Honey Apple Pie

Chapter Ten

'I'll take your word for it,' the doctor said, smirking slightly. 'Now, let's take a look at your blood work...' She flipped to another page, analysed it for a moment and frowned. 'What was the last thing you ate?' she asked.

'I had a hotdog yesterday.'

'And before that?'

Cas thought back and his heart dropped. 'Some oatmeal,' he said quietly.

'Uh-huh, and when was that?'

Cas mumbled something.

'Sorry, what?'

Cas cleared his throat. 'About four days ago.'

'Oh, okay. Mystery solved in that case, you just had a little drop in your blood sugar,' she said, checking the notes on the last page on her clipboard. She looked up at him and hesitated, glancing at Dean and Gabriel. 'It says here that you used to take Citalopram, is that correct?'

Cas inhaled sharply, then sighed. 'Yes, I did. I came off it years ago, though.'

'I see. I'm going to refer you back to your GP, so you can discuss whether or not you need to go back on it, and also to see if we can't do anything about that blood pressure.'

Cas nodded and winced, his head throbbing.

'All right, so I'll get someone to come in and get that cannula out, and then you can go home. Make sure you rest up and get something to eat, and we can avoid this trip a second time, all right?'

'Thank you, doctor,' said Cas. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

'You didn't tell me you came off your meds,' Gabriel said.

'Yeah, I didn't tell you I started taking vitamins either. It's not a big deal.'

'Come on, Cas-'

'Don't.' Cas finally looked at Dean, who was keeping a close watch on him. {Thank you. I'm not angry. You did the right thing}

Dean grimaced. {You scared me, you know?}

{I'm sorry. That's the last thing I wanted}

Dean put a hand on Cas's shoulder, squeezing in gently.

{Could I have a moment with my brother?} Cas asked.

{Of course} Dean stood and brushed down his jeans, then left the room.

'Well, this is awkward,' said Gabriel, with a nervous laugh.

'Where are you staying?'

'What?'

'Clearly you never went home. It would have taken you too long to get here, so where are you staying?'

'Just at a hotel in town.'

'Why? Where's Mom? You didn't bring her, did you?'

'No, she's at home now. I stayed 'cause...'

'Because what?'

'I wanted to talk to you, I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to say.'

'You could start with "sorry".'

'Oh my God, Cas, I am. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I should've known better than to let her convince me everything would be fine.' Gabriel grabbed Cas's hand and shuffled closer in his chair. 'She made it seem so easy, that she would come here and you guys would talk, and we would all be a family again...'

'Gabriel-'

'But I was wrong and I exposed you again. I'm sorry, I really am. I made a mistake, but you're my baby brother and it would kill me if you stopped talking to me too.'