It takes me three days to drive across states to get to the boy's location. I have no idea what current state Dean is in, or how Sam is coping for that matter. I've refused to take Bobby's calls incase it's bad news. The last thing I need right now is bad news. I've spent my entire time trying to work how to tell him the truth, and why I even bothered to go see him and all of that stuff. I guess it really does get harder the longer you leave secrets untold. How would you confess who you really are if you were in my shoes? Struggling to find an honest answer? Yeah… that's how I am. It's so easy to respond to that question with "Just tell him, just walk up to him and go "Dean I know this isn't the time, but it kind of is the time: I'm Mika… YOUR Mika, from our childhood, the red headed vintage classic novel obsessed Mika Chambers who you fell in love with. Little Meeko. It's me," but let's face it, how many of us would actually have the balls to just say it so matter of factly like that? You and I both know, he wouldn't go for that and throw me out or have me thrown out before I even finished saying any of that.
Sighing, I'm really realising this was going to be more difficult than I ever thought. But if he dies and I'm still here having not told him, that will tear me apart. Knowing how in the past he's wanted to die so he can be with me somewhere else, or make demons deals to bring me back from the dead, when I'm not dead? Yeah… this is not going to go down well….
Finally reaching my destination, I drive my way round town until I reach the hospital that Bobby previously mentioned Dean was taken into. Trying to find a parking spot in a hospital is always so surprisingly difficult. Who would have thought hospital parking lots would always so be busy? Finding one, I pull in and park up, making sure to lock the car after me. For someone who hunts monsters and ghouls, I'm surprisingly more paranoid and untrusting of normal human beings. Walking across the long lot, I get into the first building and take a gander at the directory to see if I'm in the right place or need to be elsewhere. Turns out I need to head forward and turn left to where Dean would be. So I follow the instructions on the directory and head where I need to be, before finding the receptionist desk. "Can I help you?" The receptionist asked me as I reached there. "Yeah, I'm looking for someone who was brought in a few days ago. I'm…" I explain, ready to use the word 'girlfriend' but suddenly having second thoughts about that, and that word is stupidly difficult to say when it comes to Dean. "…his cousin. I'm his nearest next relative and I've been called to check on him. I believe his brother will be him. Mr. Burkovitz." I then finish explaining. "Let me check for you…" She chimes to me in a sickly sweet voice. Yeah… I hate hospital staff, they're always so sickly sweet when they talk to you. Or so I have found.
"Burkovitz, ah yes! He came in four days ago, electrocution. He should be in room-hmm that's strange, it's been logged down he checked himself out last night," the receptionist tells me, seeming flabberghasted by the note on her computer system. Typical, he's being stubborn even now, but I guess it means he's still alive. "Son of a bitch," I mutter to myself, when the girl on the desk gives me a look to me cursing in public. Jeez, it's hardly a new thing to curse in public. "Does it say anything else?" I question her, not that I'm expecting much of an answer. "No sorry, do you have a number for your cousins? Maybe get in touch that way?" She offered a suggestion, and it actually makes me clinch my fist tightly closed. "Yeah, thanks," I say to her before turning on my heel and leaving the way I came.
In my car in the parking lot, I can't help but thump my fists on the steering wheel. Sighing once again, I open the glove compartment and pick up my cell phone, scrolling through the contacts until it reaches 'Dean W'. Staring at his name, my thumb hovers over the green button to call him. I'm hesitating because I know if I call him, he'll see my fake name and will debate whether he should answer or just deny my call. Yeah he helped save my life previously, but at the hospital we just went back to butting heads again. Deciding against it, I lean over the seat and grab my bag from the back and get out my laptop, instead of calling him I'll switch on his GPS and find out where he is.
Maybe if I just turn up to where he is, I'll have more luck seeing how he's coping and be able to tell him the truth? I guess time will only tell. With the laptop loaded up, I log onto the network company's website that Dean is on and with my cell phone I dial the customer help line, where I get put through and I plea my case to get them to put on the GPS on his phone, so I can see where the boys are on their website map. Finding out their location isn't ridiculously far from here, I thank the guy on the line, hang up and begin my drive.
