Silent Lucidity

[27jj]

A/N: A huge THANK YOU to scarlett_ohara2 for title-help and general awesomeness/encouragement, and to madsr3v3r for facilitating the meme that is eating my brain I got the prompt for this fic from. (which is hereee!)

“All right, Haley Joel. Let’s hit the road.”

Dean smirks, starts walking back toward the Impala.

Sam stands there for a second longer, laughs softly at his brother’s comment. After Molly disappears, once she lets go of her husband, of the thing that was keeping her around, Sam feels like something has been lifted of his chest, like he’s letting go of something as well.

Well, it seems like he should feel that way, but in reality it’s more like something is actually pressing down on his chest. Just thinking about breathing, in fact, is suddenly painful. The past couple of days they’ve been running around outside in the rain, and he’s been feeling a little under the weather, like he’s coming down with something-- now it’s just catching up with him.

He tries to clear his throat, get in a deep breath, but then he’s coughing, leaning over with both hands on his knees.

It takes Dean a second to realize Sam hasn’t followed him.

“Sam?” Dean jogs over to where his brother’s hacking up a lung in the middle of the street. He puts a hand on Sam’s back, decides it’s not too much of a chick flick moment if he rubs Sam’s back a little. He even puts a hand on his chest to steady him as Sam spits something he just coughed up onto the ground.

“Whoa, easy. You okay?”

“I-” Sam tries to answer but he starts coughing again.

“Jesus, Sam.” Dean rubs Sam’s back a little harder. He realizes that Sam’s jacket is damp, from the rain that had fallen earlier, and so is his hair.

“Damnit, are you sick or something?” Dean doesn’t even wait for an answer, because he’s known since yesterday that Sam was coming down with something. It’s something he kind of picked up on while raising the kid.

Sam doesn’t even try to deny it, either, just gives a half shrug and rubs at his throat before twisting away to sneeze.

“Heh-ETCHSH! Fuck, that hurt,” he groans miserably, and Dean sighs.

“Okay, let’s get you back to the motel before it starts raining again.” As soon as he says it, Dean feels a raindrop, and then another one a few second later. “You need to change out of these wet clothes.”

“So do you,” Sam says, and his voice is already hoarse.

“Yeah, save it for the car.”

Sam rolls his eyes and coughs wetly, but follows Dean to the Impala.

***

They’re pulling into the motel when Sam starts coughing again, his face buried in the crook of his elbow. When he’s done he stays that way, sleeve covering his face, to sneeze loudly.

“HPT-ISHSHOO!”

“You sound like shit, Sam.”

Sam sniffles and shifts in his seat, then leans his head against the window.

“Shut up.” His voice is scratchy, nasally sounding. Dean turns off the ignition and studies his little brother.

“Dude, your voice is going to be gone by morning.”

“No its not,” Sam argues, lifting his head from the window.

“Yes it is.”

Sam swallows with a wince, gives another little half shrug, and rests his head back against the side. Dean smacks his shoulder.

“C’mon, we’re here. Get inside.”

“Yes, mom.”

***

Dean cranks up the thermostat in the room while Sam changes clothes, coughing throughout.

“You’re painful to listen to,” Dean says after a moment. “I’ll be right back.”

Sam looks up from where he’s pulling on dry socks, his eyes wide, almost looking panicked.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to the store.”

“What for?” He shivers visibly and rubs the side of his nose roughly.

“We don’t have any medicine shit, so I’m going to the store.”

“Uhh..Ktchsh! Ugh. I’m coming with you.” Sam stands and sniffs hard, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

“No, Sam, you’re not. Get into bed.”

Sam sniffles again, coughs into his fist, but he shakes his head.

“It’s the middle of the day. I’m coming with you.”

“Sam.”

“De-” he breaks off coughing, his entire body convulsing. When the fit is over he looks over at Dean with a sheepish grin.

“Okay then. In bed. I’ll be back in a bit.”

He closes the door to the sound of Sam coughing again.

***

When Dean gets back Sam’s sitting up in his bed, fast asleep, the TV on, like he was trying to stay awake but couldn’t. His head is titled uncomfortably to the side, and he’s snoring loudly.

Dean slides the remote from Sam’s fingers and turns the TV off, then very lightly presses his hand to Sam’s forehead. A little warm, but not so much that Dean’s worried. He pulls away to see that Sam’s stirring awake, blinking up at him.

“Dean?” The word barely comes out, and Sam winces as he pushes himself into a more comfortable position.

“Hey. Got you some medicine. You maybe want to change out of your jeans?”

Sam nods and swallows with a grimace, but doesn’t get up.

“Here.”

Dean holds out a Starbucks cup, and Sam raises his eyebrows before taking it.

“Coffee?” His voice is going fast.

“Nah, its tea. Don’t know if it’s any good, but the chick was hot.”

