Trigger warning: mentions of violence and abuse. Neglect. Abusive relationship.

Of Broken Legs and Healing Hearts

Chapter 1:

The first thing Dean feels is throbbing. All over his body. His head is pounding and his throat feels dry. There is light streaming through a window. He can feel the sun's warmth on his closed eyelids. Despite the pain shooting through his body, wherever Dean is and whatever bed he is on, he is incredibly comfortable.

Dean opens his eyes when he hears a deep, gravelly, beautiful voice from across the room. It's a quiet voice, as if the man is trying not to disturb anyone. Dean looks at the man, and Dean is struck by his beauty, even if he has slowly healing cuts all over his face. His dark raven, almost black hair is messy, and God does it look sexy. Dean can see his vibrant blue eyes from across the room. Dean begins to listen to the conversation.

"Please stop sending male prostitutes to my hospital room. I'm not physically healthy enough to have sex not to mention it's unsanitary for them to be here, Gabriel." The man said softly, clearly annoyed and amused at the same time. The man looked up and met Dean's eyes, his face going pink with a blush. Dean smiled softly and winked at the man. "Look, Gabriel, I've got to go." The man said hurriedly into the phone. He hung up and put the phone down on his bedside table.

As Dean opened his mouth to introduce himself, a nurse came bustling into the room.

"Hey honey! I'm glad to see you're awake. Do you know where you are?" The nurse asked. She was a plump dark skinned woman with dancing brown eyes and a quirked smile.

"Uh, hospital?" Dean asked, his voice croaking from disuse.

The nurse nodded, checking off her list. The nurse then handed him a white plastic cup, filled with ice chips. "Do you know your name?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah, my name is Dean Winchester." Dean replied, looking down at the ice chips with a sigh.

The nurse nodded. "Okay then. Now, I want you to suck on those ice chips. When you finish that cup, I'll let you drink some liquids." The nurse said. "My name is Missouri, and I will be your day nurse."

Dean nodded. "Thank you, but can you tell me what happened?" Dean asked.

Missouri shook her head. "The doctor wants to see how much you can remember without prompting. She'll tell you herself later." Missouri said. With that, Missouri turned and walked out of the room.

It appeared that Dean and the other guy were the only patients in the small ward room. The walls were a soft yellow in colour, almost cream and the floor tiles where white. There was one bathroom. Since the door to the bathroom was open, Dean could see that there was a disabled shower, with a chair and handrails and a toilet and a sink.

With his eyes closed, Dean's head fell back against his pillow, trying to make himself remember what happened. He was in his brother's rental car, since Dean had left his Baby at the shop, heading out to buy some beers. Dean remembered driving down a long stretch of road before his memory went black. The only thing Dean remembered was a loud crunch; either metal or bone, Dean couldn't tell. Dean sighed and opened his eyes again.

Dean looked back over to the dark haired man, who seemed to have been staring at him, and smiled. "Hey, I'm Dean," Dean said to the dark haired man. "I would get up to shake your hand, but I think my leg is broken."

The other man chuckled softly. "I'm Castiel Novak." Castiel replied.

Dean frowned. "Isn't that an angel?" Dean asked.

Castiel's small smile blew into a fully-fledged grin. "Yeah, it is. My parents were religious. I was born on a Thursday, so that's what they picked." Castiel replied, his head tilted slightly. "I'm surprised you picked it."

Dean chuckled. "Well, I'm not as dumb as I look. So I assume Gabriel is your brother? Another angel name?" Dean asked, smirking when Castiel nodded. "I'm glad he's your brother, otherwise I was going to be really disappointed by your unavailability." Dean winked, causing Castiel to blush again.

"No…no, I'm very much single." Castiel mumbled, still blushing heavily.

"Well, that's good. Cos when we get out of here, I'm going to ask you out for coffee." Dean said, not even trying to hide his interest.

Castiel grinned. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I am going to say yes." Castiel replied.

"Yes, it gives me something to look forward to." Dean laughed. Dean found he really like Castiel's smile, and Dean very much wanted to see it again. "What are you in here for?"

Castiel looked down and his skin flushed, but not in an embarrassed way. This made Dean frown. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Dean said, his head tilted in concern.

Castiel smiled gratefully. "Thank you. I will just give you the basic overview. I was beaten up, badly." Castiel replied, a sad look encompassing his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry man," Dean said, his voice full of sympathy. "Did they get the person that did it?"

Castiel swallowed. "It was my ex-boyfriend, Fergus." Castiel replied.

Dean frowned. "Like the crime boss, Fergus Crowley?" Dean asked, surprised.

Castiel nodded. "Can we…can we please talk about something else?" Castiel asked, looking up to meet Dean's eyes.

