Chapter Four

Warnings: minor angst, banged-up dean

Summary: After a hunt lands Dean in your hospital, he's in worse shape than he realizes. He has to have around-the-clock care, and you volunteer without thinking about the consequences.

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You haven't talked to Dean since your fight in the hospital. You're not sure what you'd say to him. He basically told you he didn't care about you so what can you say that will make it all better? Your boss has given you the extra hours you asked for just so you don't have to go home and see him.

Clarissa might have him at the house and you'd rather not have to face that demon yet. So, you've been holed up in the hospital and even have gone far enough to sleep in the on-call room before your next shift. The hospital has showers for the nurses, interns, and doctors which is what you've been using to take care of yourself.

It's been working so far.

"Here, looks like you need this more than I do." Your friend hands you a latte from the coffee cart on the first floor of the hospital. You take it with a grateful smile and take that first sip of Heaven. Delicious. "So, how are things with Dean?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him for a week. I've been too busy with work."

"You mean avoiding him by sleeping here?"

"What should I do, Katie? He said kissing me was a mistake and he didn't care about me. He made it clear he doesn't think about me so that's that. I have to move on."

"Sounds like you don't want to."

"Yeah, well, life is funny like that, I guess."

You grab some paperwork to file away when your nurse manager comes over with a clipboard in her hand.

"Y/N, I need you to check the patient in room 2319. A guy came in with a gash on his abdomen and a broken leg. I'll page Ortho when you're done with your assessment."

"Okay." You take the clipboard and walk to room 2319 expecting to see someone who got into an accident of sorts. Maybe a car accident? Animal attack? "Mr. Johnson? My name is—Dean?"

You almost drop everything and run to his side. He's lying on the hospital bed clearly in an immense amount of pain.

"Hey, Y/N. What's up?"

"What happened?" You close the door so you can speak in private and approach his side. "Where's Sam?"

"Pulling the car around," he chuckles.

"What happened?"

As you speak to him, you're hooking him up to monitors and getting his vital information before Ortho comes in and takes a look at his leg.

"A hunt gone wrong, I guess. I'm fine."

"You have a broken leg and look at this gash. I hate that you put yourself in danger like this."

"I thought you didn't care."

You roll your eyes and look at him. Of course, he'd bring it up like this.

"You're an ass." You leave the room and inform the nurse manager that you're done with your part. You step off into the stairwell and call your sister who you have yet to see at the hospital. "Hey, did you know Dean is at my hospital?"

"Yeah, he called me in the car. He said he was fine and didn't need me there."

Hearing her say this brings tears to your eyes.

"As his girlfriend, you should be here to support him whether he says he needs you or not."

"I got shit to do."

"You know, if you're going to treat him this way," your voice cracks, "just end it with him."

"What do you mean?"

You don't elaborate and hang up on her. You wipe your tears and slow your breathing before going back to room 2319. This time, Dean is out from sedation and Sam is in the room. He has cuts and bruises on his face and arms but nothing like what Dean has.

"Hey," you say and close the door behind you. "How is he?"

"He passed out the second they gave him morphine."

After doing a quick check on Dean's vitals, you grab Sam's jaw and inspect the cuts on his face.

"Let me clean this for you." You grab the necessary equipment and begin cleaning his wounds. "You two are always getting hurt. What does Eileen think about this?"

"She's a hunter, too. She understands." He lets you work in silence before breaking it with the million-dollar question. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better. What the hell happened out there?"

"We were chasing a wendigo. We haven't fought one in a while, and Dean went to use his flamethrower when it grabbed him, sunk its claws in him, and threw him into the cave's walls. I barely got to it before I could end up the same way. I had to carry him back to the car so I could get him here."

"Dean's lucky he got here in time. He was bleeding pretty badly. He's the strongest person I know. He's going to be okay."

"I know," Sam smiles.

Once you're done fixing him, the doctor comes in and wheels Dean into surgery. Not only to fix his leg but to clean and stitch his abdomen wound together. Once he's done, thirteen hours later, Clarissa visits him in the hospital. You're not sure what her endgame is with Dean but you know it's not marriage. If she doesn't love him, what the hell is she still doing with him?

"Where were you?"

"I told you. I had shit to do. Is he okay?"

"He'll be fine. Surgery went really well but he'll be in a cast for some time."

The doctor who performed the surgery comes in but Dean is still knocked out from the drugs they gave him.

"He's lucky he came here when he did. I was able to repair the damage to his abdomen and Dr. Torres was able to fix the break in his leg. He'll be in a cast for at least six weeks but I plan for maybe ten. I have outlined how to care for the wound on his abdomen but please call me if you have any questions. Does he have someone at home who can help care for him?"

You, Sam, and Clarissa all look at each other unsure how to answer. Sam is okay enough to keep hunting and it's not like Clarissa will volunteer to take care of him for ten weeks while he heals.

"Yeah, with me," you blurt before you can stop yourself. "I live close to the hospital with my sister who is his girlfriend. We'll look after him until he's good enough to go home."

"Okay. He needs to stay here for three days for observation but then he can go home."

"Are you sure you want to take him? I can do it," Sam says once the doctor leaves.

"And keep you from hunting? No, Clarissa and I can do it. Don't worry about him. He's in good hands."

Three days later, you're the one to bring Dean home from the hospital. He hates not being able to do things for himself but he's going to have to learn since he can't put any weight on his leg. Plus, if he moves too much, his stitches will open on his abdomen.

"This will be your home for the next ten weeks. Think you can handle it?"

You've made Dean comfortable on the guest bed as best as you can.

"Can you handle it?"

"I'll manage," you smile.

Clarissa doesn't seem like she cares about Dean because she is never home whenever you need him to be. When you're at the hospital, she will pop in every few hours to make sure he gets what he needs but will otherwise leave him alone. When you get off, you stay in nurse mode to take care of him. Clarissa will come home and act like the caring girlfriend only to sleep in the same bed as him.

It's honestly exhausting.

It doesn't matter what you do or how you do it, but you can't seem to move on from him. You look at him and see everything you two could be. Then you see Clarissa and you're not going to be the one to break them up. You're not a homewrecker. It just hurts so much to see them together when you know the truth.

Weeks go by and Dean is slowly getting better but still needs someone to take care of him. You're bringing him some grilled cheese and tomato soup, one of his favorite meals.

"I made it extra cheesy for you," you grin and set the tray of food on the bed.

"I thought you didn't care."

There he goes again, saying the same thing he did weeks ago. Of course, you care. You care ven when you don't.

"I care about your well-being."

You take his dirty dishes and go to leave but he stops you.

"That's not what I mean, and that's not what I meant in the hospital."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean," you scoff. You turn to leave again but he stops you by saying your name. "What do you want me to say, Dean? You made it perfectly clear how you feel about me. I'm just taking care of a friend and nothing more. I'd like to think you'd do the same for me, right?"

Is he being unfair to you? Maybe. He has his reasons for acting the way he does but maybe they're not good enough anymore.

"Thank you for taking care of me."

You two stare at each other meaningfully. You're about five seconds from going over there and kissing him when you hear the front door slam.

"Baby? I'm home!" Clarrisa calls out.

"We're in here!"

Clarissa bounces into the room with a smile and goes over to Dean so she can give him a proper kiss. The worst thing about it is that he kisses her back. You turn and leave the room because if you had stayed even just a second longer, they would have seen the tears falling from your eyes.