The smell of disinfectant enveloped the entire ward. The thick dark green curtains were drawn tightly, and only a trace of pale skylight leaked through the gap, casting a slender shadow on the floor. There was also a faint smell of blood floating in the air, which oozed from the unhealed wound on Bai Haorui's chest and the bandage on Bobby's lower back. Mixed with the pungent smell of disinfectant, it was an indescribable unpleasant smell.
Bobby was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, with a frayed brown baseball cap on his head. He was sitting in a wheelchair, staring motionless out of the window. His back was straight, like a stone statue that had been eroded by rain for many years, and his knuckles were red from gripping the armrests of the wheelchair. Bai. His eyes were empty, as if his soul had been sucked into the abyss of Hell along with the sky-reaching light pillar of St. Mary's Convent. For three days, he hadn't said a few words, and he had remained in this posture most of the time, like a silent tombstone.
Sam leaned against the door frame, his shoulders slumped, and his fingers unconsciously dug at the holes in the knees of his jeans, pulling out longer threads from the already tattered fabric. There were thick black spots under his eyes, and stubble popped out, making him look even more... He was so haggard. He looked at Bobby's stiff back, and then at Bai Haorui who was half-kneeling behind the wheelchair. The guilt in his heart was like rising sea water, coming up one after another, almost drowning him.
If it weren't for me, Sam's nails were deeply embedded in the flesh, leaving several blood marks. If I hadn't listened to their advice, if I hadn't been deceived by Ruby, if I hadn't killed Lilith with my own hands and opened the last seal, Bobby should be in his South Dakota garage right now, twisting wrenches to repair that broken pickup truck, with his favorite beer chilled in the refrigerator and old country music playing on the radio. Instead of being here, he may never be able to stand up for the rest of his life. I am really a disaster, and everyone who comes close to me will end up with a tragic end.
"Squeak--"
The ward door opened, breaking the suffocating silence. Dean held a kraft paper envelope with the hospital logo printed on it in his hand. He deliberately stepped very heavily, and his leather shoes made a crisp sound when he stepped on the smooth floor. He threw the envelope on the bedside table with a "snap" and pretended to be relaxed and blew an off-key whistle, trying to dispel the heavy atmosphere that could drip water.
"It's been three days, old man, how long are you going to keep fighting with the window?" Dean walked up to Bobby and patted his shoulder, "Haorui also said it can be cured, but it's just a bit troublesome. How about I give you a back massage? I guarantee you'll jump up and kick my ass after I massage it. It's definitely strong enough."
"Dean." Sam's voice was low and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against rough wood. He turned his head and looked at Dean, his eyes full of worry and deep weakness.
Dean spread his hands, with a hint of impatience in his tone, but more of a helplessness that he couldn't hide. He walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtains and took a look at the gloomy sky outside, which looked like it was about to rain. Then he suddenly pulled the curtains back with a "crash" sound. "Then what do you think we should do? We can't stay like this forever, right?" The world is going to fucking end. Yesterday the news said that Florida had a Category 8 hurricane, Texas had a 7.2 earthquake, and there was the swine flu, which has killed thousands of people. If this continues, we will be finished first without waiting for Lucifer to take action."
Sam sighed, and his eyes fell on the envelope with "X-ray" written on it. His voice was very soft. "Don't worry, Haorui said that he can slowly repair Bobby's injury, but it will take more time. Nerve regeneration is inherently slow, so there is no need to rush."
Dean was silent for a few seconds, and his chest heaved violently several times. He reached out and grabbed the envelope and tore open the seal roughly. The sound of the paper tearing was particularly harsh in the silent ward. "I went to the radiology department," he took out two pages from the envelope. He handed the X-ray film with blue light to Sam, with a hint of self-deprecation in his tone, "I took a few 'artistic photos'. Let's put it this way, the doctors were confused. They discussed the film for half an hour, and they have never seen anyone with long words on their ribs."
Sam took the X-ray film and looked at it carefully under the little bit of skylight by the window. On the film, Dean's fifth to eighth ribs were engraved with densely packed strange words. Those words glowed with a faint silver light under the X-ray, as if they were alive and flowing slowly, like little silver snakes.
"Holy shit." Sam cursed in a low voice and subconsciously touched his chest. There were the same runes there, engraved on his ribs. Castiel used Angel Blade to engrave them on his ribs three days ago. The pain was so painful that he almost fainted.
