Ali hated hospitals. The strip lighting. The ever-present feeling of death that clung to the walls. There was something about them that seemed too rigid, like a cage or prison. And she could never be sure if something terrible was about to happen.

She reached the desk and leant over it on her elbows. She had been driving through the night and was exhausted, physically and mentally. A nurse appeared after a moment and Ali shot her a tight-lipped smile.

"Hi, um I got a call saying my friends were brought in last night," she said, her fingers drumming anxiously on the wood. "There was a car accident." Ali glanced over her shoulder, as if expecting to see Sam, Dean and their father walking down the corridor with nothing but a few bumps and scrapes, completely fine. She didn't.

"Name?" the nurse asked, catching Ali's attention. She turned back to the nurse who was eyeing her sceptically. Ali knew she looked a mess, not to mention she was shaking with nerves. She squeezed her fingers into a fist on the desk to stop the drumming.

"Winchester," she replied as clearly as possible, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She just wanted to find out where they were so she could see them. What was taking so long?

"Are you a relative?" the nurse asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, not exactly, but I-."

"Visiting hours are between four and six for non-family members." Ali stared at her. Seriously? Was this nurse seriously going to make her wait until four before she could see them?

"No, you don't understand, I -."

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to come back later." Cut off again. She didn't sound a bit sorry.

"Are you fricking kidding me?" Ali asked as she stared the nurse down. She had been trying to keep her cool but this had sent her over the edge. She could already feel tears threatening to spill over her eyelids. "I've been up all night, I'm tired, I've been driving for hours and the people who are pretty much all I have left in this world are hurt and somewhere in this hospital. And you are gonna fucking tell me where!" When she had finished, she was sure she looked like a crazy person and wouldn't be surprised if security came and escorted her outside (or to the psychiatric ward). Her heart was pounding and her chest heaved. The nurse stared back at her in shocked silence.

"Ali?" She swore her heart stopped for a second at the sound of someone saying her name. She would know that voice anywhere. She turned around, her tense stance relaxing slightly at the sight of the younger Winchester approaching her.

"Sam," she whispered as she pulled him into a tight hug. If it were possible, he looked even worse than she did. "Thank god." She could feel his tall body trembling and she wasn't sure if it was because he was crying or just nervous. She held him, rubbing a hand on his back in a way she hoped was soothing. She felt his arms wrap around her torso and squeeze and although the height difference made it a little awkward, she didn't release him, instead, waiting until he was ready to pull away.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes searching his for answers. "How's Dean? And John?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he said with a small sniff. "And Dad's doing really well." Ali nodded and forced a small smile, though Sam seemed to be avoiding the subject of his brother, which made her nervous.

"And Dean?" she asked hopefully, her brows lifting.

"Dean…" he trailed off. His face said it all. Ali instantly deflated. "He, uh," he stuttered, trying to find the words as he held back tears. "Dean's -."

"No, he's not," Ali said, shaking her head as she brought a hand to her mouth. She refused to believe that Dean was gone. Not after he promised.

"No, he's alive," Sam clarified, causing Ali to sigh with relief, though Sam still didn't look optimistic. "But he's got a pretty serious head injury, and he still hasn't woken up." Ali squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep herself together.

"Can I…?" she trailed off as she opened her eyes. Sam nodded.

"I'll take you to his room."

She stood stationary at the door of the hospital room, watching the mechanical movement of Dean's chest rising and falling. Sam had already gone in, taking a seat on the far side of the bed beside his brother. Ali waited at the door. She couldn't enter. If she did, she would have to face the fact that Dean was unconscious. That he was hurt. That he was dying.

She couldn't do that.

Ali wasn't usually squeamish. She had seen more blood than most people, but there was something about seeing Dean with nothing but a tube shoved down his throat keeping him alive that made her feel sick. Perhaps it was because for the past six months, he had been the one she had relied on the most. He had been the one to buy her food, tell her what to do, teach her how to play darts.

