( DON'T SCRATCH THE WALL )

HOSPITAL
[ ☾]

      "Oh, what, you gonna give me the silent treatment now? Really?" Dean asks.

      "Damn it! I knew it!" Tessa yells.

       "What?" Dean asks.

       There's an EMT wheeling in a gurney. "Code 500, E.R. code 500, E.R." He says.

       "What's going on?" And Orderly asks.

       "Fractured spine, internal bleeding. Had a heart attack in the ambulance."

       "We need Dr. Owens."

       "He just left."

       "Call Owens. Tell him to turn around."

       "Wait, that's..." Dean starts.

       "You let the girl live. The nurse goes home early, gets in a crash she wouldn't have." Tessa says. "And she needs the heart surgeon, and where is he?"

      "You knew this would happen?" Dean asks.

      "No. Just knew that you knocked over a domino."

      "She's in cardiac arrest." A Doctor says.

      "Take her." Tessa says.

      "What?" Dean asks.

       "Clear!"

       "She's not on the list!" Yells Dean.

       "Everything you do has consequences. Do you want to set off another chain reaction?" Tessa asks.

      "She's got nothing to do with this!"

       "Well, too bad, Dean. You put on the ring. Now do your damn job." Says Tessa.

      "Clear!"

      "Fine." Dean touches Jolene.

      "She's crashing again. We're losing her. Clear!"

      "Is that...Am I..." Jolene starts.

       "Yes. I'm sorry." Tessa says.

      "But I'm..."

      "So young." Tessa finishes.

       "Yeah."

       "Actually, you were supposed to live for many decades." Tessa says. "Have kids, grandkids."

      "Then why?" Asks Jolene.

      "Because he screwed up."

      Jolene turns to Dean. "You did this to me?" She asks.

      "Come on, Jolene. It's time." Tessa says.

      "Wait. I'm sorry." Dean says.

      "Where is she? Where's my wife? Where is she? No! No!"

HILARY'S HOSPITAL ROOM
[ ☾]

      "A real vacation?" Hilary asks.

      "Yeah. I can take you to this one café, show you where I met your mom."

      "You saw what happened to the nurse. Go and kill that girl, Dean." Tessa says. "I tried to tell you what you already know. She's disrupting the natural order by being alive. You of all people know what that means. Chaos and sadness will follow her for the rest of her life. We tried it your way."

      Dean watches Jolene's husband through the window. "Give me a minute." He says.

      "What?"

BOBBY'S YARD
[ ☾]

       Bobby follows a trail of Sam's blood to his shed, where Sam knocks him unconscious and drags him inside.

JOLENE'S HUSBAND'S CAR
[ ☾]

      "Come on, man, pull the car over. You're gonna get yourself killed. What are you doing?" Dean asks. "Pull the damn car over! Stop the car. Come on, stop the car."

      "Route 10 is still shut down..." The radio says.

      "What are you doing?! Stop the car!" Dean yells.

      "From an earlier fatal crash. All traffic has to exit..."

      "Son of a bitch!" Dean pulls off the ring and yanks the steering wheel to the side.

      "Aah!"

      "Hit the brakes!" Dean yells.

      "Aah!" The car crashes, Jolene's husband is slumped forward against the steering wheel.

      "Damn it. Tessa!" Dean yells.

      "You there?! Tessa?! I lost! Sam's screwed! You happy?! Least you can do is zap my ass back home! Hello?! I lost the bet." Dean says.

      "Sorry about your brother." Tessa says.

      "Let's just go."

      "Go where, Dean? We're done. What are we—" Tessa starts.

HILARY'S ROOM
[ ☾]

      "Unfinished business." Dean says.

       "It's over. You took the ring off. Anyway, thought you wanted the girl to skate by."

      "No one really skates by. Do they?" Dean turns to Hilary's father. "You should say your goodbyes, man."

      "Hey, honey. I must have dozed off." The Father says. "Hilary? Somebody!"

      "I'm dead?" Hilary asks.

      "I'm sorry." Dean says.

      "But what about my dad?" Hilary asks.

      "He'll be fine." Dean says.

