Skin to Skin

Chapter 39

After the x-ray was done the nurse brought him back to the small room where Castiel was waiting for him. "How'd it go?" Dean smirked, trying to play off the lead weight of fear in his stomach. "It's just a picture, Cassy." Castiel frowned at him. Dean knew the sarcasm was unnecessary but it's like a security blanket for him. He sat down in one of the plastic chairs instead of the exam table and shrugged on his flannel. He felt exposed with the scars on his arms showing. "I've never asked but what are those from? And the ones on your back?" Dean sighed. Castiel was eventually going to ask these questions, he knew that, Dean just wasn't sure if he could talk about it. "They aren't self-inflicted." Castiel's lips made an oh shape and he looked at the ground, the knowledge of what happened to Dean flooding his face. "It was a long time ago. It doesn't really bother me anymore."That was a bold face lie. Without Castiel even saying anything he could tell the lie wasn't believed but he led it slide thankfully. Dean couldn't take sitting in this tiny room anymore. They have been here all morning and he felt like he was climbing the walls. "How long did they say it would take for the results?" "They didn't." Dean scoffed and opened the door, letting out some of the stuffy air. "I'm going to ask." "Dean asking them isn't going to make it happen faster." "Yea, but how long can it take to look at a few pictures?" Castiel pursed his lips at him and Dean waved him off, walking to the nurses station. Three nurses sat at the shared surface. Typing on computers, filing paperwork. They didn't look up when he approached the counter so he cleared his throat. "Excuse me, how long will it take to get the results back for an x-ray." A single nurse looked up at him with a I'm-tired-of-this-question expression on her face. "An hour." "You're kidding, right?" The nurse smirked at him and tapped on a sign that showed the wait times. "No. Now please go back to your room." Dean wanted to scream, yell, break something on the woman's face but instead he turned on his heel with balled fists and went back to his room. "So how'd that go?" Castiel asked smugly. "Don't start. I don't wanna argue."
"I'm not trying to argue. I'm just asking how it went." Dean shot Castiel a glare. "Seriously? Drop the attitude Cassy." Castiel opened his mouth to say something else but pulled his phone out instead. "Thank you.." Dean sighed and checked the time on his own phone. A fucking hour left. He grabbed a burger from the bag of food Castiel brought, it's now cold and soggy but he's had worse. Dean balled up the wrapping when he was done and threw it in the trashcan. This is taking too long. He should have never showed his pain at work then he wouldn't be hear in the first place. "I'm sorry.." Castiel whispered into the silent room. Dean sat back down beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "It's okay. I'm just feeling feelings I don't want to right now." Castiel looked up at him and frowned. "Are you okay?" Dean did an awkward shrug because the one arm was around Castiel. "Not really, but I'll get over it." Castiel nodded. Dean guessed that was a good enough answer for now. He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Trying to even out his breathing pattern as the time slowly ticked by. Dean felt a weight on his chest, like something was pressing down on his lungs and it made feel almost impossible to get a full breath. "Baby?" Castiel's voice sounded cautious and he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. "What's happening?" Dean sat up and grabbed his chest, clutching the fabric of his shirt. He bent over and put his head between his knees, breathing evenly to ward away the vertigo that was developing. "Dean?" Castiel was starting to panic and it in turn made his anxiety attack even worse. One of them needed to stay calm. "C-calm down." "What's wrong?" He sounded close to tears, his Cassy is such a crybaby sometimes. "It's just a panic attack. Calm, please." Castiel removed his hand and let Dean work through the panic attack. It was gone in a matter of minutes, hes pretty good at shoving down his emotions. "I'm fine, see?" Castiel nodded, eyeing Dean warily. "I'm fine Castiel." The other man sighed and folded his arms in his lap. "Okay.."
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There was a light tap on the door and Castiel looked up from his phone, Dean opened his eyes. They looked panicky so he grabbed the other man's larger hand and squeezed it. The doctor walked in, blonde hair, brown eyes and a round face. "I'm Dr. Masters, I'll be helping you guys today." Her voice was deep and sultry, it unnerved Castiel a bit that her tone was like that in a work environment. "Hi, so what's the word?" Dean skipped his introductions, the man was really ready to get out of here. "Easy cowboy, you got one rib completely broken and the other is fractured. You're pretty lucky nothing punctured a organ." Castiel swallowed his nerves, this could have been something serious and he let Dean put it off for days. "Okay, so what are you going to do?" The doctor smiled and shook her head, the blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders. "Nothing but send you home with a note and pain killers." Dean let out an audible sigh beside him and his grip loosened a bit in Castiel's hand. "But, if the current pain level is persistent after three more weeks you need to come back. It might mean the healing process is being thwarted by something." Dean nodded, the muscles in his neck working with tension. It hurt Castiel to see Dean like this, so out of his element and scared. Its very unlike the bigger man. "Alright, that's it then, right?" Dean stood up, pulling Castiel up with him by the hand. "Yes, here's the prescription for the painkiller. Here's a list of signs to look for and things you can do that might help with the pain." Dean took the papers from her and handed them to Castiel. "Thank you..." Castiel smiled and Dean quickly pulled him out of the room, basically dragging him by the hand. "Dean, stop, I can't walk that fast." The other man didn't stop till they were outside and standing by his car. "Dean, you hurt me." Castiel rubbed his wrist, once more. This seemed to be a reoccurring injury he kept getting from Dean. "I'm sorry. I just really needed to get out of there." Castiel nodded and held his arm to his chest. "It's okay.." They got in the car and headed to the closest pharmacy to fill a prescription Dean more than likely wouldn't take.