Sam needed to find his brother. It was the only thing he could think about as he stood near the place inside SucroCorp where Dean had killed Dick Roman and then disappeared.

Crowley had taken Kevin and disappeared as well, and Sam suddenly realized how correct Crowley was. He really was truly alone for the first time in his entire life. Even at Stanford, he had made friends and he had had Jess. That wouldn't be happening this time.

He didn't honestly know where Dean had gone. Did he simply die? Was he in heaven or hell… He shivered slightly at the thought. Dean being in hell once because of him was enough.

He hoped Dean was in heaven if he was truly dead, but he didn't know Dean was even there for sure. He couldn't stop looking unless he knew for certain Dean was truly at peace.

He wondered something though. Could a human soul be taken to Purgatory? That was where Dick Roman went when Dean killed him. Was it possible Dean somehow ended up there as well?

And where was Cas? Could angels go to Purgatory? He would have to do some research before he tried anything. If his brother was anywhere besides heaven, he would get him out.

But first, he had to get himself out of here alive or there wouldn't be anyone to find Dean.

Crowley had said that he had demons taking out the leviathans around the perimeter of the building. He picked up the demon-killing knife from where it was laying on the floor and then got out his machete.

He didn't know if Crowley's demons would go after him but since demons were easier to kill, he sheathed the knife for the time being. The machete was only a temporary fix for the leviathans, but it would give him enough time to get away.

If he could make it to the Impala without dying, he would drive to the bunker. He would have to do some research and go from there.

He walked through the halls of SucroCorp slowly until he got on the elevator and went down to the first floor. Sam walked straight out the front door and to the Impala. It was too easy, and he expected to be ambushed, but he wasn't.

All the Leviathans that were there at SuproCorp were now dead thanks to the demons, and the demons had cleared out. He started the Impala and then put down the rock music - not wanting to listen to it again until he got Dean back - and then started the drive back to the bunker.

After Sam got back to the bunker and made himself a huge pot of coffee, he started his research. He didn't know how long Dean had, but he had to research to be sure a human soul could even go to Purgatory.

He hadn't gotten far on the filing system in the bunker yet, but he would see what he could find through the Men of Letter's system. He tried to find every book he could on Purgatory and a human soul going to another plane of existence.

There were many books on heaven, hell, and the veil but not a lot on Purgatory.

After two days of exhaustive searching with little break, he finally found something. The Men of Letters didn't know much about Purgatory, but they did think that one of them had gone there.

He had gone through a portal to Purgatory, which he had created, but he had never come back. The Men of Letters had found his journal but that was the only evidence he had ever been with them. Now the question was where was this guy's journal?

It was a start and Sam was grateful for it, but the Men of Letter's report offered no clues as to where this guy's journal was. He assumed it was in the bunker though, so he set about looking for it.

A day later he finally found the journal. Sam was assuming that Dean was in Purgatory as it made the most sense logically, but he didn't truly know for sure.

If he could figure out a way to get to Purgatory he could search Purgatory himself and cross it off as a possibility. That was what the journal was for.

He was exhausted but he would have to stay strong. He had gotten about two hours of sleep a night and even for a hunter that wasn't a lot. After finding the journal and settling back down at the map table he began to read it.

It took two hours to read the journal thoroughly, highlighting stuff he would need to go back to. What he had learned was that the Man of Letters who had gone into Purgatory was attempting a rescue.

Another Man of Letters who happened to be his brother had somehow gotten stuck in Purgatory and he had been trying to rescue him. The spell required the blood of someone who was related to the person they were trying to find plus a couple of other ingredients.

The spell was supposed to open a doorway that would stay open for a day. Sam would have to go through, find his brother and maybe Cas, and then get everyone back to Earth.

The first thing he did was find a backpack and put clothes, water, food, and a first aid kit in it. Once he had all the survival supplies ready, he got the ingredients for the spell.

They were simple ingredients that he managed to find in the bunker. He followed the instructions, cut his hand for the blood, and then said the Latin incantation.

