A/N: Thanks so much to Cartersdaughter, Catsluver, and skzb. I don't know how else to say it: You guys rock!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in the U.S., and Happy Wednesday to everyone else. :-) Love you all!

Chapter 27

They took TJ's car to the hospital because the bases for the twins' car seats were already installed in it. After a brief stop at the Nelek farmhouse to hastily pack a diaper bag, Dean and TJ arrived at the hospital in Colleyville not too long after the ambulance that was carrying Liv and Sam.

Dean, black diaper bag stuffed to the brim and slung over his shoulder, immediately went to the reception desk of the ER to see what he could find out, while TJ carried a twin secured in a car seat carrier in each hand. The carriers were surprisingly heavy, despite the fact that the babies themselves didn't weigh very much. TJ headed toward the waiting room to find a place where she could set them down.

The twins had fallen asleep in the car, completely exhausted after their ordeal, and TJ was glad they'd calmed enough to be able to sleep. When she walked into the waiting room, she saw her dad sitting in a blue waiting-room chair, his head in his hands.

"Daddy?"

Vern looked up, and as soon as he saw the twins, he was up and starting toward them, a relieved expression on his face. "Thank the Lord." He gave TJ a quick hug and took the carriers from her, hauling them over to the bank of chairs where he'd been sitting. He set the carriers side by side on a couple of the chairs and kissed each sleeping baby lightly on the forehead, careful not to wake them.

TJ'd called Vern on their way to the hospital and told him everything that had happened, that the twins were okay, but it seemed to be just now sinking in with him that they were really safe and sound. He stared at them like he was mesmerized.

TJ sat in a chair on the other side of where he'd set the twins, and the carriers were sandwiched between her and her dad. "How's Mama?" she asked.

Vern tore his bright-blue gaze from the twins. "They think she's gonna be okay. They took her up for an MRI, and if everything looks good, we can take her home tonight. I told her you had the twins and they were safe, and she perked right up after that."

TJ sighed with relief.

"How's Sam?" asked Vern.

TJ shook her head and glanced at Dean, who was being handed a bunch of paperwork on a clipboard. "I don't know, Daddy. He was so pale, and he wouldn't wake up." She was afraid for Sam and started to tremble, her hands shaking. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

Her dad moved to the chair next to her, put his arm around her, and surveyed their surroundings. There was no one in the waiting room except for an older couple in a far corner. "Tell me what happened again," he said in a hushed voice.

She quickly explained the whole terrifying ordeal to the end. "Then there was this raw, powerful energy coming from Sam, and Liv and the pan of oil were flung away from the twins. Whatever he did, it hurt him somehow—took something out of him—and he lost consciousness after that."

Dean had quietly joined them during TJ's account of everything and was sitting in the chair Vern had vacated, filling out the forms on Sam's medical history and insurance info. It made TJ feel a bit inadequate. She was Sam's wife. She should know at least some of that stuff, but she realized she knew nothing about Sam's medical history and was glad Dean was there to give the correct information.

Vern looked concerned, his blue eyes intense. "Have mercy. I hope Sam'll be all right."

"He will," Dean stated adamantly, his expression leaving no room for any other outcome. "You got your insurance card?" he asked TJ.

She dug it out of her purse and handed it to him.

Vern rubbed his chin, looking pensively at TJ. "Stick with the story Dean told the paramedics. Pat or one of the doctors is bound to call the sheriff. If the police show up, you let me and Fern do the talkin'. You hear? We'll try to get the heat off."

TJ nodded.

"I can handle the cops, Vern," said Dean. His tone implied he'd done it many times. "Trust me."

Vern shook his head. "You probably can, given your past, but I'm good friends with Sheriff Lockhart, and Fern and his wife Martha are in one of them ladies' civic clubs together. They're pretty good friends too. We'll take care of it."

"What if Liv tells everyone what happened?" asked TJ.

Vern looked solemn. "It's all of us against her, and no one will dispute that she's mentally ill. No one will believe her—especially not such a crazy story. They probably wouldn't believe such a story even if she was sane."

TJ stared absently at the industrial, white-tiled floor. It felt wrong to lie like that, to take advantage of Liv's situation and use it against her, but what choice did they have? Above all else, they had to protect Sam.

XXXXXXXX

"You really miss them, don't you?" asked TJ, glancing at Dean.

"Yeah." Dean was holding Sami Joy, feeding her a bottle with a fond smile on his face, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. It was clear how he felt about his little niece.

