Chapter Five – Seizure
Dean shifted the pillows behind his back trying his best to find a comfortable position, but none seemed to exist. His heightened senses not only applied to sight and sound but also to feel, which meant every small bump or pebble they drove over reverberated through his body as if he was being dragged roughshod over a gravel road with no protection whatsoever.
Every inch of his body ached and the tightness in his stomach was pulling at the stitches in his abdomen making them threaten to pop like strings on a guitar that's been tuned too high. Several times he started to retch, but had nothing in his stomach to lose, which again just made his muscles tighten more. It felt like his body was being twisted inside out and tied in a tight knot.
His body started trembling from the onslaught of symptoms that would only escalate from here. His face was beading with sweat and his vision went blurry from time to time. His sweat drenched body started shaking from the cold tremors and he felt his mind drifting in and out of reality.
The first seizure hit him like a seismic jolt as his body arched and thrashed with his feet kicking the far door panel and his arms wildly swinging against the back of the seat. His head thrust back and slammed into the door frame with such force that Sammy instinctively pulled the car to the side of the road and rushed to his brother's side. Sam held his shoulders down while his dad held his legs as his body tried to rise up in horrible bursts of painful spasms.
The terror in his eyes revealed the anguish this seizure thrust him into. His mind was racing as control over his body's actions vanished and he was hurled into a black void of terror. All he knew was overwhelming panic and pain. He had no concept of where he was or why this was happening to him. He just felt the horror of totally losing touch with reality and falling interminably through a minefield of obstacles that battered and bruised his body on his descent downward toward a final crushing impact.
His body rose up again and again, his eyes filled with pure terror and his screams deafening within his own consciousness, yet the gasps from his mouth were unintelligible to anyone else, muffled cries lost amid the thrashing of his limbs. His heart pounding so loud and fierce he knew it was on the verge of bursting within seconds, yet it continued to beat onward, with each heartbeat threatening to be his last. The physical exertion caused by these spasms equaled the efforts of an athlete over a three hour marathon, condensed into the timeframe of a short distance race.
After almost ten minutes of unimaginable horror, the seizure ended and his exhausted body finally stopped lurching. While his outward body appeared calm, his inner voice was screaming as the tremors deep in his soul continued to shake him to his core. He lay there barely able to move his chest up and down to allow shallow breathing and wondered whether this bitch was going to be worth surviving.
He had never endured such intense physical exertion before, and he didn't know how many of these seizures he could stand. Minutes after the tremors stopped his inner spasms still throbbed onward rattling his nerves and deluging his mind with overpowering images of impending doom. Every fiber of his being was filled with dread and despair.
"Dean hang in there. Joshua will be able to stop these seizures once we get to him." John assured his son.
Dean just stared blankly at his father, still unable to respond with any semblance of coherency. Minutes dragged by with his family growing more concerned as each second passed without confirmation he could understand them. After five minutes of unsettling quiet, Dean finally gasped, taking in a lungful of air and expelling it with a harsh force as his eyes blinked furiously then somehow seemed to slowly focus again. Another few minutes and he swallowed hard before uttering his first hesitant words.
"Oh God…. I don't know how many of those I can take." Dean admitted in a halting voice.
John finally breathed again, relieved that at least he had his son back with them again, terrified for longer than he would ever admit that he had almost lost his oldest. Finding strength through his tough façade he shook off the feelings that threatened to overcome him. He refused to allow his mind to consider any outcome other than a full recovery.
"I just need you to stay tough. I know it's bad, but we'll be there soon."
John wiped the beads of sweat off his son's brow and patted his uninjured shoulder before returning to the front seat.
"Sam, let's get going." He instructed his younger son who still appeared shell-shocked from the intensity of Dean's seizure and didn't want to leave his brother's side. Sam just knelt there clutching his brother's shirt in his fist, desperately trying to hold on to him for as long as possible, refusing to be separated from him ever again.
"Yeah, drive bro. You better appreciate every chance you get to drive my car." Dean tried to joke. He nodded to his brother, his tearstained eyes subtly acknowledging the unspoken words between them. Sam reluctantly let go of his brother, laying one hand hesitantly on his chest before shutting the car door and returning to the driver's seat.
