Chapter Fourteen
Dean was still awake when the sun came up again, and he was the first to see the two police officers walking through the ward.
'Hey,' Dean murmured, gently shaking Cas.
It still took him a moment to wake, but he looked up at Dean and smiled.
'Hello, Dean,' he mumbled.
'Hey,' Dean said, smiling back. 'I think these officers want to talk to you.'
'What? Officers?'
'Castiel Novak?' one of them asked, and Cas nodded. 'We won't take up too much of your time, we just want to ask you a couple of questions about last night.'
Cas put a hand to his head. 'Last night…?' He looked around. 'Is this… a hospital?'
'Yeah, it's a hospital,' said Dean. 'Mom, wake up, the cops are here.'
Mary started awake and rubbed her eyes.
'What do you remember about last night?' the officer asked Cas.
Cas ran a hand through his hair, still struggling to piece together what was happening. 'Um… We were at Homecoming… I remember walking to the after party… but then… nothing.' He looked at Dean, fear clear on his face. 'What - what happened? How did I get here?'
Mary reached out and rubbed his arm. 'It's okay, sweetie.'
The officer grimaced. 'There's a strong possibility that someone spiked your drink last night,' he said gently.
'What?'
'We don't want to jump to conclusions, but no one else at the party was even tipsy by the time you had ingested the drugs, so it's unlikely to be a case of mixed up beverages.'
'Who would do that?' Cas said, aghast.
'Well, that's what we were hoping you could tell us.'
Cas shook his head. 'I have no idea,' he said, still in shock. 'I hardly know anyone here at all, let alone upset someone so much they'd…'
The officer nodded sympathetically.
'Did I - did I do something wrong?' said Cas, tearing up.
'No, of course not,' Dean said immediately. 'There are some bad people out there, that doesn't mean you did anything wrong, okay?'
'And you are…?' the officer asked Dean.
'Oh, I'm Dean, we share a room.'
The officer nodded. 'Did you see anything last night?'
Dean shook his head. 'Not at all. I was in the living room most of the time. Cas went to hang out with the track team in the kitchen, and then the next time I saw him he was - well, you know… Maybe those guys saw something - oh!'
The officer raised an eyebrow.
'Maybe Alfie saw something. He's the photographer for the yearbook; he's always taking pictures and he was there. Maybe he got something on camera.'
'Okay, great,' said the officer. He wrote some more notes, then passed Cas his card. 'Call me if you think of anything.'
Cas nodded vaguely, and they left.
Mary and Dean both watched him nervously, until he sighed deeply.
'So what did they give me?' Cas asked.
'They slipped you some GHB,' Mary told him gently. 'Are you okay?'
Cas nodded, but put a hand over his mouth, retching. Mary tried to pass him a tray but he waved it away. 'I'm okay,' he gasped, taking a few deep breaths. 'Some of my friends have been given that before. I know what it does.' He sniffed and pinched the bridge of his nose with a shaking hand. 'Did - did anyone - um - did anyone do anything to me?'
'No!' Mary said immediately. 'Dean saw you right away and got you out of there, you're totally fine.'
Cas let out a breath. 'Did I do anything embarrassing?'
Dean hesitated. 'Uh - well - you came onto Crowley a little bit.'
'Oh God,' Cas groaned.
'It's okay, he didn't take it personally.'
Cas squeezed his eyes shut. 'Can we go home?'
'Sure, sweetie,' Mary said, patting his leg. 'I'll just get all your papers and we'll go.'
Still unsteady, Cas had to be carefully lowered into a wheelchair, so they could roll him out to the car, and it took a few attempts to get him into the back seat.
They pulled up outside the house, and Dean helped Cas out of the car.
'I need a minute,' Cas mumbled, holding onto Dean tightly to stop himself from falling over. They stood still until Cas took his first step towards the house, and John appeared in the doorway. He and Dean both helped Cas in his agonisingly long journey up the stairs and to the bedroom, where he collapsed onto his bed, sweating and weak.
'You all right?' Dean asked.
'Dizzy,' Cas mumbled.
'Do you want some help getting changed?' Mary asked, and Cas realised he was still wearing his suit.
'Could you help me with my shoes and jacket? I can do the rest.'
Mary eased off his shoes, and Dean helped him disentangle himself from his jacket. Cas fell against Dean, the movement tiring him out.
