Spare Your Sympathy

30. Born Under a Bad Sign

UNDERPASS

Dean was on his phone, leaning against his car. He was fidgeting and upset. Cataleya stood next to Dean, a concerned look on her face.

"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, Leya 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, Leya and I are on our way."

Cataleya glanced at Dean and he nodded. "Yeah, Leya, it's him."

MOTEL

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

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

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

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

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

"Sam?" Dean called. "Hey."

"Hey, Dean. Hey, Catty," 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?" Cataleya questioned.

"I don't know."

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

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

Dean left the room, leaving Cataleya with Sam.

She rifled through his bag, pulled out a shirt and handed it to him. "Change. You'll feel better."

Sam silently took the shirt before asking, "Coffee?"

"Sure."

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

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

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

"Yeah," she said. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, a little."

"That's good, Sammy."

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, Catty? What happened to me."

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