He put the backpack on and then put his gun in his waistband and grabbed the machete he had put on the table. The portal had opened and as he stepped through it, he was happy to finally be taking action. He had a brother to save.

He wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he walked through the portal into Purgatory, but it hadn't been this. Purgatory was a vast forest with trees as far as the eye could see.

As he walked along, he marked certain trees so he would know how to get back to the portal. He didn't know for certain where Dean was, but it felt like he was following a string that connected him to Dean. It hadn't said anything about the tether in the journal, but the spell was highly untested. Be it the spell or something else, it was helping him, so he was grateful for the assistance.

He was on high alert for any monsters, but he hadn't seen any yet. He knew they could come out of nowhere, so he had to be careful especially since he didn't have anyone to watch his back.

He was exhausted but he kept going. It had been four hours since he had first started. As he walked, he wondered idly if any of the monsters here were smart enough to follow the marks he had made on the trees. They were pretty spread out but…

Something flashed in the corner of Sam's eye. He snapped his head up, listening for anything unusual. The werewolf was on him before he could even blink. He brought his machete to the werewolf's head and cut it clean off - thank God for silver machete blades - but the werewolf had wounded him before Sam had managed to kill it.

He had scratches that went through his shirt going vertically from his chest down to his stomach. It wasn't life-threatening, but Dean would freak out if he saw the wounds. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about that now. His priority was getting Dean out of here.

As he got up from his position on the ground it spun in circles a bit before righting itself. The wounds on his chest down to his stomach gave a sharp pain at the movement.

He obviously hadn't been sleeping but this seemed like it was a little more than sleep deprivation. He shrugged to himself as he started walking again. Once he, Dean, and hopefully Cas were settled at the bunker he could get a full eight hours.

He didn't know how much longer he had to go. It had now been six hours since he'd started walking. He was still following the tether but as he walked on it was getting harder and harder to do so.

Everything was starting to catch up with him in the eerie silence of Purgatory. Being constantly on alert - while used to it - had never been this tiring. It felt like with each step he took he was getting increasingly tired. Almost like those times, he had bled out gradually.

Sam wondered suddenly if that's what this was. The spell had required his blood, after all. Maybe for the portal to stay open, it was using his blood. Or maybe it was something completely different. You could never truly know.

He couldn't know for sure why he was feeling the effects of blood loss, but he was sure that he was. Not that he could do anything about it. The only wound that he had sustained was barely bleeding, as far as he could tell, so there was no other reason he would feel like he was losing blood.

Eight hours after he started walking, he couldn't take it anymore. Just as he was about to keel over and become unconscious, he felt someone hold him up. He knew it was his brother.

"Dean?" He asked the question slurred slightly.

"I'm here Sammy. You are such an idiot."

As ecstatic as Dean was to see his brother, he hadn't wanted Sam in Purgatory and he definitely hadn't wanted him to be hurt.

"I'm glad I found you," Sam said, smiling, and then he immediately passed out.

"Sammy? Sam?" Dean asked a little fearfully as he slapped his face gently trying to get a response.

He dragged Sam over to a tree where he propped him up against it so he could see his brother. He had a wound - scratch marks by the looks of it - coming from his chest down to his stomach.

The wound, however, wasn't even bleeding that heavily. He looked his brother over, checking and double-checking for any injuries but there were no other visible ones. He knew Cas would be able to heal the scratches, but Cas had left him when they had first gotten there.

He didn't know where his friend was and after Cas had left him, he didn't care that much. Cas was an angel who could figure out how to get himself out, Dean was sure.

He had to focus on his brother right now and then after he talked to Sam, he would see what he could do about Cas. He saw Cas as someone who was like a brother to them, but Sam was and always would be his priority.

They were reasonably safe where they were for the moment. He had found a beach early on and he had started using it as his home base since. There was a cave he had scoped out close by and it was by far the safest place.

