KaterinaPetrove-Winchester: Thanks! Hopefully you'll still feel the same way through out!
CastielMyAngel: Thank you for your support! I think before I make any decisions about continuing, I'm going to see how well this turns out. but you're right, it does take some time for certain things to get that kind of feedback.
ooo a jellybean: I forgot about your other question, sorry! Basically, Ella is going through each phase of entering the AU. Phase 3 is when other humans (aside from Zach and Dave) can see her... and that's also why she get's the Revelation Candle brand. Thanks for your review, and hopefully things will be less confusing!
DEAN4LYFE:You seriously made my day when I saw that I had so many reviews! Thank you so much for taking your time, and I'm glad you're responding to it so well. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm going to have to think about it before posting up Part II. The main reason I put it up was for feedback, otherwise I was just writing it for fun. I know it's going to take some time, I just don't think I am getting the same response as other stories who've had a shorter lifespan are. (Maybe I'm just being stupid, and their stories are just 4353895x better!) Thanks again, and hope to hear from you again!
Loving the reviews everyone! Please keep giving me feedback, and I hope you have fun reading the next chapter!
14
There were roses in my hand. I didn't know why. When I looked up I saw Dave in a suit, and he was smiling. Where was I? Without looking around, I could hear people crying (I seemed to be crying myself), and someone was saying a prayer. A funeral.
I knew I was dreaming though, because I felt like the funeral was for Dave, and he was standing there in front of me like some spirit, and he said, "It's good to see you."
As my eyes were opening I could feel this terrible ache in my head, and my left arm felt rather strange, like it was asleep or something.
"Ella?" Zach's voice called. "You're awake!"
I eventually got my eyes to open all the way, to see Zach giving me a warm-hearted smile. I looked at my left arm and saw it was wrapped in bandages.
"Yea, you sprained your arm." Zach said. "And you have a concussion."
"Oh," I said resting my head back. "What happened?" I asked.
"We got into an accident. A truck hit us." Zach replied. "The driver must have called an ambulance. We were so far out that they had to take us to Lincoln."
"A concussion, huh?" I asked.
"It's surprisingly good, compared to what could've happened." Zach explained. "I mean Dave's not doing too well."
"Why?" I asked. "What happened to him?"
Zach sighed and took a seat on the bed.
"The doctors say he has serious head trauma and they won't be able to find out more about his condition until he wakes up." He said. "They're really doing much else about it either." He added.
"What did your dad say?" I asked.
"I haven't told him," Zach replied. "I was just about to though."
"I want to come with." I said.
The doctor strolled in with a clipboard in hand, crushing my spirits.
"You are not going anywhere, young lady." He said. "You've got a mild concussion, you need to relax. You slept through the night, so we just want to see how you function through out the day, and make sure everything else is fine."
"Okay, I guess." I replied.
"So hang tight." The doctor told me as he left the room.
"On the Brightside, your brands are all pretty much healed." Zach said. "The book was right. They do heal quicker and quicker."
"They also become more and more painful." I added. "Seriously though, I want to come with you to talk to your dad about Dave."
"I'm not one to go against doctor's orders." Zach told me.
I only rolled my eyes and got out of the covers.
"It's only a mild concussion," I insisted. "I'll be fine."
I got off the bed and examined my white t-shirt and hospital… pants.
"They would not have these in real life." I said.
Zach reluctantly led me to John's room. John was lying in the hospital bed with a sling holding his arm.
"Hey Dad," Zach greeted up on entering.
"How are you guys doing?" John wanted to know.
"I have a mild concussion," I said almost braggingly.
"I'm lucky I only dislocated my shoulder." John replied taking a drink of water and setting it back on the tray. He turned to Zach. "How's Dave?"
Zach shifted uneasily.
"Not good," He said. "The doctor's saying they won't know his condition until he wakes up—if he wakes up."
He took a seat in a chair that stood beside the bed.
"I say if the doctors don't do anything, than we do." Zach went on. "We can find someone who can fix him or something."
"It's a long shot, but we'll look." John said. "Where's the colt?"
