Dean looked at his watch and sighed for the tenth time that hour. "Dude, this is stupid, let's get back to the motel. Look, I'm fine." he tried again to convince Sam to leave the ER.
The nurse who called them saved Sam from answering.
"Come on. It's just a check-up; it might be something serious, Dean." Sam said as they started towards the cubicle the nurse was showing them.
"Whatever." Dean mumbled.
"Mr. Andrew, I'm Doctor Peterson." The gray hair doctor greeted them. "Now, please sit on the bed and tell me about your problem."
Dean sat down. "Well, basically it's just a headache, but umm, the problem is I can't remember a few things that I've done today morning; according to my brother, of course."
Peterson turned his gaze to Sam.
"He, uh, he was acting really weird today morning. He couldn't remember me or himself, or anything else, for that matter. Then he suddenly felt sick and after retching for a few minutes, his nose started bleeding and then he passed out. When he woke up again things were back to normal, except that he couldn't remember anything about what he'd done earlier."
The doctor frowned. "Has he received any blow to the head in the past 48 hours? Do you guys have any history of brain tumors in your family?"
Sam paled. "Brain tumor? Ah, no. Not that I can remember."
"Now, don't freak out. These are the common questions that we should ask for every kind of headaches. We can't say anything without any tests. Now back to the other question, any blow to the head?"
"Yes, actually he fell down some stairs two nights ago and he was out for five good minutes."
Peterson nodded and turned to Dean. But before he could open his mouth, Dean talked. "I didn't have any nausea till today morning. No double vision and no dizziness; just a damn headache which has worsened today morning."
Peterson smiled. "Not your first time with a concussion, I assume."
"You could say so." Dean shrugged.
"Actually, he's had more concussions than anyone could count."
"That's definitely not good." the doctor brought out his pen flashlight and shoved the light into Dean's eyes, making him flinch. "Did that hurt?"
"Just for a second."
He checked Dean for a few more minutes and then stopped. "Alright, lets run some tests and see what we're dealing with. I'll send a nurse in, to bring you the forms and inform you about the tests. Our specialist will meet you up in the neurology ward."
"Is it bad?" Sam couldn't help.
"I don't know anything. He doesn't show many sure signs of concussion or hemorrhage. We can't say anything without being sure, that's why we're going to run more tests. Now, if you don't have any other questions, I'll go and call a nurse for you."
"Thank you." Dean replied and let the doctor go. "It's not bad, Sam."
"How do you know that?"
"I just do."
"Hi." A nurse walked in with a bright smile. "I'm Emma and I'll be helping you around with your tests. Would you please fill these forms while I'll arrange your tests?" she handed Sam some papers.
Sam took them and sat down to fill them. "Sure."
...
It was around noon when they were finally done with the tests. Dean was looking exhausted and in pain and he didn't want anything more than leaving that hospital, hell that town, and get some rest in some place different and safe.
"The result of your tests doesn't show anything." Doctor Miller, the neurologist, said as he looked at the scans again. "I think it's better if we admit you to the hospital overnight and run more tests, because those symptoms that you mentioned shouldn't just appear with no reason. It could be something dangerous."
"What? O, no. No more tests and definitely no hospital admitting." Dean protested. "I'm sure that if there was anything wrong, you would've found it with so many tests."
"It could be something else. Human's body is a complicated system. Kidney's failure, for example, could cause many different symptoms and it could be mistaken for other disease. Heart or stomach or-"
"I've got your point." Dean stopped him." But memory loss? I don't think my kidney's or heart or any other organ could cause that. I'll just go home and get some rest."
"I'd give you something for your pain, but I'd rather not, since we're not sure about the reason of your problems."
"It's OK, I don't need any painkillers; I can handle it. Thanks anyway." Dean started to leave the room.
"Mr. Andrews, I'd suggest you to go to another city with a better equipped hospital. You should take it serious before it's too late." The doctor called out, still looking genuinely concerned for his mysterious patient.
"Yeah, sure." Dean smiled and left the office. As much as he hated those tests, the doctor and his worried face wouldn't allow Dean to stay mad at them.
"Dean." Sam's voice came from behind him.
"Hey, where were you?" Dean looked at the corridor behind Sam. "Or better, what the hell were you doing in labor ward?" he indicated to the sign on the wall.
"I wasn't in labor ward." Sam frowned.
"Yeah, if you say so." Dean chuckled.
"I wasn't there. I was just standing in the corridor." Sam insisted. "I hate those staffs. They wouldn't even let me come up to your ward."
"Don't pout Sammy; they probably were worried about your health. They usually don't let kids go up." Dean teased.
"Shut up." Sam growled. "What did your doctor say? What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"Yeah, and I'm a four year-old. Talk to me or I'll find a way to go up and-"
"I'm telling the truth, they did all the tests, but couldn't find anything wrong with my brain. The doctor even suggested me to go to a better hospital. Poor man was desperate to find my problem."
"That's not possible. You couldn't just act like that with no reason."
"Or-" Dean turned around and looked at Sam in the eyes. "It could be something supernatural."
"What? Your headache and memory loss?"
"We stopped in this town for a reason, right?"
"None of the victims have shown this kind of symptoms."
"There were just three victims and none of them had anything in common. That's why we weren't sure if it was our kind of job. We tried your way, nerd boy, and we still don't have anything. Let's try my way, now." Dean suggested.
Sam thought a few seconds before nodding. "Alright, but if you feel sick, again or I don't know got worse, I'll drag you to the hospital."
Dean shook his head. "No, you won't. You'll try to find the reason. I know Sam, it's either something supernatural, or I'm dying with an unknown disease. Either way, there's nothing a hospital can do for me. Now, get in the car and let's take a look around."
...
"You want me to drive for a while?" Sam asked as he felt the pain radiating from Dean.
"Dude, we're like five minutes from the motel."
"So?"
"So, there's no time for us to change the seats." Dean pointed out. "Dammit. I can't believe those victims have really nothing in common. In any other cases, I'd vote to leave the town and to hit the road for the next hunt."
"They have something in common. They were all male, in their early 30s. Oh and let's not forget they had all broken up with their girlfriends, recently."
"So much to work on." Dean said sarcastically. "In two cases, the girls were happy for the break up and even for their Exes' death. The other one was just in denial. I think that break up wasn't supposed to be serious."
"Guess, she believes in 'life is too short', now."
Dean parked the car and looked at Sam with a frown, then just shook his head and stepped out of the car. A wave of dizziness hit him, making him grab the door to steady himself, but he let it go soon, so Sam wouldn't see it.
.
.
... TBC ...
.
.