Coma

Chapter Nine

Disclaimer: Much as I would like to, I don't own anything from the show Supernatural, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Anything you don't recognise from the show, I probably own.

Warning(s): Violence; spoilers; some swearing; possibly some scary parts; possibly some slight ooc:ness, mainly in Sam.

Author's Note: Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed – and read but didn't review, of course. It's always nice to open my e-mails and find a review – makes writing worthwhile, in a way, although I write for myself as much as other people.

Brief recap of previous chapter: Sam still doesn't have any memory of Dean whatsoever. Jody ended up sneaking out of the house and to the hospital, where she met up with a Doctor Herring specialising in coma victims.
Meanwhile, in the parallel world, Amber woke up to find that she was alone in the apartment. After getting some breakfast, she received a phone call from an anonymous person which mentioned her sister.

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Sam sighed, leaning back slightly as he studied his notes that he had written about each of the cases of the coma victims. Well, this was further evidence to disprove what Jody had said about him having a brother. Flicking through the rest of the notebook, he couldn't find any mention of a brother anywhere.

I guess maybe I wouldn't include any brother I have in my notes… But surely, if Dean, or whoever he was, was in a coma, Sam would have made some mention of it?

This whole thing doesn't make any sense to me…

Sam pushed his hands through his hair and gave another heavy sigh. Even if Jody was right and he had a brother, why would he just suddenly forget him like that? All of Sam's memories consisted of only him and his dad – sometimes not even John Winchester. They'd got through an entire line of babysitters given the amount of different places they'd moved to, Sam remembered.

So what the hell is going on?

The logical thing to do would be to head off to the hospital. He could take a good look at this guy who was supposed to be his brother and then drag Jody away – kicking and screaming if necessary – from the dangerous place and read her the riot act for disobeying his orders and going straight into a situation she knew full well was bad.

But why doesn't that sound right…?

Sam had already gone rifling through Jody's medicine cabinet, and now he popped a couple of Tylenol in his mouth and swallowed with some of the water he had since picked up.

God, he needed something stronger…

The Tylenol helped – at least with the headache Sam could feel gradually growing. However, they did absolutely nothing for the cobwebby feeling inside his mind. He hadn't felt this bad since he had gone back home to Kansas to help the family that had moved into his old house, where everything had started.

Sam rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could remember seeing the ghost of his mother, and watching helplessly as she had told him that she was sorry, and then turned to destroy the poltergeist. He hadn't understood, then, what she had been saying sorry for, but now he thought he did.

At least a little…

There was so much contained in those two little words… It was all she had time for… And she sacrificed herself to save me…

And why does saying, or even thinking, 'me' feel so wrong?

Well, the logical thing to do would be to assume that he really did have a brother. However, if that were the case, why didn't Sam remember him? What possible purpose could any supernatural entity have for making one brother lose all of his memories of the other? Chalk up one more thing that didn't make sense.

I suppose it's connected to the writing on the computer telling me to stay away from the hospital…

His cell phone started ringing.

Sam was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts, and it took him a moment to realise where the sound was coming from. Then, he fumbled for his phone, and put it to his ear. "Hello?" He was too rattled to think of anything as unimportant as giving his name to whoever was calling. Besides, anyone who had his cell phone number probably knew who he was as well.

"Hello there, Sweetie," Missouri's warm tone came through the phone. "I was going to leave it until tomorrow, but I've booked a flight down to Illinois this afternoon. I think you need all the help you can get."

Sam closed his eyes for a moment. "Yeah…" He was beyond relieved to have the knowledge that someone he knew was going to be coming down to help him out. Could Missouri somehow resolve the confusion that he felt?

"Of course I will," Missouri said, her tone reassuring, as she apparently heard what Sam was thinking. "I understand that this is all very confusing for you – for now, all I can tell you is that you should follow your instincts and go with what you think is right." She paused, then continued, "I'll be on the 3pm flight. You can come and pick me up at around 3.30. And it would probably be a good idea to call that young woman sooner or later."

"Young woman?" Sam repeated, even as he struggled to make sense of the other things that Missouri had said.

Surely he was already following his instincts…?

If Missouri heard his thoughts, she made no mention of it. Instead, she explained, "You've been thinking about whether or not to call that reporter's sister – Amber. If you're going to do it at all, you'd better do it sooner rather than later."

"All right," Sam replied obediently. He wasn't sure why he was so willing to do what Missouri told him to – he knew that he trusted her, even though he'd only really met her on his return to Kansas. Maybe it was just the way she was… Out loud, he asked, "Do you know about my…?"

