Coma

Chapter Six

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any character you don't recognise from the show, I probably own.

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Warning(s): Violence; some mild swearing

Brief recap of previous chapter: Sam found out that both Allyson Wilcox and Jason Myers had died after waking up from comas at Rockford Hospital. He also found out that the reporter who had written the articles about them had died in what was apparently in a car accident having been supposedly drinking and driving. He then talked to Jody on the phone, and agreed to come by her house.
Meanwhile, Dean found himself face to face with a grinning skull, and then ended up meeting Meg. Coming to and finding that Amber was standing in front of him, he then tipped salt over her to make sure she wasn't some kind of supernatural creature. Then, as they walked to the car, Dean found out that Amber had a sister, Melissa, who was a reporter and supposedly died in a car accident…
And Dean was left with a parting shot by Meg inside his mind…

Sam pulled up outside the apartment Jody had given him the directions to, and parked the Impala carefully.

Dean will probably kill me if I get even a single scratch on his beloved car…

The building itself was an ordinary, semi-detached house, no different from any of the surrounding houses. If it weren't for the number – 31 – Sam would never have been able to pick it specifically out.

I wonder if that was Jody's intention, Sam thought. Blending in would be vital for a person who's scared of something… Which kind of pointed to the theory that the supposed car accident hadn't been an accident at all.

After giving Sam the directions to her house, Jody had then told him that she would be a bit late due to having to clean up and do other things at the hospital. Sam had offered to pick up some food for dinner after he'd talked to Doctor Nelson about his brother.

I don't know what, if anything, Jody's told her uncle… Hell, I don't even know what's going on. I'm looking for answers, and the only person who seems to have any is a hospital volunteer probably younger than I am.

After getting out of the car, Sam shifted the pizza boxes to his right hand, using the other to ring the doorbell. All right, he could have got food that would have been quicker to make – but, to be honest, the younger Winchester had really wanted some time to be on his own.

After a moment, the door was opened by Jody – at least, Sam assumed that that was who it was. Given the fact that the chain was on the door, he couldn't see much through the crack.

"Hey," Sam said with a half-smile. "I come bearing pizza."

Jody took the chain off the door and opened it, giving a furtive glance out into the street. "Come in," she said quickly.

Well… Something's freaked her out, Sam thought as he stepped inside the building. After handing the pizza boxes to Jody, he turned to close the door behind him.

"I'll take these through to the living room," Jody offered, turning to walk through a door on the left. Just beyond the door, Sam could see the door leading to the kitchen open, and next to that were the stairs winding up. At that moment, he could see that all of the lights were off. Even in the hall, there was only a single light on, and none coming out from under the living room door.

What was she doing before I rang the doorbell?

"All right." Sam followed the woman into the room, and sat down awkwardly on the couch, taking a glance around.

"Coffee, tea, juice?" Jody asked as she set the pizza boxes on the table in front of Sam.

"Coffee's fine," Sam replied. The room's very neat, he observed. No pictures, no ornaments… It seems like all that's here are the essentials – nothing personal. It almost seems like everything's set up for her to leave at a moment's notice…

Sam was dimly aware of Jody leaving the room as his eyes suddenly fell on the one apparently personal item in the room. Resting on the armchair in the furthest corner of the room was what appeared to be a scrapbook.

Sam considered ignoring the scrapbook, but only for a moment. If Jody wanted to keep it private, then she would have put it away, not left it out in plain sight.

Of course, there's always the possibility that Jody had been looking at the scrapbook, and didn't get the chance to put it away… Sam found that he really didn't care, though. If something could help him, he wasn't going to worry about respecting little things like privacy. Maybe he'd always been that way – but the younger Winchester somehow felt that it was because he was willing to do anything to save Dean's life…

Sam straightened up, and walked over to the armchair. Picking up the scrapbook, he then sat back down on the couch, and opened it.

There were newspaper articles to begin with, Sam saw. Three of them, he recognised – about the victims who had died as a result of Rockford Hospital.

So now I'm putting them all together as victims…

For a few pages, there were more articles about people – victims – some from many years ago. Sam was just about to put the scrapbook down when he turned the next page, and stared.

There were still articles, but now more the sort that were in John Winchester's journal. Not a lot – but they all shared a certain element of the paranormal. Someone – Jody, Sam guessed – had highlighted certain things – signs, Sam assumed.

There weren't just newspaper articles in the scrapbook, as Sam found a few moments later. Jody had apparently made lists. Lists that were apparently something to do with the people who had died in the hospital.

And the supernatural…

Sam studied Allyson Wilcox's list with a gradually growing sense of unease.

