Chapter 11

A persistent ringing roused Dean from sleep as he rolled over and felt around for his cell phone. He flipped it open and mumbled into it.

"This had better be good."

"Hello, I'm trying to contact a person named Dean." a male voice asked cautiously.

"I'm Dean." he replied coughing once to clear his throat. "Who is this?"

"My name is Jack Bishop, I know this is going to sound strange, but my son says he has a message for you from a Sam."

"Sam! What about Sam?" Dean questioned now fully awake and sitting up. "Where are you?"

"I'm in Houston, Texas at the Baptist Children's Hospital." he answered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Dean said hanging up and looking over to see the other bed empty. He looked around and found Castiel was gone too. He threw back the covers and grabbed clean clothes before heading into the bathroom to change.

spn

Oree opened the door as Dean was coming out of the bathroom. He looked over her and saw Castiel was carrying a tray with coffee and a takeout bag.

"We got some breakfast if you're interested." Oree offered opening up the bag.

"Good you're back; I just got the strangest phone call from Texas about Sam."

"Sam, what about him?" Oree asked quickly thoughts of food forgotten.

"Cas we need to go to Baptist Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas." Dean told him.

"Of course." Castiel replied putting a hand on Dean and Oree. Within seconds they were standing outside the Baptist Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas.

Dean looked around, searching for the front door. He redialed the number of Jack Bishop so they could meet. How he knew about Sam was baffling and he wanted to be sure they weren't walking into a trap.

"Hello."

"Mr. Bishop, you called me earlier about my brother Sam."

"Yes, my son is in room 598, fifth floor."

"We'll be right up." Dean told him leading the others into the hospital and to the elevators. "He said room 598. Are either of you picking up any bad vibes or danger?"

"No." they both answered having already checked the area.

They got off the elevator and followed the signs down and around until they found room 598. Dean knocked once on the door and pushed it open slowly. He stepped into the room followed by Oree and Castiel. A man was standing by the bed of a boy around eight. He was hooked up to several machines and lay very still. Both looked up as the three strangers walked into the room.

"I'm Dean, you called me." Dean said. "This is my sister Aurora and our friend Castiel."

"Hello, I'm Jack Bishop and my son Tyler." he introduced themselves. "You must have been nearby to get here that fast."

"You said you had information about our brother Sam?" Dean asked not caring about small talk.

"Yes, I know this may sound ridiculous, but my son insisted I call you. He wouldn't stop pestering me until I did. Your phone number was on his arm when he came back." Jack tried to explain.

"Phone number?" Dean asked.

"Came back?" Oree asked.

"My son became very sick and had to be hospitalized. While they were running test, he slipped into a coma. He died, but the doctors were able to bring him back. He was still in a coma until yesterday. Tyler woke up and somehow your phone number appeared on his arm." Jack explained showing Dean Tyler's arm that did indeed have his phone number written on it.

Dean looked from Oree to Castiel trying to comprehend how his number got on the boy's arm. He had never met either of them and they didn't seem to know him. If this was some type of trick or trap, it wasn't a very good one.

"I met Sam while I was gone." Tyler interjected quietly.

"What did he look like?" Dean asked wanting to see if he really did see Sam.

"He's real tall, long brown hair, he was kind to me."

"Where did you see him?" Oree questioned.

"I don't know where I was. There were other people there too. It wasn't here. Sam said to tell you he was okay and was trying to find a way back." Tyler relayed to Dean.

"So you believe Tyler?" his father asked surprised that they did.

"Yes." Dean told him. "That was my brother he described."

"Can you tell me about this place you were at?" Castiel asked curious about where Tyler had gone.

"It was never dark; there was this big hotel where everyone stayed. I saw a lake in front."

"He was at one of the way stations on another plane." Castiel stated.

"Come again?" Dean asked not sure what he was talking about.

"So if Sam is there, how do we get him back?" Oree asked getting to the point.

"I do not know." Castiel said sadly. "I may have to contact some other angels and see what information I can gather." he said quietly to Dean.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Dean asked Tyler.

"He misses you." Tyler answered.

"Thanks for the help." Dean told the boy shaking his hand. "Hope you get out of here soon."

"Yes, thank you." Oree added laying a hand on his arm.

"It was brave of you to contact us." Castiel said laying a hand on his head. He kept it there for several seconds before removing it and following the others out of the room. Castiel had healed the boy of his illness, it was the least he could do for him.

"Take us back to the hotel." Dean requested from Castiel.

"As you wish." he said placing a hand on each of them and transported them to the hotel.

spn

"Tell us about these way stations, what the hell are they?"

"They are places that souls may go when a person dies. The thing is, you have to die to get to one of them, so I'm not sure how Sam managed to end up there."

"We need to find the last place Sam was which means a hike in the woods." Oree said smelling the food they had gotten earlier. She wrinkled her nose and put them back in the bag to throw away. "We need more food."

"I'll retrieve some." Castiel offered.

"Thanks, I'm going to check the park maps and see if I can pin point where Sam was found." Oree told Dean as she took a map over to her bed away from him.

"Would you like to join me?" Castiel asked Dean seeing the way he was looking at his sister.

"No, I'm fine." he mumbled taking one of the coffees and popping it in the microwave.

"Very well." he said before heading out the door.

spn

Dean pushed his way through some brush trying to find the spattering of a trail as Oree and Castiel trailed behind him. He stopped and looked around trying to get his bearings before walking to the left.

"Does that map show any landmarks?" Dean asked Oree as she held a paper map in front of her trying to find their location on it.

"Give me a min..." she started as her foot caught on a root causing her to stumble forward. Castiel grabbed her arm and stopped her from face planting on the uneven, rocky ground.

"You okay?" he asked her holding on until she got her balance.

"Thanks, that was a good save." she nodded holding onto his arm.

"You two alright back there?" Dean called noticing they had fallen behind.

"We're good." Oree called back walking toward his voice.

"By the directions we got, his body was found approximately an eighth of a mile that way." she pointed looking at the map and then into the woods.

"Move out." Dean ordered heading in the direction she had pointed.

Sweat dripped from her face as Oree tried to keep paced with Dean. Something wasn't right, intense fear sweep through her as she stopped her forward motion. It started getting hard for her to breathe. Not noticing her actions, Castiel bumped into her still body almost knocking her over.

"Aurora what's wrong?" Castiel asked when he saw the fear on her face.

"What's goin' on?" Dean asked coming back to check on them.

"Something is wrong with Aurora." Castiel explained grabbing her to keep her from falling.

"Oree, what is it?" Dean asked turning her face up to look at him. He saw complete terror in her eyes. "Talk to me Sis."