'Sorry,' he mumbled, swaying where he sat.
'It's okay,' Dean said softly. He passed Cas his pajamas. 'We'll give you some space to change.'
He got up and drew the curtain.
'Mom, can you go get some water?' he asked, then changed into his own pajamas while he waited.
Cas was still changing when Mary returned.
'I think I'll stay with him today,' Dean whispered, taking the bottle of water from her.
Mary nodded.
'How's it going back there?' Dean called.
Cas sighed deeply. 'Could you help me?'
'Sure.' Dean slipped past the curtain and found Cas lying defeated on the bed. He had managed to change pants, but his shirt was still on, half the buttons still done up.
'I can't get all the buttons,' he mumbled, shaking slightly.
'All right, I've got it,' said Dean, sitting on the edge of the bed and undoing Cas's shirt buttons. He couldn't help but brush against Cas's skin, and frowned at how hot it still was. 'You're still pretty warm,' he said.
'Normal side effect,' Cas said, eyes closed. 'It'll go away.'
'How do you know?' Dean asked, helping him pull his arms through the shirt.
'You meet a lot of people in the system,' Cas mumbled. He managed to put on his t-shirt himself, but held his head in his hands for a moment before reaching for the water. 'Everything's spinning,' he muttered after taking a sip, passing the bottle back to Dean.
'Do you want anything to eat, Cas?' Mary called through the curtain.
Cas heaved again at the thought.
'No thanks, Mom, we're not up for it right now,' Dean told her. 'Could do with a trash can though.'
'Right.'
Dean then turned back to Cas. 'Come on, let's get you in bed. Hold on to me…'
Cas seemed to relax more once safely tucked under his blankets, and Dean pulled forward his laptop.
'Why don't we watch some movies?' Dean said, settling himself cross-legged between Cas and the wall on the bed, setting up the laptop where they could both see it.
Mary appeared briefly to set a trash can in front of Cas, then left them to it.
Dean kept the movies going while Cas fell in and out of sleep, and made sure he kept drinking water. His temperature came down that evening and he weakly asked for a snack.
'I'm on it,' Dean said. He climbed off the bed, careful not to move Cas around too much, and hurried downstairs.
'How's he doing?' Mary asked.
'Better,' said Dean. 'He wants something to eat.'
'Oh good!' said Mary. 'Something light though, maybe just start with some crackers and see how he goes.'
'Good thinking.' Dean grabbed the box of crackers, but also piled sandwich ingredients onto a plate for himself. Maybe Cas could have a bite if he wanted one, Dean thought.
When Dean got back upstairs, however, he realised that Cas had fallen asleep again, and this time seemed more restful than the other times he'd dozed off during the day. Dean smiled and put the crackers where Cas could easily reach them. Seeing Cas so peacefully asleep reminded him that he hadn't slept at all, and his exhaustion hit him hard. He barely even managed a sandwich before he too fell deeply asleep.
Dean woke suddenly in the early hours of the morning, glancing at the clock that showed it was four in the morning, and sat up sleepily, looking for what woke him. He heard someone heaving great shuddering sobs, and rubbed his face. His eyes fell on Cas's bed, where Mary was holding him across her lap and rocking him, gently stroking his arm.
'It's okay,' she murmured. 'It's been a rough week… Let it all out…'
Dean stretched, got up and went over to Cas's side of the room. He climbed onto the bed, in the same spot he'd been in all day, reached over and grabbed Cas's hand. Cas squeezed it tightly, still crying.
John came into the room, and he too climbed onto the bed without a word, followed by a sleepy-looking Sam. John got himself comfortable next to Mary, putting one arm around her, and one hand protectively on Cas. Sam pulled extra blankets out of Dean's closet and piled them on the bed, before curling up at the foot of the bed like a cat. He played some gentle thunder storm sounds quietly on his phone, and held on to Cas's leg.
After a while, Cas's sobs died down, and they all fell asleep right there on Cas's bed.
Cas was the first to wake up after a few hours and the sun had come up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, noticing for the first time that all four of them had climbed onto the bed with him.
'Hey,' Dean mumbled, smiling sleepily.
'What are you all doing?' Cas said.
Dean chuckled, and the others began to stir as well. 'Welcome to your first Winchester cuddle pile,' he said. 'How are you feeling?'
'Better,' Cas said.