Zach only rolled his eyes.
"It's in the Impala, and I already called Bobby. He's towing it back to his place." Zach replied growing annoyed.
"I need you to pick up some things from Bobby's," John said handing a list to Zach. "It's stuff to ward off a demon, in case it's hunting us."
Zach read the list and made a face.
"Dad, all of this stuff is to summon a demon." He said. "You're planning on bringing it here so you can have some stupid one on one fight?" He questioned angrily.
"I have a plan, Zach." John tried explaining calmly.
"Why are you planning anything at all?" Zach demanded to know. "Your son is dying! Is this honestly all you care about?"
"Zach," I said trying to calm him down.
"No, that isn't all I care about!" John yelled starting to grow quite angry himself. "I'm doing this for Dave!"
"How is this in any way helping Dave?" Zach said. "It's just your own stupid, selfish, obsession!"
"Yea, well it was your obsession too, at some point," John argued. "And if you didn't take the shot when you had the chance we wouldn't be in this mess!"
This argument was taking a turn for the ugly.
"You guys," I tired.
"Dad, if I killed that demon, I would have killed you too!" Zach hollered.
"Maybe but you're brother would be awake right now! John said.
Uh-oh. There was a long silence and those were never good.
"You're really going to blame me?" Zach asked.
"I knew doing this with you would be a mistake," John started.
Suddenly, the glass of water from John's tray hit the ground breaking. I knew this episode.
"I full on Swayzed that mother," I muttered to myself, grinning because I could practically hear Dave say it. It was just another one of my favorite lines.
"What did you say?" Zach wanted to know.
"Nothing," I replied quickly tugging at his jacket. "We have to go to Dave's room." I turned back. "It's good to see you're doing well, John!" I told him as we left.
"What's going on?" Zach wanted to know.
He led me to Dave's room and I only saw machines and IV's hooked up to him. As I approached his sleeping body, I saw that he looked so peaceful again. I turned to Zach.
"He can hear us," I said. "He's roaming the hospital like some sort of spirit. You need to try to communicate with him."
"I have an idea," Zach told me. "But I need to go to Bobby's first, and that's about an hour out from here. Can you stay here with Dave?"
"Sure," I replied.
"Thanks, Ella."
But when Zach left, and I had been sitting beside Dave's bed for ten minutes, I couldn't stand it, and decided to go for a walk in the hospital.
"Dave," I said. "If you're here, can you walk with me?"
To be honest I felt a little silly doing that, but I felt kind of sad looking at Dave's body like that, and not being able to actually talk to him. I missed someone calling me Cru, and sitting there wasn't helping.
So while I went down to the level beneath us and walked passed each room, looking at people sitting beside their loved ones, I could've sworn that Dave was walking right next to me the entire time, which made me rather happy. It was like having an invisible friend that you knew so well, and therefore undoubtedly had your back. Then I felt sad, because I felt so bad that I couldn't see him, and I couldn't undoubtedly have his back.
In no time my train of thought was rudely cut short when I started screaming. People turned their head's immediately, and quickly I covered my own mouth and locked myself in a conveniently placed supply closet. (In real life, those things would be locked.)
I had to lift up my shirt to keep it from burning up, as the brand seemed to take its place on my ribs.
Hot tears sprang from my eyes in no time. My hands hunted for something to place between my teeth as I was already biting my lip, reopening the wound made from the last time I was branded. Luckily, I was able to find a stack of towels folded up on a shelf, and I pulled one down, shoving it in my mouth. I crashed down to the floor, unable to take the throbbing coming from my rib cage, not to mention my sprained arm.
I remember seeing the Battle Scars in the book and thinking how unpleasant it was going to be to receive those considering they were the size of what an actual attack from a creature would be.
This was worse than unpleasant. It's difficult to explain the pain, but I could tell you most of it was a blur. I thought I was hallucinating because I could've sworn I heard Dave's voice say "Cru!" more than a few times.
I could also say that it was so excruciating, I thought I was going to die.
