Chapter 24

Everything hurt.

And I mean everything.

My legs hurt, my arms hurt, my torso hurt, my chest hurt, my head hurt, my throat hurt, my neck hurt.

Was I in Hell?

"Rosie?" Dean was there. So Hell definitely wasn't out of the question. "Rosie you gotta wake up now."

Was I asleep? I thought I had died. I got bitten by a faerie, right? The poisonous, deadly, stupid faeries.

"You've been in this hospital for too long. The doctors say that everything is stable. They say you should wake up soon." I felt pressure on my hand and something running through my hair. "So come on Rosie. Wake up."

He sounded so sad. Was he sad because of me?

"Dean?" A voice broke the silence. It was scratchy and almost familiar.

"Rose!" Someone was holding my face. "Rose, please."

I tried to move but I couldn't tell if it was working. I squeezed my eyes tightly and tried to open them, but I didn't see anything.

A knock came from somewhere.

"Any changes?" Was that John?

"She said my name and she's been moving her fingers. I think she's trying to wake up." Dean said. I heard a groan and my throat started burning like it was on fire. "Rosie, come on."

"I'll go get a nurse," John said.

My eyes finally opened but there was so much light that I had to shut them quickly.

"Hey," Dean said softly, brushing my face. His touch went away for a second and I heard his footsteps move away before I could tell the room got a little darker. I opened my eyes again and saw him walking back to me from the windows. He grabbed my hand and kissed my forehead. "I'm so glad you're awake. You were unconscious for days."

"What happened?" I asked. I grimaced. It felt like I was swallowing burning hot razor blades. Dean grabbed a cup from the table next to my bed. It finally struck me that I was in a hospital. "I thought I got bit."

I took the cup and sipped the water that was inside it. It helped my throat, but not that much. Dean sat on the edge of my bed and set the cup back on the table.

"I don't really know what happened," he answered. "You just went down. I broke the rock and Dad had broken his moments before. You wouldn't wake but you were burning up so we brought you here. You got pneumonia."

"Seriously?" I asked. "All that and I got pneumonia?"

Dean laughed as John came back in the room followed by a doctor. They both smiled when they saw I was awake.

"Ms. Parker, I'm glad to see you're awake." I smiled softly and wondered where they thought of the name. "Your fever has gone down and your vitals are stable. You have fought through a wonderful recovery and I daresay you'll be able to leave as soon as we get your paperwork through."

I grinned.

"Lovely," I said. Dean squeezed my hand as the doctor left. John came up to the other side of the bed.

"Everything's done, the faeries are gone." He said. We all smiled. John took a deep breath. "I found another job in Texas."

Dean and I nodded. That meant he was going off on his own again.

"We'll meet up again after our next jobs." Dean said. John nodded and said his goodbyes before leaving. At least he had stayed until I was awake. He stopped at the door and turned back to us.

"Be careful." He said. He turned and left before we had the chance to reply.

...

Dean and I were back in the Impala after we had gone back to the motel room. I had been in desperate need for a shower and Dean was so kind as to let me have one. Of course, he had joined me after a while, but I digress.

"Where are we headed next?" Dean asked as I tried to find an internet connection on my laptop. There wasn't anything around so I shook my head and turned it off.

"We won't know until we get there I think," I said. He shrugged.

"That's okay."

After a moment of silence Dean glanced at me. He looked determined.

"You're my girlfriend." I turned in my seat to face him. I nodded slowly.

"Yeah," I said. Where was he going with this?

"Normal couples go on dates." My lips started to curl into a smile. I liked the way this was going. Keep talking Dean.

"And?"

"And I think that we should go on a date. A real one." He said. I could tell he was excited and I was definitely right there with him. I never expected Dean to be this kind of guy. "So what do you say?"

"I say bring it," I told him. He grinned and I leant over to kiss his cheek. "What brought this on?"

He shrugged. "I guess I just got to thinking in the hospital. I know you better than you think, Rose, and I know that you want to do things that normal couples do. I mean, why else would you have gone to all that trouble with your hair? Not that I'm complaining about any of it."

I grinned. "Did you have something in mind?"

"Well, there are a few things I've been thinking about." My eyes widened in surprise. This wasn't just a spur of the moment. He'd really been thinking about this.

"Tell me," I whined. I wanted to know very, very badly. He chuckled and shook his head.

"It's a secret." He said. I pouted, sticking my bottom lip out farther than normally.

"But I wanna know." He shook his head again.

"Curiosity killed the cat." He said. I rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat.

"Yeah, well," I turned to look out the window. I was full on pouting now and not just for show. "Satisfaction brought it back."

...

I had fallen asleep an hour or so into the car ride. As much as I had grown to like Dean's music it still didn't help keep me awake. Long car trips like this were just so insanely boring and no amount of Metallica or Blue Oyster Cult was going to change that.

