Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Together Forever?
Chapter 2!!
Richard Castle was in the bull pen but he wasn't sitting in his usual seat. He was pashing around like mad.
"Dude, stop worrying. She'll be here any minute," Ryan advised the worried author.
"It's been half an hour! You've know Kate for longer then I have, has she ever been late?!" Castle's voice was strained he was so nervous that something had happened. He was starting to hate having such an active imagination. So many different scenarios were running through his head. Car crash. Fire. Illness. Stuck in an elevator! As more and more started to pop into his head, he began to shake. He didn't know how he knew, but he just knew something was wrong.
Suddenly Captain Montgomery came rushing into the room.
"Ryan and Esposito, meeting room now!" As soon as they had both left the room, Montgomery turned to Castle.
"Kate was shot early this morning in her apartment." As the news form Montgomery began to sink in, Castle dropped into his chair and put his head in his hands.
"No," he said so quietly Montgomery could barely hear him.
"Castle, she's not dead. She's in surgery at the hospital on 42nd Street. Go ahead and we'll meet you there later," The captain said comfortingly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
As soon as Castle was calm enough to stand he headed toward the elevator and Captain Montgomery headed toward the meeting room. But before he could get there he ran into Ryan and Esposito trying to listen in.
"Why do need us to stay? We want to go make sure she's ok, too!" Ryan said the second he saw the Captain. Tears were starting to form in both of their eyes but neither felt ashamed.
"Detective Beckett was shot, that means attempted homicide, that means we have case to work on," Montgomery explained to them. He than lead them back into the bull pen.
"Do we have any evidence?" Esposito asked the second he stepped into the room.
"The gun has not been found but the hospital will send over the bullet once they retrieve it. However we do have this," Montgomery held up the cover page of What's What!, it was hard to tell but is probably the cover with the picture of Kate and Castle on it. It was covered in blood, Beckett's blood.
"I'll go dust it for any foreign prints. Let's hope it wasn't just something Beckett had in her hand," Ryan said, grabbing the evidence bag.
"Esposito, go to her apartment and check the elevator security cameras and see if her doorknob has any prints that match the tabloid," Montgomery ordered.
"I'm already gone!" Esposito said, as way of parting.
Back at the hospital things were going well. Beckett had been in surgery for two hours. Even though Castle knew these things took time, he was still incredibly anxious for her to out of surgery. He had spoken to her doctor earlier. She had one gun shot wound in her lower rib cage. The bullet had missed her major organs but was lodged in the back of her rib cage and the surgeons were having a little trouble getting it out. Also the bullet had torn a few blood vessels so the doctors were currently sewing those up.
"How long should the surgery take?" Castle had asked.
"About four to eight hours. It'll be about two weeks until she's 100 percent again," the doctor informed him.
"Should she live?" Castle asked, almost afraid of the answer.
"The only lasting damage will be the scar," the doctor assured him.
Castle had breathed out a sigh of relief and dropped into the nearest chair, too happy to stand.
Now here he was with two hours gone form the surgery. He was getting more and more worried about her. Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Daddy!" Alexis Castle said, greeting her father warmly.
"Hey Alexis. I'm guessing you got my message," Castle greeted back, puling his daughter into a tight hug.
"Yeah, how's Kate doing?" Alexis had grown to really like Detective Beckett, and after seeing the headline of What's What, she figured she didn't have much of a choice.
"Still in surgery, but she's going to be just fine."
"That's amazing news!" Alexis said happily.
Back at the precinct, things weren't going as well.
"I've got unis looking for the gun, but so far nothing has turned up. I lifted prints off of What's What, but no match in CODIS. However, when I washed the blood off I found a big X through Kate's head," Ryan reported. "I defiantly think the cover is the reason she was shot. Someone was jealous."
"That's what I'm thinking too," Montgomery replied. "Have you heard anything from Esposito yet?"
"Yeah, he didn't get any foreign prints off the door. He thinks Kate was shot when she opened the door to leave for work. He's going over the security cameras now and will report back if he finds anything. Any news from Castle?" Ryan asked when he was done filling the Captain in.
"She's still in surgery but she should be fine," Montgomery informed him.
"Thank god for that. Keep me posted."
"Can do," Montgomery said as they went off to try to find Beckett's could have been killer.
A/N: Thank you, thank you for all of the story alerts and reviews. Hope the update was fast enough for you. As usual review, I really really want to hear what you have to say!
~GM
