Kate woke up to the steady beat of a heart rate monitor. She opened her eyes to a blank, white room with a small couch on the side and a TV on the wall. She looked around, and when she saw nobody there, she panicked. In an instant, a blonde nurse, about 25, came into the room carrying a clipboard and jotting down some notes.

"Don't worry, Ms. Beckett, your boyfriend will be back soon. No need to panic." She said with a little smile.

"My boyfriend? Josh?" She asked.

"No, Mr. Castle."

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend. We're just friends." She whispered.

"Mmmm hmmm," she hummed, sounding exactly like Lanie, "if you want to call the man who hasn't left this hospital since the day you came, your "friend"." She said.

Beckett was taken aback by this. Sure he would've stayed for a little, she thought, but never leave the hospital? She smiled at his gesture.

"Not once? To even take a shower?"

"Nope, he requested to take a shower at the hospital. Right now he's doing just that. He's been so gloomy all the time, he just wanted you to wake up," she said while jotting down some things about Beckett's vitals.

"How long have I been out for?" Kate asked.

"About 3 days. You had to have a major surgery, but our best surgeon, Josh Davidson, pulled through. We were just about to lose you, but he managed to save the day, as always." She sounded like she had a little crush on Josh. Kate couldn't blame her.

"Josh saved my life? Wow, well he's my real boyfriend. "

"Oh, that explains why he was so upset while performing the surgery." Kate thought about what the nurse just said. Josh did get upset during the surgery, she thought, but Castle was the one who stayed here the whole time I was in this bed. She had a lot of thinking to do, but right now, she just wanted to see Castle.

As if on cue, in walked Castle. Despite him just taking a shower, he looked horrible. His eyes had bags under them and he looked like he hadn't shaven in days. When he looked over to Kate and saw that she was awake, his eyes lit up. He looked like a 6 year old kid that just saw all his presents under the Christmas tree.

"Kate! You're awake!" He rushed over to her and gave her a gentle hug. This amount of contact gave Kate chills up her spine. Castle sat down into the chair that was right next to her bed, never letting go of Kate's hand. His hand was soft, warm, and comforting. They both didn't let it go unnoticed that Kate's small hand fit perfectly into his big one.

"I'll leave you two alone…" The nurse said while slowly exiting.

"Kate, I'm so glad your okay… I was so worried that you weren't going to make it, and there are so many things left unsaid, and I…" He trailed off.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm fine. Would you just please fill me in on what happened?"

"Okay. So you were giving your eulogy for Captain Montgomery, when someone shot at you. I tried to push you out of the way, but I was too late… Anyway, while my mother called the paramedics, Lanie kept the blood from seeping out. You lost a lot of blood, Kate. After a few minutes, the paramedics came and took you to the hospital. I requested Josh to operate you, because he's one of the best. Me, your father, Lanie, Esposito, and Ryan were all waiting until you got out of surgery. The doctor told us you were going to be okay, so Lanie, Ryan, and Esposito left for the night. Your dad and I stayed. He talked to you for a while, but then he left to go to sleep. I stayed. Everyone has been visiting each day for about an hour or two, even Mother and Alexis came. Everybody is really worried about you. They should be arriving in an hour or two, they'll be so glad you are okay." He took a deep breath. Reciting the past few days was hard for him, even though he knew Kate was okay.

"Did Ryan and Esposito catch the guy?" She asked hesitantly.

"They ran after him for a while, but he managed to get away. I'm so sorry, Beckett."

"It's okay, we'll catch him…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. She was still thinking about what Castle had said to her right before she blacked out. Had she dreamed it? She still wasn't sure.

"So, all the songs make sense now, huh?" She asked, half joking but half being serious.

"Look, Kate, about what I said, I mean it. I really do care about you."

"Castle…" She said.

"Look, we don't have to talk about it right now, but I do want to talk about it eventually."

"Rick, its just that… Well, your Richard Castle. Best selling novelist, the "white whale", handsome, smart, rich… You can get any woman you want. Yet you choose me? Me, the stubborn cop who has walls built around her so nobody can get in. The girl who has had been through so many tragedies, she doesn't trust anybody. Rick, why me?"

"Kate, of course I can get any woman, anybody that I desire, but none of them are you. None of them are the smart, gorgeous woman lying here. None of them is a woman who truly cares about the victims' families. None of them are as extraordinary as you are. I mean it, you are so extraordinary you manage to challenge me every single day. You're a mystery I can't solve, and I find something new about you each day that makes me even more in love with you. None of them are you, Kate. No woman I will ever meet is like you."