AN: Post "Knockout" fic. Yeah, you get what this means, I think. ;D Also, it was meant to be a lot longer, but then I lost my idea. o.e
Dedicated to my own Katherine Beckett, I love you. Always.
Waking Up
The gentle hum of the hospital was the first thing that registered in her mind, and then next was the bright lighting of the room she was in. Then Kate Beckett blinked, her eyes straining against the unnatural hospital lights. She flicked her right hand against the constraints it was caught in, and then she flinched, realizing a larger, manlier hand enveloped hers.
"Kate…?" The voice was soft, but she'd know it anywhere, and letting out a soft sigh. "You're awake." Richard Castle let out a sigh of relief and his chair scraped against the linoleum, and he stood, "Josh is here, outside, let me get him."
"No…wait," Kate Beckett let out a soft gasp, and her fingers curled around Castle's, her eyes turned on his. "Stay…just for a…minute Castle, you … deserve it. I haven't…forgotten." She gasped, remembering the bullet wound in her chest, "You…saved me." Pausing, she bit her lip and loosened her grip on his fingers, "Or…you wanted too."
"Shh," Castle dropped himself back into the blue cushioned chair, his hand holding Beckett's loosely, "Don't talk Kate, you should rest." He blinked at her, his eyes filled with relief, worry and adoration, "Please, rest."
Sighing softly, Beckett closed her eyes, tightening her hand around Castle's fingers, "Stay with me…Rick." A smile slipped onto her features, sudden exhaustion consuming her, "Please." She sagged against the pillows, her arm relaxing against her side, the pain tearing at her heart as he pulled his fingers from hers gently.
"I'm going to get Josh, he'll check on you." Castle left the room quietly, shutting the wooden door behind him. He missed the way Beckett's eyes shot wide open the moment the door clicked shut. The moment when she grasped the sheet where their clasped hands had rested while he waited for her to awake. But most of all, he missed the single tear that rolled down her cheek as the one person she had let into her heart walked from the room to drag the one person she wanted to let out back inside.