Chapter 21 coming at you! Before we get going, I want to insert a quick welcome and thanks to the new followers this story has picked up! I appreciate each and every one of you who has taken the time out of your life to invest into this story! With that said, I hope, as always, that you continue to enjoy it! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Ariella hated hospitals. She hated the smell of antiseptic. She hated the white walls. She hated the perpetual beeping of the vital monitors. She hated the uncomfortable beds and scratchy sheets. But the thing she hated more than anything was having to watch Dean be stuck in one. She was sitting next to the bed he had been laid out on, having been watching his chest rise up and down in slow, steady rhythms for hours. She had her hand slipped around his slack one, thumb grazing across it and the IV tube protruding from it every so often as she willed his eyes to open.
They had been hunting a Rawhead the night before when things had gone wrong in the worst of ways. Dean, in an attempt to bring down the creature, had inadvertently electrocuted himself, rendering himself unconscious and seriously hurt. Ariella and Sam had gotten him to the hospital as quickly as they could, but after the doctors had done what they could for him, the outlook was bleak. The high voltage had caused permanent damage to his heart, and the doctors didn't think his body would last very long with the impaired organ.
Ariella didn't know how to react to that. She had fallen silent after the doctors had given her the update, leaving her to watch Dean alone while Sam dealt with the local law enforcement and their cover story. Ariella's mind had gone surprisingly blank while she watched him sleep, feeling as if she had fallen into the midst of some terrible nightmare she couldn't seem to wake from. It didn't feel real to her. Her mind refused to accept it….she refused to believe he was dying.
After sitting there for a while in silence, the sound of his heart monitor and shallow breathing being the only sounds filling the room, she felt his fingers begin to twitch with movement. Her brows pulled together as she sat forward, watching with bated breath as his eyes began to flutter open. She squeezed his hand as his eyes began to focus in on his surroundings, the confusion sweeping across his face evident as he tried to process things.
"Hey." She breathed out as he began to stir with movement, pulling his confused eyes onto her.
"What happened?" he asked groggily, eyes darting from her to the various tubing and wires connected to his body.
"You got hurt." She answered thickly, suddenly feeling a rush of emotions flow through her now that he was awake. "You took 100,000 volts straight to the heart."
"Is that why I feel like I've been hit by a bus?" he groaned, bringing up a weak hand to rub at his head. As Ariella continued to sit there in heavy silence, face set into a deep frown, Dean paused in his movements, eyes darting back over to her in worry. "What? I'm not dying, am I?" The sob that crept out of Ariella in response caused Dean's face to fall. "Ari?"
Ariella dropped her face down to where she had her hand wrapped around his, pressing her forehead into the back of his hand as she fought back the sudden surge of tears. "The doctors said there's been permanent damage." She said, voice wavering. "T-that your heart—" she began, having to stop and swallow past her closing throat. "It's not going to keep working much longer." She finished, bringing tear-filled eyes back up to his.
Dean's own face was impassive. He took in her words without so much as reacting with a twitch. His eyes moved from her over to the window before his mouth fell open to speak. "How long do I have?" he asked, voice devoid of emotion.
"Two weeks at most." She answered hollowly.
"And there's nothing they can do?" he assumed. "No sort of treatment?"
Ariella could only shake her head in response, feeling as if she was about to drown under all of the emotions trying to consume her in that moment. "Why didn't you just wait for me?" she snapped suddenly, anger surging to the surface as more tears hit the back of her eyes. She had been on her way when Sam and Dean had decided to go into that house alone. She hadn't been there to have his back and now he was paying the price for that. She had failed to protect him.
"Well, I've got a pretty long history of not listening to you." Dean responded, the corner of his mouth lifting ever so slightly as his eyes landed back on her. "Guess if I'm anything, I'm consistent."
"This isn't funny, Dean." She bit out in frustration. "You're dying."
"Well, we've all got to go sometime." He responded with a shrug, seemingly unaffected by the news of his impending death.