"Yes," Dean also touched his chest, where the cold warmth of Castiel's palms still remained, "Cas also gives it to you and Haorui We are all engraved with Enochian Sigil, the highest level of concealment spell. Now the three of us are walking safes. No one can find us except God himself. Angels can't find us, and neither can demons."
At this moment, Sam's cell phone suddenly rang, and the harsh ringtone broke the silence in the ward. He took out his cell phone, glanced at the caller ID, and his face changed slightly. "Hello?...Cas?"
"In Haorui's hometown dialect, say Cao Cao Cao is here." Dean curled his lips, walked to Bai Haorui, reached out and patted his shoulder gently.
Bai Haorui is half-kneeling behind Bobby's wheelchair, with his back to them. His left hand is pressed on Bobby's lower back, his palm close to the skin, and the purple-gold True Gang is like warm water, slowly seeping out from his palm, along Bobby's damaged spinal nerves wandered away little by little, repairing the dead cells and broken nerve fibers. His forehead was covered with dense sweat, dripping down his cheeks, dripping on the ground, and spreading out small wet marks. The back of the black T-shirt was completely soaked with sweat, and it stuck tightly to his back, outlining the lines of his thin but strong shoulder blades.
Hearing Dean's voice, Bai Haorui did not look back, but nodded slightly to indicate that he understood. His breathing was a little rapid, but True Gang in the palm of his hand was still stable, without any disorder. "Keep going. For a moment." His voice was very soft, with obvious fatigue, "Bobby's nerves have been mostly necrotic, and they must be stimulated to regenerate little by little with True Gang. Don't rush, otherwise all your efforts will be wasted, and may even cause permanent damage."
"St. Martin's Hospital. What's wrong? You...Cas?" Sam frowned, and a harsh busy tone suddenly came from the other end of the phone. Castiel had hung up the phone.
Almost at the same time, the hospital's radio suddenly rang, and the cold electronic sound echoed in the empty corridor, "Doctor Cohen, please come to the emergency room, it's an emergency. Doctor Cohen, please come to the emergency room, it's an emergency."
A sound of footsteps came from far away. A figure wearing a black trench coat walked through the corridor, ignoring the strange looks from the surrounding nurses and patients, and walked straight into Bobby's ward.
Castiel stood at the door with thick dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't closed his eyes for several days. There was fatigue, anger, and a hint of unnoticeable despair in his eyes, which was a despair that his faith was about to collapse. His black windbreaker was stained with a few broken black feathers that looked like they were burnt, and there was a little dried dark red blood on his collar. His hair was messy and stuck to his forehead, looking miserable.
"Mobile phone, Cas? Real or fake?" Dean raised his eyebrows with a hint of ridicule in his tone, trying to ease the heavy atmosphere, "When did angels need to call others to contact them? Don't you all just flash?"
"You are invisible to all angels now," Castiel's voice had no fluctuation, like a cold stone, "Including me. I can no longer appear directly in front of you like before."
"Stop talking nonsense," Bobby suddenly said. He didn't look back, still staring out the window, "Come here, put your hands on me. Heal me. Now, I don't want to wait any more!"
Castiel was silent for a few seconds, his long eyelashes hanging down, covering his eyes. Then he said slowly, "I can't."
Bobby turned the wheelchair violently, and the wheels made a harsh friction sound on the floor. He faced Castiel, his eyes were bloodshot, and anger burned like a flame in his eyes, almost igniting his whole body. "What did you say?"
"I have been expelled by Heaven," Castiel said with a hint of bitterness in his voice, "Zachariah convened a meeting of angels and announced that I had become a traitor, depriving me of most of my The power of Heaven. There are some things I can still do, such as maintaining the hidden runes on you and killing ordinary angels. But there are some things I can't do, such as curing severe spinal injuries. My strength is no longer enough to do this."
"You mean, you just lost your superpower at this time?" Bobby's voice became louder and louder, every word was like a hammer, hitting Castiel's heart hard, "When I needed you most, you turned into a fucking useless person?"
"I'm sorry." Castiel lowered his head and looked at his shoes. He was really sorry. This feeling of powerlessness made him more painful than being expelled by Heaven. This was the first time in thousands of years that he felt so helpless.
"************Sorry!" Bobby suddenly slapped the armrest of the wheelchair, his palm slapped on the cold plastic, making a muffled sound. Then he turned back suddenly, facing away from everyone, his shoulders shaking slightly.
