Strings Attached

Chapter 27

Two weeks. Two long, long weeks of being stuck in a hospital, slowly but surely regaining memories. He's also forgetting a lot of new ones due to his concussion, but his amnesia is becoming less of an issue. He's sure he doesn't have all this memories back, but he knows most of them. For example, he still doesn't know exactly how he got to the hospital, and he has no clue how the Winchesters play into his life at all. What he does know is that his life sucks, and that Dean means trouble.

When Castiel finally does leave the hospital, he does so in a wheelchair. He has a cast on his right leg, a boot on his left, and his right arm is in both a cast and a sling. He still has a concussion and a black eye, but it's beginning to fade. He has a bunch of bruised ribs, but fortunately, none are broken. He has bruises and scratches all over his body, and he doesn't know what's new and what isn't.

When Castiel finally gets home, he realizes he has a slight dilemma. He can't go upstairs in a wheelchair, and his bedroom is upstairs. It's late on a Thursday, and though he's been sleeping a lot for the last few days, he'd like to go to sleep now and try to return to his usual sleeping schedule.

"I swear to god, Castiel, if you try to climb those stairs-" Anna begins.

"I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid," Castiel replies. "I'm just... Gonna go sleep on the couch."

He wheels himself into the living room, which is hard with one arm but he manages. He refuses to ask for help, though he gets offers from everyone here. If he gets help, he'll become dependent on it, and if he's dependent on their help, he's dependent on them, and he's already decided he's not going to be dependent on anyone ever again.

Castiel manages to make it to the couch, and he somehow gets out of his wheelchair and onto the couch, using only one hand and one leg. It isn't easy, but it's worth it so he doesn't have to sleep on that chair. He has a feeling he'll be spending too much time in there as it is.

~~

Castiel wakes up at the same time he always does. It's almost as if he has an internal alarm waking him up this early. He slides into his wheelchair and wheels out of the living room to find Michael, Lucifer, and Gabriel eating around the table. The fact that the two college boys eat at the same time as a high schooler will always be strange to him.

"Heya, Castiel," Gabriel greets him.

"Hi," Castiel mutters.

"Dad said to tell you to stay home today," Michael says.

"Where's Dad?"

"Work. He's missed so much lately, he wanted to get a head start."

"Oh." Castiel doesn't really mind that his father wanted to leave early. He doesn't really want to talk, anyway. But what he does mind is that his father left early because of him. He's the reason Chuck has missed work so much lately, and he feels so bad about it.

"So, go back to bed," Lucifer instruct him. "Now. Well, unless you want to eat with us. But if not, you're not going to school no matter how much you ask, so you might as well go back to bed."

"I wasn't going to ask f I could go to school," Castiel replies.

"Oh. Usually, I feel like you do."

"Maybe," Castiel replies, but he knows he does. He'd rather put up with the torture at school than the pity at home. But if he's going to be alone, there's no reason to want to go to school.

"Any life changing memories one back yet?" Gabriel asks.

"Nope."

"It's only a matter of time," Lucifer replies. "And then you're going to look at yourself now and be like 'Damn, I missed a lot.' I think. I don't really know how much you remember now."

Castiel chuckles at the boy. "I don't know how much I remember, either," he admits. "Alright, I'm going back to sleep." He wheels away, returning to the couch and falling back asleep. This is nice. If only he could sleep all day, every day. That would be the life.