tea please☼ destiel au

xxi

sunday morning, october 29, 1967.

"castiel?" an echoing voice spoke, deep and unheard of, which left him in confusion.

"castiel! come on brother," they urged, shaking his head from palm to palm which caused his aching head to hurt more. although he felt light headed, the nickname sounded familiar, the louisiana drawl strung out like crooked string.

     his bruised eyes slowly squinted open, physically not being able to widen much more, as he looked at the foggy figure. after minutes passed, his terrorizing ocean blue eyes focused, recognizing the built man and his stubble all over.

     weakly, gravely, dryly, cas managed out one simple question, "benny?"

     he smiled down at the beat up novak, surprised yet glad he seemed to remember his faint memory of him from what felt like ages ago. "hey brother. i think we oughta take you to the hospital."

     it was hard for cas to speak; every time he strained to, his vocal chords seemed snipped to bits by severed glass, burning and scratching at his throat mindlessly- helplessly. so, all he did was nod, grateful someone found him; that someone was willing to help him despite whatever their day in age had etched into their minds as right and wrong.

      benny lifted castiel from the floor, the boy's eyes fluttering shut again as he held their body weight up and walked them towards the exit. the sun caused an immense headache to pound at the fragile skull of cas's, making him wince and shut his eyes tighter, ignoring the numbing pain that circulated his body. they staggered to a battered truck that carried a trailer behind its pickup: benny's make shift home.

     with the other's help, castiel sat uncomfortably in the passenger seat, the seat causing discomfort as he fought against the tiredness that attempted to lull him to sleep. he heard the driver's door shutting before the sputtering of an engine and squeaking tires peeling off, traveling far from the kwiki that he hoped to never see again. benny kept talking to him, having him hum in response to whatever he said to ensure he was still awake.

     the truck pulled into the emergency expressway, parking behind an unused ambulance and not even being bothered to turn off as the man left his truck and shouted for some doctors to help. immediately, a few people rushed over, a gurney being pushed along with them as benny allowed them to take castiel and explained how he found him at the store alone and injured.

     shouting, blurs of words, lights, and unseen people was all cas's senses could take in as he felt himself being taken inside and moved to a bed where they began sticking him with needles and assessing his wounds. one doctor forcefully opened his eyes one at a time, shining a light in them and determining that he was "responsive".

     a man with a smooth but worried voice asked him, "sir? can you hear me?"

     cas managed a nod.

     "good. can you tell us your name?"

     he opened his mouth to speak, but only a rough raspy cough came from it. he felt a wet trickle running down his chin; castiel was glad he couldn't see what he just coughed up. only his peaceful ignorance was ripped away like a band aid when a nurse exclaimed,

     "he's coughing up blood! there has to be internal bleeding."

     it was then that he felt the bed being rolled away, doctors assuring him he'd be fine as they rushed him wherever he needed to be taken- he assumed he'd need an x-ray to find the source of the bleed. a delicate hand took his own, the feminine voice of a faint nurse speaking to him kindly as he was whisked away by hospital staff. the voices and light became faint.

     is this what it feels like to die?

•

sunday evening, october 29,1967.

     it hurt everywhere, all over, inside and out. he couldn't move without feeling an ache in every bone, never mind speaking with his sore, chapped throat, even thinking caused a numbing pain in his brain. his eyes weren't forced shut, however, they definitely felt much better lightly closed. the light agitated them, but felt great against his cool skin. as did the sheets and hospital gown- hospital gown. that's right. he was in a hospital.

     the slight movement he made from waking up caught his brother's attention, causing him to sit on the edge of his chair carefully and say, "cassie?"

     the voice eased castiel, making everything more bearable as he realized his older sibling was there- as he had promise to always be. he fluttered his eyes open, eyelashes batting against his cheek before he could finally stop blinking.

     smiling as best as he could, putting all pain aside, he hoarsely greeted, "hey gabe."

     gabriel sighed heavily, letting go a breath he didn't know he was holding now that he knew his baby brother was okay. he grabbed cas's hand, even if he wouldn't admit to that part, and squeezed it lightly.

     "sh, your throat is dry. i can tell. you don't have to say anything," he insisted, tears forming in his eyes, being held back by the dam of his water line.

     cas smiled weakly, looking across the room at a cup by the sink. as if reading his mind, gabe got up, walking across the room and filling the cup halfway with tap water and then bringing it to his brother's aid. he helped him drink from the cup, throwing it in the trash when it was empty. refreshed, the beat up man found it easier to swallow and talk.

     "hey, i'm gonna go call some lady- hel- ell- ellen? yeah. she asked me to call when you woke up. that guy benny told her about the incident."

     ellen. bobby. sam. ruby. castiel nodded understandingly, allowing the other to exit the room to make the call. looking around, he spotted a land line in the hospital room itself, and made a rash decision.

     if you asked him, he'd say it was the drugs. but in all honesty, he just couldn't go any longer without hearing his voice. he picked up the receiver, dialing the number and getting connected to the correct line. it rang: once, twice, three times, fou-

     "hello?"

     "hello dean."

a / n :

thoughts?

i'm sorry i'm always going through so much mentally and emotionally and that it gets in the way of my writing.

i'm trying, and i hope anyone else who is struggling is trying to.

but really guys, how is this going? do you like it? do you have hope for the story? in all honesty.

i love you all.

stay strong.

hang in there.

yours,
cas.