and Sam calling his brother’s name with such relief was because Sam thought he’d finally been saved, that Dean was finally there and that made everything, somehow, all right.
But now, having thought about it, I’m not so sure.
Mere hours before this scene took place, Sam and Jake had a heart-to-heart, and Sam admitted that he didn’t know if Dean was alive. When Azazel later visited him in a dream, Sam’s first concern was to ask where Dean was; Azazel told him to “Quit worrying about Dean. I’d worry more about yourself.” During that same conversation, Sam says “You killed everyone I ever loved”, which I found odd considering Dean was still alive.
It finally clicked for me that it had been a day since Sam’s disappearance, and Dean hadn’t come for him. Azazel was obviously behind Sam and the other children being in Cold Oak, and he was also the one who had killed the rest of Sam’s family, and his girlfriend. Logic dictated that Dean was dead.
I don’t think Sam’s relief in that instant before he died was for himself. I think Sam’s last fully-formed emotion was complete and utter relief that his brother was alive.
nothingidputbeforeyou 