CHAPTER 13

Bobby made his way into the hospital to tell Sam about Crowley. Yet another conversation that he didn't want to have. He would rather face a nest of vamps with a handful of garlic and wooden stake than face Sam again with this insane plan cooked up by a demon. He knew there was going to be yelling and he was nursing the mother of all hangovers. He knew it was a big mistake to drink, but he didn't want to feel anymore. He drank until her was numb, and then drank until he passed out. His head was throbbing and he felt like he might throw up.

When he walked into the room, Sam was sitting up in the bed and a nurse was checking his IV. Sam smiled warmly at her as she chattered away at him. Bobby thought he looked better than he did the night before. He had more color and he didn't seem to be in as much pain. The nurse patted the back of Sam's hand and said her goodbyes to the 2 men. As she was walking away, the nurse looked back over her shoulder and winked at Sam. This didn't go unnoticed by Bobby. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Bobby grinned over at Sam, raising an eyebrow at the younger hunter. Sam just smirked back, rolling his eyes.

"You sure don't waste any time, do ya, boy?", Bobby chuckled. Sam groaned as if to say 'drop it, old man'. "I would have expected that kind of behavior from your bro...", Bobby cut himself off, horrified by what he just said. He stared at the floor with a hand over his mouth. Sam looked at the wall. It was hard to think of Dean not being here to tell Sam to quit milkin' it and get off his ass, just to then go and flirt with the girls at the nurse's station. Would they ever have that again? Sam didn't want to think about it.

"It's OK Bobby", Sam murmured. "This has been hard for both of us to accept". Sam ran his good hand through his hair and sighed. Bobby stood there for a long moment just listening to the uncomfortable silence fill the room. Sam looked over at Bobby and his eyes furrowed. "Bobby, you look terrible!", Sam said. Bobby just waved away the concern. He grabbed a chair from against the wall and dragged it over next to Sam's bed.

"We need to talk, Sam", Bobby said as he slumped down in the chair. "I got a visit from our favorite demon last night", Bobby huffed. Sam stared down at his hand for a moment before his eyes went wide. "Yeah", Bobby spat out. "THAT demon!" Bobby pulled a slip of paper out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Sam. Sam read it and his hands started to shake. Bobby had written all of the instructions and supplies needed for the ritual underneath the incantation last night before he got sloshed. Sam gripped the paper, his eyes narrowing into tiny slits. He was seething and Bobby saw that it was about to erupt any second.

"NO!", Sam bellowed. "CROWLEY? NO! WE..WE CAN'T! CROWLEY CAN'T BE TRUSTED! YOU KNOW THAT!" He knew what this meant. He was the key to this whole plan working and that meant that Y/N was going to be brutalized by Dean for however long it took for him to recover enough to leave the hospital. "I saw what he did to her, Bobby!", Sam screamed. "What he was about to do to her before I walked into that room!" The tears were free flowing down Sam's face. He crumpled up the paper in his hand and threw it against the wall. "I can't...", the words stuck in his throat and he tried to swallow down the lump there. "I can't let it happen again." the words came out of Sam's mouth a strangled whisper, as he looked down in his lap.

"I don't see any other way, Sam", Bobby said, placing a hand over Sam's. Bobby stood up and walked over to where the crumpled wad of paper landed, stooped down, and picked it up with a heavy sigh. He smoothed it out on his leg as he walked back over to the chair and tucked it back in his shirt pocket. "Look, I don't trust Crowley anymore than you do and I would rather eat dirt than work with the son of a bitch! But, it would take me months to find anything that might help and we don't even know where Dean is! So if you gotta better plan, than spill it, cuz I got nothin'!", Bobby snapped. His head was pounding so hard, he thought that it would split open and his brains would come pouring out. He propped his elbows up on his knees and put his head in his hands as if to keep that very thing from happening.

Sam had seen the aftermath of a bender enough times to recognize a doozy when he saw one. You couldn't grow up in this family and not see it first hand. Hell, you couldn't live the life of a hunter and not see it first hand. It seemed to come with the territory. Bobby's eyes were bloodshot, his nose and cheeks were flushed, and he squinted like the light was causing him excruciating pain. Sam felt guilty for yelling at him. It wasn't his fault that everything had gone to hell.

"Bobby?", Sam said softly. The older man looked up and saw an expression of deep sorrow on Sam's face. "I will do whatever it takes to get Y/N back safe", Sam murmured. He let out a choked sob before continuing. "E...Even if I have to drive the d...demon blade through D..Dean's ch...chest to do it", Sam stuttered and his voice shook as he stared back at Bobby. His lower lip quivered and he tried to take deep breaths through his nose to keep from sobbing.

"Let's hope that won't be necessary", a deep voice said from the shadows.