True Love Tends to Forget

Adrift

Dean's eyes fluttered open to reveal his younger brother, Sam standing over him. "Hey Sammy," the eldest of the Winchester boys croaked as he offered his brother a weak smile. 

Immediately, Sam drew closer. Dean could see his brother's eyes begin to gloss over from happiness- God. How long was I out for? He wondered. "Dean, I- How do you feel?" Sam finally spoke.

"Like hell," Dean grunted as he began to push himself into a sitting up position.

Sam chuckled, a smirk appearing on his face. "Yeah, I bet." he paused "Hey, I'll go get Claudia." Before Sam could get even two feet away, Dean furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Who's Claudia?"

He watched Sam's face fall once it dawned on him that this wasn't just another one of Dean's stupid pranks. Dean really had no idea what Sam was talking about. "On second thought, maybe I should get the doctor."

~~~

Out in the hall, Sam, Bobby, Sylvie and Claudia gathered around the doctor as he looked over Dean's charts. He sighed pulling his clipboard closer to his torso as he reached a diagnosis. "The good news is that Dean's recovering well and will be able to be discharged in no time."

"And the bad news?" Claudia prodded as she began to chew on the inside of her lip.

"Unfortunately, due to the severity of the head injury; he will be suffering some short-term memory loss."

"Well, what the hell does that mean?" Bobby's voice was gruff as he pushed for answers.

"It means, he likely won't remember things from recent years- like some people for example." The doctor paused, gesturing to Claudia, "Try to just ease him into things. Expose him to photos, music, anything that could be significant enough to jog his memory. Most importantly be patient, these things can take anywhere between a few weeks to a few years." he forced a friendly smile before dismissing himself and leaving the group to process this new information together.

~~~

Dean nodded as he drummed on his lap before his face lit up at the sight of Sam and Bobby entering the room with two women that he didn't recognize. One was taller with dark hair, tied back into a ponytail and glasses while the other was shorter with light brown hair and an impressive physique that he took a moment to admire.

"Dean, this is Sylvie; my fiance," Sam spoke with the taller woman at his side, smiling sheepishly.

"Well I'll be damned," Dean paused, "Hey look, I know Sammy can be a little annoying and dorky sometimes but he is a real nice guy." he mocked, causing Sylvie to laugh at Sam's expense. His eyes then redirected to the shorter girl, "You must be Claudia- the one my brother mentioned earlier."

She smiled sympathetically and nodded, "So, no memory of me, huh?"

"No, sorry. I wouldn't mind getting to know you though." he flashed her a smirk which made her laugh.

"Dean," Sam intervened before clearing his throat, "She's uh- you and her-"

"Oh for god's sake." Bobby interrupted, growing irritated at Sam's sputtering. "She's your wife, boy."

Dean's browsed raised, staring at Bobby intently, "My wife?" he asked before gaging his focus back onto Claudia who laughed nervously,

"Yeah, imagine my surprise when you proposed." she joked, attempting to make light of the situation.

Dean never imagined he'd get married, not with the life he lived. The life of a hunter always ended the same way. "I-I don't-"

"Don't worry about it," she told him, shrugging off her own feelings, "I'm just glad you're okay."