He had been the one she had fought with over and over again about hunts, laundry, poker, whisky. He had been her rock. And now he was lying in a hospital bed with only a piece of plastic keeping him alive.

He had been the one to fill the void she had felt after Tyler had died. Sure, Sam had too, but Dean and Tyler were so much alike. Their mannerisms, the way they bossed her around. It wasn't that she had used Dean to replace her brother, it was that he had filled a gaping hole in her life. Both the Winchesters had.

And now the wound that had taken over five years to start to heal was breaking open again. She could see it happening to Sam as well. His big brother. The person he relied on so much too. That was why she needed to remain strong. Not just for her own sake, but for Sam's too. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room, taking a seat opposite Sam on the other side of the bed.

Sam sat back in his seat, his head in his hands, whilst Ali sat forward, her elbows resting on the side of the bed as she watched Dean. At first, she had found the constant beeping of the monitors incredibly annoying, but they meant that Dean had a heart beat and she grew to love the sound more than anything. She hadn't been sure whether or not to take his hand, so instead, she gently squeezed his shoulder once like he had done to her the last time they spoke.

Apart from all the tubes and equipment, Ali thought it was the most peaceful she had ever see him. She had never watched him sleep before, but in a strange way, she found herself envious of him. He was asleep, dead to the world, with no cares at all. Little did she know that all the while, Dean was watching everything.

John Winchester was many things, but a good father wasn't one of them. He had known it since he taught his ten-year-old how to use a shot gun, since he had driven the other son away and even now, when Dean was dying in a hospital bed. He knew that his obsession with finding the Demon that had killed his wife was the root of the problem, but even so, he couldn't bring himself to let it go. The demon needed to die, even if it killed him.

He shifted in the hospital bed, a small groan of pain escaping his lips as his injuries ached. At the sound of someone clearing their throat, he cast his eyes up, meeting the blonde girl who had emerged at the door. She hovered nervously just outside the room, her gaze lowered as she eyed the cast on his arm. John could see that she was upset and guessed it was likely she had just come from Dean's room. He knew how close she had grown to his boys over the past few months and considering her lack of living relatives, it would be likely she was fearing the worst when it came to Dean's health.

John caught her gaze and although she didn't send him a smile, he sent a weak one back. "You can come in," he prompted as her eyes shifted to the door frame, as if there were an invisible barrier she couldn't step through without an invitation. He felt like he was calling her in to his office for an important meeting. Perhaps he was.

"Sam just left," she said, her voice quiet and a little timid.

"I know," he replied. "I asked him to pick up a few things for me." Ali nodded as she approached the bed, stopping a good few metres from him. She didn't take the empty seat that was waiting for her.

"I'd ask you how you are, but that would be a stupid question," she commented. John released an amused breath.

"You sound like Bobby."

"I learned from the best," Ali replied slickly, forgetting the seriousness of the situation they were in. She quickly sobered. "Sam called him earlier. He's towing the impala back to his place." John nodded back in acknowledgement.

An uncomfortable silence fell on the room. Ali wasn't sure what to say, and John wasn't sure either.

"Sam said you wanted to see me," she prompted finally. John released a breath.

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head with his good hand. "Look, Allison, about the Colt…"

"I know you only have one bullet left," she said, guessing his next statement. John sighed.

"I know I said I'd hand over the Colt after we got this demon…"

"It's okay," she said, cutting him off again. "I want you to use it on yellow eyes."

"You do?" John didn't think she would back down that easily. "Why?"

"Because that evil son-of-a-bitch murdered your wife and put the three of you in hospital," Ali said boldly. "And it has to die."

"But what about the demon who killed Tyler?" John asked. Ali's jaw clenched at the mention of her brother. The truth was that it killed her that there was only one bullet left. She wanted both the demon's dead, but she knew she had no chance if she had to fight John Winchester for the last bullet. In the end, she realised it was better to bow out gracefully for all their sakes.