"Hey," Dean nudged me and I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes. I looked around and saw we were in a motel parking lot.

"Where are we?" I asked, getting out of the car. We were definitely in a large city but it was hard to tell the differences between the places we've been. They all seemed to blend together.

"We are in Chi-Town." I looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He grinned. "Chicago."

I smiled. "I've always wanted to visit Chicago."

He shrugged. "Lucky we have a job here then."

I pouted, suddenly not as excited as I had been before. Of course we'd be here for a job. There was no such thing as vacation for us.

"What's the job?" I asked. Dean opened the trunk and I took out my duffel. He took his out too before closing it and walking towards one of the rooms with a key in his hand. He must have checked in while I was still sleeping in the car.

"Dunno yet." He said. He pushed the door open and I followed him in. It was a usual motel room, nothing fancy. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Then why are we here?" I asked.

"Because people are disappearing." I nodded, sitting down on the bed. He shut the door and dropped his duffel on the ground before taking a running jump onto the bed. He landed face down and I laughed at the sound of impact he made. He turned his head to look at me, suddenly more serious than before. "I want you to take it easy."

I rolled my eyes. "Please Dean, I feel fine."

He sat up against the head board and opened his arms, motioning for me to come closer. I did and I cuddled up next to him, throwing my legs over his and wrapping my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me and nuzzled his face in my hair.

"I know you do, you look fine too." I pulled my head away and gave him a look. He smirked. "And by fine, I mean damn fine."

I giggled and put my head back against his chest.

"But," I knew there was going to be a but, "you just got out of the hospital. Will you just promise to tell me if you start to feel sick at all? Please don't push yourself more than your body can handle."

"I won't," I told him.

"Yeah, right. I know you better than you think I do." I sighed and pulled my head away to look at him again.

"I promise I won't over exert myself." I told him, looking him straight in the eyes. He stared right back, making sure I wasn't lying. He nodded once he was satisfied. "So people are disappearing?"

He nodded and pulled my head back to his chest. I smiled.

"Let's just take a nap first before we deal with work." He said. I somehow only just noticed that he sounded exhausted. Of course, he probably didn't sleep a wink when I was in the hospital and then he had driven from Virginia to Illinois. I nodded and closed my eyes but I could tell from his deep breathing that he was all ready asleep.

He really amazed me sometimes.

...

I woke up and noticed it was a bit darker outside, but not completely dark. I pulled away from Dean's sleeping body and rubbed my eyes. The clock on the nightstand said it was four in the afternoon. I didn't know what time we had gotten here but I doubted that Dean would wake up anytime soon.

My stomach rumbled and I tried to remember the last time I had eaten something. I couldn't remember so I grabbed Dean's car keys and wrote him a note, telling him that I was going out to get us something to eat. Hopefully he wouldn't wake up until I got back, but you never know.

I left the motel room, closing the door behind me softly, and went towards the Impala. It was so dirty; we'd definitely need to get it cleaned. I was a little surprised that John didn't give us crap about it, but I'm sure he would have if he noticed how unorganized the trunk of the car was. If Dean and I ever got a break we would have to go through it and reorganize it.

I started the car and grinned when I heard the engine roar. Dean barely ever let me drive the car. It made no sense since I was a way better driver than Dean, but he really didn't love anything more than this car. Sure, you couldn't tell because of the mess it was in, but it was true. I drove around looking for someplace to get some food and I decided that I'd make something. The motel we had came with a small kitchenette so I stopped at the first grocery store I found.

I decided that we definitely needed a salad so I bought some fresh vegetables and I figured that Dean would like lasagna. They had freshly bakes pies and I grabbed a apple pie to get since Dean's second love was pie. I got what I needed and left. I saw a thrift shop on my way back to the motel and figured that I should stop and get the pots and pans that I would need, since the motel probably didn't have them. We could leave them in one of the cupboards when we left.

When I got back to the motel, Dean was pacing back and forth. I shut the door behind me and he finally looked up. He looked so relieved as he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around me.

"Where did you go? I thought you had disappeared like what's been happening. I called your cell phone but you left it here." He pulled away and glared at me. "Why didn't you tell me where you went? I was going crazy!"

"Going?" I asked sarcastically, pulling away. I set the bags on the table and walked over to the nightstand where the folded note I had left for him with his name in big, bold, capital letters and picked it up to show him. "'Dean, I got hungry but I didn't want to wake you. I'll be back with food soon. Mwah. Rosie.'"

He took the letter from me and reread it, a blush tinting his face. I smirked and kissed both his cheeks before taking out the giant pot and started heating some water.

"Oh," he said quietly. I chuckled.

"It's okay. Sorry I left my cell phone." I said, turning to look at him. "I shouldn't have done that."

