West Coast

Chapter Twelve

One month

Cas woke up every morning and read the notes on his whiteboard. He took Hoagie for a walk after breakfast, and worked on the garden during the day.

After the second time burning something in the oven, Cas went up to Jody's.

'Come in, sweetie, it's good to see you,' Jody said when she saw him. 'Alex is at work, I'm afraid.'

'I actually wanted to talk to you,' Cas said, sitting at the table.

'Oh, okay. Shoot.'

Cas fidgeted nervously. 'I need your help with something. You've already done so much for me, so if you don't want-'

'What is it, honey?'

'I was thinking, it might be better to make food that can be cooked in the microwave,' said Cas. 'That way, if I can't get to it, it stops on its own, and then nothing will catch fire.'

Jody smiled widely. 'That's a great idea,' she said. 'You want some of these cookies?'

'Sure.'

Cas was getting better at getting himself somewhere soft whenever he felt a seizure coming on, but he wasn't always quick enough. He began to accumulate bruises, and a couple of grazes from when he was outside. He listed the occurrences as best he could, though he was often too foggy to get down the exact time.

He did notice that Hoagie had started scratching and whining at the doors whenever he had a particularly bad one, and running to Jody's house if they were already outside.

'Are you trying to get help for me?' Cas murmured as they lay on the floor together.

Hoagie whined. He had lost his usual energetic manner since Dean had left. 'Is this what you were like when I was asleep?'

Hoagie huffed and lay his head on the ground.

'I miss him too.'

Cas rested on the floor a little while longer, then called Sam.

'Hey, Sam, I have an idea. I want to put in a dog door for Hoagie, but I don't think I should be handling any power tools. Can you help me with it?'

' Sure, I'll get some supplies and be over at the weekend.'

'See you then.'

Cas, however, forgot to make a note of it, and was surprised when Sam turned up with a toolbox and the dog door he was going to install.

'It's okay,' Sam laughed as Cas apologised profusely for forgetting. 'Really, Cas, it's fine. Just change out of your PJs and we can get started.'

Cas did so and made Sam a coffee before they started.

'Which door did you want this on?' Sam asked.

'The side door,' Cas told him.

'All right, let's go.'

Sam made Cas put on some plastic goggles, then started pulling out the tools he would need.

'How's Dean doing?' Cas asked as he held up a level for Sam.

'A lot better,' said Sam, tracing the outline of the dog door. 'He got his one month chip yesterday.'

'That's great,' Cas smiled. 'Has he been talking to Benny?'

'Yeah, Benny's over almost every day.' Sam said, his smile faltering.

Cas frowned. 'That's not so great.'

'Well, hey, whatever works, I guess,' said Sam, resuming his smile.

'Yes, you're right.'

'How are you doing, anyway?'