She was with him. That was the only thing she was conscious of. He was ok, and they were together. That was all she needed to know.

Then, she heard Alexis's voice.
"Agent Beckett, we're here."

Beckett stirred, opening her eyes. She was in hospital, currently using Castle's chest as a pillow as she sat next to his bed. She sat up and saw Alexis, Martha, and a scraggly, unkempt - though not unclean - young man enter the room.

She stretched.

"Oh, hey, Martha, Alexis... um -" she stared at the young man, not sure what to make of him.

"This is my boyfriend, Pi."

Beckett was confused. Last she knew, Alexis was dating a young man named Max, who definitely was not this Pi guy; she knew that because she had secretly done a background check on him after Castle told her about him.

"Nice to meet you," Pi said, shaking her hand.

Beckett smiled politely. She couldn't wait to see Castle waking up to find this hippy hovering over him. That would certainly be entertaining, and after the day they'd had, they needed a good laugh.
"Nice to meet you... Pi," she said, yawning.

"Is he really ok?" Alexis asked.

"Yeah," Beckett said, smiling. "Yeah, he's going to be ok. The tests confirmed it. I've been sitting here with him since this morning, keeping an eye on him."

"I can't imagine what I would have done if you hadn't gotten that antidote in time," Alexis said.

"Well, now, you don't have to," Beckett said. "He's fine."

"Yeah, thanks to you," Alexis said.

"Yes," Martha said. "Katherine, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving him."

"It was a team effort," Beckett said. She didn't want their praise. It was her fault he'd been in that position in the first place.

"Don't play it down, Agent Beckett," Alexis said. "We spoke to Agent McCord out in the hallway. She told us that you wouldn't give up."

"Well, it's not like I had a choice." She gazed down at him, smiling with fondness. "Just look at him. Now, how could you give up on that?"

"That's so romantic," Alexis said.

"Has he woken up yet?" Martha asked.

"Uh, no," Beckett said, "He's been unconscious since this morning."

"Should we be worried? "Alexis asked.

"The doctor said not to," Beckett said. "His body's been through a lot; it just needs time to recover."

"Maybe I could help," Pi said, raising his hand. "I'm a certified reiki master."

"Oh," Beckett said after unsuccessfully trying to find a better response. "Well, I'm sure Castle would appreciate that but... you know, I don't think the Doctor would be ok with anyone interfering with his treatment -"

"Oh, don't worry, Agent B," Pi said, "Reiki is totally non-invasive. I don't even have to touch him."

Beckett looked from Martha to Alexis.

"I don't see the harm," Martha said.

"If being my father's daughter has taught me anything, it's to have an open mind," Alexis said.

Beckett sighed. She still wasn't completely comfortable, especially having just met Pi and having no idea how well - or even if - Castle knew him, but she would be there in case he overstepped the mark, and she and Alexis had been getting along; she didn't want to do anything to make waves with her fiancé's daughter.

"Ok." She stood up and moved out of his way. "What exactly is reiki, anyway?"

"It's a healing technique developed by a really smart dude called Mikao Usui," Pi said. "It's Japanese. 'Rei' means universal and 'ki' means life-force. There's a life-force that runs through all living things in the universe; it connects us all."

"Kind of like The Force," Beckett said with mild interest.

"Yeah, I just said that," said Pi. "Life force."

"No, Pi, Agent Beckett's talking about The Force," Alexis said. "You know, like in Star Wars?"

Pi stared blankly.
"Never seen it."

Beckett raised her eyebrows. Pi was lucky Castle couldn't hear him.

Preparing for his... Ritual or whatever he was doing, Beckett had no idea - and frankly she didn't really care - Pi breathed deeply in and out repeatedly. Beckett watched him, bemused. He caught Alexis's eye and smiled. He then closed his eyes and pressed his palms together as if praying. He stood over Castle's body, placing his hands in different positions above Castle without touching him.

It really did seem quite harmless; it wasn't until he started chanting that Beckett intervened.

"Ok, ok, that's enough reiki; maybe we should let him rest."

"I'm starting to get worried," Alexis said. "Shouldn't he be awake by now? "

"Well, the doctor said he'd wake up in his own time," Beckett said. "And you know that he's a heavy sleeper."

"Did the doctor say it would take this long?" Alexis asked.

"No -"

"Well what if the tests are wrong? What if the antidote only held the sickness at bay and he's still...?" she trailed off.

"Al has a point. Western medicine isn't always reliable - "

"Uh, Pi, is it? "

He responded with a cheerful nod.

"You know, you carry such a strong... energy, that it might be overwhelming Castle's... chakras. Maybe you should sit over there."

Fortunately, he was either dumb enough to buy it, or smart enough to take the hint, because he was very good-natured about it.

"Ok, Agent B," he said, sitting in a chair in the corner of the room.

Beckett turned to Castle's daughter.
"Alexis, he's going to be ok."

"Maybe we should get a nurse," Alexis said.

"No, uh... no; let me try to wake him first," Beckett said.

She sat back down next to him and gently put her hand on his arm.
"Castle," she whispered

She smiled when he mumbled in response and his eyelids began to flutter. He was ok.