Song Remains the Same

Chapter 14: It's a Terrible Life

"You took away my world."
- Fastball

"I see your giant snickers bar and raise you a cup of room temp hospital Jello," Dean said, plunking the aforementioned item down onto his bedside tray.

Alex gave him a deadly serious gaze over the top of her playing cards. "Dangerous stakes, Winchester. You sure?"

He matched her theatrics with a challenging eyebrow shrug. "I'm sure. Hit me."

She laid down her hand with a triumphant smirk and he grimaced as she announced, "Full house. Boom!"

"Dammit." Dean sighed, throwing down his hand in disappointment. "Three of a kind. You win this round, Pipsqueak."

"Ah... victory..." Alex said with a note of comic uncertainty. She took the Jello and squinted at the wiggly red substance—her hard-earned prize—as Dean sighed restlessly and settled back against the pillows.

"I am so damn ready to get outta here." He sounded mostly exasperated but a little forlorn too.

Alex glanced at him sympathetically. It had been about a week and a half since he'd been here at the hospital. "Well, the doc said if all the tests came back normal, we can leave tomorrow." He impatiently rolled his eyes. "One more day. We got this," she said through a chuckle as she picked up the playing cards and began to smoothly shuffle them. "Another round?"

Dean shook his head. "Nah, I'm poker-ed out."

Alex stopped for a second. "Okay, who are you and what'd you do with Dean?" She received a glancing smile from her brother. Honestly, she was tired of poker too. There had been lots of poker, blackjack, and bad daytime TV the past week or so. But there'd also been sleep which was nice. She'd been here almost every day and night—bringing in eats from fast food places, fussing over him, and just keeping him company. She would leave when visiting hours were over and then sneak back in at night to sleep in the chair beside him. After his breakdown the first night there, Alex knew that he needed her there, even if it was just her physical presence. That, and she didn't want to be alone. They'd always been close to each other like that. Sam too, once.

They hadn't brought up any of it again—not the apocalypse, not Alastair, not Castiel, not Dean's feelings. Alex knew that sooner or later she'd have to tell him what really happened to Alastair. He wasn't going to like it. As if reading her mind, Dean cleared his throat. "So, heard from Sammy today?"

Alex pursed her lips to the side, her good mood fading. She stuck the cards back in their box roughly. "Called earlier and said he's on his way back." She felt sour recalling how their brother had left almost a week ago on a whim. Bobby had come to visit Dean and mentioned he was headed to Rapid City next to take care of a ghost. Sam had all but jumped at the opportunity. In Alex's eyes, leaving when Dean needed him most.

"Why didn't you go with him, again?" Dean asked. "Pretty sure they could've used your help. And at least you wouldn't be stuck in this dump."

"Those two didn't need help with one little vengeful spirit," Alex said, trying to sound lighter than she felt. She sounded false even to herself. "And I wasn't gonna leave you to be bored all by yourself."

Dean tilted his head to the side, scrutinizing her. "Okay, Al. What aren't you telling me?"

Dammit. He'd been off painkillers for a couple of days now and was really getting his clarity back. She huffed and looked down—she guessed it was time to come clean. She shrugged, reluctant. "Sam got mad at me because I wouldn't go with him. But I wasn't gonna leave you, Dean. Not now. Not after..." she trailed off, thinking better of bringing it up. "Well, he and I... we had another fight. He said I was playing favorites and he couldn't be around me... blah, blah, blah, same old crap."