"Of course Cas, not problem." Dean replied. "So, what do you do for a living?"

"I am an Apiologist. I study bees. I also write children's books about bees." Castiel replied, smiling proudly, blushing slightly at Dean's nickname for him.

Dean grinned. "That sounds like a great job. You have a doctorate in it?" Dean asked.

Castiel nodded. "Yes, I do. I don't know what it is about them, I just love bees." Castiel replied.

"That's cool Cas. Bees are interesting creatures. Without them, we would all die." Dean said thoughtfully.

Castiel nodded emphatically in reply. A comfortable silence fell on them. "So, what do you do for a living, Dean?" Castiel replied.

"I restore vintage cars, bring them back to their former glory. I have a BA in Engineering, but I've always loved working with cars." Dean replied, his voice filling with enthusiasm.

"That's wonderful Dean," Castiel exclaimed. "Is that always something you wanted to do?"

Dean shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. I joined the Army for a while. I did three tours. It paid for my Engineering courses." Dean replied, looking away from Castiel's eyes.

Castiel might not have been the most sociable of people, but he could recognise when he had touched a soft spot, so Castiel knew not to pry into that part of Dean's life.

Castiel nodded understandingly. His brothers' Michael and Lucifer had gone to war. They both came back changed. Michael was even more focused and determined, whereas Lucifer had rejected his old life, feeling like he couldn't live the way he had used to. He left, and after a particularly bad PTSD episode, stayed at the Psychiatric ward of the local hospital until he could get his head on straight. Now, Castiel and the rest of his family only ever saw Lucifer on family occasions, such as Christmas.

Castiel changed the subjects. "So, do you have any siblings?" Castiel asked.

Dean brightened up almost immediately. "Yeah, I have a younger brother. His name is Sam. He's just started going to Law school at Stanford University." Dean replied. "I have been staying with him for a couple of weeks before I have to head back to the shop."

Castiel frowned. "Does Sam know that you're here at the hospital?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah, probably. I have Sammy listed as my emergency contact. He'll probably come visit me in a day or two. Maybe once I actually figure out what happened." Dean said, his tone turning annoyed.

"They haven't told you?" Castiel asked incredulously.

Dean shook his head. "The nurse, Missouri said the doctor wanted me to wait to see how much I can remember before she tells me." Dean replied.

Castiel frowned again. "I know your doctor. She's my sister, Anna, which is why she isn't my doctor. I don't understand why she wouldn't tell you what was going on." Castiel stated.

"Really, the doc is your sister?" Dean asked. "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"

Castiel sighed. "Well, there's the twins, Michael and Lucifer, Gabriel, Anna, me, Hannah and Samandriel." Castiel replied.

Dean let out a whistle. "7 children? That is a lot of kids, that's gotta be hard." Dean replied.

"Yeah, it was even harder. My mother, Naomi, died when Sam was about 4 and my father, Chuck, walked out on us not long after that. He couldn't handle the loss. Michael and Lucifer took over the family after that. I haven't seen or heard from Chuck since." Castiel replied, looking down at his hands.

Dean face fell into an expression of sympathy. "I'm sorry about that Cas. How old were you?" Dean asked.

"13," Castiel replied. "Michael and Lucifer were 20, Gabriel was 16, Anna was 14, and Hannah was 9."

"How did you survive?" Dean asked, his eyes wide.

"Well, Gabriel dropped out of school and went to culinary school as soon as he could and got a job at a restaurant. As soon as Gabriel turned 18, Michael and Lucifer joined the army. Michael became a doctor, the army paying for it. Lucifer wanted to make the army a career, but it sort of messed him up. Anna wanted to be a doctor too, Hannah wanted to be a teacher and Samandriel has just finished college. He wants to get into photography." Castiel replied, still looking down at his hands, but an expression of pride filled his features.

Dean grinned. "Well, you sound like one big, happyish family." Dean replied. "My life is pretty similar actually. My mother died when I was four in a house fire and my father was always gone on business. He moved all around the country, leaving me and Sammy to fend for ourselves. When I was 14 and Sammy was 10, we moved in with Bobby and his wife Ellen. They had a little girl already. Her name is Jo and she's like a little sister to me. I hadn't really heard much from my dad. I mean, the odd phone call now and then, but I saw him once, right after I turned 25. It was a nice big happy family reunion. Then he died a year later, heart-attack."

Before Castiel could reply, Missouri bustled into the room. "Sorry about this, but we need to rearrange your room a little bit. We need to make space for a coma patient." Missouri said.

