Castle sat in the awkward plastic chair that the hospital provided him, watching the monitor next to Beckett's bed show the steady beat of her heart. The lines was making a constant beep sound, counting the amount of times blood pumped from her chest. But to him, it was like hearing the angels from heaven singing a song they'd written just for him.
Two hours ago, he'd been standing in almost this exact same place, staring at the exact same monitor, and watching it flat line.
"Sir, you can't get in there right now." The woman had told him, "She literally just got out of surgery."
"I don't care." He snarled. "I don't care!"
She was holding him back, trying to stop him from proceeding into the hospital room where Beckett was laying, unconscious, alone in a room of doctors who were poking and prodding her. He wanted to scream, cry out for her. To tell her that he hadn't abandoned her- that he was here. Not that it would have made a difference; they said she wouldn't wake up for awhile.
"Her heartbeat is still unstable." The woman tried to explain, "Having you in there will only make it worse."
But he was stronger than her. And in one great shove, he pushed past her, making a beeline to the door he knew she was behind. The nurse was screaming for someone to stop him, and doctors began trying to snatch him, but he flew past them, swinging open the door. Startled doctors looked up at him, but most just continued to move around her bed frantically.
Castle watched in horror as the monitor began beeping out of control. A doctor looked up and said, "Dammit! She's in VFIB. Charge to 100."
Another, shorter doctor, brought out two paddles and placed them on her chest.
"CLEAR!" He'd shouted. And then there was a loud noise, as a shock went through her body. Her chest rose up and then fell back down to the bed.
"Charge to 250."
"CLEAR!" And they shocked her again.
This time, the loud beeping stopped and became one long loud beep, that still rang in Castle's ears hours after.
It meant there was no beating. Her heart had stopped.
"NO!" Castle cried. And only now did all of the doctor's focus their attention on him.
"Get out sir. NOW." One of them called, and people began grabbing him from behind.
"NO, KATE!" He shrieked, "NO!"
And then he heard it. The monitor began beeping again. The doctors all gave a sigh of relief and one of them ordered for more meds to be put in her. But Castle hardly heard anything. He had dropped to the ground in an effort to get away from the doctor's trying to drag him away.
He hadn't left the room since. And the doctor's had tried to convince him to leave. That she was still unstable, and that there was a chance it could happen again. But he didn't. He wouldn't.
Only then did Castle realize that there was another ticking noise. It was coming from somewhere else. Tick… tick… tick…
He'd heard the noise before. And suddenly his heart dropped to the ground. He knelt down, and peered cautiously under the bed.
Tick…. Tick… tick…
A bomb was ticking in rhythm with Beckett's heart. And for the first time ever, Castle hated to say that Beckett's heart was ticking very, very steadily.