"I'll find something else," she said, trying to sound optimistic. "That gun can't be the only thing that can kill a demon, right?"

"Right," John replied. Sensing the conversation had ended, Ali backed away towards the door.

"I, uh, I better go check on Dean," she said. John nodded in understanding and she turned around to leave. But as she reached the doorway, she abruptly turned back around, her eyes connecting with John's intently. "I don't blame you, you know," she said from the doorway. "I never did."

John noticed the sudden subject change and shifted uncomfortably again under the sheets. "Allison," he sighed. "Let's not get into this-."

"You may not need to hear it," she continued as she tried to keep her voice from shaking. "But I need to know that I've said it." John knew what she was about to say, and although he wished that the girl in front of him wouldn't bring up their old grievance, he let her continue. It was what was best for her.

"Tyler was angry," Ali went on as her expression turned anguished. "What happened made him angry, and for that, I hated you. I hated that my big brother was mad all the time, and I hated that I couldn't do anything to help." She stopped as she remembered her brother's rage, his shouting, and her own tears. Ali took a deep breath as she considered what she wanted to say. "I hated what you did – what you had to do. But you need to know that I never blamed you for it. I don't blame you for it." She held his gaze as she spoke, her position still half way out the door.

"Why?" John asked, genuinely curious.

"Because you didn't have a choice," she breathed out finally as she suppressed the urge to cry. "If I had been in your shoes, I don't think I wouldn't had the courage to do it." John stared at the girl for a moment, the conversation that had unfolded shocking him.

"Do Sam and Dean know?" he asked carefully. Ali shook her head.

"I never told them," she replied. "It's not their burden to carry."

"Of course," he replied with a nod. "I never got a chance to apologise to him before he died." Ali's brow furrowed as she blinked back tears. She could not cry in front of John Winchester. She wouldn't allow herself to.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," she replied. With that, she bid her farewells and turned on her heel, striding out of the room and down the corridor. She took herself to the restrooms, slamming the cubical door shut once she was in it. She had never been one for confrontation or bringing problems to the surface. She had been holding in all her grievances and anger towards John Winchester for so many years, and after Tyler was gone, she had taken on his anger as well. Enough for both of them. But as the tears started to roll down her cheeks, she questioned why it had taken a near fatal accident for her to realise she should move on.

Ali strode down the hospital corridor towards Dean's room having just hung up on a call from Bobby. He had informed her that Sam had been very upset and angry when he had left the junk yard and mentioned something about John wanting to summon the demon to the hospital. Ali wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but she did know that she needed to find Sam as quickly as possible. If all she could do was calm him down and offer some support, she would do it.

As she neared Dean's room, however, her heart rate picked up. Doctors and nurses flooded into his room, the air filled with a high pitched continuous tone. She raced to the door.

"Oh god," she breathed in horror at the sight of a doctor doing chest compressions on Dean's body. She couldn't move. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was watch. She knew she needed to find Sam as quickly as possible now, but she couldn't bring her muscles to propel herself in his direction.

He must be in John's room she thought to herself, tearing her teary gaze away from Dean to glance up the corridor. Sam emerged from the room, his eyes disorientated from the commotion in the corridor. Ali caught his confused gaze and they locked eyes. Sam knew in that moment that something terrible had happened.

He rushed down the corridor towards her as she turned her eyes back to Dean. All clear. Shocking. Boom. Dean's chest heaved upwards from the defibrillator.

"No," she heard Sam say once he had joined her, his desperate stance mimicking hers. She hadn't realised she had been gripping and leaning on the doorframe so dependently until she noticed Sam do the same thing. He was crying. Not the eyes-glazed-over-but-I-refuse-to-let-a-tear-fall way she had seen so many hunter's use in the past. He was actually crying, his cheeks glistening from where the tears had spilled over and stained his skin. Ali had never seen Sam cry like this before. She didn't know how to comfort him. She felt exactly how Sam looked. But when it came to crying, she was more of the eyes-glazed-over-but-I-refuse-to-let-a-tear-fall type.

