"Now, are you sure you don't want me to stay? I would be more than happy to." Sam asked in a poorly concealed tone of concern. The blonde on the couch tried glared at him, but her current condition took most of the heat from it.
"You'd be miserable." She replied in a think, nasally accent. She'd long since given up trying to blow her nose hard enough to make the accent go away and was now focusing on simply breathing without gagging. "We've been stuck up here while Dean repaired his precious baby. She's fixed, so go hunting."
"But this hunt is four hours away. If you needed anything..." Sam trailed off, as if the idea of her needing help with them so far away should convince her to ask him to stay.
"I'm sick, Samuel, not crippled." A deep chortle came from the kitchen after her hissed reply.
"I think Emily may be a tad but irritated with you, Sammy! We should leave." Dean grinned as he entered the living room slash library, giving Emily a wink. She rolled her eyes at Dean's antics but didn't comment. Sam and Dean were a package deal and one must adapt to their constant teasing if one wanted to survive.
"But what if something happens, Dean?" Sam turned his focus towards his big brother. "It's not like we'll be a few minutes away."
"Cas can help!" Dean provided in a gleeful tone, clearly enjoying the situation.
"Cas..." Sam drawled out as if Dean had suggested that ketchup was a perfectly good substitute for spaghetti sauce.
"Yes, Cas. He's been wanting a more hands on lesson on all things human. What better lesson than taking care of a cold the old fashioned way by playing nursemaid?" Dean snorted, clearly having thought of this longer than the few moments it's been since he suggested it. "It's not like it's hard. He's just gotta do what she asks."
"It's not a cold, Dean. Emily has the flu. What if her fever spikes above 104 and won't go down? How is Cas going to know what to do?"
"I will be fine with Castiel, Sam." Emily interrupted before the one-sided banter turned into an argument. "I know none of us wants him healing minor things like this, but if it does become more than I can handle then Castiel can use his Grace to heal me. He won't mind."
"See? There you go. Cas can get his lesson on humanity and Emily gets the ultimate nursemaid slash bodyguard while we're gone. It's a win/win." Dean gave Sam an amused smug look, earning a bitchface in return.
"Fine." Sam growled. "You can explain everything to Cas."
"Not a problem." The amused look didn't leave Dean's face as Sam rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his girlfriend.
"Call if you want me to come back, Emily. Hell, tell Cas to come and get me." Sam leaned down to drop a kiss on Emily's forehead. Emily smiled up at him as he pulled away, showing she understood his concern and appreciated it.
"Don't worry, Sam. I'm sure Castiel and I will have fun over the next few days while you three are gone. I may even be better when you get back."
"Ok, we set with the chick-flick moment? Bobby's waiting." Dean let out a chuckle as Sam let out a sigh of irritation and walked past him to head through the back, turning to give Emily a smile when Sam disappeared. "Don't worry, Em. I'll make sure your moose of a boyfriend doesn't pull all his luscious hair out from stress of worrying over you."
"You're a dick, Dean Winchester." Emily said through a light case of the giggles, shaking her head in amusement. "Now are you gonna call Castiel down here or am I going to have to do it?"
"The selection in the kitchen leaves much to be desired." Cas informed Emily when he returned with a fresh glass of water for her.
"They forgot to go grocery shopping last night, didn't they?" She asked, nodding in thanks as she took the glass from him.
"Yes."
"Alright. Let me figure out if I want to change or stay in my pajamas, first, and then we can head to the store. Walking around a grocery store while leaning on a cart won't be too bad and I really shouldn't stay in one place for too long. I'll get cramps if I do." Emily swung her legs over so they hung over the side of the couch. She usually worked straight through any colds or flus she got, constantly moving about, but ever since she met the Winchesters that was no longer the case. Granted, she and Sam didn't start dating until a while after they met, but that didn't change he general concern for anything not feeling well. That Dean would also mother hen her came as a great shock and at times she wondered which brother was worse with their concern.
"Are you sure you should be traveling in your weakened state?" Cas asked, genuinely curious. Emily didn't think any other human he interacted with would get sick like she did, being disease ridden for over a week before finally getting better, so she was sure that Cas wanted to know everything he could about her having the flu. That he would most likely apply it all to Dean the next time the older Winchester brother got sick, well, Emily didn't think too far into that.
"Most people don't generally leave their homes when they're sick for fear of spreading it, but it's not exactly taboo for a sick person to be out and about either. They do still need things like food and medication." Emily explained patiently, slightly amused that someone other than Dean was teaching Cas something for once. "It also depends on how much energy they have and are willing to spend. Some people simply don't have the energy to do minor errands and will stay at home. Others, like me, are fully capable of doing things even if we do feel achy and are slowed down a significant amount."
"So... this does not leave you completely weakened?" Cas asked for clarification, pondering everything Emily had just told him.
"Yes and no. The severity of the illness usually dictates things like that. You know how a hurricane usually does more damage the stronger it gets?"
