Dean groaned as he came to, his head throbbing and his body feeling as if it was on fire. He was greeted by the sights of his little brother, Sam, a sophomore in high school and a worried expression on the teen’s face. As soon as Sam noticed he was awake, he smiled in relief, grabbing Dean’s hand and squeezing it tight, though he remained quiet as to not add pain to Dean’s already injured head.

“Are you okay? I came home and saw you laying on the floor with dad beating the living hell out of you.” Sam asked, concern littering his features. Dean let out a grunt, trying to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Sam. “Don’t get up. You were hurt pretty bad.”

“I...I don’t remember what we were fighting about, but it got pretty bad and….I guess I was being a pretty big dick for him to do that.” Dean said softly, trying vainly to remember. He must have got hit on the head and had a small lapse of his memory. He noticed Sam frown.

“Dean, he beat you to an inch of his life, and you’re trying to say that it was your fault that you pushed him that much? You know how stupid you sound right now?” Sam said in mild annoyance, letting out a sigh and squeezing his brother’s hand again. “I thought I lost you, you jerk.”

“I’m here, Sammy. It’s going to take a lot more to kill me.” Dean said reassuringly, lifting his arm to pat his brother’s head, only to frown when he saw an IV sticking in it. He looked around the room, furrowing his eyebrows.

“How long have I been out?” Dean asked, looking back at Sam with curiosity. Sam shifted in his seat, looking anywhere but Dean.

“Just a couple days.” He finally muttered, and Dean began to notice the dark rings that surrounded his brother’s eyes. He did also look very pale compared to what he normally was. Dean felt his heart wrench in guilt.

“Have you been sleeping at all?” Dean asked, squeezing his brother’s hand, though it felt weird as the muscle clenched around the IV. Sam shook his head hesitantly, and Dean sighed, letting go of Sam’s hand.

“Go home and rest. I’ll be fine by myself for one day.” Dean urged, only to cringe when Sam gave him those puppy eyes. He groaned, cracking under the look like he always did. “Fine, you can stay, but go to sleep. Get on this bed.”

Dean shifted over to one side, despite Sam’s protests, and grabbed the boy, dragging him to the open spot. “Lay down.” Dean commanded, earning a smirk from Sam before the boy sighed in defeat and crawled into bed with his brother. Dean wrapped his arms around him, like he used to do when Sam was little, and sighed, closing his eyes.

It only took a few minutes before he heard Sam's breathing even out and smiled, squeezing Sam gently and affectionately. It warmed his heart to know his brother cared so much.

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Dean woke up to the sound of the hospital door being opened. He blinked his eyes groggily, raising his head so he could see over his brother's sleeping form next to him and saw the nurse slipping. She smiled softly at the both of them, creeping over to Dean's side and whispering.

"I see you're awake Mr. Winchester." She whispered softly, a fond smile on her face. "I'm glad your brother finally got some sleep as well. He's been awake for two days now and I was getting worried that he was going to pass out from exhaustion."

"Thank you for keeping an eye on him while I was out." Dean replied, slowly working his arms out from under Sam. Now that he could see her clearly, he saw that she was an older woman, with hints of gray in her hair, but she was still fair looking. "When can I leave?"

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay with us for a few days. You had internal bleeding and we had to cauterize the wounds. Getting an infection would be very dangerous so we just want to observe to make sure it doesn't happen." She whispered, smiling sympathetically as Dean blanched. Eventually, he just sighed and nodded, looking over at Sam.

"Great, now I've got to convince him to go home. God knows he'll stay here forever if he has to." Dean whispered fondly, smiling softly as Sam stirred in his arms before growing still again. "...what happened to my father? I don't want Sammy going home with him there."

The nurse's smile left her face, and shook her head, a bit of anger showing in her eyes. "He was arrested and sent to prison for child abuse. You're uncle, Bobby Singer, offered to take both of you under his custody." She said, a small blush crossing her face as she mentioned Bobby. Dean grinned knowingly.

"That would be great, Miss...." He trailed off, not knowing her name. She just smiled again, her face lighting up.

"Ellen, dear. Just call me Ellen." She said, patting his hand gently before she stood, surveying him. "I'll go call your uncle and tell him that you accepted his offer." She turned to walk away, but Dean's voice stopped her.

"Could you tell him that he'll need to take Sam home? He won't go by just my word alone." Dean asked, smiling in relief when Ellen nodded. IT would be much easier to Sam home now. "Thank you" He called after her softly as she walked out the door.

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"But Dean. I want to stay here with you." Sam complained, sitting frustratingly on the edge of the bed. Bobby sat in the chair that Sam had been sitting in when Dean first woke up. They've both been trying to get Sam to go with Bobby instead of sleep depriving himself.

