Keep Your Head Up

54. Time Is on My Side

"Hey, man, you're the one who's been all gung ho to hunt. Mae's usually up for a hunt. I just thought I'd be doing you a favor."

"Hey, no, no, no, no, no. I didn't say I didn't want to do it, okay. I mean obviously I want to hunt some zombies."

"Okay, fine, whatever."

"Mae? Do you?"

Mae met his eyes. "As much fun as it sounds, I'd better watch Faith."

"That's a good idea."

CORONER'S LAB

Dean and Sam listened as the coroner said, "Yeah, the rest of the body was intact. The liver was the only organ missing."

"Now, where the liver was ripped out, did you happen to notice any... ah... teeth marks?" Dean asked.

The coroner gave them an 'are you insane' look. "Can I see your badges?"

"Of course, sure," Sam replied.

"Fine. So you're cops and morons."

Dean frowned. "Excuse me? No, no. We're quite smart."

"The liver was not ripped out. It was removed. Surgically. By someone who knew their way about a scalpel. Didn't you read my report?"

"Of course we did. Oh, it was riveting. It was a real page-turner, just delightful."

"You done?"

"I think so."

"Please go away."

"Okay."

"Sure," Sam agreed.

HOSPITAL HALLWAY

Sam was smiling.

Dean and Mae, who had joined them, noticed and asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Sam said. "So, that kind of punches a hole in our zombie theory, huh, that scalpel thing?"

"Yeah, zombie with skills, "Dr. Quinn, medicine zombie"," Dean stated.

"Maybe we're on the wrong track, Dean, Mae, looking for hacked-up corpses."

"What should we be looking for?" Mae asked, patting a whining Faith's back.

"Survivors. This isn't zombie lunch. This is organ theft."

"Mmm. Great. Faith and I'll stay here."

HOSPITAL ROOM

"I told the cops all of this yesterday," the patient said. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"It's just a couple of questions, sir," Sam told him.

"Hey, man. I just got my kidney stolen. I'm tired."

"We'll be out of here quick. Don't you want to get the guy?" Dean questioned.

"Will it get me back my kidney?"

"So what's the last thing you remember?" Sam wondered.

"Feeding my meter. I got jumped from behind... and then I wake up strapped to a table. And then the worst pain you could possibly imagine, only worse. And then I black out again. Thank God. And then I wake up screaming in some no-tell motel in a bathtub full of ice."

"Do you remember anything about the surgery -- you know, what the guy looked like, any details about the room?" Dean asked.

"Let me think about that. Yeah... one thing is coming back to me. You know what I remember? Getting my kidney cut out of my body!"