I wrote this in my head the other week when I was sat in my law exam with 30 minutes to spare and nothing else to write. My mind wandered when I got bored at looking at the clock. This was just cos I got back ache and cold at the time too.

Can I make it better?

Summary: When Sam starts to have severe back pain one night, Dean is there for him trying to do everything in his power to help his brother. Sick and in pain Sam, big brother worried slightly sick Dean.

Set sometime is season 1.

Side kick-Bia1007

Beta- MonkeyMuse

It Hurts

Sam stared at the wall and sighed for the hundredth time, he was so uncomfortable, he wanted to turn over, find a better position to lay in, but his bed had to be one that creaked and he didn't want to wake Dean. His brother was the one doing all the leg work last week in freezing temperatures while he sat in front of his laptop doing the easy job of research. As a result, Dean had gotten sick, clogged nose, nasty chest, hammering headache, a fever, the works, he'd been laid up in bed for the last 2 days once the hunt was finished.

But that didn't change the fact that he couldn't sleep, his back was killing him. It felt like someone had kneed him in the back and now he was left with waves of after pain, and possibly someone rubbing their knuckles between his spinal discs just to make him even more miserable. The thing that bothered him though was the fact that he hadn't done anything, hell, he was lounging around in the motel when Dean went to go take out the spirit they had been chasing all week.

Once again he shuffled his legs and brought his knees to his chest, then carefully and slowly straightened them out again when that only made the pain worse.

"Sam what the hell man?" he heard a croaky Dean ask and he cursed himself for waking his brother, or maybe because of all his shuffling he hadn't even been able to drop off. He gave himself a pat on the back for that one, nice work Sam.

"Nothing, sorry."

"Come on dude you're shuffling like you got ants in your pants."

"It's nothing, go to sleep." And again Sam took the moment of mid speech to shuffle his legs, maybe Dean wouldn't hear then if he talked over the sheets rustling.

"Come on dude, I didn't put itching powder on your underwear again so unless you've got flees-"

"Dean I'm fine."

Yeah, of course you are. "You sure?" Dean asked instead.

There was a long sigh, and a pause before Sam huffed out the, "yeah I'm fine," Dean was waiting for.

As he stared at the unevenly plastered wall yet again Sam thought of how he hated the silence in the room now, silence meant Dean wasn't snoring, which meant he wasn't going back to sleep, he was wide awake and thinking as loud as him right now. But on the bright side, now he knew Dean was awake, he didn't have any other reason not to try and get comfy by turning over and creaking the bed, so he did.

Big mistake! "Mmmmhh," he whimpered when the pain exploded, the invisible knee in his spine that was there before had been replaced by a football player's helmeted head running into him and knuckles in his discs had turned to huge steel toed boots now he was on his back.

"Sammy?" Dean asked sitting up in bed when he heard his brother cry out.

"What?" he asked trying to block out the pain erupting through his body by squeezing his eyes so tight, water were almost leaking from them. Closing your eyes, that'll make the pain go away, good choice Sam, he praised himself.

"Dude what's up? You hurt?"

"No, I've been in the motel all week, sitting." While you are out doing all the work.

"Dude you were researching, wasn't any sense in both of us being out there in the freezing cold."

"We could have switched sometimes."

"Yeah but I suck at research, so it made more sense you staying here in the motel looking for leads for me to go after," and that was that, Dean's way of saying stop beating yourself up or I'll kick your ass myself.

"Dean you're sick thanks to that brilliant idea."

"No, I had a cold," Dean made it very clear he was speaking past tense about the cold, which by the sounds of his voice was clearing up thankfully. "Cold is a whole different thing to being sick, and besides, you don't get cold from being out in the cold, didn't they teach you that Stanford college boy?"

"Haha."

"So what's up?" Dean pushed.

"Nothing I'm fine."

"Sam," and there it was, Dean's classic 'I'm your big brother and you do as I say,' voice that meant he wasn't going to shut up about it, no matter how tired or how much cold he had.