TJ was feeding Robby and shifted her gaze back to him, but her mind was still on her newfound brother-in-law. From what TJ had seen of Dean so far, she liked him. She tried to imagine what it had been like to work with him at Shorty's. She'd seen glimpses today of a wry sense of humor and a down-to-earth intelligence she appreciated. He was very good-looking and attractive like Sam, although in an entirely different way. In just the few hours she'd spent with him, she could see that he and Sam were like night and day.

Dean's looks were more all-American with his spiky, short, dark-blond hair, which was the complete opposite of Sam's long, darker locks. Dean had an air of confidence, a kind of affable cockiness that made him likable and drew a person in, even in the anxious state they were both in now. They'd been waiting almost two hours to hear news of Sam. Despite Dean's charm, TJ got the feeling he didn't let too many people get close to him.

Sam, on the other hand, had a quiet strength and presence that was noticeable without being cocky. He seemed to have no clue how gorgeous he was, and he was one of the most considerate, genuine, open people TJ had ever met.

Both brothers were courageous under fire. They'd been focused and cool-headed in a very horrifying, gut-wrenching situation with Liv and the twins. Sam had picked the lock to the stripping room without batting an eye, and Dean had pulled out his gun and aimed it at Liv like it was second nature, leaving no doubt that both brothers knew what they were doing and had done it many times before. Throughout the whole, very disturbing scene with Liv, they'd been the lethally calm hunters they were trained to be, although they must have been just as terrified for the twins as TJ was. Her heart hurt with worry for Sam, and she prayed that he would be okay.

Another minute or two passed before she spoke to Dean again. "So, Sam said you took good care of Robby and Sami Joy when they were in the NICU. He said you even named them."

Dean gave her an arch look, making it obvious that he knew how she and Sam felt about the names he'd chosen.

She poked her cheek with her tongue, amused, but then got serious again. "He said he pretended like they didn't exist, that he didn't want to have anything to do with them."

Dean grunted.

"I find that hard to believe. Sam loves Robby and Sami Joy so much, and he's so good with them. I can't imagine him ignoring them—especially when they would've been so vulnerable."

Sami Joy made a little smacking noise and then broke the latch on her bottle. Dean set the bottle down in the empty chair next to him and shifted her to his shoulder, kissing the side of her blond head and patting her back like a pro.

He was a natural with Sami Joy, and TJ was touched by the gentle way he handled the baby and a little envious. She still hadn't completely gotten the burping thing down.

He stared at the floor with a zoned-out look that made it obvious how tired he was, and TJ wondered how long he'd been on the road before he made it to Moss Fork. When Sami Joy burped, he seemed to come back to himself and chuckled softly, then cradled her in his other arm and started feeding her the rest of the bottle.

TJ had begun to think he wasn't in the mood to talk, but then he said, "Sam wasn't himself right after the twins were born. He thought he'd lost you forever. I think he blamed himself for the stroke and what happened to you, and he was devastated.

TJ reeled at that. "Why? How could it have been his fault?"

"It wasn't," Dean stated simply. He gave her a pointed look. "But it seems like Sam's not the only one who laid the blame on his shoulders."

Her stomach knotted with remorse. "He told you how I acted toward him when I first woke up?"

"We talk. Usually can't get him to shut up," he muttered.

She rested her head against the wall, staring at the ceiling. "I've been such a bitch to him and so unfair. I was angry, and I wanted someone to blame. He was a stranger and an easy target."

Dean nodded. "He understood that, and he wanted to be patient and give you time. And I think, deep down, he believed he was getting what he deserved."

She looked at him sharply. "What do you mean?"

He sighed, using his shoulder to rub at his jaw since his hands were occupied with Sami Joy. A day's growth of stubble made a scratchy noise when he did so. "Sam had to choose between you and the twins. You took a turn for the worse—had a really bad seizure that left you in a much milder coma than what you eventually ended up in—and the twins were only at twenty-three weeks' gestation. You'd made it clear that, under no circumstances, did you want to deliver the twins before the twenty-four-week mark. There was no guarantee they would be okay even then, but anything before that point was pretty much a certainty the twins would die.

"I know my brother. He never said it in so many words, but I suspect you knew he would choose you if it came down to you or the twins. I think you made him promise he would choose the babies over you. But when it came down to it, he couldn't do it. He chose you. You were in danger of dying or having a severe stroke if the doctor didn't go ahead and deliver the babies, and he broke his promise to you."

TJ was overwhelmed by what Dean was telling her. Sam had chosen her. Unable to fathom the agony it must have caused him to make such a decision, she was humbled—and stunned by the magnitude of his love for her.

"When you had the stroke anyway, in spite of them taking the twins early, he saw it as his punishment for betraying his promise, and he was devastated and racked with guilt. No one expected the twins to live, and those damn doctors in San Diego didn't give us much hope you would ever wake up from the coma—and if you did, they said you'd probably have severe brain damage."

