happy to answer them all!

3) Did you know that the duckbill platypus can store as many as six hundred worms in the pouches of its cheeks?

4) I'm bringing back Chase's love interest! (Yep, that one)

5) There is a good chance that this story will have a sequel.

Alright, that's all the exciting news that I have for you today. I hope that you are all having a lovely time existing, and I will look forward to some reviews :)

XOXO,

Emma