Interlude II

"C'mon, c'mon, answer the phone." White markers blurred together on the highway. The line rang. "Answer the phone!"

The call connected with a click. Someone fumbled for the phone. "Whaddya want?"

"Bobby?" For a moment, Sam didn't recognize the voice. Then it spoke again, calling him an idjit. "Bobby! Thank God! I need your help."

"What happened?" Sam heard paper shuffle. Bobby liked to sort his mail or rearrange books while talking - anything to keep his hands occupied. It helped him think.

"There was a relic smash n' grab in St Louis, and we got made while investigating. The guy we were working with bailed, and-" Sam took a breath before continuing, "- and Dean pulled a gun on the priest, and then he just passed out, Bobby, and we're in the car. And there's this book I think is cursed."

Bobby dropped a stack of books with a thunk so loud Sam winced on the other end. "When will you boys learn not to be damn fools? That story don't make a lick of sense!"

"He's barely breathing, Bobby." Sam glanced at Dean. His chest tightened and the empty highway began to blur. "I - I don't know what to do."

"Alright, just slow down - and I mean literally, Sam. I can smell that engine burning from Nebraska."

"Okay."

"Ya slowing down?"

Sam sniffed back his tears. "Yeah."

"Good. Now tell me where you are."

The Impala blew past a green road sign. "I'm on 70, about 60 miles outside Kansas City."

"Here's what you're gonna do, boy. You ready?" Bobby's voice assumed the Parent Tone as he took control of the situation. Sam straightened and gripped the wheel firmer.

"Yessir."

"Okay. You're gonna see a blue hospital sign somewhere ahead, and you're gonna follow it. Once you get there, get your brother into the ER. Then call me. Can you do that?"

"Call you. Got it."

"Hang tight, Sam. I'm on my way."

Sam flipped his phone shut and dropped it on his lap. The sky was growing brighter in his review mirror, but the road ahead was still veiled in darkness. The car was too quiet without one of Dean's cassette tapes blaring. The highway just seemed endless.

"I bet you think I'm being a baby," he said without looking. "I mean, I'm the one that left, right? I went off to college, and I was happy there. Why would I care?"

Sam cleared his throat. "But there's a difference between taking a different path than your family and watching everyone you love just … vanish. It's not the same. And you're probably thinking I'll just pull it together and move on if you die, but I won't. It hurts too bad.

"So sue me if I tried to force a miracle. I had to try. And I'm going to keep trying until there's no more reason to, okay?"

Dean remained silent.

"If I have to fight a witch, so be it. I don't care. I'd kill a whole coven." Sam nodded to himself. "You don't think I can do it, but I'll find a cure - and when I do, nothing's going to stop me from saving you."

A blue road sign directed Sam to the next exit for a hospital.

"Nothing."