CHAPTER 18

Sam was going crazy laying in that bed. The doctor was supposed to come by today to evaluate him and it was all that he could do to keep from running out the front doors. The doctors be damned. It's been 5 days and they had finally cast his arm. Now all he had to worry about was whether his head was healed enough for him to be released.

Thankfully, the doctor seemed to think that Sam was ready to go. The blood that had pooled under his skull was all but gone and there was no more swelling. He wasn't having any dizzy spells or headaches either. The doctor signed his release papers and Bobby was on his way to pick him up.

Sam was so hyped up that he couldn't sit still. He paced around the room chewing on his bottom lip. He had started to have terrible nightmares about the things Dean could be doing to Y/N. He blamed himself for being weak. Too weak to stop Dean from taking her and too weak to get to her sooner. The guilt was eating at him. Bobby walked into his room and saw Sam pacing frantically back and forth in front of his bed.

"Whoa! Easy there kiddo! Calm down!" Bobby said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Cas & Crowley are waiting for us back at the bunker. We've got all the supplies we need and we'll work out a plan to get Y/N back and cure Dean. Sam heaved a heavy sigh and nodded at the older man. Just then a nurse came in with a wheelchair and smiled at the 2 men.

"You ready to go, Sugar?", the nurse asked Sam. She had been flirting with Sam since he arrived and Sam did a fair bit of flirting too. Sam smiled at her and sat down in the wheelchair. He hated these stupid rules about having to leave the hospital in a wheelchair but he was glad to see his favorite nurse, Amber, again. She was sweet and never treated him like an invalid. In fact, she made him do things for himself. Even when he didn't want to. She never let him feel sorry for himself. She was a big encouragement to Sam. If he thought about it, he would realize that she was a big part of why he was being released as soon as he was.

"Thanks, Amber, for taking such good care of me", Sam mumbled. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Amber patted him on the shoulder as she pushed him down the hall toward the elevator. Her sweet smile made Sam melt. If he wasn't a hunter and didn't run from relationships, he would be asking her out. But in his line of work, connections weren't a good idea. When Bobby pulled the van up to the curb, Sam stood and turned toward Amber. "Thanks again, Amber", Sam murmured, looking at his shoes.

"You're very welcome", Amber said cheerfully. Smiling, Amber stood up on her tiptoes and kissed Sam on the cheek. "See ya around Sammy!" Amber winked at him before she turned and pushed the wheelchair back through the automatic doors. Sam watched her go, smirking at her back. His smirk faded when he thought about what this life meant for anyone that got to close to him. It made them targets for any creepy crawly that had a grudge against the Winchesters. He just couldn't risk her safety. Sam couldn't love 'em and leave 'em like his brother could. He became attached far too easily. Sam climbed into the passenger seat of the van and closed the door.

"Let's go", Sam said with regret. Bobby pulled away from the hospital, heading back to the bunker. He didn't say anything to Sam on the drive home. Bobby could tell that he wasn't really in the mood for chit-chat. It was coming down to the 11th hour and Sam doubted if they'd get another shot at this. Their plan couldn't afford to have any kinks. It had to be flawless. But having an angel and a demon on your side helped. They'd be able to see the situation from different angles. See things that he and Bobby might miss.

Back at the bunker, the four men...well, 2 men, an angel, and a demon, were huddled around the conference table in the library. They were all bickering as to the best way to catch Dean off guard. Sam wanted to try to lure him out of the building, while Cas wanted to go in alone to try to surprise him, and Bobby wanted to bust down the door and charge in blindly. When Crowley threw in his 2 cents, the room fell silent. They all stared at him in shock.

"We need to wait until he is...preoccupied", Crowley cleared his throat before he said the last word. "Dean has to be completely surprised or this won't work. You, of all people, should know that, Sam". Sam wouldn't look at him. He didn't want to entertain this idea. He didn't want to see her being brutalized again. NOT again. But he didn't see any other way to take him by complete surprise.

"Even if we went with this deranged idea", Bobby spat, "how would we now when he's...?" Bobby couldn't finish the sentence. His expression of disgust said it all. Crowley stood up and pulled a small coin out of his breast pocket and dropped it on the table. "A tracking coin? How will that help?", Bobby asked, confused. He looked up at Crowley then back down at the coin.

"That's not a tracking coin, you dolt!", Crowley growled. "It's a device of my own invention. This little coin let's me see what's happening anywhere in the immediate vicinity. It has a range of about 30 feet. I hid one just like it in the room where Dean is holding your sweet lamb. I will know when it's time to act".

"Has he...since you were there last?", Sam tried to ask Crowley what everyone was thinking, but he couldn't get all the words out. His face was scrunched up and his eyes were squeezed shut. Deep down, he knew the answer, but he had to hope for miracles at this point.

"Do you really want me to respond to that, mate"?, Crowley said softly. "You wouldn't like the answer". Sam clenched his teeth and his good hand curled into a tight fist. "If we're going to go with this plan", Crowley continued, "we're going to have to wait until he is well and truly indisposed. Not a second before". The other three men all had the same look of defeat on their faces.

They were well and truly dancing with the devil on this one.