Ariella's mouth fell open to respond to his passiveness when a loud knock sounded on his door, pulling both their attention over to it to see the doctor walking in. His eyes instantly fell on an alert Dean and a look of surprise washed over him. "It's nice to see you're awake, Mr. Berkovitz. How are you feeling?"
"Could be better." Dean responded with a shrug. "Hear I've got a failing heart."
The doctor's eyes moved from him over to Ariella, giving a somber nod. "I'm afraid that's right. See, your heart contracts through a series of impulses triggered by electrical stimuli. When you were electrocuted, those impulses got all messed up and now it doesn't know how to fire right anymore. Add that to the damaged valves and it's not looking the best."
"So, I really got two weeks?" Dean asked.
"I'm sorry." The doctor responded with a frown. "We'll do our best to make you as comfortable as we can, but if I were you, I'd enjoy what time you've got left here with your wife." He said, motioning towards Ariella. Her wide eyes swept over to Dean, a flare of embarrassment washing over her when she caught sight of his questioning eyes. "I'll put in an order for some pain meds for now." He continued on, oblivious to the look which passed between them. "Don't worry, we're going to take good care of you." He said, reaching out to give Dean a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.
"R-right." Dean said, obviously uncomfortable with the entire situation. "Thanks."
The doctor gave him a smile in response before tipping his head towards Ariella. "Just give a shout if you need anything." He instructed. Ariella only nodded back, eyes trailing after him as he made his way back through the room, dismissing himself.
"So, we get hitched while I was out, too?" Dean asked once he was gone, pulling Ariella's eyes back onto him. His eyes had fallen to the hand wrapped around his, settling on the familiar gold band sitting around her finger.
"They wouldn't let me back here unless I said I was your wife." She said quickly, waving the thought away as she brought up her hand to pull his ring off. "And they needed to remove all jewelry for some of the tests." She explained as she slipped it off her finger and held it out to him. "I just didn't want it to get lost."
Dean's eyes fell on the band as she held it up between them, eyebrows stitching together. He was silent for a moment as he looked at it before he pulled his eyes away with a sigh. "Keep it." He said, refusing to take it back from her.
"Dean, I'm not going to take your mother's ring." Ariella denied, shocked that he wouldn't take it back. She stretched her hand out further for emphasis, knowing how much the ring had meant to him. It was all he had left of Mary.
Dean brought his hand up finally, but instead of taking the ring from her hold, instead, he pushed her hand away. "I want you to have it, Ari." He maintained. "I can't take it where I'm going, and I know you'll take care of it."
Ariella felt her emotions bubble to the surface again as her fist tightened around the small piece of metal. "This isn't how it's supposed to happen!" she blurted suddenly, feeling overwhelmed by it all. "You aren't supposed to die like this!" she said, tears beginning to fall again. "I just got you back, Dean." She cried. "You can't do this to me! I can't lose you."
Dean was silent as he watched her cry, his own face still deceptively calm. "I don't think we have another option here, Ari." He said solemnly.
Ariella pulled her eyes away from him as she reached up to swipe angrily at her tears. She heard the door open again and her jaw fused shut once again as a nurse popped her head in to announce she had some pain reliver to administer. Ariella shot up from her chair as she entered, feeling as if she was on the brink of screaming right there in the middle of the hospital. As she moved for the door, Dean called out to her, causing her to pause in the open doorway.
"Where are you going?" he asked, voice clipped with concern.
Ariella chewed on her lip for a moment before swinging her eyes around her shoulder to cast him one last look. "To find another option." She bit out angrily before slipping out of the room, refusing to believe this was how it ended. She stormed through the hospital until she found Sam, having just finished speaking with the police.
"Hey." He called out as he took notice of her approaching, moving to meet her part way as she strode up to him. "Is he awake yet?"
Ariella nodded. "Yeah. They're in there giving him something for the pain now." She explained. "Look, just stay with him and call me if anything happens." She then instructed briskly, already going to move past him. "I'll be back."