He had planned to move that night, as he had kept seeing this white line of mist in his peripheral vision and didn't have anything better to do but to follow it, but then he had found Sam, or rather, Sam had found him. He hadn't been there for awfully long, maybe four days and he had barely gotten his bearings before his brother had found him.

He checked his brother's pulse and respirations and while a little shallow they were alright. Dean figured Sam had just crashed because he was exhausted. Also, who knows what he had done to get to Dean. Whatever it was he was sure they could deal with it. Right now, he was simply happy to see his brother.

Dean carefully took the backpack off Sam's back and started to look through it. There was food, water, a first aid kit, as well as other supplies.

Dean decided to deal with Sam's wound before trying to wake his brother up. The wound should have been stitched but he just got gauze and taped it on the wound for now. He wasn't in any danger of dying from it so he would be alright until they got back to the bunker.

"Sammy? Hey, you with me?"

Sam opened his eyes sluggishly before coming to full awareness.

"Dean? You, okay?"

"I'm good Sammy," Dean said, smiling slightly before giving Sam food and water.

Sam looked at him, confused and then he said, "Dean we don't have time for…"

Dean looked at him in his best "Are you kidding me, you just keeled over from dehydration, starvation, and exhaustion glare" and Sam quickly started eating.

He wasn't going to win this argument and looking at his watch they still had 15 hours to make it back. They could afford a bit of a break.

Dean watched his brother like a hawk while also making sure there were no monsters around and that they weren't ambushed. It had been clear Sam hadn't been taking care of himself and this was Dean's first step to remedy that.

Once he was sure Sam was eating, he started to eat as well. He hadn't had any food since he had gotten there.

Once they were both done Dean said, "What did you do?" Sam could see the spark of fear in his brother's eyes.

"I found a spell in the bunker that made a doorway to Purgatory using my blood and some other ingredients that were in the bunker. No deals."

Dean nodded, relieved that there were no deals involved.

"How long is the portal going to be open for?"

"About 14 and a half more hours. It took me eight hours to find you and the portal only stays open for a day."

Sam knew they most likely wouldn't be able to find Cas in the time they had left and although he felt guilty, they couldn't risk being stranded.

"Is Cas?" ...

Dean gave him a look that clearly said, "drop it, Sam" and Sam stopped talking. Something had happened, and Dean must know they didn't have enough time.

"You ready?"

Sam nodded and after Dean grabbed his arm and helped him up - he was still unsteady on his feet and felt exhausted - they started walking back.

It was a good thing Dean had grabbed Sam's backpack before they had started walking. His brother was still really unsteady on his feet. Dean knew that the scratches weren't life-threatening which is why he was alarmed by how much Sam was stumbling as they walked.

He seemed entirely coherent, just very worn out. Sam hadn't been taking care of himself since Dean had disappeared, but Sam was also reasonably used to functioning on little sleep, little food, and coffee.

It came with the life of being a hunter. This seemed like more. He wondered if it had anything to do with the spell. Sam had said the spell required his blood. At the time Dean hadn't thought much of it but now…

Sam suddenly stumbled so much that he would have fallen if Dean hadn't caught him in time.

They were in the densely populated woods of Purgatory following the markings Sam had made on the trees. Sam was breathing heavily, and Dean gently pushed him down one of the trees, making him rest.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean asked his brother as he handed him a bottle of water.

"I think the spell is using my blood to keep the portal open. Once it closes, I should be okay."

Sam was to the point of panting as he said this, and it was starting to concern Dean.

He wanted to be mad at Sam but as far as "stupid ideas to save your brother" go this was one of the smarter ones. Of course, he would do everything possible to make sure Sam didn't die while the portal was opened, and if Sam did die…

"Okay, Sammy. We'll just have to take longer breaks. We'll make it."

Dean's voice and expression were nothing but confident, but Sam could tell it was a mask. He knew how to read his brother - better than anyone - and Dean was worried.

