Dean's phone rang.
As he listened to the voice on the other end, his world crashed down around him. His ability to think, function, breathe, immediately ceased to exist, all in that one moment. This couldn't be happening. Shouldn't. Anyone but him.
Dean drove to the hospital.
He ran to the front desk, demanding to see, begging them to tell him it was a prank, maybe he'd walk out of the elevator, yell April Fools. He didn't care that it was late October, anything to alleviate this pain, the crushing weight, in his chest.
Dean rides the elevator.
He rushes to the room number he was given. There, covered in tubes and bandages and casts and stitches is Sam. Comatose, and definitely the worst for wear. His eyelids were bruised black, cheeks cut up, lip split and swollen. How could one car do this?
Dean listens to the doctor.
His chest sags in defeat as the doctor explains the repercussions of a high-speed collision. Sam had been thrown from the vehicle, clear for 10 meters. He'd smashed into another car, driver dead immediately. Sam had flown into a tree, the next person to come along not seeing him crumpled at the base of a tree quite yet, until he'd swept the area looking for the other driver.
Dean covers his face in his hands.
Sam's monitor beeps, and Dean is ushered out. Something is mentioned about cardiac arrest. He stabilises, and Dean is sent home, with the promise to call if something happens, good or bad. Dean makes them promise to ring, and get him over here, so they can tell him to his face.
Dean drives home.
He chucks his keys into the bowl by the door. Something warm and inviting is wafting from his kitchen, and his nose follows the scent, his body on autopilot. He sits at the table, and watches as his roommate and partner scoops a heap of ice cream onto a freshly baked pie. He smiles at his ultimate comfort food, smiling at his ultimate comforter.
Dean kisses Cas' cheek.
They sit and discuss Sam, Dean quiet mostly, except to explain what the doctor told him. Cas lays his hand gently on Dean's, murmuring comfort in soothing tones. Dean just grimaces and eats his pie, trying not to think about Sam too much.
Dean goes to sleep.
He dreams fitfully of Sam's death, in weird and horrifying ways. Cas just ends up staying awake all night, to soothe Dean's worries and kiss his frown away. Cas tries getting Dean to make love, but he is so distraught, he can't even get turned on. In the end, he feels worse, and Cas drugs him with some sleeping medication to stop him dreaming.
Dean's phone rang.