Chapter 22

"Dean," Sam looked at him through the mirror on the wall in the new motel they were staying at, not wanting to be at the other one now that demons knew they stayed there. Sam saw Dean just sitting on his bed, staring off into space. Sam turned to face him. "Dean?"

"What?" Dean asked snapping out of his trance and looked at him.

"You all right, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look it," Sam walked toward him. "What's on you're mind?"

"It's nothing," Dean looked away from him.

Sam sat down on the chair in front of Dean's bed. "Keeping things to yourself, it's not healthy. Come on, you can tell me."

Dean raised his eyes and met his brother's. He sighed knowing he was right. "It's just… with what happened with Summer… it's making me a little more worried about her. I mean, hell, I didn't expect her go to the hospital for a gunshot wound. Let alone have our own dad shoot her," he made a small fist with the last thing he said. "How could he do that, Sam? How could he just shoot her without even a second thought?"

Sam lowered his head a little, his eyes falling upon the floor, not sure how to reply to that. Truth was he didn't know the answer. He was angry with John for shooting her. He could have found another way to deal with her without hurting her, but he didn't. He did the only thing that probably seemed like the right thing to him. "I don't know, Dean," Sam finally answered him a minute later, meeting his eyes again. "I wish it didn't happen, but we can't change what happened. All we can do now is to help her get better."

"Yeah, I guess," Dean agreed.

"Can I ask you something?"

"It depends on the question."

Sam chuckled and shook his head. "Did you um… have you fallen in love with her?"

Dean stared at his brother, a somewhat surprised look on his face before he quickly changed his expression, trying to look less bothered by the question. "Fallen in love with her? Sammy boy, where did you get that idea? I…" he started to finish his sentence but someone knocked on the door. 'Saved by the knock," he thought to himself as Sam stood up and made his way to the door.

"Summer?" Sam spoke, surprise clearly in his voice. "What are you doing here?"

Dean stood up and walked toward them as she stepped into the room. He to, was surprised to see her.

"I checked myself out," Summer told them. "I can't stay there. All the emotions, they're too much for me to handle."

"Did the doctor say it was ok for you to leave?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He just told me to make sure to come back in about ten days to get the stitches out, and to make sure to take it easy so I don't rip the stitches."

"Well, as long you got the permission to leave… good to see you up and about," Sam smiled.

"I'm glad to be out of there," she said sitting down on a chair.

"I bet," Dean sat back down on his bed. "How did you get here, anyway?"

"I called a cab."

"You could have called us and we would have gotten you," Sam said

"How could I call you when you both don't have any cell phones?"

"Good point," Dean nodded.

"Where's uh… your dad?"

"He left," Sam answered.

"Good," Summer said with a nod. "Other wise, I'd probably freak out on him for shooting me."

"Yeah, we figured," Dean said. "So I told him he better leave."

"Smart."

"Summer?" Sam looked back at her.

"Yeah?"

"I think we should talk about what happened back at the warehouse."

Summer sighed and gave a small nod. "I agree."

"How did the demon even get to you?"

"I suppose when that guy bumped into me at the store. … I felt wrong and then I felt myself move, but I wasn't moving on my own. I like… I had no control. I could see what was happening, but I couldn't stop it," she then met Dean's gaze. "I am sorry for cutting you."

"Don't be. What happened… it wasn't really you. Like you said, you had no way of stopping it."

"Dean's right. Don't be sorry for what happened that night."

"I can't help it, though," she sighed. "I watched you get hurt. I watched those men kick you, cut you… I could have tried something… anything to take over my body again."

"Well, now you don't have to worry about that anymore," Sam said. "Once we leave, we're going to see someone we know and we're going to see if he has anything to help you so you don't become possessed again."

"That'd be great," she nodded. "I'd hate to go through that again," she then stood up. "Anyway… I guess I'm gonna go and change out of these clothes… where's my room?"

"Uh, about that…" Dean began. "The guy only had one room left. So, uh… you'd have to share a room with us."

Summer stared at him wide-eye. "Come again?"

"If you're uncomfortable with sharing, we can always find another motel," Sam said.

"No, it's ok…" she started, a little unsure. "Maybe by sharing, it will save us some of our money. Have the price be cheaper."

"Are you sure?" Dean asked. "We can find another motel—"

"I don't mind," she nodded, finally agreeing. "What about sleeping arrangements, though?"

"We could always kick Sam out of his bed and make him sleep on the floor," Dean said while he glanced at Sam to see his reaction.

"Me? Why me? Why do I have to be the one to lose a bed?" Sam asked not believing what he heard.

"Relax," Dean smirked. "I was kiddin'… kind of."