The thing that bothered me the most (aside from the burning) was the smell of my own flesh being cooked, and with my mild concussion contributing, the feeling of nausea overwhelmed me. I needed to throw up. I couldn't find anything in visible reach I could use to throw up in and no way was I going to make it to the bathroom without drawing attention to myself.
I wanted to be invisible again.
I was going to throw up on the floor.
"Dave!" I cried in a sudden act of desperation, pulling the towel out of my mouth. "Dave, I know you can hear me! I need help! I'm going puke!"
I shoved the towel back in my mouth. If I said another word I would probably just throw up right then and there.
Suddenly a bucket came rolling down from one of the top shelves, and I crawled my way over to it, puking my guts out after moving the towel out of the way.
The pain kind of stopped, and suddenly the stamp of the strange pictures underlined each scratch. I had grown so tired, I couldn't even scream, and I passed out next to the bucket that had my puke in it. Gross.
I woke up in my dorm bed, but it was different somehow. My roommate was in her bathrobe, and I knew I was just dreaming because she started to do some exercises out of nowhere telling my how pumped she was.
When I really woke up it was in the supply closet, and my ribs were still aching. I reached for some rubbing alcohol, my hands shaking uncontrollably, and unscrewed the cap. I lifted my shirt up and basically poured the whole bottle on my ribs, letting out a small cry of pain. My shaky hands rummaged through some things looking for bandages to patch myself.
My attention was diverted to the door once I heard someone place a key, and unlock the door. To my relief it was Zach who was just picking the lock. He quickly rushed to my side.
"Are you okay?" He asked scooping me up.
"I got branded." I told him. "How did you know I was here?"
"I bought a Ouija board to communicate with Dave." Zach explained sheepishly. "He gave me the room number and your name, so I figured something was wrong and I got here as soon as I could."
He opened the door and carried me out.
"Wait!" I cried, making him stop. "I threw up in a bucket in the closet."
Zach deliberated with himself for a moment, then shrugged.
"Maintenance will take care of it." He said.
A doctor approached us.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Everything's fine," Zach said, "She was just feeling a little light headed."
"There are wheelchairs if she needs to sit down." The doctor suggested.
"Her room is really close by," Zach said carrying me off. "Thank you though!"
"What else did Dave tell you on the Ouija board?" I asked, as Zach climbed up the stairs.
He took a deep breath and stared at the ground.
"A reaper is after him." He said darkly.
"I remember this," I said.
"Really? So that means Dave lives right?" Zach asked blatantly ignoring the obvious.
"Yea," I said as we entered my room. He set me on the bed.
"You don't sound as excited as you should be." Zach observed.
"I am." I insisted. "I just think that if we saved John then it shouldn't it be different? Shouldn't we not be in the hospital like I remember in the episode?"
Zach smiled to my surprise.
"That actually makes me feel better," He said. "That means if I had shot Dad, Dave would still be here."
I scowled.
"I just mean that it's not my fault Dave's dying." Zach reiterated.
"It never was," I assured him. "Speaking of your dad, does he know about Dave?"
Zach took a seat and nodded.
"He didn't take it well, though." He said. "He's just angrier at Azazel for putting us here."
The doctor walked in with his handy clipboard, wearing a disappointed look on his face.
"I thought we agreed we weren't going to roam." He said.
"We just went to visit our dad." Zach explained. "I told her to stay behind but you know how younger sisters can be."
That comment literally made me feel all fuzzy inside.
"Speaking of which, I think I'm going to go check on him." Zach said getting up and leaving the room.
The doctor wrote a few things down and took a seat beside my bed.
"Has anything happened that you think you should mention?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"I just got really nauseous earlier." I told him.
"Nausea and vomiting are fairly standard in mild concussions." He explained. "But as long as you weren't repeatedly vomiting then, it shouldn't be anything too concerning."
"I didn't vomit more than once," I said.
"Good, and any trouble walking or muscle weakness?" He asked writing on his clipboard.
I shook my head.
"Good," He replied writing more down.
Behind the doctor, Zach appeared, a very concerned look on his face.
