Daylight. Shift change. New nurses, new voices. Same old mechanical beeps. Same plop sound as the drip keeps him hydrated. Same condition. No change. No better, no worse. No sign of my Dean in there. In that pale person lying in that bed, surrounded by those machines and those wires. I sit up as a nurse comes to check his drip. "Morning darling" she says quietly. I like her instantly, plump and matronly, like a mother. A mother. Shit. Dean's mother. She should know, shouldn't she? I groan. I've got a new phone, haven't got her number. I'm working out how to get a message to her when my phone beeps. "That shouldn't be on in here" she says quietly. I nod. "I forgot it was, I'm sorry" I whisper. She smiles and shakes her head. "It's ok" she says. "It's not going to interfere with anything in here. Check it, I'm sure there are a lot of worried people out there waiting for news on this one." I smile and nod as I grab the phone. Seth. "Any news?" Two words, loaded with meaning, and feeling. He's their brother. I sigh. "No" I reply. "Still not awake. Will keep you updated." I put the phone down and turn my attention back to him. His eyes are flickering. The nurse notices and smiles at me, patting my hand. "Won't be long now" she says looking at the machines. "He's coming around. Give us a shout when he does." I nod and watch as she walks out.
"Damn you Ambrose" I groan resting my head on the bed. "Always some drama with you. Life with you is never dull..." "Why divorce me then?" he croaks. I sit up quickly. "What?" I ask. "If I'm not dull, why did you divorce me?" he says. "Because" I say standing up. "You're a complete and utter asshole!" I move to get the nurse but he grabs my hand. "Not yet" he whispers. "Please not yet. I need time alone with you. And water. I need water." I shake my head. "I'm not giving you water Jon" I whisper. "You might spring a leak or something. I'll get a nurse and then you can have me all to yourself." "I've waited five months for that" he whispers, finally opening his baby blue eyes to look at me. I stand up and rush to the door. "Nurse!" I call throwing it open. "He's awake!" Three nurses come running in, telling me to wait outside while they check him over. "Torrie!" Dean says. "I'll be outside baby" I say grabbing my phone. "I'm not leaving you, not this time." He nods and the door shuts behind me.
I call Seth. "He's awake Colby," I say as soon as he answers. "How is he?" he asks quietly. "Obnoxious as always" I say. "He's got the attention of three nurses in there now, so he's probably well happy!" Seth laughs. "Keep us informed Tor" he asks. "I'll call Hunter now. You just get back in to him. We'll come and see him later if he's up to having visitors." "Ok" I say and end the call. I walk back to Dean's room. The nurses are still in there, I can hear him moaning in pain. Pain. I hate hearing him in pain. I've seen him in pain, I've seen him in pain a few times. But he never moaned. But this. Oh god they're really hurting him in there. It's taking all my willpower to not storm in there and slap them silly, even though I know they're just doing their jobs. I walk to a vending machine, groaning when I realise I didn't bring my purse. I shake my head and start to walk away. "Torrie?" a voice says. I look over at the nurses station, we're the only people here. I nod and a nurse smiles. "My husband is a big fan" she explains walking over to me. "Here." She puts some money into my hands and I smile. "Thank you" I whisper. "I'll get it back to you." She shakes her head. "My husband would never forgive me" she whispers. "just look after yourself ok? Dean isn't the only fragile one. You need to take care too." I nod and thank her again before heading back to the vending machine.
The next time I go back to his room it's all quiet. Well, apart from the beeps of the machines. I open the door slowly and look at him. He's staring straight at me. "Hey" he croaks, trying to move, to sit up. I shake my head and he stops moving. "Just lie still" I say walking over and kissing his head. He's really warm. He watches as I sit down next to him. "I'm sorry Tor" he whispers. I shake my head. "Don't Dean" I say. "Just don't. Not yet. Just get better. Please?" "I'm doing my best" he groans, wincing as he moves again. I start to stand up. "No" he says firmly. "Don't go." "I'm just gonna go see about your pain meds" I say. He shakes his head. "Pain is good" he says. "I like the pain." "Not pain like that, you idiot" I blurt. He smiles. "Don't hold back babe" he says. "Tell me what you really think of me!" I grin. "Oh you really don't want to know" I say as he smiles. He nods. "I do" he whispers. "You can't hurt me any more than I'm already hurting Tor. I know it's all my fault." I shake my head. "Not all of it" I say. He nods. "After I left the bar" he says looking at me, making sure I remembered why he left. "I went looking for a fight, I needed to hurt, to feel pain, to get busted open. Guess I just picked the wrong guys to pick a fight with. They knew who I was." "Guys?" I ask. He nods. "Four" he says. "Maybe five. Six if you include the knife." I get mad. "I can't believe you'd be so fucking stupid" I growl. "Does Olaf mean nothing to you?" He smiles. "Olaf?" he asks. I groan. "I kinda made promises while you were out of it last night" I say. "Olaf has kinda stuck." He grins and grabs my hand, pulling me closer to him. He puts his hand on my stomach and smiles. "Hey Olaf" he whispers. "It's papa." He grins when the baby kicks him. "You're a strong one" he whispers. I nod. "You better believe it" I say smiling. He smiles. "Can we fix this?" he whispers suddenly. I look at him, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not sure" I admit eventually. "I want to, I really do, I love you, even if you're more of an ass hat than Orton. But I don't know." "Can we try?" he asks. "It's gonna take a lot of fixing Dean" I say. He nods. "I know" he says quietly. "But if we try, you have to stop throwing Renee in my face. It's done now. It's you I want. It's you that's on my mind constantly. Not her. You. You have to let it go." I nod. "I know" I say. "It's hard when she's being so blatant about trying to get you back into bed though." He sighs. "Not gonna happen doll" he says. "I'm yours. One thousand percent committed to you. I wanna do this properly though. If we're serious, we gotta get married again." "Marriage didn't stop you last time Dean" I say quietly. "Jon" he growls. I shake my head. "I'm sure Jon is in there somewhere" I say. "But Jon wouldn't go looking for a fight. Jon wouldn't cheat on me. I want Jon back." He nods. "I'll make sure you get him" he says quietly. "You look exhausted babe." I nod and watch as he slowly slides across the bed. "Come on" he says. "Room for two, uh, three, sorry Olaf." I shake my head. "I don't wanna hurt you" I whisper. "Doll" he groans. "You're hurting me more by refusing." I sigh and gently get on the bed. He puts his arm around me and kisses my head. "Now let's sleep" he says.