Hi guys, hope you're enjoying the story so far! I know at the moment I'm updating every day, but trust me, after a while it will drop to maybe once a week as I have exams followed by a very intense summer full of placements and work. Please bare with me and don't forget in the meantime that reviews= love and smiles from me!

Chapter 3: Dear John

The phone call came as the sun was rising. Kerry bolted out of bed and into Bobby's room, just in time to see her dad's face turn from his usual ruddy complexion, to pure white in a nanosecond as she heard Sam's voice on the other end of the phone. Bobby hung up and turned to face her, his voice shaking.

"Kerry, there's been a crash. Sam and John are both going to be okay, but Dean…"

Kerry felt her heart sink faster than a rock in a pond. Instantly she took a step back and shook her head violently.

"No, he can't be dead or dying. Not Dean, not now!" she cried.

Bobby gave her an apologetic look and she wanted to burst. Instead, she forced herself to take a calm breath despite every instinct telling her to panic, then steeled herself and moved to her room, wasting no time in throwing on her jacket and shoes and grabbing the keys to her mustang. As she exited her room again, Bobby gave her a curious glance.

"Which hospital?" she asked, not allowing him to speak.

"St James's." was the response she received as Bobby realised her intentions.

Without saying another word, she left the house, and broke every speed limit there was to get to the hospital before it was too late. As soon as she entered the building, she asked where the Winchester's were and a nurse took her up to the corridor, where she saw Sam leaning against a doorframe, the sound of a heart rate monitor flat-lining filtering through. Kerry stopped dead, ignoring the nurse next to her as she simply forgot to breathe. Suddenly, the sounds of a heart beat replaced the alarm and her lungs kicked back into gear, forcing her to move again.

"Sammy" she called, her voice cracking.

Sam turned to face her and the moment she saw the terror-filled, heart wrenching expression covering his face and eyes, she lunged forward and pulled him into a vice-like hug, neither of them caring about the injuries he carried as he hugged her back with equal fierceness, drawing any strength and comfort he could out of her.

Later on, Sam disappeared to Bobby's on an errand for John and Kerry moved to the eldest Winchester's room. She knocked softly and he looked up at her, eyes widening slightly at the sight of her. Mostly, it was her pale blonde hair that gave her identity away; otherwise he wouldn't have recognized the woman in front of him.

"Kerry?" he asked, just to make sure she really was who he thought she was.

She nodded and struggled to give him a smile.

"Hey John. How are you feeling?" she asked, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat as she moved to stand next to the bed.

John couldn't believe the changes in her found it even harder to believe the last time he saw her she had barely turned thirteen and the top of her head only just reached his chest, yet here she was seven years later, taller, athletically built, and from the maturity in her eyes, definitely no longer a child. He gave her a soft smile, wincing as he moved slightly and aggravated his injuries further.

"I've felt better to be honest. How are you holding up?" he asked, a glint in his eyes that told her he could see the fear she was trying so hard to hide.

Kerry snorted; trust John to have figured out her feelings towards Dean despite not even seeing her for years.

"I'm okay, just extremely worried for both Dean and Sammy." She answered.

John's face turned to stone.

"They'll be fine, I promise you that. I need you to do me a favour though, okay?"

Kerry nodded.

"Stay with them. Don't ever let them push you away as I did to them. I've always looked at you as a daughter and I know they both look at you as a sister. So don't let them ever push you away, okay?"

Kerry looked into his eyes that were so similar to Dean's and couldn't help but smile.

"Will do Sir."

John smirked and she stepped forwards, gently putting her arms round him.

"I really missed you John" she whispered in his ear.

"I missed you too, and I'm sorry I didn't get to be there to see you turn into the woman you've become. I'll try to make more of an effort from now on."

Kerry smiled and pulled away.

"No you won't. you're a hunter, it's impossible to promise to be there. But, as long as you answer your phone in future, I will settle for that."

John smiled and nodded.

"Deal. By the way, I know it's your birthday in a few days; make sure to remind me to take you for a drink when I get out of here."

Kerry laughed.

"You're on. Now, I'm going to go and see how Dean's doing." She answered.

