Chapter 3

Sam drove like he had a sole purpose at the moment, like a man with only one mission in life that needed to be fulfilled at all costs. Keeping one eye on the road and one on the rear view mirror, he tried, to no avail, to catch a glimpse of the back seat, but darkness had fallen quickly once evening turned into night and it left the rear of the Impala bathed in a veil of black nothingness that his eyes couldn't penetrate. His ears would catch an occasional moan, groan, or hitched breath, but mostly there had been nothing since he'd heard Dean roll over in what he thought was an attempt at making himself comfortable, if that was even possible. Nothing but the cursed sound of the overly loud roar of the engine and his own heart pounding in his chest, pounding so hard that, yes, he could actually hear it. It was probably better that he couldn't catch a brief vision of the rear of the vehicle anyway, because had he seen what he just couldn't make out every time he tried, he most definitely would not have liked it. But then again, he never did.

What he would have seen was his brother lying deathly still with his arms crossed over his midsection in a somewhat sideways pose with his back nestled in the crook of the seat, his knees bent and his legs up as they rested against the backrest. Even in the pitch dark, his pale face glistened from the sheen of sweat that had formed across his brow since he'd laid his head down on the seat when an occasional stray ray of moonlight would shine through the side window and fall upon it. He seemed to be unable to make any sound, other than the ones that would involuntarily escape his lips when Sam would hit a pothole that would rock the entire car hard, the considerably rushed rate of speed he was driving at seeming to amplify the jarring ten-fold. It also seemed to be the only movement he could make, his body occasionally swaying when the back end of the car did as well.

His mind still worked though, at least for the moment, and he knew he was going to have to mention something to Sam later about the way he was treating his beloved baby. He nearly went airborne every time Sam hit one of the deeper craters hard, and the last thing he needed was his car in as bad a shape as he was. It would definitely have to be later though, because he just couldn't seem to make his mouth work right now. He was, in a sense, trapped in his own body, at least until his brain finally shut off too, which it eventually would when the migraine finally settled in. That would pretty much leave him deaf and blind for however long it decided to stay, and the only thing he'd really feel was the pain. Yep, for now he was pretty much at Sam's mercy.

The faster Sam drove, the farther he went, and yet it seemed like he was going nowhere fast. It had been nearly thirty miles, or maybe more, since they had taken the wheel and pulled away from the pump at that little gas station in the middle of nowhere just over the border, but there seemed to be no town in sight, not anytime soon anyway. No, all there seemed to be was just choppy blacktop that hadn't seen a road crew since the Great Depression and giant, monstrous trees that never seemed to end on both sides of him, and a whole lot of nothing else.

He cursed himself as he drove for not seeing this coming sooner, for ignoring the blank look he saw in his brother's stare as they barely said a word to one another while they drove out of Nebraska, wanting to believe Dean when he said he was fine, that he just had a lot of things on his mind. He knew that part of what his brother had told him had been the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. He knew Dean couldn't get the name Marshall Hall out of his head, because frankly, neither could he and the look on his brother's already haggard face when Layla had left just only managed to add to his emotional burden. It was that look on his brother's face that forced him to dismiss what he should have known by now was virtually inevitable. That reaper had almost killed him, and even though it hadn't had a chance to finish him off, it had physically taken a toll on him, whether he wanted to admit it to himself or not. That lack of admittance was what had gotten them to where they were right now.

Somehow finding a way to momentarily lose himself in his own thoughts, he hadn't actually noticed right away that Dean's steady breathing had started to become somewhat heavy and labored, but the second it registered in his head, his ears were tuned to every new sound his brother began to make. Even over the rumble of 427 Turbo Jet V8, he could hear the constant deep breaths and hard swallows Dean made come with more frequency, and they were always a sure fire indication of what was right behind them. He missed the whisper of his name the first time, it being said with barely enough volume for even the gods to hear it, but the second time it had been uttered, it was heard loud and clear.

"Sam…pull over…now…I can't…" he'd finally been able to cry out until his harsh coughing had cut him off, the distressed sound of his voice breaking the unbearable verbal silence and making Sam's heart race at nearly the speed of light when it registered in his head what his brother had just said and how he had said it.

Without even thinking, Sam jammed a foot hard on the brake pedal, bringing the car to an almost instantaneous, screeching halt that sent the back end fishtailing to and fro when one of the back tires connected with another enormous pothole at just about the most inopportune moment as he drove through what seemed to be a string of never ending road damage. He regained control quickly and finally brought the metal beast to a grinding halt before killing the engine and throwing his door open, only to have it nearly torn off by the little black car racing past them at its own ridiculous rate of speed. Slamming the front door closed, he quickly ripped the back door open and tried to figure out what the hell had been happening behind him that he hadn't been able to see.

"Out…I need out…" Dean begged wide-eyed as he reached for Sam but caught nothing but open air instead, and Sam could see his brother was dangerously close to full blown hyperventilation by now.

Taking a deep breath himself, Sam slid his arms under his brother's overly warm body and wrapped them around Dean's heaving chest to pull him up tight against him. Once Dean's back was firmly pressed against his own chest in a firm enough hold to ensure he wouldn't drop him and send him crashing to the hard ground, he dragged Dean from the car and around to the back end, making sure they were far enough away from the side of the road to safely rest where they were. Dropping himself to the ground with his brother's body still held tight in his arms, Sam relaxed his grip just a little and rested Dean's shaking form against him own trembling body as he laid his brother's head on his shoulder while Dean continued his struggle for air.