Allyson Wilcox

1 x Spirit
4 April 2002

1 x Poltergeist
19 September 2002

1 x Demon
6 March 2003

1 x B. Dog
14 March 2003

1 x Spirit
21 July 2003

2 x B. Witch
14 August 2003

1 x Werewolf
16 December 2003

1 x Demon
21 January 2004

Allyson Wilcox was a hunter?

That was what the table seemed to be suggesting. But if the woman had been a hunter, then it was an awfully short list.

Looking further through the scrapbook revealed more lists – including one for Jason Myers – that could be matched to the people featured in the other articles.

Sam looked up as he heard Jody enter the room. The young woman quietly set a coffee mug down on one of the coasters on the table. Then, she sat down on the couch next to Sam.

In this close proximity to Jody, Sam could see the dark circles under her eyes that no amount of concealer could fully hide. He noticed her pale skin, and the way her eyes darted around nervously even in the supposed safety of her own home.

Sam opened his mouth to ask about the scrapbook, but what actually came out was, "When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

Sam was unprepared for the pain that stabbed through him as he echoed what Dean had said to him before. Tears pricked at his eyes yet again, and he forced them back with effort.

It's not like Dean's dead, Sam thought. It didn't stop his memories from causing pain, though.

Especially since Dean's current condition was all Sam's fault…

Jody blinked, looking taken aback and caught off guard by the question. "Um…" She made an obvious effort to remember, and then shrugged. "I don't really recall… It hasn't felt safe to sleep in a while."

Sam frowned. He could understand that, but he knew that not sleeping would be an extremely bad idea. "You'd better take advantage of me being here to get a good night's sleep," he replied. Then, he indicated the scrapbook. "Are you telling me here that these people… hunt the paranormal or something like that?" He wasn't going to admit what he and Dean did, not when he didn't know the score.

Jody quirked a smile. "I'm not telling you anything. That is." She nodded to the scrapbook.

"You're taking a big risk, showing me this," Sam said. "What makes you think that I won't take this to the police or something? There's a lot here that could be used against you."

Jody shrugged. "I made a decision," she answered. "To be honest… I can't just keep this to myself. It wasn't so bad with Melissa around, but…" Her voice trailed off, and she looked away, clearly fighting to keep her composure.

Sam nodded slowly, glancing down. "What makes you think that Dean's in danger?" he questioned, mainly to get Jody talking and take her mind off what had happened to her friend. "I mean, you do think that he's in danger, right?" If she didn't, then it would make no sense for her to be talking to him right now.

Jody nodded, and then sighed. "I thought that it was just my imagination at first," she admitted. "With the first victim I saw – Jon Peterson. He was in a coma, and the day before he woke up, I saw this… glow around his body. Kind of like an aura."

"What colour was it?"

"Red." Jody frowned. "Or, well, reddish-brown more like… It made me think of those glow-in-the-dark stickers and other things you can get. Oh, and the glow seemed to almost seep into his skin," she added.

Sam met Jody's gaze. "You've seen it on later occasions?"

Jody nodded. "No one else has mentioned seeing it… But if anyone has, they've probably convinced themselves that it's perfectly normal, or decided that it's their imagination. I nearly did…"

"But you met Melissa?" Sam guessed. He wasn't sure what gave him the idea that Melissa had been the one to approach Jody – it wasn't like he really knew anything about what had happened.

Jody nodded. "I guess that Melissa wanted someone in the hospital on her side," she replied. "We just seemed to… click, in a way. Know what I mean?"

In a way, Sam did. It reminded him painfully of how he and Jessica had met. He'd been going to ask her to marry him…

And her life was ripped away.

Jody seemed to take Sam's silence as agreement, and continued, "With the other victims, I was seeing the light quite a while before they actually woke up. I saw it with your brother just before I left for lunch break…"

Sam's mind was already working. What kind of supernatural entity preys on coma victims and leaves a red light before they wake up? He was going to have to take a look at his dad's journal later on. He thought he remembered where it was…

Jody lowered her head, closing her eyes for a moment. "Sometimes I wish I was crazy…" she whispered. "This is too much for me to handle."

"Don't worry," Sam said softly. "You don't have to handle it on your own now. When are you working tomorrow?"

"9am…"

Sam shook his head slightly. "Phone in sick." He was rather worried that she would be too exhausted to really concentrate, and that it was possible she could be in some serious danger if she went to the hospital.

Like Melissa…

"But…"

"No buts," Sam interrupted. "You need a good rest if you're going to be helping me with this. Besides, it's possible that your life might be in danger. Do you have a computer here?"

