This is my first attempt at creative writing. Castle is struggling to finish his latest novel with the stress of worrying about how Beckett is doing in the hospital.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Spoilers for 3x24.
Nikki turned back to look at Rook. Signaling him with her eyes to stay put. She silently crept up the last 3 steps to the 5th floor landing. She quickly checked the hallway before smoothly turning to the right to find apartment 507. Working on a tip, Nikki prepared to knock on the door.
From where he stood on the stairs Rook saw the light reflecting from the room at the end of the hall. It seemed out of place. He took a step up to get a better view. Just as the reflection made sense, the shot rang out….
Rick stopped typing and rubbed his eyes. He had done it again. With an exasperated sigh he pushed his chair away from the desk and closed his eyes. He was reliving the nightmare of the day at the cemetery while he slept, did it need to haunt him when he was trying to work too? He wondered how Kate was. He knew she must still be unconscious or one of the nurses would have called him, but his thoughts never seemed to stray far from her. He wished he could just camp out at the hospital, but Josh was there. Josh belonged there, he didn't. Maybe, it was that thought that haunted him the most, Kate telling him to leave not just her apartment, but her life. She went so far as to ask Montgomery to have him removed as her partner. But, she did smile at him at the funeral. Rick felt a warm flutter in his chest, but then it was quenched as he remembered she smiled at him just before he let her get shot.
Jumping up from his chair Rick tried to quiet his runaway thoughts. He needed a drink. A stiff one. He had been trying to finish his newest Nikki Heat book for a month now. And Gina had started calling him at least once a day. He deliberately never answered, but he was soon going to have to talk to her, at least to keep her from coming over and banging on his door demanding a finished manuscript. But every time Nikki started to take two steps away from Rook, he immediately started to type a scene where she was getting shot. He needed an ending to his book, but the problem was he just didn't know how the story ended. Kate was still in the hospital and still unconscious. Should he end the Nikki Heat series? Or could he keep writing if Kate… No he wasn't going to even think it.
Damn it, where was his drink? Did he even pour it yet? Rick went to the liquor cabinet and poured himself two fingers of bourbon. It wasn't usually his drink of choice, but he needed something a little stronger today. He wanted something that would burn going down his throat.
Rick slowly walked back to his study to review what he had just typed. He wished he knew the end of the story. He stopped short and grabbed his phone from his hip and dialed the number for the hospital before he could talk himself out of it. When the receptionist answered, Rick asked to be put through to the nurse's station in the ICU. He just needed to check on her before he could focus on his book again.
"ICU, how may help you?" A slightly smoky sounding voice answered the phone.
Ah, he knew that voice. "Hey Regina, this is Richard Castle." Rick said putting on his publicity charm. "I hope you are doing well today, I am calling to check in and see how Detective Beckett is doing."
"Richard good to talk to you. I think she is doing better. Her vitals are starting to come up and we are weaning her off of the medication. It is really up to her now if she is going to come back to us." Regina paused before adding in a hushed voice. "Dr. Davidson is scheduled for a 6 hour surgery this afternoon. He needs to scrub in at 2pm. It might be good if someone were to come by and visit while he is busy."
Rick felt his heart leap. He hadn't been able to visit Kate for 3 days because motorcycle boy rarely left long enough to allow him to see her without seeing him too. As calmly as he could he responded, "Thank you Regina. If you are there around three today, I will see you then."
"Yup, I am here till 10 tonight. Want me to call you if anything changes with the doctor's schedule?"
"Regina, you are a doll. Thanks."
Feeling at peace for now Rick was able to return to his desk and reread what he had been working on.
From where he stood on the stairs Rook saw the light reflecting from the room at the end of the hall. It seemed out of place. He took a step up to get a better view. Just as the reflection made sense, the shot rang out….
What was this that he couldn't stop writing about Beckett or rather Nikki being shot. Rick hit the delete key and began again.
She quickly checked the hallway before smoothly turning to the right to find apartment 507. Nikki knocked on the door.
"What can I do for you dear" a sweet little grandmother asked as she cracked open the door to find Nikki holding out her badge. This was not who she expected, so she signaled Rook to come join her while she holstered her gun.
"Hello Ma'am. I am Detective Heat, and this is my partner Jameson Rook. We are looking for a Samuel Prichard" Nikki explained.
Ahhh, the elderly woman sighed, "That would be my grandson. I am afraid he has never had the best taste in friends. What has he done?"
"We believe he may be a witness to a murder we are investigating."
"Is he a suspect too?"
"Not at this point. We just want to talk to him."
"Well he isn't here right now, but I could write down the address where he works."
"Thank you Ma'am that would be helpful."
As Rook and Heat turned to go something glinted…
Rick slammed his laptop shut. He had started to do it again. Forget the fact that currently his writing was second rate at best. He had no idea where the story was headed. He dropped his head into his hands and sighed.
I am not sure if this is worth pursuing. Like I said, I have never tried my hand at writing anything before. For the last couple of days this has been bouncing around in my brain though. After reading several other people's interpretation of the great moments after Castle's confession, I felt like I needed to look at this summer from Castle's POV if he wasn't spending day and night in the hospital with Beckett. Was he struggling with where they left things. Let me know if you want to read more.