POV: Dean
October 14, 2003
Castiel’s birthday had been a great success; everyone had a great time including him. It was good to see him happy and around people. He got a lot of gift cards but the three new rompers I had found were his favorite. I had found ones just like his cat one; one of them had tacos with cat heads at the ends. I had gotten one with flames rising up from the bottom and one with flamingos and palm trees. They were just fun ones and ones he giggled at the most.
He’d gone home this past Sunday though and it sucked to be away from him. I was really starting to question how I felt about him because I think it was past just ‘liking’ him. I’d considered having a talk with him because I think maybe his feelings went deeper but at the same time things were so good. I also wanted to be more certain in my own feelings before I even tried.
I got to work on time and found a few cars were on my schedule for today, but they were all this morning and minor things. I double checked that the others were on schedule and that nothing was delayed, since it was all good I figured I would do those cars and this afternoon I would hit some of the paperwork.
My morning seemed to fly by, once the first arrived it was keeping busy and making sure I finished them before the next. I sent several messages to Cas asking if he was excited to talk to Sasha today or if he was nervous, but I never got a reply. I was proud that by eleven I had time to take a break and eat my lunch, which I did in the office. I sent Cas a few more messages, because Sasha should be there soon. When he didn’t reply I sent two to Sasha, asking if he was there and then if he’d made it. Meg came to the door and leaned against the frame.
“Cas not here today?”
I shook my head. “Na, he’s at home this week. We can’t always be together.”
He laughed. “Could have fooled me. I came to tell you that a new client is coming this afternoon. His car is a 50’s model and he’s unsure if it’s worth the money to fix, he wanted to talk to you first and maybe get a quote on fixing.”
“New?”
“Yeah. Older gentleman.”
“Okay, uh give me like twenty before and remind me. I’ve got nothing else today so I am going to catch up in here. The guys are on schedule and actually have a little bit of downtime, which Kirk and Benny said they were going to check some things and clean up a bit.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m doing a deep clean of the lobby as well. I’ll also be submitting an inventory for cleaning and office supplies.”
“Okay, I’ll get it ordered this afternoon or tomorrow.”
Meg hadn’t been out of the office long when my phone pinged and I got it. It was a message from Sasha and it only said 911-get here now. I knew Sasha had set it up that way before because he was worried about a guy but that guy had moved on and I’d forgotten about it.
I tried to call but when he didn’t answer I grabbed my keys and stuff and headed to the front.
“Meg! Call that guy back and see if he’s cool talking to Benny, if not tell him I have an emergency and can’t today. I’ll call you later.”
I didn’t give her time to respond to me before I was already out of the door and headed to Baby. I made it to Cas’s house in fifteen minutes and my heart seemed to skip a beat. Sitting outside his house was the fire department, police cars, and an ambulance. I was stopped and not allowed near the house, it wasn’t until they wheeled Castiel out on a stretcher that I was allowed, only because he called for me and refused to leave without me.
I couldn’t see anything but his face, which showed something had happened. His left cheek was bright red and I could see that he’d been punched at least once in the face.
“Can I see him?”
The paramedic nodded. “Yes.”
I wasn’t going to leave his side and they sat me beside him where I laid my hand on the blanket. They were asking him dozens of questions but I was just stuck in how bad his face looked and I wasn’t there to protect him. Once we were at the hospital the doctors stopped me.
“Let us evaluate him first, as soon as we’ve done that we’ll come get you,” she said.
“He asked for me.”
“I’ll let him know you are still here and will be back as soon as we’re done. If he gets too agitated then I will come get you.”
She directed me to a waiting area and I moved there, reluctantly. He was in good hands here and he knew that. He knew I was here. My leg bounced rapidly as I waited. I got a message from Sasha after one.
Sasha: Police have me at the house. Cas okay?
Dean: They’re assessing now, stopped me in the waiting room. What happened?!
Sasha: His attacker is on his way to the hospital now. You okay?
Dean: I am not okay! I want to know what happened Sasha!
Sasha: I don’t know the full story. But, I know he was being yelled at that he was his and his alone when I broke the door in. I got hit a few times, I’ll be there soon. But, I hurt him good and then used your sleeper hold to put him down.
I could see when the ambulance arrived and the person they wheeled in was Robert. I was so tempted to go break something of his but I kept my ass in the seat, Cas needed me and I would be locked up if I caused a scene.
Dean: They just wheeled the attacker by and it’s Robert. SOB.
