The tires on Cas' car scream as he tears out of the parking lot, leaving the class behind. He opens his GPS, enters in the name of the hospital, and speeds down the highway to Cleveland. The drive would normally take three hours; Cas makes it in one. He runs into the hospital and rushes up to the front desk. The woman, identified as Tessa by her name tag, looks up at Cas.

"Welcome, how may I help you?" she asks him.

"I'm here to see Dean Winchester," Cas responds, low on breath.

"Name?"

"Castiel Novak."

Tessa pulls out a file with Dean's name on it and skims over it. "Yes," she says, "you're listed as an emergency contact. Fourth floor, room 412."

"Thank you," Cas tells her before running down the hallway to the elevator. He takes it up to the fourth floor.

"406, 408, 410… 412!"

He opens the door to see Dean laying on the bed, seemingly unconscious. The heart-rate monitor is the only noise in the room, though Cas is glad to hear it in a steady pulse. He walks over to the bed, tears welling in his eyes, and sits down in a chair next to Dean, grabbing his hand.

"I told you to be safe…" Cas whispers. He hears footsteps behind him and turns around to see a female doctor. Her red hair is tied up in a ponytail.

"You must be Castiel," the doctor says, reaching her hand out to him. "I'm Dr. Milton." Cas shakes her hand and looks back at Dean.

"What's wrong with him?" he asks, never looking away from his love.

"Three broken ribs, fracture in his left arm. He's been having difficulty breathing; we think a rib may have punctured a lung. We're waiting on x-ray results." Dr. Milton looks at Cas. "Where does he live?" she asks him.

"He lives with me in Columbus. He left on a business trip three days ago."

"Are you his roommate?"

Cas tenses up. "He's… my boyfriend. Of about three and a half years."

Dr. Milton straightens out, a look of surprise on her face. "Well, Castiel," she begins, "I wish to let you know that this hospital is very accepting to those under the LGBT category. You have no worry; we will treat him like any other patient."

Cas looks up at her, holding tears back. "Thank you," he says. Dr. Milton nods and takes her leave. Cas turns back to Dean and grabs his hand.

"You always looked so peaceful when you were sleeping," he says to Dean, unknowing if he can hear him. "So calm… so beautiful. I knew something like this was going to happen. I should have gone with you. They say it was a car accident, but I'm not stupid. Something attacked you… Dean, please pull through this. If you can hear me, please. I love you. Forever and always…" Cas closes his eyes, a few stray tears falling into his lap.

"I… love you too… Cas…" Dean replies weakly. Cas' eyes shoot open to see Dean looking over at him, barely keeping awake.

"Dean… You're gonna be okay, I promise."

"I… don't know…"

"You will. And when you get out of here, you're coming home with me. Okay?"

Dean stares forward at the wall. "Okay…" he says reluctantly. "Stay here… with me… please?"

Cas looks into Dean's green eyes. They no longer glow a bright green; a dull, olive color glosses over them now.

"Of course."

Later that day, Cas calls into work to take off a few days. He never leaves Dean's side except to take bathroom breaks. The nurse, Sarah, brings in food for the both of them when she comes to check up on Dean. Soon enough, Dr. Milton returns in.

"I have good news and bad news," she tells the boys.

"Shit," Dean says weakly, coughing slightly. "What's first?"

"The bad, of course. Looking at the x-rays, we have confirmed that a rib punctured your left lung. We will have to perform surgery, which has been scheduled to occur in one hour." Cas frowns and glances over at Dean.

"And the good?" Dean asks.

"The good news is, it didn't go in too deep. It won't take long to fix up and heal. Also, you're an incredibly lucky man. If the rib would have struck an inch more to the right, it would have pierced your heart and you would have been dead before you got here."

Both Dean and Cas smile like idiots. "That's wonderful," Cas exclaims. "Thank you."

Dr. Milton smiles back. "Dean will have to remain here for about two days after surgery before you are able to take him home."

"Okay," they both respond simultaneously.

Dean's surgery goes well and they are able to leave two days later. The car ride back is painful for Dean, but he bears through it. When they get back to the house, Cas notices Dean adjust something in the waist of his pants.

"What's that?" Cas asks.

"Oh, this?" Dean replies, pulling out a gun. It looks old, almost Western, with a long barrel and rotating clip. A pentagram is carved into the handle. "This is the Colt. Found it a day before I got slammed. It can kill just about anything supernatural, so I'm gonna use it to kill that son of a bitch."

"He's the one that did this to you, didn't he?"

Dean looks over at Cas, a shameful look in his eyes. "Yeah…" he says quietly.

"Hopefully you get him," Cas replies with a smile. Dean flashes a smile back and they head inside the house. "I'm gonna go take a shower, okay?"

"Okay, baby," Dean responds, watching as Cas disappears into the bedroom. He walks over to the kitchen and grabs an apple from the fridge. He hears the shower turn on as he bites into the apple. After finishing the apple, he walks into the bedroom and lays on the bed, his eyes closed.

Suddenly, something falls on Dean's face. He wipes it off and opens his eyes to look at his hand.

Blood.

He looks up at the ceiling.

"CAS!"