Based on a prompt from Castle Fanfic Prompts:
"Person A patching up or changing the dressing on Person B's severe burn wound with no anaesthetic. Person B's most effective pain reliever during the process is burying their face into Person A's shoulder."
Set sometime in S4, pre-47 Seconds.
In honour of the last #CastleFanficMonday before Season 8.
"You okay, Beckett?" Castle asked, hovering nervously at her bedside whilst she sat, cradling her left arm gently. She emitted a low sigh, her careful poker face sliding to show a touch of the agony she was in.
"Who the hell decides to throw boiling water at a cop?" She growled through gritted teeth.
"Apparently Marcus Dawkins." Castle replied, shaking his head. "If it's any consolation, the boys were none too gentle with him when they put him in the cruiser."
"I'd feel better if he hadn't gotten me at all." She replied, deadpan, and Castle bit back a grin.
"Definitely one of your weirder arrests, I must say." Castle replied, as one of the ER nurses finally entered the room.
"Detective Beckett – you have a burn that needs dressing?" She asked, and Kate simply nodded, holding her arm out with a wince. The nurse only took a quick look before smiling at the scowling woman. "Unfortunately, it looks like a second degree burn. We'll dress it for you and patch you up today, and give you instructions for caring for the burn over the next couple of weeks."
Castle met Beckett's eyes, silently asking if he should stay during the process. She grimaced but patted the space on her right as the nurse left to collect what she needed.
xx
Thirty minutes later, Castle and Beckett left Mount Sinai – Beckett, dosed on painkillers with a bandaged left arm and Castle with a pack of burn care information and a list of suggested purchases to make the next healing process as pain free as possible.
A call to Captain Gates had confirmed that Kate had the next two days off, and would be on desk duty until the burn was completely healed. Castle hailed a cab, ushering a very quiet Beckett into the car ahead of him. He rattled off her address easily, watching the slightest grin grace her face before she turned to gaze out the window.
When the pair arrived at her place, Castle waved the cab on, earning a raised eyebrow from his partner.
"You don't think I'm actually leaving you alone right now, do you?" He asked.
"It's a burn. It's not even on my dominant hand. How bad can it be?"
"Have you had a burn before, Detective?" He queried.
"Not like this, no." She said carefully.
"Well, thanks to an unfortunate science experiment when Alexis was younger, I have. Trust me when I tell you – it might be harder than you think."
Beckett frowned, before ushering Castle into the lobby of her building.
"I take your advisement, but I don't believe you." She said.
Castle just shook his head with a small smile.
xx
"Ow, ow, ow – okay, I believe you." Kate said, grimacing as she flexed her left hand to pick up her water bottle.
"It's just the skin pulling. It'll fade – but I imagine your painkillers are fading, too. So don't be too surprised if everything starts to feel a little bit tighter."
"I don't suppose I have extra painkillers prescribed to me, do I?" She asked, blinking away the tears that had formed in her eyes.
"Sadly not. But, I'll make a dash to the drugstore now to get the basics."
"There's some cash in my purse." She said, waving her good arm in the direction of her bag.
"What comfort food does the lady desire tonight? Mac and Cheese? Ice cream? The makings of a Smorelette?" Castle asked, ignoring her wave.
"I'm good, Castle. Thanks." She said with a soft smile. Castle's eyes lit up in return.
"I'll be back." He announced, in his best Arnie impression, drawing a laugh from his detective before he left.
xx
A knock on her door brought a daydreaming Kate Beckett back to the present moment, as she moved to let Castle back in – suddenly very aware of the aching feeling in her arm.
She'd really thought it wouldn't be that bad. But the awareness of the pain had her unwittingly flashing back to the previous summer, to moving carefully and being aware of her body. She knew that it was just a burn, it required a little care and concentration and in a few short weeks she'd barely remember it.
But her therapy sessions had taught her that sometimes the smallest things can have a larger impact on a long-standing problem. Defect, Kate thought with a snarl.
At least this time she'd hadn't sent her partner away.
She reached the door and took care to open it with her right hand, finding her smiling partner on the other side, bags in hand. He smiled, sliding past her into her kitchen where he began unpacking the fruits of his adventure.
"So I bought all of the basic necessities – the cream suggested by the hospital, a variety of bandages and some gauze to hold it all together. Plus I bought Chunky Monkey and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough."
"Castle, you didn't have to do that." Beckett said, gratitude shining in her eyes.
"Who said the ice cream was for you?" He quipped. She just shook her head, but he smiled all the same. "What do you feel like for dinner?"
"You're staying for dinner?" She asked, aiming for flattered over frustrated.
"Alexis is with friends, and Mother is out probably doing something I wish to know nothing about. I'm all yours." He said, wiggling his phone. "Pizza? Pasta? Chinese? Thai?"
"Pizza sounds great." She smiled.
"Coming right up. Pick a movie or something. We'll watch, we'll stuff ourselves."
"Thank you, Castle." Kate murmured lowly.