By this point I'm a good couple of hours behind the brothers, and I'm going out of my mind wondering what kind of near death state Dean is in. I guess the tables have turned huh? Not that long ago Dean was saving my ass and had me hanging off him in a near death state and now I'm here worrying about whether or not he was going to survive. Man we're a screwed up group of people. Anyway, I'm following the route that my laptop is telling me to get to Dean's location, when I find myself driving up a gravel pathway, it's pissing it down with rain and it's seriously muddy. Remind me to go to a service cleaner with my car after this.
It's not long until I'm seeing the boy's impala parked nearby, so I'm thinking this might be a good idea to reverse back and park further down the path. It will mean me trudging through the mud and getting my combat boots filthy, but I don't wanna alert them that I'm here too soon. I know I know, I'm contradicting myself here. I wanna see Dean but I don't want them to see me. The reason being is, if they see my car before I get a chance to actually say something to them, I'm not so sure they'll react kindly to me. I'd much rather get at least a word in before they try and push me away. Finding a suitable parking spot, I grab a hoodie from the back seat and put it on before putting my biker jacket on over the top and stepping out of the car. Locking up and flip my hood over my head and begin the slippery trudge up the muddy and gravelly path to find the Winchesters.
Folding my arms tightly around me, I try to keep the cold out but it doesn't particularly work very well, and so I resort to having to deal with it. I never do deal with cold damp days very well. As I reach the 1967 Impala, I see the boys walking out of a tent, where I see Dean looking well… well he looks perfectly fine. He doesn't look like he's on death's door at all! He could have chosen better clothes to wear mind, but apart from the poor choice of clothing, he looks perfectly well. At first I begin to smile, glad he is okay but then something just switches on in my brain and I become dark and sour again.
Was this some kind of well-executed plan to get me to spill the truth to Dean and Sam? Is Bobby becoming more sneaky and clever with going behind my back? No, because no hospital would go along with something like that. Darting behind a low hanging tree branch, I hide in the shadows as the brothers near me and head to their car. I watch as Dean open the passenger door in one swift strong movement, as does Sam with the passenger door. What the HELL is going on!? Bobby sounded so legit on the phone. "I'm telling you Sam I feel fine..." I overhear Dean tell his brother before he gets into the car. Squinting my eyes from under my hood, I try to peer in the window and I can just see this sense of uneasiness in Dean's body language. I wait until they drive out of sight before I even think about appearing out from under the tree.
"Can we help you?" I hear a male voice break through my train of thought. Looking up its two police officers that I'm guessing have been patrolling the area. "Yes... I mean no, I was just looking for someone but I've just noticed I've missed him. I'll be on my way now," I say to the officers, throwing my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the exit path where several cars were leaving the area. I can see the officers are looking suspicious of me, I mean I don't exactly blame them, I would find a woman with a dark hood up hiding her face, stalking around in the shadows suspicious as well. But then, I know exactly the kinds of "people" whom go stalking around in the shadows- and they aren't human. In a hurried manner I leave and go towards my car, where I get inside and leave. But not before taking note of what this place exactly is: The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness the Miracle read the sign. A faith healer? Since when did Dean believe in these places?
Pulling out I drive back the route I came so I can decide on what to do from here. As I'm thinking I can hear something beeping and it's driving me insane before I realise it's my laptop beeping because the GPS on Dean's phone is still switched on. Pulling over so I don't end up in a car crash or something, I then look down and inspect the GPS. They're back at the hospital Dean was previously taken into. Why are they back there? This Roy dude couldn't be the real deal could he? Surely not, there's a lot of things that are real, but faith healers? That's pretty far fetched even for me to believe. But how else can I explain Dean's health going from near death (according to Bobby) to perfectly healthy and walking like there's no tomorrow like I just witnessed? Suddenly telling him the truth has completely gone from my mind, and figuring out what the hell was going on is the first and only thing I'm dwelling upon. Telling Dean the truth can wait.
