They were driving for about 3 hours when Dean's coughing really started to worry him. It became longer and more painful sounding every minute and Dean wasn't talking at all - not even complaining about Sam being the one to drive. He was sure that Dean was in pain but didn't want to admit it. He could be so stubborn sometimes.
"You okay?" Sam tried and gave his brother a quick glance.
"Mmm." Dean grunted and turned away, not wanting to let his brother see how hard he was trying to hold back some more coughing.
"You want a cough drop?" Sam risked, almost expecting Dean to hit or bite him after that question.
"Nah, they taste awful." Uh. Okay. That was not quite what he had expected as an answer. He shrugged and kept on following the highway they were on.
After another half an hour of driving Dean broke the silence as he failed to stifle a sneeze against his wrist. "Hhh'MGTXSH"
Sam cringed, that sounded quite messy. Dean groaned and rubbed at his itchy nose.
Suddenly Sam remembered his previous shopping tour and pointed at the glove department. "Hey Dean, open that for me, will you?"
With another unwilling grunt Dean had opened it and found a small bag of sweets. "Rachen Drachen? What the hell is that?"
Dean furrowed one brow and eyed his brother quizzically.
"Some sweets, like gummi bears, you know, only shaped like dragons. I got them from the nice lady from the gas station." Dean tore the bag open and peeked into it.
"I don't want to eat dragons, they … smell strange." He sniffed liquidly.
Sam wondered how Dean could smell anything at all with that stuffy nose of his and switched tactics.
"Well, doesn't matter. Then I'll eat them myself." He stole the bag from Dean and stuck one of the little sweet dragons into his mouth. The menthol wasn't that obvious at all, he could only taste a little hint of it - its effect was overwhelming, though. The single dragon soothed his scratchy throat and Sam felt a huge relief. Greedily, he took another one out of the bag.
"What the hell…Sam?! You really like 'em?"
With a quick movement Dean had snatched the bag and eyed one of the dragons cautiously. "Here goes nothing."
He chewed it for a while and suddenly his face lit up, and he shoved a handful of little dragons into his mouth.
"Hey, they ain't half bad. Actually they taste quite nice."
Sam noticed that his voice sounded less stuffed up - thanks to the menthol - and smiled to himself. He should remember stocking up on them before they left the German border.
The ride was slow and boring. Sam noticed that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier and was alarmed as he almost dozed off behind the steering wheel. Besides, his throat had begun to itch again. Awesome.
He took a reassuring look at Dean, who was peacefully sleeping and snoring softly on the passenger seat, then one on his watch.
It was early afternoon, they should get something to eat since they hadn't had anything after breakfast. Strangely, he didn't feel hungry at all.
Well, maybe Dean was. Besides, Sam could really use a break.
On the next possibility he pulled off of the road and stopped at some gas station. As soon as the tires stood still, Dean sneezed himself awake.
"Hhhr'GDSH-SHh"
"Huh? Did I miss anything?" He looked hilarious, his eyes were sleepy and his hair was a mess.
Sam yawned. "Not really. I just wanted to get something to eat and take a look at the map to make sure we're right." Dean scratched himself behind his ear.
"Well, I could go and grab some food and you do the map-thingy?"
Sam looked up from the map. "Yeah, sounds like a deal. Thanks."
After 10 minutes Dean returned, complaining about the long queue of people in front of him. "Sam?" He didn't get a reply. As he sat down next to Sam he realized that his brother had fallen asleep, his head resting on the map. Dean chuckled, usually Sam wasn't the kind of person to do that. Except for when… Dean went quiet and took a concerned look at his younger brother. Gently, he shook his shoulder and whispered, "Hey Sammy, let's swap seats, okay?"
Rubbing his eyes, he nodded and slowly got out of the car. Dean scooted over and took over the steering wheel. "Oh, and I got us something to eat. Hungry?" He held out a cheese sandwich for Sam, but he shook his head no. Dean shrugged and put it back into the paper bag on the floor.
"And?" he looked at Sam. "And what?" he asked quietly.
"Are we on the right route?" Sam suppressed a yawn. "Oh that. Yeah, I guess we are. It's not that far anymore. We have to follow this road about half an hour, and then we'll arrive here," he pointed at an exit on the map, "from here we'll need another half an hour to pass through these little villages but then we should be in Hamburg."
He couldn't suppress a yawn this time.
"Okay, I think I got it. What about I drive and you try and get some sleep, huh? Sounds good?" Dean folded the map and stored it in the side of his door. "Mmmm. Very good." Within seconds Sam had fallen asleep again, his head resting on the window.
"I'm sorry, Sammy," Dean whispered and patted his knee. He knew what was going to happen - it had been inevitable.