"Dean I'm not the one that's sick."

"Neither am I, so spill."

"Dean I'm-" Sam caught sight of his brother's glare thanks to the streetlights so he gave in. "Just...my back kinda hurts."

"Any particular reason? I mean you used to get back ache all the time right?"

"Cos I was growing, I'm pretty sure I stopped about 5 years ago. So no, no reason that I know of."

"It hurts bad?" Dean wasn't really asking, he knew the answer already, it must been pretty painful if it was keeping both of them up.

"Not that bad," Sam lied turning to lie on his front with his head buried in the pillow, that way hopefully if he screamed like he was dying to, or worse, embarrassed himself by whimpering again, the pillow would muffle it a little.

"Alright, that's it," Dean said pushing from the bed and crossing the distance between the two beds in less than 3 steps.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked without taking his head from the pillow, it wasn't that he couldn't, he just daren't. He whined when he felt the covers lift off his top half and hissed when Dean lifted his t-shirt and pressed a hand to his lower back, damn that hurts.

"Jeez man could you be any more tense?"

Sam wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical joke or a concerned question, he got his answer when Dean rubbed his back further, he hadn't realized his back muscles were so tight and only did when Dean's hand lifted and the extra weight on the edge of his bed was gone. For a second he wondered if Dean had gone back to bed, he kinda hoped he had, he didn't want to be pain in the ass any longer, but he also felt a little hurt if Dean had just brushed him off and gone back to sleep.

"I'm gonna get you some Tylenol." Not that he would admit it, but he smiled in relief the second he heard his brother speak again, and it wasn't anything to do with the pain relief. Then there were the sounds of feet walking past his bed before Dean's blowing of his nose, the toilet flushing then the bathroom tap running.

Dean was back by his side and his bed dipped again. "1 or 2?" Sam didn't even have chance to answer before his brother pried him from the pillow and turned him on his side making him grunt in pain, he saw the look of guilt in Dean's eyes when he did so.

He took the glass, grimacing as he was forced to sit up so he didn't choke, he washed the 2 pills offered down with some water then sighed in pure misery when he shuffled back down the headboard and no matter what position he laid in, nothing helped his back, only made it worse.

20 long and frustrating minutes later the pills had done nothing, his back was still screaming at him and if it was possible, he was pretty sure it was getting worse. Dean had yet to move from his side, sure Dean put the TV on knowing neither of them were going to sleep but he was still sitting on the edge of his bed, his excuse being Sam's had better view of the screen. It was appreciated gravely but the longer his brother stayed sat next to him, the more Sam felt guilty for keeping him up, probably making him ill again in the process.

"Ice or heat patch?" Dean asked knowing his little brother was still in pain and the Tylenol had done jack squat.

Sam shivered at the thought of ice, he always hated ice therapy as opposed to heat on any injury that wasn't a bruise, and even then he had to be forced to keep the sharp freeze to his swelled skin, even to this day and he was a grown man for crying out loud. But the ice machine was just around the corner, and heat packs were all the way down town on a pharmacy shelf because it was something they never really had these days.

Dean wasn't going to settle for him saying nothing for the third time so he replied with the option of, "Ice," not wanting to trouble his brother further.

"Yeah right, I'll be back in 10, don't move."

Sam forgot about his back and sat up in a flash to stop his brother, "Dean I'm-"

"I said don't move, if it makes you feel any better, I'll put on 2 pairs of socks before I go outside in the snow mom."

Dean then got dressed and left, Sam didn't know whether he wanted to punch Dean or hug him when he heard the sounds of the car starting up.

Know alone, the room was just too dead and empty...so he took the chance to let out something close between a frustrated curse and a strangled sob, his brother could handle beatings, bullet wounds, broken bones and dislocated joints, and he was sat there complaining about his back that he'd done nothing to. What the hell is wrong with me?