Sam checked his watch. They had quite a few hours until the portal closed but if they had to take breaks every couple of hours, they may not make it.

"I'm okay Dean," Sam said, attempting to get back to his feet.

He managed it but barely. They both knew of course that that was a lie, but Dean decided not to push the issue for now and they started walking again.

Two hours away from the portal they were attacked. Dean had been so focused on making sure Sam didn't fall over that he didn't see the werewolf in time. It went straight for Sam, taking him down almost immediately.

Sam had been gradually losing his focus and becoming sluggish, so he hadn't been on alert. Dean assumed the werewolf knew that and had decided his brother was easy prey especially since he had been previously injured.

He managed to get the machete blade that Sam had thrown in his general direction as he had been taken down. He chopped off the werewolf's head, but he hadn't been quite quick enough. The gauze and spare shirt Sam had put on after Dean had patched him up was shredded.

The wounds were in the same spot, but they were deeper this time. They were a lot more likely to get infected and this time they could cause a severe amount of blood loss. The way this was going as soon as they got topside Dean would have to get his brother to a hospital.

He kicked the werewolf off his brother, then bent down to get a closer look at him. Sam was unconscious but the wounds looked no worse than when he had first got a glimpse of them. That was still bad though.

He got more gauze and reapplied it to the claw marks.

"Sammy?" Dean asked, shaking his brother's shoulder.

Sam woke up, eyes immediately going to his brother as he remembered what happened. Dean handed Sam the bottle of water and another shirt before sitting down and waiting for his brother to get his bearings enough so that they could go on.

Dean was waiting for it. His brother looked like he was going to collapse any second. He had looked bad before but now with the scratches that were deep enough for concern he looked like he was going to pass out any second.

The gauze wasn't helping. The blood was already seeping through the gauze and onto the last clean shirt Sam had packed. He had been expecting it, but it still scared the shit out of him when Sam finally did fall.

Dean caught him and put his back up against a tree just like he had the first time. His breathing was fast, and his eyes were closed.

"Sam?"

"I just need a minute."

Dean nodded. His brother was strong, but he was suffering from a lot of blood loss. Who knows how much blood it takes to keep the portal open for a day plus the scratches which with their luck were probably infected. If Sam needed a minute, he would give him one.

They weren't far from the portal now. They had about 40 minutes to go and the portal would be open for another 6 or 7 more hours, which would be a problem. Sam was already getting bad and now he had to suffer for 7 more hours until the portal closed.

He was grateful his brother had come to get him, but he almost wished he hadn't. Now Sam could die because of how much blood he was losing. What was Dean supposed to do then?

It had been torture when Sam had been dead after cold oak and even worse when he was in the cage being ripped to shreds by Michael and Lucifer. It had been worse than hell. He couldn't go through that again.

"De'n?"

The voice was slurred but it succeeded in getting Dean out of his head.

Sam looked at his brother and Dean immediately aided him in getting up. It was beyond frustrating that Sam couldn't get up without help but he had been injured enough in his life to know when he needed it. Dean would never ridicule him for it, and he would never ridicule Dean if it had been him who was hurt.

For the last 30 minutes, Sam had barely been walking under his own steam. He was leaning heavily on his brother, which was strange considering their height difference, but it was also the only reason he was still standing up. Dean to his credit wasn't complaining. He must have known how bad Sam truly was.

He hadn't known that the spell was going to do this, drain him of his blood, but even if he had he wouldn't have done anything differently. Who knows, maybe he could survive this. It certainly didn't feel like it as he was bleeding out but… Who knows.

Dean was starting to cross the line between worry and panic. Sam was barely conscious now and he was leaning heavily against Dean. Dean was used to this, having had to support him many times after hunts gone wrong but the fact that his brother was letting him do it meant that he was really hurt.

He was seriously starting to ponder a hospital trip. They didn't have the necessary supplies at the bunker for the major amount of blood loss Sam had suffered. He honestly wasn't sure if even the hospital had enough blood for that. At least once he got him to the hospital he would be resting. The exertion couldn't be helping his brother in the slightest.