He looked her in the eye. "I don't have to tell you that Sam already knows what it's like to live with a disability. He didn't want that for you. He thought he'd lost everything, and he went off the deep end. I think he ignored the twins because he was afraid to love them." Dean's intense gaze morphed into anguish for his brother. "He's lost just about everyone he's ever loved, TJ—except for me and Bobby."

She pictured what it must have been like for Sam, the heart-wrenching pain he must have experienced. Her throat clogged with tears, and she didn't fight them as they slid down her cheeks.

Her respect and admiration for Dean was amplified tenfold. He'd been there for Robby and Sami Joy when she and Sam couldn't be, and he'd helped get Sam through a very sad, difficult time.

Dean looked down at Sami Joy, who was making little sucking sounds on her bottle. "Did he...has Sam told you about Jessica?"

"Yeah," TJ answered softly. "He told me."

He slanted a look at Robby. "You better burp him."

She was so engrossed in what Dean was telling her that she'd completely forgotten that she was still feeding Robby. He'd drunk almost the entire bottle without being burped. She felt bad and immediately got him to unlatch from the bottle and started burping him. His little belly was too full of air, and he spit up formula all over the shoulder of her pale yellow T-shirt. It broke some of the tension in the room, and TJ huffed out a small laugh. "Uh-oh."

Dean eyed the white burp cloth on his shoulder. "You need this."

She quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks with a few swipes of her hand and took the cloth, cleaning off her shoulder and wrinkling her nose a little at the sour-sweet smell of the spit-up formula.

Vern, who had been with Fern filling out release paperwork, came into the waiting room, pushing Fern in a wheelchair.

When TJ saw them, she got up and walked over to them, still cradling Robby in one arm and hugging Fern's neck tightly with her other. "Mama, thank God." She breathed in the perfumed scent of her mother and was flooded with love for her.

"Watch out, sugar," said Fern with a weak, self-conscious chuckle.

TJ drew back and saw that Fern was wincing. TJ had apparently squeezed her mother a little too tightly. "Oh, Mama. I'm so sorry!"

Fern waved a hand. "It's okay, hon. The back of my head is just a bit tender."

"Not to mention she has a monstrous headache," Vern added.

Fern scowled at Vern over her shoulder. "I'm fine. Nothing some Extra-Strength Tylenol won't cure." She noticed Robby in TJ's arms and reached for him. "Praise Jesus," she said sincerely, deep relief and joy on her face.

TJ was a bit reluctant, given Fern's condition.

Fern made an impatient noise. "I'm fine. Give that baby to me right now," she ordered, and TJ knew she'd better do what she was told. She handed Robby to Fern, and Fern hugged him to her chest and then bathed his cheek with kisses. "Grammy is so happy to have her baby boy back," Fern crooned. Robby smiled a gummy, dimply smile.

After a minute, Fern glanced up, noticed Dean standing nearby, and beamed at him. "Dean? Hey, sugar."

Dean smiled tiredly and bent down to hug Fern gently. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Thank you, hon." She motioned for TJ to come take Robby, and then Dean handed Sami Joy to her. Fern greeted Sami Joy in much the same way, bathing her with kisses. Sami Joy rewarded her with a kick of her legs and a dimply smile like her brother's. Fern laughed and hugged the baby to her again.

"Still nothing about Sam?" asked Vern.

Dean scrubbed a hand over his face and blinked like he was trying to wake himself up. "No. I'm gonna see if anyone knows anything at the reception desk."

Vern nodded, and Dean headed toward the desk. TJ noticed his slightly bow-legged gait. It fit him and underlined his easy self-confidence.

"Well," Vern said to Fern, his hands still on the push handles of the wheelchair she was in, "I think we need to get you home."

Fern frowned. "No. I'm stayin' until we know something about Sam."

TJ held Robby on her shoulder with one hand and squeezed her mother's wrist with her other hand. "Mama, please. We'll call you as soon as we know anything. You need to take it easy."

Fern just waved a hand in dismissal.

"Mama," TJ said in a chiding tone, "Sam would want you to go home and rest, too."

"What about the babies?" asked Fern.

"Dean and I can handle them. You're in no shape to—"

"Nonsense," Fern bristled. "I'm fine. I'll take me some Tylenol and be good to go."

Vern frowned at that. "Ferna Sue—"

"Vernon Nelek, I know what I'm capable of. I wouldn't take on those babies if I didn't think I could handle them." She looked at TJ. "They'll be fine with me, hon."

"Mama, it's not really the twins I'm worried about. I know you'll take good care of them, but you should be resting," TJ reiterated.

