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Chapter 4: Presence of Death
"Miss? You have a visitor."
"Yeah, let him in…"
Sitting upon a white bed was a pale girl of soft, golden hair and tired, blue eyes. Standing within the doorway of the hospital room was a bronze male with saddened hazel eyes. She smiles sweetly at him, and waves for him to journey inside. Patting the empty edge beside her. He settles down on the bed, and pulls her close to him sharing his warmth.
"Did you have another episode?"
"Yeah… they're going to keep me inside for awhile."
"How long is awhile?"
"Just a week or so… no biggie, Dean."
"Okay, so I'll take you to get some ice cream and pie once you're free." Dean claimed as he tightened his hold on Jo.
Jo smiled happily as Dean became cheerful once more. Soon the two were chatting away as they shared warmth in the cold room. Dean became very animated as he told Jo all about the new friend he had made. As he spoke about Castiel Jo suddenly began to laugh hysterically.
"What the hell Jo?! I'm serious this kid is bullied-" he said slightly angered.
"Yes, yes, by Ruby. That isn't why I'm laughing though." Jo stated as she elbowed Dean in his side.
"Then… what's so funny?"
"Dean, you're such a blockhead!" she stated with a fond smile.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Dean said, glaring playfully.
Jo stared at Dean for awhile before asking, "You can't even see it, can you?"
"Enlighten me then." he huffed.
"Dean, how did you know that I had a crush on you last year?"
"Well, you stayed close to me a lot, flirted and hung out with me every chance you got."
"Keep going."
Dean stared at her for a bit trying to remember how she use to be before they dated.
"You were pretty shy and blushed a lot, and you'd get upset at me for getting close to you to tease you before we started going out. You'd get hurt when I said something that confused you, because I wasn't clear enough… or you didn't let me explain."
At that Jo elbowed his ribs, and he grunted with a smile.
"Whatever, goof, now how did you know you liked me back?"
Dean smiled widely as he once again pulled her close to him.
"My face would feel hot, I would smile non stop while you were around, and I always wanted to tease you."
"Yeah… how does Castiel act around you?"
"Uh? Wait, where is this heading. Jo?" Dean asked furrowing his brows.
"Just answer the question."
"Uh… well, I guess, he's really shy at first until he gets comfortable enough to joke back with me. He tends to blush a lot whenever I get really close to him, or when I tease him about blushing. He's kinda sensitive and misunderstands what I say sometimes…"
"Okay, so then what does that tell you?
"Um, that Cas isn't as badass as you?"
"... Fuck, you're a blockhead." Jo said frustrated.
"Hey, I answered!"
Jo rolled her as, and push away so she could be stare at Dean.
"Yeah, but you still don't get it!" she semi yelled, "Ugh! Never mind, tell me the rest of the story!"
"... Jo-"'
"I'm tired Dean, just… please?"
"Okay… So after Sam met Castiel, lunch was relatively quiet…"
Dean and Jo lay cuddled together on the hospital bed as he continued to tell her what had happened at school. He goofed with her about the nerd talk between Cas and Sam, and all the teasing he did by calling them little nerds. How, then, Castiel pouted while scolding him that it was geek, and not nerd. Finally, Dean told her that they walked to the science building when he then started to mumble about how he had asked Cas to be his partner.
"What? And he agreed just like that?" she asked with wide eyes.
"Well, uh, not exactly… no…"
"You're a miracle worker, Dee, Castiel hasn't teamed up with anyone for anything since freshman year."
"So he told me…"
"How in the world did you convince him to be your partner? Did you bribe him with a date?" she teased with a devilish smile.
"What? No! I… I honestly don't know what changed his mind."
"Okay, then… what did you do?"
"Uh… I… um, well, I… kissed him?"
"What!?"
Suddenly, right after the shout, Jo began to cough violently. Spots of blood appearing on her hand once she took it away from covering her mouth. She stared in shock as Dean hurriedly pressed a button to call the nurse. Soon women in white entered the room with two doctors. Dean quickly stepped to the side as the medical people surrounded Jo.
"Son, what happened?" one doctor asked once they were sure that Jo wasn't experiencing another episode.
"We were talking about what's been happening, you know, just talking about our day… and we got to a topic that I guess shocked Jo… and then she started to cough…" Dean answered frowning in worry, "is she okay?"
"She'll be fine in a couple of days, son… but for now, let's cut your visit today short?" the doctor said reassuringly as he pat Dean's shoulder.
"Can I say… can I tell her 'see you later'?" Dean asked hopefully.
Getting the okay from the doc, he walked over to a now very pale Jo. Taking her cold hand in his warm ones, Dean sat.
"Hey, badass…"
"I'm sorry, Dean." she replied sadness lacing her tired voice.
"It's okay… I'm sorry that what I said shocked you so much."
"You just surprised me… like always."
"The doc says that you'll be fine in a couple of days, so I'll try to come by tomorrow okay?"
"I'd like that… it was nice seeing you today." Jo said smiling softly.
"Take care, Jo," Dean whispered as he noted her eyes slowly closing, "sweet dreams."
He placed a kiss on her forehead before standing and leaving the room. The door closed soundlessly behind him as he walked quietly down the hallway. It was already six o'clock. He bid the nurses and doctors goodnight, and climbed into his car. Suddenly, his phone rang.
"Hello?" he greeted.
"Uh.. h-hi, Dean.. it's Castiel?" replied a quiet, raspy voice.
"Hey, Cas, what's up?" Dean asked smiling softly at the hesitant voice.
"Can you, uh, come pick me… uh… up?" Castiel asked, huffing softly.
"Sure, where are you?" he asked, starting his car.
"A-at school… old library, please hurry." the junior begged, and hung up before Dean could asked what was wrong.
Feeling a sense of dread, Dean quickly threw his phone on the passenger seat and put the car in drive. And speed toward the school as quickly as the speed limit allowed… a may have gone a couple of miles above it.
"I swear, if those asses are hurting him, I'll fucking kill them," Dean growled, "starting with the bitch."
It took Dean thirty minutes to get to the school, he parked right next to the gate. Ran past the gantier closing said gate, ignoring the old man's shouting, and ran right to the old library that he had first dragged Castiel into. He burst into the room to find Raph and Castiel rolling on the floor as they both tried to get the upperhand.
Dean noticed that Castiel had a bleeding lip, and sudden hot rage surged through him. He tackled Raphel to the floor and punched him once on the nose successfully knocking the jock out.
"You're lucky that I don't have the time to do worse, coward." Dean spat to the unconscious senior.
Getting up, Dean made his way to a wide-eyed Castiel, who also sported a dark bruise to his eye. Dean growled angrily at the injuries his new friend had gotten. Castiel flinched back, and Dean's face softened as he kneeled down in front of the junior.
"I'm so sorry I didn't get here faster." he whispered.
Castiel smiled wearily, "You're here now…"
Dean frowned and pulled Castiel into a strong hug, "I'm taking you home."