Two orderlies came into the room and pushed Dean's bed down the wall, closer to the bathroom and then pushed Castiel's bed next to Dean's. They also moved Castiel's bedside table in between the two beds.

Then, the two orderlies pushed another bed into the room. An Asian kid about 18 years old was rolled into the room and pushed up against the wall. His machines were plugged into the wall. All Dean and Castiel could see of him was his chest moving slowly up and down.

"I hope you two boys won't mind sharing a room with Mr Tran over here." Missouri said, looking at Castiel and Dean. Missouri didn't give them a chance to respond before turning and leaving the room.

Dean was secretly very pleased that they had moved Castiel so much closer to him. Dean could see the shades of blue in Castiel's eyes a lot better now. Plus, they could talk to each other a lot easier now that they didn't have to shout at each other from opposite sides of the room.

The rest of the day was spent just talking, the two men discussing their likes and dislikes, their obsessions and their hobbies. Dean couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard, especially after Castiel told him a funny story about being banned from a brothel that his brother, Gabriel, had made him go to. Dean found that he was liking this strange blue eyed man with a weird first name.

Dean tossed and turned in his sleep. He kept having flashing images appearing in his mind's eyes. The impact of a truck crashing into him. The memory of the sound of a horn waking Dean up.

"A car crash." Dean murmured to himself as he woke up, slowly blinking his eyes open. It was still dark in the room. Dean looked over at Castiel, watching the man for a moment. Castiel was facing Dean, his eyes closed and his wild hair falling slightly on his face. He looked so peaceful and calm. The exact opposite from what Dean was just dreaming about. It made Dean temporarily forget about his flashback.

"You are so beautiful." Dean whispered, not realising he had said it out loud.

Fortunately for Dean, he didn't realise that Castiel was, in fact, awake. He had been awoken by Dean's pained whimpers. Castiel knew he was having a nightmare, but his body ached so much to move without help, it annoyed him that he couldn't get up and wake Dean up to bring him out of his nightmare. As soon as Castiel heard Dean speak, Castiel fell back against his pillow and closed his eyes, pretending he was asleep.

Castiel's heart had fluttered when he heard Dean say that he was beautiful. Castiel may have only known Dean for about 8-9 hours, but he felt like he was growing quite fond of the man. Dean calling him beautiful, even without saying it just to get into Castiel's pants, just made Castiel like Dean even more.

Luckily it was still dark in the room, or Dean would have been able to see Castiel blush. Once Dean saw that blush, he would realise that Castiel was not asleep as he thought he was.

Dean himself blushed when he realised what he had said to Castiel's 'sleeping' form. Dean just shrugged. The guy was hot and Dean didn't begrudge himself a little crush. Plus, Dean already rather liked Castiel. Dean really hoped that he would eventually be able to take Castiel out for coffee…or dinner. Either would be nice.

Dean and Castiel found it really easy to talk to each other. This was noticed by the nurses that came to check on them the following days. Their connection was clear to both Anna and Sam when he eventually came to check on Dean.

Sam had been able to see Dean when they first brought him in, but he had been unconscious. Sam had only just been able to come and see Dean now because he had been smothered in schoolwork.

Sam did not miss the less than subtle flirting between his brother and the other man. He also noticed the long intense staring that the two shared. It was so strong that Sam didn't even think about teasing them about their eye-fucking. Sometimes it wasn't even eye-fucking, sometimes it was soft, tender eye-lovemaking. As much as it made Sam happy that his brother seemed to be falling in love with someone, it was kinda gross as well. Sam rolled his eyes one last time before leaving the two men alone. He had to get home and study before class the next day.

Castiel was slowly getting his strength back, finally being able to get up and use the bathroom by himself, not needing to be helped up by Missouri and led back to bed by her as well.

At this rate, Castiel would be able to go home in a matter of weeks. Castiel told Dean that he had checked into the hospital under the name 'Jimmy Shurley', which was his middle name and his mother's maiden name. Two things that Crowley didn't know about Castiel.

Dean chuckled. "That is actually really smart, Cas." Dean said. "A great way to hide from a dick head mobster."

Castiel grinned. "I know, right? It was Anna's idea." Castiel replied.

Missouri allowed Castiel and Dean to go for a walk outside. It was really Dean in a wheelchair and Castiel using said wheelchair for support as they walked around the small garden. Missouri stated it would be a good idea to get some fresh air after being stuck inside for so long.

Castiel sat down on a bench next to Dean, needing to catch his breath and rest for a moment.

"This was actually a really good idea, even if I am stuck in this chair with this friggin' heavy cast on my leg." Dean said, closing his eyes and feeling the sun and breeze on his face.

"Yeah." Castiel agreed softly, staring at Dean's face with a gentle gaze.