"I've rested enough all afternoon in this dang hospital. It'll be the twins' bedtime by the time we get 'em home," Fern reminded. She eyed the spit-up stain on TJ's top wryly. "Looks like you just got done feeding them. All I have to do is change them and get them ready for bed. Daddy will help me."

TJ glanced at Vern. He gave her a resigned nod of assurance, but TJ was still reluctant.

Fern looked indignant. "Lawsy, TJ. They'll be better off with their slightly-addled Grammy than they will here at this hospital, being exposed to God knows what-all kind of germs."

TJ sighed, giving in. "All right."

Fern smiled with satisfaction. "It'll be all right, hon. We'll get them in bed, and then I'll go to bed myself."

TJ eyed her mother sternly. "You promise?"

Fern gave a decisive nod. "I promise."

Dean came back from the reception desk with a doctor in a white coat and green scrubs as TJ was packing up the diaper bag and strapping Robby into one of the car seats.

"This is Dr. Bonner," Dean announced.

TJ did a double-take and then smiled, recognizing the portly, slightly balding doctor. He'd changed in six years, but she now realized that he was the husband of one of her more distant cousins, Beth. "Hey, Steve."

Vern and Fern seemed to recognize him at the same time. "Well, hello, Dr. Steve," said Vern, offering a hand to shake.

Dean rolled his eyes as if he should have known TJ and her parents would already know Dr. Bonner.

"Vern?" Steve greeted with a polite nod and a shake of Vern's hand. Then he took Fern's hand in both of his in a more solicitous gesture. "Miss Ferna Sue, how are you feelin'?"

"I'm fine, Steve. Just a bump on the head."

Vern huffed at Fern's understatement of her injury.

Steve grimaced. "Sure is a shame about Miss Liv. It's hard to believe she's the one that walloped you."

Fern's features clouded, and all she managed was a sad-sounding, "Yes."

"I guess you-all know Jeremy's been back with her since he got here," said Steve. "He's had a calming influence, but she's still not makin' much sense."

TJ felt a quiver of unease. She was no saint by any means, but she hated this whole situation—lying to everyone, worrying if the story they'd told would be believed, guilt for taking advantage of Liv's mental illness, worry for Sam; even sympathy for what Jeremy must be feeling at seeing his mom in such a state.

Vern schooled his features into an expression of cautious concern. "What's Liv been sayin', Steve?"

"Well, I haven't been treating her, but I just heard she's been saying stuff about flying through the air." He shook his head. "She's even been saying Sam threw her."

They were all silent for a beat, and then Dean spoke. "Sam didn't touch her."

Well, at least that part is true, TJ thought ironically.

Steve was still shaking his head. "Yeah. I know he didn't. Even if he had, it's obvious he couldn't have thrown her through the air, given his paralysis. She's delusional. Jeremy's working with the psychiatrist on staff here to get her transferred to a mental hospital in Lexington, one of the best. Since y'all aren't pressing charges, she won't be jailed."

TJ shared a look with her parents and Dean. They'd all spoken with the sheriff, who said their stories were basically a formality, anyway. Nobody had asked too many probing questions. As long as no one was pressing charges against Liv, the law officials tended to agree that the best place for her was a mental facility—as long as she would be under lock and key. Jeremy's family was well-respected around Tucker County. As long as the Winchesters and the Neleks were okay with it, everyone seemed to want to sweep the whole incident under the rug.

"Anyway, as I was telling Dean over at the desk," Steve went on, "we took Sam up for an MRI and a CT scan, and both came out clear." He scratched his bald spot. "We can't find any trauma to his head where Liv might have hit him. Quite honestly, I'm confounded by his condition and what could have knocked him out for so long."

Steve's uncertainty scared TJ. "Will he be okay?"

"Well, nothing is physically showing up on any of our tests. His vitals look good, and he seems healthy. The initial shock the paramedics reported was reversed by the IV fluids he was given, and even though he hasn't regained consciousness, he's made what we call 'voluntary movement.' I can't find anything that would make me think he won't be waking up soon."

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"They should have him settled in a regular room before too long. I'm trying to make sure it's private," he said with a wink, implying he was pulling some strings, "and you-all can go see him. We'll know more about when he can go home after he wakes up; but even if he wakes up fairly soon, I'd still like to keep him overnight for observation."

"He's gonna love that," Dean murmured with good-natured sarcasm.

Vern offered his hand to the doctor again. "Thanks, Steve."

"Sure. If you have any questions, call Beth."

Vern chuckled. "That's right. 'Cause Beth knows everything." Beth had always been kind of a bossy know-it-all, but she had a good heart.

Steve smiled indulgently. "Don't tell her she knows everything. I'm the one that has to live with her," he said with another wink.

