So here is my take on what happens next in this incredibly heart-pounding, seat-clenching cliffhanger (quite evil of them if you ask me). I've actually been writing and re-writing and adding to this since the finale. I just re-watched it yesterday and it had me spring into action to finish it...or at least end it to where I can either leave it or continue on. Depends on how you guys feel about it and how my muse feels about adding more down the road. So yeah, enjoy and comments/reviews are greatly appreciated!
"Please Kate, you have to wake up. You can't leave me like this. I said it. I finally said it. You have to wake up, please." Castle pleaded as he was poised at the edge of his seat beside Beckett's hospital bed, grasping her hand between both of his.
She wasn't out of the woods yet and she'd been unconscious for two days and counting. Castle had been at her side day and night, often falling asleep in his chair, hunched over the side of her bed. Ryan and Esposito brought coffee like clockwork. Alexis and Martha visited daily as well, not only to check up on Kate but also on Castle's condition – which was declining due to his worry and lack of proper sleep.
They tried to get him out of the room at first but they soon gave up, realizing it was a lost cause. He wouldn't leave. Not now. Not after all that had happened. He loved her. They all knew it long before he would even admit it to himself. But he finally said it. Took a near-fatal gunshot wound to her for him to come out and say it, but he did...at long last. So they opted to be more supportive and his daughter and mother brought food and fresh clothes to accompany his ongoing caffeine rush.
On night three she stirred. Castle had been hunched over the side of her bed, asleep, a hand resting next to hers. Her fingers twitched and extended, finding the side of his hand immediately. Her eyes shifted beneath their lids then slowly fluttered open to find herself laying in a hospital bed. After taking a quick glance around the room, her eyes shifted to the man asleep beside her. Castle.
How long had she been out? How long had he been there with her? Did he really say what she thought she heard before blacking out? Questions rattled her head as did the throbbing of a headache. But she couldn't stop the small smile that crept onto her face when her eyes settled on him.
"…Castle?" Her voice rasped at barely above a whisper. "Castle, wake up." She moved her shaky hand to his face, fingertips resting upon his cheek.
He twitched at her touch, letting out a small groan and clutching her bed sheets.
"Castle…" She rasped again.
"Hmm?" He hummed sleepily, eyes still closed. She withdrew her hand from his face. It took him a few moments to realize it was her voice. But once he did, his eyes shot open and he sat up in alarm. "Kate!" He looked at her in astonishment. "You're awake!"
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Castle. Can I have some water?" She sounded weak and groggy which didn't come as a surprise given her state.
Castle immediately fumbled around for a cup on her bedside table and proceeded to pour some water from the pitcher beside it then carefully hand it to her.
She sipped the refreshing liquid, thankful of its cool temperature to help ease the sting of her parched throat. Once she was satisfied, she placed the cup back on the table then returned her attention to Castle. "How long was I out?"
"Three days." He seemed unnerved with his own answer and his voice and gaze dropped before he continued. "We were afraid you wouldn't wake up. The doctor said there was a chance you wouldn't…you lost a lot of blood and weren't responding for awhile there."
"Hey! Welcome back, Beckett!" Ryan said cheerfully as he approached her bed, followed directly after by Esposito.
"Yeah, glad to see you're awake finally. Had us worried there for a bit."
She smiled at the pair. "Thanks, guys. Good to see you two."
"Brought you some more caffeine, Castle. Figured you could use it." Ryan handed over the styrofoam cup of coffee.
Castle gladly accepted the coffee and took a few sips of it right away, wanting to shake off the drowsiness as soon as possible. "Very much appreciated."
"No problem."
"I'll be right back." Castle got up and walked out of the room, needing to stretch his legs a bit and relieve himself. It had been a long day, just like the previous two.
"I'm really glad you guys came." Beckett smiled.
"Of course we came, we've been here every day to check up on you and Castle." Esposito spoke.
"Castle? He's been here every day?"
"All day, every day."
"He hasn't left the hospital." Ryan added.
