"Woah, Beckett, what happened to you?"
A snicker from Castle. A quick Look made him purse his lips and blow out his cheeks in a show of silence.
"Fell down the stairs, Ryan." she replied, not bothering to keep the irritation out of her voice. The pain meds made her nauseous, so she'd left them on the sink and was paying for it now.
"Yeah, while she was—"
"Shut it, Castle."
"Broken?" Ryan queried, tactfully changing course.
"Fractured."
"Yeah, a twisted fracture!" Castle broke in. "You should have seen the x-ray, it was—"
Esposito had arrived. "Woah, woah, Castle got to see your x-rays and not us? Did something happen last night or is there something we need to know about you two?" He eyed them significantly and Kate felt her face heating.
"Castle was—nearby. So I let him drive." She half-muttered, snatching her coffee and taking a swig, signaling the conversations end.
Castle ignored it, as usual. "Only after I beat her to the driver's seat. She was still going to try to drive on that thing. After it had swollen to the size of a softball."
"You would," from Esposito.
"Yes, I would, it wasn't the size of a softball—"
"Yeah, it was! And all purple and bruised, and it had these funky little bubbles—"
"Castle—"
"Wait," Ryan interjected. "So, last night, you fell down the stairs when Castle was here."
"Yes."
"So…you were taking the stairs at the precinct?"
"Not…exactly…"
"So you were on a case?" Esposito queried.
"….yeah."
"And you just fell down the stairs?"
"Yes."
Castle snorted.
"So, 'no'."
"I did."
"Beckett, where's the murder board from yesterday?"
"We…put it away."
"So you got the guy."
"Yeah."
"Last night?"
"…yes."
"Beckett?" Ryan looked scared to open his mouth.
"What?" she snapped.
"One of his charges was resisting arrest...did he….?" He trailed off under her glare. Castle blew air out from his tightly compressed lips and waves his arms dramatically in frustration, dying to tell the story.
Esposito was already snickering. "I can't believe it. You fell down the stairs chasing a suspect and broke your foot. I always knew—"
"That's not—"she protested, but was drowned out by Castle's burst of hysteria, tears of mirth running down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry—it really wasn't funny at the time—"
Esposito and Ryan were laughing along now, Ryan trying unsuccessfully to hide it.
She spotted the perfect weapon, left under her desk from the fiasco the night before, and chucked it at Castle's head. He caught it and held it up for Ryan and Esposito's inspection, causing another round of laughter.
It was a broken heel.
