Morning rolled around too soon for Dean's liking. He was, in his opinion, rudely awaken by a nurse bustling around his room and messing with all the machines causing them to emit random, annoying beeping sounds. He groaned in frustration knowing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, and sat up glaring at the woman in question.
"Good morning!" said the nurse all too cheerfully. "You've been out of it for quite a while."
Dean continued to glare at the woman who seemed unfazed by his stare.
"I'll go grab your doctor, so he can check you out and fill you in on what's going on."
Happy she finally left, Dean looked over at the other bed hoping to find Charlie. To his dismay, the sheets were already freshly made as if no one had been there the night before. He was pretty sure the events from last night were real because all the spots that were poked and prodded emitted too much pain to be a dream. He huffed in disappointment at not seeing her in the room, let alone by his side.
Moments later, Charlie entered eating a bowl of what looked to be vanilla ice cream. At her presence, Dean perked up and tried to act normal even with all the throbbing and pulsing his body was undergoing.
"Good morning," said Charlie with a bright, genuine smile. She walked over to him and sat on the edge of his bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked scooping a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.
"Pretty good, except some nurse woke me up this morning," said Dean pouting and crossing his arms like a child.
"Aw, the poor baby!" chuckled Charlie. "Here," she said scooping another spoonful of ice cream. "This will make you all better." She leaned over to Dean and fed him the delicious dessert. He happily took the spoon-fed ice cream and smiled graciously after swallowing it.
"Thank you," he said childishly before attempting to snag away her bowl of the delicious cold cream.
"Hey!" she interjected. "I don't even think you're allowed to have any, mister," she scolded while moving to one of the chairs.
"Butt face," he mumbled under his breath eliciting a giggle from both of them.
After some of Dean's pouting and childish behavior, Charlie and Dean both finished the ice cream minutes before a doctor walked in. He was wearing a pair of dark blue scrubs with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. Dean assumed he was the doctor from the official way the man carried himself.
"Hello, Mr. King. I'm Dr. Cockburn. How are you feeling?" said the doctor glancing up at Dean with a look that read "I don't want to be here".
Dean took a moment to contain his laughter before answering. "I'm doing pretty good, Dr. Cockburn. I'm just feeling a little sore, and I've got a little headache." Charlie let out a snicker making Dean crack a smile.
"Well, you've got some bruising, head trauma, and a couple broken bones, nothing too severe; except, we were worried about the concussion, but you pulled through." The doctor's tone changed from apathy to surprise after looking over Dean's chart once more. "It's pretty shocking because you were unresponsive even after we hooked you up to machines." The doctor looked back up at Dean who had an uncaring, unworried expression on his face. "And you could care less…"
"There's nothing to worry about. I'm up and ready to go," said Dean with such enthusiasm that earned him confused and semi-scared looks from both Charlie and the doctor. "There's nothing I can really do about it now, so why worry?"
"Well, since you don't seem to be worried or concerned, I'll leave you to your devices," said the doctor. "If anything comes up, don't hesitate to ask."
"Wait, doc," said Dean halting the doctor on his way out of the room. The doctor turned around with an inquiring look. "When can I get out of here?"
"You seem to be in pretty good shape save for the bruising and broken bones, so I don't see why you can't be out of here the day after tomorrow." Dr. Cockburn then left without saying anything.
"Sweet." Dean smiled widely before directing his attention to Charlie. "Where's my brother, the BFG?" he queried. Charlie furrowed her brow giving Dean an utterly surprised look. In retaliation, Dean said, "BFG…it's the book by Roald Dahl about this Big Friendly Giant."
"I know what it's about, Dean. I just didn't think you'd read something like that. Penthouse, Playboy, Hustler, yeah, but Roald Dahl?"
"Hey! I've been known to read classic works of literature," argued Dean crossing his arms in defense.
"Really? Like what?" countered Charlie with a mischievous smirk.
"I've read The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Divine Comedy, and some other things." Dean tried to stare her down and show her up, but she didn't waver.
"You read The Odyssey and The Iliad when you were in high school because your dad made you read them for the mythological value pertaining to Greek gods and creatures, and you read Dante'spoem because I told you I wouldn't sleep with you anymore until you finished it."
"It still counts," mumbled Dean in defeat. Charlie only giggled in her seat making Dean pout like a little kid. "Enough with putting Dean down: where's my brother?" he asked ignoring the soft giggles coming from Charlie's direction.
"Oh, he's stopping by a Krispy Kreme's, then he's coming here, , so he should be here soon."
"Why's he going to Krispy Kreme's? Don't they sell donuts here?"
"Well, when I went down for my ice cream, they didn't have jelly-filled, so I called Sam and asked him to buy me some."
"Weirdo," snickered Dean.
The two just sat in odd, uncomfortable silence each thinking of something to say to the other. Wondering about the sweet, comforting events from last night, Dean spoke up first.
