Chapter Text
The sound of someone singing softly was Dean’s first conscious memory, but he couldn’t seem to open his eyes. It was a steady beeping sound that finally made his eyelids flutter and whisper a single word, “water.”
“Dean, oh, Jesus…hold on, Babe. I’ll get a nurse.” Dean’s eyes squinted and he tried to place the raspy voice, but couldn’t. His throat was so dry, but he wanted to go back to sleep.
“Mr. Winchester? Can you open your eyes for me?” A voice with a British accent seemed to be talking to him.
Dean’s eyes slowly opened. He’s brow creased in concentration. The first person he saw was a dark haired man with intense blue eyes. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a few days. The other man had on a white lab coat and was sporting a neatly trimmed beard.
“I’m Dr. Crowley and I just need to give you a quick exam. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Your accent ain’t that bad,” Deans said, voice gravelly from disuse. Dean turned at the chuckle from the blue eyed guy.
“Dean, thank God, I’m so glad you’re okay.” The man took Dean’s hand and held it. Held it like…Dean snatched his hand away.
“Dude, personal space, man. Who are you?”
The blue eyed man looked like Dean had slapped him. Confusion showed on Dean’s face as the doctor motioned for the other man to leave the room. Dean saw…was that pain…in the other man’s eyes. He walked through the door leaving Dean and the doctor alone.
The doctor looked into Dean’s eyes with a penlight, checked his reflexes and quickly took his vitals.
“Do you know your name?”
“Dean. Dean Winchester.”
“Do you know where you are?”
“A hospital, duh.” Dean answered. “Hey, my throat is all kinds of dry, could I have some water?”
The doctor poured water from a pitcher next to the bed into a Styrofoam cup and held it to Dean’s lips. Dean thought the cool water was the best thing he’d ever tasted. He raised his hand to take the cup and saw the IV tubes in his hand.
“Hey, doc, what happened?”
“You don’t remember anything about your accident?” The doctor stared at him intently, hands in his lab coat pockets.
“Accident?”
“Mr. Winchester, do you know what year it is?”
“Yeah, 2014.”
“Correct. Who is the president?”
“Obama.”
“Okay, what about the gentleman that was just in here. Do you remember him?”
“No.”
“Do you have any siblings or family?”
“Yeah, my brother, Sammy and my father, John.”
The doctor quirked one eyebrow. “Well, I’m going to let you rest and I’ll come back to check on you later.”
“Hey, will you get me my cell phone so I can call Sam and tell him I’m in the hospital?”
“Your brother is aware you are here, Mr. Winchester. He’s been to visit several times. I’m sure your….I’m sure he’s been called.”
“What? How long have I been in here? And what accident?”
“You’ve been in a coma for ten days. You were involved in a traffic accident on November 28th. Today is Sunday, December 7th.
“Son of a bitch. Ten days?” Dean tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness hit him and he sank back into the pillow. Then it hit him…”Baby, is Baby alright?”
“I wasn’t aware that you and Mr. Novak had…” The doctor trailed off and started again, “I wasn’t aware that you had children, Mr. Winchester.”
“Baby isn’t a kid. She’s my car. Do you know if she’s okay?”
“I’m not sure about your car. Perhaps when your brother gets here, he can answer your questions.”
When the doctor left, Dean lay staring at the tiled ceiling. He hoped Sammy got here soon. He needed to get out of this hospital and they had to get on the road again to find their dad.
***
Cas leaned against the wall in the corridor outside of Dean’ room. He’d called Sam as soon as Dean woke. He should be here soon. The doctor had been in there a long time. He couldn’t understand why Dean didn’t seem to remember him.
When the doctor stepped out and closed Dean’s door, Cas straightened. “Is he okay? Does he know what happened?”
Before the doctor could answer, Sam came running down the hallway.
“How is he?” Sam said breathlessly.
“Why don’t we go to my office and talk for a few minutes,” the doctor said quietly.
“Can’t I see him?” Sam put his hand on the handle of the door, but Cas covered it with his own. “Sam, let’s go see what the doctor has to say.
***
“So, you’re saying that Dean remembers me, his car and our father, but not Cas or the accident?”
“Apparently there is some short term memory loss. I don’t know to what extent or the severity yet.” The doctor sat behind a large oak desk, Sam and Cas were in the chairs in front, facing the doctor.
