Chapter 20
Dean looked around the room one final time to be sure he hadn't missed anything. It was sad to be leaving but he knew it was time. He needed a case and he needed to see his brother. Dean headed downstairs and found Mason, Mia, and Marta in the kitchen waiting on him.
"I'm glad you came to get our help Dean," Mason told him shaking his hand. "We are here when you need us or need a place to stay."
"Me too. Mia, thank you for cooking for me and letting me stay here. Good luck with the new baby," Dean told her giving her a hug. He knelt to Marta's level before speaking. "And you Lady Bug, you take care of your new baby brother or sister, okay?"
"I will. Will you come back to see me?"
"Of course, I will," he assured her as she hugged his neck. "Goodbye everyone."
"Where are you off to this time?" Mason asked as he walked Dean to the front door where he picked his bags up and headed outside to the Impala.
"Salmon, Idaho," he said. "There's been some strange occurrences happening there and people are ending up in comas. Doctors can't find the cause of it and don't know what to do."
"Sounds ominous, but I'm sure you can handle it."
"Hope so."
"I hope you will stay in touch and keep up your training. I know a full moon is coming up and if you do want to return here you can."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to try it one more time on my own. I've got to figure this out myself and how to handle it." Dean set his bag in the trunk and closed it. "Take care."
"I got these from the doctor for you to use on your next change, I hope they will help," Mason said. He held out a bottle of pills for Dean to take. "They should help calm the beast within you. Put them in the meat you take down with you. If you have any problems or questions, please call me."
"I will. Thank you for all you've done for me." Dean pocketed the pill bottle and gave a final wave before dropping into the driver's seat, cranking his Baby, and pulling down the driveway to the main street. He headed for the road that led out of town to head southwest toward Salmon, Idaho. He had about a ten-hour drive ahead of him and thought he'd stop somewhere along the way to spend the night. That way he could get into Salmon the next morning and get started on the case.
spn
"Bobby can I borrow a vehicle?"
"What's going on Sam?" he asked eyeing the bag he was holding.
"I got this weird email from Dean a couple of nights ago and I don't know Bobby, but there is something wrong. I tried emailing him back and calling but can't get in touch with him. I thought at first it was just Dean needing to get laid, but I'm not so sure now. I can feel it in my gut that there's something not right. I'm not waiting around any longer for him to come back; I'm going to look for him."
"Do you even know where he's at or any idea where to look?"
"I have a general area."
"Guess there's nothing I can say to stop you?"
"No, there's not. He's my brother Bobby, and I haven't seen him in nearly two months. I've got to do this. I've got to know if he's alright. I should have left sooner, but I told myself I was just being paranoid, but I don't think I am."
"Alright son, I understand," Bobby sighed knowing the bond the two brothers had and was surprised it had taken this long for Sam to do this. "There's an old Dodge out there that's running, it's not a pretty sight, but should get you around."
"Thanks Bobby," Sam nodded eagerly.
"The keys are in the garage where I keep them. Sam, you call me and let me know what's going on."
"I will."
"I'll put out a few feelers with some hunters and see if anyone has seen Dean lately."
"That'd be great." Sam headed to the garage to find the keys and start his search for his brother. He kicked himself for not pressing Dean more to find out where he was and what was going on.
The Dodge needed a new paint job and had several dents in the fenders, but he smiled when he cranked it up. The engine sounded good at least. There were some tears in the upholstery in the backseat and the dash had a crack, but he could deal with that. He pulled away from the salvage yard and headed toward the interstate that would take him west.
Sam had used all the knowledge that he knew to try and find Dean's location from his emails. The cell numbers he didn't have any luck with, but he was able to get a general area of where the emails were sent from. He was heading toward Montana and hoped to find his brother or at least pick up his trail. Sam was determined to find out what was going on with his brother.
spn
Dean stepped out of the motel room with his bag and headed for the Impala. He had stopped for the night and was about two hours away from Salmon, Idaho. He figured by the time he got there, the day shift for the hospital would be there and settled down.
Th traffic was moderate and picked up the closer he got to Salmon. He was running into the early morning work traffic but was lucky there were not any accidents that slowed it to a stop. He pulled into the town limits and stopped at a gas station to change into his suit before looking for the hospital. He was going in as CDC and see what he could find out about the coma patients.