They both watched Dean being resuscitated in silence. Ali didn't know what to say and Sam couldn't have spoken even if he wanted to.

"All clear," someone in the room said again before shocking Dean again.

"Still no pulse." Ali felt sick.

"Okay, let's go again, 360."

"Charging." Another shock. The monitors continued to beep rapidly. Ali didn't know what all the sounds meant, but she knew it was nothing good.

Then suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt something rush past her out of the room, like a gale whipping past for only a second. She leant away from the door and watched it go down the corridor, though she couldn't see anything. At first, she wondered if she had imagined it, but she saw an equally bewildered look on Sam's face. He had felt it too.

"We have a pulse," a nurse said from inside the room. Ali looked back into where Dean was lying, only just noticing that the monitors had slowed their beeping. "We're back into sinus rhythm."

Ali downed her coffee in one before tossing the polystyrene cup into the trash. The drunk was hot and it burnt her tongue, but she needed the caffeine. She walked back down the corridor to Dean's room, the route seeming too familiar now that she had been doing it all day. Sam was just outside the door pulling a jacket over his shoulders.

"Where're you going?" she asked, thrusting the other coffee she had picked up for him into his hand. He mumbled a quick thank you before downing the contents in one just like she had done. He winced at the temperature.

"I gotta go pick something up," he told her before glancing into the room, his eyes meeting his unconscious brother's form. He looked back to her. "Can you stay with him?" he asked, his eyes almost pleading but trying not to seem desperate. "Until I get back?" Ali smiled a little. He didn't need to ask.

"Yeah, of course," she replied, taking his coffee cup from his hand.

"Thanks," he replied sincerely before racing down the corridor. Ali turned around and took a breath before she entered the room, taking a seat next to the hospital bed.

"Hey Dean," she whispered, bending down to place the cup on the floor under her chair. Noticing his hair had fallen down a little onto his forehead, she leant over and gently brushed it out of his closed eyes. "Sammy's just heading out for uh…" she trailed off. "I dunno what for, but probably something to make you better. Anyways, he'll be back real soon, but for now, I guess you're stuck with me." She laughed a little at herself as she rested her elbows on the plastic sides of the bed.

She sat still in silence for a long while as she waited for Sam. At first, she had contemplated going to check on John but she could bring herself to leave Dean. She'd told Sam she would stay with his brother until her returned and even if she hadn't, she wouldn't be able to leave him all alone. Whatever had happened to Tyler, he had been all alone. She'd been locked in the bathroom when the demon took him from the motel room and she had never forgiven herself for hiding away when her brother needed help. She wasn't going to leave Dean like she had left Tyler. She couldn't.

Finding herself getting too lost in her thoughts, she realised she needed to do something to keep her mind occupied. She stood up and grasped Dean's covers, straightening them out so they weren't as creased.

"There you go," she said, realising how stupid she was being. Straightening out his covers wasn't going to help Dean. She sat back down, her gaze dropping to the IV in his right arm. She wondered if it hurt. Could he even feel it? What was going on in his head at that very moment. She let her hand crawl across the sheets to his, running her thumb along the back of his hand. If he could feel anything at all she hoped the gesture was comforting.

"God, if you could see me right now," she said to him, interlacing her fingers in his. "You would so kill me for doing this." She snorted. "No chick flick moments, right?" She absentmindedly ran her finger tips over his knuckles. They were what she liked to call hunter's knuckles. Same as her father's. Same as Bobby's. Same as Tyler's.

"I dunno if you can hear me," she started. "Or maybe I'm just talking to myself like an idiot. Either way, when you wake up you're not gonna remember this, but I'm gonna say it anyway."

