Work Text:
Day 20~
Deep~
Dean was whistling a nameless tune as he pushed open the door to the little store and walked in. He was hoping they had some of those mini pies he liked to snack on. The moment he passed through the door, he knew something was wrong. Shelves were knocked over, bags of chips, packages of snack cakes, and other foods were scattered across the floor. Bottles of wine were shattered everywhere. He withdrew his gun and moved carefully around some broken shards of glass.
“Hello? Anyone there?”
“Help!”
The voice was coming from behind the counter and Dean moved cautiously towards it. As soon as he stepped behind it, he could see the man lying on the floor, clutching at his side.
“Shit, what happened?” He asked as he holstered his gun again.
“Some punks came in, tore the place up, but one of them pulled a gun on me. S-she shot me. I couldn’t reach the phone to call for help, I was waiting for someone to come in.” The man replied. Dean pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.
“Hello? Yeah, I’m at the Gas n Sip on Green and Harris. There’s been a robbery and the clerk was shot.” He stripped off his own flannel as he talked and pushed the guy’s hands out of the way, pressing the fabric against the wound. “Yes, he’s bleeding, like a damn stuck pig! Get an ambulance here, fast!”
“They ran. As soon as she shot me, they ran.” The man croaked. Dean tried to move closer and slipped in a puddle of blood on the floor. He put the phone on speaker and set it on the nearby counter so the operator could hear them.
“We’re not going to worry about them. We’re going to just keep pressure on this and wait for the ambulance.”
“W-what’s your name?” The man tilted his head back and looked up at him, his blue eyes filled with pain but still bright and alert. Dean took that as a good sign.
“Dean. What’s your name?”
“Cas. Do you hear sirens?”
Dean cocked his head and listened. The operator was still talking but he was pretty much ignoring her. His goal was to keep Cas awake and stop him from bleeding out. Distantly he did hear sirens.
“Yes, I do hear them. They’ll be here soon and they’ll get you fixed up.”
Cas placed one shaky hand over the one Dean had pressed against his side.
“I’m not so sure I’ll make it. Can you get my cell? Could you call my brother and sister for me?” There were tears in the man’s eyes, and Dean’s throat tightened to see it.
“Don’t talk like that. You’re going to make it. I will call them once the paramedics are here to let them know you’re hurt, but you’re going to be ok.”
Cas swallowed hard as the tears he’s struggled not to let spill slowly slid down his cheeks. “Yeah, ok.”
“Where’s your phone?”
“Under the register.” Cas replied.
The sirens grew louder. The operator was also announcing that the police and ambulance were nearly there.
“Good, cause he’s lost a lot of blood.” Dean said loud enough for her. He let out a sigh of relief when the first of the police cars pulled into the parking lot. A few moments later cops were rushing through the door.
“Over here!” Dean called out. Two officers came around the counter, one stopped in his tracks when he saw the blood, the other, a woman, kept coming, moving around to Cas’ other side and kneeling down.
“He was shot?”
“Yeah, I found him like this. Came in after it happened, saw the damage and heard him call out for help. He’s bleeding real bad and I don’t dare ease up on the pressure. I don’t think the bullet came out the other side.” Dean replied.
“Ambulance will be here in a sec, it was right behind us.” Her name tag read Lewis. Dean nodded. Cas groaned.
“I wish they’d hurry.”
“I know, buddy.” Dean squeezed his shoulder with his free hand. A moment later the ambulance showed up. As soon as the paramedics were there, they took over and Dean stepped back to watch them work. He remembered Cas’ phone and reached under the register to grab it.
“Whoa, what are you doing?” Officer Lewis grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“He asked me to get his phone and call his family. He…” He leaned a little closer and dropped his voice. “He’s scared he won’t make it.”
She frowned and looked back at Cas for a moment. When she turned back again she reached past Dean and under the register to retrieve the phone herself. “Call them quickly.”
He grabbed his own phone too and as Cas was loaded onto the gurney and rushed out to the ambulance, he told Officer Lewis his name and left her his number, then told her he was going to head up to the hospital and they could find him there. On the drive, he made the phone calls he had been dreading.
Cas’ phone wasn’t locked, so going into it wasn’t a problem. Figuring out who was family and who was friends was a bit trickier. He found a listing for “Asshole” and took a chance, calling that one first.
“Cassie! What are you doing calling me in the middle of the day?” A man greeted cheerfully. Dean’s stomach fell. The man sounded so happy thinking he was hearing from Cas.
“Uh, is this…Cas’ brother?”
“It is, who is this?” The man’s tone immediately turned wary.
