"DEAN! Dean, can you hear me?!"
Dean's mind is sluggish and confused, and there's an intense pain radiating from his left temple. The air around him is cold, and it seeps through the holes of his jacket and raises goosebumps to his arms, which are some reason above him. His head is heavy and he doesn't have the strength to open his eyes.
He can hear someone, hear them yelling his name frantically, sounding faraway. But he doesn't understand. He doesn't understand because just a moment ago you were lying dead on the ground, a blade protruding from your chest and your blood pooling onto the ground.
Dean's chin presses painfully into his chest and he tries to raise it but it's like a child trying to lift a hundred pounds; it's too heavy, and it strains his muscles. He gives up.
"Oh God, baby. I'm right here, Dean. I'm right here. We got you. You're going to be okay. Can you hear me?"
It's Jane. Her voice.
Dean hears his brother next, but doesn't know how to move his tongue, or much of anything for that matter. He tries to wiggle his fingers, but that only brings awareness to a burning pain around his wrists. He grunts and he hears someone sigh in relief. Then whatever's holding his wrists above his head disappears and he's falling. Arms wrap around his limp form, struggling to keep him upright.
"Cas-Cas, c'mon-he's really bad-help me out-"
And then there's more arms underneath him and Dean feels his weight leave the ground. "He was nearly killed," Cas mutters in a grave voice. "There's hardly any life left in him."
"He'll be okay though, right?" Dean hears you ask tearfully. "He'll pull through. You can do this, baby. You're so strong. You're going to be okay. I promise"
Dean's listening, but his brain is slow to process and he doesn't understand. He doesn't understand why she's calling him 'baby'-she was Sam's now. Are you talking to him? All he can feel is the pain, the cold, the ache in his bones and the soreness of his muscles. And he doesn't know where he is.
"Jane," Dean tries to say. It comes out as a strangled, unintelligible whisper. "Jane."
"Shh, Dean, it's okay. Don't speak. You're fine, we're going to get you some help."
Dean struggles to open his heavy eyelids. Everything is slow, unreal, and the world around him has a strange quality of distortion, different from the one he felt when he was with her. This one is sharper, harsher, and it hurts his head. The room is dark, almost blue. And it's cold. It's so cold. Exhaustion settles in every limb of his body, but all he can think about is her, lying dead upon the ground, bleeding out.
Jane. He feels the darkness start to creep into his mind. No. God, no. Jane- don't let it take me again-
--------
It's bright. It's bright even through his eyelids. The sound is muffled, but he feels better. More alive. He can feel the blood rushing through him and hear his heart beating steadily in his chest.
His eyes flutter open.
He sees a blurry Sam sitting in an armchair next to his bed. He's in the bunker. Sam slumps on one arm, his leg propped on his knee and a book perched against, his ankle, but he looks up and sees that Dean is awake.
"Dean," he says, relieved. "How do you feel?"
Dean clears his throat. "Better, I think," his voice sounds flat. "What happened? How did I get there?"
Sam frowns. "You've been missing for days, Dean."
Dean stares at him, his mind working furiously. Missing?
Think, Dean. Think. What's the last thing you remember?
It was Jane. Jane was... dead. The mental image causes him to wince.
No, Dean. After that. What happened after that?
He blacked out. He blacked out, and he woke up. He woke up... in a place he'd been before. A place he'd been in his memory. But that had never been real, right? That had all been the Djinn, putting him into his happy place.
His head hurt, and Dean's fingers wind into his hair. He's frustrated. He doesn't understand.
All he can think about is you. "Where's Jane?" he demands after a moment, his heart beating hard in anticipation.
A soft smile curves Sam's lips.
"She's fine. She didn't think you'd wake up soon, so she went to the store to grab some stuff for you. Food, some blankets, aspirin, cold medicine. She was crazy when you went missing, dude. She refused to sleep, staying up late to look for you. At one point Cas had to come and knock her out, so that she didn't pass out or something," he says with a light chuckle. Dean searches his eyes carefully for any sign of pain. He sees none. "I just texted her, told her you were awake. She'll be relieved. We were all worried for a second that you might not..." he trails off.