"Nobody is losing a bed," Summer shook her head. "We're adults. There's no reason why we can't share a bed."

"Did I ever tell you I like the way you think?" Dean asked her humorously with a wink.

Summer rolled her eyes.

"Who's going to share?" Sam wondered.

"Good question," Summer replied.

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The bathroom door opened, and Summer walked out holding her dirty clothes in one hand while she held her small hand bag of toiletries. She stopped short and saw Dean by his bed, his shirt off, his back to her. She noticed a few cuts on his back from the accident, from the windows in the backseat shattering on him, ripping his clothes and managing to make contact with his skin. She then noticed the white bandage on the sides of his body, and saw he was taking it off, his shoulder and back muscles flexed while he tried to reach for the sides where the tape stuck to his skin to keep the bandage on. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

He stopped, turned to her, surprised to see her there. "I gotta change the bandage Doctors orders..."

She nodded while she made her way to the bed and set her bag down on it as she stuck her clothes in a plastic bag she used as a laundry bucket. She stood there for a moment, watching him trying to take the bandage off. "Here…" she stepped closer to him, moving his hands away from his body before she grabbed a hold of the bandage tape. "Let me help you…" she waited a few short seconds to see if he would protest, and when he didn't, she gently ripped the tape off before grabbing the edges of the bandage, tearing it away. She almost let out a gasp when she saw just how hurt he really was. The cuts the demon managed to make were a lot worse than she imaged. They were long and a little deep and the redness around the wounds still hadn't gone away yet, it made her angry the demon did this to him, and it made her sick to her stomach knowing it enjoyed every second of it.

"Might wanna take a picture… it'll last longer."

Summer lifted her eyes up to meet his and saw he wasn't joking. "I'm sorry… I just I didn't expect it to be this bad. Uh… where is the clean—"

"It's lyin' on the bed."

Summer turned her body a little, lowering her eyes on the bed, and sure enough, the clean bandage lied there in its small plastic bag to keep it from getting dirty. She set the unclean one down before grabbing the plastic bag, took the bandage out of it and unfolded it before she lied it flat on his chest, holding it there with one hand while she grabbed the tape lying on the bed, and tried tearing it off with her free hand but couldn't. "I need…"

Dean grabbed the tape and tore off enough for her to use before handing her the strip.

"Thanks…" she said as she brought the tape to the side of the bandage on one side to hold it there before she ripped off another piece to put on the other side.

"Thanks…" he said a moment later while she lowered her arms to her sides.

"You're welcome…"

He grabbed his grey shirt off the bed and pulled it on before meeting her eyes again. "Is there any chance I'd help you with your bandage?" he asked with a hint of the classic Dean Winchester charm in his voice.

Summer chuckled, shaking her head. "Who knows… maybe," she answered a few short moments later with a wink.

He smirked. "Good answer," he said with a small laugh before grabbing the plastic bag off his bed and headed toward the silver trashcan next to a wall, and tossed the used bandage inside it.

"Where's Sam?" Summer asked as she set her handbag and the plastic bag on the floor beside the bed, underneath the nightstand.

"Went to get us some food," he told her.

She nodded. "I see…"

"By the way, nice dog PJ's."

She laughed and pulled back the covers and sat down, sticking her feet underneath the cover, leaving the rest off her. "I happen to love dogs, so I just had to buy this outfit"

"Yeah, I like 'em too," he said walking over to the bed. "They're handy also. They will alert you when a demon is near. I have to be honest, though… I think the pink makes the top look too girly."

"It's supposed to be girly," she laughed.

"Yeah, ok, that's true," he agreed as he sat down on the bed in front of her. "But it's a little too girly."

"So, what, you think I should be sporting the tough chick look?"

"Yeah," he nodded with a wink. "No seriously, I don't care what you wear. I just think pink is a little much on one shirt."

"If you haven't noticed, a lot of girls have pink on their shirts."

"Nope, haven't noticed."

"Right, of course, you go for the girls who wear camo shirts, black leather boots."

"Not all girls."

"Oh really?" she asked titling her head, eyes still locked with his.

"You don't wear those, and I go for you."

She looked at him with surprise, not knowing what to say.

"And I said too much…" he cursed under his breath while he turned away before he brought his hand to the top of his head and slid his fingers through his hair uncomfortably.

Summer looked at him, still unsure what to say. "Uh…" she fumbled for the right thing to say. "This is awkward."

"You're tellin' me," he said facing her again. "I wasn't… I didn't… I have no idea what to say now."

"That makes two of us."

After a long few moments of silence, Dean sighed and locked eyes with her. "Ah, fuck it," he finally said cupping her face with his hands and kissed her.