Chapter Text
The sound of drops falling rhythmically into the IV was the only noise in the room. Claire was asleep and Cas was reading keeping the book with one hand on his lap, having the other busy holding the girl's one. Cas heard the phone vibrating in his trench coat pocket, he closed the book and, without leaving Claire's hand, he took the phone. There was one message from Dean who told him they were outside.
"Claire-Bear?" He whispered moving a blonde strand from her face.
The girl moved in her sleep and opened slowly her eyes.
"I'm sorry I woke you up, but I didn't want to leave you alone without telling you. I'm going out for some minutes, okay?" She nodded still sleepy.
"When can I leave?"
"I don't know, baby, but I'm going to ask someone that, when I go out." He placed a kiss on her forehead and left the room.
"Excuse me, Nurse Taylor" Cas approached the nurse that had changed Claire's IV earlier "Claire was wondering when she could go home"
"You can call me Gracianne, Mr Novak. Claire will have to stay tonight for observation, but if everything will be alright, tomorrow morning she'll be discharged."
"Thank you, Nu- Gracianne."
She smiled and entered one room while Cas headed for the exit.
"Hey, Cas, we're here." Sam voice arrived from behind his back.
"Hi, thanks for coming" he approached the two boys and hugged his giant friend.
"Hey, babe" Dean took Cas inside his arms as soon as his brother released him.
"Cas, do you want something? A coffee or else?" Sam wanted to leave the two of them alone.
"Oh, thank you Sam. I'd really appreciate it" he had some tears in his eyes.
"Dean?" The man nodded and Sam entered the hospital, directed to the cafeteria.
"How is Claire? How are you?" Dean asked, sitting down on a bench and dragged down Cas with him.
"She seems fine, they did a scan cause they were afraid something happened when she hit her head, but they told me everything is alright. She has a IV in her arm, for some painkillers and something else. I hope some nourishment too, sometimes, lately, I think she doesn't eat enough, too caught up in other things." He rubbed his temple and eyes "They are keeping her overnight for observation" he added at the end.
"And you?" Dean caressed his cheek, moving the tip of his fingers on his hair.
"I... I don't know, I'm still scared and confused."
"Have you two talk?" Cas shook his head.
"She'd mostly slept. Can we go inside, now? I had told her I'd be gone only for few minutes"
"Sure. I'll text Sam the room number. Can I give you a kiss first?" Cas nodded, a little smile on his lips.
They shared a sweet, delicate kiss and, when they parted, Dean dried the small tears in Cas' eyes with his thumb before leaving a kiss under both of those blue pearls.
"Claire?" Cas opened the door and looked inside to see if his daughter was awake "Oh, you're awake, you can't fall asleep again or are you be-"
"Why the hell did you bring him?"
"Claire!" Cas said without raising his voice.
"Leave it, Cas. It's okay, I'm waiting outside. Uncle Sammy is here too, can I let him in or would you rather have him join me outside?"
"If in the meantime he has not become a murderous madman like you, he can come in."
"Awesome." Dean rolled his eyes and closed the door behind him.
"Claire, why do you have to do that?"
"Just because he's your boyfriend, I don't have to like him."
"No, you don't, but he came here to see how are you. They dropped their job to stay clos-"
"Did my incident interrupt his latest loan sharks' massacre ?"
"Baby, I'm sorry you had to witness what he had done at your friend Dustin's foster father... and the others" he tried to step aside the thought of what one those men had almost done to his baby girl not to agitate Claire "but I've told you he took the Mark of Cain to stop the demon Abaddon. I don't like the decision he made, along with his little buddy Crowley, either b-"
"Are you jealous, pops?" She smirked.
"But" he continued ignoring her, even though she was not wrong "he's trying his best to control the mark, not to be guided by its malignant force. He was able to reigniting his humanity when Metatron turned him into a Prince of Hell, I am confident that he will succeed in this venture as well."
"I thought it was Sam's injection of blood that made him come back to his 'normal' self" she used the air quotes and, although the intent was not kind, it made Cas smile.
"You're right, but I'm sure a good push from inside helped"
"If you are convinced of this" she rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone to check the messages.
Someone knocked on the door and Sam's face appeared.
"May I come in?"
Cas looked at Claire and she she nodded, without stopping scrolling her phone.
"Your boyfriend can come in too" she said nonchalantly.
"Thank you, baby" he placed a kiss on her forehead "Sam, tell Dean to come inside."
Sam gave Cas the coffee cup and made a gesture to his brother to enter the room.
The hunter walked inside the hospital room, closed the door and leaned against the wall.
"Hey Claire, how are you feeling?" Sam asked
She moved her eyes from her phone screen on Sam then on the IV and lastly on Sam again, to underline the obvious.
"Ye, it's not pleasant. It's been a while since I'd had one attached to my arm, but I still remember the sensation. Does it hurt?"
"No. Peck of having an angel dad"
"Ye, your dad saved me from pain more times than I can count. Well, he actually saved me from death more times than I can count."
"It's nice to have an angel always saving your ass, isn't it?"