Sam stumbled again, almost falling for at least the 8th time since they'd started the last 30 minutes of their trip.

"Almost there, Sammy," Dean said.

They were so close now that he could practically see the outline of the portal.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital when we get back, okay? They'll patch you up and you'll be just fine."

Sam's head was lolling against his shoulder at this point. He was trying to nod but he was so close to unconsciousness he could see the darkness.

"Sammy, try to stay awake for me, alright, I promise we're almost there."

He dragged his brother the last few feet to the portal and then through it as they traveled back to the bunker.

Sam had completely lost consciousness by the time Dean checked on him when they got back. Dean checked his pulse quickly. It was there but slow. Sam didn't have much time. Dean looked back quickly to see if on the off chance the portal had closed but no such luck.

He didn't know if the hospital would be able to do anything for Sam, but he had to try.

Dean had no idea how he managed to grab his keys while dragging Sam to the Impala but somehow, he did. Sam was still deeply unconscious, but he was also alive, so Dean wasn't going to complain.

Still perplexed as to how exactly he was doing it, he got Sam into the passenger seat and then closed the door. Sam moved slightly, which was an encouraging sign, but he didn't wake.

Dean got into the driver's side and as he started driving, he kept feeling his brother's pulse point on his wrist. If he could feel Sam's pulse, there was hope.

Sam's pulse had grown even fainter on the way to the hospital. It had almost given Dean a heart attack when his hand had been too lax, and he hadn't felt it. He had immediately pressed harder and had felt it again, but they had both almost died from a car accident.

He couldn't hear Sam breathing anymore. His heavy panting had turned into shallow barely-there inhalations. Dean knew that wasn't good, but Sam was still fighting. He could feel it with every beat of his terribly slow pulse.

When they got to the hospital Dean had run in before he even realized what he was doing. A doctor with a gurney had followed him immediately, knowing even before Dean started yelling because of his abrupt arrival, that someone was in critical condition.

As Dean was taking the doctor to Sam, he realized he hadn't thought of a cover story. They were out hunting in the woods and a wolf attacked Sam. It was a watered-down version of the truth, but he wondered what he would tell them when they realized Sam had lost a lot more blood than he should have been able to with the physical injuries he had received.

When he came back to the present, he realized that there were several more doctors there and that they had gotten Sam on the stretcher. Sam hadn't woken up and while he had been hoping he would, he knew that it would be almost impossible. Sam would wake up, but it wouldn't be while he was so critically injured.

The scratches would have to be stitched up and Sam would be in a medically induced coma for a few days until he got enough blood from the supply at the hospital plus what his own body could replenish. Which meant there was a lot of worrying and waiting in Dean's future and a lot of mother-henning, as Sam called it, in Sam's once he woke up.

Dean walked back into the hospital and dejectedly sat down in one of the chairs. He had done this enough to know he wouldn't be getting through the double doors that the doctors had just rushed his brother behind. He always had an urge to be with his brother when Sam was injured, and it was killing him not to be there just like it had every other time something like this happened.

Three hours and a lot of coffee later the doctor finally came to get Dean.

"Is my brother going to be okay?"

The doctor looked slightly taken aback by the sudden question. Most people didn't usually ask quite that quickly, before he had even come up to them, but this guy looked like he would kill him if he didn't answer.

"The prognosis is guarded at the moment. Your brother has lost a significant amount of blood and has a fever from the infection. We're giving him blood and have him on a heavy dose of antibiotics. If the fever rises dangerously high or there is a complication from the blood transfusion your brother could die. We are doing everything in our power to get him through this."

Dean thought about punching the doctor but then the fight drained out of him when it truly sank in what the doctor said or at least the second to last sentence of what he had said.

"Your brother could die."

It was a constant loop inside his head. It had been since Sam had started declining rapidly in Purgatory but to hear someone say it… It made it real.

"Your brother could die."