"To be honest, it's probably better that your unconscious. Means you can't talk back." She rolled her eyes at herself, imagining his half of the conversation had he been able to respond. Just cut to the chase already, Ali.

"Here goes nothing," Ali said, taking a deep breath before saying what she needed. "Dean, I-," she paused. "I just wanna say thank you. Thanks for looking out for me. For teaching me. For yelling at me when I'm being a crazy idiot." She smiled as she spoke, but at the same time, tried to hold back the tears.

"It wasn't easy after Tyler died and to be honest, I'd kinda written off the whole idea of family." It was the truth. Apart from Bobby, she had never thought she would have anything even close to a family. "And then I met you and Sam… Sometimes I wonder how things might've turned out if I'd never come into your lives. Maybe you wouldn't be here right now."

"I know we don't always get along," she said, he fingers fiddling with the sheets. "I mean, I know I'm a pain in the ass most of the time, but I guess that's what family's like, right?"

"You've given me so much, you and Sam. But I just have one more thing I really need you to do for me, okay Dean." She wrapped her fingers around his hand, holding it tightly like if she let go, he would slip away. "Just don't die, okay. You promised you wouldn't. Just wake up, be okay again. Sam and your dad... they can't lose you. They need you more than anything and I…" she choked and squeezed her eyes shut, a tear sliding down her cheek. "I can't lose you either. Meeting you and Sam is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I wanna keep hunting with you until we get this yellow eyed son-of-a-bitch." She sniffed, releasing Dean's hand so she could wipe the tears from her face. She needed to keep it together if she was going to get through the day. "So just, don't die. Please. If not for me, do it for Sammy." She was practically begging. "Because I know what it's like to lose a brother, and I don't want Sam to go through that."

"What was it like?" Sam's voice came out of nowhere and Ali jolted awake, having not realised she had dozed off. She sat up as she blinked, her eyes adjusting to the light. She had fallen asleep with her head resting on the plastic sides of the bed, Dean's hand grasped tightly in hers. She let it rest on the sheets.

"What?" she asked, looking up to see that Sam was leaning against the wall opposite her. She hadn't remembered him coming in either.

"Losing your brother?" Ali sighed as she stood up, her sad eyes fixed on Sam.

"Sam, you're not gonna lose him," she said causing the younger Winchester to turn away. "Hey," she said sharply, grabbing his arm and pulling him around to look at her. "You're not gonna lose him." She hoped repeating the words made them more believable, but from the hopeless look Sam was giving her, she was wrong. "We'll find a way to save him."

As she finished speaking, there was a loud crash, startling both of them. They turned to see that a painting that was hung on the wall had fallen, the glass smashing as it hit the floor.

"What the hell?" Ali said, walking over to inspect the damage. "What was that?"

"I know this is gonna sound crazy," Sam started causing Ali to look back at him. She raised an eyebrow at him expectantly. "But I think it's Dean."

"Sam, what-?"

"Just hear me out, okay?" he asked, cutting her off. Ali noticed that he was holding a large brown bag. "A similar thing happened earlier in my dad's room. And when Dean's heart stopped I felt something right before they brought him back." Sam was expecting her to roll her eyes or say he was looking for things that weren't there. But she didn't.

"I think I felt it too," she said. Something like hope lit up Sam's eyes. "But even if he is around, how are we gonna save him?"

"I'm not sure yet," Sam said. "But there's one way we can talk." Ali folded her arms and arched an eyebrow as Sam pulled a box labelled Mystical Talking Board from his bad.

"A Ouija board? Seriously?" she asked incredulously. "I'm not into all that voodoo hoodoo psychic crap. That's your speciality."

"Look, I know how you feel about this kinda stuff but this is going to work," Sam prompted. For the 6 months Sam had known the blonde girl she had made it clear how she felt. Whether it was because she was sceptical about it or just scared, Sam wasn't sure. What he did know was that he needed her help if they were going to make contact with Dean.

