Kate could hear sirens. She lay quietly in the dark, waiting for them to pass. Why did they not grow distant? She wanted to sleep. She needed to work in the morning. She realized she was cold. She must have kicked off her covers in the night. She shifted to reach for them but her wrist seemed to be caught…
She came fully awake, gasping, thrashing against the restraints of the stretcher. The sirens that had before seemed distant suddenly became deafening. Consuming, overwhelming pain radiated from her core in indistinguishable waves. Unfamiliar voices shouted over her prone form and someone grabbed her wrists, restraining her flailing limbs. She heard herself shriek as panic grasped at her. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe.
"Kate! She's awake! Hey, somebody do something, she's awake!" Kate sought out the familiar voice and strained to focus. Warm hands wrapped her face and Kate could suddenly feel the crush of a neck brace against her skin. She sucked in air, and it stung horribly, but her eyes found the pair of blues gazing at her searchingly. She'd never seen eyes that looked so afraid.
"Castle…"she gasped out, and the panic retreated, just a little, as a small-but-genuine smile twitched on his lips. An unfamiliar voice shouted and the face and hands retreated rapidly. The full-blown terror returned en force. No! she tried to shout, but it was barely voiced at all as the oxygen mask obscured her face. There was a sharp sting in her arm and the sirens and the pain and the terror faded into oblivion….