"Yes."
"Think of disease like that. The stronger the virus, the more damage to a person it's capable of doing. A person's immune system fights back, as well, also affecting how bad their illness gets."
"I understand." Cas stated, but Emily wasn't entirely sure he understood all the complexity of it quite yet. She'd teach him more soon enough.
"Ok, I've thought it over and I'm changing. I have been wearing these clothes for a couple days and should probably wash them. That can be done while we're gone." Emily stood up slowly so she didn't fall over, smiling slightly when Cas took a step closer to her to steady her. "Just give me some time to go change and we'll go."
"Perhaps you should have stayed at the house." Cas commented as he looked at Emily with a worried expression.
"I'm fine." Emily breathed out heavily, leaning most of her weight against the handle of the cart as she slowly pushed it down the canned goods aisle. She hugged the hoodie she grabbed from Sam's things closer to her body as she shuddered from the cool air of the near empty store, wondering why the store didn't have better heaters for slow periods like this. Winter here in South Dakota was just as bad as winter back in her home state of Wisconsin. Cold, bitter, and numb, with an extra side of freezing-your-ass-off. "It's just a bit colder here than I expected. I guess most of the people in the area either did their shopping already or are waiting for the plows to clear more of the streets."
"But we had to problem getting here." Cas pointed out. He grabbed a couple cans of peas when Emily motioned towards them with the piece of paper she'd written a grocery list on.
"I also picked out the only SUV Bobby has in the entire lot to drive here. It has 4-wheel drive and can make its way through all the snow on the streets without an hassle. Now Dean's car, the Impala, must have had a bitch of a time getting from Bobby's house to the highway. It rides low enough that the snow must have been touching the bottoms of the doors."
"I see." Emily wasn't entirely sure Cas understood the difference since she still had difficulty translating that particular tone, but she didn't press any further. Skimming over her list and the contents of the cart, she swore under her breath.
"Castiel, could you go back a few aisles and get some bread? I forgot to grab some." He nodded in acknowledgment of Emily's request and headed to the end of their current aisle, disappearing around the corner as Emily moved on to the canned tomatoes. Shivering once more, she made a snap decision to grab several more cans of tomatoes than she had listed so she could make chili some time in the next couple days. It'd be an excellent way to warm up and fill her up at the same time. Not to mention the sheer amount she'd be making would last long enough for when the guys got back from their hunt. Emily appreciated Sam's attempts at getting them all to eat healthier, but nothing really beat a properly home cooked meal.
"Is there anything else you forgot in previous aisles?" Cas asked from behind Emily. She turned around to say she hadn't, stopping short when she saw what Cas had grabbed.
"Castiel," Emily began, having a hard time keeping an amused grin off her face. "When I said bread, I meant loaves."
"Oh." Cas glanced down at the bag of hamburger buns with what must be the angelic equivalent of an embarrassed expression, making Emily give in and take pity on him.
"It's alright. We could use some burger buns, as well. There's a few cans of sloppy joe sauce back at the house that needs to be used up. Just put them in the cart and go get a few loaves as well. Grab the Bimbo brand bread. It's best for the BLTs Dean mentioned he wanted when the guys get back." Giving Cas a smile before he headed back to the bread aisle, Emily made a mental note to text Dean and tell him to demand BLTs in front of Cas when he, Sam, and Bobby returned.
Rubbing her temples, Emily glared at the thing Bobby called his dryer. It wasn't working. That left her with a load of wet laundry and no way to dry it. Growling under her breath, she slowly made her way back up the basement stairs with the intention of calling one of the guys. Emily was in no condition to fix the dryer, herself, so someone could have to come and do it. And considering the fact that she didn't know anyone in Sioux Falls outside of Bobby, finding someone to do the job would have to go through one of the guys.
"These instructions are confusing." Cas' declaration greeted Emily the moment she walked into the kitchen. Emily paused mid-step, not completely sure she wanted to know what Cas was talking about before giving in and looking in his direction. The area around the stove was an utter mess. Emily didn't even recognize what Cas was attempting to make but she recognized enough ingredients to know that most of that concoction was going straight into the trash.
"What instructions are confusing, Castiel?" That seemed the safest route to take. Cas simply handed over the recipe card he had been referencing rather than explain any further. Emily squinted at it slightly to try and decipher the abysmal handwriting before realizing that she was looking at a recipe for homemade chicken noodle soup. Cas was trying to make chicken noodle soup. Most of the directions were in old fashioned kitchen short hand, leaving only those who knew their way around a kitchen able to read them.
"Why are you making chicken noodle soup in the first place, Castiel?"
"I remember Sam mentioning yesterday that chicken noodle soup is one of the best ways to help heal a sick person, and both he and Dean insisted that you eat soup some time before they returned." Cas stated as if it were obvious. Pressing her lips together to keep herself from laughing out loud, Emily nodded in acknowledgment several times before she trusted herself to speak without giggling.
