One more for you! Thanks for the reviews. Dean is on the mend, and we're getting closer to wrapping this up. Then the sequel will be along in April or May.


September 24, 2015

Dean was still sound asleep when Castiel came back from his run to the house. He generally spent his nights with Dean, but left early in the morning, before his husband woke. He'd usually run home and shower, and grab anything they might need for the day. His arms were full, and he set his cargo down on a chair.

Dean was laying on his side, facing the door, arms wrapped around a pillow. He didn't care much for sleeping on his back, but laying on his side made it more difficult to breathe. The pillow helped a lot, by keeping the weight of his arm elevated, and off his chest.

His mouth was slightly open, face partially burrowed into the pillow in his arms. Dean's breathing was still on the rough and raspy side, but definitely much improved in the ten days he'd been in the hospital. Every cough brought up more garbage, and his last chest x-ray showed significant improvement.

Castiel's meeting with the doctors that morning had left him feeling considerably cheered; if he and Lisa could get Dean out of bed and into the shower, or even just on his feet for a little while, then it would go a long way towards his fitness for release. Which was what Dean wanted more than anything.

He was responding well to the medications. His white cell count, which had shot up dramatically in the first few days in the hospital, had dropped back to closer to normal levels. His temperature had dropped to just a slight, low grade fever. The feeding tube was gone, and he was eating light meals and drinking meal supplements. He'd even gained two pounds.

Lisa pushed the door open, Dean's breakfast on a tray in her hand. She waved and offered a cheery "good morning", setting Dean's meal on the bedside table. "So today's the day. We're gonna get this big guy out of bed."

"That's the plan. We should probably wake him up first," Castiel grinned.

"Smartass."

Smiling, Castiel sat on the edge of Dean's bed, gently shaking Dean's shoulder and calling his name. Dean groaned, stretched slightly, and started coughing. Castiel helped him sit up, and Dean leaned against him, his chin resting on Castiel's shoulder.

"Ugh, that's a fucking terrible way to wake up," he groaned.

"I can imagine. But you are so much better. A week ago, you would have probably given yourself a panic attack with that." He helped Dean lay back into the pillows, pushing the button to bring the bed upright.

"Hey, no mask," Dean grinned, "I can see your whole face!"

"Well, I've been on antibiotics all this time, so the doctor said it was ok if I didn't mask and glove anymore. But just me. Everyone else still has to."

"That's so awesome," Dean said happily. "I missed your smile."

Castiel smiled at him. "Ready for breakfast?" he asked, pulling Dean's table closer.

"Ugh, no. What gross mess are they giving me this morning?" Dean poked at the covered dishes.

"Stop whining," Lisa said, "and hold out your arm so I can get your vitals."

Dean complied, sticking his tongue out at her. "Bossy."

"You can't see it because of my mask, but I'm totally sticking my tongue out at you, too," Lisa said as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Dean's arm.

Letting out a small chuckle, Dean turned back to the food, while Castiel dug around in one of the bags he'd brought.

"So it's oatmeal and toast. I asked before I left."

"Ugh."

"But I brought things to make it better."

"Yeah?" Dean asked, interest in his voice.

"Yup," Castiel smiled setting the first little jar on the table, "some of Ellen's homemade marmalade."

"Ooh, yummy!"

"And the 100% real maple syrup you like."

"I think I love you."

"Silly boy."

Lisa pulled off the blood pressure cuff, and took Dean's temperature. "It's down a little more this morning. 99.6. This is very, very good, my friend," she said, making a note on her chart. She packed up the cuff and thermometer, then turned to Dean. "So here's the deal," she said, watching as Castiel spread marmalade on Dean's toast. "Eat all your breakfast, and when you're done, I'll come take the catheter out…"

Dean made a face.

"...and then Cas and I are going to see if we can get you out of bed and into the shower."

His face lightened considerably, green eyes sparkling. "Really?"

"Really."

"Awesome!" He reached for his spoon, and flipped the lid off the oatmeal, taking a bite after he drowned the whole thing in syrup.

Lisa laughed. "Ok, I'll be back in about half and hour. Eat up, pal."

Castiel stood and walked across the room, bringing his bag over and rooting through it. He set a stack of envelopes on Dean's bed.

"Wha' are those?" he asked, mouth full of food.

"Cards. Some for me, a few for you." Castiel picked up a pink envelope. "This one's from Gabe. I'm assuming it's a birthday card."

Dean's face fell. "Is it September 24th?"

"Yes."

