Love Heals All Wounds, A Supernatural FanFic

Chapter 2: Blood is Thicker Than Water

        Dean rushed to Sam’s side and grabbed a hold of his shoulders, shaking him slightly. “Sammy,” he yelled. “Sammy wake up!” But he didn’t open his eyes no matter how hard Dean shook him, or how loud he yelled. Blood had seeped through his clothing and was beginning to pool on the floor. Jo kneeled down beside him and lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, her eyes urgently pleading with him.

        “Dean,” she said with a sudden authority. “We need to move him.” He looked up at her and nodded once before scooping his younger brother into his arms. She went behind the bar and opened the door for him. “Bring him upstairs.” Dean nodded again and followed her up the stairs to one of the spare rooms. He carefully set Sam down on the bed and Jo rushed back out of the room.

        She raced back downstairs and grabbed a medical kit, a large bowl, and a few fresh towels. Running back up the steps, she set the medical kit and the towels down on the night stand and handed Dean the bowl. “Go fill this with fresh water.” He left the room without any hesitation. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the bed side to examine the extent of Sam’s damage. Her stomach churned when she looked him over. There were bruises and cuts all over his body. His wrists had bad rope burns that encircled his skin, looking red and puffy. It was obvious that had been tortured and that he had been struggling to break free of his bonds. As gently as she could, she unbuttoned Sam’s plaid shirt to get a better look at the cuts that were on his chest and stomach.

        Blood had seeped through the white undershirt and the plaid shirt that he was wearing. Grabbing a pair of scissors out of the medical kit, she carefully cut open his shirt, afraid to lift it off of him in case of broken bones, which she knew he had a least a few. Once she had his shirt completely cut open, Dean rushed back in with Ellen hot on his heels. “What happened?” She asked as she strode over to the bed.

        “We don’t know,” Jo responded, taking the bowl of water out of Dean’s hands. “But it looks as if he been held captive somewhere and tortured…” She set it down on the nightstand and grabbed a towel. Ellen grabbed one as well and pressed it to a cut that was still bleeding on his chest. Dean paced back and forth, on edge. Ellen looked up at him and shook her head slightly before turning her attention back to getting the bleeding to stop.

        “Jo,” Ellen said, adding more pressure to the wound. “Take Dean downstairs.” Dean stopped pacing and before he even got a chance to reply, Jo had nodded and grabbed his wrist, pulling him out into the hall. When he realized what was happening, he grabbed her wrist and made her stop.

        “He’s my brother, Jo.” He said, his eyes pleading with her. She sighed softly when she saw all of the pain in his green eyes held and did something that very rarely happened. She let her guard down. 

        Slowly, she stepped towards Dean and pulled him into a tight hug. She felt him stiffen, but then slowly relax, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Jo wished that there was a way to convince him that everything was going to be alright, but she wasn’t sure what to say. She was worried about Sam too, maybe not to the extent that Dean was, but she still considered him family after everything they had been through together. She stayed silent for a short moment before knowing exactly what he needed to hear.

        “I know,” Jo whispered soothingly. “But there is nothing you can do for him right now, okay? Mom knows what she’s doing, and honestly, she’s seen worse. Sam is going to be just fine…” Dean didn’t say anything for a long while, he just held her and nodded once. After another moment or so, she carefully pulled away and then noticed that they were both covered in Sam’s blood. She sighed softly, “Maybe we should get a shower.”

        Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “Uh…” A faint blush was creeping up the back of his neck and Jo quickly shook her head.

        “I-I didn’t mean it like that…I meant that we should clean up.”  Her own cheeks began to flush as well and she quickly looked anywhere but at him. They stood there in an awkward silence for a bit before Dean cleared his throat. 

        “Yeah…” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “A shower would be good.” Jo nodded quickly and turned away from him, glad for the excuse to hide her embarrassed expression.

        “The uh, bathroom is this way…” She said, leading him down the hallway. He followed after her silently, glancing around as they walked. Jo could tell that he was still on edge and hoped that the shower would help to calm him down his nerves.

        She opened the door to the bathroom and moved out of the way so that he could walk in. “There are fresh towels in the cupboard. If you need anything, my room is right across the hall.” He nodded slowly and she turned around to leave.

        “Jo?” He asked, just as her hand grasped the doorknob to her bedroom. She didn’t turn to face him. Jo just stood there, frozen in place.

        “Yes, Dean?”

        “Thanks.” She smiled softly to herself.

        “You’re welcome.” Smiling a bit wider, she opened the door to her room and slipped inside. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against the wood and took a few deep breaths, her smile fading quickly. Damn Dean for having such a strong effect on her. She hated it. It made her feel so, so weak… Which was bad, very bad. She couldn’t be weak if she wanted to be a hunter, but she wasn’t so sure that she could stop the way she felt for Dean either. Groaning softly, she held her head in her hands and sat there for what felt like hours.