A/N: so here it is!! the long awaited chapter 4!! i am soooooo sorry that it took this long to get this out, i just really didn't know where i was going with this story. but now i have a pretty good idea where this drama is going, and it shouldn't be long until i post the next chapter either!! oh i am so excited to finally have my muse back!! so thank you for all of you who reviewed this story and patiently waited for me to get my act together. so read on!! and review!!

Disclaimer: i still do not own the Winchester boys, and i cry myself to sleep every night because of it...

Chapter 4

Sam quickly covered the wounds and bound Dean's ribs for good measure. There was a lot of bruising on his chest, and if Dean hadn't managed to fracture at least two or three rubs then he would be surprised. When he again met Dean's eyes, he realized that hurting a little might have been a bit of an understatement. His eyes were squeezed shut and his face was a grimace.

"I'm done Dean. You all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm just freakin' peachy."

"Alright, well, you hungry? Cause let me just tell you, the cuisine that this place offers is just to die for."

Dean just looked at him like he had 3 heads. "What?"

Sam just shook his head. "Never mind. Crackers, pretzels, or tuna?"

"Crackers."

They sat quietly for a little while, munching on crackers until Sam saw Deans eyes start to droop. He added more wood to the fire, and went to get the aspirin. Shaking out two more, he handed them to Dean who gratefully took them and washed them down with what was left of his water bottle. Putting the medicine away, Sam returned to Deans side with the thick comforter that he had taken form the bedroom.

"Here, get under this and get some sleep. We'll try and make it out of here in the morning." Folding the old horse blanket under Dean's head as a pillow, he wrapped him up with the comforter.

Dean looked up at him. "Aren't you going to be cold?" That's when Dam realized that he only had a T-shirt on, and the chill was starting to creep in. But Dean didn't need anything else to worry about. "No, I'm fine. I got a blanket for me too."

"Sleep Sammy. You need to sleep too." That made Sam smile. Still trying to protect me, even when you're the one that's sliced all to hell with a concussion. "Ii will Dean, in a little while. I'm just going to find some more wood for the fire and then I'll sleep."

But Dean was already asleep, his face loosing its taut lines of pain. Alright, now to take care of this back. He peeled off his T-shirt, and hissed in pain as it caught on his wounds. He soaked some of the extra sheet material with alcohol and reached around and started wiping it clean. Damn! Dean was right, this really does hurt like a son of a bitch! Gritting his teeth against the pain, he continued to clean his back as best he could. At least one of the gashes needed stitches, but he was not about to attempt that himself. I'm not that much of a masochist. With the wounds as cleaned out as they were going to get under the circumstances, he threw his T-shirt back on, quickly followed by his jacket, cause damn! It really was getting cold out.

The next order of business was his head. He had taken a pretty good knock to the head out there during the fight. He gingerly reached behind his head and felt for the tell-tale lump. Jeeze! Alright, touching is definitely a bad plan! Not as big as he thought it would be, judging by the side of the marching band that decided to take residence in his head. Maybe the size of a golf ball. Golf ball he could deal with. He took out the bottle of aspirin and popped a few into his mouth, swallowing them dry.

Alright, enough about me. He looked around and spotted a couple more crates that he could use for firewood. It was going to be a long night, and as much as Sam hoped wasn't the case, they might not be able to make it back to the car tomorrow. He broke the crates down and made a pile next to Dean and the fire. Checking his watch, he saw that it had been over and hour since Dean had fallen asleep. Concussions are not something to take lightly, boys, their dad had once told them. No, they defiantly were not. Sam crouched down next to the blanketed figure that was his brother and gently shook him until Dean's eyes popped open.

"Sam? What the hell are you doing?"

Sam just cocked his head and gave him a sympathetic little smile. "Head injury. You know the drill. Name?"

Dean indeed did know the drill, and knew it well, probably far better than he should. "Dean Winchester."

"And who am I?"

"Sam Winchester."

"And what is your most beloved possession?"

"The Impala."

Sam smiled. Dean seemed pretty okay, a little groggy, but lucid. "Alright, now follow my finger." Dean's eyes were a little sluggish following his finger around, and his pupils were definitely different sizes. "Well you definitely have a concussion, but I think that you'll be okay."

"Mmmm hmmm. Sleep now."

"Yeah Dean, go back to sleep, I'll see you in about an hour," he said with a smirk. Dean just grumbled some nonsense as he turned over and went back to sleep.

As Sam sat beside Dean, tears suddenly sprang to his eyes. What the hell dude? He angrily tried to scrub the tears away. Dean is fine. He's going to be fine. He repeated this over and over in his head. Slowly the tears subsided. Man, I really must be tired. I mean, God, Dean woke up and he was lucid, and he is going to be fine. God, if Dean ever finds out about this he is never going to let me live it down.

He looked down at his brother. God, he was not used to seeing Dean this way. So pale, weak. Usually it was the other way around. He always woke up to Dean standing over him, concern written all over his face. That's just usually how it worked. Dean was the protector. Sam was the protected. God, Dean had saved his ass so many times, he had lost count. When Sam had first started hunting, Dean was always there watching his back. And Sam would not have lived to see the age of 10 had Dean not been there. Sam's memories of that hunt were hazy at best; he couldn't even remember what they were hunting. But it had been big. And strong. And it had gotten hold of him. In a matter of seconds it had grabbed him and given him a broken arm and 4 broken ribs, and its limb was pressed against his windpipe so he couldn't draw breath. As he lost consciousness he thought that he heard Dean screaming for him, but he didn't remember anything else before he woke up in the Hospital 3 days later. And there was Dean, hovering around his bed, looking more worried than Sam had ever seen him.

That was the first time that Sam had ever been really hurt, and Dean had confided in him later that he had been so scared, scared that he hadn't gotten there on time. Scared that he would never wake up. And from then on it was always like that. Sam was in trouble, Dean to the rescue. Ever since he had gotten back together with Dean, he seemed to need saving. Bloody Mary, the Skin Walker, the Wendigo, the Striga, all these things had almost gotten the best of him, but Dean was always there with a plan. And now, Dean had no plan. He was looking to Sam to come up with the plan. He was counting on Sam to get them out of this. And Sam was scared shitless. He was in-charge of Dean's life right now. His own life he was willing to gamble with, but not the life of his brother. If he did something wrong, made a wrong decision, then he didn't think that he would ever be able to forgive himself.

But underneath the scared shitless feeling, Sam felt good; confident even. His brother was counting on him, putting his trust into him, and to have Dean be so confident that he was going to get them out of this mess felt amazing. He turned to look at his brother again, and just watched him for a while. All of a sudden he felt his eyes droop and close, and he jerked himself awake. Jeeze! What was I thinking? I need to stay awake to wake up Dean. Not to mention the concussion that I probably have myself. No sleeping, under any circumstances. Get it together Sam! Looking at his watch, he realized that it had been almost 2 hours since he had last woken Dean, and the fire had died down to embers yet again. He gathered up more wood and started the fire going again before turning back to Dean, already hearing the argument that Dean was going to give him for waking him up yet again. Man, it really was going to be a long night.

sooooooo...please review!! i want your feedback!!