I decide to drive back towards the church of Roy LeGrange and check things out. Maybe he could shed some light on this curious case of Dean Winchester. Considering I'm only a matter of a few yards away from the driveway to the lot, it doesn't take me exactly a long time to get back to where I started and I park up in front of the house that's nearby the white tent the boys previously exited from. Getting out of my car, I see a few people scattering about, talking amongst each other and someone leaving the house. I also see some dude whose anti- faith healing creeping back into the area to hand out more flyers. Now it could be the miserable weather, and my suspicious hunter mindset, but something just smells fishy about this place. "Father Roy is a fraud!" the protester with flyers says to me, as he practically jogs across the mud to reach me- nearly falling flat on his ass in the process. "Duely noted, this place doesn't sit well in my suspicions either," I reply back to him, taking his flyer and skimming over the details on it. Folding it up, I put it into my jacket pocket.
"If you're suspicious about faith healing, then why are you heading to his house?" the protester questions me with a great deal of curiosity oozing out of his tone of voice. "Call me curious. I spotted some people I know here earlier and I'm intrigued by something. I wanna suss out this faith healing douchebag's motive," I reply back to him truthfully. I can barely believe in Angels, so why should I believe this guy is a genuine faith healer? "If you find anything out- relay it back to me for my stack of evidence against him?" He asks me. Pfft, as if! "We'll see dude, we'll see." I simply say to him before jogging up the stairs. I go to knock on the door when this creepy woman opens it and gives me a suspicious smile. "Yes?" She just asks me, in this tone of voice that kinda screams "get away you young holligan".
"Woah, what are you? Psychic?" I crack a joke and smile. "Funny, no. I was watching you through our living room window. Can we help you with something? You weren't in the tent earlier." She replies to me matter of factly. "Yeah…I missed the big healing show. Look, I missed two guys who were here earlier. I'm looking for them, and my search led me here. I'm confused by something though, one of them was severely ill, on death's door. Yet as I passed them he seemed to be just fine. I just wanna know what happened." I tell her, this time my voice goes from trying to be polite, to just being sassy. If someone gets snarky with me, you can bet your ass by now I'll mimic them back.
"Hmm… a non believer I see, well come in. Roy isn't taking any more guests but for you I'm sure we can make an exception. Whose your friends?" This woman says looking me up and down. I follow her inside, thinking 'who the hell are you to look your nose down on me?' I mean really!? A so-called catholic woman married to a faith healer is judging me before knowing me? That's hypocrisy right there. She beckons me to take a seat in the living room on the sofa opposite of where Roy LeGrange and herself are sitting. Nodding them a thanks, I take a seat but I just have myself on the edge of the sofa and hunched over. I don't like making myself comfortable in another person's home. "I heard you're a non believer." Roy speaks up, in a much politer tone, and I can't help but ponder how these two can be happily married? What? You think I didn't notice the wedding bands on their fingers? Come on, I'm a hunter, I have to take note of the smallest details!
"I wouldn't say a non believer, more like… sceptical. And how did you-?" I begin to explain to him when it suddenly dawns on me he overheard the entire conversation I had with his wife a few moments ago at the front door. "I have great hearing, when you're deaf your other senses become stronger." He explains to me, still in that insanely polite tone. I'm so not used to being spoken to so politely, even though I come across very polite people all the time. "Huh…" I just find myself saying in response. "What could I explain to you that would make you a believer? Please, I'll gladly answer any questions you may have," Roy then says to me, ushering me to speak up about what I was actually thinking.
"I've been looking for two people I know very well and think of dearly. Two guys called Sam and Dean. One of them came here to be healed, I tracked his GPS after finding out he checked himself out of hospital last night. I keep missing them, and truth is I'm just curious as to how one of them can go from being on death's door to being perfectly healthy." I explain, and I realise I may not be making a ton of sense to him. "If you keep missing Dean, how do you know I healed him here?" Roy then questions me. "As I got here, I saw them leave before I could get to them. I noticed he looked fine in his car," I reply back, it's not exactly a lie now is it? Roy nods in acknowledgement of my answer to his question, and I can tell he can tell I'm telling the truth.
"You said his name was Dean? Yes, I remember healing a Dean earlier. The Lord shone a bright light down on him and I could tell it was his day to be healed. I looked into his heart and could tell he was here for a great purpose, very important that he was healed of his illness. That was a powerful healing session, but successful none the less." Roy explains to me, and I glance at his wife and I can see she's smiling with pride for her husband. "He truly has a gift my Roy. We are so blessed to have been given this gift by our Lord." She speaks up, and I desperately want to roll my eyes but I refrain in case she kicks me out for being an atheist. "If you don't mind me asking, when did you get this gift of healing people?" I can't help but ask, I'm still sceptical that he's anything natural if he's able to truly heal people.
