Chapter Two

"Sammy!" Dean cried at the sight of his baby brother.

His younger brother was lying twisted on the floor beside his bed and for a moment Dean thought he was dead.

Dean lurched across the room and fell to his knees in front of his unmoving brother.

"Sammy, oh God," Dean reached out and brushed his sibling's bangs away from his eyes.

Dean's heart leaped into his throat when he saw that Sam's chest was rising and falling with breath.

Reaching forward, Dean heaved Sam's upper body so that his little brother's back was against his chest.

"Sammy," Dean whispered, his lips at Sam's ear, "Hey, wake up Sammy. C'mon, don't do this to me."

Sam began to stir weakly in Dean's arms and his older brother thanked their rarely-lucky stars.

"Sam?" Dean whispered at his brother, louder than before, "Can you hear me?"

"D'n?" Sam groaned and tried to turn his head to look at his brother.

"You're okay," Dean told him and raised one hand to feel Sam's brow.

Sam's skin was hot and clammy, like he had a fever, but that didn't make sense to Dean because he was sure his brother had been fine the day before.

"What-?" Sam began but Dean shushed him, hoisting his sibling up under the armpits and depositing him on the bed.

Sam struggled weakly to sit up but Dean stopped his efforts with a gentle hand on his chest, "Just stay there for a minute. I'll be right back."

Dean hurried into the motel's bathroom and grabbed a washcloth from the pile beside the sink. Turning on the water, Dean waited for a moment before it was as cold as it could possibly be before soaking the cloth and wringing it out.

Back in the main room, Sam was staring up at the ceiling confusedly, a small frown on his face.

The younger man started when Dean's face appeared in his line of vision and he gasped when his brother placed the cool washcloth on his brow.

"Leave that there a minute, Sammy," Dean instructed and picked up his brother's wrist to check his pulse.

Dean's frown grew- his brother's pulse was rapid and shallow- something was very wrong with Sam.

Thinking quickly, Dean did a mental tally of all the meds they had stuffed in their First Aid Kit and knew there wasn't a lot. Sam and Dean mostly kept Band-Aids, gauze bandages, Polysporin, needles and thread, and a couple of half-empty bottles of Aspirin and Tylenol handy in case one or both of them needed a patch-up job after a hunt.

Leaving his brother's side, Dean went over to where his duffle bag sat at the foot of his bed. He dug around for a moment until he pulled out the red and white plastic box and opened its clasps.

Dean grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and shook three gel capsules into his palm. He hoped they'd be able to bring his brother's fever down until they could get something better. He grabbed one of the cheap plastic complimentary cups from the bureau across from the beds and filled it with water from the bathroom sink before returning to his brother.

"Okay, Sammy," Dean said, helping Sam sit up, "These will make you feel better."

Sam looked blearily at his brother, as though trying to understand what Dean was saying.

Dean realized that Sam was too sick to figure out what he wanted so he pinched one of the pills between his thumb and forefinger and brought it up to his brother's mouth. Sam's glazed gaze met Dean's when the capsule touched his lips

Still looking confused, Sam opened his mouth a tiny bit and Dean managed to get the first pill in. Carefully, Dean raised the cup of water and helped his brother take a sip, making sure Sam swallowed down the medicine.

Sam's brother administered the next two pills the same way and let him drink down the rest of the water in the cup, hoping that it would help.

Once Dean was sure Sam was in no danger of choking, he settled Sam so that he lay down on the bed once more. Dean peeled back the washcloth and went to the bathroom to wet it again.

What's wrong with you Sammy? Dean thought as he laid the cloth on his brother's sweaty forehead once more. He thought that Sam might have gotten food poisoning but that didn't really make much sense; Sam had ordered a salad the day before at the diner- not a likely carrier of Salmonella- and the symptoms didn't really match up anyway.

Dean looked at his brother in sympathy as Sam groaned, the fever making him uncomfortable.

"Don't worry Sammy," Dean hushed him; "The pills should work their magic in a little while."

Dean stood and walked toward the door, stooped down and gathered up the take-out bags he had dropped and then promptly forgotten in his haste to get to his brother.

Everything had been placed in Styrofoam containers so aside from being a little jumbled around, the food was still edible.

Dean sat down on his bed and pulled his breakfast out- a breakfast sandwich made of French toast with bacon, cheese, a fried egg and ketchup- and took a large bite. Normally Dean would have closed his eyes in pleasure, maybe even made exaggerated chewing noises just to annoy his brother but now Dean barely tasted the food. He kept his gaze locked on his brother as he wolfed down the lukewarm sandwich.

All thoughts of spending some quality time with the little barista from the diner flew from Dean's mind as he watched his brother fidget and whimper on the bed.

Once Sam was calm enough Dean would go out and get some much needed supplies that would help with the flu- that was the only thing that Dean could imagine Sam had picked up- and prepare for a difficult few days of nursing his younger brother back to health.

1. Edited by BerserkerHellHound- Thanks Sis!

2. Thanks to d767468, BranchSuper, SPN Mum, CandyCakes, JustAnotherSensitiveArtist, maxandkiz, sammynanci, Samstruck, L.A.H.H, Lucydolly22, Faye, missingmikey, AlxM, Kirabaros, RainbowBetty, Serenityhimesheppard, emebalia, and SpanaHana for reviewing.

3. Thanks to everyone who alerted/favourited.

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