"Oh…" Kate blinked in disbelief. He'd been at her side all that time? Suddenly the reality of what he'd said hit her like a ton of bricks. He really was in love with her.
"Sorry we can't stay. The new Captain has us working late looking into some things. We'll come back tomorrow though, see how you're doing." Esposito nodded to her and then turned to leave, Ryan along with him. They passed by Castle on their way out.
New Captain…the reality of that hadn't quite sunk in for any of them just yet.
"See you later guys." Castle retook his seat beside the bed. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better…"
"No kidding…"
"Feel like I got hit by a truck."
"Do you want me to call a nurse?"
"No, Castle. Thanks though." She slowly sat up some, trying to make herself more comfortable. Her body was very stiff from lying there all that time. "Castle?"
He looked to her eagerly. "Yeah, Beckett?"
"Could you do something for me?"
"Absolutely, anything. What do you need?"
She hesitated and bit her lower lip somewhat. "…Could you…just…lay with me?" For some reason she couldn't stand to be along at that point. She needed a warm body to keep her grounded. She'd had close calls before but this was different. This scared her a lot. Perhaps because she almost lost the chance to tell Castle how she truly felt – like he had confessed to her before everything went dark…
He was shocked by her request; eyes fixed and unblinking a few moments before snapping out of it. "Uhh…yeah, sure." He got up and she slid over to give him room as he eased into the bed beside her. She maneuvered his arm beneath her so that she could lie up against him, head resting in the crook of his neck. He laid his cheek against the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her to hold her close to him.
Time went by and they remained quiet as they were, the steady rise and fall of his chest was soothing to her, reassuring that things were okay, that he was okay, that she was okay in spite of all the bad that had gone on. "Castle?"
Silence. Nothing but his quiet breathing. She figured he'd drifted off to sleep. She took it as an opportunity to say something she'd been feeling, been wanting for a long time but didn't have the courage to confess before. "I love you too, Rick." She whispered. Took a near-death experience to open her eyes to the things she cared for and wanted most, Castle in particular.
The next few days Castle still spent at Beckett's bedside. Only now she was awake most of the day. At first they talked, shared some laughs, as if nothing had changed - friends as they'd been the past three years. Then as she was recovering, able to get up and around and was finally out of the hospital and back into her apartment, the casual conversation shifted onto work, a certain case in particular – her mother's case. The one that put her in the hospital and nearly on her death bed. The case that did put Captain Montgomery on his death bed.
Things grew tense, slightly hostile at times. Beckett was really emotional about it but Castle didn't expect anything less, she was a passionate woman about her work and what she believed in – especially when it came to closing her mother's case and bringing justice to those responsible. It was something he deeply admired about her but was also fearful of because she often put herself in harm's way because of it. Plus, she wasn't actually back on duty so she didn't have a current case to figure out and fill up her time and thoughts with.
"So we're back to this again?" Castle raised his voice some in frustration.
"Yes, Castle, yes! We're back to this! Just what do you think this is? It's not a game!" Her ferocity was much greater than his from the start.
"Jesus, Kate! Of course it's not, you nearly died over this! But you can't even take a break from it to fully recover? You can't stop and think about what you're doing? What this is doing to others around you? What it's doing to me…" His eyes were full of turmoil, defeat. If he couldn't get her to stop then no one else could. Just like before, but now it was even more difficult because she was wounded – not only physically but emotionally as well.
She'd invested so much of herself into it and lost so much because of it. Why couldn't he understand? She couldn't just stop. Do nothing and act as though everything were alright. It wasn't. How dare he have the audacity to try and stop her again! But…looking into his eyes, his big blue eyes that often shined brightly, she now saw they'd all but lost their gleam. And somehow, it pained her. To see him like this, hear him like this. They were finally beginning to show their true colors. Though neither of them were yet aware that the other knew it.
"Do you remember what I said to you when you were shot, Kate?" His words broke the silence, shattered her train of thought.