"Sam, you're exhausted. You can come back after you rest, but you still have to sleep and go to school. Don't throw this many days away because you want to stay with me, even though I'm perfectly fine." Dean urged, placing a comforting hand on Sam's shoulders. The boy groaned and rubbed furiously at his face, finally sighing and nodding.

"Fine, I'll go, but if something happens, I'm going to kill you for sending me away." Sam warned, his eyes narrowed. Dean grinned but nodded, wrapping one arm around Sam's shoulder in a comforting hug.

"Go on, I'll see you later."

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Dean greatly regretted sending his brother home. It was so boring for the Winchester, he felt like he was going out of his mind. He waited until Ellen had left after checking on his again before pulling out the IV carefully, hanging it over the metal rack before walking over to the door, slowly opening it.

He slipped out, sneaking down the hallways, dodging any nurses that might be hanging around. His body felt weird and stiff, but he figured it was just from being unconscious for two days and kept going, feeling his muscles loosen and begin to work like normal.

A nurse turned the hallway, her eyes focused on the clipboard in front of her. Dean clenched his jaw, not wanting to be caught and opened the door closest to him, slipping in. He watched out the window, ducking out of view when she passed, only to freeze when he heard a deep voice behind him.

"Can I help you?"

Dean turned, ready to face the man that was - surely the size of a truck based on his voice - behind him.  Imagine his shock when he turned, seeing a boy about his age laying there with a slightly curious look on his expression. He blinked, making sure he wasn't hallucinating, before looking around the rest of the room, making sure no one else was there.

"Uh..." Dean arched one eyebrow, looking over the boy. He was obviously a patient with the hospital gown draped around his front, his waist down hidden underneath the blanket. He had messy black hair that fell over his forehead, accenting his bright blue eyes that stood out from his angular face. Dean found himself lost, unable to comprehend that this guy had such a deep voice.

That's when he noticed the fraility of the boy, the way his shoulders jutted out from his skin, how pale he seemed. Paying closer attention, Dean could see small red spots that specked along the boy's skin, and how absolutely tired he seemed. It made the Winchester cock his head and furrow his eyebrows.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked again, his voice making Dean shiver. He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but from the boy's face, he knew he wasn't doing a very good job.

"Just hiding from the nurses. I can't stand being stuck in the hospital beds." Dean replied, his own deep voice seeming to throw the boy for a loop. He handled it better than the Winchester had though, because he smiled at after a minute, although it seemed so small and strained.

"Well, hiding in here isn't going to help. I get checked on every ten minutes." The black-haired boy said evenly. Dean sighed, shaking his head and sitting in the chair beside the bed. He was beginning to feel the fatigue of sneaking around on his still tired body.

"Oh well, I'll just relax here until then." Dean commented, not wanting to admit how tired he actually felt. "What's your name anyways?"

"Castiel Novak." The boy answered, his blue eyes twinkling, although Dean wasn't sure why. Dean felt himself starting to get drawn in by those blue orbs. "And you are?"

"Dean Winchester." Dean answered, holding his had out for Castiel to shake. The boy looked at the hand for a minute, blinking in confusion before he slowly lifted his hand, placing it in Dean's. It was a very weak shake, but Dean didn't mind. He had to be in the hospital for some reason right?

Soon, his thoughts were answered because as soon as Castiel dropped his hand, he turned paler, shivering. Dean was about to ask what was wrong when blood began dripping from the boy's nose and onto his gown in drops that came one after the other. Dean's eyes widened and he stood.

"Castiel?! What's going on?" Dean asked in a slight panic, looking around for tisues. He found them laying on the stand on the other side of the bed and hurried over, grabbing a couple of the fabrics. He held one up to Castiel's nose, catching the blood as he stared at the calm boy.

"Cas?" Dean asked, not realizing he had shortened the boy's name until it seemed to jerk him out of a trance. The black-haired boy slowly looked up, Dean's hand and the tissue following, until he met Dean's eyes.

"This happens all the time." Was all Castiel said, his voice slightly muffled by the tissue. Dean furrowed his eyebrows, wondering in what the hell this guy had if he was just spontaneously sporting bloody noses.

"How do you stop it?" Dean asked as he changed the tissues, the bload starting to soak through the first tissue. He threw the old one away, and Castiel reached up, taking the tissue from Dean's hand and placing it on his nose firmly.

It took several minutes of just staring and silence before Castiel finally released the pressure on his nose. He patted at his nose, and finding no blood, began gently wiping the blood away. It only seemed to smear it through.

"Here, let me get you a wet tissue to wipe that blood off." Dean offered, his worry prominent in his voice as he grabbed a tissue and ran to the bathroom that was sectioned off for the room. He wetted just the corner of it before returning, moving over and wiping away the blood that had remained on his face.  Castiel looked up at him, his eyes filled with gratitude, until Dean finally finished and threw away the tissue.