"What are partners for?" He replied, holding his phone to his ear as she moved to the couch.
The pair ended up flicking through the channels on Beckett's TV, watching an episode of The Big Bang Theory and chatting to pass the time. Beckett found that she was far less aware of the pain shooting up her arm when Castle was spinning theories about the relationship between Leonard and Penny, or laughing at the sci-fi references.
During a break, just when Castle had begun to sing Soft Kitty for its "magical healing properties, Beckett", a knock on the door offered her a reprieve. Moving faster than her partner could, she made it to the door and picked up the pizza – only to find that Castle had pre-paid, tip and all. Smiling at the delivery guy, Kate shut the door before glaring at Castle.
"Do I ever get to pay for anything, Castle?" She queried, and he grinned sheepishly.
"It was convenient. Now hush. Eat." He said, gesturing to the pizza with a grin.
xx
After finishing their pizza and enjoying an evening of sloth-like behaviour, Beckett became gradually more aware of the throbbing pain in her arm, the sting of awareness as the nerves surrounding her burn started to smart. She must have grimaced, because her partner shuffled next to her, concern lacing his gaze.
"Okay, partner. Time to re-dress that wound. You can have some of my ice cream as a reward." He said, taking her good hand without warning and pulling her from the couch.
"How can you think about eating more?" She said, wincing. He just smiled.
"I can always eat more." He grinned, waggling his eyebrows as the pair found themselves in Beckett's compact bathroom. Beckett looked around the room, confused, before spying the pile of pharmaceutical goods on the vanity.
"This isn't going to be good, is it?" Beckett asked, and Castle huffed out a laugh.
"You can do it. You're kick-ass Kate."
"You're a 9-year-old." She said, sucking in a breath as Castle gently removed her current bandage, before scowling at the raised skin covering a good portion of her forearm. She survived a bullet, for Christ's sake. What was a burn in comparison?
"Okay. Three simple steps, Kate." He said softly, and Beckett bit back a laugh as she steeled herself.
"I'm not your daughter, Castle. I know it's going to hurt."
"Okay. Step one." He said, aiming for gentle as he washed the burn carefully, with more tenderness than Kate had expected from his large hands. She pulled in her lip sharply, biting down as the water lashed down her arm into the basin below. Castle looked up, concern laced in his eyes.
"Sorry."
"Not your fault." She murmured softly, focusing on breathing against the sting.
"Nearly done." He said, pulling out a fresh cloth. "Do you want to do this part?"
"I trust you, Castle." She breathed out, smiling slightly as the joy from a simple statement radiated around the small room.
He made quick work of drying the wound, before picking up a glove and the recommended gel. Kate couldn't help the instinctive flinch. Castle grimaced in sympathy.
"I won't lie, Kate – you may want to hit me after this." She sighed, but nodded.
"Okay. Let's do it."
The first dash of gel was fairly tame, a cooling sensation followed by a mild sting as the salve hit some of the singed skin. The second, much the same.
By the third, Castle was worried Kate would bite clean through her lower lip.
By the fourth, at the worst part of the burn, Kate leaned forward, keening into his shoulder. Stunned by the contact, he worked to focus on the task in front of him – ignoring the warm weight of his partner, his Kate, curled into his shoulder, breaths gently hitting his neck. He could feel her rapid breathing calm with each passing moment.
When he'd finally finished, she let out a sigh of sheer relief, and Castle couldn't help but respond in kind.
"Last step. Just the bandage." He said softly, and she smiled half-heartedly in acknowledgement.
"Then ice-cream?" She muttered.
"Whatever you want, Kate."
She looked down at her arm again, studying the movements of her partner as he carefully applied the gauze and bandages required.
"I hope Dawkins is having a miserable evening tonight." She growled, delighting as her partner chuckled softly.
"I don't think being in holding after assaulting a police officer would be a delightful night." He said. "Plus, he's drawn the short straw. I'm with NYPD's finest right now." He smarmed, and Beckett shook her head, concealing her grin under the curtain of her hair before looking back up to her partner as he placed the final fastener on her bandage.
"Thanks, Castle." She said, the genuine affection unmistakeable in her tone.
"It's the least I could do." He said. "Plus, you make a far better patient than I expected. Surprisingly compliant."
"It's something I'm working on – picking my battles." She said candidly, offering more than she had in months.
Castle sucked in a surprised breath.
"But really. Thank you. I'm glad you were here to help."
"Happy to have been of service, my dear detective." He said.
Suddenly lacking words, Kate chose instead to pull her good arm around her partner, a silent gratitude for not only his help that evening – but for his understanding in the months prior, as she fought to not only survive but thrive.
She pulled away slowly, meeting his eye.
Emotion charged in the room, but Castle decided to be the one to blink and break the moment.
It wasn't the time. But he knew it wouldn't be long.
Her returning grin told him that she felt the same.
A/N: It's been such a long time, but I'm thrilled to be writing again.
I hope you enjoyed this quick one-shot.
Thanks for all the love, even when I've been gone - it truly means the world.