Chapter Ten

Cas's eyes fluttered open and the first thing he saw was Dean. He groaned softly and put a hand to the large lump that had formed on his head. 'Dean… what happened?'

'You passed out and hit your head.'

Cas was confused for a moment, then realised that he and Dean weren't alone.

It was Gabriel that had spoken and he was sitting in a chair at the foot of the bed Cas was lying on.

'What the - Gabriel?' Cas tried to sit up, but his head throbbed and Dean pushed him back down. 'Where am I?'

'You're in the hospital, genius. You passed out.'

'Why are you even here?' Cas snapped.

'I thought that was obvious.'

'Yeah, well no one asked you to come, so you can go now.'

'Actually, Dean asked me to come. He got my number off your phone and texted me.'

'Why?' Cas asked Dean.

{He knows your medical history better than I do} Dean rationalised. {I figured you'd prefer him over your mom}

Cas sighed. 'Fine,' he said grumpily. 'Let's just get out of here.' He tried to get up again, but Dean wouldn't allow it.

{Wait for the doctor}

Cas glared at him.

{Will you grow up?} Dean signed, a slight, amused smile playing at his lips.

Cas folded his arms and dropped back down on the bed, then Dean grabbed the little remote beside his bed and pushed down a button. It made the bed move upwards, pushing Cas up in a sitting position. {Better?}

{Thanks}

Just then, the doctor entered holding a clipboard. She smiled at Cas when she saw he was awake. 'Welcome back to the world,' she said warmly. 'How are you feeling?'

'Like I got hit in the head.'

'According to your friend, here, you hit your head on a counter when you collapsed, so that would explain that,' she smiled. 'Now, I need to ask you a few questions. It might be more comfortable if we were alone?'

Cas shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. They can stay.'

'Well, if you're sure… First of all, do you drink?' she asked, flipping through his paperwork.

'No.'

'Do you smoke?'

'No.'

'Height?'

'Six foot.'

'Weight?'

'Uh… a hundred and thirty pounds, or thereabouts.'

'Okay, a little underweight, but okay. Let's see, it says here your blood pressure's a little high but nothing too bad. Are you currently on any medications?'

'No.'

'Are you sexually active?'

Cas flushed and glanced briefly at Dean before saying, 'No.'

The doctor raised an eyebrow at him. 'Are you sure?'

Cas turned even redder and Gabriel laughed at him.

'Oh, he's sure,' Gabriel sniggered. 'How long has it been, exactly, Cas?'

'None of your business,' Cas snapped.

'I'll take your word for it,' the doctor said, smirking slightly. 'Now, let's take a look at your blood work…' She flipped to another page, analysed it for a moment and frowned. 'What was the last thing you ate?' she asked.

'I had a hotdog yesterday.'

'And before that?'

Cas thought back and his heart dropped. 'Some oatmeal,' he said quietly.

'Uh-huh, and when was that?'

Cas mumbled something.

'Sorry, what?'

Cas cleared his throat. 'About four days ago.'

'Oh, okay. Mystery solved in that case, you just had a little drop in your blood sugar,' she said, checking the notes on the last page on her clipboard. She looked up at him and hesitated, glancing at Dean and Gabriel. 'It says here that you used to take Citalopram, is that correct?'

Cas inhaled sharply, then sighed. 'Yes, I did. I came off it years ago, though.'

'I see. I'm going to refer you back to your GP, so you can discuss whether or not you need to go back on it, and also to see if we can't do anything about that blood pressure.'

Cas nodded and winced, his head throbbing.

'All right, so I'll get someone to come in and get that cannula out, and then you can go home. Make sure you rest up and get something to eat, and we can avoid this trip a second time, all right?'

'Thank you, doctor,' said Cas. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

'You didn't tell me you came off your meds,' Gabriel said.

'Yeah, I didn't tell you I started taking vitamins either. It's not a big deal.'

'Come on, Cas-'

'Don't.' Cas finally looked at Dean, who was keeping a close watch on him. {Thank you. I'm not angry. You did the right thing}

Dean grimaced. {You scared me, you know?}

{I'm sorry. That's the last thing I wanted}

Dean put a hand on Cas's shoulder, squeezing in gently.

{Could I have a moment with my brother?} Cas asked.

{Of course} Dean stood and brushed down his jeans, then left the room.

'Well, this is awkward,' said Gabriel, with a nervous laugh.

'Where are you staying?'

'What?'

'Clearly you never went home. It would have taken you too long to get here, so where are you staying?'

'Just at a hotel in town.'

'Why? Where's Mom? You didn't bring her, did you?'

'No, she's at home now. I stayed 'cause…'

'Because what?'

'I wanted to talk to you, I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to say.'

'You could start with "sorry".'

'Oh my God, Cas, I am. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should've known better than to let her convince me everything would be fine.' Gabriel grabbed Cas's hand and shuffled closer in his chair. 'She made it seem so easy, that she would come here and you guys would talk, and we would all be a family again…'

'Gabriel-'

'But I was wrong and I exposed you again. I'm sorry, I really am. I made a mistake, but you're my baby brother and it would kill me if you stopped talking to me too.'

