** Chapter 2 **

"Hi!"

Dean looked around groggily.

"Hi!"

There it was again. It sounded like a kid's toy or something. Then he felt a tug on his bed sheets. He looked down to see the little girl he'd pulled from the fire. No, the little girl Benny had…

"Hi!" She smiled, revealing perfect, tiny, white teeth.

"Hey," he said. It was much easier to talk than when he'd spoken to the doctor. The doctor who was her… uncle? It was all a little hazy, but starting to come back. "How are ya, kid?"

The girl giggled and babbled something that Dean interpreted as a poke at his bed-head, since she was pointing at his hair.

"What are you doing in here?" Doctor Castiel walked in and stooped down next to the girl. "Lily, you shouldn't wander off like that." He looked up to see that Dean was awake. "Mr. Winchester, how are you feeling?" He glanced at Dean's chart.

"Great, doc, thinking of running a marathon tomorrow. How's Benny?"

"He didn't make it. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Dean went numb. That can't be right. He saved Benny. He found him with the resident and he got them out… didn't he?

Dr. Castiel leaned back down to Lily. "Lily, would you please go wait at the front desk while I talk with Mr. Winchester?"

Lily pushed her bottom lip out and shook her head. The doctor looked at a loss. Dean did not feel sorry for the dick that just told him his best friend was dead like he was commenting on the weather, but he had a soft spot for kids.

"They got lollipops at that desk?" Dean asked Castiel.

"I… believe so?"

"Hey Lily, can you do me a solid?" She looked up at Dean with big eyes. "I really want a lollipop, but Dr. Castle here says I can only have one. Could you go try a few lollipops and figure out which flavor I should get?"

Lily grinned, nodded, and scurried off.

"It's Dr. Castiel," the doctor said, pulling up a stool next to Dean's bed.

"That's what I said." Dean took a long draw on his water bottle.

Castiel gestured after Lily. "Thanks for that, I'm um, watching her for a while and a little out of my depth."

Dean shrugged. Maybe this guy wasn't a total dick, just socially inept.

"Mr. Winchester, I want to talk to you about your treatment plan." The doctor rambled on about x-rays and casts and physical therapy for way longer than Dean's attention span.

"Yeah yeah yeah, bottom line it for me, doc." Castiel gave him a humorless look at the nickname. "...tor… Cas...?"

"Tiel."

"Dr. Casteal. When am I gonna get back out there? Those guys need me, they're helpless without me."

Castiel sighed and put Dean's chart down. "Dean, I'm afraid you may not be able to return to your job. The condition of your leg is very serious; it will be weeks or months before we can make an accurate assessment of your capabilities moving forward."

Before Dean could wrap his head around what he was being told, there was a knock at the door and Dean's younger brother Sam peeked in.

"Hey, am I interrupting?"

"Sammy? What are you doing here?"

"I'm your emergency contact, they called my cell. Can I come in?"

Dean gestured at a chair by the window. "Yeah, take a seat. Dr. Cas was just telling me I'm a cripple and someone's gonna have to wipe my ass for the rest of my life, guess that's you!"

Castiel frowned. "That's inaccurate. You will likely have a full range of motion in time, we just just need to monitor the tolerance of your bone and muscle… "

"It's okay, doctor, my brother was making a joke." Sam shook Castiel's hand and pulled a chair up next to Dean. "Man, what are you doing here?" Sam asked. "They said you were at U of C, it took me an hour to track you down."

"Huh?"

"I probably should have mentioned," Castiel interjected, "I had you transferred to my practice up town. It's more comfortable and the hospital needed the bed anyway."

"So I've been kidnapped," Dean said.

Castiel stuttered, "No no, I just wanted to oversee your recovery personally. You signed a form, I guess you don't remember because of the anesthesia..."

Sam laughed, "It's really ok, doctor. Why don't you fill me in outside, I think my brother needs to rest. He thinks he's funny when he's tired."

"You need to rest, I am funny," Dean mumbled as they left the room.

He lay in the hospital bed listening to the muffled voices of Sam and Castiel in the hall. What was his baby brother doing here? It was just a broken bone. Not his first. Sammy should be at school in Pennsylvania, he had a dissertation to finish. He shouldn't be here fussing over Dean like a nursemaid. Today was just another day at the office. Or yesterday was. How long had he been here? He tried to push himself up on his elbows to see if his phone was close by. He sucked air in through his teeth as a searing pain shot through his whole body, radiating from his left leg. He threw the sheet off his lap and looked down to see a massive cast covering his thigh with a metal rod holding his whole leg immobile. There were bandages all over his body covering 2nd degree burns plus countless minor cuts and bruises. Ok, maybe the rude, attractive doctor was right about not trying to move. Dean didn't see his phone around, so he strained his neck to see out the small, shuttered window across the room to determine whether it was daylight out.

It was, and he could see a corner of the parking lot under the blinds. He noticed someone standing a few yards away. It was a man and he appeared to be just staring back at the hospital. He looked familiar. Dean reached for the bar hanging over his bed to pull himself up. It looked like… Benny?

Dean sat up too far too fast and the strain set his lungs on fire. His coughing fit brought Sam and Castiel back into the room.

"Dean, are you ok? Lay back down." Sam tried to push Dean back on the bed. Dean strained to look over Sam's shoulder, but couldn't see Benny anymore.

"Are you going to be staying in town?" Castiel calmly asked Sam as he wrestled his brother.

"For a couple days, then I have to fly back out." Sam won, but only because Dean let him.

"Ok. Dean will have to stay here during that time so we can monitor his lungs, but after that he'll need to start therapy for the leg." Castiel began checking Dean's bandages as he talked to Sam.

Dean tuned him out and looked back toward the window. It couldn't have been Benny, he just saw what he wanted to see. He felt Sam's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, I'm heading back to your place to grab some supplies. Back soon."