Bai Haorui did not speak, but continued to focus on repairing Bobby's injuries. His palms were slightly warm, and the purple-gold True Gang flowed faster.
"At least he is willing to talk now." Dean whispered to Sam, with a hint of helplessness in his tone.
"I heard it!" Bobby shouted without looking back.
Bai Haorui slowly retracted his hand and stood up. He staggered, and his vision went black for a while. Dean quickly reached out to support him. Bai Haorui's palms were cold and covered in cold sweat. Dean could even feel his body shaking slightly.
Bai Haorui looked at Castiel. His nose moved and smelled the faint smell of angel blood on Castiel. "Your strength is so weak? You have the smell of angel blood on your body, and there are more than one. Heaven The civil war broke out?"
Castiel raised his head when he heard this and glanced at Bai Haorui in surprise. He didn't expect that Bai Haorui could detect such a subtle change. He nodded and his voice became deeper. "I killed two angels this week. They are my brothers and we have fought side by side for thousands of years. But they came to kill me on the orders of Zachariah. Now I am being hunted by Heaven and have become an exile."
He walked up to Dean and Sam with a frighteningly serious expression. "I don't have much time. Zachariah has sent more angels to look for me. They will find here soon. We have to talk."
"Okay," Dean crossed his arms and leaned on the bedside table, "What do you want to talk about? First apologize to us and say that you Heaven messed up everything, and then we can find a way to clean up this mess?"
"Your plan to kill Lucifer," Castiel looked at Dean, without any joke in his eyes, "Is stupid. It is impossible to succeed. Lucifer is the most perfect angel created by God. Morning Star is the brightest one. No one can kill him except Michael and God himself." As he said, he glanced at Bai Haorui again with complicated eyes, "Bai is possible, but his current power is not enough. He has not fully awakened his power."
"Oh, thank you so much for your support." Dean rolled his eyes, his tone full of sarcasm, "This is so encouraging. I feel like we are full of hope now."
"But I have a solution," Castiel's eyes became determined, like a martyr about to go to the execution ground, "Besides Michael, there is another person who is strong enough to kill Lucifer. Strong enough to easily stop Apocalypse."
"Who?" Sam asked quickly, with a faint glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes. This was the first time in three days that he heard someone say that there was still hope.
"The man who resurrected me and rescued you from the monastery to the plane. The man who created everything." Castiel's voice was filled with piety and awe, "God. I'm going to find God. Only he can end all this. Only he can stop Lucifer and save the world."
Dean and Sam looked at each other and saw deep suspicion in each other's eyes.
"God?" Dean repeated, the sarcasm in his tone became stronger, "Are you talking about the God who watched Lucifer open the Hell door and watched billions of people dying, but didn't even show his face?"
"Yes."
"God." Dean said again, as if savoring a big joke.
"Yes! He is not in Heaven. He must be somewhere." Castiel's voice rose a little higher, with a hint of urgency. He wanted to convince them, and even more, he wanted to convince himself. He could not accept that he had betrayed everything, only to end up with the end of the world.
"Try New Mexico," Dean sneered, "I heard that he appeared on a tortilla. Maybe he even signed it and it can be sold for a good price."
"He's not on any bread." Castiel's tone became stern, and he was very angry at Dean's attitude. This was his only hope, but Dean was making fun of it.
"Listen, little guy," Dean took a step forward, stared into Castiel's eyes, and said word by word, "Even if there really is God, he is either dead - this is still the most charitable guess - He's alive and well, but he doesn't care about any of us. Look around you! What a mess the world is! Hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear tests, swine flu, we're literally at the end of the world, and here he is, somewhere, drinking wine out of a coconut shell and watching our jokes. Do you understand?"
"That's enough." Castiel's voice was cold and biting. He took a step forward, exuding a strong sense of oppression. Even though his strength was weakened by half, the majesty of the angel still existed. Dean subconsciously took a step back. "This is not a theological issue, this is a strategic issue. With God's help, we can win. Without him, we will definitely lose. This is a fact."
"This is just your daydream, Cas." Dean shook his head, his tone full of despair, "If he wanted to help us, he would have appeared long ago. He wouldn't wait until now."
"I betrayed everything," Castiel's voice was full of pain and anger, as well as a hint of despair on the verge of collapse, "I betrayed Heaven, betrayed my brother, betrayed my faith. All I did was for you, for humanity, but you failed! You and your brother destroyed the whole world, and I lost everything, but gained nothing. So, put your opinions away and do as I say."