“My name is Dean. Your brother asked me to call you. I came into his store this afternoon and found he’d been shot. I called 911 and he’s on his way to the hospital right now. It, uh, didn’t look too good. There was a lot of blood. He asked me to call his brother and his sister but he didn’t give me your names, and he didn’t have your name listed in the phone, so I took a chance when I called this number.” Dean explained as quickly as he could.
“Jesus, fuck! He was shot?! Where?!” The man screamed so loud Dean had to pull the phone away from his ear. He was already breaking the law by driving and talking on the phone, but he didn’t care. These calls needed to be made.
“In the gut. I tried to stop the bleeding until the paramedics got there.” Dean replied.
“What hospital? Where are they taking him?” The man was crying, openly sobbing and Dean heard a car door closing. He was likely ready to meet him at the hospital.
“Spencer. I’m following behind, I’ll, uh, be there too.”
“I’m on my way. I’ll call Anna, you don’t have to worry about calling her.”
“What’s your name?” Dean asked.
“Gabe, Cas is my baby brother.” The man let out a choked sob. “God, please let him be ok!”
“I’m almost to the hospital now. Gabe, drive carefully, do not race. Cas would be very upset if you drove recklessly and hurt yourself trying to get to him, ok? Be careful.” Dean spoke softly, wanting nothing more than to calm the other man down.
“Yeah, ok, you’re right. I’m about five minutes away. I’ll go straight to the emergency room.”
“I’ll be there. You can’t miss me, I have a Led Zeppelin tees shirt on and blood on my clothes.” Dean didn’t even care that he’d gotten into his car with blood on his clothes. He was still too hyped up from everything that had just happened, and honestly, he might not know Cas, but he was worried about the guy.
Pulling into the hospital parking lot, he found a spot close to the emergency room and went inside. It was busy and he had to wait his turn at the desk before he could ask about Cas, but since he wasn’t family, they wouldn’t tell him anything. Frustrated, he went and sat down in one of the empty seats. Slumping down, he looked through the pictures on Cas’ phone, wanting to see what the man looked like when he wasn’t contorted in horrible pain. Bright blue eyes and a killer smile looked back at him from a dozen or so pictures, most of them of him alone, and happy. He was beautiful in his happiness, and it hurt Dean knowing he might never get to be like that again.
“Uh, are you Dean?”
He looked up to find a rather frazzled looking blonde man standing in front of him.
“Are you Gabe?”
The man sighed with relief and nodded. “Yes, I just got here and asked about my brother and they rushed him into surgery. I can go wait in the surgical waiting room but I’m waiting for my sister to get here first. She’s coming from Vista Point, so it’s going to take her a little longer to get here.”
“Did they say anything about what state he’s in? Did they stop the bleeding?” Dean asked.
“I don’t know, they didn’t tell me anything other than that they rushed him into surgery. At least Anna’s husband is driving her. She wasn’t in the right frame of mind to get behind the wheel.” Gabe ran his hands through his hair before pointing at Dean’s own hands.
“You’re covered in blood. You should wash up. Anna will freak if she sees you like this.”
Dean looked down at his hands and shirt, noticing the blood was on more than just his pants. “Yeah, you’re right.” He got to his feet and looked around for the nearest bathroom. “I’ll go clean up real quick. Uh, here, this is Cas’.” He handed over the phone and went in search of the bathroom.
After wiping away all of the blood on his hands and arms, he returned to the lobby. Gabe was sitting in his seat so he took the one next to him.
“You look a little better.”
Dean sighed. “I can’t do anything about my pants or shirt. Maybe I should go. It’s weird that I’m here. I just thought Cas should get his phone back, and you needed to be called, so…”
“It’s cool. If you want to go, I get it. I appreciate you being here though. Could I get your number though? I’m sure my brother would like to call you later.” Gabe’s voice caught and Dean could see the pain on his face. He was worried too that Cas wouldn’t make it.
“Sure, he can definitely call me. Give me back his phone, I’ll add my number.”
Dean took the phone back and entered his number in. He hoped he got a call soon.
“Tell him I’m looking forward to his call. I want to hear how he’s doing, and not to be shy and think he’s bothering me.”
“Give me your number too. I’ll make him call you.” Gabe said.
After they exchanged numbers, Dean exchanged an awkward hug with the man and went home to take a much needed shower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was nearly three weeks before Dean received the call he’d thought he might never get. He’d just gotten home from work and was cooking dinner when his phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and felt his heart leap into his throat when he saw the name on the screen. Without hesitation he accepted the call.
“Hello?”
“Is this Dean?”
The voice sounded familiar.