Once Steve was gone and both twins were strapped securely in their car seats, TJ and Dean helped her parents carry the babies out to her car. She switched vehicle keys with her dad and gave Sami Joy and Robby tender kisses on the baby-soft skin of their foreheads, thanking God yet again that they were unharmed. Then she hugged her parents goodbye, thanking them for taking the twins home, and made Fern promise again that she would take it easy once she put the babies to bed.

When TJ and Dean made it back inside to the waiting room, Dean sat next to TJ and leaned his head against the wall. She could see that he was too tired to have a conversation, and she watched as he got drowsy and dozed off.

It was the first few moments TJ had really been able to stop and think about everything. The memory—the horror—of watching Liv almost severely burn or maybe even kill the twins replayed in her head. It made her sick to her stomach, but she couldn't hate Liv for it. The Aunt Liv she'd grown up with would never have hurt a hair on any baby's head—let alone babies she thought were Jeremy and TJ. The Liv from TJ's childhood had been a lively, sweet, fun, gentle, good woman—and a very loving mother.

TJ felt a deep, overwhelming sadness that such a wonderful person had been stricken with such a devastating and violent mental illness. It was shocking and hard to comprehend, and if TJ hadn't seen and experienced firsthand the depth of Liv's depravity, she would have been hard-pressed to believe it. She hoped the place Jeremy was transferring Liv to was a good place and a secure place. A very secure place.

TJ wasn't an expert on mental illness by any means, but she didn't have much hope after what she'd witnessed today that Liv would ever be the same or would ever be able to live independently again. TJ knew one thing: If Liv was ever released from wherever they took her, TJ wanted the twins to be as far away from her as possible.

"Nelly?"

TJ looked up to see Jeremy walking slowly toward her, hands in his jeans pockets and shoulders hunched. There was a haggard, hollow expression on his face. She'd never seen him look so dejected or so forlorn.

She felt sorry for him and stood, instinctively taking him into a hug. He held onto her like he was drowning.

Dean woke from his doze and instantly stiffened at seeing her hugging Jeremy. His accusatory gaze bored into her, making her feel uncomfortable, and she drew back, extricating herself from Jeremy's desperate embrace. She hadn't meant anything by it, just a friend comforting a friend, but she knew how it must look to Dean. She couldn't get totally free of Jeremy, however, and his hands remained on her shoulders.

When Jeremy spoke, he sounded bewildered and defeated. "What happened, Nelly?"

"Your mother almost deep-fried my niece and nephew," Dean interjected harshly, his features hard and unforgiving.

TJ winced at the horrible imagery his words evoked, but she couldn't blame him for his anger. He didn't know Jeremy, except for maybe what Sam might have told him, and she figured that probably hadn't been too favorable.

Jeremy blanched and looked shaken. She led him to a chair and sat next to him.

Dean shot up out of his chair as if he couldn't stand to be in such close proximity to Jeremy, skewering both TJ and Jeremy with a look of disapproval.

TJ realized Jeremy was getting blamed by association. "Dean, Jeremy didn't—"

"I'm gonna go ask again about your husband," Dean emphasized tersely, not letting her finish, "and then I'm going for coffee." He stalked off before anyone could say anything else.

TJ hated that Dean clearly thought she was betraying Sam. She would try to explain to Dean later what was going on, why she'd been hugging Jeremy. It wasn't what he thought, and it also wasn't Jeremy's fault that Liv had tried to hurt the twins. After all, TJ was the one that was supposed to have been watching her.

Jeremy was staring bleakly at a point on the floor, an empty, bereft look in his gray eyes. He met TJ's gaze, speaking in a low tone, aware of a few others who had trickled into the waiting room. "My mom kept spoutin' off something about the man in the wheelchair and his black, devil magic throwing her against the wall." He got a strained look on his face. "Obviously, she's out of her mind. But what really happened?"

TJ's stomach twisted at the thought of Sam and his display of telekinesis, and she was assailed by another pang of guilt that Liv was telling the truth but no one would believe her. TJ reminded herself that Sam had to be protected no matter what. There was no denying that he was...different. She couldn't say she hadn't been freaked out by what she'd seen him do, but did he have evil inside of him?

No. The more she got to know him, the harder it was to believe it was possible that there was even a drop of evil in him. Today, he'd done what he had to do to save the twins, and she wasn't even sure how much control—if any—he had over the power that had gushed out of him.

Besides, whatever was inside him that made him capable of the hocus-pocus had affected him worse than anybody else who had been there (well, except maybe Liv) and had taken an obvious toll on his body. TJ would never forget the grimace of pain that had marred his handsome face or the scariness of seeing him pass out. It made her heart ache, and she wanted to see him. She wanted to touch him and feel the warmth of his skin and see for herself that he would be all right.