"Well I'm sure everything is going to be fine with you," the doctor said getting up. "Just hang around until your dad and brother are checked out, and hopefully everything with you will remain fine. Honestly out of everyone you escaped with the least cuts and bruises."
"That's good news," I said with a half-hearted smile.
"Alright, you have a good day." He said leaving.
Zach shut the door behind him, and took a seat beside me on the bed.
"Dad wasn't in his room." He said. "Do you think he's in trouble?" He asked.
"No," I lied. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation."
Something was wrong. I didn't know what, but I could tell that the way things were going didn't make sense. I mean how could everything be the same in this episode even after we already changed the last one? Shouldn't there have been a change in the storyline? Shouldn't we have ended up back at Bobby's instead of in the hospital because of that car accident?
"You're probably right." Zach said getting up. "Hey I was going to go visit Dave. Are you up for coming, or would you rather rest for a little while longer?"
"I want to see him," I said climbing out of the covers.
I followed Zach down the hall, and as soon as we approached Dave's room, a group of nurses rushed in after a doctor. Zach and I hurried to the room.
"What's going on?" Zach wanted to know.
A nurse came and tried pushing us out of the room.
"What's going on?" Zach demanded growing angry. "He's my brother I want to know what's happening."
"Your brother appears to be waking up," the nurse explained. "But we can't tell you much more just yet. You're going to have to wait out until we have everything sorted."
Zach reluctantly agreed and we sat outside Dave's door waiting patiently for him to come to.
"He'll be fine," I assured him. "He's Dave."
We probably waited a good fifteen minutes before the nurse's left and the doctor came up to us.
"Your brother's doing good," He said with a smile. "There's luckily no brain damage from his head trauma. You can see him if you like."
I followed Zach in as we moved towards Dave's bed. He was looking considerably better, guzzling down the water the nurse's had brought in for him.
"How are you doing?" Zach asked.
"Good, I guess." Dave replied.
"It looks like you got the best of that reaper, huh?' Zach said with a smile.
"What reaper?" Dave asked with a scowl.
"You don't remember?" Zach asked. "You were stuck in spirit-land or something and there was a reaper after you."
"How do you know?" Dave wondered.
Zach shifted uneasily.
"We communicated through a Ouija board." Zach replied sheepishly.
"And it worked?" Dave asked in shock.
"You really don't remember anything?" I asked.
He shook his head in response. Another bad feeling crept up. I didn't like how all of the big pieces of this puzzle were conveniently misplaced.
"Why?" He asked.
"Nothing," I replied. "I just got another brand, and I asked your… spirit for help and I think you heard because you helped me out."
"Yea," Zach added. "You told me that she was stuck in a room down stairs, and I found her."
"Well I guess spirit-me is awesome." Dave said with a side smile. "Just like non-spirit-me."
I rolled my eyes. At least now we knew the same old Dave was still there.
"The doctors told me you were up," Johns voice said from behind.
"Dad," Dave said straightening himself up. "It's great to see you're okay."
Before John could say anything Zach turned to him.
"Where were you?" He wanted to know.
"What do you mean?" John asked.
"I went to your room earlier and you weren't there." Zach said crossing his arms.
"I was just taking care of some things." John replied.
"Oh really?" Zach asked in an accusatory tone.
Like a reflex, my hand went to his arm as though I was about to stop him from making any other verbal attack. He looked down at me and I gave him a cautionary look.
"Don't do this now," I advised in a quiet voice.
"I just want to know where you were." Zach said ignoring me.
"Zachie, I don't want to fight." John said. "Half the time we're fighting I don't even know what we're fighting about."
This seemed to silence Zach, who unfolded his arms and just looked at Dave.
"Do you think you can grab your old man a coffee?" John asked.
"Yea," Zach said leaving the room.
"Coffee!" Dave cried. "Yes, that's what I want. Cru, can you grab me one?"
I laughed.
"Sure," I said starting to run after Zach in order to catch up to him.
"You were right," Zach said to me once I reached him. "I shouldn't have gotten angry at Dad."