"Oh crap. I forgot your birthday, Cas!"

Castiel chuckled, "you were a bit preoccupied. I think I can forgive you."

"But..." Dean looked very distressed.

"It's ok. I'm really not worried about it."

"But it's your fortieth! I wanted to make it special."

"Dean. It's ok. And you can make it up to me later. I'm more concerned about you getting better than me turning another year older."

Dean didn't look convinced, and he poked at the last little bit of oatmeal in his bowl. Castiel turned back to the bag and pulled out some clothes; sweat pants, boxers, and a tee for Dean, swim shorts for himself. He dropped those items on the bottom of Dean's bed.

His husband was staring down at his hands, looking very sad.

"Dean. Seriously. Don't let this upset you. It's not a big deal. Be happy. We're going to get you out of bed today, for the first time in ten long days, and you're going to get a real shower and not a sponge bath. And all of these things mean you are that much closer to going home. So don't be upset. Ok?"

Dean nodded.

"Are you done?" Dean nodded again. "Then I'm going to go get Lisa, ok?"

"Ok," he said quietly.

When he came back with Lisa in tow, Dean looked a lot happier, a smile on his face, and he shoved his cell phone back into the bedside tray. "I'm ready!" he announced, "let's do this!"

Lisa was pulling on her surgical gloves, pulling the curtain across as she moved closer to the bed. "First things first, we're going to take out the cath, and disconnect your IV."

"Ugh," Dean said, as she pulled back his sheets.

"I'm going to change while you do that," Castiel said, taking the shorts off the bed and heading for the bathroom. Dean was sitting up, on the edge of the bed, when he returned. "Ready, babe?"

"I think so. Just go slow."

"You need to sit when you get in there, Dean. There's a shower chair, and let Cas do all the work. I'm going to get the recliner set up for you, and you can stay out of bed for a while. Sound good?"

"Sounds great!"

"Ready?" Castiel asked, holding out his arm.

"As I'll ever be," Dean smiled nervously.

Castiel and Lisa both took an arm, and together, they slowly pulled Dean into a standing position. He wobbled, took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"I can do this," he murmured to himself, visibly working to center his balance. "Ok, let's move," he said after a moment. He shuffled his feet, leaning heavily on Castiel's arm. "Don't let me go."

"No chance of that, I promise."

They moved slowly across the floor, Lisa on one side, Castiel on the other, Dean moving slowly between them.

"I'm going to pretend my ass isn't hanging out as my weak ass wobbles to the fucking bathroom," Dean groused.

Castiel chuckled. "C'mon. There's hot water with your name on it."

They settled Dean on the shower chair, then Lisa made herself scarce, with explicit instructions to Dean that he needed to let Castiel do all the work. Castiel started the water, bringing it up to temp.

"Here, let's get this stupid hospital gown off. I have sweats and boxers waiting for you."

"Yay," Dean said happily. "Ooh, is that my body wash and shampoo from home?"

"Of course."

Dean spent the next several minutes humming happily under his breath while Castiel scrubbed his hair and washed him. He smoothed shaving cream over Dean's face and carefully shaved off ten days worth of reddish brown beard. Castiel shut the water off, then wrapped Dean in a fluffy towel. Dean was blinking, his eyes already looking tired, and he leaned against Castiel, with his eyes closed.

"Don't fall asleep. Let's get you out there and dressed first."

"'k," Dean said drowsily.

Castiel pulled him to his feet again, slowly leading him back into the other room. The recliner was covered with a sheet, pillows and a blanket. He sat Dean on the edge of the bed, toweling him off the rest of the way, and helping him into his boxers and tee. He pulled his sweats on, then put a pair of socks on him.

Dean looked down at his shirt. "My Zep shirt," he yawned.

"Yup. C'mon." Castiel got Dean on his feet again, helping him move the two feet to the recliner. Dean leaned back, already half asleep, and Castiel covered him with the blanket, using the lever to elevate his feet.

By the time Castiel redressed, and cleaned up, Dean was long gone, snoring slightly. And that was how he pretty much spent the day, waking up to eat lunch, watch reruns, play a little Angry Birds on his phone, cough, and in general, whine about going home.

He had to get up to use the bathroom now, and he whined about that too.

Castiel didn't care. The whining and complaining was just more evidence that Dean was starting to feel like himself again.

And that's all that mattered to him.


Dean kept checking the time on his phone. He didn't think Cas had noticed how much more he was using it today. He kept telling him he was bored and playing games on it, and he was pretty sure Cas bought it. At least, he hoped Cas bought it.

