Chapter 3:
Dean gathered his and Sammy's things. He pulled in his jacket and then wrapped his little brother in a coat.
"Let's go get some hot chocolate and talk." Dean told Sam.
"Yay!" Sammy cried gleefully, grasping Dean's much larger hand. The two brothers left the hospital hand in hand and walked to the black '67 Chevy impala that once belonged to their father.
Sam buckled up in the back seat and Dean climbed into the front. He fired up the engine, checking on Sam in the rear view mirror before reversing out of the parking space. Just a few minutes later Sam and Dean pulled into the local coffee shop a couple of blocks from their apartment.
Dean exited the vehicle and reached to open Sam's door. The two rushed inside, out of the frosty air. At the front counter Sam ordered two peppermint hot chocolates. With warm drinks in hand, the brothers plopped into two cushy lounge chairs.
"So champ, I talked to your doc-"
"Dr. Castiel," Sammy interrupted.
Dean chuckled and then smiled at the thought of the incredibly good looking man. "Yeah, Dr. Castiel. He told me that in your heart there's a hole, and that can make you kind of sick. So what he's going to do it open up your heart and cover up the hole. That way your heart will work better and you'll be healthy. Make sense?"
Sam nodded thoughtfully, "But how will he open up my heart?"
Dean treaded carefully with his answer, hoping not to frighten his brother. "Well Castiel will give you some medicine that will make you go to sleep and then he'll use a really sharp knife to get to your heart, but you won't feel anything and you'll be sleeping the whole time, and then he'll fix the whole."
Dean saw Sam gulp.
"Here's the thing, buddy, it's important for you to get this surgery. I need you to be healthy, ok? Because I don't want anything bad to happen to you. Can you be brave, for me?" Dean gripped Sam's shoulder as he spoke.
"I can be brave, like you Dean." Sam hugged his older brother tightly.
Dean returned the action. "I know you can. You're a champ. I love you, kiddo."
"I love you too," Sam tightened his arms around Dean.
The next week Sam and Dean traveled to the hospital again for a checkup to make sure Sam was healthy enough for open heart surgery. Sam was in the room with the nurse while Dean waited in the hallway.
A hand holding a cup of coffee appeared in front of Dean's face. He saw a handsome doctor when he looked up.
"I hope you like coffee Dean." Castiel offered the disposable cup to Dean.
"I do, thanks." Dean answered tiredly.
"Mind if I…" Castiel's voice trailed off and he pointed to the chair next to Dean, who nodded. "How are you holding up, Dean?"
"I'm, uh, ok. There's just a lot happening with Sam and I'm so worried and I can't lose him like we did-" Dean cut off his sentence.
Cas decided not to push him into talking about who he'd lost
"I'm sorry you and Sam have to go through this. It would be difficult enough but adding on top the fact that you're his older brother, much too young to be going through this as a parent, trying to be the strong one. I'm just so sorry Dean, I really am. And like I told you, I'm doing everything I can to help you and Sam."
"I really appreciate you saying that Castiel. And thank you for being so good to Sammy. He really likes you."
Cas laughed, "I like him. That boy is the sweetest thing I've ever met, I don't think I could help but be wrapped around his little finger."
"Trust me, no one can help that." Dean and Cas shared a smile.
The two sat in comfortable silence for a moment.
"After Sam's appointment today we'll schedule another echocardiogram to essentially map out Sam's heart and the hole and we can use it when we do the surgery. Hopefully, we can have the surgery scheduled for some time next week."
Dean sighed, his eyes wide with anxiety. "It's all happening so fast."
"I know, Dean. And it can be stressful, but it's better this way. We're taking no chances on Sam getting sick before we can do surgery and risk that opportunity and this way he can heal as fast as possible and you two can get back to your hospital-free life."
Castiel wasn't sure why, but he felt disappointed at the idea of never seeing Dean again.
A/N: Maybe it's just me but I feel like not much happened in this chapter...sorry about the lack of excitement. But I felt like this dialogue was necessary to develop the relationships between characters. Chapter 4 will be posted soon and I promise it's much more interesting. Thanks for reading!