"Woah." Sam said as he spun around after her, reaching out to grab onto her arm and pull her to a stop. "Where are you going?" he asked, eyebrows pulling together in worry.
"I can't watch him die like this, Sam." Ariella answered, those angry tears which refused to leave biting into the back of her eyes yet again. "He might be ready to roll over and give up, but I'm not. There's got to be something out there that can save him." She said, bringing her hand up and motioning around her for emphasis.
"You really think we could find a way to save him?" Sam asked skeptically.
"There has to be." Ariella answered with a shake of her head. "I'm going to call Bobby, and…I don't know…maybe go through John's journal." She supplied with a shrug, not truly having a plan yet. "There's got to be something we can do."
"Yeah…okay." He agreed, not ready to give up on Dean yet either. "I'll catch up with you later and help you look." He said with a nod.
Ariella pulled out of his grip then and continued making her way through the hospital. In truth, she had no idea what she was going to do. She didn't even know where to start looking for answers. All she knew was she wouldn't let Dean Winchester die…..she couldn't.
Unfortunately, those answers didn't seem to be easy to find. Ariella searched the internet for hours…. scoured John's journal…. called number after number….but, there didn't seem to much more than vague theories and dead-ends. It had been three days since Dean had been admitted into the hospital, and Ariella had begun to feel the pressure of time weighing down on her. She was currently sitting on the motel bed she had taken over for the past seventy-two hours, scrolling through articles about some healer down in Nebraska one of John's contacts had given her the name of.
The sound of the door opening pulled her focus away from the screen for a moment to find Sam slipping back into the room. "Hey." She muttered as he shut the door behind him, eyes flicking back to the screen in front of her. Sam walked over to where she was sitting, holding one of the two cups of coffee in his hold out for her to take. Ariella reached up and pulled it out of his hold without looking, passing on a thanks as she continued reading the article she had been in the middle of before he came in. "I tried my dad again." He informed her as he dropped himself down on the other bed, letting out a long sigh.
"Let me guess—voicemail again?" she guessed with an arched brow, neither one of them having been able to get ahold of him over the past few days. "What a shock."
"You find anything on that Le Grange guy?" he asked, tipping his head towards her laptop.
Ariella's eyes swept over to Sam after finishing the article, letting out a sigh as she picked up the computer with one hand, holding it out for him to take. Sam took it from her, spinning it around to read for himself. "There's quite a bit of testimony on him, actually." She offered with a shrug as she took a cautious sip of the coffee. Neither she nor Sam had gotten much sleep the past three nights, the two of them practically surviving off of caffeine at this point. "I don't know, Sam….a faith healer isn't really my cup of tea, but the stories coming out of there are more promising than anything else we've come across."
"This little girl was really cured of leukemia?" Sam asked in disbelief as his eyes flicked over the latest article she had pulled up.
"Doctors confirmed it." Ariella confirmed with a nod. "Goes into one of his services on the brink of death and comes out cancer-free."
"I'd call that a miracle." Sam huffed in thought before shaking his head. "Not sure how we'd convince Dean to go along with it, though."
"I'll tie him up and drag his ass down there if I have to." Ariella declared, it being the one and only option they really had. They were in a race against the clock. It was either this or nothing.
"You really think it's God healing these people?" he asked then, holding out the laptop for her to take again.
"No." Ariella answered instantly. "But this is the closest we've come to an actual answer and we're running out of time. We should—" she began to say before a knock on the door caused her to break off mid-sentence. Sam and Ariella shared a worried look before Ariella tossed her computer onto the end of the bed as she stood, reaching for the gun she had left sitting on the table between the two beds. She cautiously moved for the door before peeking through the peephole. "Jesus Christ." She breathed out in surprise when she caught sight of Dean. She quickly pulled the door open as she tucked the gun into her beltline, about ready to strangle the man on the other side. "Dean, what the hell?" she asked, worry blooming in her as she took in his pale face. He was leaning against the frame, looking far too weak to even stand, let alone travel all the way from the hospital on his own.
