Coma
Chapter Sixteen
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any characters you don't recognise from the show, I probably own. Anything you recognise from other fandoms, I don't own
As always, a general thank you to those of you who have left a review, as well as added this fic to Story Alerts or Favourites. It's really nice to know that people are liking this fic
Warning(s): Violence; horror; character death; characters getting hurt; spoilers up to and including episode ten; some swearing
Author's Note: I apologise for what some may see as a lack of action in this chapter – but trust me when I say that this does further the story.
Besides… I figured the readers needed something of a break from the constant intensive action.
Sam paused in the doorway of Jody's room, and frowned at the fire escape he saw next to the window. "Oh, great… I should have thought of checking that." Then again, he hadn't been expecting Jody to try and get out via a fire escape.
I was too concerned about her leaving by the front door…
Sam was vaguely aware of Missouri coming to stand behind him. "She may not be involved at all," the psychic commented. "Other than working at the hospital and trying to help Melissa, of course."
Sam shook his head slightly. "Why would she leave, then?" he asked. A glance around revealed that Jody didn't seem to have left her cell phone – at least, not in her bedroom. The room itself seemed neat and tidy, free of any clutter.
Just like the rest of the house…
Sam hesitated only a moment, and then strode over to the wardrobe, not really caring at all about the woman's privacy. He opened it, and stared at the clothes a moment. Ok… nothing of any interest here whatsoever. Does this woman never go out or something? There are hardly any dresses or skirts…
"You probably shouldn't be doing that."
Sam sighed, and closed the door again. "I guess you're right. I'm just so…" He gestured slightly. "I want to get my brother back."
"You will," Missouri promised.
Sam gave a rather hesitant smile. "Is that something you can see, or are you just trying to make me feel better? Actually, never mind. I don't want to know." I'd rather think that it's a certainty I'll get Dean back rather than be told that the only psychic I know has no idea. Or, worse, that she knows it won't happen. "Do you know anything about where Jody may have gone? Or what her intentions are?"
Missouri shook her head. "There are people who seem to have almost… cloudy minds, which makes it very difficult to read them."
Sam frowned. "You mean like they're psychics?" Jody didn't seem like a psychic to him. Then again, it wasn't like he knew the signs of someone being a psychic.
Missouri was shaking her head again, though. "No, it's not an indication of psychic ability. Not in the sense that you and I know, at least. What I sensed is more the influence of a demon."
"A demon?" Sam repeated. The same one who's been attacking all of those people in comas? he wondered. Then, "So… Melissa was correct? Jody is the one working with the demon?"
"Since I can't see into her mind, I don't know. But I have to admit that it does look rather strange, her just running out like that." Missouri sighed a little. "It doesn't look good. What do you want to do?"
"We should probably go and find Jody." Because if she really is involved, then I need to stop her. And if she isn't, then she's probably in danger.
"Why?"
Missouri and Sam both turned, to see Amber standing a little way outside the room. Her expression was one of vague curiosity, but she didn't really seem to understand what was going on.
"Never you mind, honey," Missouri said immediately, glancing warningly at Sam before looking back at Amber. "Why don't you go back to working on the computer?"
Sam knew that Missouri didn't want him to upset Amber, but he didn't care. He was worried and frightened, as well as feeling extremely tired. "Jody left just after I talked to your sister," he replied. "I don't know where she's gone – and it's not like she left a note or anything." He stopped himself from continuing to his observation about Jody working with the demon who had been killing people in the hospital.
Amber was mentally fragile enough already…
Amber blinked, and then frowned, tilting her head slightly. "Oh, I knew already that she left," she answered. "I heard her talking on the phone."
"And you didn't see fit to tell us that!" Despite his best efforts, Sam couldn't help raising his voice.
Amber flinched, and her lower lip trembled. "I didn't realise I was supposed to tell you…" she mumbled. The woman actually looked like she might be about to cry.
Which would be really awkward…
"It's all right," Missouri said soothingly, placing her hand on Amber's shoulder. "Sam didn't mean anything by it. What did you hear? Do you know who called Jody, or who she called?"
Amber wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and shook her head. "I couldn't really hear much. But I don't think she called anyone. From what I did hear, she sounded like she was panicking about something…" She looked between Sam and Missouri, almost as if trying to see if that was what they were looking for.
"Panicking?" Sam repeated, frowning. "Why would she be doing that? No, never mind," he added quickly. "That's not important right now. What is important is that we find Jody. So I'll try heading over to the hospital…" His voice trailed off as he heard the phone – the one in the study, he assumed – start ringing. He walked out of the room, moving past Missouri and Amber, and headed into the study to answer the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Doctor Nelson," the voice on the other end replied. "Is Jody there?"