Cas felt tears prick his eyes as he saw Gabriel's filling up. He gripped Gabriel's hand tightly. 'It's okay,' he whispered past the lump in his throat. 'I understand why you'd want that. I know this has all been hard on you too. You always were the peacemaker.'

'I'll never do it again, I promise you.'

'It's okay, Gabriel. I just- a little warning would have been nice. I understand why you did it, but it caught me by surprise. I wasn't prepared for it at all. I sprayed frosting all over one of my best friends.'

Gabriel's mouth twitched. 'Your friend? Are you sure?'

Cas squinted at him. 'I'm confused. Yes, he's my friend.'

'And that's it?'

'What- Yes, that's it, Gabriel. Do we have to have this conversation every time you come here?'

'All right, I'll stop, jeez.' Gabriel leant back in his chair, thinking for a minute. 'You know, Mom thinks you're a really good baker.'

'Now you're just messing with me,' said Cas.

'It's true. We had someone go in and buy some stuff before we came to see you. We didn't know if you'd sell anything to her or not.'

'Mom would never eat any baked goods. Too many carbs.'

'See, I thought you'd say that, so I made her record it.'

Cas's eyes widened. 'You did what?' he said, a smile spreading across his face.

'Yeah, I totally did. I'll show you - I mean - if you want.'

'Show it to me.'

Gabriel dug in his jacket pocket for his shiny smartphone and pulled the video up on it.

Cas flinched at the sight of their mom, standing on the street with his bakery just visible along the road.

Gabriel's voice came from behind the camera. 'Mom, tell Cas what you think of his food.'

Emily rolled her eyes. 'Why can't I just tell him when I see him?'

'We're dealing with some pretty heavy stuff today, we might not get a chance.'

Emily folded her arms.

'Come on, Mom, humour me.'

'All right, fine,' Emily sighed. 'Castiel, I tried some of your food today. I enjoyed these little lemon tarts you made, and your bread is beautiful. You're a talented baker.' A small smile turned up the corners of her thin lips.

'That's awesome, Mom. I'll show him later.'

The video ended and Cas pushed the phone away. 'Why do you have to do this to me?' he said to Gabriel, mostly joking.

'I know what she did to you was terrible, and if you can't forgive her, I totally understand, like, no question,' Gabriel said, putting the phone back in his pocket. 'But maybe think about giving it another chance?'

Cas gave a slight shake of his head. 'She did eat bread for me,' he conceded.

'Yeah, exactly,' Gabriel laughed.

'All right, I'll think about it.'

Gabriel gave a great sigh of relief and leaned over to hug Cas tightly. 'Thank you so much, that's all I could ever ask of you.'

'You're not getting anything for Christmas, you know,' Cas joked, his voice muffled by Gabriel's shoulder.

'That's fair,' Gabriel replied.

There was a knock on the door, and in came a nurse, pushing a wheelchair that had some medical equipment in a tray sitting on it. 'Okay, Castiel, let's just get that cannula out and we can get you out of here.'

Gabriel moved out of the way and Cas noticed Dean hovering in the doorway, waiting.

The nurse pulled on his latex gloves and got to work on the cannula in Cas's hand.

Pulling off the tape was the worst part. Cas gripped the sheet with his other hand, eyes watering, until it was finally over. The nurse carefully placed on a small dressing. 'All right, you're good to go. Let's just get you into this wheelchair.'

'I don't need that, do I?' Cas said, eyeing it distastefully.

'Sorry, everyone has to do it,' said the nurse, gesturing at the chair.

Cas tutted an swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up, but swayed violently, his head swimming from the bump on it and his limbs emptying of feeling.

'Careful,' said the nurse, taking him by the arms and lowering him into the chair.

Cas took a few deep breaths until his head stopped spinning, then the nurse began to wheel him out. 'Who's at the bakery?' he asked Gabriel.

'Sam and Alfie are working it out, don't worry.'

{My car is outside. I'll take you home} Dean signed as Cas was wheeled out.

'Not back to the bakery?'

'Absolutely not,' said the doctor, who had been coming up to them with Cas's paperwork. 'Go home and rest. Make sure you eat something, and you'll be fine to go back to work tomorrow,' she insisted, handing him his discharge papers.

'But-'

'You need rest,' she repeated. 'If you try to go back to work now, you'll just end up back here. Take care of yourself, Castiel.' With that, she grabbed another clipboard from the nurse's station and dashed off in another direction.

'Come on, then,' the nurse said bracingly, wheeling Cas towards the door of the ward.

Dean went ahead of them to bring the car around, and Cas and Gabriel waited for him at the front entrance.

'Gabe,' Cas said quietly, his voice weaker than he'd expected.

'Yeah?'