"It's okay," I said with a shrug. "You're just concerned. To be honest, I am too, kind of."
"I guess, but we shouldn't be." He told me. "I mean everything has worked out after all of our hard work. For once we should go without questioning it."
He was right, but I couldn't help but shake this feeling. It was so frustrating too, because I felt like one of the book or TV characters I always yelled at for not seeing the obvious, or for not taking some course of action that could avoid serious emotional turmoil. Why did I have to forget the important stuff?
Zach let me go first in line when we reached the hospital's cafe, and got stuck behind when an intern started flirting with him. I ended up having to get both coffees and made my way towards the exit, stopping to hand Zach John's cup.
"You can take this one," I said handing it over.
Zach stopped and turned to the intern.
"This is my little sister," He said somewhat nervously. "Ella."
"Hi," the intern said. "I'm Joan. I'm an intern at the hospital."
"Hey," I said. "Sorry to steal my brother, but I think our dad's waiting for us."
She looked disappointed.
"Oh, right." She said sheepishly. "It was nice meeting the both of you."
"You too," Zach replied walking out of the shop.
"Seriously, bro," I told him. "You gotta cool it on the whole chick magnate thing."
"The what?" He asked.
"Although, I guess it's not your fault." I added.
"Oh no," Zach said. "She was just being polite."
I snorted.
"Seriously!" Zach defended.
"Oh really?" I asked. "Then how come she wasn't just being polite to the other guy in line? Or how come she wasn't just being polite to the old man who was sitting by himself?"
"I don't-"
"I know why," I proclaimed. "It's simply because your butt is cute."
"Every single time you say that, I get really self-conscious." Zach complained.
"Self-conscious? You should embrace it." I said. "I know plenty of girls who have."
"Have you?" He asked nervously.
"Oh please," I told him. "At the risk of sounding like a total nerd, I do not watch this show because I'm interested in your good looks." I stopped myself. "Well…"
"Oh no," Zach muttered.
"Hey!" I said. "That's not the only reason why I watch this show. I watch this show because it is good television. You guys are great actors, and you do an awesome interpretation of the characters from the books. The stories are all original, there's a good balance of drama and action, and it's basically a combination of everything awesome." I said.
"Thank you… I guess." Zach responded, and before I could continue someone came running behind us.
"Hey wait!" Joan the cute intern cried.
Oh boy.
"Don't leave me," Zach pleaded.
"Sorry, bro." I said. "You're on your own."
As I was walking away I could hear Joan explain why she felt like she couldn't miss life's fleeting chances and that's why she had to give Zach her number. Poor girl thought she was in a romantic comedy. This show was about the supernatural. Not "life's fleeting chances". I was close enough to hear Zach pull the My-Fiancé-Died-A-Year-Ago card.
Yikes.
Still their conversation seemed to carry on as I made my way back to Dave's room with a smile on my face. Zach was right. We didn't have to question every good thing that happened for us, and right now, I felt a lot of good happening for me.
As I approached Dave's room, however, that feeling changed.
"I should've been the one telling you everything was going to be okay," John said. "Not the other way around. And I guess-" He took a deep breath. "I guess you not being here made me realize that."
"Dad," Dave's voice said.
I peeked, to see John lean over and whisper something in Dave's ear. Dave seemed shocked, but did not say another word. I couldn't just stand there. I had to make myself known.
"Zach got held up by a cute intern named Joan," I said walking in. Seriously? That was how I decided to "make myself known"?
"Zach got a who named what?" Dave wanted to know taking the coffee in his hands.
"Yea," I said. "He's on his way with your coffee, John."
"Did he pull the My-Girlfriends-Dead stunt?" Dave asked knowingly.
"Yes," I replied. "Ironically, it seemed to intrigue her even more."
"I know," Dave said with a smug look on his face. "I told Zach to tell that to chicks who came on to him, and he thinks it's so he can get rid of them, but really it makes them come on to him even more."
"You would." I said with a smile.
"I feel bad," John said. "You seem to know so much about us, and I feel like I don't know you at all."