"I'm afraid she isn't." Sam attempted to keep his voice calm. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell Doctor Nelson of his suspicions about the man's niece. "Can I take a message?"
"I was just wondering if she's heard the news…"
"What news?" Sam demanded instantly. Something in the doctor's tone alerted him to there being something wrong, and his grip tightened slightly on the cord. "Is my brother all right!"
"Your brother's fine," Doctor Nelson replied. "It's just… There's been an accident with one of the people working here at the hospital. The person involved is a friend of Jody's, so I thought that I'd let her know, if she doesn't already."
Hm… That could explain why Jody was panicked if she found out about her friend, but not why she went out the fire escape rather than the front door. Unless she thought that I would stop her from going… "I really couldn't say whether she knows or not, since she's not in. What happened?" He had the feeling that by 'accident', Doctor Nelson really meant that Jody's friend was dead.
Sam's suspicions turned out to be correct as the doctor answered, "I'm still waiting for the report from the coroner. When Jody comes back, will you please tell her to give me a call?"
"Sure. Bye." Sam put the phone down, and then realised that he hadn't asked the doctor who had died.
Well, he'll tell Jody, I'm sure…
"Is everything all right, Sam?"
Sam glanced towards the door, and saw Missouri standing there. Amber was behind her, shuffling her feet slightly and looking rather uncomfortable.
"Yeah," Sam replied, sighing a little. He probably didn't need to tell Missouri about the phone call – all she needed to do was look into his mind, and she'd see what had just happened. Feeling suddenly weary, he slumped into the chair in front of the computer, and put his head in his hands.
I can't do this. I can't cope anymore. I'm not strong like Dad or Dean. I never was. It should be me in the coma. I know that Dean would move heaven and earth to save me, if he had to. Why can't I do the same thing for him?
"Sam…" Missouri's voice trailed off, and then she glanced behind her at Amber. "Why don't you show Sam what you told me?"
Amber nodded, a little hesitantly, and then brushed carefully past the psychic and headed over to the computer. "Um… I was taking a look at some of the things Jody has saved," she commented. "Nothing private, of course. I clicked on the trash can, and I found…" She clicked on the trash can symbol on the computer, and then opened one of the files, which brought up the scanned first page of an old newspaper.
Sam frowned, staring at the picture in front of him. The date on the newspaper was January 19th 1958. Most of the paper was yellowed and obviously stained with age, even on the computer screen. However, it wasn't the writing that got his attention, but rather the picture that was shown.
Sam felt a chill as he remembered his words to Jody – about how the demon could grant someone immortality, among other things.
The woman in the photograph shared the exact likeness of Jody…
Missouri looked at the screen over Sam's shoulder. She didn't attempt to reassure him of Jody's innocence. "From what I can tell, none of the victims seem to have been killed before they woke up from their coma."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"No, because I know you well enough to know that it won't make you feel better," Missouri said. "But I imagine your brother would be much harder for me to deal with."
Sam couldn't even muster up a faint smile at that – although he knew it was probably true. He sighed, saved the file again, and closed it down. Then, he stood up.
Amber took a slight step back as Sam turned his intense gaze on her. He stalked over to her, and grabbed her arm, looking into green eyes that were wide in a pale, frightened face. "You tell your sister that I don't give a damn what she's saving her energy for. She's gonna help me whether she wants to or not." He gave the woman a little shake for emphasis.
Amber flinched a little, and her lower lip trembled. For a moment, tears filled her eyes.
"Sorry…" Sam let go of Amber's arm, feeling bad for upsetting her – but that didn't change what he needed. "Melissa's been saving up her energy for something big. I really don't care what, but I need some of it."
"What for?"
"Sam, honey, are you sure that's wise?" Missouri asked, apparently having gleaned something of what was going through his mind. "You still don't know too much about the Vereor demon. It could easily hurt you badly this time. Or, worse, corrupt your mind in some way. You should give it some time…"
"I don't have time, Missouri! I can't help anyone – least of all my brother – until I stop this demon. If Jody's really involved, then I need to do fight the Vereor demon sooner rather than later." Sam turned to Amber again, too rattled to worry about mincing words. "Will she help me!" I'll worry about finding Jody and discovering just what's going on with her later, he decided.
Amber looked a bit distant for a moment. Then, she nodded. "She said that she'll help you… If you tell her what to do."
