Bless the Broken Road

31. Born Under a Bad Sign

UNDERPASS

Dean was on his phone, leaning against his car. He was fidgeting and upset. Zach stood next to Dean, a worried look on his face. Unfortunately, Lily wasn't around to help calm his panic as she was in Sioux Falls.

"Ellen, it's me again. Any chance you've heard from him?" He paused. "I swear, it's like looking for my dad all over again. We're losing our minds here." He paused again. "No, Zach and I've called him a thousand times, there's nothing but voicemail. We don't know where he went, or why. Sam's just gone." He phone beeped. "Hang on."

Dean got a call from Sam and answered. "Sammy? Where the hell are you? Are you okay?" He paused. "Hey, hey, hey! Calm down. Where are you? All right, don't move, Zach and I are on our way."

Zach glanced at Dean and he nodded. "Yeah, man, it's really him."

MOTEL

Sam hung up the phone slowly, looking numb. His knuckles were bloody.

Dean and Zach drove to reach Sam, passing a sign that read TWIN LAKES. They arrived at the hotel and parked and got out.

Dean and Zach walked frantically down a narrow hallway, checking door numbers until they reached room 109 and knocked.

"Sam, it's us. Sam!" Dean called.

Zach tried the door to find it open. Sam was sitting numbly on the bed.

"Sam?" Dean called. "Hey."

"Hey, Dean. Hey, Zach," Sam replied.

Dean knelt beside him. "Are you bleeding?"

"I tried to wash it off."

Dean saw Sam's shirt covered in blood and groped at it, searching for a wound. "Oh my God."

"I don't think it's my blood."

"Whose is it?" Zach questioned.

"I don't know."

"Sam, what the hell happened?" Dean asked.

Sam finally looked up. "Dean. Zach. I don't remember anything."

Dean left the room, leaving Zach with Sam.

He rifled through Sam's bag, pulled out a shirt and handed it to him. "Shower and change. It does wonders. I'll brew a pot of coffee."

Sam silently took the shirt before saying, "Thanks."

"Yeah."

Sam went to freshen up and Zach brewed coffee for Sam.

Once he was out of the shower, Zach poured him a cup of coffee and made it the way he liked it.

Sam sat at the table and sipped the coffee. "Thanks."

"Mmm," he hummed. "You feeling any better?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Good."

Dean returned to the room, carrying a grocery bag.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asked.

"You checked in two days ago under the name Richard Sambora," Dean told him. "Of course, I think the scariest part about this whole thing is the fact that you're a Bon Jovi fan-"

"Dean."

"Your room's been quiet, nobody's noticed anything unusual."

"You mean no one saw me walking around covered in blood?"

"Yeah. That's what I mean."

"Then how the hell did I get here, Dean, Saoirse? What happened to me."

Zach leaned against the counter with crossed arms as he said, "We don't know. But you're okay, and that's what matters. Everything else we can deal with."