"Nelly," said Jeremy, breaking into her thoughts, "tell me what happened. Sheriff Lockhart filled me in as best he could, but I want to hear it from you."

She sighed wearily. She really didn't want to tell the story again and gave the briefest account possible, following Dean's advice to keep the details of the "doctored" version of the tale to a minimum. "Liv got away from me at your house after she locked me in the pantry. We think she walked to my parents' house and knocked my mom out, then took the twins. Thank the Lord that Sam and Dean figured it out. They freed me from the pantry at your house, and we located Liv out in the barn in the stripping room. She was about to..."

TJ's voice faltered as a fresh wave of horror washed through her. She fought to maintain her composure, but her voice still came out a little shaky. "She was heating a large pan of cooking oil with the intent to pour it on the twins. She said she wanted to—to anoint them and purify them."

Jeremy's face reddened, his features crumpling into a look of shock and revulsion.

"It all happened very fast, and I was utterly terrified, but I think Sam tried to get to the twins. When he did, Liv hit him hard with a stick and knocked him out. He—he still hasn't regained consciousness."

Jeremy dropped his head into his hands, and his voice was filled with anguish when he spoke. "Good God Almighty."

TJ went on, praying he would buy the rest of the story. "Dean got into a struggle with Liv after she knocked Sam out. He hit her on the head to stop her before she could pick up the pan of hot oil."

Jeremy scrunched his fingers into his hair, his distress nearly palpable. Finally, he looked at her, his silvery eyes bright and brimming with moisture. "I'm sorry, TJ. I'm so sorry."

She put her arm around him and hugged him. "It's not your fault. You didn't know."

He pressed his forehead to his hands and then looked away, surreptitiously wiping at his eyes. After a moment, he spoke softly. "Maybe I did know. Maybe I just didn't want to admit it."

TJ frowned. What was he saying?

"I knew she was getting worse. I just didn't want to believe it. Suzie, the assistant we hired, warned me. Then, there was my mom's behavior at the birthday party. I should have seen it comin', Nelly. I was in denial." He looked queasy. "And those innocent babies almost paid the price."

The thought scared the bejesus out of TJ, and it brought home what was really important. She regretted how much precious time she'd wasted away from the twins. She was going to make it up to them—to Sam, too—and be the best mother she could possibly be.

Jeremy's eyes were intense. "She almost hurt your babies, TJ. Yours and Sam's. I'd never forgive myself if that had happened. It would have been my fault for not acting sooner—for not having her committed to a hospital sooner. I'm sorry. I thought—I hoped the outpatient therapy and the medication would be enough."

"She's your mom, Jeremy. No one blames you for not wanting to have her put away. I would be the same way if it were Fern."

He shook his head, not giving himself a reprieve. "It's not just that, Nelly. I—I think I've made things harder for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I should have stayed away from you. Sam asked me to. Well, he didn't exactly ask," Jeremy said dryly. "He told me to stay away, but I didn't. I was such an arrogant bastard." His face was the picture of remorse. "I've taken advantage of you—of the amnesia—and I think I've confused you more. You're married and you're a mother, Nelly. I should have given you a chance to see what that was all about, but I was selfish. I wanted you, I wanted my mom to be okay, and I went around pretending and living my life like I could have both."

TJ removed her arm from his shoulders and placed her hands in her lap, clasping them tightly and staring. Sam had confronted Jeremy. It was sort of a heady feeling knowing he'd done that.

"I said I'd never hurt you again, but I did. I'm so sorry. I owe Sam an apology, too, but I think he might shoot me if I show my face around him anytime in the next twenty years. And if he doesn't, judging by the way his brother looked at me earlier, he will."

She didn't say anything, but she knew Jeremy was right. Dean obviously didn't take too kindly to anyone who wronged his brother. Jeremy was better off steering clear.

"I wouldn't blame them if they did shoot me," Jeremy said. He paused for a moment, a look of bittersweet regret on his features. "I know that you're startin' to have feelings for Sam, Nelly—despite my best efforts—and it's clear as day that he loves you. I gotta hand it to the guy. He made you fall in love with him twice, and it didn't take him long to do it, either."

Love? She had strong feelings for Sam, yes, but it was too soon for love. Wasn't it? She'd really only known him a little over a month. Was it love, the way her body reacted instantly whenever he was near, the way his scent or the sight of his magician's hands or his dimples made her heart turn cartwheels and her belly tighten? That was just lust, right?

