"… don't know what to do, Cas!"

Claire became conscious just as she heard the raised voice. She tried to keep her breathing deep, and eyes closed, even as the pain in her rib cage and on her face made itself known.

"Is there anything we can do until she's ready to talk to us? I know you want to get to the bottom of it, but until she's ready to say something, there's not really much you can do."

"How are you being so reasonable about this?"

Claire's eyes almost opened just at the tone of Dean's voice.

"Reasonable? Dean, my daughter has broken bones! It's the least confident I've seen her, the longest silent treatment she's ever given me. I feel sick just thinking about what she might have been through. But how will that help her? How do you expect she'll talk to us if we're yelling about this? And you're the principal, Dean, you're meant to be impartial here."

Claire almost couldn't believe that they were arguing like this, except that she knew Dean could be a hothead, and that he father's passive approach to things often drove her crazy too.

"I guess that makes me unprofessional then, because I will put your daughter first as much as I can. I love Claire, way too much to let anyone get away with hurting her."

Claire didn't need to open her eyes to know what the expression was on Castiel's face. That doey-eyed, head cocked, pouty mouthed expression that meant Dean had hit right in the heart. However long the argument had gone on for before Claire woke up, it was now over. The lip smacking sound signalling their kiss that followed a moment later confirmed it.

"Look, you have Ellen, let her speak to those girls. Set your punishment but let her carry it out. And if Claire wants to press charges, you can be there as her other parent."

"She's a minor," Dean reminded Castiel.

"She's old enough to decide." Castiel put his foot down. There was the sound of the door opening and then closing.

"Hey, how's she doing?" Jack's voice was cautious, but still had that happy undertone to it.

"Still asleep." Dean sat flatly. "Jack, you don't have to be here."

"She's my cousin. And you both need a break too. When was the last time you ate or used the bathroom? Go, sort yourself out, Claire will be fine with me."

"I want to be there when she wakes up," Castiel insisted.

"I'll call you, I promise," Jack sounded gentle, but it was clear he was going to stand his ground too. "Uncle Cas, you need to at least have a nap. She has a broken nose, it's not terminal, she'll be okay. You need to be okay too."

There was the sound of someone settling into a chair, and Claire knew Jack was making himself comfortable.

"Jack," Castiel began to argue, but Claire was grateful that Jack was adamant.

"At least go get a coffee. You don't want to worry her when she wakes up and you've turned into a zombie."

A few moments passed, before there were footsteps, and the door opened and closed once again. It was silent then, except for the occasional creak of a book. Jack was obviously using the time to study. Claire blinked her eyes open and saw him in the chair by his bed, making notes from a textbook with a highlighter in his mouth. He didn't look up, which Claire was grateful for, because she wanted the time to just watch someone being normal before she had to confront what had happened.

After around ten minutes, Jack turned a page.

"Let me know when you want me to tell Uncle Cas you're awake." He looked up coyly from under his floppy blond bangs. "I knew you were awake when I came in."

He looked away and carried on studying. Claire went to roll over and felt a tug in her arm. She was unable to prevent the groan of pain that came from it. Jack put his studying on the floor and jumped up to help her.

"Go careful, you're gonna pull your painkillers out." He fussed over her for a moment, and began to smooth her hair back from her face. "How's your nose?'

Claire just stared at him. It almost felt like, if she spoke, she would start crying again. But Jack took it all in his stride, luckily.

"Yeah, okay, dumb question. It's broken, Jack. And you slept all Sunday, which is why Cas is being extra protective. And why you have this tube too," he pointed to Claire's other arm, where an IV was going in. "I think the doctors want to keep you in a couple of days and then you need to stay home and rest for a little while longer."

Claire lifted a hand carefully, trying to avoid pulling on her IV, and wrapped her pinky finger around his. He looked at their hands, and then back up at her.

"You can talk to me, Claire. Don't let them take your voice away."

The door to the room began to open again, and Claire closed her eyes quickly. It was one thing having her cousin know she was awake, but other people might be completely unbearable.