"I checked myself out of the hospital." He said, stating the obvious as he pushed himself off the wall to slip past her.
"Are you crazy?!" Sam asked, shooting to his feet and rushing forward, hands trying to wrap around Dean as he stumbled into the room.
"I'm not going to die in a hospital." Dean said in defense of himself. "Not when the nurses trying to give me a sponge bath aren't even hot." He jested with a weak chuckle.
"You know, this whole 'I laugh in the face of death' thing—it's crap." Sam told him in exasperation. "We can see right through it."
Dean's eyes flicked from Sam over to Ariella, giving a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, whatever, dude." He said, dismissing the comment. "Have you two even slept?" he asked in an effort to change the subject as he moved towards the closest bed. "You look worse than I do."
"We've been trying to find a way to save your stubborn ass." Ariella said as he dropped down onto the mattress, coming to stand over him with her arms crossed.
"And how's that coming along?" Dean asked, sounding indifferent to the idea.
"We think we've found something, actually." Sam told him. "One of Dad's contact's, Joshua, called us back. Told us about a guy down in Nebraska." He explained, eyes flicking over to Ariella briefly. "A specialist."
Dean let his eyes move from Sam over Ariella, letting out a heavy sigh. "Can't you guys just let me die in peace?"
"We're not going to let you die period." Ariella declared, brow arching with the statement.
"Come on, Dean." Sam urged. "What do we have to lose?" he challenged.
Dean's gaze continued to sweep between the two of them for a moment before he ran a hand down his face in defeat. "You guys aren't really going to give me a choice here, are you?"
"No, not really." Ariella answered with a tight smile. "Either you drag your ass into that car willingly or I tie you up and do it by force."
Dean's mouth pulled up into a smirk at the threat. "What if I want you to tie me up?" Ariella gave him an unamused look at the attempt of humor. "Fine." Dean huffed in defeat, throwing his hands up in the air. "Nebraska it is."
The three of them managed to load up and make it to the 'church' before nightfall rolled around, having drove straight through a storm along the way. By the time they were pulling into the pseudo parking lot, the rain had slowed to a sprinkle, but the ground had been rendered into a thick layer of mud. Their tires squelched into the soggy ground as Ariella followed Sam into the dirt lot which sat outside a large, white tent, the area already full of people set on attending the service. Ariella came to a stop next to the Impala as they parked, turning her head to find Dean already pulling on a scowl as his eyes roamed around the area apprehensively.
She quickly threw her door open after letting the engine die, stepping over to where Dean was also getting out before snaking an arm around his waist to help get him up onto his feet. "I've got it." He said as she tried taking his weight, pushing himself out of her hold and instead using the Impala to lean against. His eyes flicked over to the sign stationed outside the white tent, his face dropping down as he took in the words plastered across it. "You lying bastards." He said, only now realizing they had taken him to a faith healer. "I thought you said you were taking me to a doctor." He bit out as he slammed his door shut behind him in frustration.
"No, I said specialist." Sam told him as he swung around the car as well, hovering by Dean in case he needed help walking.
"I know how it looks, Dean, but I've done the research myself. For whatever reason, this guy seems to be the real deal. I think maybe he can help." Ariella said as they began making their way towards the service.
"I can't believe you guys brought me to see some guy who heals people out of a tent." Dean huffed in response, following behind Ariella none-the-less.
They passed by a man who clearly didn't believe in the work Le Grange was doing either, for he was shouting at anyone who would listen to turn away. Ariella had to sidestep around him as he tried persuading them they were being frauded, eyebrow lifting at his desperate attempts. A sheriff was next to him, trying to push him away from the growing crowd. "This is a place of worship." The officer was saying as he worked on calming the man's antics. "Come on, now. Let's go."