Sam lowered his head, not daring to look into Castiel's eyes. Guilt was like a cold hand, holding his heart tightly, making him almost unable to breathe. He knew that what Castiel said was right, that everything was his fault. It was he who opened Pandora's box with his own hands and released Lucifer.
"You're not specifically here to scold us, are you?" Bobby's voice came from the side, still not looking back, "What do you want? Just say it. Don't beat around the bush."
"I came here for one thing," Castiel's eyes fell on Dean's neck, his eyes focused as if it was some rare treasure, "An amulet."
"Amulet?" Bobby frowned and turned to look at him, "What kind of amulet? I don't have any kind of amulet here, one that can exorcise demons, protect against ghosts, attract wealth, and protect against villains, but there is nothing I can find God."
"Very rare, very powerful. It will get hot in front of God. It can help me find him." Castiel explained.
"Like the God version of the EMF detector?" Sam asked.
Castiel nodded.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Bobby shook his head, "I don't have anything like that. I've never seen it in my life."
"I know you haven't." Castiel's eyes never left Dean's neck.
Dean subconsciously touched the amulet around his neck. It was a small, badly worn copper amulet with a five-pointed star engraved on it. This was the amulet that Sam used to save when he was ten years old. I bought it for him as a birthday present with three months of pocket money. He has worn it for more than 20 years and has never taken it off to bathe or sleep. It is the most precious thing on his body and one of the few good memories between him and Sam in their childhood.
"What? This?" Dean took off the amulet from his neck and held it in his hand. The amulet was warmed by his body temperature, carrying the familiar smell of him.
"Can I borrow it?" Castiel asked, with a hint of pleading in his tone. This was the first time he spoke to Dean in this tone.
"No." Dean immediately refused, holding the amulet tightly in his hand.
"Dean, give it to me." Castiel's tone left no room for doubt.
Dean looked into Castiel's eyes and was silent for a few seconds. He saw despair, determination, and a hint of desperate madness in Castiel's eyes. He knew that Castiel was serious. He could no longer think of any other way to go.
Dean sighed, slowly released his hand, and handed the amulet over. But when Castiel was about to get it, he suddenly took it back.
"Don't lose it." Dean.
"I will contact you." Castiel took the amulet, carefully put it into the inner pocket of his windbreaker, and put it close to his body. He glanced at Bai Haorui, nodded, then turned around and left, disappearing through the door like a gust of wind.
"Great," Dean touched his empty neck and smiled self-deprecatingly, "Now I feel like I have no clothes on. I feel uncomfortable all over."
Bobby's voice came again, with a hint of anger and helplessness. "When you find God, tell him to send me two legs! It's better to have muscles! The kind that can run, jump and kick the devil's ass!"
Bai Haorui walked to the window and looked at the back of Castiel disappearing around the corner with complicated eyes.
Cas, you are too naive. Bai Haorui said silently in his heart. All of this is his script, and we are all his pawns and tools for his pleasure. Even if he appears in front of you, he is just an actor. He just wants to watch us follow the script he wrote and walk towards destruction step by step.
At this time, Bobby's Nokia mobile phone placed on the bedside table suddenly rang, and the harsh ringtone broke the silence in the ward. Bobby picked up the mobile phone and glanced at the caller ID. "It's Rufus."
He picked up the phone and pressed the speakerphone button. "Hello?"
"Bobby! Bobby, damn, can you hear me?" Rufus's anxious voice came from the other end of the phone. The signal was very poor, mixed with the crackling sound of electricity and the clear sound of gunfire in the distance, "This place is in fucking chaos! There are crazy people everywhere!"
"I can't hear what you said!" Bobby shouted at the phone, "The signal is too bad! Say it again!"
"Listen, I need help!" Rufus's voice was broken, "There are demons everywhere here! The whole town has been occupied! They kill everyone they see! Wait a minute--"
There was a loud gunshot on the other end of the phone, followed by the sound of breaking glass, and a shrill scream.
"Where are you? Rufus! Where are you?!" Bobby shouted, his heart in his throat.
"Colorado! River Pass town!" Rufus's voice had a hint of obvious anxiety, "Bobby, come quickly! If you don't come, it will be too late--"
There was another gunshot, and a busy tone came from the other end of the phone.