"Okay," she agreed with a sigh. Sam set out the board on the floor and they sat opposite each other, both placing their fingers on the pointer.

"Dean, are you here?" Sam asked. A moment passed and Ali almost thought nothing was going to happen, when suddenly, she felt the pointer move under her fingers and slid over to YES.

"It's good to hear from you, man," Sam said with a smile. Ali looked around, as if to spot Dean sitting next to them.

"Yeah, we miss you, Dean," Ali said. Suddenly, the pointed started to move again and Ali read out the letters as the pointer stopped over them. "H, U…"

"Hunt? Hunting? What, are you hunting?" Sam asked. The pointer slid back over to YES. Ali's eyes widened.

"What is it?" she asked, waiting impatiently as Dean began to spell out the name of the monster. REAPER.

"A reaper," Sam clarified. Ali's stomach sunk to the ground. "Is it after you?" The pointed went back to YES.

"If it's here naturally," Ali said, unsure whether she wanted to finish her sentence. "There's no way to stop it." Sam looked up meeting her eyes. She imagined what Dean was saying, wherever he was. I'm screwed.

"No," Sam said as if reading her thoughts. "No, no, no, um, there's gotta be a way." He stood up suddenly and Ali looked up to watch him pace around the room.

"Sam…"

"There's gotta be a way," he said. "Dad will know what to do." Ali watched him hurry out of the room before she could stop him. She tidied away the board and set in on the table by the window, running a hand through her hair. It was happening again. Just like when Tyler had died. Her world was beginning to fall out from under her feet, the ground crumbling with no way to stop it.

"Here," Ali said, holding out a chocolate bar to Sam that she had picked up from a vending machine.

"I'm okay," he said as he flicked through his father's journal. John hadn't been in his room when Sam had tried to find him a few hours ago, and now he was trying to find as much information about reapers as he could.

"Sam, you haven't eaten anything all day," Ali said softly, gently pulling the journal from his hands and replacing it with the candy bar. Sam looked up like he wanted to protest but Ali shot him a pointed look.

"Thanks," he replied, tearing it open instantly and taking a bit. Ali took a seat at the end of Dean's bed and flicked through the journal.

"Did you find anything?" Ali asked as she came across the page about reapers.

"There was a bit about how they can alter human perception," he said, his voice muffled by the candy bar he was chewing, "but nothing that would help Dean. I don't know how to save him." Ali could see Sam was beating himself up about it and she didn't know how to help. The truth was that she didn't think anything would be able to help Dean. They needed a miracle.

"We'll keep looking," she said anyway. Sam nodded gratefully. Suddenly, there was a gasp, causing both Sam and Ali to jump in shock. Dean's eyes flew open as he started to cough, the intubating tube choking him.

Ali leapt off the bed and rushed to his side as Sam ran to the door. Her heart was racing so fast she could feel it in her ears. She held Dean's shoulders, trying to sooth him as she grasped at the tubes in his mouth.

"Help! We need help!" she heard Sam yell before running back into the room. A nurse ran in followed by a few other medical professionals and Ali stepped away from the bed as they pulled out the tube so Dean could breathe by himself. She looked over to Sam who had an equally shocked, confused and relieved expression on his face. She had thought they needed a miracle, and now they had one. The only problem was that Ali wasn't sure she believed they existed.

"I can't explain it," the doctor said as he stared at the chart in confusion. "The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You have some kind of angel watching over you." Ali supressed chuckle, instead playing it off as a tickle in her throat.

"Thanks, doc," Dean said with a nod of gratification before the doctor left the room. "So you said a Reaper was after me?" he asked, turning to Sam.

"Yeah," Sam replied.

"How'd I ditch it?" Dean asked.

"You got me," Sam said.

"Dean, you really don't remember anything?" Ali asked. She had been leaning against the table and had now stepped forward closer to the bed.