"I take it he's not part of the flock." Dean commented dryly as they moved past, having been watching the interaction in curiosity.
"Well, when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy." Sam defended with a shrug.
"Come on guys, a faith healer, though?" Dean pressed, still not convinced on the idea. "Ari, you really believe all this crap?" he asked, knowing her faith in God was even more nonexistent than his.
"You want to know what I believe?" Ariella asked as she turned around to face him, pulling the three of them to a stop just outside the tent. "I believe that you are dying, Dean." She said, keeping her voice low enough that no one passing by could hear. "And like it or not, this may be our best bet at stopping that from happening. I don't care how he's doing it, just so long as this works, because I can't—" she said before snapping her mouth shut as she felt a surge of emotion threaten to slip out. She shook her head to clear away the thought before drawing in a stabilizing breath to continue. "This is going to work….it has to."
"How can you be a skeptic with everything we see?" Sam asked for himself, pulling Dean's calculating eyes away from Ariella.
"Exactly! We see them, Sam. We know they're real." Dean countered with a shake of his head.
"If you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there too?" Sam pressed.
"I've seen what evil's done to good people." Dean maintained with an arched brow.
"Dean, we're not asking you to fall to your knees and start worshipped God every Sunday." Ariella said, reaching out to slip her hand inside his. "We're just asking you to have a little faith in us." She said, tipping her head in Sam's direction. "Now, come on." She said, giving him a tug as she began walking again. "It's going to be starting soon."
Dean didn't put up any more argument as they made their way inside, though he still didn't seem very pleased to be there. "Yeah…peace, love, and trust all over." He scoffed, motioning to the array of security cameras installed throughout the tent as they stepped inside.
"Come on." Ariella said as she tried pulling him through the small aisle separating the rows of seats.
"Whoa, let's just sit back here." Dean said, motioning to the row of empty chairs to their right as he tried pulling her to a stop.
"Nope." Ariella said as she continued pulling him along, refusing to let him sit in the back of the crowd. "We're getting you as close to the front as possible."
"What?" Dean asked as he involuntarily stumbled along after her. "Why?"
"Because I said so." She threw back at him with a huff.
"This is ridiculous." Dean grumbled in irritation as she pulled him to the front of the audience. She spotted some open seats two rows back and motioned towards them. Sam quickly slipped into the empty row first, followed by Ariella practically shoving Dean in after. She dropped herself down into the aisle seat then, effectively trapping Dean in between her and Sam just as piano music began filtering through the air, signaling the commencement of the service. Dean let out a groan as he adjusted himself in the stiff chair, sending Ariella a scowl as her eyes flicked over to him.
"Oh, brighten up, buttercup." She threw at him in a hushed voice as a man came onto the stage, dark glasses covering his eyes and walking stick in hand. "It'll be over soon."
Dean gave her a roll of his eyes in response, but before he could toss out any sarcastic remark, the man, presumable Roy Le Grange, stepped up to the podium and the crowd fell silent. "Each morning…" he began as a woman stepped up behind him and helped slip his suit jacket off. "My wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news….never seems good, does it?" he said, eliciting a murmur of agreement from the crowd. "Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act. But, I say to you….God it watching!" he declared, getting another murmur from the crowd. "And God rewards the good….and punishes the corrupt."
Ariella's eyes swept around the crowd, watching as heads bobbed up and down in agreement and hands rose up towards the sky. "It is the Lord who does the healing here, friends." The preacher went on. "The Lord who guides me in choosing who I heal. By helping me see into people's hearts."
"Or into their wallets." Dean scoffed under his breath as a series of amens sounded around them. Unfortunately, Roy seemed to have heard the remark.
"You think so young man?" he asked, causing the crowd to narrow in on Dean unhappily. Dean muttered out an apology as a flare of embarrassment flashed across his face, head ducking down to avoid the eyes now on him. "No, no. Don't be." Le Grange told him with a wave of his hand, seemingly not offended in the slightest. "Just watch what you say around a blind man. We got real sharp ears."