“You’re such a freak.” He takes a sip of the hot drink, then cradles the cup to his chest, massaging his throat with his free hand.

“Don’t be jealous. Okay, so I have cough syrup, NyQuil, Tylenol…what do you want?” he doesn’t wait for an answer, but instead unscrews the top off the cough syrup. Sam accepts the dose and swallows it with a wince.

“Thanks,” he murmurs, before drinking more of the tea.

Dean changes into his own pair of dry clothes and piles his wet change in the bathroom along with Sam’s. Sam is only wearing a t-shirt, and he’s shivering a little, so Dean digs around in Sam’s duffle for a hoodie, the one he stole from Sam a few months back when he got sick.

When he turns around, Sam’s falling asleep again, empty cup held loosely in one hand. Dean goes over and takes it from Sam and sets it on the nightstand, then nudges his brother until he pulls the hoodie on.

“Get some rest, Sammy.”

Sam is still sleeping when Dean strips down to his boxers and climbs into his own bed later that evening. He’s suddenly exhausted, and it’s not difficult to fall asleep, even to the sounds of Sam’s congested snores.

***

Sam wakes up coughing sometime in the middle of the night, each coughing sending a new wave of pain through his throat. He can’t breathe through his nose, and when he tries it only makes his nose itch frustratingly. He rolls over onto his stomach and sneezes several times.

“Heh-hishch! KTCHSH! Hnhxsh!”

He tries to stifle them into his pillow so he doesn’t wake Dean, but it only makes his throat hurt and his nose itch more. He grabs blindly at the nightstand, hoping for a box of Kleenex, but all he comes up with is his empty Starbucks cup and his cell phone. He’s coughing again when he hears Dean moving in his bed.

“Sam?” Dean turns on the bedside lamp and checks his watch; it’s only been about three hours since he crashed.

There’s a wheezy, gasping noise from Sam, and then another set of muffled sneezes.

“Mmm-CHUH! Huh-htchsh. Htshch-eh!”

“You okay over there?”

“Uh-huh,” comes the quiet, raspy reply. Dean drags a hand over his face and climbs out of bed.

“Time for more medicine anyway.”

Dean grabs the plastic bag of medicine and pulls out the bottle of NyQuil, hoping it’ll knock Sam out again so they can both get some sleep.

He has to wait for Sam to stop coughing before he can swallow the medicine, and then he slumps back against his pillows and falls back asleep almost immediately.

It takes Dean longer to fall asleep again, listening to the sound of his brothers strained, congested breathing.

***

When Dean next wakes up, its light out, but still very early in the morning. There’s a clicking noise coming from his right, and it takes him a second to realize that it sounds like Sam is typing on his laptop.

He sits up and looks over, and sure enough, Sam is hunched over his computer.

“Why the fuck are you up this early?”

Sam jumps, startled, and starts coughing. He fumbles for something on the bed next to him, but starts sneezing before he can get to whatever it is.

“HTSHS-ehh! Huptshuh. Heh-KTCHSH-eh!”

He pats around on the bed again, one hand cupped around his mouth and nose, until he comes up with a roll of toilet paper. He pulls off a length and blows his nose into it, a loud, stuttering sound that ends with him coughing some more.

“You forgot to buy Kleedex,” he croaks miserably when he’s done. Dean sighs.

“What are you doing up?”

“I’b looking for adother hundt.” His voice crackles, and he coughs weakly into the paper still crumpled in his fist.

“Well, you better be looking for a hunt for next week, because we’re not leaving this motel until your lungs are done trying to escape from your body,” Dean says firmly. “We’re staying here.”

“Doh.” Sam sets his jaw, narrows his eyes, and sniffs wetly.

“Yes, we are.”

“Doh we-" Sam breaks off to cough, struggles to get his breathing under control, and he sneezes once before he lamely finishes his thought. “Doh we arend’t.”

“What? I can’t understand your croaky congested self.”

“Fugck you, Deand.”

“What was that? No comprendo.”

Sam coughs again, annoyed.

“Dond’t pretedd like you speak Spaddish.”

“You’re cranky today. Maybe you should go back to sleep.”

Sam ignores him, rubs at his red nose, and Dean notices that he’s pulled off his hoodie but is shivering.

“You’re looking a little flushed there,” Dean says lightly, wishing they had a thermometer. He gets up and grabs the medicine before going over and placing his hand on Sam’s forehead. “You have a fever.”

“I’b kide of cold.”

Dean administers Tylenol and cough syrup, and brings Sam a glass of water.

“I turned up the heat earlier. Why’d you take the sweatshirt off?”

“I was really hot. But I’b cold dow.”

Dean pulls the covers up over Sam, takes in his flushed, red-nosed, miserable looking brother’s face once more. This is the point where Sam shuts up and lets Dean fully take care of him, allows himself to stop and rest for once.

“We’re staying for one more day.”