“It is. Is that you, Cas?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
Dean let out a shaky exhale of air. “Oh, thank god! I was worried about you!”
Cas laughed very softly. “I wanted to thank you. If you hadn’t come in when you did, I wouldn’t have made it much longer. I’d already been laying there more than 20 minutes by the time you walked in. That gas station doesn’t get a lot of business.”
“Hey, I’m just glad you’re ok. I’ve thought about you a lot, checked with your brother a few times too. He told me you got shot and the bullet went in on the right, bounced around and ended up lodged behind a kidney, or something like that. It was pretty deep, it sounded like, and they had a hard time getting it out. You lost some intestines and had to have a couple of surgeries.”
“Yes, it’s been a rather difficult recovery, but I’m finally home. I’m taking it easy for a while.” Cas sounded tired, but at least he was alive.
“That’s good. I’m glad you’re taking it easy. When are you cleared to go back to work?” Dean asked. Cas made a strange noise that sounded like a whimper but Dean wasn’t certain that’s what he’d heard.
“I can’t go back there. I quit. I was paying my way through my master’s program, but it’s not worth getting shot. I’ll get a job somewhere else.”
“I can’t say I blame you.” Dean sympathized. He didn’t think he could go back to a job where he’d been shot either.
“I was wondering, do you have some free time next week? As a thank you, I would like to invite you out for coffee.” Cas sounded almost shy as he asked but it got Dean smiling.
“Yeah, sure, when were you thinking?”
“Whatever day works for you. I’m free every day.” Cas replied.
“How about Monday then? Do you have a place in mind already?”
“Yes, I know a place, down on Montgomery Street. The Jade Café. We could meet at say, two?” Cas asked.
“Sounds great, I’ll be there.” Dean said.
They talked for a few more minutes before Cas’ pain got to be too much and he had to hang up to go lay down. Monday, Dean was at the café ten minutes early, excited and eager to see Cas in person. When the man came walking in he jumped up a bit too eagerly from his seat, waving in greeting to him. Cas smiled as he made his way over and sat down.
“Hello, Dean. It’s very nice to see you again, under much nicer circumstances this time.”
Dean chuckled as he sat back down. “Definitely. You look good. Nice to see you smiling and not in horrible pain.”
“Oh, I’m in pain, trust me, but it’s better with each passing day.” Cas said. A server came and took their order and when she was gone again, he turned his blue eyes on Dean once more.
“You had a gun that day, I remember that much. Are you police as well?”
“Me? No, I’m a mechanic. I just carry because I’ve been robbed in my truck more than a few times.” Dean replied.
“Ah. I think after this I want to get my conceal and carry permit. Tell me about yourself, if you don’t mind. Are you married? Do you have kids?” Cas asked.
“No, I’m single, live alone, no girlfriend, no boyfriend, no kids, not even a dog. I eat too much pie for my own good, which was why I stopped in that day, I wanted some of those mini ones. I sort of forgot all about pie since then.”
“No, really? Well, if you give me a couple more weeks to heal, I would love the opportunity to make one for you, from scratch. I happen to love pie and make a few once in a while. Usually I’ll make like three and pawn them off on my brother and sister, and just keep one for myself. Otherwise I’ll eat them all myself.” Cas laughed. Dean grinned and nodded.
“I’d totally eat them all myself too, I love pie. And I’d love that, if you made one.”
“Ok, any particular flavor?”
Dean shook his head. “Nope, I am an equal opportunity pie lover.”
Cas chuckled. “Good to know. How does dinner at my place sound, and I’ll have fresh homemade apple pie for dessert?”
Dean liked the sound of that.
“That sounds great. But let me bring something. Ice cream to go with it or something to go with dinner.”
“Whatever you want to bring is fine. I’m not quite up to cooking a full meal yet, mostly I’m just throwing things in my crock pot or making quick soups, but I think in another week or so I’ll feel well enough to tinker more in the kitchen, and I’ll appreciate the company.” Cas smiled warmly and Dean was reminded of the pictures the man had on his phone. He was glad to see him able to smile like that again.
“I can help you cook too. I make a fantastic burger, or can you eat those yet?”
“Still on a pretty soft diet, but I’ll let you know when I can have those because I love burgers.” Cas said.
“Awesome.” Dean found himself smiling, and he didn’t care if he looked like an idiot doing it because Cas was smiling right back. He’d made a friend, maybe under the most dire of circumstances, but a friend nonetheless. And maybe the dinner invitation sounded suspiciously like Cas had boldly just asked him out on a date. Whatever, he was going to just roll with it because the man was nice and he was hot. Sometimes things worked out in strange ways, but in the end, it was for the best.