Dean opened his eyes and met Castiel's eyes, feeling immediately warmed by them. Dean actually found himself blushing.

"You're beautiful too." Castiel blurted suddenly.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "What?" Dean asked, surprised.

This time it was Castiel who blushed. "The other night, you were having a nightmare and I wanted to wake you up, but I couldn't reach, and then you started to wake up, so I pretended to be asleep so you wouldn't think I was this weirdo watching you sleep. But then you said I was beautiful." Castiel said, mumbling these last few words.

Dean let out a laugh, a full on belly laugh. "Oh god, you are too cute Cas." Dean said, stroking Castiel's face lightly.

Castiel closed his eyes and leaned into Dean's touch. Dean smirked and leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to Castiel's lips. Castiel's eyes flew open and his hands moved to his own lips.

Dean's eyes widened almost comically, afraid he had done the wrong thing. Dean was pleasantly surprised when Castiel pulled his face closer to his own, tentatively pressing his lips back onto Dean's.

Dean finally did what he had wanted to do since the first time he had seen Castiel. Dean thrust his hands into Castiel's hair and pulled him closer, licking Castiel's lower lip. When Castiel gasped, Dean took his chance to slip his tongue into Castiel's mouth.

Castiel moaned deeply when he felt Dean's tongue in his mouth. He wrapped his own arms around Dean, one on his waist, the other supporting Dean's head. Castiel gave as good as he got, kissing Dean back just as passionately.

Finally, they had to pull back to breathe. They looked into each other's eyes and chuckled breathlessly.

Castiel swallowed. "That was…" Castiel began.

"…awesome." Dean finished. "I kind of wanna do that again."

Castiel laughed softly as Dean pulled him in for another kiss.

Soon came for the time that Castiel was ready to be discharged. Castiel has written down his number on a napkin for Dean to put in his mobile phone when he got it back. Mobile phones weren't really allowed in this part of the hospital.

Castiel got dressed into a pair of black slacks, a white shirt, black jacket and a loosely done bright blue tie that matched his eyes. They suit hugged his body nicely. Slung over his arm was a tan trench coat. Castiel spun around on the spot, allowing Dean to see every angle. Dean's breath hitched in his throat audibly.

"So I take it you like the suit?" Castiel asked, smirking at Dean.

Dean nodded. "Very much so. I can't wait for the day I can rip it off you. With my teeth." Dean said with a lusty wink.

Castiel just laughed, his blush less than it used to be. Over the last three weeks, Castiel had grown accustomed to Dean's constant flirting. "I await that day eagerly myself." Castiel replied, bending over deliberately to show Dean his ass.

Dean chuckled. "Glad I am not the only one." Dean replied.

Dean searched everywhere, but no matter where he looked, he couldn't find the little scrap of paper that Castiel had written his phone number down on. Dean was being released the next day and he was completely forlorn at the idea that Dean might not see Castiel again. He hadn't given Castiel his number. Dean sighed. Maybe he could ask Anna to give him her younger brother's phone number.

Dean hobbled out of the hospital, his bag slung over his shoulder and walking with the help of two crutches.

To say Dean was shocked at the sight before him would have been an understatement.

Castiel was there, wearing tight fitting blue jeans, a white button up untucked shirt and a black fitted leather jacket. What was even more amazing was that Castiel was leaning against a 67' Chevy Impala. Dean's 67' Chevy Impala.

Castiel smirked at Dean, taking his aviator sunglasses off his face, leaning off the car and moving towards Dean. Castiel leaned in and kissed Dean deeply, leaving the mechanic speechless and slightly dazed.

"And just when I thought you couldn't get any hotter." Dean mumbled, looked up into Castiel's eyes. Normally, Dean would have been taller than Castiel, but Castiel himself was 6 feet and Dean was slouching a little, making Dean seem a little shorter than Castiel.

"Well, I'd hate to be predictable." Castiel replied, grinning at Dean.

Dean laughed. "Never." Dean replied, pulled Castiel in for another soft kiss.

Castiel smiled, pulling away from him and opening the passenger side door for Dean and helping him into the car.

Castiel walked around the car and slid into the driver's seat. "I guess now would be a good time to get that coffee, hey Dean?" Castiel said, sliding his sunglasses back down onto his face, making Dean whine softly.

Dean was gobsmacked. Castiel rarely flirted this much. Dean chuckled before looking up at Castiel with a serious expression. "You're damn right." Dean replied.

Castiel smirked and put the car into gear before taking off down the road.

I hoped you enjoyed this story. I just felt felt a burst of inspiration. This was inspired by a post on tumblr. There will be one more chapter, and the rating my go up because of reasons. Please review! :D