"D'n?" Baby mumbled and fought but failed to open her eyes. "Why are you calling me flower names?"
The words came out in a mash which reminded Dean of her first hours as a human. Turned out he was still pretty good at understanding her.
"Doesn't matter." He stroke her cheek again which coaxed a smile out of her. "How do you feel?"
"Thirsty." She smacked her lips. "Cold." She shivered to make her point but Dean had noticed the shivering before. The fever wasn't done with her.
"Any pain?" Dean asked and reached for the pitcher with orange juice Bobby had left earlier. The older hunter came in and checked on them every half an hour or so, sometimes with made up reasons like bringing them something to drink, sometimes just openly worried.
Baby thought about his question for a moment which got Dean's hope up that the pain wasn't that bad but then she tried to move her leg and she cried out the answer to his stupid question.
"Can you sit up? I've painkillers and juice here." He didn't want to cause her more pain by sitting up but the pills would help her and she needed fluids to replace what she'd lost.
Baby didn't look like she wanted to move ever again but her eyes were fixed on the glass in Dean's hand. She licked her lips.
Dean waited for her confirming nod and helped her up like before while she bit back another scream.
"I'm sorry. It's okay, I got you." He held her as still as possible but he knew from own experience that even breathing could send agonizing jolts through the body. And unlike him Baby didn't know how to deal with the pain.
With his help she swallowed two more pills and drank the glass of orange juice before she collapsed exhausted back into the pillow.
"Is it always this bad?" She asked with weak gesture in the general direction of her leg.
"Dunno." Dean set the glass aside and rearranged the blanket around her. "Being shot usually hurts like a bitch, I really don't recommend it, but to be honest, I've no idea how your body is dealing with this." Dean rubbed his tired face. "Let's face it, we don't even know what you are."
"Am I going to die?" She asked calmly without meeting his eyes.
"What?" Dean yelled louder than he intended, making her flinch. "No! Bobby fixed you up pretty good. You're going to be fine. I promise."
He'd no idea if he could keep his promise but he'd every intention to do everything he could to help her through this. He half-expected her to tell him that he couldn't know that but she gave him a little smile instead. With a "That's good." she lost the fight to keep her eyes open and within seconds she drifted off to sleep again. This time she looked more at peace, though.
"I heard voices?" Sam came in but was already too late to catch her awake. Over the back of the couch he looked down at her and for a second Dean saw raw love and affection on his brother's face. An expression Dean had been wearing for hours now, he had no doubt, but so far neither Sam nor Bobby had said something about it.
"She woke up for a moment." Dean told him. "Took more of the pills and drank some juice." He didn't mention the pain she'd been in and just hoped that the painkillers would kick in soon.
"The fever?"
"Not worse." Dean answered that with another check with the back of his hand on her forehead. As far as he could tell it hadn't gone down either but if it stayed at this level it was okay.
"Do you want to stay here?" Sam asked after a moment of silence. "I could sit with her for a while. You need to sleep, we can take turns."
"I'm not tired." Dean lied. He was more tired than ever but he could sleep when Baby was on the mend. Sleep was overrated anyway.
Sam didn't call him out on his lie, just stood there for another moment, watching Baby, before he whispered "okay" and left. Dean expected him to go to bed and raised a surprised eyebrow when Sam returned only minutes later with his arms full.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked when Sam shook out a blanket. In the end Dean ended up on the floor with his back resting against the couch and a blanked draped over him. From there he still could hold Baby's hand but wasn't in danger to fall off the couch if he fell asleep some time during the night. Sam had made himself more or less comfortable in one of the chairs which was way too small for him but he didn't seem to care. This was not the first time they squatted in Bobby's living room neither was it the most despaired time they'd done this.
Bobby came in one last time before he went off to bed and he only shook his head at the sight of them.
"Call me if you need anything." He told Dean and had one last look at his patient before he went upstairs. As far as Dean could tell Baby was deeply asleep and not even aware of the people around her.
It was kinda creepy, Dean had to admit, but he couldn't help it, he needed to reassure himself that she was still there. Despite his earlier promise he still feared that she would just stop breathing if he didn't watch her. And by holding her hand he could let her know that she wasn't alone, that he was there. It may be stupid and maybe was more for his benefit than for hers but so far she hadn't complained.
Midnight came and went by without them noticing and Baby was still human. Around two in the morning she became restless again and Dean gave her more juice and pills and even helped her to the bathroom.
