Sleeping would be interesting that night. Caleb was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep on his side like he normally would have preferred, due to the position of his injury, and where the bulky gauze pad was laid. Grateful just to be able to rest at all, Caleb settled for lying on his back. Though, sleep was on the forefront of his mind, his body had other plans as his shoulder twinged uncomfortably, a product of having it dislocated and then popped back into place.
The pain pills he had taken, had made a small dent but not enough to do anything significant in the long run. Sighing as he ran a hand over his face, Caleb reached over for his remote control and switched on the TV. At least he would have some form of entertainment while he waited for the rain man to come and take him away for a few hours.
Vaguely paying attention to some badly scripted comedy movie, he tried to close his eyes and relax, but couldn't. He supposed it was leftover adrenaline from the action that had happened today, or just residue excitement from the unexpected job he had stumbled upon.
When a tiny knock on the door, brought his attention from his insomnia, he gladly welcomed it. "Yeah," he said, by way of invitation.
Not to his surprise, two little heads peeked around the corner. He had seen Dean when he had first gotten home, and had given him his first foray into learning how to stitch and dress a wound.
But he hadn't seen Sam when he had first gotten home. Apparently he had fallen asleep waiting for Caleb to return home, but he was glad to see him now.
"Hi," Sam yawned, "we couldn't sleep."
"You couldn't sleep," Dean corrected him with a scoff. "And then someone wandered into my room and asked if I was asleep or not."
Caleb couldn't help the laugh that came out at that. It was so typical of brothers, especially these two brothers. They loved to bug and tease each other, but at the end of the day, they loved one another and Caleb loved seeing that bond through better or worse.
"Well, you weren't," Sam said defensively.
"Anyway," Dean said, "we heard your TV on in here."
"Yeah," Caleb said, as he moved aside the covers to make more room for them to climb on. "I couldn't sleep, either. Too much excitement today, I think."
"Yeah," Dean said with a groan, as he laid back against Caleb's soft pillows. "Definitely."
"So what about you, Sam," Caleb said, "what did you think about everything that happened today?"
It had to have been terrifying for a kid who had never had such an experience with a supernatural being before. At least Dean partially knew what they were up against, but Sam had been completely in the dark, and all he knew was that his guardian had been taken from them.
"I was scared," Sam admitted, "but then Dean got us to that ranger's station."
"Did you?" Caleb asked, as he looked over at the twelve-year-old next to him.
Dean nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to stay out there so bad, but I knew I couldn't."
"You wanted to get your brother to safety."
"Yeah."
"You know," Caleb said, shaking his head at the irony of it. "I hate that Sam had to go through it, but I'm glad he was with us, because if hadn't been there, you would have tried to find me, right?"
Dean shrugged. "Probably."
If he hadn't been so concerned about making sure his little brother was safe, he probably would would have stayed out there, searching for his lost guardian and putting himself in very serious danger.
"And that thing would have gotten you."
"I know."
But somehow that didn't matter as much to Dean when it was someone he loved out there, in the line of fire, and in danger. And to a certain extent, the deep bond he shared with Caleb and Jim, especially Caleb, blinded him to certain dangers and he recognized that.
"What thing grabbed you?" Sam asked. "Was it the Wendigo?"
Caleb nodded. "Yep."
"Was is a Wendigo?"
It's nasty," Caleb said. "They were once human, but over time they were forced to consume human flesh, and that changed them into what they are now."
Sam looked faintly horrified by that piece of information, but swallowed it down as his sharp brain searched for more knowledge on that monstrous creature that had ruined their afternoon.
"Why do they live here?"
"I don't know. They just do. They're native to here and Michigan."
"I'm glad you're okay. Are you?" Sam asked, after a pause, as if wanting to make sure that he really was okay.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little banged up. I had to have some stitches."
"You did?" Sam asked, his mouth popping open. "Did they hurt?"
"No, not really. And guess what?"
"What?"
"Your brother did them."
"Really?"
Caleb nodded, as he moved his shirt up far enough so Sam could see the stitches and the gauze that Dean had put on for him. "He did a good job."
"Yeah, even though I was freaking out," Dean said, shaking his head in amusement. "It was awful."
He had been terrified of hurting Caleb and making the injury worse than it already was, but Caleb had clearly known more about what he was talking about than Dean had himself, because he was able to put the stitches in perfectly.
"But you did it," Caleb pointed out. "I knew you could."
"Yeah," Sam said, "you think Caleb would let you near a cut like that with a needle if you weren't ready?"
Dean shook his head. "No, but I was shaking so hard."
"Yeah, but you managed to keep it under control," Caleb said, "so that's the most important thing."
"When are we going to train next?" Sam asked, as he pulled the blankets over him, already feeling sleepy now that their talk was almost over.
"I don't know," Caleb said, "I have to get this shoulder feeling better first. I can't do much without it."
Being limited in how much he could move his shoulder, was hard, especially when he had just started training Sam, and teaching Dean some more advanced maneuvers.
"Okay."
"If you guys want," Caleb said, motioning over to the cabinet underneath his TV. "You can put on a movie, and we can watch it."
"Pull an all-nighter?" Dean asked, with a smirk, as he got down on the floor and started sorting through the impressive collection of movies they had.
"No, but we can try to sleep while we're watching it."
"But how can we sleep while we're watching something?" Sam asked, struggling to follow along with Caleb's train of thought.
"We can fall asleep while we're watching it," Caleb said, rubbing his back. "Sometimes watching TV helps lull you to sleep."
"And don't worry," Dean added, as he rejoined Caleb and Sam on the bed. "It's not a Chuck Norris movie."
It turned out to be one of the many superhero movies that they had collected over the years. Even Sam was getting into it, even though Caleb could tell he was exhausted from staying up way past his bedtime.
"I talked to Bill," Caleb whispered to Dean, after Sam had fallen asleep.
"What did he say?" Dean whispered back, as he propped himself up on his elbow.
"He invited us there for a long weekend. He has some cases that he needs help cracking, and I told him we'd be game."
Dean smiled. "That's going to be awesome."
Caleb nodded. "It's been awhile, that's for sure."
The last time he had seen them, had been before his nightmare with Lexa Branch and her eventual murder, and the hell and trial that had followed after. Those three months he had been stuck behind bars, Jim had managed to make the trip with Dean and Sam, but he hadn't had a chance to see their friends since his release a few months previously.
"Yeah," Dean said, as he subconsciously scooted closer to Caleb.
Even though the torment and agony he had experienced when Caleb had left, was behind him, it was still a touchy subject for him, and one that he didn't like revisiting.
"Bill said that Ellen was worried about me," Caleb said, as he turned the volume on the movie down.
"Yeah," Dean said, as he drew an invisible pattern with his finger, on Caleb's arm. "She was saying that she wanted to get her hands on you so she could force some meat on your bones."
"You know," Caleb said thoughtfully, "I never actually lost that much weight."
"You didn't?""No. The food was atrocious, but I choked it down every day and I managed it. And then sometimes I was able to get extra candy and stuff like that, when I could."
"Yeah. Well, I'm sure Ellen will make some more of her famous cooking when we get there to make up for it," Dean said, with a weak smile.
Ellen was a fantastic cook who loved making fabulous dishes when they came to visit. Dean always looked foreword to that part of the visit the most.
"You ready to go to sleep?" Caleb asked, as he straightened his pillows so they were lower down on the bed in order to be more comfortable.
"Yeah," Dean said, as he found some room between Caleb and Sam. "I'm exhausted."
"Me, too."