"Hey, Jack," it was Alex. Claire kept her eyes closed. "She's still sleeping?"

"Yeah," Jack lied smoothly. "The accident took it right out of her. The painkillers probably help."

"So you haven't found out what happened?"

"No."

"Will you tell me as soon as you find out? Or get her to call me?"

"Maybe if you stick around she'll wake up and you can ask her yourself?" Jack sounded hopeful, like Claire would take the opportunity to blink her eyes open and greet her girlfriend. She made a snuffling sound and moved her head on the pillow instead.

"Has she woken up at all?" Alex sounded concerned.

"No. But that's good, because Uncle Cas wants to be the first person she sees."

"You're still holding her hand." Alex pointed out. Jack let go and cautiously put her arm on the bed.

"Uh, yeah," he gave a small chuckle. "Pinky promising that if she woke up soon, I would buy her some Ben and Jerry's and we'd eat our feelings over the game. I guess I was hoping she'd hear me."

Jack was a good liar. He sounded so earnest and innocent as he did it.

"Your books are open on the floor."

"Are you trying to say I've done something?" Jack still sounded pleasant, but like he didn't appreciate the insinuation. Even if it was accurate. The door swung open again before Alex could dig deeper.

"Hello, Alex," Castiel said stiffly.

"Where were you on Saturday?" Dean jumped straight in. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

"Dean," Castiel muttered.

"No, Cas, this is bogus! I want to know what's happened. Why you weren't cheerleading on Saturday."

"I have to go," Alex muttered. There were scuffling noises, and then the door opened and closed once again.

"I don't think she knew, Dean," Castiel said quietly. "And you're still her principal."

"And there's still something going on that I should know about in my school."

"Uncle Dean, maybe you need to try a different approach?" Jack suggested. "I know you're angry and you want justice but yelling at teenage girls will make them stop talking."

"I know," Dean sounded defeated. There was a squeal of chair legs scraping the floor. "I guess I feel responsible. I pushed Claire to be proud of who she is and she got hurt doing it. I'm her principal, I'm almost her stepfather-"

"And you've helped her with so much, Dean. She probably wouldn't be talking to me even now if it wasn't for you." Castiel's facade was breaking, as was his voice from the emotion of his words. "You understand a lot about her that I still don't. But that doesn't mean you're responsible for everything that happens in her life."

Claire couldn't take it anymore. She blinked her eyes open, and saw Dean and Castiel embracing in a plastic chair at the foot of her bed. Jack was still by the side of the bed, watching the two of them together. Dean looked over as Castiel drew back, and he forced a smile onto his face.

"Hey, Claire."

"Claire!" Castiel whipped around, and scrabbled to approach the bed. She watched him wordlessly, letting him kiss her forehead over and over. She could feel his worry, his concern, but mostly she felt how much her dad cared about her. And then Dean was wrapping his arms around both of them, pressing them together in a hug but trying to avoid the pain in Claire's chest. Claire watched as Castiel waved Jack into the bundle, and then the four of them were hugging on the hospital bed.

"Wait, mind the lines!" Jack pulled away first. "We didn't tug them, did we?"

Claire shook her head.

"I'll go get the nurse. Maybe now Claire's awake she can come home." Dean gave her shoulder a squeeze, and left the room. Castiel gave Claire a little space, but stayed close, stroking her face, mindful of the bandage on her nose. He didn't say anything, but smiled down at her. Claire found herself staring into his bright blue eyes. It was like he could see everything that had happened, everything she felt about it. And she could see how much he had worried, how much he was beating himself up for the events of the game.

The moment broke as the nurse came in with Dean. She took note of Claire's heart rate and blood pressure, removed her IV and antibiotics, and promised that Claire could be discharged in a few minutes. She left the room and all three men started moving around; Jack gathering up his books, Dean finding Claire's possessions and Castiel helping Claire out of bed and into the nearby bathroom to change. She noticed that, despite the conversations she had overheard, none of them were pressing her to talk. And that suited her just fine.