"Well, this is a very old recipe and some of the directions are written out in short hand. It's understandable that you find some of them confusing." Emily handed the recipe card back to Cas, motioning a hand towards the wall of phones Bobby had set up. "I have to call the guys and ask them how to fix the dryer. Why don't you clean up and throw out what you've made so far while I do that? When I'm done calling them, we can work together to make a new batch."
"Alright." Cas agreed, seeing no fault in Emily's logic. Biting her lip the moment she turned away to keep from laughing, Emily hoped she could keep an even tone during her phone call.
Emily frowned from her place on the couch, fidgeting slightly. She felt absolutely filthy. The last time she had bathed was Wednesday night, the night before the guys left, and it was now Sunday. Sam had called to say they'd be back the next day, leaving Emily little choice but to take a bath tonight. She did not want to have to fight for the bathroom.
"Castiel?" Emily called for him, knowing he'd hear her over his self-given task of putting away all the clean dishes they'd both cleaned after dinner. He was in the room a few moments later with a mildly curious look.
"Yes, Emily?"
"Could you please go upstairs into the main bathroom and start running a bath for me? I really need to clean up. I think Sam still has bath additives in the cabinet next to the towels. There's some that will help with all my aches."
"Sure. Do you need help getting up the stairs?" Cas asked, wanting to make sure Emily could get where she wanted.
"No, but thank you. I need to stretch my muscles because they're starting to cramp. I just need help with the bath and fetching clean clothes from my and Sam's room."
"Ok. I shall be back in a couple minutes just in case you change your mind." Emily gave Cas a smile in appreciation just before he headed upstairs. A couple...humorous mishaps aside, Emily could definitely handle Cas playing nursemaid again. Letting out a sigh of determination, she pushed herself up to do some simple stretches before heading upstairs so the climb wouldn't cause her too much pain. Emily was done with that and halfway up when Cas made his reappearance at the top of the stairs.
"I did not know which set you would have preferred, so I grabbed a couple pairs of your flannel pajamas." He informed her.
"Any pair would have been fine. Thank you." Emily paused at the top of the stairs to give her legs a rest from the sudden work they had to do after doing nothing all day. "I don't know how long I'm going to be in there, so don't worry if I am in there a while. Also, Dean texted and said he'd call sometime later to talk about something. If I'm still in the bath, feel free to answer my cell phone when he does."
"Ok. I'll be reading in the living room, in case you need anything else." Cas headed back downstairs as Emily turned to head down the hall. She mentally wandered off, thinking of what Dean could possibly want to talk about as she approached the bathroom on autopilot and entered without a second though. One step inside the bathroom, however, and she was pulled back to reality with the strong urge to gag. Coughing, Emily closed the door behind her and zoned in on the bath additives that Cas had left on the counter. It looked like he emptied the cabinet and put a little bit of everything in. Admittedly, that much would certainly take care of any ache, pain, or ailment Emily had. On the other hand, the scent was overwhelming and she was seriously tempted to drain the bath to draw a new one. Cas had done as she asked, though, so Emily wasn't about to insult him. Hoping to God that the scent would at least dissipate over time, Emily turned her attention to getting her dirty pajamas off and getting into the bath.
"Next time I'm sick, you're staying home." Emily rushed out in greeting as Sam began to lean down to kiss her. He paused to give her a confused look, deciding to give her a quick peck before addressing that statement.
"Your sudden insistence of this is because of...what?" Sam raised an eyebrow in question. Emily glanced out the window at Cas, who was helping Dean and Bobby unload the Impala as Sam came inside to check on Emily.
"Competence?" She said, her voice half an octave higher. That caused Sam's other eyebrow to go up, as well, making Emily let out a heavy sigh. "I could understand Cas' concern about me going out with him to get groceries. I wasn't at my best. I could even understand his confusion about which bread to grab since the only bread Dean feeds him is hamburger buns. But a screwed up batch of chicken noodle soup and an overly fragrant bath that's truly gag worthy aren't the best ways to make a sick person feel better."
"He did what?" Sam asked. It was clearly rhetorical, though, because Sam began laughing immediately afterward. Emily gave him a hard look that did little to get him to stop.
"I was playing teacher more than he was playing nursemaid. I'm perfectly fine with that, don't get me wrong, but I'm not doing it alone again. I don't have the same affection for Castiel as Dean does."
"No one does." Sam let out as he forced himself to calm down. Shaking his head slightly, he pressed a kiss onto Emily's forehead. "You certainly are patient. Now sit back down and continue to rest while I go help with the rest of the supplies."
Nodding in recognition of the order, Emily returned to her spot on the couch and pulled the blankets up around her to cocoon herself in them. When Dean decided it was his turn to mother hen her, and he would do that sooner rather than later, she was going to pull out everything in her arsenal to guilt trip him for suggesting they leave her with a human-ignorant angel as a nursemaid.