That same night
After Cas and Dean had gone to Dean's house and gotten Sam, Cas drove to the hospital while Dean and Sam sat in the backseat, both trying to comfort one another.
When they got the hospital, as soon as Cas had parked the car, Dean and Sam bolted out of the car and into the hospital and Cas, who was lagging behind the brothers ran after them, trying to catch up.
Once they had gotten through the doors and asked for their fathers' room number, they took the elevator and were met by a doctor who was standing outside their fathers' room.
"Where is he?" Dean yelled while breathing heavily.
"I'm Dr. Johnson and who might you be?" The doctor said, quirking an eyebrow.
"Where is he?" This time it was Sam who asked. "Where's our dad?"
Dr. Johnson's face softened upon his realization. "He's inside now."
"What's wrong with him?" Dean asked.
"I-" Dr. Johnson hesitated. Then he cleared his throat. "Your father lost a lot of blood and has been injured badly. He will most likely need surgery. We are going to do some tests and then he will be taken to surgery."
Dean swallowed past the lump in his throat. "What can we do?"
"Right now, there is not much you can do," The doctor said. Upon seeing the stricken expressions on their faces, he added on, "But you can go inside and talk to him. He is awake."
As they were about to walk in, the doctor cleared his throat again. They turned to him. "I should warn you though, it may be upsetting to see your father in this state."
They nodded at him and then he left.
When they walked into the hospital room, it was quiet. Eerily quiet. That's when Sam and Dean took note of their dad.
He was lying on the hospital bed, bloodied, bruised and was all bandaged up.
"Dean, Sam," John croaked from the bed. "And Cas? What are you doing here?" He tried to move up but then groaned from the pain and laid back down.
"He drove us here, dad," Sam answered.
John nodded and smiled weakly at Sam. He patted a spot on his bed and Sam went to sit next to him.
John turned his head and looked at his eldest son. Dean was standing there, staring at the wall behind him. He had a vacant look in his eyes.
"Sammy, Cas, can I talk to Dean alone for a bit?" John asked.
Dean looked startled. So, did Cas and Sam.
"It's alright," John said, trying reassure them. "It won't be long and you can come back in after."
Once they left, John patted the spot on the bed just like he had done moments before with Sam. Dean contemplated it.
"Dean," John said, "Please."
Dean sat down. He looked around the room. There was nothing special about it really. White curtains, white walls, and a white floor. The only thing that stood out was a small flower in a pot sitting on the windowsill. Dean looked away from it.
"You know I was going to-" John coughed, then cleared his throat. "I was going tell you before, it wasn't right what I said."
"Don't worry about it, dad," Dean said and his voice cracked.
"No, I have to worry about," John said. "I didn't handle it correctly and I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. Cas is a great guy. I was just startled, alright?"
Dean nodded at that. He didn't know what he else he could say.
"Well what'd they say, then?"
"Who?"
"The doctors, Dean."
"You'll probably need surgery," Dean said. "They are going to run some tests and then take you in to surgery."
John nodded or at least what seemed to be a nod. "Listen, Dean, take Sam and Cas home. You guys don't have to be here-"
As Dean began to protest, John added on, "-And I don't want Sam to keep seeing me like this. He doesn't need to worry."
Dean swallowed past the lump in his throat again and blinked several times. He refused to cry. "Okay, dad."
"But could you bring Sam in before you guys leave?" John asked.
"Sure."
When Dean returned with his brother, John asked Sam to come sit next to him. "Sammy, Dean and Cas are going to go home and I want you to go with them."
"I don't want to leave you," Sam said.
"It's alright, I'll be fine."
"You don't know that."
"Don't worry about it," John answered his son. "I'll be fine. Now go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow." He motioned to Sam to come in for a hug as he himself couldn't quite get up and then motioned to Dean to join them.
"It'll be alright, it will all be alright," John remarked, as he hugged his sons. It was as if he was speaking to himself rather than to his sons.
Later that same night
When they got back to Dean's and Sam's house, Sam immediately went to sleep. Cas and Dean retired to Dean's room. And while Dean went to the bathroom and changed, Cas had texted Anna telling her that there he would be staying at the Winchesters and after reassuring his sister that he was okay, he changed into the pajamas Dean had lent him.
Then he sat down on Dean's bed and picked up a comic book lying nearby.
He was a bit nervous. They hadn't shared a bed before. In the past, there was always two beds and they hadn't been dating back then. And sure, they had made out on this bed several times but they had never slept in it together. This was different.
That was when Dean emerged from the bathroom, clad in his pajamas.
Dean sat next to Cas on his bed. He gently pulled the book out from Cas's hand and put it on his desk. "Didn't know you liked comic books."
Cas shrugged. "I don't really but I thought I might look over it while you were changing."
"Oh," Dean said. Then smiled gently. It was the first genuine smile Cas had seen since Dean had come to his place. Dean took Cas's hand into his. Then he pulled Cas in and gave him a short kiss.
Cas reciprocated and pulled Dean closer. Dean then pulled Cas onto his lap and tugged at the hem of his shirt.
Cas stopped kissing him and looked at Dean. "Are you sure? We haven't done this before."
"I know," Dean answered. "But I want to, do you?"
"Yes, Dean," Cas said. "God, of course, I want to."
Dean leaned up and kissed Cas again. "Okay, but I have to lock the door first."
Then Dean got up and locked the room. When he came back to his bed, he kissed Cas again and then pushed him down gently onto the bed. And the world outside was soon forgotten.
Early morning
In the early morning, when Dean woke up, he glanced at Cas and smiled at him before pressing a kiss to his forehead. Then he got out of bed and was about to go to the bathroom when he heard his phone buzzing.
He glanced at it and saw it was the hospital.
And before he even answered the phone, he knew.
He knew right away what had happened.