When he'd been sick, she'd felt protective of him, had wanted more than anything to ease his discomfort. Was that love or just compassion? Was it love that he made her laugh so easily, that she got misty sometimes just watching him with the twins? Was it love, the overwhelming feelings she'd gotten when Dean had told her what Sam went through after the birth of the twins, knowing how much he'd sacrificed for her?

Jeremy smiled faintly. "Yes, love," he drawled, sensing her turmoil. "Don't look so bewildered. And don't be afraid to go for it. After all, you married the guy. He's gotta have something going for him. The Nelly I know would never have settled for anyone less than her soul mate."

"I used to think that was you."

Jeremy's eyes brightened with moisture and he swallowed, taking a second to compose himself. "I know."

TJ sat there for a moment, letting everything he was saying soak in. He was coming clean and letting her go. The last vestiges of her fantasy—of having a life with him—were crashing and burning, and she hardly even felt it. She should be angry with him for taking advantage of her memory loss, but she wasn't. The simple truth was, she was glad he'd been there for her. She'd needed the familiarity of him to get her through the devastation and the utter shock of waking up married to a stranger and being the mother of two infants. But she hated how much her relationship with Jeremy must have hurt Sam.

Jeremy's confession—not to mention his astute observations—were making things easy for her, and her mind was finally starting to listen to what her heart had been telling her about Sam all along.

She gave Jeremy a wistful smile and squeezed his hand in a show of forgiveness. "I guess it's time we both grew up."

He nodded and then hung his head in a rueful manner. "You know, I was such an asshole. I told Sam I'd let you choose, that I wouldn't back off unless you chose him—and may the best man win."

TJ's brows shot up and she almost laughed with incredulity. She couldn't believe Jeremy had said that. Sam must have been so pissed—although, to his credit, Jeremy was still breathing.

Jeremy's gray gaze was suddenly penetrating and serious when he looked at her again, and she was sobered by it. When he spoke, he was sincere and earnest. "The best man won, Nelly." He squeezed her hand for emphasis. "And it ain't me."

XXXXXXXX

His brain was being pounded by a sledgehammer. He had a vague thought that this was one hell of a hangover, and he was never drinking again—ever. There were voices around him, speaking too loudly, and he tried to bat them away. Then the blackness set in again, and it was a relief.

When he woke again, it was to someone calling his name.

"Sammy?" It was Dean, and his voice was low and gruff.

Sam grimaced at the sound because it hurt his head, but he was instantly relieved Dean was there.

"Sam, open your eyes."

He did. Big mistake. He groaned at the sharp, searing pain that shot through his head when the light hit his eyes.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, man," Dean said. Sam felt Dean get up and heard the noise of lights being switched off. "There. Now try it."

Sam turned his head away. No way was he opening his eyes, even if the lights were off. He tried to swallow, but there was nothing but sawdust in his mouth.

"Here," said Dean quietly.

Sam felt a straw at his lips, and he groped for it blindly with his mouth, taking a sip. The liquid was water, and the coolness of it felt good going down his parched throat. When the water hit his stomach, however, it was a different story. He felt nauseous and clumsily pushed the cup away.

"Dude, you are so dehydrated, despite the IV. You need to drink more."

Sam grunted a refusal.

Dean sounded worried. "It doesn't help that you were nursing a bitch of a hangover before everything else happened."

Before everything else? Sam tried to sift through the tangle of pain in his head, tried to remember. "Where 'm I?"

"Hospital."

"F'ck," Sam cursed around his thick tongue.

Dean snorted. "Try to contain your enthusiasm."

Sam finally braved opening his eyes again, but only to slits. It was still painful, but it helped that Dean had turned out the lights. "Wha' happened?"

Dean's close-cropped hair and shadowy face came into focus. "Freaky demon power scrambled your eggs. Looks like you've got a migraine from hell." He looked pleased with his own wit. "Get it? From hell?"

"You're a j'rk."

Another faint chuckle.

"Vision?" Sam slurred out.

Dean's features tightened. "Not exactly."

Sam was wary. "What then?"

"Drink," ordered Dean, holding up the cup.

Sam ignored the proffered straw. "Tell...me." He sounded weaker than he would have liked.

"Not until you drink more."

Feeling too shitty to argue, Sam took a couple more sips and willed his stomach not to rebel. He gave Dean a look that said his brother had better start talking.

"You don't remember anything?"

Sam wanly shook his head.

"I'm gonna give you the short version." Dean's expression was grim. "Liv kidnapped the twins and wanted to baptize them—with smoking-hot cooking oil."

Memories came flooding back to Sam—finding the twins missing from their cribs, someone knocking Fern out, TJ locked in a pantry, Liv holding hot, smoking oil over Sami Joy and Robby. It made Sam sick with gut-wrenching fear, and he lost the battle with his stomach. "Dean..."

