Whoa. Getting practically killed by a ghost felt very similar to what he imagined falling out of a plane without a parachute would be. Every muscle ached, every nerve ending screamed, every thought about moving had his soul cringing in pain.

He knew he was in a hospital when he was breaching consciousness; he could tell from the beeping monitor and the way too cleaned smell permeating around him. Dean truly did not want to be in this position right now with all his aches and pains throbbing all over his body, but he knew life wasn't so kind to give him a little slack. He guessed that the bitch, Marcia kicked his ass so bad and had him sent to the hospital but not before Sam and Charlie took her out. That crazy-ass spirit totally deserved whatever she got for taking him out.

Finally building enough courage to crack one eyelid open, Dean noticed through the little slit that it was kind of dark in his room causing him to open both eyes. He gazed to the side of his bed where normally Sam and Charlie would be sitting and waiting for him to come back to the land of the living. There was no BFG or innocent, little hellion waiting in any of the darkened corners of his room.

He assumed that with there being no sunlight creeping through the drawn curtains it must have been night out, so of course Sam and Charlie wouldn't be there. They were probably back at the motel sleeping and would be back promptly when visitor's hours started up again. However, being alone it a hospital at night, alone did not sit well with him. It could have been the fact that he had never before woken up at night to find himself alone, or it could have been that he just wanted reassurance that Charlie and Sam were still living, breathing, and overall, healthy. He was almost positive that they were all right. He was pretty sure he had woken once or twice and had seen Sam and Charlie by his side, but he had only been awake for two seconds before passing back out.

Being alone with his thoughts, Dean was startled by the creak of something off to his left. He looked over and saw a small silhouette make its way off the other bed toward his side of the room. Dean tensed thinking about how it could have been a spirit and him without any form of protection. He was relieved that the figure passed his bed and headed to the bathroom. However, he didn't fail to notice the curvy figure concluding that the person was indeed a woman.

He let out a sigh of relief then became a little peeved that Sam and Charlie had not requested that his room be private. He wasn't comfortable with doctors looking at him when he was unaware, let alone another person's family.

As the toilet flushed, Dean glanced back towards the bathroom hoping to get a glimpse of his roommate. His eyes grew large as he realized that the dark figure grew larger and made its way to him. He was tempted to grab the arm that reached for him finding himself a little frozen in his current position.

He didn't expect that hand to run through his hair and rest on the side of his face. He totally didn't expect the person to lean in and place a gentle, chaste kiss on his forehead. In order to figure out who this person was he feigned just waking up by yawning and moving around a bit hoping to surprise the mystery person. He thought he must have scared her off when she turned, but she turned around only to flip on the bedside lamp giving off just a minimal amount of lighting.

When she turned back he was completely surprised yet relieved to know that he recognized that face.

"Hey," she said ever so softly with sleep still evident in her voice.

"Hey," he returned frowning at the scratchy sound of his voice.

"It's probably because you haven't spoken in a few days. Besides, it doesn't sound that bad," she reassured smiling at him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked resting her hand on his cheek once again.

"Sore," he answered, "but not as bad as I expected. I was pretty sure that Marcia broke something."

"Yeah, she did, but you probably can't feel it because of the pain meds you're taking."

He smiled glad to see a very pretty, familiar face with obvious concern before another frown graced his features.

"Why are you in the hospital so late? Did you get hurt, too?" he asked concern lacing his words.

She shook her head and smiled wider. "No. The nurses have been letting me sleep here."

A small smile curved the corners of his mouth before he asked, "What about Sam?"

"He's been staying at the motel down the road," she answered. She noticed the small amount of worry in his eyes. "Don't worry. He's fine."

Unbeknownst to her, Dean was ecstatic that Charlie had been the one to stay by him instead of Sam. He felt that she cared for him deeply no matter what may have happened between them.

"Crap," she said bringing Dean out of his musings having him question her. "I think I should go get a doctor or someone to take a look at you."

"Why?"

"Because you just woke up," said Charlie as if it were obvious.

As she made to get up, Dean reached out to her. She stopped and gave him a curious look. He didn't answer and only scoured for the remote on the side of his bed. Realizing what he was doing, Charlie sat down on the edge of his bed as Dean pressed the call button to alert the nursing staff.

After the doctors and nurses checked him out, Dean lay back on the bed yawning from all the poking and prodding by the hospital staff.

Noticing the drowsy look in his eyes, Charlie spoke up, "You should go back to sleep." He scowled and began to protest but was cut off by another yawn. "Come on. Back to sleep," she said securing the blanket around him.

As she made to leave, Dean grasped her arm. He patted his bed hoping she'd oblige.

She shook her head. "I'm not going to sleep on with you," she refused making Dean frown from rejection and release her arm. She noticed his hurt expression and took his hand in hers. "I don't want to hurt you or jostle any broken bones."

Seeing that Dean understood she wasn't rejecting him, he reluctantly said, "Okay."

"Don't worry. I'll be in that bed over there," she gestured to the bed not four feet from his own. "Goodnight," she whispered before placing a soft kiss on his nose.

Dean smiled big and yawned before slowly drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delays between the chapters lately. Okay, a week may not seem like a long delay, but I feel bad leaving people hanging. I hope I make up for some fo it with this longer chapter.

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews from the last chapter. I didn't make this a cliffhangar mostly due to Mrs. Cullen-Ackles complaining about her poor heart not being able to handle such horrible things. I hope this doesn't ause her any more pain. Haha.

Ziggy Mo