maybe not just friends {AU College Destiel Fanfiction}

Unheard Of

"What's wrong with him?" Dean asked looking over at Cas, feeling the pang of guilt sitting in his stomach like a rock. "He has a couple of broken ribs, a concussion, and some severe bruising."
"He's suffering from irregular heart pattern and he is... slowly going deaf due to the noise... it's worse than we thought." 

Dean nodded. "Can I talk to him?" The nurse nodded. "I highly suggest you do. There's no saying how much time he has before he loses his hearing completely. I would talk to him as much as you can... just tread lightly." Dean nodded. "Got it."

Dean sat in the chair on Cas' side of the room. He laid his hand gently on Cas' shoulder. "Cassie?" he whispered. He smiled as the raven-haired boy's eyes fluttered open. "Dean." he croaked. "When did you get here?"

"I've been here since you got here Cas. How are you feeling?" Cas twisted his face in thought. "What?" Dean sighed and the nurse muttered something about 'it' getting worse. "How you feeling?" he asked a little louder. 

"I'm fine," Cas said shortly, Dean's face twisted in an angry like expression. "It's not your fault, Dean," Cas whispered quietly.

Dean just nodded and bit his lip, not willing to argue. "I'm worried about you, Cas. You know you're going deaf right? And you're heart is all... out of whack." 

Cas nodded and shrugged. "It's fine," he said simply with a shrug. 
"The hell do you mean it's fine?" Dean tried his best not to raise his voice. "Cas, you can learn sign language. That's nothing. But you won't be able to use it until we get your heart sorted out."

"So how do we do that?" Cas looked at the nurse who sighed lightly. "Currently, we believe you're suffering from heart arrhythmia, and that just means you have an irregular heartbeat." Dean nodded and his hand moved towards Cas'. 

"Right now, we'll have to hook you up to an electrocardiogram." Cas' eyes widened. "A what?" 
"An electrocardiogram, also known as an ECG. During an ECG, electrodes that can detect the electrical activity of your heart are attached to your chest and sometimes to your limbs. An ECG measures the timing and duration of each electrical phase in your heartbeat."

Cas nodded, Dean looked up at him with concern all over his face. "So once we know my heart is messed up, how do we deal with it?" Dean was only vaguely aware that Castiel was basically yelling trying to hear himself talk. 

"We'll attach you up with a pacemaker, and we can see how that goes. Once you get discharged, we'll also hook you up with an implantable loop recorder. That'll just measure your heart rate as you go about your daily routine and it'll alert your pacemaker if it needs to jump to action."

Cas nodded once again. "So there's not an issue." Dean pushed his lips into a thin line. "Cas. There is an issue. Your heart is messed up." 
"I'm afraid Mr.Winchester is right Castiel. Heart arrhythmia makes victims three times more likely for heart attacks." 

Cas sighed and mumbled something. "What was that Cassie?"
"I said I don't care!" He yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "I don't care if I have a heart attack!"

Dean took a deep breath. "Cas. I care."

Sam walked into the room, worry etched on his face. "Hi, Cas." His smile was huge, but all Dean could see was the pain in his eyes. "How are you feeling Sam?" Cas asked in a small voice, wringing his hands together. "I'm doing just great. Are you okay?" Cas stared at Sam, his mouth slightly open. 

"Cas?" Cas just smiled and nodded, hearing nothing that Sam said. "He can't hear you, Sam," Dean whispered. Cas showed no response to acknowledge anything Dean said. "Why? What happened?" 

"Guys just because I can't hear you don't mean I don't know that you're talking." Dean sighed. "I'm sorry Cas." He sighed loudly. "The noise made Cas' heart and hearing go all screwed up." 
"I'll be fine!" Cas said, exasperated.

Cas flinched and pushed the nurse button when his chest errupted in pain. "You doing okay, Cassie?" Cas nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." Dean shook his head. "I'm about to ban that word from your vocabulary."

Cas smiled a little. It was the most beautiful thing that Dean had seen since they had the stupid fight that started this.

"I love you," Dean whispered. "Dean... I can't hear you." Dean looked up sadly and sighed.

"I know."