He didn't have to say more. Dean supported him and helped him lean over a plastic emesis basin, and Sam retched what little contents were in his stomach.

Afterward, Dean held the straw to Sam's lips again. Sam rinsed his mouth and spit the water into the basin. Once he was done, Dean helped him lie back against his pillow.

The rest of the nightmarish scene came back to Sam, how something had exploded out of him, some kind of power he had no control over; how he'd somehow thrown Liv across the room and diverted the burning oil away from the twins.

Dean seemed to sense that Sam remembered and gave an abrupt nod. "Yep. Your Criss Angel mojo saved the twins. They're fine. So is TJ."

Sam closed his eyes, relieved that the twins and TJ were okay but wary of what Dean and TJ were probably thinking of him. "The demon blood..." he started hoarsely.

Dean squeezed his wrist.

Sam had never felt so bleak, like he was truly at rock bottom—of the blackest pit on earth. He opened his eyes and looked reluctantly at Dean. "I guess there's no doubt that the...evil...in me is still there."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah. You're evil. You got me quakin' in my boots."

"Can't deny it..." Sam winced, feeling a particularly harsh pain shoot through his brain. "Can't deny it anymore, Dean."

"I'm not denying you're a freak. Nothing new about that. But you're more of the geek variety of freak. You're not evil."

Sam turned his head away. "I'm like the things you hunt."

"Look at me, Sam," Dean ordered.

Sam didn't respond.

"Look at me."

Sam resisted for a minute, but then finally rolled his head toward Dean.

"We're gonna settle this once and for all." Dean's expression was hard and direct. "I don't give a crap if some demon supercharged your blood with hoodoo. You are my little brother. You are not a monster. End of story. If I hear you talking that shit again about being evil, I will kick your ass."

Sam relaxed a fraction, despite the fact that he felt a sense of hopelessness and despair. Whatever Yellow Eyes had tainted him with, it hadn't died with the demon. But at least Dean was still his brother and would always have his back. Sam quirked a weak smile and closed his eyes, feeding Dean the standard joke. "Can't feel my ass."

"Get some rest, bitch."

Sam put his arm on top of his forehead—the arm an IV wasn't sticking out of. For some reason, the pressure of his arm soothed his head, made it feel like he was stopping it from exploding. "How long have I been out?"

"Several hours."

Sam felt completely wiped out and groggy, like he'd been out for days, and his head was throbbing with each beat of his pulse.

"I'm calling the doctor," said Dean with a worried scowl. "He'll need to check you out now that you're awake. We'll get you some of the good stuff for your head."

Sam let his arm drop back down to his side. "No. Jus' get me out of here. Wanna see the twins. And TJ." He scanned the dim room, wincing at the pain even the small movement of his eyes caused and started to lever himself into a sitting position. "Where's...my chair?" He was only up on his elbows and he already felt dizzy.

"Whoa, dude," said Dean, gently pressing a hand to Sam's chest.

Sam had no strength to resist and collapsed back onto his pillow, closing his eyes. "Where's TJ?"

There was a hesitation. "Like I said, she's fine."

Sam made the monumental effort to open his eyes again. "She with Jeremy?"

Dean's features were neutral—too neutral. "She's here. She'll come see you in a minute," he said evasively.

Sam shut his eyes, suddenly feeling like he was a hundred years old. "She's with Jeremy," he stated, answering his own question.

"She's just talking to him in the waiting room, telling him what happened."

There was something off in the tone of Dean's voice, an acidic edge to it he couldn't hide, and Sam knew there was more Dean wasn't saying. Was TJ out there hugging Jeremy, consoling him? Was he consoling her because his psycho mom had almost disfigured the twins for life? Sam felt heartsick, and he didn't want to know any more. He ground his teeth together, which made his head hurt worse.

There was a second of uncomfortable silence, and then Dean changed the subject. "Fern's gonna be okay. She's got a bad headache, but she felt well enough to take the twins home and put them to bed with Vern's help."

Sam forced himself to stop grinding his teeth and let out a sigh of relief. He was glad Fern would be okay. "'S good."

"So, if anybody asks, you were trying to help the twins when Liv whacked you over the head and sent you to migraine land. I don't know how much of our BS the doc or anyone else is buying, but no one's questioning it too closely, thanks to the good-ol'-boy network."

Sam nodded. "'Kay."

Dean patted him on the shoulder. "Go to sleep, princess—at least until the doc comes to harass you."

Sam's body wasn't giving him much choice. His head was killing him, and the only relief seemed to be the oblivion pulling at him. He started to drift off—his heart heavy as visions of TJ in Jeremy's arms haunted his dreams.

TBC