Sam wrapped his hands so tightly around the steering wheel that his knuckles turned white from the lack of circulation. His mind was racing with all the terror this situation had thrust them into. All he could think of was his cruel words to his brother coming back to haunt him with the glee of a revenge demon, 'You'll be dead before you're thirty.'
Oh, how he wished he could rewind the clock and take back those words. How he wished they had refused to go with Dad on this senseless mission. But mostly he wished he had been the one to protect Dean by pushing him out of the path of that rampaging werewolf and that it was he laid up now with these mortal wounds.
He glanced in the rearview mirror at the pained expression on his brother's face and tears again sprang up in his eyes. He quickly wiped his sleeve across his face, knowing he had to maintain his composure or he would never be able to complete this trip. The one chance Dean had was getting to Joshua's, and he was determined to give him that chance.
Dean's head was splitting from a combination of the stress of his situation and the impact with the side door. He tightly closed his eyes and willed himself to relax. Panic was not going to help his situation. He tried his best to breathe and calm his tense nerves. Absently he started softly humming Metallica, focusing his mind on something other than the pain. Damn, this is going to be a long drive.
Over the coming hours he experienced no further seizures on this trip to Joshua's, still the other symptoms continued to mount as the effects of the werewolf bite took possession of his body. He muttered ramblings about protecting Sammy and not paying attention and disappointing Dad as delirium swamped his mind with images from that fateful night.
It would have been a more merciful illness if he had managed to just get lost deep in his delirium, but instead he switched back and forth from total consciousness and awareness to mindless rantings where he fell away from the real world and was buried in madness. The pressure in his mind was wearing him down, as the stress of being thrust back to reality just served to increase his anxiety. He was painfully aware of just how devastating this illness was and how helpless he was to control his fate.
After nine hours of enduring this agony they were all relieved when they finally reached Joshua's secluded cabin in the mountains of Colorado. As daylight broke over the majestic scene, the Winchesters drove up to their one chance at salvation.
Joshua raced out of the cabin as soon as they pulled in and helped Dean from the car and into the house where he had a room all set up for the treatment of his good friend's son.
"We need to get him started on the first series of shots John." Joshua explained as he pulled out the longest needle Dean had ever seen. He then turned to Dean to explain.
"Dean these shots are quite painful, but they will slow the onslaught of symptoms and give us time to perfect the serum that will save you. Believe me, this will all be worth it."
"Hell, you guarantee me no more of those fucking seizures and I'll take as many shots as you want." Dean replied.
As they laid Dean down on the bed, Joshua pulled the liquid into the needle and prepared the shot. He pulled back Dean's shirt and discovered the bandage protecting his abdomen wound.
"What's this John? Dean hurt here? This is not good." Joshua asked with obvious concern.
"He got clawed by the werewolf. He has several stitches and he bled quite a bit." John offered.
Joshua was already busy removing the bandage so he could examine the wound. The bandages would have needed replaced anyway since the seizure had opened up the wound and blood was seeping through. Once Joshua viewed the damage he took a long breath before explaining.
"I'm sorry Dean; this is going to be more painful than normal because of your injury. I have to inject these shots into the muscles in your abdomen and it will cause a tightness and discomfort that's unavoidable. It just has to be this way."
"Yeah, well that figures. I guess this is just my lucky day. Maybe I should run down and buy that lottery ticket. That sucker is bound to be a winner."
Dean braced for the pain that would hopefully prevent any further seizures and lead to his full recovery. The slicing of the needle and the burning of the liquid was more intense than he ever could have anticipated. His eyes watered from the flaming torment that engulfed him. The worst pain came when Joshua slowly extracted the needle again.
Dean took several minutes to recover before asking his burning question.
"Just how many of those shots I gotta take?"
"Three times a day for four days." Joshua regretfully answered.
"Huh, that would be a lucky dozen then. Great!" Dean retorted, glad that completing his education like Dad had insisted had given him the math skills to anticipate all the pain that lay in wait for him.
"Dean I need to draw some blood to start developing my serum." Joshua brought forth another needle, this time with four vials to capture the blood.
"Man, I love needles. Dad, you better keep an eye on me cause I'm thinking about becoming a junkie so I can keep poking myself with those needles." Dean joked.
John smiled, glad to have his son back cracking jokes again. Any respite they could get from his horrid symptoms gave him more reason to hope. He knew they were on the right path. Joshua would come through with a cure. He had to, there was no other option for them and he was not about to lose his son.