"Can I ask you something?" he asked sheepishly. He could feel his ears become hot and his heart speed up making the heart monitor beep that much faster.
"Sure," she said glancing questionably at Dean's heart monitor. "Are you all right?" she asked genuinely concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he forced out hoping it sounded somewhat calm. Dean glanced at Charlie who looked unconvinced. She stood from her seat and sat on the edge of his bed placing her hand gently upon his thigh kneading softly to try and placate any stress and uneasiness.
Her coming nearer to him did not make the situation any easier and only caused his heart rate to speed up just a bit. He could feel blood rush to his face making him turn an unpleasant shade of pink.
"Are you sure you're okay?" questioned Charlie with worry written all over her face. "You're turning red, and your heart rate jumped about 60 beats per minute in the matter of two minutes. You're not all right. I'm going to get a nurse." She made to leave, but Dean grabbed her wrist holding her back. She didn't say anything but sat back down.
"I'm fine, a little nervous, but fine." Skepticism and worry was plastered on her face unsure of what was to come. "Okay. Here goes-"
"Hey, guys," rang throughout the room abruptly cutting Dean off from his inquiry. Sam Winchester had the worst timing ever. He was the most effective interrupter of all time. He eventually was christened Sam "The Cock Block" Winchester by Dean after one of the many failed hook-ups or "moments" due to Sam's ability to interrupt at the worst time possible.
"Hey, Sam," answered both Dean unenthusiastically and Charlie gleefully.
"Did you get my donuts?" asked Charlie. A millisecond later, a white bag with green and red lettering landed in her lap. "Thank you!" After grabbing herself a glazed, custard-filled donut, she turned back to Dean. "Do you want to talk later?" she asked sensing the conversation wasn't meant to be heard by a third party.
"Yeah," he said both relieved and perturbed.
"So, you're up and going now. When did the doctor say you can leave?" asked Sam
"Da' affa tomowoh," Charlie answered around her donut. The boys just looked at her and laughed. "Shu' up!"
"Sorry," said Sam holding his hands up in mock defeat. "Looks like you're stuck in here for another day," gloated Sam to his brother.
"Or we could always just sneak me out," said Dean hopefully. Not a huge fan of hospitals, he was hoping that Sam and Charlie would spring him from the scratchy bed clothes and too clean smell that came with every hospital.
"Dude, it's one day. It's not going to kill you."
"It might."
Sam just gave Dean a look that said, "Stop being ridiculous."
"Fine, but if I end up dead in this place, I will haunt your ass just to say 'I told you so.'"
The three hunters spent the rest of the day at the hospital playing cards, watching movies, and talking. Sam even snuck in some burgers for Dean who wouldn't stop complaining about the hospital food. There was the occasional visit from the hospital staff to check broken appendages, bandage wounds, and change out the fluids and medical bags.
After dinner time, Dean began getting really exhausted. His eyes were dropping, his speech slowed, and his eyelids drooped. Noticing the lack of response from Dean during the conversation, Sam and Charlie decided to call it a day. Sam said goodnight to an unresponsive Dean then to Charlie before heading out. Once the door was closed, Charlie went to change and get ready for bed.
She checked on Dean before heading to her own bed. She felt him grasp her arm when she leaned in to place a kiss on his forehead.
"Will you lay with me?" he asked meekly reminding her of a child afraid of being left alone.
Just as she was about to protest, Dean turned on the puppy eyes pleading silently with her to stay. Unable to say no to a hurt cutie, she nudged Dean who then proceeded to make room for her on the bed. Dean then wrapped his arms around her pulling her to lay her head on his chest.
Neither one said anything as they lay there in the darkened room. They were both awkwardly content being there together in the night where everything was hidden and masked. Dean still wanted to ask Charlie what he was going to earlier, but he felt it wasn't the proper time. And although Charlie was still curious about what Dean was going to ask her, she didn't push because he looked embarrassed thinking about it earlier.
After several moments passed, they fell asleep in each other's arms being whisked away by the soft heartbeats of the other just reveling in the moment.
Author's Note: I think the chapters are coming out longer than before. I think it's because I've been updating later than usual. Anywaythis is just more evidence of my bi-polar writing styles. It goes from light-hearted to serious the light-hearted to serious to semi-romantic with a sprinkle of angst. Sorry if it gives you a headache.
Anyway, we're heading into serious nature and possibly delving into some emotional areas, so reader beware. It's going to get even more bumpy for the end. I have yet to decide if they should hook or stay apart. Which ever omes out better will be the end even if some of you aren't too happy about it.
Also, I've got a two different stories in the works. One is, of course, Supernatural. The other is about my obsession/fetish/fantasy of the amazing Dark Knight. God, do I love Batman. They probably won't be out for a while because I want to get a definite story line written, so that way there won't be the random delays like there have been with this story.
Enough of my ramblings. Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think!
Moni :)