      "Really?"

      "I have no idea." Says Dean.

      "I-I can't just leave him. It's not fair!"

      "I know." Dean says.

      "Well, then why?" Hilary asks.

      "Because...There's sort of a—a natural order to things."

      "Natural order is stupid." Hilary says.

      "Well, I agree with you there." Dean says.

BOBBY'S SHED
[ ☾]

      "Listen to me. You don't want to do this. Sam. I've been like a father to you, boy. Somewhere inside, you've got to know that." Bobby says.

      Sam walks over to Bobby holding a knife. "Well, that's just it. Sorry." He raises the knife up to stab Bobby but Dean intercepts him.

      "Hi, Sam. I'm back." Dean knocks out Sam.

BOBBY'S BASEMENT
[ ☾]

      Dean looks at Sam who is cuffed to the panic room cot. "I can't keep doing this, Bobby. I mean, what am I, gonna tie him up every time he tries to kill someone? And that's not gonna hold him. I mean, he's—" He starts.

      "Capable of anything."

      "What am I supposed to do here?" Dean asks.

      "I don't know." Bobby says. Dean heads to Bobby's kitchen.

      "Dean. Join me. Brought you one—" Death hands Dean a hot dog. "From a little stand in Los Angeles known for their bacon dogs. Sit."

      "Boy, what's with you and cheap food?" Dean asks.

      "I could ask you the same thing. Thought I'd have a treat before I put the ring back on." Death says. "Heavier than it looks, isn't it? Sometimes, you just want the thing off. But you know that. Not hungry?"

      "Look... I think you know that I flunked. So there. Oh, and by the way, I, uh...I sucked at being you." Sam says. "Really screwed up the whole natural order thing. But I'm sure you knew about that, too."

      "So, if you could go back, would you simply kill the little girl? No fuss, no stomping your feet?" Death asks.

      "Knowing what I know now, yeah." Dean says.

      "I'm surprised to hear that. Surprised and glad."

       "Yeah, well, don't get excited. I would have saved the nurse, okay? That's it."

      "I think it's a little more than that. Today, you got a hard look behind the curtain." Says Death. "Wrecking the natural order's not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it? This is hard for you, Dean. You throw away your life because you've come to assume that it'll bounce right back into your lap. But the human soul is not a rubber ball. It's vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine. So... I think you've learned something today."

      "Want to know what I think? I think you knew that I wouldn't last a day." Dean says.

      "I have no idea what you're talking about."

      "I lost. Fine. But at least have the balls to admit that it was rigged from the jump." Says Dean.

      "Most people speak to me with more respect." Death says.

      "I didn't mean—"

      "We're done here. It's been lovely. But now I'm going to go to hell to get your brother's soul." Death says.

       "Why would you do that for me?" Dean asks.

      "I wouldn't do it for you. You and your brother keep coming back. You're an affront to the balance of the universe, and you cause disruption on a global scale."

      "I apologize for that." Says Dean.

      "But you have use. Right now, you're digging at something. The intrepid Detective. I want you to keep digging, Dean."

      "So you're just gonna be cryptic, or..." Dean starts.

      "It's about the souls. You'll understand when you need to." Death says.

     "Wait—with Sam... Is this wall thing really gonna work?" Asks Dean.

       "Call it 75%." Death says as they both appear somewhere else.

       "Bobby!" Dean yells.

BOBBY'S BASEMENT
[ ☾]

       "Open the door." Dean says.

       "What happened?" Bobby asks.

       "Now!" Dean yells.

PANIC ROOM
[ ☾]

      "Get away from me! Don't. Don't!" Sam says as Death walks in with a bag.

      "Now, Sam, I'm gonna put up a barrier inside your mind." Death says.

      "No, don't touch me." Sam says.

      "It might feel a little...Itchy. Do me a favor—don't scratch the wall. Trust me —you're not gonna like what happens."

      "Please. Don't do this." Sam says. Death takes his soul out of his bag and goes to put it back inside Sam. "No, no! You don't know! You don't know what'll happen to me! Dean, please! No. No. No." Death puts Sam's soul backs in him. "Aah!"