Something Old

I Need You

Charlie and Dean rushed into the ER, Gabriel ran up to them crying. He was bruised all over, but clean for the most part. He had some nasty cuts on his head that were bandaged.

"It's all my fault! I-I didn't see the car and-" Charlie grabbed his shoulders.

"Gabe. You need to calm down. Where's Castiel?" He swallowed thickly.

"He's in surgery right now. His heart stopped Charlie. His heart stopped and he was dead." She pulled him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He kept saying, but she just hugged him tighter and shushed him.

"Shh, Gabe, it wasn't your fault."

Castiel's parents bursted into the room.

"Where is he?" Chuck asked. Charlie calmly walked up to him and explained what was going on.

They all sat down heavily on the waiting chairs, all breaking apart inside. None of them knew if Cas was going to be alive when he came out of that operating room.

A nurse walked in with a grim expression on her face.

"Are Castiel Novak's parents here?" Chuck stood up, his wife following him. They all but ran over to her.

"Is he okay? Is he alive?" She gestured for them to sit down, which they did.

"Your son is alive but he's slipped into a coma. We aren't sure when or if he'll wake up." Chuck's wife began sobbing into his shoulder as he let tears of his own fall.

"I'm so sorry." The nurse said, she was being sincere. Gabe was looking at nothing, staring off into space as silent tears streaked down his face.

"It's all my fault."

Charlie looked at Dean with tears in her eyes, his expression was blank, but his eyes were filled with sadness. Carrying no tears but emotions.

It felt like a tidal wave was crashing into him, drowning him, filling his lungs up with water until he couldn't breathe. The wind was knocked out of him, like someone had thrown a bowling ball on his chest.

The nurse gestured down the corridor.

"Would you like to see him?" They all nodded and stood up.

Seeing Cas was even more heartbreaking. There were tubes everywhere, down his throat, in his arms, and countless other places. The heart monitor beeped loudly in the room, being the only sound since everyone was dead quiet.

It was only after seeing Cas that Dean began to cry.

Dean never cried. He considered it unnecessary, he never felt the need for it. Crying was an emotional thing, and Dean didn't do emotions. But seeing Cas like that, kind, innocent Cas who always made Dean laugh like they had been friends for years but was really only four weeks, look so vulnerable and small, finally broke Dean.

Tears spilled from his eyes as he walked towards the small hospital bed, reaching his hand out to touch Cas' arm.

"Hey." He said, his voice cracking. He tried to smile but the best he could get was a tiny tug at the corner of his lips.

He waited, waited for Cas to open his eyes and say 'hello' like he always did. For Cas to smile. For Cas to be okay.

But he didn't.

Dean turned around to Cas' family and stepped aside, letting them see their son/brother/best friend.

He walked out of the room and looked around. He needed to punch something. He let his fist connect with the wall and let physical pain join the emotional.

Dean sunk to the floor and rested his forehead against his knees, bringing his arms up to cover his head.

"Who is he?" Chuck asked Charlie. She shook her head sadly.

"Cas loves him. He loves Cas. But Cas doesn't know that, and I don't know if he ever will." She walked out of the room and Dean looked up from his knees at her.

It was a while before he spoke.

"You may know him, but I love him." She looked at his bruised knuckles.

"Dean..." His green eyes filled with tears.

"Don't." It wasn't spoken harshly or angrily, just a soft plead. She didn't prod him more, just leaned against the opposite wall and ran a hand down her face.

"What time is it?" She asked, and Dean looked at his watch.

"It's 11:00 PM." Charlie sighed and pulled out her phone.

"I'm gonna call my mom to come pick me up. Or would you like to drive me home?" Dean shook his head.

"I'll stay here." She set her phone down on a side table holding a vase of forget-me-nots. Probably to attempt to dissipate the depressing atmosphere of the ER.

"Dean, you don't have to do that." He stood up, twisting out all the aches and pain that had come from keeping the same position for so long.

"But I want to." He looked into the window of Castiel's hospital room, seeing his parents standing over his bed crying, Gabriel sitting in the chair next to the bed.

It broke his heart, seeing Cas so limp and frail and so unlike the laughing cheerful person he was.

There was no smile or bright blue eyes Dean found himself getting lost in time after time. Like an ocean of blue filled with stars and never ending light.

There was no subtle head cock to the side whenever he was confused, no comment on how he didn't understand something. There was nothing, just beeps and tubes and bandages.

"I'm staying."

*stares at angry mob holding pitchforks and torches*
"I love you?"