"Woke up one morning stone blind. Doctors figured out I had cancer, so we prayed for a miracle. One day I go into a coma and the doctors said to Sue Ann here that I wouldn't wake up, but I did and the cancer was gone. If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I ever had it." Roy explains to me, and he takes off his sunglasses to reveal pure white eyes. Which makes me go on edge slightly I have to admit. I've read in books about demons with white eyes, even though they're very rare to find and it's mostly just Lillith that is said to have them.
"So I'm taking a stab in the dark here and saying that's when the miracles started to happen? You healing people?" I ask him, my head tilting to one side as I ask. "The lord blessed me in many ways, but yes, shortly after I discovered I could heal people. So I knew I had to do something with this gift and this is the result." Roy finishes explaining to me, and I take it all in. "I think it's time for Roy to rest now. He's had a busy day today and he needs his rest. If you have anymore questions come back tomorrow during the next seminar. You can witness his gift for yourself." Sue Ann, as I now know the wife as. "Don't let me keep you- thank you Roy. For confirming it was indeed Dean I saw earlier." I simply say before standing up and leaving the home. Well he seems innocent enough, but Sue Ann? She seems sketchy to me, so maybe I'll use that invitation and come back tomorrow.
Dean and Sam are back at the hospital for Dean to have a check up, to see if Roy the faith healer really was the real deal and had healed Dean. After all, he felt perfectly fine, he felt like he had his energy back, he could breathe properly, no groggy sensations in his head- he felt better than alright. "So you, really feel okay?" Sam asks his brother. "I feel fine Sammy." Dean replies back to him, but he doesn't look happy. Something is weighing on his mind, and he can't shift this sinking feeling that something came about as a consequence to him getting healed.
A doctor is reading through papers, which had all of Dean's results from the tests previously taken on. "Well, according to your results, there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was. Not that a man your age should be having heart trouble, but still strange it does happen." The doctor explained to the two boys. Dean wasn't paying much attention to the words being spoken to him, until of course the word 'strange' came into use. His attention perked up and now he was interested in what the doctor had to say for himself. "What do you mean, strange?" Dean questioned with curiosity. "Well just yesterday, a guy like you, twenty seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack." The doctor told him, and this confirmed Dean's previous sinking feeling. "Thanks Doc," Dean just finally spoke, and with the simple reply of "no problem" the doctor left the room and the two brothers alone.
"That's odd." Dean said. "Maybe it's a coincidence. People's hearts give out all the time, man." Sam replies back to him, trying to convince Dean that just for once, things went in his favour. He had to believe that also. "No they don't." Dean protested back straight faced. Something wasn't right, and he knew it. Every instinct in his mind and body was telling him something wasn't right or good about this faith healer. He had been a hunter long enough to trust such instincts. "Look Dean, do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?" Sam asked, his eyes doing all the pleading for him. "Because I can't shake this feeling that's why," Dean told him back, looking up at Sam.
Sam looked back at him, this time he becoming the curious one. "What feeling?" He queried. "When I was healed, I just… I felt wrong. I felt cold. And for a second… I saw someone. This uh, this old man. And I'm telling you Sam, it was a spirit." Dean went on to explain. "But if there was something there, Dean, don't you think I would have seen it too? I mean, I've seeing an awful lot of things lately." Sam responded, placing his hand on his chest as if it would emphasise his side of the argument. "Well excuse me psychic wonder. But you're just gonna need a little faith on this one. Sam, I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this." Dean argued back calmly, and when he saw Sam sigh, he knew he won the verbal battle of opinions.
"Yeah alright, what you wanna do?" Sam then caved into Dean's opinion and stuck with his question of 'what next'. "I want you go check out the heart attack guy. I'm gonna go visit the reverend." Dean simply spoke out his plan of action. Time to get to work and he wasn't going to rest until he figured out what the hell that old guy was, whom he saw earlier in the tent.