John walked out of the elevator following his new boss. It was his first day as an intern on the ICU ward, he was glad to be working in one of the most recognized hospitals on the country, too bad his boss seemed to be a complete jerk, the fact that he was the most experienced intensive therapy specialist on the east coast blew up his ego and his dark sense of humour.
-"And this is the garden"- Dr Goldberg said sardonically, before John could ask he continued –"the place is filled with plants, its good for your training since these patients are quite complex on management but if you screw up you won't hear many complaints, at least not from them. This is mister cactus"- he said pointing at the patient in 435c –"doesn't need that much care to survive, he's been here for years. This one is miss poison ivy"- He pointed at the patient in 436a –"practice all you want not even my dumbest interns have managed to kill her, she flatlined at least three times but keeps coming back for more. And this"- He signalled ceremoniously at the private room at the end of the hallway. –"is the orchid, our beautiful little flower. As you can see she has her own greenhouse. Careful with this one you have to chase away her relatives all the time, especially her fiancée he's always fussing around her."-
It was true in spite of all the tubes and machines you could see that the woman inside was beautiful. She was in a very expensive room reserved for VIP patients, spacious with wide windows and a balcony that showed a breahtaking view of the city along with a large plasma TV right in front of it, next to the bed there was a large couch an a small table. John wasn't as cinically cruel as his boss but he did believe it was useless to provide such luxury to a person (yes person not plant) who could not use it, until he noticed that the couch had clothing on top of it, he realized all the extravaganza meant more to the loved ones around her than the actual patient.
-"Gunshot wound that caused massive blood loss, they fixed her up but by the time the blood vessels were closed there was brain damage, she came here over a month ago. As you know we don't say someone is on a persistent vegetative state until its over three months so there's still hope for her."- Dr Goldberg then showed a small sign of humanity allowing for once a sad smile –"Of all the plants here this is the one you really need to take care of, orchids are delicate"- Both men turned and saw a young red haired girl facing them, the anger in her eyes made John cringe.
-"Take… it… back…"- She said facing Dr Goldberg, shaking with hurt and rage
-"I beg your pardon"- the old doctor said, knowing he had screwed up but being too stubborn to admit it.
-"You called her a plant, take it back before I literally shove your words down your throat"- Alexis said taking a step towards the doctor who could only mutter an incoherent phrase
John saw a sad looking man walking towards them holding two cups of coffe and knew that if he didn't do something fast things would go south.
-"Im sorry for what my colleage said, he was just showing me around the place and he has the habit of speaking without thinking fist, my name is Dr. Celucci I will take care of the patient, Dr Goldberg was on the way out"-
The tall, sad looking man stood puzzled by the young girl and handed her one of the cups
-"Whats going on here?"- Castle said with a raw voice
If the rumours about mr Castle's temper were right Dr Goldberg knew that if he didn't leave soon he might end up as a patient on the garden himself, so he muttered a pathetic excuse an walked out of the ward as fast as he could.
Alexis chose not to mention the incident to her father for she knew it would only cause more grief, he sat beside Beckett's bed and held her hand as he always did. She was about to sit on the couch next to him but he told her
-"Time to go to school pumpkin, grandma is taking you she's on the way here"-
Alexis didn't feel like going to school, compared to everything that was happening around her arithmetic, geography and filosofy seemed unimportant
-"I really want to stay dad, you know my teachers said they understood if didn't go"- She said with her best puppy eyes, it that didn't work her pounting would, he always fell for it
-"you skipped way too many days already and your grades are showing it"- He gave her a weakening smile and Alexis knew it would only take a little more effort to get what she wanted. Richard was about to give up when his mother saved the day.
Martha stepped into the room, said hi to everyone including Beckett and repeated the same question she always made whenever she came to the hospital
-"Any changes?"-
-"No, but she looks better"- Castle said caressing her hair
Martha gave Alexis her bag and dragged her out, -"off we go dear"-
She wailed the entire way out of the hospital, right before Martha led her to the vehicle she played her last card, her grandma wasn't as easy to manipulate as her dad
-"I have to stay with him I think he needs me, he needs us .We can't just leave him alone in a time like this"- The moisture in here eyes wasn't an act, she was in fact telling the truth
-"Right now Alexis being alone is the best for him. let your father collect his thoughts, you can visit Beckett after school"- Martha said climbing the car.
Alexis resigned until she remembered something, she had left her cellphone on the table next to the bed. She told her grandma to wait for a few minutes, she ignored Martha's voice when she called her back.
Alexis went inside Beckett's room panting, and the image before her tore her heart in pieces. It was the beginning of the end for the innocence her uptown sheltered bringing had kept her in, reality from now on would claw inside her soul, changing it.
Her father, the rock and sourse of stability in her life was dishelved into tears that poured over the white sheets were Beckett laid.
She had seen her father going through hard times before but he never broke down "in front of you that is. He's not as strong as you think he is as frail and breakable as any other human being" a part of her conscience chanted in her head killing part of her childhood. Martha was behind her trying to catch her breath and saw the entire scene, both women turned on her heels and left without saying a word.
It wasn't until almost an hour later that Alexis realized her grandmather was taking her home instead of school, raising an inquiring brow she got her answer
-"I don't think you'll be able to focus on your studies today, you bearly slept last night go get some rest"- Martha said avoiding eye contact, she had no idea of how to handle the situation in front of her.
Alexis didn't feel like talking at all, so she dropped into her bed and stared at the roof lost in thought. Near noon the phone in her bedroom rang, she knew it was Ashley before she even picked it up, she tried to speak but her lips refused to move.
-"Alex is that you?"-
-"Yeah its me"- the monotone in her voice did not sound human
He sighed, knowing it was worse than he imagined, useless was to ask if she was alright for he knew she was definetly not.
-"Im coming over baby hold up"- he chased the first taxi that passéd his way
He took her for some hot chocolate to a café near her house, her comfort drink of choice in her favourite place, she drank slowly and said almost nothing the whole time
-"Talk to me"- He implored
-"Beckett was a heroine you know? at least my heroine. She was the kind of woman who could kick ass and chase for bad guys in stiletto's and fight with criminals without ruining her makeup, she fought for what was right and tried to make the city safer."- She drew a shaky breath –"Look what she got for it, she's no heroine anymore just a fucking orchid in a half dead garden"- She dug her nails in the wooden table
-"orchid?"- Ashley was afraid to ask
-"A pretty plant living in a greenhouse"- She mocked chocking on her tears.
-"Oh"- was all he could say about it
-"And my dad? No one gave him enough credit for it but he saved the people of this city more times we could think of, he could dodge bullets and still have something witty to say about it. He was strong and brave even if he never bragged about it, he made me proud so many times cause he always fought for his dreams and never went for the easy way in life."- The sadness in her eyes were infinite but no tears ran just yet.
-"He is still here, he's with you"- Ashley tried to throw a silver lining on her dark thoughts
-"No he's not, dad got so broken for all of this that I don't think anything will put him back togheter. He lost hope I saw it this morning"- she shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.
-"I know you feel defeated right now but things will get better you just have to have some faith"- He held her hand gently
-"I'm not so sure about it, if the heroes get destroyed by the villains who the hell will fight against them? My heroes lost and the bad guys are still out there, as far as I can see Ashley, they won"- She looked at the window, disgusted at the people that walked by living their dayly lives not knowing or caring for the fact that their world was going to hell.
Se gave her final statement of the discussion to nobody in particular with her stare lost in the view before her –"The bad guys won, and there's nothing to do about it"-