Chapter Five
"What happened?" I asked trying to break code of silence.
"When?"
"At the orchard? You know the only place where I wasn't there." I could feel Dean rolling his eyes at me.
"I found the tree and then Jeepers Creepers came down from his spot." Dean answered keeping it short and sweet.
"It's so much easier with ghosts." I laughed. "A simple salt and burn."
"Stop at the nearest motel for the night. I need to clean this up." Dean said taking his long sleeve shirt off and revealing his bloody wound. "It hasn't stopped bleeding since we left."
We pulled into the nearest place motel. It was really shabby looking. Were we even still in Indiana? I was so tired I could care less. Dean got out of the car first to go check us in.
"HEY!" I yelled out to him. He stopped and turned around and leaned his head in the car.
"What's wrong?" he asked all worried.
"Why don't you let me pay this one." I offered.
"No. I got it." He said closing the door. I wasn't even given a choice in the matter. That was starting to frustrate me. How he can just have the final say in everything that he wants. I only get a choice when he lets me. I sighed and got our bags out of the trunk. We got inside the motel room and it was a slight bit cleaner than the last one. I threw my bag on the bed and immediately went to change in the bathroom.
"Hey, do you think you could help with this when you're done?" Dean yelled out to me.
"Sure. I got a first aid kit somewhere. I can patch you up." I yelled back out to him. Was this how it was going to be? I couldn't stop wondering what was going to happen for some reason. Bobby said I needed to open myself up a little bit more. Maybe if I did Dean would let me have a say. Maybe, is the keyword. I washed my face and put some sweats on. I walked out into the room and Dean was cleaning out his cut. I got my first aid kit out and walked over to look at it. Dean looked a little hesitant at first not wanting me to touch it. It was probably a good inch deep into his upper arm. I got out a needle and thread.
"Have you done this before?" Dean asked.
"No, I just practice on men that I find across the America." I retorted. I looked up to find him glaring at me. "Well what the hell do you think? Of course I have. I've had my fair share of cuts and burns." Dean took out this bottle whiskey from his jacket pocket and poured a little bit on the wound before taking a swig. "That must've felt awesome." I said trying to get the thread in the needle.
"Want some?" he offered, taking another long swig.
"No thanks." I was about halfway through stitching him up when he decided to start conversation.
"I don't want you to be offended." He started.
"Why would I be offended?" I asked.
"Well, you keep offering to pay for stuff…"
"Yeah…"
"Yeah well…you don't need to okay?" he said getting a little antsy. "I can take care of you." I stopped and looked at his face. He couldn't even look back at me.
"Well, maybe I don't want to be taken care of. Maybe I'd like things to be equal. If you pay for a room for the night then I can buy dinner or something so I don't have to feel like I'm depending on you." I said. He looked at me and I could see how tired and drained he was. His green eyes weren't sparkling like they usually do and he was in dire need of a shower. The dirt and grime was showing on his usually perfect clean face.
"I don't want you to have to worry about anything. Especially money."
"Dean, I'm not a child." I said sheepishly. "I just feel like…you're the only one in control and if we're in this together then we need to act like we're a team and not just you calling the shots and me barking orders. We need to make decisions together and pick our hunts. I really didn't like that scarecrow dude." I was being honest. Being myself and breaking down a part of a wall. Dean took a few moments before responding.
"I can agree to that. We make a pretty good team." He said finishing off his whiskey. I finished up stitching him and crawled into bed. He laid down on the one next to me and was snoring within seconds.
This will be good, I thought to myself. We can make this work.
*
We took the next two days to chill out when Dean came across an article about some faith healer. I've never heard of such a thing. "Want to check it out?" he asked at breakfast. I hadn't even finished my coffee and we were already thinking about a case. I looked over the article and it really seemed weird to me that this old guy could cure almost anybody. I kept staring at the article and wondered if this healer could fix me. HA! That would be a miracle.
"What do you think?" he asked finishing up his coffee.