"Sammy could die."

Dean wouldn't let him. There was always a way and when there wasn't they created one. There was always a deal he could make. If worse came to worst, he would deal with it. For now, he wanted to be with his brother.

"Can I see him?"

His voice was barely wavering, but it was. Sam would have been able to detect it in an instant.

"Of course, follow me please."

He tried to keep his expression blank as he followed the doctor, but it was almost impossible when it was Sam who was injured. The only time he could do it was when he didn't want his brother to know how serious his injury was, and that had worked less and less as Sam had gotten older.

"Because of the massive amounts of blood he lost, we gave him a sedative so that he wouldn't be moving around. His body is in an extremely unstable condition, and we don't know for sure what could set it off. He already has a bad infection, so you'll have to put this on" - the doctor handed Dean a plastic covering that was meant to go over his clothes. It looked like a rain poncho without a hood. - "to see him."

Dean couldn't have cared less what he had to do to see his brother as long as it happened. He quickly put it over his clothes, his thoughts entirely on his brother as he finally walked into the room to see him.

It never got any easier to see Sam hurt but it was especially bad if Sam was in the hospital. It meant that Dean couldn't fix it on his own and had to enlist the help of strangers. The doctor said something and then left.

His brother had a blood bag by his bed where he was being fed the life-saving liquid and he had an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. Few machines, but blood loss was serious and could be fatal.

He looked at his watch and realized that the portal wouldn't be closed for another two hours. Sam was getting the life-saving fluid, but he was also losing it. There was no way for Dean to know how much he was losing either. If he was losing more blood than the hospital could give him…

He had started pacing earlier but now he decided to sit down in a chair by Sam's bed. He had this feeling like something was about to happen. He took Sam's hand and as he did, he realized that Sam's hand was shaking violently in his grasp.

"Sammy?"

He had seen Sam have a seizure before when his wall had been breaking and then when it broke but it never got any easier to watch his brother convulse.

It was full-on body convulsions now, his whole frame contorting violently with each movement. Dean pressed the call button by Sam's bed alerting the doctors and nurses that something was wrong even though they most likely knew because of the alarms that had started blaring when Sam's seizure had started.

A doctor and two nurses came into the room and crowded Sam's bed, timing the seizure and trying to see what the cause of it was. It could be the blood transfusion causing an adverse reaction or it could be the blood he was continuing to lose, or it could be the infection from the deep claw marks. Those claw marks had needed stitches and they were easily deep enough to cause problems.

A nurse checked Sam's temperature and read it off as "105.4." That was bad. The seizure could also be from the high fever but what was the fever from? Dean shook himself. It didn't really matter as long as the doctors fixed his brother. If they couldn't, he would.

When he came back to the present, he realized Sam's seizure had finally stopped. The doctors gave him a fever reducer and something to stop the infection from spreading. They said they couldn't stop giving him blood because at the end of the day that was the only thing keeping him alive. They were combatting the possible effects of the blood transfusion and that would have to be enough.

An hour and a half later the portal had finally closed, or it should have anyway. Dean would have checked but he wasn't going to leave Sam while he was in such a critical condition. His brother was still fighting, as was the Winchester way, but Dean could tell he was having a tough time.

After the first seizure, Sam had had mini convulsions not detectable by the machines but very detectable to Dean. Dean had gotten him through them, and he felt like he was his brother's lifeline, stone number one, every time it happened.

Now that Sam was at least stable they had another problem. Obviously, they didn't have insurance and with Bobby gone they had no way to pay for something this expensive legitimately. As soon as the doctors' said Sam was okay, and Sam proved it himself by waking up, they were getting the hell out of dodge.

Two days later Dean was talking to Sam's doctor outside his brother's hospital room.

"He's no longer anemic and the blood transfusion is helping. His wounds are healing up nicely and the infection is almost gone. However, what does worry me is the fever that while slightly lower is still concerning and the fact that his breathing is getting worse.

