Be Made of Salt And... Chp 2
Sam took a deep breath and nodded before speaking. "We were hunting a hellhound. Dad and Tommy had gone one way with us going another. For some reason, Dad and Tommy had split up. Not by a lot, about 20 feet or so, and still within shouting distance. Tommy got jumped from behind by the hellhound and called out to dad for help, but he did it mentally."
Dean frowned. "That's why dad sent him away? Because Tommy was in trouble and used his ability to get help?" He shook his head.
"Think about it Dean. Dad probably saw it as something too close to the dark side of things. We both know that if I had still been at home when my visions started, he would have sent me away as well. It just happened to Tommy first."
"Maybe, but it still pisses me off that dad refused to talk about it after the fact." Dean sighed and stood up. "Come on. Let's get back on the road. Think we can all use a bit of a break after this." He looked over at his middle brother. "Something tells me that we're going to need some of the information from his journals and going over it in the car is not something I want to do, especially after what he said when we told him what Pastor Jim said."
Sam nodded and re-adjusted the blanket over his older brother before re-joining Dean in the front of the Impala. "We should probably stop and get something to eat while we're at it. I get the feeling it's going to be a long night."
Three hours later, Tommy woke up and found himself in another hotel room. He sat up a bit and frowned at Sam, who was on the laptop. "Where are we?"
"Missoula. Dean figured after the dream you had, we should probably stop a bit earlier."
He sighed and shook his head. "Guess talking about my journals and Pastor Jim kinda triggered the dream." There was no since trying to deny or avoid the fact that he knew exactly what dream Sam was talking about. Only one thing would have made Dean even think about stopping early while going to a possible hunt: the reason behind John sending him away. "I take it you saw what I was dreaming about."
"Yeah. I reached out to try and wake you up, grabbed your shoulder and saw it. I'm sorry dad sent you away for it."
"Not your fault Sam. I never blamed or was ever made at you or Dean for what happened. I knew that dad would never tell you what was going on or why he had sent me away, but I wasn't ready to tell anyone either. Not when I first started writing to you after I had left."
"And later? Why not tell me then?"
"Because Dean told me about the fights you were having with dad and I didn't want to be fuel for the fire. It also wasn't something I was comfortable talking about Sam. For almost two years, I fought Pastor Jim at every step with what he was trying to teach me. If the man didn't have the patience of a saint, he would have kicked me out after the first 3 months."
"Is that why you don't want to review your journals?" This came from Dean, who had returned with dinner for all of them and some stuff for the road the next day. "Or at least part of it?"
Tommy shook his head. "Not really. I mainly don't want to do it because there's a lot of crap that happened when Pastor Jim finally got me to at least start cooperating with him, after about 5 months, that I would rather forget. He knows that too, but there is also a lot of information that we discovered in those first few months that became invaluable later on. Just looking over it brings back a lot of memories that I'd rather forget."
"Like what?" Sam asked, getting up to sit next to his brother on the bed.
He sighed. "Like being able to read what was going on in a grieving mother's mind. Hearing her blame herself for her daughter dying even though it really wasn't her fault and she was hundreds of miles away at the time. Like dad showing up one day and blaming me for him becoming distant with Sam and being able to read it in his head that he believed I was evil." As he talked, his breathing started growing harsh.
The one thing that Bryan hadn't told his brothers, and that he himself had kept from them was the fact that he had developed asthma. It was a complication that came about from the car accident with the deer. His left lung had been punctured and collapsed. As a result of being on the ventilator too long and an infection in an incision in his chest, he'd developed pneumonia. Altogether, everything added up to him now suffering from what the doctors called non-allergic asthma.
Dean frowned when he heard the change in his brother's breathing. "Tommy? You okay?"
There wasn't an answer from the middle brother as he started trying to remove his inhaler from his pocket. It took a few moments, allowing the pressure in his chest to increase and the wheezing to become audible. When he finally had it out, he was drained and didn't have the energy left to use it.
Sam stepped up and took the inhaler from his older brother and helped him take the first dose from it. By then, Dean had grabbed their first aid kit and removed something from it. When Sam looked over at him, he recognized it as an epipen. "When did you get that?"
"Lifted it from a hospital about a year ago. Figured it couldn't hurt to have one, just in case." As he spoke, Dean removed the device from its protective case. "And since epinephrine is a form of adrenaline, I know that it'll help his lungs open up a bit and that inhaler to work better." He pressed the pen to Tommy's left thigh and then triggered the dose, holding it until he was sure the dose had been fully delivered.
Tommy winced as Dean pressed the device into his thigh, but forced himself to relax. It took a few minutes before both meds really began to work, but he found his breathing started to become easier. He sighed once he was able to breath somewhat normally and looked up at his two brothers. "Okay, so I have asthma, too."
"You should have told us bucko." Dean stated, helping his brother to lay back on the bed.
"Probably." He closed his eyes for a moment and opened them to find Sam now standing above him, a bottle of water in his hand.
"Here, drink some of this then get some rest. We'll have something for you to eat when you wake up."
A roll of his eyes accompanied him taking the bottle from his younger brother. "Don't let me sleep more than a couple of hours."
"Why don't we just see how long your body says you need to sleep, huh?" This came from Dean, who was standing at the foot of the bed, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Fine." Tommy took a few sips of the water, then set the bottle aside before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep again.
Both of his brothers watched him for a few minutes before either one of them spoke. Sam was the first to break the silence.
"You know, sometimes I wonder exactly who he picked up hiding information from, dad or Pastor Jim."
Dean snorted. "That's a no brainer. Dad wins that one, hands down." He looked at his youngest brother. "We all learned that from dad to some degree." He walked back over to the table and took a seat, joined a few minutes later by Sam as they went back to work on their research of the new job.
