Thank you all for the awesome response the first chapter got. You guys are amazing and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you did the first.
Dean had been right about the reason why the director wanted to see him. Dean was a model prisoner and the director had wanted to give him the good news personally.
"Your parole has been granted. It will start in three months from today," he told Dean who smiled a little at the prospect of getting out so soon. "But…," the director continued and Dean's head shot up to look at him, worried that something had gone wrong after all. "…since you have exhibited such good behavior, I can give you some time off for that, which means you'll be leaving in six weeks already."
"Thank you, Sir," Dean answered, feeling positively ecstatic about the good news. He'd been in prison for a year now and couldn't wait to get out again. A year had been the minimum sentence before he had been eligible for parole. A few weeks ago he had met with the parole board and gone through all the interviews and assessments and he'd had the feeling that everything had gone well. Now he was being released in only six weeks and not another year like the original sentence had stated.
He felt happier as he ever had since his Dad had left him and Sam to fend for themselves a few years ago. It had been a hard time. He had just finished school and started college and Sam had still been in school. Dean had immediately dropped out of college and found a job to somehow support them and get Sam through school. They had never had enough money but with a few extra jobs now and then they had survived.
But then Sam had gotten sick. His fever had kept on rising no matter what Dean had tried and since he'd missed work for a few days to be with Sam he had lost his job. Eventually Sam had gotten so bad that Dean was afraid for his life and without a job and without insurance he hadn't know how to help himself other than stealing the money he needed to get the right treatment for his baby brother. So with the old handgun his Dad had left behind, he had gone and robbed a store and then he'd taken Sam to a hospital.
Sam had stayed in the hospital for almost a week and Dean had never left his side. When Sam was better Dean had swallowed his pride and asked an old family friend, Bobby Singer, for help. Bobby had immediately agreed to take the brothers in but Dean hadn't been able to live with the guilt of having scared the poor cashier, he had robbed, half to death. He had tried talking to Sam about it but Sam had been outraged at the thought of Dean leaving him and had tried to convince him to stay. Dean had tried but he couldn't. He'd had to make things right and after writing a letter to Sam, again explaining his motives, he had gone to the next police station and turned himself in.
He hadn't seen Sam again. Bobby had come to every one of his court dates but Sam hadn't. Bobby had said that Sam just needed time and Dean had been patient but it was over a year now and he still hadn't heard from his brother. Now he wasn't sure if he even wanted to anymore.
But for the moment he pushed the thought away. It made him sad and today was a day to be happy. He was being released very soon and if he could, he would have celebrated but that was of course hard to do in a cell. So for now he settled on getting his soap and towel from his cell and then quickly go take a shower as long as there was still time to do so.
The changing room was empty. As there were only about ten minutes left to take a shower, all the other inmates from this wing were apparently done and were now spending the free hour they got before lockup, with card games or watching TV. Dean didn't mind. He preferred being alone. Showering with all those guys was always an awkward experience, so being late wasn't bad at all, even if he didn't much time left anymore.
He quickly took off his clothes and went into the steam filled room with the communal showers. He stopped right by the first shower head and turned on the water, when he heard a noise from the far side of the room. He had noticed that one shower was still running but sometimes someone just forgot to turn them off or the controls broke, so he hadn't paid any attention to that yet, wanting to wash himself first.
But what he had heard had been a whimper, which meant someone was still there. He gave the hot spray falling from the shower head a longing look, then sighed and turned the water off. He had to check who was in the room with him first and make sure they were okay.
The steam thinned the closer he got and he noticed a dark haired man lying on the floor, curled up in a fetal position and facing the wall. Water was beating down on him and he shivered. Dean checked the controls and saw that they had been turned to ice-cold. Quickly he shut it off and then crouched down to see who was lying there.
"Castiel?" he asked when he finally caught a glimpse of the man's face. He carefully touched the man's shoulder, trying to turn him towards him a bit but the other flinched away from the touch and Dean removed his hand again.
"Castiel. Cas, it's me, Dean. I won't hurt you," he told the terrified man and only now noticed the traces of blood on the floor that hadn't been washed away by the water. No wonder the guy was afraid. Whatever had happened, it hadn't been pretty.
"Dean?" came the broken question and Castiel finally turned his head to look up at Dean.
"Yes, Castiel. I'm here. What happened?"
"I don't know. They just hurt me for no reason. I didn't do anything," Castiel replied looking utterly lost and shocked, not only from the physical abuse but also by the fact that people would just do something like that to others for no reason.
"I know you didn't," Dean told him softly. Other than looking too pretty and too innocent and too much everything the other inmates would never be, he added silently. "How bad is it? Can you get up?"
Castiel nodded slowly and with Dean's help he got to his feet. They carefully walked back to the changing room where Dean found Castiel's clothes and helped him get dry and get dressed before making him sit down while he got dressed himself.
"Do you need to see a nurse?" Dean asked, looking at the bruises already starting to form on Castiel's face. And the way he was sitting and holding his chest suggested that he might have broken a rib.
"Yes, I think I should," he answered and winced when he tried to get up. Dean took a hold of his arm and steadied him and they slowly made their way to the medical ward.
Dean left Castiel there, knowing from experience that the nurses would take good care of him and returned to their shared cell. He didn't feel like spending time with his fellow inmates, even though usually he enjoyed a good game of cards. But today he didn't trust himself around them, not after what they had done to Castiel.