"Claire!"
"No, Cas, she's right. We've never been grateful enough."
"Well, I think Dean had been, don't you?"
"Oh, I'm a whiz in that field"
Claire made a puke face.
"Dean! Does that sound like something to say?" Sam said dumbstruck.
"She started"
"She sta- do i need I remind you that she is a teenager who is in the hospital attached to an IV and you are an adult?"
"On the subject, what happened to you?" Dean moved from the wall and approached the bed, ignoring his brother's words.
Claire said nothing, but she returned looking at her phone. Cas sat next to her and started caressing her long hair.
"You don't have to talk now"
"Or in front of us, we can leave if you're more comfortable" Sam added, throwing a glace at his brother before he could open his mouth
"But, baby, I'm worried. They found you passed out in an alley outside of a bar, in Oklahoma! You hit your head, you almost injured your back, I-I..." Cas was feeling the tears forming at the edges of his eyes, but he tried to stop them.
He felt an hand landed on his shoulder, Dean had got closer, trying to be helpful.
"I was looking for Dev."
"What?" Cas was taken aback.
"Who's Dev?" Dean asked.
"Dev is Claire's best friend. He runned away four months ago, leaving only a letter in Claire's locker, where he said he could no longer live with his family. Dev is a wonderful guy, he's a little shy, very polite and incredibly intelligent, but he has not been very lucky in life. His family came from New Delhi, both his parents were doctors, well his father still is, a pediatric surgeon, his mother died when he was 9. I haven't met her, but who knew her, as person and as a doctor, said she was kind and brilliant. When Dev was in Freshman years, his father remarried and the woman... well she and Dev didn't get along."
"She's a monster, dad! She doesn't love Mr. Padukone, she's only after his money, and she treats Dev like shit, she's verbally abusing and I suspected not only verbally. Dev couldn't open up completely, I think he was ashamed."
"The police did something?" Sam intervened.
"For them, he left of his own free will and two weeks after he disappeared, at the beginning of January, he turned 18, so he was no longer a missing minor. But I found something!"
"And that something was in that alley?" Dean asked.
"I met this man, in the bar, but he didn't want to talk to me, so I followed him into the alley, I'm sure he's hiding something." She made a pause and then with a lower tone she added "He pushed me against the dumpsters."
"I'm gonna kill him." Dean said feeling the mark burning on his arm.
"Dean!" Cas and Sam said in unison.
"What is his name?"
"And do you think I'm going to tell you?"
"He have to pay for what he had done"
"Dean, I think it's better if you and Sam wait for me at the motel." Cas said standing up and placing a hand on Dean's right arm.
"I'm gonna text you the address and the room" Sam said "Get a rest" he said Claire.
He touched lightly her hand, but she grabbed it, looking at him with two big eyes, that showed her young age. He got closer and placed a kiss between her blonde hair.
"Have a good night, little fox"
"Don't eat too much salad, Uncle Moose"
"Call me if you need anything" Dean said before leaving a kiss on his boyfriend's lips. "See you tomorrow" he said over Cas' shoulders, looking at Claire.
"Alright, see you tomorrow" she answered, this time without irony in the voice.
Dean stayed still uncertain whether to give her a kiss, but he decided to leave without.
"I think they're going to bring you dinner soon" Cas said looking at the time on his phone "I'm afraid they don't serve french fries here, but, if you want, tomorrow I'll take you to eat them."
Claire made a small smile and thanked.
"Are you tired? I ask if you can eat later, if you want to take a nap now."
"No, thanks pops. I'm hungry, actually, even if I don't think the house offers who knows what delicacies."
"I'm glad, that you're hungry I mean, in this period I- never mind, it's not important right now"
"Go on. Please" she added.
"Lately, I felt like you weren't eating enough, as if your head was too busy to remember. I was getting worried, even if, at least, now, probably, I know the reason."
"I wasn't starving myself, if that's what you were afraid of."
"I'm happy to hear that."
The door opened and a man and a woman, wearing a white uniform and a hairnet in the hair, entered with a multi-layer cart.
"Good evening, we're going to place your dinner here, miss." They took one of the tray and placed it on the table near the window.
"Thank you very much" Cas said before they left for continue the tour.
"Do you want me to move the tray on your bed?"
"No, I'd like to sit at the table. Can you help me stand up?"
"Of course, baby." He moved to the bed and helped her out of the bed from the side where the pole was "The IV seems almost over, maybe they're gonna remove it for the night."
"I hope so." Claire looked at what they had given her.
There was a flat plate with chicken, peas and boiled potatoes.
"The potatoes are there, eventually." Cas commented and Claire raised her head from the plate and looked at him bad.
"I think it's not bad after all. But I still want my fries tomorrow."
"As many as you want, with as much ketchup as you want."
"My favourite vegetable." She smiled
Next to the main dish there was a banana and a chocolate pudding, along with a bottle of water.
"I have to go the the toilet first. Don't worry, I can do it and I'm not going to close the door completely."
"I'll wait here, guarding your dinner." He moved the other chair from the side of the bed to the short side of the table.