***

They end up staying for two days.

Sam sleeps for most of it, but after a couple of days he gets restless, stops letting Dean feel his forehead.

“Dude, I’m fine,” he protests, and Dean has to admit that he sounds a hell of a lot better.

Dean wants to stay longer, until Sam’s completely germ free, but they’ve actually found a hunt that looks legit in San Francisco, something that looks like it could be werewolves. An easy, straightforward case.

So they pack up, and Dean bundles Sam into the front seat with the blanket from the trunk of the Impala and a new box of Kleenex, and they head west.

[ID2006]

*squeals and does happy dance

[swann_ee_song]

*still waiting for the sequel.. with "heart"*

Which is still probably my FAVOURITE episode. ever. Except for "Monster Movie." And "Hollywood Babylon." ... oh, and "Mystery Spot" and... "Wishing Well." Yup. And maybe a few others. I like the light-hearted angst.

[LovelyLinda]

Yummy

Even as a Dean-girl I totally adore your story <3

It's so amazing!

And I love Sam being all mothered by Dean

[scent]

Yummy

Even as a Dean-girl I totally adore your story <3

It's so amazing!

And I love Sam being all mothered by Dean

More, more, more! I just love it! Sick Sammy.... how sweet to be mothered/fathered by his big brother. Great story!

[scarlett_ohara2]

Aww, yay! I think the title worked really well!

Plus, ROADKILL- MMMMMMMM.

(Hah, if you didn't know that was in context, what a weirdo I'd sound like! )

Now I can't wait for the "Heart" one...

[shygreeneyes]

I just adore this so much. S2 Sam holds a special place in my heart. And you're right, he does sound sick. Does a good job of covering it up with Sam's "gentle with the traumatized witness" voice, but he sounds sick, poor bunny.

[Raining Strawberry]

Awwwww *loves* I'm also doing a happy dance. This is precious!

Sammy is adorable when he's helpless and miserable. I love Dean taking care of him, like holding him steady while he's coughing and getting him to take medicine.

And any time when someone is bundled up in a blanket... golden. I really need to see "Roadkill" again now!!!

[27jj]

*squeals and does happy dance

Thank you

*still waiting for the sequel.. with "heart"*

Which is still probably my FAVOURITE episode. ever. Except for "Monster Movie." And "Hollywood Babylon." ... oh, and "Mystery Spot" and... "Wishing Well." Yup. And maybe a few others. I like the light-hearted angst.

Hee, you are so awesome:) Thanks! And yeah, I freaking LOVE the end scene of Heart...Jared is such a pretty, messy crier...yay angst.

Yummy

Even as a Dean-girl I totally adore your story <3

It's so amazing!

And I love Sam being all mothered by Dean

Thank you!!! I'm really glad you liked it-thanks for reading

More, more, more! I just love it! Sick Sammy.... how sweet to be mothered/fathered by his big brother. Great story!

I know, isn't sick Sammy the best thing in the whole wide world?! So glad you enjoyed reading this!! THANKS!

Aww, yay! I think the title worked really well!

Plus, ROADKILL- MMMMMMMM.

(Hah, if you didn't know that was in context, what a weirdo I'd sound like! )

Now I can't wait for the "Heart" one...

Yes, and now I'm gonna need a title for the sequel

Haha, I think the majority of the things we say sound ridiculous out of context!!

I just adore this so much. S2 Sam holds a special place in my heart. And you're right, he does sound sick. Does a good job of covering it up with Sam's "gentle with the traumatized witness" voice, but he sounds sick, poor bunny.

I do love me some early-seasons-Sam:) Hee yes, it does lend well to his sensitive/gentle voice for victims=D Thanks so much for reading!!

Awwwww *loves* I'm also doing a happy dance. This is precious!

Sammy is adorable when he's helpless and miserable. I love Dean taking care of him, like holding him steady while he's coughing and getting him to take medicine.

And any time when someone is bundled up in a blanket... golden. I really need to see "Roadkill" again now!!!

Yay happy dances!! I'm doing one myself over here:) Thank you!

[obsessed]

Ahhh, I'm always so late.

Sorry, this is super duper cute. yupyupyup. (:

[27jj]

Ahhh, I'm always so late.

Sorry, this is super duper cute. yupyupyup. (:

Better late than never!

Thanks for stopping by to say that!! It makes me happy that you think this is cute:) THANK YOU!!

[Aprilcot]

Ohhh... good story!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

[iluvsneezes]

Omg, I LOVED this story!! There is nothing more adorable than sneezy!Sammy. Thank you so much for this.

[27jj]

Ohhh... good story!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Thank you!! Glad you liked it:)

Omg, I LOVED this story!! There is nothing more adorable than sneezy!Sammy. Thank you so much for this.

I'm so happy you liked it! I couldn't agree more, about adorable sneezy Sammy:) Thanks!