“He didn’t recognize me at all,” Cas whispered, still in a state of shock.
“Cas and Dean have been together for three years, Doc. That’s not short term memory. Short term is like what he ate for breakfast yesterday.”
“I don’t know how the human mind works, Mr. Winchester. All I can tell you is he does remember certain things. He’s alert. Physically, he’s recovered from the accident.”
“What can we do? Should we bring pictures, some of the videos we’ve made?” Sam asked.
“I would not over stimulate at this point in time. My advice is to let Dean remember on his own. You can correct certain things, such as the fact that your father is deceased, but use your best judgment. If he gets agitated, don’t press. Once he’s in his own home, he may remember everything.”
What if he doesn’t?” Cas looked directly at the doctor for the first time since sitting down.
“Mr. Novak, I know this is painful for you, but I just don’t know.”
Sam put a comforting hand on Cas’ arm.
Out in the hall again, Sam looked at Cas and his heart bled for the man. Cas and his brother were so in love. They were planning on marrying in the spring. They’d even talked about adopting a child or hiring a surrogate.
When they got to Dean’s room, Sam saw Cas hesitate. “He’s going to be fine, Cas. Maybe he didn’t remember things because he just woke up. How could he forget the love of his life?” Sam smiled, hoping to make Cas feel better.
“Perhaps you should go in and I’ll just wait…maybe get some coffee or something.”
“Cas…”
“Go see him, Sam.” Cas turned and walked down the corridor, head down.
Sam took a deep breath and entered his brother’s room.
“Sammy!” Dean called out, and then he stopped, mouth open. “When did you cut your hair?”
“Dean, I’ve had my hair like this since I started work at Jackson, Riggs and McKee.”
“Huh?” Dean looked really confused.
“The law firm…” Sam saw the puzzled look and closed his eyes for a second.
“Dean, I graduated from Stanford in 2010. I’ve been with this firm for four years.”
“No…come on, Sam.” Dean just shook his head.
“What do you remember?”
“I picked you up at Stanford a couple weeks ago, met your little girlfriend and we went hunting for Dad. Don’t you remember? The wendigo almost killed us…”
“Wendigo? I don’t even know what that is. And Dean, Dad died of a heart attack six years ago.”
“No…shut up, Sam. You just shut up!” Dean was very agitated and Sam was worried that he might pull out his IV.
“Calm down, Dean. You were in an accident, but everything will be okay now. We’ll get you home and Cas can take care of you. It’ll be alright.” Sam tried to keep his voice calm, like he was talking to a wounded animal.
“You’re lying. Dad isn’t…isn’t dead. He went on a hunt. We’ve got to find him, Sam.”
“Dean…” Sam just shook his head sadly.
“The demon that killed mom, he’s still out there.”
Sam winced at the thought of their long dead mother. “Mom died in a house fire when we were small, Dean.”
“It was the demon, Sam. He killed her.”
“The doctor says you can go home tomorrow. I’m going to go and let you rest. It’ll be okay tomorrow.” Sam touched his brother’s hand.
“How’s Baby. How bad was she damaged?”
“You were driving the SUV, Cas had the Impala that day.”
“Who the fuck is Cas? Why was he driving my car?”
“You had to pick up some things from Home Depot, so you took Cas’ SUV and Cas kept…Baby.”
“What the fuck did I need at a home improvement store? Who is Cas?”
“Cas is your…boyfriend.”
Dean howled in laughter. “See, now I know you’re fucking with me. Where’s the camera, Bitch.” Dean looked around the room like he expected to see a video camera.
“Dean, please. I’m not…”
“Shut up, Sam, this isn’t funny anymore.”
“I’ll go now. I’ll come back in the morning and we’ll take you home.” Sam backed out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind him, Sam wiped at the tear in the corner of his eye.
Cas found him a few minutes later, sitting in the atrium that served as one of the waiting rooms. “Sam, how…how is he.”
Sam looked up at his friend and Cas saw it in his eyes. “He doesn’t remember me at all, does he?”
The other man just shook his head and Cas felt a stab of pain somewhere in his chest. He sank down in one of the plastic chairs and put his hands over his face. Sam watched as silent sobs racked the other man’s body.