He gave the mattress a good punch knowing if he didn't, he might find a way to kick himself in the head literally, back pain or no back pain.

He shuffled, and he huffed and he mewed to no one, it hurt like hell, it was getting worse, he was alone and he was a loser.

He tried to reach for the phone wanting to know how many minutes had passed, he got his hand to find his cell but in his clumsy fumbling to grab it, the phone dropped to the floor and so did he. As he crashed to the hard ground he landed flat on the most sensitive part of his spine and let out a long cry and by this point he found himself whimpering with every breath, every nerve in his body was burning.

He started to count in seconds to both keep score on the time passing and try to get his mind on anything else, but he found himself counting to 2 minutes 3 seconds then losing it to his emotions, so he cried actual tears, something he hadn't done since Jess, curled into an impossibly tight ball and sat rocking himself back and forth begging for Dean too come back. He just needed Dean to come back, he didn't care if he came back with ice, he just wanted his brother to come back.

SPN

Dean hated to leave his brother alone in pain but he didn't really have a choice, Sam couldn't just sit there suffering, and he couldn't watch so he got in his car and drove to the nearest pharmacy, it wasn't far, he knew because he and Sam had been there once already this week to get him some nose un-blocker stuff and other sissy things Sam insisted on.

But he felt much better today, Sam had been running round like a mother hen for 2 days none stop, and that was 2 days too long if you asked Dean, but he sucked it up and let the mother henning commence. But now that didn't matter, he couldn't care less if he was dying, as long as Sam was in pain, he came first...hell, even if he was dying and Sam was perfectly fine, Sam. Came. First!

He got to the store, pleased it was empty, then again who goes for pharmacy supplies at 3 in the morning, oh, that's right, he did. It took him a while to track down the back muscle section and when he got there, there were way too many things to chose from, he picked up a tube of some back heat cream, he put it straight back down when he remembered how much Sam hated that stuff. Their dad bought it once when Sam was about 13, stubborn as a mule and practically paralyzed from some anonymous back pain, that cream was one of the remedies he and his father came up with and the reaction was severe to say the least. His baby brother practically screamed the place down when the cream got working, he said it felt like it was scolding his skin away and he wanted it off! Trouble was by then, the cream had soaked into his skin.

Their dad calmly shushed Sam and told him to just give it a few minutes to settle and get working, but Sam cried and pleaded until John picked him up into his arms, ran to the bathroom and placed Sam in the tub. He grabbed the shower head from the hook and held it over Sam's skin washing where he rubbed the stuff, setting the water as cold as it would go, more heat was not what Sam needed at that time. Dean distinctively remembered Sam's back being a painful shade of red and burning hot to the touch when he was holding him up as their dad carried on washing away the murderous stuff.

His brother cried himself to sleep in the bathtub in their arms that night and it was days later when he could finally move again, Dean wasn't sure if it was in Sam's head or what but that kid always had back problems, always, but they had never to this day found out what the source or reason was.

He didn't really know what to get so he grabbed a butt load of different things, more painkillers, just in case, back heat patches, a hot water bottle.

He wasn't sure what else to get so he went to the counter and asked the guy for advice.

"Well what's your brother's condition?"

"I don't know really, but when he was a kid he used to get really bad back pain and he couldn't move for days, pills don't help and that heat cream stuff burned him last time he used it. He's practically a sasquatch so we just figured it was growing pains back then. Hasn't happened for years but it's started up again tonight."

"How old is your brother?"

"23," Dean replied.

"Oh, so not growing pains anymore then at his age. Any chance he's pulled something recently?"

"No, been sat inside our motel room for the last week, weathers kinda got in the way of going out and I doubt you can pull your back lying in bed and sitting on a chair."

The guy nodded, Dean really didn't know what to make of it but after a little more small talk the guy highly recommended a memory foam foldable mattress and pillow to help with Sam's back, surprise surpsise, they were the one the most expensive things on that particular shelf.