"Thank you." Castiel mumured, offering Dean a small smile. He laid his head back on the propped up bed, letting out a sigh and resting his head back, his eyes fluttering clothes for just a moment. When they opened again, they grew dull and tired, which made Dean grimace.

"Are you going to be okay? Do you want me to find your nurse?" Dean asked, glancing towards the door. When he looked back, the boy shook his head, running a hand over the skin that was beginning to get a thin film of sweat.

"No, don't bother. It's just side effects of my treatment." Castiel replied, looking up at the ceiling. Dean frowned, tipping his head and furrowing his eyebrows.

"What kind of treatment are you getting to cause this?" Dean asked, leaning on his knees. Castiel looked back at him, his expression how uncomfortable he seemed about this.

"Chemo." Castiel replied, his voice barely above a whisper. Dean's eyes widened as he realized what that meant. "I have Leukemia."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to here that" Dean said softly, all the problems that the boy seemed to have making much more sense now that he knew. He frowned when Castiel looked away, guilt covering his face. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Castiel didn't answer at first. ""I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable." The boy said, shifting uncomfortable in the bed, wiping at his brow again. Dean could tell he was burning up by the red that was beginning to appear on his cheeks.

"Why would I be uncomfortable? You can't help that you're sick." Dean questioned, frowning. Castiel shrugged again, looking up when he heard the door open.

"Mr. Winchester? What are you doing out of bed?" Dean got a sheepish smile on his face as he heard Ellen's voice, slowly turning around and looking at the woman nervously.

"Ah, I was just wanting to stretch my legs. I wasn't trying to run away or anything." Dean replied, rubbing he back of his neck shyly.The nurse sighed in exasperation, shaking her head.

"Well, after I check on Mr. Novak, I'm dragging you back to your room. What are you doing in here anyways? Terrorizing other patients?" Ellen said with a hint of amusement in her voice. Dean protested, but it fell on deaf ears as she moved over to Castiel, brushing her hand over his forehead.

"Oh, Castiel, you have another fever. You seem to be taking the side effects pretty roughly." Ellen said sympathetically, freezing when she saw blood speckling his gown. "Are you bleeding?"

"No, ma'am." Castiel said tiredly, allowing her to look at the skin underneath the splatters of blood. "It was just a nose bleed earlier."

Ellen relaxed and smiled, looking over at Dean. "You never answered why you were in here." The nurse said cautiously, her teasing tone she had earlier gone. She actually seemed worried.

"I was dodging one of the other nurses." Dean answered defensively. He motioned to Castiel after a moment. "Other than that, I was just talking to him."

Ellen studied the Winchester with calculating eyes before she slowly nodded, letting a smile appear on her face. "Okay then. I'm going to get Castiel a new hospital gown, would you do me a favor and wait here with him?" She asked.

"I don't mind." Dean replied, smiling over at Castiel who gave him a grateful look. Ellen nodded and exited the room, leaving them alone. They exchanged glances, trying not to become lost in each others eyes.

"Why are you in the hospital, Dean?" Castiel asked curiously, studying the boy. Dean shifted to get more comfortable in the seat, spreading his legs in a relaxed position.

"My father beat me to an inch of my life." Dean said, a bit of bitterness creeping into his voice. He had been hit by his father before, sure, but that was the first time it had been bad enough to almost kill him. "I had internal bleeding so I have to stay here for a few days just to make sure it doesn't get infected."

Castiel looked a bit disappointed. "Oh, I'm glad you're okay. I have to stay in here for three more weeks for my chemo, then if it goes well, I get treatment over the next several months, though I won't have to stay at the hospital. Hopefully everything goes well." Castiel explained, playing with the tips of his own fingers. Dean felt sorry for the boy and the fact that he had to live in this hospital for such a long time. Dean gave a reassuring smile, hoping that it would comfort the boy.

"Does your family visit you?" Dean asked calmly, tipping his head. Castiel nodded, though the frown was still prominent on his face.

"My father and brother are the only family I have. My father has to work a lot though to take care of us so he can only visit for a few moments. My brother visits after school." Castiel replied softly. "Other than that, I'm alone."

Dean felt his heart twist just a little for the boy. "How about I visit you?" Dean suggested casually. He knew how painful it was to be alone, especially when you needed help. His father had made sure that he was very well aquainted with that feeling.

Castiel looked over at him, hope shining so bright in his eyes, it took Dean's breath away. "Would you?"  Castiel asked, unable to stop that smile that appeared as Dean nodded. Dean decided that he really like seeing the other boy happy.

"Of course I will."

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So this is the first chapter of this story. I hope you are interested and continue to read as I post more chapters. As always, I would greatly appreciate it if you vote and like!