There was no way in hell he was letting Cas's fortieth birthday go by without doing something. So, he'd been in touch with Jo, Benny, and Sam throughout the day- in between naps, at any rate.

Jo was getting the balloons.

Benny was getting the present out of his desk.

Sam was picking up cupcakes.

They were all dropping these items off with Lisa, and when Cas went down to the cafeteria to get himself some dinner, she would bring all of them into his room.

He might still be sick as a dog and confined to a hospital room, but damned if he wasn't going to do something for his husband's birthday!

Like clockwork, Cas got up and left the room around six for dinner. A moment later, Lisa appeared, arms full of packages.

"Here you go, Dean. Balloons, cake, and presents."

"Yes!" Dean sat up straight in the recliner, admiring the large bouquet of balloons. Some were shaped like tombstones, some were just plain, but all of them had some manner of 'over the hill' on them.

Lisa helped him set everything up, then took a quick set of vitals. "Buzz if you guys need anything," she said, on her way out the door.

Dean waited for Cas to return, tapping his fingers anxiously on the leather folder in his lap. He yawned. He shifted and squirmed. And apparently, fell asleep.

Because when he woke up later, the sky outside his window was dark, the folder was laying on the bedside table, and Cas was sitting in his bed, flipping through channels on the television.

"Oh crap," he mumbled.

"Hi there, sleepyhead."

"Oh man. I slept through my surprise. Dammit!"

"I'm still plenty surprised, Dean."

"But I wanted to light a candle and sing happy birthday and…"

"...and you're still really sick and you fell asleep. It's not the end of the world. I'm still surprised." Cas slid off the bed, flipped the light on, and sat in the chair closest to the recliner. "So what's in the folder?"

"You didn't look?"

"It had a bow. I thought it might be my present. I wanted to wait. I haven't had a cupcake yet either. I was waiting for you."

Dean felt that familiar warm rush in his chest that he got everytime Cas made him feel like that- special, loved, it was something he just couldn't put into words.

Cas handed him the folder. "Show me."

"Ok. Open it," Dean said, handing it back.

Opening the folder, Cas studied the contents for a moment. "This looks like plans."

"Yup. I'm tearing down the deck, and building a screen porch with a larger deck, and I'm going to build the outdoor kitchen you've been wanting. Those are the plans I drew up. If you don't like it, I could do something els…"

"I love it! It's exactly what I wanted!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes! I mean, we talked about it, and I mentioned wanting all of these things, but I didn't think...I dunno. I just wasn't expecting this, and it's exactly what I want. You have the open hearth and the built in grill, a fridge…"

"...and a separate wine cooler." Dean leaned forward, pointing things out with his finger. "There'll be gas burners hidden under a cover, a sink, and a warming drawer. I figured it all out, and sat down and made some sketches, then worked with an architect to get it just right. And just like the house, me, Sam, Benny, and Adam will do all the work. I should have it done by spring." He leaned back in the chair, smiling at the happy expression on Cas's face as he looked at all the aspects of the drawing.

"Is this a hot tub in the screen porch?"

"Yup."

"Oh, Dean, I love this! This is the best birthday present I've ever received."

"Awesome. I'm glad you like it. How 'bout a cupcake?" He reached for the container. There was a candle and a lighter sitting next to it, and it took him a minute, but he managed to get a candle in the cupcake and light it. He sang happy birthday, his voice rough and raspy, and Cas smiled when he leaned in to blow out the candle.

Later, when they were curled up together in Dean's bed, Dean fighting very hard to stay awake, Cas told him again how happy the present made him.

"I'm glad you liked it," Dean said again, snuggling into Cas's shoulder.

"Mmm, you know what I like better?" Cas asked him, lips pressed to Dean's forehead. "The docs say if you keep doing this good, I might be able to take you home in three days."

"Really?"

"Really."

Dean sighed happily. "Oh, that would be so awesome."

"I'm glad you're doing so much better. You scared the shit out of me, you know?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's ok. Just, can we never do this again? Tell me when you aren't feeling good, telling me when something is bothering you. Don't shoulder your burdens alone, when I more than willing to help you carry them. I love you. I love being a part of your life. Don't shut me out."

"I won't, I promise." He yawned loudly and Cas chuckled.

"Go to sleep, Dean. I'll be right here."

"Happy Birthday, Cas," Dean murmured, drifting off to kisses on his forehead and happy thoughts of going home.