'Glad to hear it, honey,' Mary mumbled. 'Come on, you two.' She nudged John and Sam, and all three of them stumbled out of the room back to their own beds.
'Do you all do that a lot?' Cas asked.
'Only when it's needed,' Dean said, stretching widely. 'You think you can eat something?'
Cas nodded. 'I'll come with you.' Cas stood up and walked across the room, still a little unsteady, and held onto Dean to get downstairs.
'I'll get you some toast,' Dean said once Cas was settled on the couch.
They sat quietly in the living room, watching TV, until the others woke up properly and came down for breakfast..
Sam leaned over the back of the couch, struggling to contain his excitement. 'Hey, Cas, do you wanna play with us today?'
Cas looked surprised. 'I don't know, Sam, I don't really feel like going back upstairs yet.'
'That's okay, I can bring your laptop and headset,' Sam said, 'but if you're not up for it, that's fine too. We just really like playing with you. Even Garth had fun.'
Cas considered it. 'I'd like to play… If you all don't mind if I'm a little slow.'
'Yeah, that's totally fine,' Sam grinned. 'Take your time, we don't have to hurry through it. And if you wanna stop, we can pick it up again when you feel better.'
'Okay,' Cas smiled.
'What are you doing?' Dean whispered to Sam as Sam began to climb his stairs.
'Distraction,' Sam whispered back. 'You think I'm just gonna let him sit here and think about it all day?'
'Good point. Carry on.'
Sam rolled his eyes. 'You're such a goober.'
'A goober?'
'Yeah, shut up,' Sam said, running up the stairs.
Dean turned to Cas. 'Did he actually just call me a goober?'
Cas snorted. 'I believe he did.'
'Kids these days,' said Dean, and Cas laughed.
Sam came down the stairs with Cas's equipment and a blanket for him. Soon, he was online with Sam and his friends, and the sparkle returned to his eyes.
Mary and John spent most of the day in the kitchen, more than happy to give up the living room for the day, if it helped Cas feel better. Dean went between them all, supplying snacks and drinks.
By the time they stopped for dinner, Cas seemed to have recovered. He was no longer unsteady, and his face had brightened up. He managed the stairs on his own when it was time for bed, and packed his bag for school the next morning.
'You need anything before you sleep?' Dean asked as Cas climbed under the covers, his coat in his arms.
'No thank you, Dean.'
'Okay. Goodnight.' He pulled the curtain across and went to bed, though he ended up having to take one of his sleeping pills to calm the stress that had built in him over the weekend.
The morning was quiet. Mary woke everyone up, and Dean was glad to see Cas in his usual red hoodie. He sat at the table in silence, chewing slowly on his breakfast.
Dean glanced at his watch and got up to put his plate in the sink. 'We gotta go, you finished?'
Cas stood up, but froze.
'Cas?' Dean asked.
Cas shook his head, gripping the back of his chair. He bent over and let out a long, low groan.
'What's wrong?' Dean said, alarmed.
Cas pulled up his hood and backed away from the table. Before anyone could react, Cas was kneeling on the floor, pulling at his hood, deep in a panic attack.
'Talk to me, sweetie,' Mary said, kneeling next to him.
'I can't,' he gasped. 'I can't - I can't - I thought I could - but I can't.'
Mary nodded. 'You don't have to go, it's okay,' she said softly.
Dean and Sam hovered awkwardly by the door as Cas leaned forward, covering his head, his face to the floor.
'It's time to go, you guys,' Mary said to them.
'But-' Sam began, but her unusually sharp glare cut him off. 'Okay.' He reluctantly turned away to pick up his bag and leave.
'You too, Dean. Go on.'
Dean bit his lip, but nodded. 'I'll - um - see you later, I guess.' When he got on the bus, he barely registered Jo speaking to him.
'He's still sick, huh?'
'What?' Dean said vaguely, finally tearing his gaze from the window.
'I said Cas is still sick?'
'Oh. Yeah. He is,' said Dean.
Jo frowned. 'Are you okay?'
'Yeah, fine. Why?'
'You don't seem fine.'
Dean sighed. 'It was a long weekend, that's all.'
Once at school, it became apparent that everyone had heard what happened, and everyone crowded around Dean to ask him what was going on.
'Leave me alone,' Dean grumbled, pushing through them. 'Cas is still sick, get out of my face.'
