Moment in Time II

Chapter 1

Driven, Part One

Beckett ran through the corridors of the hospital to Esposito and Ryan. "Where? How?"

Esposito put a hand on her arm. "He was found adrift eighty miles off the coast of Delaware by a Coast Guard cutter that was out there mapping the currents."

"The Captain recognized him from all the publicity and had him airlifted here." Ryan added.

Beckett nervously pushed back her hair, sweaty from the run. "What was he doing in the middle of the Atlantic ocean?"

"Yeah," Ryan puzzled, "especially in a dinghy with three bullet holes in it."

Beckett's heart jumped in her chest. "He was shot?"

Esposito shrugged. "The Captain said no, but the doctors here won't give us any updates on his condition. They'll only talk to next of kin."

Beckett twisted her engagement ring. If things had gone as they were supposed to, she would have a wedding ring. She would be next of kin. "Where are Martha and Alexis?"

"They're in a patrol car on their way here now." Esposito answered.

Beckett nodded, catching a breath. "Okay."

Ryan pointed. "He's in 247, down that hall."

Beckett ran toward Castle's room with Ryan and Esposito following behind. Her feet halted, almost of their own accord, as she saw Castle lying in a bed beyond an open door.

"Kate?" Esposito queried.

She turned back at him, her lips in a tremulous smile. "I'm fine. I just never thought I'd see him again."

Ryan and Esposito gave her space as Kate made her way to Castle's side. The skin of his face and arms was reddened from exposure, making her hesitant to touch it for fear of hurting him. She smoothed back the lock of hair that had so familiarly fallen over his forehead. "Castle." He stirred slightly. "Castle," she called again.

His lashes lifted slowly. "Kate. You're here. I'm here. Can you find that pastor? He doesn't live far from the house."

"Castle, you're not in the Hamptons," Kate said softly. "You're in a hospital in the city."

"Was it that bad?" Castle asked. "My skin feels burned. I remember the black SUV forced my car off the road, then nothing."

Kate could see the fear in his eyes. "Castle, that was two months ago. You've been missing since then. The Coast Guard just found you in an open dinghy off Delaware. The boat had bullet holes. It looked like you'd been drifting for days. You were airlifted here."

Castle gazed at her, his fear merging with confusion. "I don't remember any of that. I just remember trying to get to you."

Martha and Alexis huddled anxiously with Doctor McLean. "Mr. Castle hasn't sustained any serious injuries and his vital signs continue to improve. But he is recovering from the effects of exposure and dehydration," McLean explained. "There's also what seems to be a partially healed bullet graze."

"Oh my God!" Martha exclaimed. "What could have happened to him? Why can't he remember?"

McClean shook his head. "Possibly the effects of trauma. A psychiatrist will be looking at him. But right now, we don't know."

As the doctor walked away, Kate brought cups of coffee to the two women. "What did you find out?"

Martha laid a comforting hand on Kate's arm. "They think he's going to be all right, but they have no idea what happened."

"The doctor said he had a bullet graze," Alexis added. "Maybe Dr. Parish could help. She knows about bullet wounds."

"I've already called her," Kate said. They could hear heels clicking as Lanie Parish came hurrying down the hall to Kate. They collided in a hug. "Kate, what can I do?"

Kate anxiously chewed her lip. "Lanie, I need you to take a look at him.

Lanie looked doubtful. "You do know living patients aren't my thing, right?"

"No, Lanie, look. I don't want you to treat him. I want you to look at him as if it was a case. Please," Kate urged, "see if you can find any evidence of where he's been and what he's been through."

Lanie hugged her friend once more. "I'll see what I can do."

"How are you doing, Babe?" Kate asked as she gently took Castle's hand.

Castle smiled weakly. "I kept waiting for Lanie to pull out a scalpel or a saw. But the worst she did was take some of my blood and examine my clothes and my manly body. She said McClean was right about the bullet graze. She thought it might have come from a rifle, but she wasn't sure."

"Well Esposito and Ryan think they might have a lead on where your boat came from in New England. They're going to head up there. But that still doesn't answer any questions about what happened in between. Babe look, there are other things. The car you were in. Vincent Cardonno was paid to have it crushed. He says you two made peace. Did you?" Kate asked.

"We did," Castle confirmed. "His cousin Sal got us together over a very nice lasagna and an excellent private label wine."

"Castle, there's something else," Kate added, "the ten thousand dollars you drew out of the bank for our honeymoon, you were caught on video putting it in the drop to pay Cardonno. Why would you do that?"

Castle scrubbed a hand over his face. "Kate, I have no idea. Believe me I had plans for that money and they had nothing to do with crushing a car."

Kate softly kissed the sun-burned lips. "Okay, we'll figure it out." She could see the strain forcing Castle's eyes to close. "You get some rest."

"Alright Kate," Castle murmured, drifting off.

Kate's phone beeped softly with a text from Lanie requesting that Kate meet her at the morgue.

"Lanie what?" Kate asked, rushing into Lanie's lab.

Lanie held up a key. "Well first there's this. It was sewn into the pants Castle was wearing."

Kate examined it. "Looks like a safe deposit box key."

"Well that's for you to figure out," Lanie told her. "There's something else that's more my area. The hospital ran a standard tox screen on Castle but they didn't find anything. Their shrink though she might have seen some signs that he was drugged though, so I looked a little deeper. I found scopolamine."

"The zombie drug?" Kate asked, recalling a case.

"That's right," Lanie confirmed, "and there was a whole other cocktail of drugs, none of which I could identify. But there's one sure bet. It wasn't just trauma, Kate. Someone wanted Castle to forget and they went to a lot of trouble to make sure he did. And one more thing, Castle was exposed to Dengue fever. It's tropical. Castle couldn't have picked it up here."

Esposito texted Kate as she was returning to the hospital. He and Ryan had found the place where Castle had been, in Gloucester Massachusetts. Castle was awake and fastening the belt of a robe when Kate arrived at his room. "Hey," he greeted her.

She reached upward for another careful kiss. "You look better."

"I feel better," Castle told her. "Did you hear anything from Lanie or the boys?"

Kate nodded. "Both, but it still makes no sense. The boys are up in Gloucester. They said they found some of your stuff there and a guy named Henry Jenkins who said he'd seen you. Lanie says you were drugged. That's why you can't remember anything. But here's the really strange part. She says you were exposed to Dengue fever. There is no way you caught Dengue fever in Gloucester, or anywhere near where you were found in the boat. I can't understand what's going on, Castle."

"Kate," Castle decided. "I need to go to Gloucester. Maybe I'll remember something."

Kate gently cupped his still fiery face. "Are you sure you're up to that, Babe?"

Castle gathered Kate to him. "I have to be."