"Dean, what's wrong," Sam pleaded as he gave him a gentle shake. He was scared, really scared. This was a new one on him. This had never happened before. "Oh god, what can I do?"

"I'm gonna be sick Sam," Dean groaned as he tried forcing himself over, hoping gravity would help him out just a little.

Gravity may not help, but Sam would, and when he heard his brother's anguished announcement, he quickly turned him over so he was face to face with the pavement. No sooner had Sam changed his position, he felt Dean's entire body go stiff as his retching commenced, it being nothing more than spit considering Dean hadn't eaten all day. Yet another hint Sam should have picked up on but chose to ignore anyway, wanting to believe more than anything that Dean was fine, just like he said he was. 'I really should know better than that by now,' he thought as he sat there holding onto the man, waiting for the spasms to stop. It took a long while, but he finally felt his brother's body mercifully relax as his breathing eventually evened out back to a somewhat normal pace, the entire episode leaving him soaked in sweat and a shivering mess.

"Hey…Dean…" Sam tried garnering his brother's attention after a few long moments as he pulled him back up to keep the blood from rushing to his head now that he had calmed. "Talk to me…please."

"Yeah…" he mumbled back, the cold night air chilling his body to the bone the only thing keeping him from passing out at the moment.

"What the hell just happened?" Sam needed to know, because if sudden lack of respiration was going to be a problem, they were not spending the night in a motel.

"Felt it coming…couldn't roll over…started choking…" Dean tried explaining, each word coming out agonizingly slower and more slurred than the word before. "M'kay now."

"Are you sure?" Sam had to ask, wondering just how long they were going to be sitting on the side of the road and planning on it being all night if it meant he could avoid going through that again.

"M'sure…help me up…" he murmured, and Sam could actually feel him putting some sort of effort into standing, albeit not really much of an effort. He just didn't have it in him, and Sam knew it.

Dragging Dean to his feet with him as he picked himself up off the hard pavement, he carried him more than guided him to the passenger side of the car and lowered him back inside, making sure he was not flat on is back but firmly on his stomach before closing the door behind him. He ran all the other episodes through his head, and he knew he had very little time to find a place to stay before things turned really ugly, and judging by how quickly things had already started to go downhill, he knew this would be the worst one yet.

Climbing back into the driver's seat, he started the car back up and pulled it out onto deserted road. His head was spinning and his nerves were just about fried when he saw it. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen; at least it felt that way at the moment. It was like a message from god, the green sign with the white letters that proudly displayed exactly what Sam needed to see. Denison 13mi. Gas/Food/Lodging. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, he pressed harder on the accelerator, trying to calculate just how long it would take to go 13 miles at his current rate of speed and deciding it wasn't short enough.

Five miles, he'd made it a whole five miles when Dean had started panting and coughing again, and even though he knew he couldn't see a damn thing going on in the back seat from the rear view mirror, he couldn't stop himself from trying. He tried for the longest time, but the longer he looked, the more nothing he saw. "Dean, are you ok?" He finally asked when his brother had gone eerily silent again, and Sam couldn't even hear him breathing anymore now. It was in that instant that Sam had torn his gaze away from the mirror and actually turned his entire upper body around to check on Dean. Even in the total darkness, Sam caught a slight glimpse of his brother's back rise as he took a breath. Dean had somehow amazingly fallen into a very deep sleep, which was rare on these occasions.

He didn't know whether to be grateful for the slumber or worried by it, but he wouldn't really have a whole lot of time to ponder it once he'd finally returned his eyes to the road. As if out of nowhere, suddenly there was someone standing right in front of him on the highway, and Sam was on a direct path with the unmoving dark form before him. Jerking the wheel hard to the left, he thought he'd reacted in time, but when he felt the hard thump against the passenger side of the car and saw something rolling on the ground in the rearview mirror, he instantly knew better. He jammed his foot hard on the brake for the second time today and sent the heavy vehicle into a slight skid before it came to a halt, the sudden, abrupt cessation of movement propelling Dean's prone body forward and into the back of Sam's seat with a hard jolt before he ended up resting on the floorboards.

"Shit!" Sam screamed as he turned to check on his brother first, who had been in what appeared to be a restful sleep before he'd been very rudely awakened from it.

"Sam…" he groaned from the floor in a definite daze. "What the…"

"Oh god Dean, I think I just hit someone! Oh man, are you ok?" He couldn't hide the panic in his voice, and even as out of it as he was, Dean could hear it.

"Yeah…go see…" he called out to Sam, who only needed to hear the word go to know he had his brother's permission, and he threw open the door and sprinted from the car in search of what had to be a person somewhere on the ground. He stopped dead in his tracks, sure that the sound of the body bouncing off the metal that echoed through his head would make what he was seeing nearly impossible and he actually considered pinching himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Standing in front of him was a woman, clearly up on both of her feet and brushing dirt off her jeans and jacket like nothing had happened as she returned Sam's stare with a shy smile.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you alright? I swear, I never saw you standing there. Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?" Sam rambled one thing after another as the girl just stood there listening to him, giving him nothing but curious looks as he stammered. She finally spoke when it appeared he'd run out of mental steam to continue and went quiet.

"Sam? Sam Winchester? Is that you?" She furrowed her brow as she asked him, and if he wasn't flustered already, he most definitely was now.

"Have we met?" He questioned her, racking his brain trying to figure out where he may know the woman he had apparently just run down but finding it impossible to organize his jumbled thoughts at the moment. Between Dean and her, his brain was totally on sensory overload now.

"Oh yes, we've met…" she answered with another warm smile. "I can't believe you'd forget."