"Nope, nothing," he replied. "You alright, kiddo?" he asked, sensing that Ali was feeling a little uncomfortable.

"Yeah," she replied with a small smile. "I just – I can't believe you're okay."

"I promised, didn't I?" he said with a smirk. Ali rolled her eyes playfully as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Are you crying?" he asked incredulously. Ali shot him a glare.

"Shut up, I thought you were as good as dead," she shot back as Dean chuckled.

"Dean Winchester doesn't just roll over and die," he said proudly. She rolled her eyes again.

"But you're okay, right Dean?" Sam asked nervously, the conversation turning serious again.

"Yeah," Dean replied. "Except this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong." Before Dean could explain any further there was a knock at the door. Ali looked over, spotting John hovering in the doorway. She hadn't seen him since their last conversation the day before.

"How you feeling?" he asked his son as he made his way into the room.

"Fine, I guess," Dean replied. "I'm alive."

"That's what matters."

"Where were you last night?" Sam asked his father angrily as he walked over.

"Sam," Ali warned quietly, not wanting anything to kick off. She spotted Dean out of the corner of her eye and it was clear he was thinking the same thing.

"I had some things to take care of," John said. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's specific," he said sarcastically.

"Come on, Sam," Dean tried like Ali had.

"Did you go after the demon?" Sam accused. Ali pulled a hand across her forehead in exasperation, wishing the tension in the air would dispel as soon as possible.

"Can we not fight?" John asked, his eyes pleading. "You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads." He took a breath as he looked to his younger son. "Sammy, I, I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could." Ali's mind wondered to her conversation with him the day before. "I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"

"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked. His voice was worried.

"Yeah, I'm just a little tired," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hey, son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?" John eyes glanced from Sam to the blonde girl. Ali could see the frown on Sam's face but she could also see the pleading look in John's eyes. He needed to talk to Dean. Alone. That much was obvious.

"Come on, Sam," she muttered quietly, pulling on the younger Winchester's sleeve. She was tired. They were all tired.

"Do you really think Dean could've got the reaper to bring him back?" Ali asked Sam as she walked beside him to John's room. She was on her third espresso that morning, the only sleep she had gotten since arriving at the hospital from when she had dozed off in Dean's room whilst Sam had gone out.

"I dunno," Sam replied. "It's possible, I guess."

"Hmm," Ali mumbled a little sceptically. But although she wasn't sure how Dean was alive, he was alive. That was what mattered. They hadn't lost anyone today, and for that, she was thankful. They rounded the corner and reached the entrance to John's room, and with one glance at the body lying on the floor, the gratitude she felt dissipated into a million pieces.

"Dad!" she heard Sam shout as he ran into the room. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. She watched Sam slide to the floor beside his father as she stumbled through the door way, her hand over her mouth as she gasped. She couldn't help the tears that spilled over her eyelids as she turned around, yelling to the corridor for some help. The coffee cup that Sam had been holding had fallen to the floor, the contents spilling onto the lino. The doctors filed in, pushing her out of the way like she was insignificant. That was exactly what she was in that moment. Insignificant. All that mattered was John Winchester's pulseless body on the hospital floor.

The whole time she had been thinking about how Sam couldn't lose a brother. About how awful and gaping the hole was that had been made in her when Tyler had died. The whole time she had been praying Sam wouldn't lose Dean. She never would have comprehended that today was the day both Sam and Dean would lose their father.

AN: So we're in to season 2 now and things are gonna get interesting...

I remember first watching this episode and really liking it but still finding it really sad :((( Like why do Sam and Dean have to lose everyone :(((((((( cry. And then I was like, at least they still have Bobby... this show has literally taken over my life and I don't even care :D

Thanks to everyone who has read/followed/favorited/reviewed this story. Means so much! If you have something you want to see more of/less of or any constructive criticism that would be awesome!

Let me know what you thought of this chapter, much love x