West Coast

Chapter Fifteen

Cas packed his clothes and Hoagie Jr into his bag, and swung Dean's jacket around his shoulders. He grabbed his rolled up tube of paintings. He had decided to keep the ones he'd painted of Hoagie, Dean, and Gabriel, but left the rest behind.

Meg was waiting in the doorway and smiled at him. 'Ready to go?' she asked.

'I think so,' said Cas, taking one last look around the room.

He followed Meg out of the ward and into the reception area. The doctor he'd seen when he came in was there, as well as Penny.

'We'll just wait for Dean and then we'll do your exit assessment, okay?' said Penny.

Cas nodded, shifting on his toes in anticipation. He kept his eyes fixed on the doors, waiting with his bag clutched in his fingers.

The seconds ticked by, stretching on forever, until the door finally opened and Dean came inside with a gust of cold air.

Cas's heart soared the moment he saw Dean, and Dean grinned at him. Cas watched him walk over, rubbing his hands together. His nose and cheeks were red, and his hair windswept.

'Hello, Dean,' Cas smiled, loosening his grip on his bag, and relaxing his shoulders.

'Hey,' Dean sniffed. 'It's cold out there.'

'It looks it.'

'Is everyone ready?' the doctor asked, holding open the door to his office.

'Sure, let's go,' said Dean.

'I'll wait here,' Meg smiled.

Cas grabbed Dean's hand as they went it. It was cold, but Cas squeezed it, and Dean rubbed the back of Cas's hand with his thumb.

'All right, let's see,' said the doctor, sitting behind his desk with Cas's file.

Penny sat in a chair next to it with her own copy.

'Well, first of all, Cas, we're all very happy with your progress here,' said the doctor, flipping through the pages of the file. 'I like what I see in these reports.'

'Thank you.'

'How are you feeling generally?'

'Good,' said Cas. 'Everything's a lot clearer now. I'm not sure if my memory's any better, but my hallucinations are gone.'

'Excellent. And your compulsions?'

'Under control.'

Penny smiled and scribbled on her notes.

'Okay then, before I let you go, let's just have a talk through the next steps. I've discussed it with Dean a little, but I thought we'd square it all away.

'For the moment, I don't think it's necessary to reassess your diagnosis, it seems pretty consistent with your last episode. I want you to keep in close contact with your regular doctor as you start to reduce your dose, and stick to your sessions with Penny. Once you're completely off them, I'll do another assessment, but I don't have any further concerns at this point.'

Cas nodded.

'Are you nervous about going home?' Penny asked.

Cas glanced at Dean. 'Not at all,' he said. 'I'm ready.'

'Sounds good to me. Any questions?'

'Not that I can think of.'

'No, I'm good,' said Dean.

'Call your doctor if you do think of anything.' He handed Dean the discharge papers and stood up. 'It's been a pleasure to have you, Cas, but I hope we don't see each other again.'