"Your brother, Dean?" Missouri interrupted gently. "Sam, I can't tell you exactly what's going on, but I understand how confused you must be feeling right now. Your mind feels like there's a fog inside it. I have the feeling that this is something you need to break through on your own."

Sam couldn't stop a sigh from escaping him. If anyone could have helped me, I'm sure that it would have been Missouri…

"I'm sorry honey, but I can't tell you everything," Missouri told Sam softly. "Just follow your instincts – what do you think is right to do?"

"I really don't know," Sam admitted, clinging to his cell phone as though he somehow wanted to sink through it and end up with Missouri. "This is all so… I don't know what to do. I feel like a part of me is missing."

"That's because it is," Missouri answered simply. "You and your brother – you go together. Light and dark, yin and yang. One cannot exist without the other. From the very moment of your mother's death, your souls were bound so tightly together that separation is pretty much impossible."

"Oh…" Sam said, a little hesitantly. Then, he sighed. "I'll come pick you up at the airport at 3.30. Bye for now."

"Goodbye."

Sam disconnected the call, and just sat in silence for a moment, lost in his thoughts. He had hoped that getting a call from Missouri would alleviate at least some of the confusion he was feeling – instead, he just felt even worse.

If Missouri's words were to be believed, something had happened to make Sam lose all memory of his brother. Trouble was, Sam wasn't sure he did believe Missouri.

It wasn't that Sam thought the woman was lying – far from it. He was sure that she believed her own words.

I just think that she's somehow mistaken…

Either way, Sam was definitely not going to discover the truth just by sitting around doing nothing. Besides, Missouri had told him to call Amber soon, if he was going to at all. Truth to tell, Sam didn't really think that Melissa's sister would be able to offer much help.

But he was willing to try anything…

There was a phone near the computer in the room. Sam half-considered using his cell phone, but only for a moment. After all, if Jody wasn't there for him to ask, then he might as well use the phone to call Amber Williams. He was sure it wouldn't be a problem to give Jody some money towards the phone bill, with all of the credit scams and hustling pool. He would have no trouble getting enough money.

Sam reached out and picked up the phone. Putting it to his ear, he glanced once at the number Jody had given him, and then dialled.

The phone rang for quite a while, and Sam frowned to himself, tapping his fingers impatiently against the surface of the desk. Just when he was about to give up and put the phone down and try again later, there was a click as the phone on the other end was picked up.

"Hello, who is this?" a tremulous voice said on the other end of the phone.

"My name's Sam Winchester," Sam replied. "I'm calling to speak to Amber Williams." He thought that it was her who had answered the phone, but there was no way to be certain. Besides, the person on the other end of the phone sounded nervous enough as it was. Calling her by her name would probably just freak her out even more.

"Um… That's me…" Amber responded, sounding really hesitant. "What do you want?"

"I'm a friend of Jody Rider," Sam answered. "I believe she knew your sister? Listen, I was sorry to hear about your sister's death, but I believe she may have had some information pertaining to… well, to a number of articles she wrote." It suddenly occurred to him that it was altogether possible that Jody's phone was bugged.

I should have thought of that… Why didn't I?

"Articles?" Amber repeated. "Which ones?" Somehow, Sam had the feeling that she wasn't only addressing the question to him. Is there someone else in the house with her…? Sam felt a chill run up his spine.

"It doesn't matter," Sam said quickly, definitely feeling like he should have thought this through. "Um… Is there any way you could get to Rockford, Illinois?"

"Um…" Amber's voice trailed off, and Sam could imagine her staring at the phone and biting her lip slightly. "I'm not sure if I can… I have… things to do."

Sam could hear the fear in her voice, though. Something about the thought of coming to Rockford clearly scared her. The logical reason would be because of her sister being killed there. But why do I get the feeling that it's something more than that? "You don't have to stay for long," he said, his voice softly persuading. "Just bring as much of what your sister was working on as you can, please…"

"I'll think about it," Amber responded, sounding rather hesitant. "What number can I get you on…?"

Sam gave the young woman his cell phone number. Almost before the last number was out of his mouth, Amber disconnected the call without a word.

Sam stared at the phone for a moment, biting his lip thoughtfully. He knew that he should feel elated at the fact that he was getting that much closer to discovering what was going on but, in reality, he simply couldn't muster up the spirit to.

In that short conversation, Sam's instincts told him what years of studying couldn't discover with any more accuracy – and he didn't even know why.