Sasha: I should have broken something else. Alright - police are headed there and I’m on my way. Seeya soon.
I laid the phone down and sure enough it wasn’t ten minutes later a pair of officers walked down the hallway, my guess was to talk to him before I was let in. Fuckers. I wanted to see if he was alright! Only fifteen minutes passed before Sasha went by and a few minutes later the nurse that stopped me came to the door.
“Mr. Winchester?”
I got up quickly. “That’s me.”
“You can come back now. He’s been listed as stable. They just got him back from x-ray and he has been given some pain medication. So, he may be loopy.”
“Okay.”
She led me down to the room where he was and I knocked gently before entering the room and going right to the bed. His eyes were currently closed but he wasn’t asleep because I could see the grimaces. He probably thought I was a nurse until I sat down on the bed. His head turned and his eyes opened.
“Dean?”
“Hey Castiel. I would ask how you are but the grimaces tell me not good.”
“Hurts a lot. The medication is kind of helping.”
“It’ll take some time to kick in. How bad is it? I can’t see anything but your face and I want to find his room and just hit him.”
“They’re pretty certain my arm is broken, I’m certain it is too. They’re not sure about my leg though, it hurts. He stood on my calf and I’m not sure if he did break something, beyond that lot of bruises. Is Sasha okay? I heard him scream at Robert but I didn’t really get to see him, until he asked if I was okay and then he had a lot of blood on him.”
“He’s okay but I’m not sure if he has any major issues. He’s texted me a few times and he is here also.”
I swapped sides of the bed so I could get his hand but he just didn’t seem to be calming much. He was fidgety and kept grimacing. I debated and since they were just waiting for test results I maneuvered around and got myself in a place where I could lie down without hurting him.
“Dean?”
I scooted as close as I could and he seemed to get the idea and carefully moved until he could be close. I laid my head against his.
“I’m here; I’m not leaving without you. You can relax. He’s not going to come in this room and do anything.”
I only moved to wipe the tear away gently and he finally seemed to relax. The doctor came in around three with results and his arm was broken but the leg was not. He suspected maybe the muscles were bruises or otherwise strained. He recommended rest and to stay off the leg.
“Are you keeping him?”
“Yes, for tonight we are. You indicated that he did hit you in the head with something; we want to make sure that there are no other issues. It’s mostly for observation. We are going to let that arm reduce in swelling; it may take up to a week before we can cast you. However, it’s what we call a green stick break, it didn’t completely break to the point we need to do surgery. So, a splint should be good until we cast.”
“Okay. Everything else okay?”
“Yes, we didn’t see any internal damage but we did document the bruises and stuff for the police. They’ll be next as they are talking to Mr. Brown now.”
Cas nodded and the doctor updated the chart and stepped out. It wasn’t long before officers were knocking and I remained where I was. It was providing him comfort.
“Good evening Mr. Novak. I’m Officer Mills and this is Officer Hanscum. We’ll be in charge of your case and would like to ask what happened and if it’s okay to speak with your friend here,” she said.
“It is okay to speak with Dean here.”
I tightened my grip on his hand just a little; he knew I was here if he needed me.
“Robert, the man that was there, called this morning but I didn’t really talk to him. I have a restraining order against him already; I blocked the number and moved on. But, at about ten he came from my bedroom, I don’t know how he got inside. I told him he needed to leave. He wouldn’t listen to me. I finally told him that I was calling the police, which seemed to piss him off.”
The officers were writing quickly to keep up with him. His hand tightened around mine though.
“I honestly don’t remember a lot after that. His hit me in the face, and when I tried to get out of the house he grabbed me by my arm and twisted it behind me. I think that’s when it broke. Next thing I remember, he was yelling that I was his. He tore my shirt and at one point he was trying to tear my pants off. At that point Sasha came in and I just remember him being pulled off of me.”
“Has he done this before?” Officer Mills asked.
“Yes. We dated a while back and he was abusive then. When he left he said he faked being interested to toy with me. He did the same thing then too, there is a police report on that.”
“We’ll pull it up and he’s under arrest because of the restraining order, but this adds to that.” Hanscum said.
They asked a few more clarifying questions before they headed out. There was a brief moment of silence before he looked at me.
“He saw us.”
I raised a brow. “Okay, I don’t care that he did Cas.”
“He saw us after my birthday in the space beside the road. He mentioned blue lace.”
“Oh…well, honestly I don’t care that he did, long as I don’t have to worry about pictures.”