"If you're determined to do this, then I won't stop you. What I will do is monitor your sleeping pattern, and wake you up if need be."
"Thank you," Sam said. "But I think I need to be in pretty deep sleep for any of this to work. So if Jody has any sleeping pills in the medicine cabinet, I'm going to take one. So if anything happens, you'll probably need to wake me up mentally." He really disliked the thought of having to face the Vereor demon again – but he realised that he didn't have much other choice. Not if I want to have any chance of stopping this… He turned to Missouri. "While I sort out the sleeping pill and explain to Melissa what I need her to do, can you go out to the car and get the items I need for an exorcism?"
"Of course."
Sam gave a brief smile, and dug into his pocket for the car keys. He then handed them to Missouri. "Thanks." I have no idea if a general exorcism will work, but it won't hurt anything to try.
Missouri nodded, and took the keys. "I'll be back soon. I just hope that the car will be in better shape than it was last time," she muttered as she left the room.
"Come on," Sam said, and reached for Amber's arm again. He started to pull her out of the room, but paused as a confused look came over the woman's face. "What's wrong?"
Amber shook her head. "Nothing, never mind." She followed Sam out of the room, still looking sort of confused.
Amber stared at the bottle in Dean's hand, and then at him. "Holy water?" she repeated. "What's that supposed to do to the demon? It's supposed to burn vampires, right?"
"Vampires are also meant to have horrible faces and burn in direct sunlight," Dean pointed out. "But you didn't see that happening, did you? Holy water burns demons," he explained. "It's not the best way of incapacitating someone who's possessed – but it's probably far safer than leaving you here to wreak havoc."
"I wouldn't wreak havoc," Amber protested. "And what do you mean, holy water burns demons? The demon's inside of me, so does that mean it's gonna burn me?"
Dean eyed her cautiously a moment. "If I say 'yes,' do you promise not to lose it completely?" Much as I like and respect women, and much as I enjoy sleeping with them, I will never understand them.
"I don't want to get burned!"
"Would you prefer to kill innocent people?" Dean's tone was cold. I won't be able to do this without at least some co-operation from Amber, he realised. And this definitely isn't the most ideal situation – but it's the best I can come up with.
College-boy probably wouldn't be able to come up with anything better, even if Dean had his real-world brother with him.
"It wouldn't be me who was killing them." Amber's tone was filled with doubt, though. She sighed, and lowered her head slightly. "You won't do anything that'll… permanently damage me. Will you?"
Dean remembered his decision to let Amber die rather than Sam. However, he was very reluctant to do that, even if it meant preventing anyone else from dying. "I won't kill you," he promised. She'll have to be content with that.
Amber didn't look very reassured at all. "Great, thanks. My boyfriend's probably dead, and I've got a complete maniac who has no qualms about hurting people if something happens that they can't help!" She was beginning to look quite distressed.
"Close your eyes and count to ten," Dean suggested quickly.
Amber stared at him. "What!" It had the desired effect of distracting her from whatever thoughts she was having, though.
"If you feel yourself getting angry, annoyed, upset, or whatever; close your eyes and count to ten. It might go a little way to calming you down." Other ways of coping with strong emotions should probably have occurred to me…
"Whatever." Amber lowered her head, looking like she was near to tears – but Dean could see that she was attempting to calm herself down.
Dean sighed, and then offered a hand to Amber. After she took it – a little hesitantly – he pulled her to her feet. "Come on. You probably need to get some sleep." He led her through to the bedroom, considering. My necklace has been imbued with protective spells… If I let her wear it for tonight, it should prevent the demon from being able to take her completely while she's sleeping.
Amber leaned a little into Dean, looking out of it. Her eyelids were drooping, and she was yawning, not to mention stumbling over her own feet.
No wonder she's exhausted… She's had a really long day. We both have.
Dean helped Amber in the bedroom, and pushed her gently down onto the bed. He then removed his necklace, and slipped it over her head.
Amber looked up at him. "What… are… you… doing…?" She sounded weak, and looked pretty pale.
Dean looked into her eyes for a moment. "I'm not going to chance something happening during the night. You feel weak because the spells are holding back the demon, and therefore part of your soul as well." He picked up the salt shaker, and re-created the circle of salt. "Now try to get some sleep. I'll sleep on the floor." If she wakes up during the night, or anything happens, I'm bound to know.
Amber nodded slowly. "There are blankets in the wardrobe." She pointed towards it.
"Thank you." Dean headed towards the wardrobe, and opened it.
I've taken all of the precautions I can – and there's nothing else I can do, he thought.