Title: Volunteering work.
Pairing: None, gen.
Notes/Warnings: AU, futurefic, Hurt!Dean!, No beta. Takes place before Everyday Life.
Words: About 400.
Spoilers: None.
Hospitals are all the same; endless white corridors, smell of disinfectants in the air, and over-priced vending machines at every corner. They look about as well as airports.
"Good evening," said Lori to the elderly nurse at the desk, "Can you please tell me where I can find Mr. Dean Winchester?"
The nurse smiled at her. "You're with the social involvement project, right? I'm glad they finally agreed to send a new girl over – Sam can use some time off."
"Sam?" Asked Lori.
"Dean's younger brother," explained the nurse. "The poor boy hardly left his side since the accident." She gestured to her right, "down the hall, room forty-two."
The guy who opened room forty-two's door had at least a foot in height on Lori, and a chest about twice as wide. He also looked like he hadn't slept in a month, and Lori figured he must be the younger brother.
"Hi, I'm Lori Stevens…I'm supposed to read for Dean Winchester," said Lori, and tried not to fidget.
"Oh, great," came a voice from inside the room, "another do-gooder."
Sam gave her an apologetic look. "Come in," he said, opening the door and ignoring the groan behind him. "I'm Sam, Dean's brother."
"And I'm Dean, the blind guy you came to play Good Samaritan for," said the man at the hospital bed, "and if you're here to read to me from the Watchtower and tell me how everything happens for a reason, you're wasting your time."
"Dean," said Sam.
"Don't 'Dean' me, Sammy," said Dean, rubbing the bandages on his eyes.
"Stop that!"
"My eyes are itching!" Dean protested. "Anyway," he continued, "thanks for coming and all that, but I really don't feel like being preached to right now."
So, Dean Winchester didn't care much for preaching. Lori liked him already.
"Ok," she said, "in that case, I won't read any Heinlein to you. That guy loved preaching."
Behind the bandages, she could see Dean's eyebrows go up. "Wait, you brought a Heinlein book? Nothing about Jesus dying for our sins? Hell fire and damnation?"
"Nope," replied Lori, "I've got Heinlein and Connie Willis, and Popular Science, in case you don't feel like fiction. Or I can just sit here for two hours, while your brother gets some sleep. I don't think I've seen anybody looking that tired since that big math exam when I was a freshman."
Sam grinned.
The room was quiet for a moment. At last, Dean spoke.
"Which Heinlein?"
-End-
"It's no coincidence that in no known language does the phrase "As pretty as an airport" appear"- Douglas Adams