When he was first brought in, once he was stable, he had no trouble breathing. Now he does seem to be having trouble. I think your brother has contracted pneumonia.

We're going to put an oxygen mask on him to help him breathe and give him a round of meds for pneumonia as well as finish the antibiotic course we had him on before. I do believe he has gotten through the worst of it however he will not be out of the woods until his fever is completely gone and he is breathing normally again. It's not a great prognosis but it's better than it was when he was first brought in. However, some good news is that I can take your brother off the sedative. If he doesn't play with the oxygen mask it shouldn't compromise his health."

Dean nodded to the doctor and then went back into Sam's hospital room. The doctor was right about one thing. The doctor taking Sam off the sedative was good news. Dean had been wanting to see Sam and talk to him and it looked like he would finally have the chance.

Of course, his brother would freak out when he realized there was an oxygen mask on his face. That's one of the downsides of waking Sam up. His brother doesn't like to be confined, especially after hell so even if it was only his face it would be a hell of a time trying to convince his very stubborn brother to keep the damn thing on helping him or not.

A day later Dean was sitting in the chair by Sam's bed when he finally decided to wake up.

"Sammy?"

Sam's eyes met his and Dean immediately saw the panic in them. That's what he had been afraid of. Dean could fix it though. He had gotten through to his brother before, amid panic, and he could do it again.

"Sammy. Listen, okay? It's just an oxygen mask. It's helping you breathe."

Sam looked panicked for a moment longer and then he finally seemed to understand. He nodded but he still tried to get the oxygen mask off, although it was more annoyance than fear this time. Dean lightly hit his brother's hand and gave him a look that said, 'don't you dare take that thing off.'

Sam looked at him clearly saying he had something to say, and Dean just shook his head. Sam, thankfully for Dean, let it go for now. Whatever Sam needed to say and knowing him it was either a question about Dean's wellbeing or about what had happened, it could wait until the oxygen mask was off.

This was good though. Sam was up and as soon as the pneumonia went away, they could get the hell out of here. Now that Sam was up, he would want to get out as well. Neither of them felt comfortable in hospitals after their dad died but sometimes it was necessary like this time had been.

Three days later Dean was told that Sam no longer needed the oxygen mask. He asked the doctor questions about Sam's treatment and if Sam was out of danger. He wouldn't risk Sam's health just because they could be busted for fraud any second.

The doctor said he was since his fever was much lower than it had been even though it was still present and that he would just need antibiotics now. After checking on Sam to make sure he was still sleeping he went to 'acquire' the antibiotics needed since they would be making their escape tonight.

"Sammy," Dean said, shaking him to get him to wake up.

He had let him sleep all day because having pneumonia made someone incredibly tired. Dean had looked it up when he had been told Sam had it. Plus, they couldn't make their escape until night anyway, when the shifts changed, and that was scheduled to happen soon. He waited until Sam found his bearings, again he was really tired, and then he handed Sam his clothes.

Sam looked at him and then asked, "We busting out of here now?"

"Yup, as long as you're good too."

Sam nodded and then went into the bathroom to change clothes so they could get the hell out of the hospital.

It was amazing they managed to get out of the hospital at all. After Sam came out of the bathroom, they gathered their stuff and moved silently down the hall. It was about 2 in the morning and with the shift change happening they didn't see anyone, patients, or nurses.

However, Sam was barely on his feet and seemed way too tired for Dean's liking. Dean was carrying a lot of his brother's weight. Sam was trying his hardest though.

Sam's entire focus was on walking and not making Dean carry too much of his weight. He knew Dean was exhausted because he had been wanting to make sure he was alright, and Sam also knew he still had a little way to go before he was 100% which meant they would be in a motel room for another 4 or 5 days with Dean watching over him 24/7 and not getting any shuteye then either.

However, he also knew his brother. If he had been in any danger of dying, they wouldn't be leaving right now. Speaking of which, they had finally made it to the entrance doors of the hospital.