He paid for them all and didn't really care for the money lost, it was for Sam, screw his poker winnings.

He got back in the car and looked at the dashboard clock as he turned the key and started it up, he had been gone 17 minutes, crap! He never planned on being the 10 he told Sam about, never mind 17 god damn minutes.

He drove back to the motel in record time and blew his nose before getting out and turning the key to unlock the motel door, he hoped Sam had found a way to fall to sleep by now, but his hopes were crushed when he caught sight of his brother.

"Sam what the hell are you doing? I told you not to move!" he cursed rushing to Sam curled up on the floor between the two beds, panting and whimpering.

"S-sorry," he sobbed shaking in his fatal position as Dean held his shoulders, trying to lift his head to see his face.

"Sammy, man what going on? You're scaring me here."

"God...hurts."

"Okay, let's get you up."

"NO!" Sam cried, freezing as Dean made a move to lift him.

Dean didn't warn him this time as he lifted his upper half with one hand wrapped around his chest and hooked his arms under Sam's knees to lift his legs and eventually Sam was back on his bed whimpering and howling in agony, rolling back and forth on the bed until he settled for laying on his front again with his teeth sunken into the pillow.

"Alright, it's alright, just catch your breath, it's okay Sammy, sssh, just relax," he cooed rubbing circles on Sam's lower back as he settled and the howling died down to small mews. "What happened Sammy?" he asked when his brother had calmed down enough to breathe normally.

"F-fell."

"Dude I told you not to move," Dean wasn't mad, he was worried as hell. "Alright, you better now?"

Sam nodded into the pillow, even though he wasn't, but at least Dean was back which was the main thing.

"Wanna try some of this stuff?"

Again Sam nodded and tried his best not to cry out when Dean left his bed again, he was going to come back, he was. He heard the kettle turn on and the tap running, then Dean was back sitting by his side.

"Hot water bottle first, tell me if it's too hot."

But it wasn't, it was just right, the towel it was wrapped in made it all the better, it was warm and soft and Dean's hand over it, adding pressure to his spine, took the edge off his pain and the tension from his neck.

"You okay there Sam?" Dean asked, concern very evident in his voice.

"Yeah...s'good," Sam breathed but when Dean's hand left he couldn't quite catch the cry that left his lips.

"Still here man, just give me a sec."

Sam heard some more rustling of bags and Dean taking packaging off from something.

The next thing he knew, his sheets were pulled from under him and something was laid next to him, but it wasn't Dean.

"I need you to shuffle to this side, new mattress and pillow, this guy said was a miracle."

"Huh?"

"Memory foam mattress Sammy, role onto it, its right next to you, come on dude, it's not far."

Sam did as he was told, it didn't hurt that bad and Dean helped him up to the foam that was about 5 inch higher than the mattress he was currently on. Once he was settled again, Dean went around to the other side and pulled the mattress with him on it further to the middle of the bed. The hot water bottle that had shifted was replaced and so was Dean's hand. 5 minutes of laying on the foam and Sam was sure he had reached heaven, compared to what hell he was in minutes ago anyway.

"Feeling better dude?" Dean asked squeezing Sam's tense free neck with his free hand.

"Yeah, much, thanks."

"No problem." Dean then managed to kick his boots and his jeans off without moving the hand on Sam's back and warned him just before taking it away to get his jacket off and his sweats back on. "Night Sammy," he said after making himself comfortable on the spare half on his brothers bed, without any excuses of lame jokes over why he was there.

Just when Dean felt the hot water bottle turn from hot to lukewarm, Sam had finally given into exhaustion and after taking the bottle away, he wasn't far behind.

The End...possibly!

When I wrote this in my head, Sam's pain wasn't meant to be nearly as severe as this but it just took on a life of its own when I started typing. I'm still deciding on more or not, mostly because I really enjoyed writing it, so you guys tell me! :D