Page 70 of All Your Pain

“Bullet wounds hurt like a bitch.” I frown at him, pissed off that he’s making jokes when his friend is in surgery. Then he gives me an odd look and says, “you don't know?”

“Know what?” I stand up but the room spins and I fall back down into the chair.

“You don’t look so good,” he says as he looks at me like I’m about to throw up all over his expensive shoes. “Let me get you something. I need to find the Doc anyway.”

Bones is already walking away before I can answer and a couple of minutes later he returns with a hot chocolate and some snacks. I can only just about manage the drink and can’t bring myself to stomach any food so I leave them unopened on the seat next to me.

I watch as Bones speaks to a doctor down the end of the hall, they’re far enough away that I can only catch glimpses of their conversation.

“He can’t keep doing this, he’s really going to get himself killed,” the Doctor says and I can only assume he’s talking aboutDean. I wonder if he’s the one that’s helped him with all his other injuries over the years.

He looks a few years older than Dean and Bones, just like both of them he’s also insanely attractive. He’s tall, with messy blonde hair and wide shoulders that are barely contained in his sterile white coat. Is that a requirement to be friends with them or something, needing model worthy good looks?

“I need you for a house call as soon as you can,” I hear Bones ask.

“You may pay me but that doesn't mean I can drop everything whenever you need something. " Bones mumbles his response too low for me to hear and the doctor's shoulders drop ever so slightly. "Anything I need to know ahead of time?”

The doctor's eyes flick to me eavesdropping. Bones looks my way and hesitates before saying, “later.”

I look away suddenly embarrassed that I’ve been caught listening, frozen out of a conversation I wasn’t even invited into and instead focus on the doors that Dean left through.

A few minutes later, Bones’s voice startles me out of my thoughts. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that.”

He sits next to me and crosses his ankle over his knee. “This is your first time here, if you’re planning on staying with him it probably won’t be your last.”

“Because of his job? Weren’t you with him tonight? How did it happen?”

Guilt flashes in Bones’s eyes for a second before he blinks it away and sets his jaw tight. He looks at me with curiosity and I do my best to hold his intense, dark gaze. “It’s partly because of his job. He’s been in and out of the hospital more times than I remember. Stitched up more times than Frankenstein's monster yet somehow he’s still standing in one piece.”

“He doesn’t tell me much,” I say, hesitant to ask him for Dean's secrets. I don’t think I’d want to hear them from anyone else anyway. “How did he even make it home tonight?” I ask instead.

Bones shakes his head, “probably stubbornness or he’s just an idiot. I’m guessing either he didn’t know he was bleeding out or he was determined to get home to you before he kicked it.”

Tears sting my eyes and I force them back, biting the inside of my cheek to ground myself. For some reason I don’t feel comfortable crying in front of this man. He reeks of charm but there’s something there that makes me wary. Like he’s spinning a constant web of beauty and deceit, ready to trap an unsuspecting victim in.

“You really care about him,” he says slowly. I look up at him ready to object but I can’t bring myself to do it, I do care about Dean, hell, at this point I’m pretty sure I love him.

“Is it that obvious?”

“I’ve known him for long enough to know he doesn’t let just anyone close to him. You’re the first person I’ve seen cry for him so that must mean something.”

I wipe my cheek and find a tear that managed to sneak its way out.

Bones’s phone buzzes in his pocket and as he checks it his knee bounces like he’s got somewhere else he needs to be.

“He’s got you now so I’m sure he’ll be fine,” he says abruptly. “I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“You're leaving?” I ask as he stands up. “What am I supposed to do? What do I say if someone asks questions again?”

“Don’t worry. No one will bother you. I’ve made sure they’ll tell you straight away what’s happening. If you need anything ask for Doctor Vincent. The best thing you can do for Dean now is be here when he wakes up.”

Then with a small smile he leaves and I’m left to anxiously wait by myself.

28

DEAN

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