Jody looked like she was about to argue, but then her shoulders slumped, and she sighed heavily. "There's one in the office upstairs," she muttered.

"Thank you." Sam sipped his coffee, and made a slight grimace. Oh, well… I guess I should have thought that this would get cold while we were talking. "We might need to heat up the pizza."

"I'll do that." Jody got to her feet, and picked up the pizza boxes before heading out of the living room.

Sam leaned back slightly against the couch, and started flicking through the scrapbook again.

John Winchester pulled his van over to the side of the road and parked, leaning his chin on his cupped hands for a moment.

Usually, the man would have no qualms about listening to the messages on his mobile while he was driving. However, this message was from one of his sons.

And he wanted to give all of his attention to this…

Once again, John dialled the number of his answer phone service, and put the mobile to his ear. He ignored the first two messages that had nothing to do with anything of importance, and listened to Sam's message with a growing sense of unease.

As the last whispered "Please," echoed through his ears, John clenched his other hand into a fist. It was clear from his youngest son's heartrending message that Sam blamed himself for what had happened to his brother.

What would Sammy do if Dean were to die…?

Really, it didn't take long for John to make his decision. There was no contest. One of his sons was in a coma; the other one was probably in some serious danger.

John turned his mobile off again and tucked it safely away. Then, he put the van into gear, and pulled out into the road again, driving in the opposite direction to which he had been going.

Heading towards Rockford, Illinois.

Dean sat on the examining table with a frown, waiting impatiently for the doctor to finish looking at him.

Honestly… you'd think that, since he can't find anything wrong with me, he'd stop trying, the older Winchester thought with some annoyance. I haven't even seen any hot nurses.

Apart from Dean and the doctor, the only person in the room was Sam. Jessica and Amber were waiting outside in the reception area. Dean hadn't felt comfortable with them in the room while the doctor examined him.

Finally, the doctor stepped back, and directed a confused look at Dean. "I can't see any evidence of a blow to the head, or even the alcohol consumption you claim to have had."

Yes, that would be because I was stone cold sober at the time my baby brother shot me, Dean thought. Of course, he couldn't exactly say that out loud – so he just shrugged, and gave the doctor his best innocent look. "Don't know what to tell you, Doc. Maybe I managed to lose most of it when I threw up." Not that Dean had been sick, but still…

The doctor didn't look all that convinced. "I can't see the reason for your partial memory loss," he said. "I would like to run some tests…"

"No, that's fine," Dean responded immediately, standing up. "You don't need to run tests on me." Ever since he could remember, Dean had hated hospitals. Maybe it had something to do with the amount of times he, Sammy, and their father had ended up in one.

Sam didn't look surprised, so Dean's dislike of hospitals probably hadn't changed.

"I wouldn't advise leaving…" the doctor replied. "Although I can't find anything physically wrong with you, the fact that you've lost part of your memory is very worrying."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Dean waved a hand dismissively as he got off the bed. "I'll come back if anything goes wrong. Come on, Sammy," he added, as he headed towards the door.

"It's Sam." The younger Winchester looked apologetically at the doctor, and followed his older brother out of the room. "Well, I'm not gonna carry you back here if you collapse." He closed the door behind him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to collapse," Dean answered. He looked around the waiting room a moment, and then headed over to Jessica and Amber. "We're leaving," he announced.

"But what about your memory loss…?" Jessica asked, a little hesitantly.

"The doctor couldn't find anything with him," Sam answered before Dean could. "Well, besides the usual, of course."

I'm not going to rise to the bait, Dean thought as he walked swiftly out of the surgery. He was aware of Amber hurrying her steps so that she could walk next to him, but he didn't look at her.

"Seriously, though," Sam said as they got outside. "Are you feeling all right? After all, we don't know what's caused your partial memory loss…"

Apparently, a blonde woman called Meg has some responsibility, at least… Dean thought, turning to look at the other three.

The sun was beginning to set, and the light bathed each person with an eerie glow. Dean hadn't realised how late it was, and he was beginning to feel quite tired.

I guess being shot in the chest and falling into a parallel world takes a lot out of you…

"I'm fine," Dean said, a little sharper than he had intended. This little 'adventure' was fast losing its appeal. Not that it had had much to begin with…

Dean paused as a sudden idea hit him. "Hey, Sam, Mom and Dad are still living in Kansas, right?"

The younger Winchester shot his brother an are-you-completely-insane? look. "Of course they are," he replied, talking slowly, as if to an idiot or a very young child. "Jeez, Dean. What do you remember?"

