Exhaustion.
By NCGirl
Disclaimer: Not my characters, just my story (if you can even call it that.)
Note; Another writing exercise on my part. No real plot; no real point.
I quietly closed the door behind me and scanned the small motel room for any signs of Sam. It didn't take long to realize that he was not back yet. We had decided to split up for the afternoon, each of us following a different lead associated with our current hunt, and agreed to meet back at the room at 4:00. Glancing at my watch, I was grateful to see that it was just past three. If all went well, I might just have an hour or so of quiet before my brother returned.
It had been nearly 48 hours since we arrived in town and neither of us had been able to get much sleep. Combine the restless nights with the hours spent on the road and I actually felt a little drunk- and not in the good way. I found it as hard to focus my eyes as it was to focus my brain and my muscles felt water logged.
I made my way over to the bed that I had claimed earlier and flopped down on top of the spread, crossing one ankle over the other. My right arm flopped easily over my eyes as if that is where it was meant to be all along and it helped to block out the sun that came in through the window. I didn't think to pull the blinds before I stretched out, but now that I was down, the idea of getting up again just seemed torturous. The arm draped across my face provided just the right amount of weight, the right amount of pressure, to my forehead and instantly stop the slight headache that had surfaced about 30 minutes ago.
Despite my random and careless flop on the bed, I had somehow managed to land in the most comfortable position imaginable. That doesn't happen often so when it does, it is enough to make my day. Within seconds, I felt as if my body was literally melting into the bed as every muscle relaxed at once and I instinctively took a deep, calming breath. I honestly don't think I could have moved if I wanted to; if I had to. My limbs felt like they were filled with lead.
The only thing that was keeping me from falling asleep was the song running through my head. It was an annoyingly catchy country tune that I had heard moments before entering the room; the same one that had been continuously played on the jukebox at last night's bar. This time it had been blaring from one of the cars in the motel parking lot as I walked the length of the building to our room. It always amazes me how quickly the annoying songs can get stuck in your head and how long it takes to purge them once they do.
I remembered an exercise that Dad had taught us when we were kids and couldn't sleep. In hindsight, I think it was just a way to get us to shut up so he could get some rest, but it worked for me at the time and often still does. I took another deep breath and focused on trying to hear, and mentally list, every sound around me. The obvious, louder ones soon faded into the background, taking the country tune with it, and the softer, more subtle ones quietly came forward. I didn't focus on any one particular sound any longer than it took to identify it and push it into the background with the others.
I noted the sound of a bird outside, the soft whoosh of the cars on the highway several blocks away, and the clomping of a woman's heals as she walked through the parking lot out the window of our room. I could hear the quiet mumbling of the television in the room next door, the soft clicking of the radiator as the heat kicked on, and the ticking of the second hand on my watch. I made note of the water running through the pipes in the walls, the hum of the electric alarm clock on the nightstand next to my bed, a dog barking far off in the distance, and the sound of a paper bag being crumpled somewhere outside the door. One by one I noted every sound around me and realized that I was drifting closer and closer to the sleep that I craved. Suddenly, I couldn't remember what I was doing, yet I did recognize that as the final stage of consciousness, knowing full well that I was … just… about to…drop……off.
"Hey, Dean. Sorry I'm—" I stopped mid-sentence when I saw my brother stretched out on his bed with one arm over his eyes and the other one across his stomach, his cell phone in hand. The fact that he still wore his boots and jacket made me think that he either didn't intend to fall asleep or didn't intend to sleep for long.
I quietly closed and latched the door. I know Dean is exhausted. Hell, we both are. It has been a crazy couple of weeks and neither of us had a good night's sleep in days. We've also been on the road a lot and Dean did most of the driving, only surrendering the wheel when he could simply no longer focus on the road.
The sun was already starting to set, but I moved across the room and pulled the drapes, allowing the only light in the room to come from the bathroom, through the crack that I had left in the door. It was just enough to allow me to move around the room without tripping over furniture. I found an extra blanket in the closet and slowly draped it over Dean, careful not to wake him.
I must admit that it still worried me a little bit when he didn't stir, but I was soon rewarded with a soft sign that included a barely audible "Thanks Sammy." I couldn't help giving Dean an amused smile, knowing full well that he had not actually awaken completely.
I walked around to the other bed and kicked off my shoes before reclining. Following a quick set of the alarm on my cell phone, I closed my eyes and took note of the muscles all along my spine and back releasing the tension from the past several days. Twenty minutes. A twenty minute power-nap is all I would need to recharge. Then I would wake Dean so that we could fill each other in on what we discovered this afternoon. But until then, I was going to enjoy the peace and quiet. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and listened to all of the quiet sounds of everyday life going on outside the room as I slowly drifted off to sleep.
End.
3/26/07