She gave John one last look, seeing the same look of pride he showed his boys in the look he gave her now. Blinking back tears at the familial love she felt for him, she stepped out and moved back down the hall to Dean's room; the one room she'd deliberately avoided until now. As she entered and took a look at him, her knees buckled and she barely managed to stop herself from falling over. Instantly, tears began rolling down her cheeks and she fought not to sob at his still form on the bed, skin far too grey to be considered healthy, cuts and bruises on every part of his skin she could see. Slowly she moved over to him and sat next to the bed, her hand grasping his. Though there was a warmth to his skin, she could also feel coolness there, a coolness that seemed to sink into her own skin and wrap itself round her heart.

"Oh Dean." She whispered before she allowed more tears to take over.

After a few minutes, she felt something brush across her cheek, as if trying to wipe the last of her tears away and she gasped, her head shooting up as she looked at Dean's face once again.

"Dean?" she asked.

Nothing. She expected as much and frowned as she shook her head.

"Stupid idjit, imagining things now!" she chastised herself.

She fell silent again, continuing to stare at Dean and felt something lock into place inside her. A steely look crossed her face and she stood, grasping Dean's chin as if forcing him to look at her, despite his eyes refusing to open.

"You are going to be okay Dean Winchester. You've been through enough crap in your life to be able to fight this and come through it in one piece. We need you, all of us. Sam needs you to be his annoying big brother, John needs you to be his pillar of support, my dad needs you to give him another reason to smile and I need you, because, well, goddamnit Dean I'm completely and totally in love with you, you brainless, hopeless, bloody moron, but you've never even noticed me! How can I go on living as happily as I do now if you're not here to share it with? Sure, you drive us all crazy and I hate that you're always off with different women, but I'll never stop loving you as long as you stay here and don't abandon us."

As she finished speaking, she swallowed more tears and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his cheek, a kiss that held the promise that she wasn't letting him go. Ever. It was as she was about to sit back in the chair that Sam re-entered the room. She raised an eyebrow as he pulled out an Ouija board and placed it on the floor.

"You're kidding right?" she asked.

"No." was the only response she got.

Glaring, she stood and walked to the door.

"I've heard too much bad stuff about those things Sam; I refuse to be a part of it. If you want me I'll be in the canteen."

Not stopping to hear of Sam tried to stop her, she made her way down to the canteen, realising for the first time since she arrived just how tired and hungry she was. Once she's devoured three sandwiches and two cups of coffee, she glanced at the clock and saw she'd been down in the canteen for almost an hour. Standing, she stretched and moved to leave, only to have Sam crash into her and almost send her crashing into the table behind her if her hunter reflexes hadn't kicked in at the last second. Immediately expecting the worst, she grasped his arms, panic in her face and voice.

"Sam! What's wrong? Is it Dean? Pease tell me he's not…"

Sam cut her off, not wanting her to worry without needing to.

"He's not dead, he's alive! He just woke up as if nothing had happened! I forgot where you were until dad asked me to come down and get a cup of coffee."

Before he'd even finished, Kerry was running up the corridor to the stairs and within moments, burst into Dean's room, just in time to see him get out of bed and stand up. For a few seconds, she simply stood there staring at him, but once she realised he was really there and really okay, she ran to him and hugged him as tightly as she dared.

"Thank god." She mumbled into his chest as he patted her awkwardly on the back.

Out of nowhere, the pair heard the sounds of someone screaming for help and Dean's eyes went wide.

"That sounds like…"

"Sammy" Kerry answered.

The pair rushed out to where the yells were coming from, just as a group of nurses and doctors lifted John onto the bed and were trying to resuscitate him. As Dean stood there, pleading for John to wake, Kerry had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, reflecting on the items he'd asked Sam to collect for him, and glancing over at Sam, she knew he was aware of it too; John wasn't waking no matter what the medics tried. All they could do was stand and watch as the doctors finally gave up and called it. As the doctor spoke, she saw Dean stagger a fraction and she didn't hesitate to move so she was facing him and embrace him, not even aware that for once, he crushed her against him as he began to cry silently against her, her own tears adding to his as she grieved alongside him.