I love all the reviews, thanks guys!

Now - third chapter.

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Dean arrived outside the motel room exactly an hour and forty-two minutes later. He turned off the engine of the Impala and didn't give his things a single thought before rushing to the door. Dean was quite surprised to find the door unlocked because that was a thing that happened very rarely, and only if all three Winchesters were home at the same time. Dean slowly pulled out his gun as he stepped inside the motel room, hoping his brother would be okay. The main room of the motel room was abandoned, except for some empty food wrappers and a lot of empty beer bottles. Dean let out a sigh and shook his head, knowing very well who had left those bottles behind. Dean moved further into the motel room until he reached the door to bedroom he shared with Sam, and slowly pushed the door open. He was immediately hit by the smell of vomit and Dean let his eyes scan the room for the reason why. The room seemed empty though - well except for a pile of blankets on one of the beds that looked a whole lot like….

"Sam.." Dean said with concern and put his gun away before carefully approaching his baby brother.

The source of the distinct smell of vomit was not hard to find. There was sickness down the bed and on the floor, Dean could see as he crouched down next to the huddled up figure that was known as his brother and he reached out a hand to touch the thirteen-year-old's forehead. He almost flinched back in sheer surprise of how much heat that was radiating off his little brother's skin and Dean's concern rose tremendously. Sam's eyes were closed but his small frame was shuddering, and he was pale as a sheet.

"Sammy.." Dean said in a soft voice and let his hand gently card through Sam's sweaty bangs, before he let his hand rest against Sam's cheek. "Sammy?"

Sam seemed to respond to Dean's voice because he shifted a little and leaned into his brother's touch while letting out a soft groan.

"Sammy.." Dean said again and gently shook Sam's shoulder.

This time he was rewarded when Sam's glassy eyes slowly fluttered open and circled a bit around before focusing on his big brother's face.

"Hey little brother." Dean said with a smile that went away the moment after, as Sam's eyes filled with tears and the younger brother softly started crying. "Hey hey, it's okay Sammy. You're not alone anymore, I'm right here."

"Dean.." Sam sniffled, his voice weak and hoarse. "I thought you would never come home."

Dean's chest tightened by those words, but he offered Sam a little smile and caressed his little brother's cheek with his thumb.

"Of course I would come home Sammy." Dean said in a soft voice. "Where's dad, Sam? Does he know you're sick?"

"Don't know.." Sam said in a small voice and weakly coughed.

Dean clenched his jaw. He couldn't believe his brother had been lying here sick and alone, while their dad had been off doing God only knows what. And he was the one who always preached about how important it was to keep Sam safe? Dean decided to push all thoughts about their dad aside for this time being, he would deal with him later – right now he had a sick brother to take care of. And boy, was his brother a mess.. Besides looking like a zombie, shaking violently and having what Dean could only assume was a high fever, Sam's pillow and clothes were covered in puke.

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up buddy and try to get that fever down." Dean said and got up from his crouching position, before taking off his jacket and throwing it on the other bed.

Dean pulled the blankets off Sam and he then - to his big regret - noticed that Sam hadn't only vomited down himself but had also soiled himself, and Dean had to take some deep breaths to control the rising anger towards his dad. Three days! Dean hadn't been gone for more than three days, and still his dad had managed to neglect his baby brother in a way that was quite unforgivable. November the 2nd or not, Dean had some serious things to tell his dad when last-mentioned got home!

"Dean.." Sam said with a shiver, breaking Dean out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm right here.. I've got you Sammy.." Dean said before lifting his sick brother up and started carrying him to the bathroom.

Dean pushed the door to the bathroom open with his shoulder before carrying Sam inside the small room.

"Dean.." Sam said and swallowed hard a couple of times.

"You gonna be sick?" Dean asked and was already lowering Sam down in front of the toilet as the younger boy nodded.