He found the hospital and the visitor parking lot. Dean slipped his suit jacket on and straightened his tie as he walked toward the front doors of the building. He stepped through the automatic doors and paused long enough to find the information desk and headed that way.
"May I help you?" an elderly volunteer asked when Dean stopped in front of her.
"Yes ma'am, I hope so. I'm looking for the doctor who's over the coma cases that have been brought in," Dean told her. "I'm with the CDC."
"I'll get someone to help you," she said. She picked up a phone and made a call while Dean waited to the side.
Dean looked around the lobby at people coming and going while he waited. It wasn't long before a middle-aged man in a suit walked toward him.
"Hello, I'm Stu Miller, head of the hospital, how can I help you?"
"Nice to meet you. I'm with the CDC, Steve Nash. I'd like to see the coma patients and talk with the doctor overseeing the case," Dean told him flashing his badge.
"Yes of course, but how did you find out about the cases. We've not called the CDC yet."
"Someone called my boss and I got assigned the case. I don't question my boss, you know, just go where he sends me."
"Alright, the patients are quarantined on the third floor if you'll come with me, I'll take you there."
"Thanks. Can you tell me when the first patient came in?"
"I think a week ago, but the doctor can fill you in on everything we know so far."
"And who might that be?"
"Dr. Houston, she's the head of neurology. Good doctor, but whatever this is has got everyone stumped."
Dean followed Miller to the elevators and listened to him talk. He had found over the years it was better to let a person talk without asking a lot of questions; it gave him more information than trying to question them. They got on the elevator and went to the third floor.
"The patients are down this way. I'll have Dr. Houston paged so you can speak with her."
Dean stopped at a wall that was half glass where you could see into the room. He saw five beds with patients of different ages, race, and sex laying in the beds. They had IV's, oxygen, and monitoring equipment attached to them. He looked at the monitors until someone spoke behind him.
"Hello," an older woman said making Dean turn around.
"Dr. Houston?" Dean questioned.
"Yes, can I help you?"
"Steve Nash, CDC," Dean introduced himself shaking her hand. "What can you tell me about these patients?"
"Well, they were brought in already in comas and we've ran every test we could think of and can find no reason for it. There's been no trauma, injury, nothing; all the tests came back normal except there was a minute trace of a muscle relaxant, suxamethonium, in one of the patients but not the others. I've told this to the police, and they are following up on it. The only thing I have found is their brain activity has dropped drastically and in a couple is almost nonexistence. I have no idea what could cause it."
"Did the brain activity continue to drop while isolated?"
"No, not that I have noticed."
"And there's nothing medical that you can come up with to cause this?"
"No. It's like their minds are gone and all that is left is the shell of a body. How long they will be able to continue; I don't know. No one knows how long they were like this before they were found and brought in either. I hope the CDC can help."
"I'm going to try Doctor. Have the cops linked the patients in anyway? Did they know each other or visited the same places?"
"No, we haven't found any connections."
"Who was the first victim?"
"That would be Susie Thompson. She was brought in about a week ago by her boyfriend. He had been out of town and when he came back couldn't get a hold of her and went to her apartment. He found her and called an ambulance."
"Were there any injuries or unusual marks on any of them when they came in?"
"Now that you mention it, the admitting doctor noticed some circles along the hairline around their head, but they went away after a few hours."
"And no one knows how they got them?"
"No, not from talking with friends and family."
"Did anyone by chance get photos of these marks?"
"There should be some in the charts, but I can't release anything to you without the families' consent, since the patients are unconscious."
"Are there any family members here?"
"In the waiting room down the hall, we're not letting anyone in to see them since we don't know if whatever they have is contagious."
"Thank you, Doctor," Dean ended, heading down the hall to the waiting room. He wanted to get copies of those marks to see if it would help him identify what had attacked the patients. With what he got from the doctor and seeing the patients, he didn't know what kind of monster he might be looking for.
A/N: Dean is on the hunt for a monster and Sam is on the hunt for his brother. Hope you like the creature I found to use for the hunt. It will still be a few chapters before the brothers unite. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Reviews are great. NC