A Whole New World

The Only Thing Left

I wake up in the hospital. I hear beeping and quiet, hushed voices.

"Cas?"

Cas's mom rushes over to me.

"Dean, honey. I'm so glad your awake. The doctors are evaluating him."

"Is he alive?"

I'm almost scared to ask. What if the answer is no? What if the doctors are evaluating his cold, empty, dead body?

"No. He's alive."

"Barely."

One of the doctors speaks up from the other side of the room.

"What do you mean barely?"

"He's quite lucky to be alive. This is probably his last day on Earth."

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry."

Cas's mom and the doctor are dating, and they hug eachother. Apparently they have been dating for a while now. Who knew?

"What now?"

Cas keeps his sense of humor till the very end.

"Well, Heaven, I guess."

Cas's mom starts crying.

"Nice one..."

I still can't believe that I won't be able to say "I love you" to him anymore. I won't be able to kiss him, or hug him. I won't be able to see him. Ever.

***

The doctors decided to run one last test for the night. They drag his bed out of the room. Outside isn't much happier. It's snowing like a blizzard. The ground is covered in snow and ice, and the sky is cloudy and dark.

The doctors come back in the room and make light conversation to distract us from the fact that my best and only friend is dying.

I decide to go outside and get some fresh air. I walk down the hall and out the front doors. I feel a gust of cool wind as soon as the door opens. I step outside and kick the snow.

"WHY? WHY THE HELL DO YOU DO THIS TO ME, GOD? I MAKE A FRIEND. A BEST FRIEND. AND YOU TAKE HIM AWAY. FROM EVERYONE. HE'S AN ANGEL. Why?"

I look up and tears run down my face.

I kick the snow and slip on ice. I land on my butt in a pile of snow. I start crying. A nurse comes out and tries to help me up. I shove her away, but she keeps coming back muttering something about papers and angels and God.

I'm crying harder than I ever have before. I can't see anything but I know it's snowing again because I can feel the cool falling on my face in pieces.

Another doctor comes out and together they help me up. Even if I tried, I am helpless. I can't move without help, and I feel like I'm in molasses. My body feels like someone paralyzed me. I fall over again. I'm depressed. I can't do it anymore.

"I can't. I can't. I can't. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. I can't."

"GET THIS MAN HELP IMMEDIATELY."

"No. I'm fine. I can't. I won't. I don't. Need any help."

I can't hear anything. I don't see anything. It's all a blur. A nasty nightmare. That became real.

***

I wake up in Cas's room with an excruciating headache. The doctors turn to look at me.

"Where's Cas?"

"He's being tested in the other room. This morning he was acting peculiar."

I go out into the hall. I see someone run around the corner. They are coming right at me. They're not slowing down. I have no idea who it is. I'm way too out of it to tell. They hug me, and lift me up. They twirl me in the air, and doctors are following the man with smiles on their faces. Everything is in slow motion.

The man sets me down. I recognize him. Cas. I hug him back with all the strength and energy I have.

"CAS! WHAT THE HELL, MAN? WHAT THE.. I thought you would never walk again. I thought you were gonna die today."

His eyes are bluer than any sapphire, ocean, sky. They are shining in the light of the hospital.

"Hey. I missed you."

"You're walking."

"I know."

He kisses me more passionately than anyone ever has. I can't believe it. I don't know how long ago, but I was outside screaming at God.

I kiss him back. We stop long enough to look into each other's eyes. I hug him, and run my fingers through his hair. The doctor comes out and tells us to go inside the room.

Cas's mom is sleeping at the window, and there are four other doctors in the tiny, stuffy room. One of the doctors taps on her shoulder, and she wakes up instantly. She looks around. First at the doctors, then at me. Cas walks in.

She jumps up and pushes the table out of the way. She hugs him. She grabs his head and kisses him. Not on the forehead, not on the cheek, on the lips. We all laugh. She turns around and looks at the doctor.

"We have no idea what happened. During the test, he suddenly started moving, and we thought he was asleep and having nightmares, but it was actually his back moving. His back moved back in place."

"The piece of bone in his spine?"

"Gone. No where to be found. It's a miracle. One minute, paralyzed, the next, perfectly mobile. We don't understand, but we saw nothing that means this is temporary. This is as far as we know, permanent."

"Oh my -"

She kisses the doctor- her boyfriend. Cas puts his arm around me, and kisses me on the cheek. He pats my shoulder, and tells me that me shouting at God worked. I laugh.

"I have something very important to ask you."

"What's going on?"

Cas whispers, "When I came out of the test able to move, he asked me if it was okay that he marries my mom."

"Yes?"

The doctor gets on one knee, and Cas's mom gasps.

"Will you marry me?"

"Of course!"

He stands up and kisses her. They twirl around, and Cas's mom starts crying.

Cas hugs me. He doesn't let go, until one of the doctors tells that we're going into the hall.

"I love you, Cas."

"I love you too, Dean. Thanks for being there. When I was dying, when I was sick, when I was paralyzed. It means the world to me."

"You're welcome, Angel."

We put our arms around each other and walk down the hall like he was never in the hospital. Like he was never sick. And it was nice, for a change, not to have to worry.