Sam was too weak to keep himself up, so Dean held him up by placing an arm around Sam's chest and placed the hand on his other arm on Sam's forehead to keep him from nose-diving into the toilet bowl. Sam then started throwing up what little contains he had left in his stomach. Dean tightened his hold on his brother as Sam whimpered and weakly clenched the fabric of Dean's jeans.

"Shh, I'm right here." Dean soothed. "Just let it out Sammy.. Don't fight it.."

Sam gagged and spit a few more times until Dean thought it was safe to ease him back up.

"I've got you, I've got you.." Dean said in a soft voice to let Sam know that he wouldn't let go of him.

He held Sam close against his chest while flushing the toilet and then half dragged, half carried Sam towards the bathtub. Dean lowered Sam down to the floor and propped him up against the side of the bathtub and – without letting go of Sam completely – reached over to turn on the water so the bathtub could get filled. Dean made sure to keep the temperature of the water on a mean level, so that the fever could hopefully fall a bit while Sam didn't freeze to death in the process.

"Alright Sammy, let's get you out of these clothes.." Dean said and gently pulled the ruined shirt off Sam before getting started on the rest of Sam's clothes.

Sam didn't look embarrassed or complain about Dean's ministrations or anything, which Dean did not see as a good sign 'cause that meant Sam was really feeling bad. When Dean was satisfied with the amount of water in the tub, he turned off the faucet and then lifted Sam into the water. Sam let out a gasp as the water felt cold against his burning skin and he clawed at Dean to get back up.

"Easy, easy.." Dean said and held on to Sam so that he wouldn't slide under the surface. "We have to get you a bit cleaned up, alright?"

Dean reached out for a washcloth and gently started washing Sam's face and body with it.

"You okay Sammy?" Dean asked and looked into his little brother's half-mast glassy eyes.

"C-cold.." Sam responded.

"I know.." Dean said softly. "I'm done in a moment and then I'll get you nice and warm, okay?"

Sam weakly nodded and Dean gave him a little smile, before he finished cleaning his baby brother up. Dean lifted Sam out of the tub and wrapped him in a couple of towels. He then grabbed the first-aid kit and took it with him as he carried Sam back to the bedroom. Dean put Sam down on the older brother's own bed and got Sam dressed in some clean clothes, before quickly going to the kitchen to find a bottle of Ginger ale in the fridge. Dean always made sure they had a bottle of Ginger ale for situations like this – a thing he'd learned to do after dealing with a sick Sammy over the years. Dean returned to the room, found some Tylenol in the first-aid kit and sat down on the edge of the bed before easing Sam into a sitting position.

"Sam, I want you to take these for the fever, and some sips of the Ginger ale for your stomach, okay?" Dean said.

"'Kay.." Sam said and held out a shaky hand.

Dean gave him the Tylenol and then helped him hold onto the bottle of Ginger ale while Sam took a few sips of it, so that Sam wouldn't drop it.

"Good job buddy.." Dean said and put the bottle of Ginger ale on the nightstand, before easing Sam back down on the pillow.

Dean tucked the blankets closely around Sam and then let his hand rest on Sam's forehead for a moment. Sam was still warm, but Dean was satisfied with the fact that the fever seemed to have come down a little bit.

"Dean.." Sam said and fought to keep his eyes open.

"Yeah Sammy?" Dean asked.

"Are you really home?" Sam asked.

"Yes I am." Dean said. "And I'm taking care of you. I'm not going anywhere Sam, so just close your eyes and get some sleep, okay? I'll be right here when you wake up again."

Sam kept looking at Dean as he slowly blinked a couple of times. Then his eyelids closed and Sam's breathing evened out which meant that he'd fallen asleep. Dean sighed and washed a hand down his face while watching his brother sleep. Dean couldn't help but imagine what could have happened if he hadn't come home and had found his brother in this state. One thing was for sure though – Dean had a thing or two to discuss with John Winchester when he got home! But until then, Dean leaned back against the headboard of the bed, placed a hand on his little brother's chest and let the steady rhythm of Sam's breathing sooth him.

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TBC….

Please review, thank you ;)

-Elisa.