Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

soft whimper.
“Sorry, baby.” Sam pulled Bo flush against his chest. Bo’s chilled cheek lolled on his shoulder. “Put your arms around me, okay? Hold on to me.”
With slow, obviously painful movements, Bo wrapped his arms around Sam’s neck. His ribs heaved in rapid, shallow breaths. Digging his shivering fingers into Sam’s shoulders, he buried his face in Sam’s neck. Icy lips brushed Sam’s skin.
Worried, Sam glanced up at Dean. “He’s really cold.”
“I know. It’s kind of strange.” Dean frowned, shifting along with Sam to keep the T-shirt pressed to Bo’s back as Sam hooked his other arm under Bo’s knees. “Or maybe not. Depends on how long he’s been out here. It’s not cold, even with the rain, but being out in it for a while could’ve dropped his temperature enough to be dangerous.”
Sam didn’t answer. A renewed fear for Bo’s life gave him the surge of strength he needed to stagger to his feet with Bo in his arms. Dean kept both arms pressed to the wound in Bo’s back.
Together, they made their way off the rocks and diagonally across the wide strip of grass to their destination. As they approached, Sam could see the place where a corner of the fence hung loose at the bottom next to one of the metal support poles. It wasn’t as far as he’d feared it would be, for which he was grateful. Bo was shorter and slimmer than Sam, but not by much, and Sam’s body was feeling the strain.
By the time they reached the spot, Kyle was there and had pulled a section of fence nearly as tall as himself loose from the pole. Long fingers hooked into the links, he lifted the loose part up and out as far as possible. “It was already loose when the guys and I found it last week,” he explained, looking guilty. “There were just a few pieces of wire twisted around to hold it down and make it look like it hadn’t been cut.”
Dean shot him a grateful smile. “Thanks, babe.”
Puffing with exertion, Sam shuffled through the opening. Dean moved with him, hunched over to keep from scratching his bare back on the broken ends of fence wire.
“Kyle, can you open the car door?” Dean lifted one arm a bit to check Bo’s wound. “Shit. This thing’s bleeding really bad. Kyle, babe, take this raincoat and lay it on the seat. Then get the blanket out. We’ll need to cover him.”
Kyle scrambled to do as Dean said. Pulling the raincoat off Bo’s legs, he flung the back door of his car open and spread the coat on the seat. He snatched a dark blue blanket off the floorboard and jumped out of the way.
“Dean, you’re going to have to move,” Sam said. “There’s not room enough for both of us in there.”
“You’re right. Hang on, I’ll get in on the other side and help you.”
Dean ran around to the other side of the car, his bloody T-shirt clutched in one hand. Grunting under the strain of Bo’s weight, Sam bent down and laid Bo’s upper body gently on top of the raincoat. Bo let out a little pained noise when his torn back came in contact with the wet plastic. By that time Dean was kneeling on the opposite seat. He grabbed the raincoat and pulled, sliding Bo fully onto the seat. If Bo’s sudden agonized cry affected him, he didn’t show it. Sam watched, wishing he could stop Bo’s suffering and hating that he couldn’t.
With one hand on Bo’s hip and the other beneath his shoulders, Dean rolled him onto his side, facing the back of the seat. “Kyle, hand Sam the blanket, would you please?”
Sam took the blanket from Kyle and tossed it over Bo’s legs. Dean arranged it so that Bo was completely covered except for his back. “Kyle, keep an eye out for the ambulance. Make sure they see us when they drive up. Sam, you try to keep Bo awake and talking. I need you to brace his chest too, so I can keep holding pressure on this cut.”
While Dean knelt on the floorboard, both forearms pressed to Bo’s back, Sam sat next to Bo’s head, leaned over and planted both hands on the vinyl between Bo and the back of the car seat. He stiffened his arms so that Bo’s chest was sandwiched between Dean’s arms and Sam’s. Bo gasped, his body going tense.
“I’m sorry,” Sam whispered. “I know it hurts. I’m so sorry.”
Bo’s head tilted back, his eyes opening to fix on Sam’s face. “S…Sam. There was…a portal. I, I couldn’t…couldn’t stop it.”
Dean glanced at Bo, then Sam. He raised his eyebrows in question, but said nothing. “The portal’s closed,” Sam told them