He tilted his head. “Not that he mentioned, he just..”
I kissed his forehead. “Shh, Castiel I don’t care what he thinks. What he did was wrong. It’s clear he was following us which can be stalkerish and that’s illegal.”
“I need to call my parents.”
I got my phone and handed it to him. “Call them. They need to know what happened. Do you want me to step out?”
“No.”
He made the call and I remained right beside him, while he called and told them he was here. We were supposed to meet next weekend but his mom and dad insisted they were coming down to make sure he was okay. Something I expected and by the end of his call to Gabe he was on his way too.
He sighed. “They don’t need to run here. I’m fine.”
I kissed another spot on his forehead. “They love you and you’re their baby, Cas. They’re going to come and check on you.”
“I’m not a baby.”
“In the eyes of our parents, we are always their baby.”
He laid his head over some. “I want to go home.”
“I know.”
There was a light knock before Sasha stuck his head in before coming in.
“I’ve been released by the doctor and the police,” he said.
“Sorry,” Cas said.
“Don’t be Cas, it wasn’t your fault.”
He looked at him. “I swear I had lunch planned.”
“Next time. Are you okay?”
“For the most part, yes. Banged up, bruises, the pain medication sucks ass. My arm is broken but not a full break.”
“So you’ll live?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Damn well better.” I said.
“I briefly saw Robert, whose nose is broken and he has a broken rib. Officer Mills was nice enough to tell me that.”
“He deserves more.” I said.
He smiled and stayed with us until they put Castiel in a room of his own. They did remove the leg splint but instructed him to not be up long, he could sit up though. Sasha went and got us both something to eat right after that and he also went and got me a bag from the shop. I wasn’t leaving the hospital. He grabbed some extra stuff from my place for Cas.
“So, I get to meet the parents and brother in a hospital? Not sure this will make a good first impression.”
He giggled. “They’ll love you Dean.”
“I hope so.”
Sasha got back with the food and bags and we ate together. Sasha left after that and I was going to sit in the chair but Cas looked at me.
“Can you ask the nurse if I can get up or if I am confined to the bed?”
I called the nurse and asked but she came to the room instead.
“You can get up but only if someone can help. You’ve had some pain medication and we don’t want you to fall.”
“He can help. I just need to go to the bathroom.”
“No problem.”
She adjusted some of the wires first and both of us helped him out of the bed and once standing she let me handle the rest. I reminded him, he couldn’t use the arm with the splint and then I pushed the door too, but not entirely closed. The nurse straightened up the bed and checked something else while we waited.
“Dean?”
“Yeah?”
“I don’t…”
I opened the door to find he was leaning on the counter and he looked like he may be sick.
“Cas?”
He looked sick, his face kinda of pale. “Dizzy.”
I managed to move to get behind him without tripping; the nurse came to the door also. But by the time she made it I’d already picked him up bridal style.
“Can you just get the wires and stuff please?”
“Sure thing.”
I carried him back to the bed and sat him down and then she checked his vitals.
“Maybe you should rest before trying that again. I’m going to let the doctor know though.”
“Do I have to be on my back?”
“No, as long as it’s comfortable for you, but I wouldn’t lay on the right side where the arm is splinted.”
She did bring him something for nausea since the dizzy spell made him feel sick too. I wondered why he asked about laying on his side until he moved to leave me enough room to lay down.
“I guess I’m laying down huh?”
He just smiled some and I lay down, who was I to tell him no? I got my arms around him and he snuggled as close as he could with a splint and IV.
“I hate this thing.”
I kissed his temple. “One day Sunshine. Dizziness go away?”
“Yeah, but…did you really carry me?”
“I did. Don’t make it a habit though.”
“I’m feeling all kinds of air…”
I giggled. “That’s because the entire back of this gown is just open.”
I moved the blanket to cover him up, I didn’t need to be. I was fully clothed and the room wasn’t that cool to me. It didn’t take long for the medication to really kick in and he was asleep. Even I couldn’t deny a nap sounded good. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep. But what woke me up was feeling like I was being stared at.
When I opened my eyes I expected that Cas was awake, but his eyes were still closed and his breathing still even. But standing behind him was another guy and he was staring at us both.
“Gabriel, darling stop. You’re going to wake him up,” a woman said.
“I think Dean’s already awake. Hello Dean.”
The guy had a long lean face with dark eyes and he wore his hair fairly long. He had a mischievous smile.
“Uh…Hi?”
“Sorry man. I’m Gabriel, I’m his brother.”