The students all eventually walked off, when they were sure that Dean wouldn't say anything else, and Dean spotted Alfie down the hallway.
'Hey, Alfie,' Dean called, hurrying over to him. 'The cops talk to you yet?'
Alfie nodded. 'Yeah, I gave them the card yesterday. I didn't see anything, but I hope my camera did.'
'Thanks, man.' He walked into homeroom, and cringed at the head of pink hair sitting in Cas's seat. After everything that happened over the weekend, Rhonda was the last person Dean wanted to see, but he had no choice, so he took a deep breath and braced himself.
'Dean!' she said as he sat down, twirling a lock of her now fading hair around her finger.
'Rhonda,' he muttered.
'I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Cas.'
'Are you?' Dean said shortly.
'Of course, what do you take me for?'
Dean kept his mouth shut.
'Why are you in his seat?' Jo said, a sour look on her face as she passed Rhonda.
Rhonda shrugged innocently. 'I just wanted to sit next to Dean, that's all.'
Jo rolled her eyes. 'Knock yourself out.'
Rhonda ignored her and watched Dean eagerly. 'So… I'm free this weekend.'
Dean scowled. 'Good for you.'
'I was thinking we could hang out again.'
'I'm working.'
'Aw, come on, it's only your dad's shop, you can blow it off.'
'No thanks.'
Rhonda scoffed and tossed her hair. 'Whatever. Your loss.'
'Sure it is.'
Jo sniggered.
After homeroom, Dean was the first to leave the classroom, but Jo caught up with him smirking.
'She's persistent,' Jo laughed. 'She must have had a really good time.'
Dean gave a short, hollow laugh. 'She sure did. See you later.' Before Jo could say anything else, Dean disappeared into the boys' bathroom and dumped his bag on the floor, doing a quick sweep to make sure no one was dawdling in the stalls, before letting out a shuddering sigh.
'You're okay,' he whispered to himself. 'You're okay, it's fine, she can't do anything you don't want her to do.' He slapped his hands against the sink, forcing himself to breathe deeply. 'You can do this.' He pulled out his phone to text Mary.
Dean
How's he doing?
Mom
Not great. I can't get him to calm down :(
I think it's just sinking in what happened
Dean
Anything I can do to help?
Mom
No honey, he just really needs space right now.
Dean
Okay. Let me know if anything changes.
The rest of the day passed uneventfully, until last period when all the seniors were given a piece of paper, inviting them to a presentation on the dangers of drink spiking the next day. On his way out of class, Dean sent a picture of it to Mary.
Dean
Maybe he shouldn't come in tomorrow either
Mom
Good thinking x
Dean sighed and climbed onto the bus with a heavy heart, stuffing the paper into his bag.
'Hey, Mom,' he called, dumping his bag by the front door and slipping off his shoes.
'In the kitchen,' she called.
He grabbed a root beer from the fridge and sat at the table with her.
'Cas upstairs?' he asked, and she nodded, grimacing. 'Hear anything from the cops yet?'
'Not yet,' said Mary. 'Alfie had a lot of pictures. It'll take a while to sift through them.'
'Yeah, that sounds about right.'
Mary narrowed her eyes at Dean. 'How are you feeling?'
'Me? I'm fine, why?'
'You don't look fine, sweetie,' she said, putting a hand over his.
'Is it that obvious?'
'It's okay to be upset.'
'It didn't even happen to me, though.'
'But it happened to someone you care about.'
'I guess…' Dean said with a sigh.
'Is there something else?'
Dean gave a small smile. 'You must be psychic or something.'
'Well, I don't like to brag,' she said. 'What happened.'
'It's not a big deal, I worked through it, it's just… Rhonda again.'
'What did she do now?'
'She asked me to hang out at the weekend.'
Mary nodded slowly. 'And you said…?'
'I said I was working, but I'm running out of excuses.'
Mary squeezed his hand. 'You can just say no, Dean. You don't need to make any excuses.'
'I know, I know, she'll just make a scene and people will ask… I don't know… I'll talk to Tessa about it on Wednesday.'
'Good thinking,' Mary smiled.
Dean's mouth twitched, but he couldn't quite push past his low mood.
Mary kissed him on the top of his head. 'I'll make your favourite for dinner.'
'Thanks, Mom,' he mumbled, already dreading having to drag himself through the next day.
