Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters. I merely enjoy torturing them from time to time.
Mullet Rock
Chapter Thirteen:
The MRI was completed and Dean was moved from the machine back to the wheel chair that had been used to transport him to Radiology. He looked up at the window expecting to see Sam watching and frowned when he couldn't find his brother.
"Where's my brother?" he demanded of the tech and transporter that were in the room with him. "Where the hell did he go?"
"Relax," the transporter replied. "I saw him go into the rest room just a few minutes ago."
The stopped in the hall to wait for Sam but after a few minutes with no sign of Sam coming out Dean was beginning to worry. Something was wrong… he knew it in his bones. He stood up grabbing the poll of the IV that was attached to his arm.
"Whoa," the transporter said. "I'm not supposed to let you get out of the wheelchair."
Dean just gave the man a withering look and he backed off. Knocking on the door he said, "Sammy." His brother didn't reply but he could hear a constant mummer coming from inside. Dean tried the handle and was relieved to find the door unlocked. He opened the door and saw his brother sitting on the floor rocking back and forth and whispering something that he couldn't quite make out.
"Sammy," he said kneeling down next to him. "What's wrong?" Sam still didn't answer his brother. Dean noted the glazed unfocused look in Sam's eyes and he was close enough now to hear what his brother was whispering.
"Is he okay?" the transporter asked. "Should I get someone to help?"
"He'll be fine," Dean said. "I just need to talk to him… alone." He closed the door giving him and his brother some privacy. Then he reached up and grabbed his brother by the shoulders wincing in pain as the movement jarred his wound. "Sammy," he said and shook him gently.
Sam stopped speaking and his eyes wavered towards his brother but he didn't reply and he still didn't seem to be seeing Dean.
"Damn it Sam," Dean said quietly. "Don't do this. Come on man you didn't do anything." Dean shook his brother again. "Sammy snap out of it," he said a bit louder this time.
Sam shook his head, his eyes met those of his brother and Dean could tell he was there again. "I did," Sam said hoarsely. "I did this to you. Dean I…" Fear and self loathing stood out starkly on his face as he spoke. "I'm evil…" he whispered so quietly that Dean almost didn't hear him.
"No Sammy," Dean told his brother. "It wasn't you."
Sam pulled away from his brother afraid of what he might unknowingly do to him. "I knew it would happen… I told you what the demon was trying to do."
"Damn it Sammy it wasn't you!" Dean growled as Sam backed further away from him. He knew Sam thought the demon had caused this. That it was changing him.
"You can't lie to me Dean," Sam told him. "I'm covered in blood, your blood and you… you were afraid of me. I saw it… you…"
Dean silently cursed himself for his reaction when he'd regained consciousness in the warehouse. "Sam, the demon didn't have anything to do with this. It was the mask and… it wasn't you."
"Dean…"
"No Sam, listen to me," he said. "The mask held another soul something dark. It had been imprisoned there for centuries. When you grabbed it…" Dean grew quiet remembering the pain and fear on Sam's face. "The thing in the mask it switched you."
Sam was having a difficult time figuring out what his brother was telling him, his thoughts were scattered and unfocused. "I hurt you," he told his brother.
"No," Dean told him again more forcefully this time. "It wasn't you… that's what I'm trying to tell you. The thing in the mask it switched places with you. It imprisoned you in the mask and took your place. It wasn't you that hurt me Sam. You couldn't have done it you were in the mask."
Sam remembered the burning pain… pain that seemed to go on for eternity. "How?" he asked.
"I don't know how it did it, but it's my fault I should have been the one to handle the mask. My Amulet would have protected me from it," he said.
"Dean…" Sam automatically started to deny his brother's fault in the matter but as usual he was interrupted.
"Come on Sam," Dean said. "Can we finish this up later? I really think I need to get back out there before that guy that brought me down for the MRI gets the bright idea to come barging in here. He smirked at his brother. "I'm not sure I want him catching us sitting on the floor in such a compromising position."
Sam looked at his brother and for the first time realized how painful this had to be for him. "Oh God Dean," he said. "I'm sorry… you must hurt like hell."
"No," he denied as Sam stood and helped him up. "Good pain meds." His words though were belied by the grimace that crossed his face briefly as he stood.
"Yeah," Sam told him. "I can see that."
Dean opened the door to find the transporter standing there his hand raised ready to knock. "We're coming," he told the guy. He took his seat back in the wheelchair and allowed the man to push him back to the ER. "Hey Sam," he said to his brother.
"What?" Sam asked.
"When we're done here I'm going to sleep for like two days."
"Me too," Sam said. "I don't know how, but somehow what happened made me so tired I'm having trouble keeping my eyes opened."
Dean grinned at his brother. He knew it was the drugs he'd been pumping into his brother's body, that was making him so tired but he wasn't about to tell Sam that.
Back in the ER room they waited as patiently as possible for the doctor to return with the results of Dean's tests. That is to say that Dean griped and grumbled the entire time about how slow things moved in the hospital and Sam sat quietly watching his brother's discomfort. He knew Dean hated hospitals and since the death of their father that hadn't improved at all. So it was a relief when the doctor returned stating that all Dean's tests came back okay.
"Great," Dean replied. "Then I can get out of here."
"Well no," the doctor told him. "I'd like to admit you overnight for observation just to make sure we haven't missed anything."
"But you said he was alright," Sam said.
"No," the doctor told him. "I said the tests came back okay. That doesn't mean we didn't miss something, which is easy enough to do in a case like this."
"Doesn't matter," Dean said. "I'm not staying."
"Young man I really think…"
"I'll sign the AMA papers Doc," he told the man. "But I'm leaving."
Judging by the young man's earlier reactions the doctor had known that was what Dean would say. So he'd already had the nursing staff preparing the necessary paperwork. "Fine," he told his young patient. "I figured that would be your reaction. The discharge nurse is already working on it. She is also going to give you instructions on caring for that wound and two prescriptions I want you to fill. One is an antibiotic to prevent infection and the other is for the pain."
Thirty minutes later the brothers were walking out of the ER to the Impala. Dean stopped short when he caught sight of it. "Oh, no!" he said looking at the broken, shattered windshield. "I'm sorry girl." Then he turned to Sam and said. "We are going to have to get this fixed."
Sam just shook his head at his brother's antics. Dean treated this car like a living breathing person… like a member of the family. He grinned thinking of all the things they been through with the Impala. It really was a member of the family. It had been since before he was born. "Don't worry Dean," he told his brother. "I saw a windshield repair place near the motel. We can get it fixed on the way back."
"Yeah," his brother replied. "But we have a stop to make first."
"Where?" Sam asked.
"The warehouse," Dean replied. "We need to pick up a couple of things we left there."
It didn't take long to get back to the warehouse. When they walked in both were relieved to find nothing had been disturbed since they'd left.
Getting out of the car Sam walked to the center of the room and he took note of the things that lay scattered on the floor. "Dean," he said to his brother. "This is… was an alter… a dark alter. What was that thing doing? Was it summoning something?"
Dean sighed and looked at his brother. "It didn't build the alter Sam," he replied. "I did."
A/N - Wow, another chapter or two and this story should be complete! That's good because those damn plot bunnies are running around in my head and giving me a headache! Thanks again for reading and let me know what you think!