I glanced behind him at an older couple on the sofa in the room. Well, fuck this was not how I wanted this first meeting to go. But, even if I wanted to get up I couldn’t. Cas had a hold of my shirt and moving would wake him up.
“Don’t worry man, we got here about ten minutes ago and you both looked comfortable. It is nice to meet you. This is our parents, Naomi and Chuck Novak.”
“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Novak.”
“Please, Chuck and Naomi are fine,” he said.
“I would get up but I can’t.”
She waves her hands. “No worries, if he’s comfortable and feels safe that is all that matters,”
Gabriel moved and sat down with them and it got quiet, but Cas moved and I guess even he felt like someone else was in the room. His facial expression said whatever movement he made hurt but he saw Gabriel first.
“Gabe?”
“Hey little bro. I thought we agreed the next emergency room visit was mine.”
“Dude, I don’t even want to be here.”
He turned some and saw his parents and that was maybe the reason he let me go, so I could sit up some. I did help him move and adjust before we got to really talk. He updated them on what the doctor said, showed them some of the bruises which were now turning colors.
His parents seemed worried and Gabriel seemed pissed.
“Tell me that son of a bitch is in jail.”
“He’s under arrest, but he was actually here too.”
“He was?” Gabe asked.
I nodded. “My friend was over there for lunch and he walked in on the attack. He broke his nose and said he wished he’d have done more. But he was arrested because he violated a protection order.”
“You filed one?” His dad asked.
Cas nodded. “Dean said it would be better because at the time he was just calling a lot. We talked it over and he made really good points. Back then he just did this and left, but he seemed more insistent this time.”
“You’re going home with Dean tomorrow, right?” Gabriel asked.
“Gabe,” he said.
Gabriel’s face was serious. “It’s alright Cas, we already know you’ve stayed the night. I actually think it’s going to be better and safer for you to be with someone.”
“He’ll come home with me. Sasha did break the front door and I am sure the police aren’t done there.”
He looked defeated and I wondered why.
“Castiel?” His dad asked.
“It’s nothing, Dad. I just…”
“You thought we’d be angry or upset that you’re dating Dean? You thought this conversation wouldn’t be going this way?” he asked.
“Well…not exactly. I know Mom said it was more them versus us.”
Mom smiled. “Well, I was looking forward to grand babies because I am sure any child of yours would be absolutely gorgeous. But, I can just nag Gabe
about that one.”
I wanted to bolt because she mentioned grand babies and that was a topic neither of us had ever approached. I couldn’t, however, deny that Castiel would have beautiful babies. But I scratched that out because we hadn’t even reached the point of that type of talk yet.
Gabe sighed. “Thanks Cas. I really wanted all the pressure of grandkids.”
“Please, you’d have a houseful because you love kids,” he said.
His mom got up and moved to his side of the bed. “Castiel we never disapproved of your sexual preference, what we disapproved of was the men you chose. We knew you deserved better. I think we always liked Dean but even more when we came in and he was here with you, you were sleeping well and that’s something you didn’t do the last time. We don’t care what gender your spouse is, we only care that they treat you fairly and with respect.”
Well, I guess that settled whether they liked me. Cas smiled and eventually there were hugs. Gabriel left before their parents, but Cas asked him to go to his house and see if they were done and to board up if needed. He wouldn’t be able to get there for a few days. His parents were really cool, while they were here with him I did get some more food and snacks from the kitchen downstairs. His plate was delivered, mine wasn’t.
When they did leave he sat there confused.
“What’s up Sunshine?”
His brow was creased and not a frown but definitely just turned down some. “I always thought they didn’t approve of me being gay. But, looking back, they really didn’t like my exes.”
“You saying I’m getting a pass here?”
“Yes.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I’m going to fix my makeshift bed, because as much as I want to stay right here I know you need to move around more and that IV doesn’t look comfortable.”
He actually pouted, full on frown and puppy eyes.
“Not cool man, that’s not fair.”
He kept pouting. “If they make you I won’t pout.”
“If I ask, they’re going to say no to me.”
“At least for a little bit longer?”
“After we eat I’ll get changed and stay until bedtime. Once we’re back at my place you can cuddle all you want.”
“You like cuddles and I know you do.”
We had dinner, him eating slower and then I changed. I stayed there with him until it was bedtime. I helped him back to the bathroom before bed and was glad he didn’t get dizzy this time. Once he was settled in bed I kissed him goodnight and we both went to bed.