Dean waved him off, eyes fixed on the empty parking lot outside.

**000**

Castiel finished his work day on autopilot. Luckily the nurses and other doctors knew him well enough not to treat him differently than on any other day. He hadn't even had to speak to his father.

After the fire yesterday he'd stayed at the UC hospital with Luke and Lily. His brother had coded after several hours on a ventilator and couldn't be revived. Castiel took Lily home, only to realize he had no idea what to do with her, so he called in backup and went to bed early.

This morning he called the hospital to ask about the two firefighters who saved Lily and found that one of them had died. Without being entirely sure why, he had the other transferred to his work. Maybe he just wanted something around from that day that he could actually fix. A broken leg seemed easy enough.

At the end of the work day he went to check on Dean Winchester one more time. He was asleep again, which was probably for the best. A couple of Dean's coworkers had stopped in at one point, but hadn't stayed for long. Besides the brother, no one else had come by for him. Castiel glanced at the chart in case a nurse had left notes and then began checking that all the bandages were fresh.

When he lifted Dean's hospital gown to check the top of the cast Dean murmured, "Jeez, buy me a drink first."

Cas startled. "Mr. Winchester, you're awake."

"It's just 'Dean.' You ever go home, doc?"

Castiel flinched at the nickname, but let it go this time. "Yes. I was just heading out. Do you need anything?"

"A TV and room service would be nice."

Why did everything this man said have to be sarcastic? It was infuriating. "Your brother said he was coming back with dinner and there's a button here if you need a nurse." Castiel was about to leave, but Dean stopped him.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" When Castiel turned back, all humor was gone from Dean's face.

"Yes, of course."

"My buddy Benny. You… you sure he's gone?"

What a strange question. Castiel's first instinct was to snap back a no-nonsense answer, but something in Dean's eyes gave him pause. His eyes were so sad. And green, Cas realized. Soft green. Interesting.

"I'm afraid so. His lungs were so badly damaged that he may not have made it even without the trauma sustained when the building collapsed. Your friend was a hero, Dean. I'm very sorry for your loss."

Dean nodded and settled back in bed, looking toward the window.

Castiel turned to go, then felt something in his pocket.

"Oh yes, Lily said to give this to you." He held out a cherry lollipop.

Dean smiled and took it. "My favorite."

Castiel ducked out and headed for the front desk.

The receptionists had made a makeshift playpen for Lily out of paper ream boxes and given her paper and highlighters to play with. Being two, she'd drawn more on herself, the carpet, and the boxes than on the paper.

"I'm heading out for the night, Barb, thanks so much for keeping an eye on her. Hannah can watch her tomorrow and I promise I'll have daycare figured out by then."

"No problem, sweetie, she's an angel." Barb smiled at him as he picked Lily up. "You tell Hannah I said hi."

"Will do. Goodnight."

His ex was already there when he got home. Castiel sighed in relief. The woman was a saint. She opened the door as Cas walked up carrying Lily.

. "Hey, you two!" She greeted, cheerfully. "Did you have a good day?"

Lily laughed and reached for her.

"It was alright," Cas said.

"I see Miss Lily has been practicing art!" Hannah laughed at the highlighter smudges all over the girl's arms and cheeks as she took her from Cas. "I got off work early and picked a few things up at the store," she explained. "You know, carseat, diapers, baby food. Enough to get you through the next week or so."

"Hannah, you didn't have to do that "

"I absolutely did. This is the least baby-friendly house I've ever seen, James."

He couldn't argue with that. "I'll pay you back."

"I know."

When they went in he saw that she'd made dinner, too.

"I've got mac'n'cheese on the stove, chicken nuggets in the oven. Seemed like a safe bet for everyone."

Cas forced his face into what he hoped was a grateful smile.

Hannah laughed. "Don't worry, there's also a spinach salad in the fridge.

Cas smiled genuinely this time. "Hannah, why did I ever divorce you?"

"Because you cheated on me with another man."

"Ah yes, that."

She made a face at him. "All right, you get the dishes, I'll get the kiddo." Hannah put Lily in their makeshift highchair which was a low-backed barstool, height adjusted and pushed up to the table so it acted as a lap bar to hold her in. She wiped at the highlighter marks with a damp paper towel. "I can't stay tonight, Rick needs the car in the morning. You can drop her at my place on your way to work."

Cas nodded. He was starting to realize he may never get his normal, comfortable routine back.

Halfway through dinner, Hannah said casually, "I talked to your dad today." She waited for a response, but didn't get one. "He had his PA make the arrangements for Luke. The funeral's this Saturday."

Cas managed an ok.

Hannah took a deep breath. "He says he wants to take Lily."

Cas froze. Did he hear that right? "What?"

"Luke didn't designate anyone in his will, so it's undecided. I told him he'd have to discuss that with you. Figure out what's best for her."

Cas nodded slowly. What's best for her. That definitely wasn't his dad; neglectful was the most positive description Cas had for his parenting style. But was Castiel best for her? He didn't know the first thing about kids, as was evident by his 100% reliance on Hannah these last two days. Was there a third option that didn't involve shipping her off to strangers?

"Jimmy? You ok?"

Cas mentally shook himself and looked at her. "No. I can't let him take her."

Hannah reached over the small table and held his hand. "I know how you feel about your dad, sweetie, but he's her grandpa. He's semi-retired and has more time for her now, plus he would undoubtedly hire a full time Nanny to do the heavy lifting. It wouldn't be like it was with you."

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't. Just think about it, ok? I know kids were never part of your plan. If you keep her it's going to be…"

"I know, I know. I'll think about it." Cas looked over at Lily who was looking back and forth between them curiously while happily chewing a chicken nugget. "I just want what's best for her."