"You really want to know?" I asked looking up at him. He looked a lot better after a few days rest. His eyes were bright again and his face looked sharp and ready to go.
"Of course I do partner." He said in a sing song voice. This huge smile spread across his face. And I think it was at that exact moment I realized, that was the first time I've ever seen Dean Winchester smile and I too smiled back.
"Well, I think it's worth looking into. It seems way strange." I said putting the article down and chugging the rest of my coffee.
We headed out on the road and Dean was pretty much laid back. This was a side of him I haven't seen before. He was nothing but a chatterbox really. Talking about cases he'd done and times he had worked with his father. Chasing after vampires, shape shifters, wendigos and even supernatural beings I had never heard of. I told him some of my own experiences but most of them were pretty simple two day cases and on to the next. He told me about Bobby and how he practically raised him as a child. I was quite surprised to hear that Bobby did that. He didn't seem like the type to me that would raise a child. He told me his father has been a hunter since he could remember and didn't really know his mother that much or her side of the family. I kind of felt bad for him. At least I knew who my parents were. My Aunt Julie would tell us stories all the time about them. How they met and fell in love and the day they got married and then had me and Sarah. I'm sure it wasn't all love and giggles but it sure sounded alright to me. Those are the kind of memories you should have about your loved ones. We were getting close to town when my found went off. It was Sarah.
"Could you pull over?" I quickly asked. "This is personal." Dean quickly pulled over to the side of the road and I answered the phone.
"Hey." I said getting out of the car. I went to close the door but it didn't close all the way. I didn't care.
"Hello Sam. How is everything?" she asked all nice and innocent.
"Everything is great here. How are you and the girls doing?" I responded.
"They're good. They ask about you but I tell them you're busy fighting crime and stuff." She laughed into the phone.
"Nice. How is Cal?" I asked to be polite.
"Oh you know how he is. Working those long hours and stuff." I could hear the anger in her voice.
"Well tell him I say…you know…nice things and all." I remarked. I really couldn't stand Cal and he didn't really care much for me either. Always curious as to what I do for a living but he wouldn't understand. He's one of those people. Always judging others and wanting to know everything about them so he could put them on his scale of below or above me. I looked down at the ground as Sarah went on to talk about my niece Jessica and how she was doing well in school and playing soccer and how Isabelle, my younger niece, was going to start school this year.
"I think she's excited but I'm still going to cry when I drop her off." She joked.
"I know you will. Maybe I can take a few days to come by and see you soon." I knew right after I said that, it was an empty promise. I had been telling her for almost two years I'd stop by and never had the guts to. A part of it was me and the other part was Cal. I really didn't want to see that douche bag.
"That'd be great." She said in her usual voice. "Summer is almost here and we could sure use a vacation and some campfire stories." That made me smile.
"Well, I'm kind of working with someone now and I'm sure he'd love to meet you guys."
"Him?" Sarah asked all curious now. "You're with a guy?"
"Well, not like that. We're just working together on some things and he's helping me with you know…" I trailed off. I didn't even want to say the name Yellow Eyes to her.
"Oh, I see. How is that coming along?"
"Well, we got some new information a few months ago. But currently are looking at some other stuff as well. We don't really have any sure leads yet." I felt like I was a detective or something. I should become one when I retire from hunting.
"Well, that's good." She said candidly. "Give me a call when you stop to visit. I'm sure the girl would love to see you."
"Definitely." I smiled.
"Alright. Take care now." She said. I hung up the phone and for some reason felt really nauseas. She always made me feel nervous these days. I want to tell her so bad that Yellow Eyes is dead and everything will be okay again, but I know deep down it will never bring our parents back. I sauntered back to the car and got in. Dean was watching me closely and turned the car on when I buckled in.
"We good?" he asked. I looked over at him and was happy that he wasn't an intrusive person.
"Yup." I quipped. We kept driving until we got into town. After this we would have to talk. After this we will be finding those missing people.