Amber was insane…

I really should be getting Jody out of that hospital…

But his eyes were drooping, and his limbs felt heavy. Sam couldn't prevent himself yawning. He wanted to stand up, to do anything, but he felt like his legs wouldn't support him.

With a low groan, Sam slipped out of the chair and into a crumpled, lifeless heap onto the floor.

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John Winchester followed the young woman into the room, and had to physically stop himself from rushing to his oldest son's side. The sight of Dean hooked up to all those machines was a terrible one. The sight of his son's pale face and limp form almost brought tears to the old hunter's eyes.

Almost, but not quite.

John tore his gaze away from Dean with obvious reluctance, and scanned the room in a seemingly innocent manner, taking in everything – from the sunlight peeking through the yellow curtains, to the sombre quietness of the doctor tending to Dean.

The girl – Jody – cleared her throat, and then shuffled her feet slightly as the noise drew the attention of the two men. "Uncle…" she addressed the doctor. "This is Doctor Herring – he specialises in coma victims." She gestured towards John.

So this is the man who's been working on my son.

"It's about time they sent someone who has proper training," the doctor said bitterly. "I'm Doctor Nelson – but please call me Richard."

"John," the hunter replied, gripping Doctor Nelson's hand in a firm shake. "Could you tell me what you know of this… Dean Winchester?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you much," Doctor Nelson answered. "He was brought in by his brother, and as far as I know, the young man was harmed during a mugging. But I must admit that no attack I ever saw had rock salt in their guns – and then used an entirely different weapon on the person being mugged."

Sam was abruptly reminded of the message left on his phone by an obviously tearful Sam. It took him a moment to find his voice, since what he really wanted was to find his youngest son. More to the point… Why isn't Sam here Deciding that he would have to worry about that in a little while – since it would draw unwanted attention if he were to leave – John asked, "Is there anything to suggest just why he's in a coma? Any sign of possible brain damage?" It was a little hard to keep the worry out of his voice – but he thought he'd managed it.

Before Doctor Nelson could say anything, Jody spoke up: "Min-Li mentioned about you finding something in the tests…? At least, it seemed to be…"

John stared at Jody for a moment, and then turned his attention back to Doctor Nelson. "Are the people working here in the habit of gossiping about patients?" he asked, his tone scathing. Taking his anger and frustration out on an innocent person wasn't a good thing to do, but there was nothing evil around to fight.

"No, they're not," Doctor Nelson replied, directing a hard glance at Jody. "On the other hand… The receptionist did know that Jody was to be working with me today, so she probably assumed that Jody needed to know that." He nodded to his niece. "It was correct anyway – you do need to know, and, of course, you do as well," he continued to John Winchester.

"What did you find?" John demanded, struggling to keep the impatience out of his voice.

"I ran some tests to find out what he may have consumed before the mugging occurred," the doctor explained. "I hoped to find something that would suggest a reason for Dean Winchester to be in the coma – maybe something that reacted with the rock salt. Anyway, what I found was…" He paused a moment, and glanced towards Jody, before returning his gaze to John. "… Interesting, to say the least. To the best of my knowledge, right before the mugging, Dean Winchester consumed a large amount of alcohol – as well as sleeping pills."

Jody's face mirrored the shock that coursed through John Winchester at those words. "He… tried to kill himself…?" the hunter whispered, almost to himself. My son wanted to die… Dean deliberately took an overdose.

"Well… That's what it seems like," Doctor Nelson said. "Of course, there's no way to be certain. Could you ask his brother if he happened to be showing any signs of depression, talk of suicide?" he addressed Jody.

Even as caught off guard by this sudden knowledge as he was, John was still able to notice the strange shadow that crossed Jody's face. It was gone in an instant, and her uncle didn't seem to have noticed anything strange – but John was certain that he had seen it. What had it been? Fear? Worry? Something else?

"Are you close to this man's brother?" John asked Jody, making sure to keep his tone only to one of polite interest. Perhaps this woman could shed some light on what was happening with Sam.

Jody shrugged slightly. "I wouldn't say that…" she replied. "He needed a place to stay – and I had some room at my apartment. I just figured that… well, it wasn't like anyone else was using it…" Her voice trailed off, and she glanced down a moment, lacing her fingers behind her back – like she felt she had said too much.

How do they do it? John wondered as he considered this information. Dean had certainly been the one with the most luck with women – but it wasn't like Sam couldn't get what he needed, either. Jody seemed to have some kind of secret – but then, it wasn't like that was anything new. Everyone had secrets. The question was – was it Jody's secret, or was it something she was keeping secret for Sam?

