Borrowed Time

18. In My Time of Dying

[So there's an unitended pun this chapter. Can you find it?]

The demon-possessed truck driver stepped out of his truck and walked over. John, Dean and Adeline were unconscious. Eva was crying. Sam swallowed, barely awake. The demon pulled the driver's side door off its hinges and Sam pointed the Colt at him.

"Back," Sam demanded. "Or I'll kill you, I swear to God."

"You won't," the demon said. "You're saving the bullet for someone else."

Sam cocked the gun. "You wanna bet?"

The demon smiled before black smoke poured from the man, who collapsed. Sam uncocked the gun and dropped his head back in relief.

"Oh, my God!" the man cried.

"Dad?" Sam called.

"Did I do this?"

"Dad! Dean? Adeline? Dean! Adeline!" He took a crying Eva and tried consoling her.

The next morning, a rescue helicopter arrived on scene.

The four were being loaded onto stretchers. John, Dean and Adeline were still unconscious, Sam was awake. A paramedic was holding Eva.

One paramedic looked over Adeline. "Significant passenger side intrusion. Unresponsive. BP is 180 over 60, heart rate 95."

"Tell me if they're okay!" Sam cried.

"You have to stay still!" a female paramedic told him.

"Are they even still alive?"

HOSPITAL

In her room, Adeline sat up, worked her jaw, and got out of bed. She was wearing a white T-shirt, hospital pants and nothing else.

She went into the hallway. "Sam? John? Dean? Eva? Anybody?" She went down the stairs to the front of the hospital and found a nurse's station. "Excuse me. Hi. I, uh, I think I was in a car accident, my friends' dad, my friends and my daughter, I just need to find them." The nurse was unresponsive. "Hello?" She snapped her fingers before going upstairs, panicked, and found herself intubated on her bed, dying.

Dean was next to her bed, holding her hand. Eva was on his lap, her thumb in her mouth as she stared at her mother.

Sam entered Adeline's room. He stopped at the door and stared at his friend's body, breathing heavily.

"Sammy!" Adeline exclaimed. "You and Dean look good. Considering."

"Oh, no," Sam said.

"Dude, tell me you can hear me. Dean, can you hear me?" She smiled at her daughter. "Mommy's here, little one. How's John? Is he okay? Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!"

The doctor entered. "Your father's awake. You can go see him if you like."

"Thank God," Adeline mumbled.

"Doc, what about my friend?" Sam asked.

"Well, she sustained serious injury; blood loss, contusions to her liver and kidney," the doctor informed. "But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema."

"Well, what can we do?"

"Well, we won't know her full condition until she wakes up. If she wakes up."

"If?"

"I have to be honest-"

"Oh, screw you, doc, I'm waking up," Adeline said.

Dean pursed his lips. "She's a fighter. She'll wake up."

The doctor continued. "Most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. She's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations."