Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

wait out in the waiting room. I’ll send the doctor out there to talk to you as soon as he’s out of surgery.”
Leaving Dean to handle the talking, Sam leaned against the wall and watched the stretcher turn the corner into a corridor and roll out of sight. All he could see was the top of Bo’s head.
A cold knot of foreboding coalesced in Sam’s stomach. What if Bo’s fears were right? What if any electromagnetic field was enough to allow a portal to form? What if Bo didn’t even have to be conscious for it to happen? He hadn’t felt anything remotely portal-like here, but then again he hadn’t felt it at Fort Medina either.
What if those things get free while he’s in surgery? He’ll die. They’ll all die.
Bo hadn’t mentioned any such thing, but Sam couldn’t entirely discount the possibility, in spite of his reassurances to Bo that a portal wouldn’t open here. Suddenly sick with fear, Sam leaned forward, bracing his hands on his knees. He thought he might throw up, or pass out. Or both.
He heard the nurse’s voice as if from a great distance, asking if he was all right. He shook his head. Dean’s arm slid around his waist, holding him up. Someone shoved a chair beneath him and pushed him down into it. He bent over, his shaking hands covering his face.
He heard Dean telling the nurse how Sam had witnessed the attack, how traumatized he must’ve been by the whole thing, and how reaction must now be setting in. She told Dean they could stay there until Sam felt able to get up, then hurried off to attend to another patient. Sam sat hunched in the chair and let it all wash over him while Dean’s hand rubbed soothing circles between his shoulder blades. Dean didn’t speak, and Sam was glad. He didn’t feel up to explaining himself just yet.
After a few minutes, Sam felt calm enough to sit up straight and meet Dean’s gaze. Dean gave him a worried smile. “You okay?”
“Better.” Sam glanced around and motioned Dean closer. “We have to talk. Bo said something that scared the shit out of me.”
“I figured so.” Dean pursed his lips. “I tell you what. I’ll go tell Kyle he can go on back, since it looks like Bo’s gonna be here at least until tomorrow sometime. We’re gonna need to call Andre and the rest of the crew anyway, so one of them can come get us whenever we’re ready to leave. After Kyle leaves and I call Andre, you and I can find a private spot to talk and you can tell me what Bo said. Sound good?”
“Yeah.” Sam pinned Dean with a solemn stare. “Not everything he said made sense. But some of it did, and that’s what’s so scary.”
Dean didn’t answer, but Sam saw the sudden apprehension in his eyes.
Taking Sam’s elbow, Dean tugged him to his feet, and they headed back into the waiting room.
    Half an hour later, Sam and Dean sat huddled in a corner of the hospital cafeteria, sipping strong, bitter coffee made barely palatable by liberal amounts of creamer and flavored syrup. Dean had sweet-talked a young nurse’s aide into giving them some hospital scrubs to wear, and it felt good to be dry for a change. Kyle had taken their soaked and bloodstained clothes with him, saying he might as well wash them since he needed to wash his blanket anyway.
    “That was nice of Kyle to take our things,” Sam said, cupping his hands around his coffee mug.
“It was, yeah.” Dean took a sip of his coffee and wrinkled his nose. “I guess you gave him Bo’s car keys?”
Sam nodded. A nurse had found Bo’s keys in the pocket of his shorts, so Kyle had offered to take one of his friends with him and retrieve Bo’s car from the fort. “Kyle’s a sweet kid.”
A grin tugged up the corners of Dean’s mouth. “He sure is.”
“And he’s crazy about you.” Sam peered at Dean over the rim of his cup. “Any chance of this being more than a summer fling?”
Dean looked away. “I didn’t think we came here to talk about my love life.”
Sam studied Dean’s face. Dean wore the closed-off expression he only ever got when someone suggested the possibility of him having a serious relationship. It bothered Sam—and worried him a bit—that Dean never let any one lover close enough to become something more, but Dean was right. They had more pressing matters to discuss at the moment.
Putting his concern for his friend to the back of his mind, Sam leaned his elbows on the table and dropped his voice low, even though there was no one nearby to hear. “When I went to talk to him, Bo