"Are you going to need to talk to him?" Jody asked, tilting her head slightly, making an obvious effort to recover.

She'd be doing a good job of it, too, if I was anyone else – but I'm used to observing people, looking for the slightest hint of something they might be hiding. John considered Jody's question for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, not right now," he replied, hating himself for saying it – but he couldn't do anything for Sam, and if his youngest son knew that he was around, things would be that much worse.

Even coming here might have been a mistake, with that demon around…

But John had had to come. There'd been no choice. If he had just ignored Sam's message on his cell phone, he would never have forgiven himself. These were his children. He couldn't let them know he was there.

But he could do his best for them anyway.

"Well, what sort of ideas can you give to help in this situation?" Doctor Nelson asked John, ignoring Jody for the time being.

Before John could formulate any kind of response, Jody spoke up: "Um… I have a question. About those people who have been in comas before? Did any of their… relatives experience anything like memory loss?"

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"I still don't know why you wanted to come to the library," Sam said, shaking his head, as he walked Dean up to the building. "Did you suddenly remember an assignment you have to complete or something?"

"Nah, still no memory," Dean replied. "But there is something I want to look up. It's to do with the idea of parallel worlds." He might be taking a chance, mentioning this to him, but Sam was still his little brother – it didn't matter that this was a different version. Dean couldn't just stop trusting him.

Sam paused, glancing towards Dean. "A parallel world?" he repeated. "What, do you think that's real or something?"

Well, if I didn't before, I certainly do now, Dean thought. He shrugged to Sam's question. "Well… It's a possible explanation as to why I've forgotten some things, and some of my memories are different…"

"Dude, you've lost your mind," Sam stated, shaking his head. "What possible reason could you have for thinking like that? Sure, you've forgotten a few things, and seem a little fuzzy on the details of others – but that just means you probably drank too much last night, slipped, and hit your head."

"Then how do you account for the fact that the doctor could find no trace of alcohol in my body!" Dean demanded.

"I don't know!" Sam replied. "I don't get you, Dean! Maybe you are a different person – because you sure as hell aren't acting like my brother!"

Dean winced. Ow… That hurt. "Sure I'm your brother," he said out loud. "I'm just a… different version. And I need to get back – because otherwise the version of you in my world will fall apart."

"Why, what happened?" Sam asked, apparently having decided that he might as well listen to what Dean had to say. Even in this version, Dean could see the spark of interest in his eyes. Sam's mind was always ready to learn new things.

You would have made one hell of a lawyer… You could be anything you set your mind to.

"You shot me," Dean said simply. Then, seeing the look in Sam's eyes, he quickly continued, "Well, it's not like it was your fault… See, there was this doctor spirit – a psychotic one – which possessed you, and made all of your anger come to the fore… Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm not going to stay and listen to this," Sam replied without turning round. "I think you need some serious help, Dean… So why don't you just do whatever it is you want to do, and I'll talk to you when your head's clearer." Without waiting for any kind of response, he simply turned and walked away.

Heh… This'll be interesting to tell my Sammy when I wake up, Dean thought, automatically shoving away the pain that Sam's words had caused him. I think I'll leave out the part about Jessica being alive, though… Really don't want to hurt him. That was all assuming that Sam wasn't going to feel really guilty and all about what happened – though it wouldn't have surprised Dean if he did.

Never would have thought that he'd shoot me… Then again, I did goad him. Gotta learn when to keep my mouth shut and make nice with the psychotic brother.

Dean started to head into the library, and then paused when his cell phone started ringing. For a moment, he considered ignoring it, but then decided that he didn't want to have to deal with the headache that might cause. So he moved aside, and answered the phone. "Hello?" he said, a little sharply.

"Dean?" Amber's voice came over the phone, sounding shaky and hesitant.

"What's wrong?" Dean demanded, as always alert to any change in someone's tone that might indicate something out of the ordinary. "Did something happen?"

"I got a… phone call," Amber admitted. "Could you come over? Please?"

Dean hesitated, glancing at the library – but then, spending time with a cute girl won out over studying every time. He'd always seen research as a necessary evil. Besides, it was always possible that Amber could help him out with the whole getting back to his world thing. He couldn't ignore the obvious fear in her voice, either.

"I'll be right there," Dean promised, then disconnected the call. Turning, he walked away from the library, heading in the direction of the apartment.

Behind him, a shadow near one of the trees shifted.