Demons, school, ghosts, moving around from place to place… Oh, and my possessed brother trying to kill me, Dean thought, even as he shrugged, and gave an innocent smile. "Well, can we travel down to see them?" he requested, mentally crossing his fingers. Please let Missouri be there.

Sam blinked, and then shrugged. "I guess so," he replied. "Maybe next weekend…?"

Dean hid his dismay at his brother's words. If I'm in a parallel world, how does time pass in the real world? More to the point, what's the situation with me in the real world? Missouri would probably be able to help a bit, but, right now, he had no way of contacting her.

In any case, complaining about it wasn't going to do any good.

"Let's just go back," Dean said at last. "We can work out what we're going to do later."

Dean stood in the doorway of the room that he supposedly shared with Amber, watching the young woman getting undressed. She doesn't seem to be uncomfortable getting changed in front of me… He commented on the fact out loud.

Amber slipped her nightgown over her head even as she replied, "Of course I'm not. I trust you – we are dating, after all." She petted Brownie – who was curled up on the floor next to her bed – and then pulled a brush through her hair before tying it back.

"But I don't remember you at all," Dean pointed out. "As far as I'm concerned, we're complete strangers." She's gotta be a total innocent, or dangerously naïve… Probably the latter.

"Well, I'm too tired to argue about it now." Amber rolled over and, with a yawn, closed her eyes. "Besides, if you try anything – I can scream pretty loudly." Almost before she had finished speaking, her breathing deepened and evened out into the rhythm of sleep.

After a few moments, Dean became aware of the scent of lavender perfume filling his nostrils. He wasn't too surprised, when he turned round, to find that Meg was standing behind him.

"What do you want?" Dean demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"Now, is that any way to talk to a lady?" Meg smirked, and then reached a hand up to gently trail her fingers over Dean's face. "We're all alone right now. Why don't we… fool around for a while?"

"With you?" Dean recoiled sharply from the woman's touch. Then, a horrible thought came to him. "You'd better not have touched my brother!"

"Why do you care?" Meg asked, tilting her head slightly. "This is only one incarnation of your brother – a possibility, if you like. Every choice you make creates a new parallel world. There are infinite possibilities, and infinite copies of every person. Your brother, Jessica, you… her." She nodded towards the bed, where Amber was sleeping undisturbed.

However, while his owner was apparently unbothered by Meg's presence, Brownie was awake, and growling at Meg, showing his sharp teeth.

Smart dog, Dean thought, keeping his eyes on Meg. Under any other circumstances, the older Winchester brother would be rushing to see if his brother was all right. However, right now, he was standing between Amber and Meg – and Dean was conscious of just how defenceless the former was.

Meg smiled, more or less ignoring the dog's growling. "I'm not going to hurt her," she said, seemingly somehow able to read his mind. Then, abruptly, she laughed. "I wouldn't hurt any of them – yet. But as for giving them nightmares…" She took a step towards Dean.

"You stay away from everyone here!" Dean snapped, not moving from where he was standing. I don't care if they are copies… If she hurts my brother or anyone else here, I swear I will kill her!

Meg looked surprised, but only for a moment. Then, she laughed. "You can't protect them forever, you know." Before Dean could respond, she was simply gone.

"Dean?"

Dean blinked a couple of times, and found himself looking at Jessica, who appeared to be worried. The older Winchester brother shook his head a couple of times to clear it, and then asked, "Could you keep an eye on Amber a moment?"

"Sure, but why…?" Before Jessica could finish the question, though, Dean pushed past her, and headed down the hallway to the room his little brother shared with Jessica.

When Dean got to Sam's room, he was relieved to find that his brother was safely asleep in his bed.

For a long moment, Dean just stood in the doorway, watching the sleeping form. It was almost surprising, the way he was so happy to see the innocence of this Sammy, the one who had never had to grow up fighting demons and things that went bump in the night; who had been able to fulfil his dreams.

I wish it could have always been like this for you, bro…

Finally, Dean turned, making his way back to Amber's room. Jessica, who was hovering in the doorway, looked up as he approached. "Everything all right?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, fine," he answered, suddenly aware of just how tired he was. "You can go back now." Then, once Jessica was gone, he slid under the blankets next to Amber. If she doesn't like it, she can complain about it in the morning. He was too tired to go down to sleep on the couch or even search out a spare room.

For a moment, Dean glimpsed the dog's brown eyes staring disconcertingly at him, but he couldn't be bothered to put the animal out of the room.

Just before he slipped into sleep, though, one last thought went through Dean Winchester's mind:

What was Jessica doing wandering around at this time of night?