Bound: A Supernatural Story ✔️

SEVENTEEN

This time, there were no nightmares, no broken images of splattered blood and no fear to make Holly twist under the covers.

She slept like a rock, not even twitching once in her slumber.

When she awoke, it was like bursting through a bright light and into a white bubble. She felt like she was floating, hovering in the room like she was air, until she heard voices and she fell back to earth.

Fragments of the conversation reached her ears.

"—the white dress thing?"

"Vail's messed up idea..."

"...she was his virgin?"

"Dean, please don't tell her I told you this—"

Holly scrunched her eyes closed. She didn't want to hear any of it.

"Dude, I'm grabbing some coffee."

She could feel a slight twitch in her senses as Dean's footsteps faded down what she presumed was the hospital hallway.

Sam sighed, pacing, but Holly didn't open her eyes yet. She felt as if she couldn't talk to him right now; to either of them. She couldn't face them.

Sam sighed, and sat down in a chair by her bed. Holly felt the tiredness emanating off of him, mixed with the last dregs of adrenaline and relief. She kept her eyelids still, and her body motionless.

What would happen when she woke up? The thing that had drawn them together, that had given them a common enemy, was dead and burned so now that left them...where? With a life-sharing bond that none of them knew how to fix; that could mean certain tension in their relationship. Hunters, she knew, didn't like to stay in one place for too long. They would want to get out of here, to go save more people.

And that left her in limbo. She had to find a way to break this bond, or live painstakingly without Dean. There was no choice.

Holly's ears focused in on Sam's breathing. She wasn't sure she wanted to separate from them, which scared her more than the fact she faced a city full of vampires now.

She would leave. She would get out, find a fresh start. She had no future in this city; who knows what would happen to her without Vail to stake a claim on her?

There was murmuring outside her door. Dean was chatting with one of the nurses.

Holly rolled over, opening her eyes. She saw Sam's green gaze on her. His face was so open, so welcoming. There was concern in his eyes.

"You're awake." He nodded to her, folding his large hands together. "Are you feeling alright?"

Holly yawned, and the action hurt her neck, but she was able to sit upright. Sunlight streamed in through the white shades, making her blink.

"I've been better. Goddess, how long was I out for?"

"Throughout the rest of yesterday, and last night," Sam answered. "You needed your sleep, but you're stable."

Holly gingerly touched the bandages on her throat. She smiled grimly. "What excuse did you make up for this one?"

Sam scratched his neck. "We had to think on the spot for that one. So, basically, you just tripped."

Holly raised her eyebrow. "And fell?"

"On a fence."

She laughed. "Let's see, the fence around my garden?"

He grinned. "You were watering your flowers, or something."

"In a torrential downpour?"

Sam shrugged. "Believe me, Dean had 'em convinced."