'Can you stay wherever it is you're staying tonight? You can come by the bakery tomorrow, if you want…'

'Yeah, of course I can.'

Dean's Impala came around the corner and the nurse helped Cas to his feet slowly, then into the passenger side of Dean's car.

'I'll see you tomorrow,' Cas said to Gabriel, waving as Dean pulled away.

Cas was silent as they drove, gazing out of the window. He felt a gentle nudge and looked to see Dean glancing at him.

{R- U- O-K?} He spelled with one hand.

'I'm fine,' Cas said. 'A little dizzy, I guess. Disappointed with myself.'

{Y?}

'I let her get to me too much, and now I'm here.'

{I-T H-P-P-N-S.} They rounded a corner, then Dean continued. {N-T -Y-R F-L-T}

'Hmm…'

{U W-R S-R-P-R-S-D}

That one took Cas a moment to decipher. 'Oh, I was definitely surprised.'

They arrived back at Cas's apartment and Dean helped him inside, to his chair.

Gracie immediately trotted out of the bedroom, yowling loudly. She jumped up to Cas's lap and sniffed at him, shoving her furry face into his cheeks.

'Get down,' he muttered, trying to keep his face away from her. 'I'm fine.'

After she had thoroughly investigated him, she settled down on his lap, seemingly satisfied.

Cas looked up and saw Dean going through his cupboards. 'What are you doing?' he asked.

Dean turned around and signed {I'm making dinner. Why do you only have noodles in here?}

Cas shrugged. 'All of my good ingredients go to the bakery.'

Dean nodded and picked up his keys. {Don't move. I'll be right back}

He left again and Cas dozed off while he waited, jolting back awake when the door closed.

Dean smiled at him, as he put his bags up on the counter.

Cas smiled back, allowing one of his eyes to close lazily, but keeping the other slightly open in case Dean wanted to talk to him.

Soon, the apartment was filled with cooking smells.

{You like sausages?} Dean signed, picking one up and waving it at him suggestively, eyes twinkling.

Cas laughed loudly, almost dislodging Gracie. 'I like sausages a healthy amount, Dean.'

Dean chuckled and placed a couple of sausages in the sizzling frying pan.

Cas watched him as he cooked. He seemed confident, flipping the sausages over regularly, his broad shoulders hunched over the frying pan. With Dean's concentration elsewhere, Cas took the opportunity to allow his gaze to slowly travel down Dean's body. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, exposing his defined forearms. Every movement was deliberate, all of his muscles moving in concert with each other. Then Cas noticed he was slightly bow-legged and smiled to himself at the way Dean walked with it. He caught a glimpse of Dean's expression of concentration, a little frown creasing the space between his eyebrows. Cas felt a fluttering in his stomach, but quickly pushed it away, putting it down to his light-headedness.

Dean brought Cas a plate once he was finished cooking, and sat on the couch with his own plate.

'This is really good, Dean,' Cas said, slowly taking bites of his food.

Dean grinned, digging into his.

'Dean...' Cas said uncertainly. 'You won't tell anyone about- about my medication, will you?'

Dean looked at him for a moment, then drew out his notebook and wrote something. He turned it to Cas and he read 'Lexapro'. Dean nodded and pointed at himself.

'Oh,' Cas said quietly.

{I'm anxiety on legs} Dean signed lightly. {Medication is nothing to be ashamed of}

Cas nodded.

{Who would I tell?} Dean joked. {I do want to talk again someday} he signed, more seriously. {I started seeing a therapist}

{That's great, D-e-a-n} Cas signed enthusiastically. {A really good step}

{I hope so}

Once they had finished their food, Dean washed up all the dishes, fed Gracie and the fish, then brought Cas a glass of water and some Tylenol.

Although he felt a lot better now that he had eaten something, his head was still sore from its contact with the counter.

{I'm staying here tonight} Dean signed. {I'm making breakfast, no arguments}

{If you insist} Cas shrugged. He took the pills and pushed Gracie off his lap. As soon as Dean realised he was getting up, he was at Cas's side, steadying him, with one arm wrapped around Cas's shoulders, and the other hand at his chest to stop him from falling forwards.

It was slow going, with Dean not allowing him to go too quickly, but he eventually made it to the bedroom. Dean gave him some privacy in which to change into his pyjamas, but then helped Cas lower himself into bed.

Dean fussed over the pillows for a minute. {Are you okay?} he asked eventually.

{I'm fine}

Dean hesitated before leaving the room. {I tried your pizza while we were waiting for the ambulance. It was really good}

Cas laughed. {Was that really the best time for pizza?}

{It's always a good time for pizza. Goodnight, C-a-s}

{Goodnight, D-e-a-n}

Hey, what's up guys, welcome back! Thanks to AGirlIntheGalaxy, rei373, VegasGranny, swiftcity and Sherlock Harry Winchester

Hi everyone, sorry I missed a week. I was in the hospital for a little while, but don't worry, everything's fine now! I'll be back to my regular schedule now so I'll see you all next week!