Her brow furrowed at him, unsure of his intentions. "Castle, what are you—"
"I'm done staying on the side-lines." He cut her off, walking toward her until he was merely inches away. He wanted to be certain she'd hear him, see him, focus on him. "You could have died. And I realize now that if I keep waiting, I'll miss my chance, I'll be too late. All this time of us just being friends and pretending there's nothing more between us when there is. I know there is and you know there is. I've felt it and I know you've felt it too – and we've just stayed quiet about it, buried it, shoved it aside. But I can't do it anymore, Kate. Because I don't want to lose you before I get the chance to tell you that I love you – and you hear me – alright? So I'll say it again, I love you."
She gazed up at him, stunned, mouth agape. It took her a long time to process given that he finally said it to her face, no danger, no pressure, no fear or uncertainty pushing him to admit it. This was all him. And after everything they'd been through – together – she didn't expect him to come clean. She figured - hoped even - that things would remain as they were and that tension would stay, recognized but unspoken, unacknowledged. But here it was lingering in the space between them, the aftertaste still fresh on his tongue.
"Rick, I—" She began but her words dropped off, eyes reflecting her desperate search of what to say or do.
He moved closer in witnessing her battle. "You what, Kate?" He smiled, unable to contain it.
She furrowed her brow gazing up at him, not even realizing how close he was to her, how she could feel the warmth pouring out of him and seeping into her. "What are you smiling about?" She was almost angry by it.
His grin only widened, a joyful gleam now dancing in his blue hues. He could tell she was getting impatient and frustrated with his lack of a quick response. That only made him smile more. "You called me Rick."
"What?" She was dumbfounded a moment then caught on to his claim. And he was right, she had called him by his first name – no games or fear or trauma and drugs fueling her actions and words at this point. Sue she'd been worked up but not nearly enough to drive her to spurt things out she didn't mean, unwittingly. She wasn't saying things just to shut him up and satisfy his morbid curiosity and fascination with pushing buttons. Or a way to throw him off track or momentarily cripple his train of thought. This was all real between them, right then and there in that moment.
"Yeah, you called me Rick."
"So?" She combated. In spite of her defensiveness, she rather liked how his first name rolled off her tongue. She was pleasantly surprised by how easily it came to her, almost innate. Much like his last name - which was more commonly used at the precinct.
"You called me Rick instinctively and you know it. It wasn't an attempt to just shut me up this time. It wasn't because you're scared or drugged up. It wasn't out of some game to mess with me. It was genuine. You called me Rick and you meant it, I felt it."
"Rick." She tried once more.
"There, you did it again!"
"Damn it, Rick! Shut up! Why are you making such a big deal of it! I'm trying to tell you that I love you back but you won't let me say it!" She retorted.
He was going on and on and on and she was tired of him drawing conclusions from it, despite him actually being right for once. And at this point, all she could think to do to keep him quiet, all that seemed natural was to move in and press her lips to his, which she did. She leaned up to him and kissed him, gripping the edges of his open jacket at the chest with both hands and pulling him into her.
Stunned at first, Castle was at her mercy and did exactly as she aimed to make him do, shut the hell up. His eyes instantly went wide with surprise, locked on her before his mind caught up with him and nudged him into it. After the initial shock set in, his eyelids slid comfortably shut and his movements became fluid, his lips moving to match hers. He surrendered to her. His left arm slid around her, hand laying to rest upon her lower back, holding her closer to him. All the while his right hand found her waist, taking a firm grasp of her hip.
It was everything he dreamed, everything she hoped it would be – and more. Just like the first kiss they shared. His tongue soon found its way out of his mouth, teasing slowly along her lips ever so slightly. "Open your mouth." He demanded in a tone barely above a whisper. She complied, parting her lips and allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth. She let out an involuntary gasp and then a moan, a whimper, a plea. It only urged him on.
Oh he was good at this, much too good in fact. He already had her heated and wanting more. How could he be this magnetic? He had a pull she just couldn't resist at this point – couldn't fight him at all. So she responded to his insertion, her tongue gliding along his effortlessly.
It was as if they were made for each other, wholly and truly.