"We're going to drive to the next state and then stay in a motel room for a few days. You're not 100 percent yet so no arguing, okay?"

For once in his life, Sam was too tired to argue. He was more than happy to sleep in the Impala. He was feeling pretty crappy still and he knew pneumonia was serious even if he was in no danger of dying from it anymore.

He was a little surprised he was still alive. He hadn't been sure if Dean would have been able to get him to the hospital on time. Not for lack of trying of course. But he was alive, and he was very thankful to his brother for it.

Dean could practically see the gears in Sam's head spinning as he got him to concentrate enough to get into the Impala. He handed his brother a bottle of water and some Advil then went to the driver's side of the Impala and got in.

Sam's fever had been steady at 102 so he knew Sam was well out of the danger zone and now he would just need time to rest. Sam was already resting his head against the window of the Impala. Dean put a soft rock station on low and then put the car in drive and drove to their next destination.

After about two hours Dean started looking for a motel. Sam had been sleeping peacefully but had started to become restless in the last 20 minutes, which was his cue to stop for the night. They were now officially across state lines, and it would take a little while for the police to catch up, if they ever did, once the hospital realized they had been given false information.

He found a motel after another five minutes on the road and thankfully it looked a little better than the motels they usually stayed at. The last thing they needed was for Sam's pneumonia to get worse because of the ridiculous number of germs when he was so close to getting better.

His brother only had what was equivalent to flu symptoms now and that was something he could deal with on his own.

"Sam. Sammy," Dean said while shaking his brother to get him to wake up fully.

While Sam had become restless, he had never fully gotten stuck in his nightmare, nor had he woken up on his own. Once Sam was mostly awake and coherent Dean told him he was going to go pay for the motel and be back. Sam nodded, not fully awake.

Between the pneumonia, 102 fever, and medicine he was only fully coherent about 70% of the time but Dean would take it. Sam wasn't dying. That was what mattered.

After paying for 5 days and getting the room number Dean went back to the Impala to get their stuff and make sure Sam didn't keel over. He wouldn't take Dean's help anymore, but Dean wanted to be near Sam in case he fell. He knocked on the passenger window to tell Sam to get out of the car and then opened the trunk to get their stuff. Sam got out of the car without incident, and they made it to their room.

Sam was going stir crazy. For the last couple of days, he had been in and out of consciousness still recovering from the pneumonia and the long-lasting effects of the significant amount of blood loss he had sustained. Now, he felt quite a lot better.

Dean, being Dean, had constantly been by his side the last couple of days. He was grateful to his brother, but he was starting to feel smothered. That had happened a lot over the years though. Once Dean was in big brother mode there was no deterring it.

He had to wait for Dean to decide he was fine and then Dean would go back to being less protective. Sam knew he was the same way and Dean was even less cooperative than he was. It didn't stop him from going to stir crazy and he was sure Dean was as well.

"Sammy?"

Sam looked up at his brother. He hadn't realized Dean had come back into the room.

"You good?"

Sam nodded.

"You want to watch some TV," Dean asked.

He was trying to get his brother out of his head. He could tell he was getting restless, they both were, but Sam wasn't 100% and he wasn't letting him leave this room for another two days.

"Sure."

Dean switched on the TV and once they found something to watch he started a commentary about the show trying to get Sam to laugh. Sam didn't quite laugh but he was smiling and happy for the moment so Dean would take it.

Two days later they were packing up their stuff and getting ready to head back to the bunker. They hadn't been looking for another case while Sam had been recovering. Dean had dubbed it a 'vacation' from hunting. Because of this, they decided to go to the bunker first and go from there.

He wondered if Cas was okay. With everything going on he hadn't had any time to think about their friend. Now that things had calmed down, he was wondering if Cas could somehow still be alive in Purgatory.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go."

As he and Sam walked to the Impala Dean realized something. As much as he missed Cas, as long as Sam was happy and alive beside him, he would be okay.

It was them against the world, after all, and that was exactly how Dean liked it.