They used the chance to get rid of the destroyed jeans she was still wearing. Jeans were fine to wear but uncomfortable to sleep in, however, she was only wearing her underwear now, reminding him that, yes, she was a woman. Baby on the other hand hadn't caught up on the whole dignity thing yet and was just happy to lose the stiff fabric.
Dean had to more or less carry her back to the living room which was ten times more awkward now than it had been on the way to the bathroom. Which was ridiculous, he had her naked in his arms before and now she was more dressed than not.
Back on the couch Baby let out an exhausted sigh but she seemed more awake this time. She stretched out, carefully to not strain her leg, but the pills did their job and she relaxed a little bit.
"I have to take a look at the bandage." Dean said in a low voice to not disturb Sam who'd slept through all this, no need to wake him now. "Just a look, I'm not going to touch it." He added when she tensed at that.
Getting her to the bathroom hadn't been easy and Dean feared the wound might have started bleeding again. There was a red spot but it wasn't that big and it didn't seem to grow. He made a mental note to check it in a few minutes again, though.
"Looks good." He reassured her with a smile and covered her up with the blanket. For some reason he breathed easier when her bare legs were covered up.
"I feel better." She said and took his hand as if he was the one who needed reassurance.
"Maybe your body's finally figured out what to do." Dean let out a huff and sat down on the edge of the couch. He would return to his more comfortable place on the floor when she was sleeping again.
"Good, I want to have more of my last day as a human than laying here in pain." She tried to make it sound lightheartedly, like it was a joke or something, but failed miserably.
"We don't know if you have one day or more." Dean thought about the 72 hour mark Sam had set earlier. Chances were good that she'd turn back at midnight but they didn't know. This was all new, nobody knew the rules about this. For all they knew she could stay human forever. Dean wasn't sure if he'd like that, though. Human Baby was awesome and he wanted to get to know her better but on the other hand he really missed his car.
"Either way." Dean set his mind. "We're going to make the most out of tomorrow."
So far he'd no idea what they'd do and with Baby wounded there wasn't much they could do but he was determined to make the most out of that day.
She smiled at him, warm and trusting, and reached out to cup his cheek.
"Being here with you makes it a good day." She just had to get all girly over this, hadn't she? Dean let out a groan. "With you and Sammy. And I can't wait to actually meet Bobby."
"He's waiting to meet you, too." Dean settled for the least awkward part of her statement.
With a knowing smile she made herself more comfortable, eyelids already dropping.
"You should get some sleep, too." She mumbled but searched blindly for his hand.
"I'll be right here." He held her hand and without letting go he took his place on the floor again. Back against the couch he waited for her breathing to even out, which didn't took long, and only then he allowed himself to drift off as well. In his mind he was already planning the next day.
Wounded like she was they would have to stay in the house but there were plenty of things they could do. This was going to be the best day ever. Smiling Dean made himself more comfortable and finally gave in to sleep.
Dean woke up to a groan of pain. His fuzzy mind needed a moment to catalog the noise but then Dean opened his eyes to watch his brother unfolding himself out of the chair. The popping joints sounded like gunshots in the morning silence and Sam commented every single on of them with an unhappy noise.
"That chair isn't made for gigantors." Dean couldn't help but comment. Wisely he hadn't tried to move himself because, let's face it, he wasn't as flexible as he used to be. Sleeping in cramped positions hadn't been a problem when he'd been a teenager but nowadays he preferred an actual bed where he could stretch out and didn't have to bother with a stiff neck and cramping muscles.
Sam didn't answer and just made a face before he went for a hot shower to get all the kinks out of his spine. Dean waited until he heard the shower before he tried to move himself. It wasn't that bad but for sure he didn't want Sam to witness him while he picked himself up moving like he was ninety.
Baby was still sleeping but her face had a healthy color again, she was neither sweating nor shivering and a quick check told Dean that the fever had gone down over the last few hours.
"You can sleep for a little while longer while I make us breakfast."
She wrinkled her nose at his words but didn't open her eyes and he was sure enough that she would stay asleep for another while to leave her alone for the moment.
Usually they went out or ordered something in, the only cooking they did was to heat up leftovers or maybe cook some of the just-add-water-stuff if they were lucky enough to have a motel room with a functioning kitchenette. However, if he had the chance, Dean actually liked cooking.
So he went for the kitchen to make Baby a real breakfast, something good, something to remember.