There was a round of laughter from the audience then, even Dean cracking a smile. Though, Ariella knew it was probably in response to the awkwardness more than the attempt at humor. "What's your name, son?" Le Grange asked, keeping his focus set on Dean despite his uneasiness.
"Uh…" Dean said awkwardly, having to clear his throat. "Dean."
Roy nodded his head before reaching up with one of his hands to motion for him to stand. "I want you to come up here with me, Dean." He said.
The crowd burst into cheers and applause as Roy chose him. Dean, however, looked about ready to make a run for it. "N-no, it's okay." He said, trying to wave away the offer awkwardly.
"What are you doing?" Sam breathed out as he whipped his head around to face him.
"You've come here to be healed, haven't you?" Roy continued, urging Dean to reconsider.
Dean gave Ariella a shake of his head, looking as uncomfortable as a kid who had just been called on to present in front of the entire class. "Oh, for fuck's sake, Dean." She muttered under her breath before grabbing hold of his arm and hoisting him up with her. "Yes." She called out loudly, answered Roy's previous question. "He has." Dean glared at Ariella as she pulled him out into the aisle, practically shoving him towards the stage as the crowd began cheering again. "Go." She told him quietly, giving him another push towards the front.
"This is ridiculous." Dean whispered back harshly, shaking himself free of her hands as he began walking up to the stage begrudgingly.
Ariella moved back to her seat as Dean made his way up the small set of stairs, dropping herself down next to Sam as they watched him and Roy share words too quiet to hear. Her eyes bounced over to Sam as Roy called out for everyone to pray with him, worry rolling off her in waves. She didn't exactly believe the Lord's work was being done in that tent, but she was clinging desperately to the hope that whatever powers were at work would heal Dean. There were no other options. It had to work….because if it didn't….well, Ariella didn't know what she would do.
Sam reached out and slipped his hand around hers as everyone began lifting their hands into the air, both their eyes sweeping back to the stage as Roy reached out to lay a hand against Dean's head. At first nothing seemed to happen other than Dean standing there looking uncomfortable, but after a moment something seemed to flash across his eyes. "All right, now." Roy said as Dean began to sway on his feet, eyes rolling back into his skull before his legs gave out completely and he dropped down to his knees.
Ariella lurched forward with worry, hand tightening around Sam's as Roy continued pressing his hand against Dean's skull. "All right, now." He said again, some force clearly moving through him and into Dean. There was a shift in the air as Dean's eyes slipped closed, like a cold wind had swept up Ariella's spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake. Dean suddenly tipped sideways then, and Ariella was on her feet in a second, rushing up to the stage as quickly as she could as he dropped to the ground unconscious. The crowd was cheering and shouting amens as she got to Dean, quickly dropping down to her knees and pulling him into her lap as fear took hold of her.
"Dean?" she called out in a panic, hand cradling his neck to feel for a pulse as Sam dropped down on his other side. Her wide eyes flicked up to Le Grange then, but what she saw standing behind him had her stomach turning to lead in an instant. There was a figure standing there….a man in a dark suit, with sickly gray skin and large deep scars running the length of this face. Her mouth went dry as she stared up at it, suddenly unable to even breathe as the world went cold around her. The sudden sound of Dean gasping back into life pulled her eyes away from the creature, eyes dropping back down to find Dean's wide eyes staring up at her in shock. She pried her own eyes away again as Sam began fusing over Dean, trying to make sure he was okay, but as they swept back up to where the strange man had been standing…he was gone. Her eyebrows pulled together in confusion before her eyes darted back down to Dean, who was trying to sit himself back up. She helped push him forward, searching for any signs of damage as he tried reorienting himself.
"You okay?" Sam asked in worry, pulling Dean's wide eyes over to him finally.
"I don't know." Dean said, having to blink through the shock of it all. "I think…." He said, eyes sweeping over to Ariella. "Guys, I think it worked."