"S'okay." He said. He looked through all the things I bought. "Whatcha making?"

"Lasagna and a salad. And I bought apple pie for desert." I told him. He nodded, obviously happy with the decision I had made. "You should start researching on my laptop."

"How?" He asked. "We don't know anything."

I rolled my eyes. "Look up the Chicago Tribune on the internet and read any articles that could be related to the disappearances."

...

I continued to make dinner, helping Dean whenever there wasn't something I had to be working on for the lasagna and I couldn't help but think about what Sam was doing. It had been more than a year since he'd left. I wondered if he was living in dorms or if he was having trouble with his classes. I wondered what classes he was taking or if he had decided yet what his major was going to be. I kind of always imagined him as a doctor when I thought about him going to college. He was an amazing writer, too. What did he do during the summer? Did he take any classes? When did his classes start up again?

I wondered if he had made many friends. He was a very easy going guy and was very approachable. I had no doubts that he'd had any trouble finding friends. I wondered if he had a girlfriend. He was quite a catch and I knew he'd make any girl happy, but I wondered if he would find a girl to make him happy. That is why he left anyway; to be happy. I sighed as I took the lasagna out of the oven.

It still hurt to think that as his best friend I hadn't been able to make him happy. I felt like I had let him down, like I had failed him. And now we didn't even talk to each other anymore. I hoped that he thought and wondered about me as much as I did about him. Did he even miss me? Forget about all the demons and witches and stupid ass faeries. Didn't he miss my friendship? I sure as hell missed having him to talk to.

Don't get me wrong, I was so deliriously happy with Dean. He's been amazing. There were just some things that I can't talk to Dean about. Like our pasts and our mothers. I'm sure if I asked him to listen he would, and I'm sure he had a bit more perspective about the whole 'mother' topic since we were both around the same age when we lost our mothers. But ever since Sam had left he had taken a big chunk out of me and all I felt there was loneliness, 24/7. It wasn't a void that my amazing boyfriend could fill; it was strictly a 'Sam-my-best-friend' zone.

"Hey," Dean came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my middle. "You've been staring at that lasagna for about ten minutes and I've gotta tell you that the smell is killing me."

I turned my head to look at him with wide eyes. "It smells bad?"

I sniffed and realized my nose was plugged. Dean narrowed his eyes. "No, it smells amazing. Why are you crying?"

I felt my throat constrict and I turned around in his arms and hid my face in his chest, sobbing. He tightened his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. "What's wrong, Rosie?"

"I miss Sam," I cried. I felt Dean sigh. "Why did he do this to me?"

Dean moved us over to the bed and as soon as he sat us down I curled up on his lap, still bawling my eyes out.

"He was my best friend and he treated me like I was gum under his shoe!" He sighed again and I knew he really didn't want to talk about his brother. I knew he was trying to forget about his brother because of what he did but I wasn't as strong as Dean was.

"I wish I could forget him." I whispered, my sobs finally dying down a little.

"I know," he said. We stayed where we were for a few more minutes before I took a deep breath and sat up. I started to wipe my eyes but Dean turned my face towards him and wiped them for me. He held my face gently and brought it closer to his so our noses were touching. He was looking intently in my eyes.

"Sam had to do what he felt he had to do," he said. "There were a thousand better ways that he could have done it, but let's remember who we are and what we deal with on a daily basis."

I chuckled a little and nodded.

"I hate that he left us, but I hate him so much more for hurting you like this." I closed my eyes to keep the tears from coming back. I wanted to tell Dean how much I loved him, but we hadn't said those words since that day at the B&B.

"And you know what?" He asked. I opened my eyes again and shook my head. He smiled softly. "He thinks that it's so easy to get away from everything he grew up with, but it's going to suck him back in one way or another."

I nodded and he kissed my nose. "Thanks."

"Do you feel any better?" He asked. I nodded and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Then what do you say we reheat that lasagna, because I am starving."

The next morning I woke up with a huge headache from my breakdown the night before. I took a shower but that didn't help so I searched through the first-aid bag for some painkillers.

"How you feeling?" Dean asked as I got out of the bathroom. I smiled.

"A lot better this morning." I turned to face him. "Thanks, for last night. I know you hate chick-flick moments and I try to tone it down for you. I was just really upset and I couldn't hold it in."

He put his hands on my shoulders. "You don't ever have to tone down the chick-flick moments with me. You are my girlfriend, and damnit, if you're upset I want to help make you feel better."

I nodded and he kissed me sweetly.

"I love you, Rosemary" he said quietly. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love you too, Dean."

...

...

So hopefully this chapter was a lot better than the last. Like I said before, I won't be updating Chapter 25 until next Sunday. I hope to get lots of reviews.

See ya next week. :)

-Erin