"We all feel like that," Zach said coming in. He handed his father the coffee and took a seat on one of the chairs.
I scowled.
"You guys probably know me better than anyone else," I said.
"You're just saying that because you don't remember home." Dave argued.
"I think I don't remember home or who I was because I never felt important there." I told them.
This sounded so upsetting, and I didn't mean for it to, but it was the truth.
"You guys are the closest thing to family I have ever felt," I said looking at my hands. "And as horrendously cheesy as it sounds, I think what I feel when I'm with you is the closest thing to… really caring about someone I have ever felt."
I looked back at them and smiled.
"I mean I don't get why you feel bad," I told them. "You've all done a lot more for me than I think you even realize. So thank you."
We were kind of sitting in a silence until Dave spoke up.
"Jeez, kid," He said. "Did you rehearse that or something?"
"No." I said with a glare.
"I'm glad you feel a sense of family with us," John added. "God knows it's the most important thing to us."
"I know," I said with a laugh.
"Well can I tell you something you don't know?" John offered.
I scowled.
"You can try." I joked.
"I don't know how this Great Realm stuff works." He started. "But I'm glad that my boys ended up with you, because I don't think anyone else would have been able to do what you've done for them."
"You're just-"
"I'm not just saying that." He told me. "I honestly haven't seen them accept someone into their lives with the same ease that they've accepted you, and seeing how you all work, it's a miracle they've lasted so long without you."
They actually lasted a whole four seasons without me, but I wasn't going to stop him.
"I'm sure they would've managed just fine." I said giving them the credit they deserved.
"I'm not." Dave said.
"Neither am I." Zach added.
Holy crap. I was in that part of the episode at the very end where some sappy music by The Fray or Matthew Perryman Jones was playing. This was the part of the episode where the characters sat together and laughed and emotionally bonded as the camera zoomed out and the credits rolled.
It actually felt like that.
With Zach lying across the foot of the hospital bed, I lay down next to Dave with his arm around my shoulders. John was telling me stories of the boys from when they were younger. Dave would butt in the stories that were particularly cruel to him, and his five year-old intelligence, and Zach would disagree with stories that declared he was a troublemaker. I trusted John in whatever he told me—especially over the boys' claims.
This perfect moment stretched on through the night, with Zach and me occasionally going on meal or coffee runs, and managing to get back into our preferred seats. After some time Zach was somehow able to fall asleep in his uncomfortable position across the hospital bed.
John smiled at his sons and then at me.
I couldn't help but feel so overwhelmed with happiness. We saved John Savage. He lived! Who cared if I changed a major aspect of the storyline? John Savage was alive, and more importantly he was getting along with both his sons, and was going to stay with them for as long as he could.
"You guys must be getting tired." John said.
"For someone who has been asleep for a couple days, surprisingly yes." Dave replied with a yawn.
"I want to hear one last story," I pleaded.
"Aw, Cru," Dave moaned. "The only reason you want to listen to more stories is because they ain't about you."
I laughed.
"That's probably true." I responded.
"And plus," Dave pointed out. "Zach won't even be awake for it."
"I'll tell you one tomorrow," John promised.
"Okay fine," I said rolling my eyes.
I kicked off my shoes and got under the covers next to Dave.
"Scoot," I ordered.
Dave made a face but did as I said.
"You guys can't go back to your own rooms?" Dave asked annoyed.
"Dave," John cautioned. "Be nice."
"Hah. And anyway, my room is too cold," I complained.
"Yea, well this bed is too small!" Dave contended. "And I'm not the spooning type."
"I know," I smiled. "But my room is also locked, which, by the way, would not happen in real life unless I was already checked out." I argued cozying up to him.
He reluctantly allowed me to do so.
"Only because you're tiny," He clarified.
John chuckled and turned off the light.
"Good night, John." I said. "Oh, and I'm serious about that story tomorrow."
"You got it, kid." He said.
I could see him smile and wink in the dark just before shutting the door.
I closed my eyes and didn't dream that night.
The next morning, John Savage was found dead in his hospital room at 6:59 a.m., his cause of death unknown.