Worlds Collide

Chapter Five

Living For You

The days pass and I get stronger. Near the beginning, I spend a lot of time sleeping, but as I regain my strength, I'm able to stay awake longer. This leads to a lot of boredom on my part. Since I can't stand on my own, I manage to persuade the brothers into taking me to the little garden in a wheelchair.

"Dean..." Sam warns. Dean is racing me down the hall, causing me to giggle from his antics. I'm off the oxygen, but they still had to move my IV bags to the hooks on the chair. The rush of the wind on my face is exhilarating. Laying in a bed for days can get old.

"Aw, come on Sammy. Let her live a little." Dean attempts to persuade, stopping at the elevator. The door opens and Dean carefully backs me in.

"She could get hurt with your reckless driving." Sam replies when the elevator doors close. We're on the fourth floor, but luckily, we never have to stop at any other floor before we reach the lobby. The doors open to reveal just a few visitors. It's still pretty early in the morning, but I was too excited when they finally gave in to my pestering.

Sam elbows his brother out of the way and quickly takes off with me, a shout of "Hey!" from Dean fading behind us. He expertly dodges around the few people milling in the lobby before bursting through the garden doors.

It's not much, but to me it's beautiful. There's a fountain in the middle surrounded by benches. A variety of flowers line the space, with a few trees interspersed to provide ample shade. Dean follows shortly after us and huffs, "What about her getting hurt?"

"I said she could get hurt with your driving. Mine, on the other hand, was completely safe." Sam taunts. They continue to bicker and it becomes a competition on who gets to push me. I know they are doing it to try to cheer me up and I appreciate it.

The only injury that remains from my time with the witch, is my left shoulder. The way she stabbed it made me lose a lot of mobility. I can only move it so far before it locks up and becomes painful. The doctor says that it should heal with time and lots of physical therapy.

Finally, I can stand up on my own. All my physical therapy sessions are really paying off. Sam and Dean walk in from a coffee run and I decide it's time. "I'm checking out." I say.

"What?" Dean questions. "You haven't been released yet."

"Sam said that if I could sit up on my own then I could leave. Guess what, I can sit up and stand just fine."

Dean looks at Sam in surprise. "Did you really say that?"

Sam looks guilty. "I was just trying to prove a point. I didn't think she'd take it seriously."

My face falls at that and I drop back onto my bed with a sigh. "Figures you were lying, that's all y'all do anyway. Guess I really am part of the family." I say dejectedly.

They get hurt looks in their eyes. "Caitlin, it's not like that." Dean says as he sits beside me. "We just want to wait for the doctor's permission to ensure your health. We care about you too much to endanger you."

I turn to him in resentment. "I can heal just as well at the Bunker. Hell, I'll probably heal better without all the stress. Y'all just think I'm weak and helpless, admit it! You don't think I can handle myself!"

"So, what? Can you blame us for being cautious? You almost died, Caitlin! You were in a coma for a month and the doctors were telling us there was a low chance that you'd ever wake up again!" Dean says in a raised voice.

"Well too bad! I'm 20 so I can check myself out AMA and you can't stop me!" I shout angrily as I reach for the call button.

"To hell you will!" Dean says as he grabs my arm. "You're under our protection and I'm not letting you do this!"