Kate spent most of Tuesday sleeping off the anesthesia. She'd had moments of lucidity, but they were few and far between. Each time she awoke she'd noted more flowers placed around her room. Luckily, as opposed to her shooting, her having cancer did not make front page news. Therefore, the gifts that adorned her room were mainly from people who were close to her. Around the room she saw a bouquet of multi-colored roses from Ryan and Jenny, an arrangement of stargazer lilies from Lanie, a single yellow rose and a fleece blanket from Alexis, as well as a basket of mixed flowers and stuffed bear (dressed as a doctor) , complements of Martha. She noted that the captain had even had flowers sent. Castle, ever the perfect gentleman and host, kept record of who sent which gifts. She called him a girl for it, but deep down she was quite grateful that he'd taken the time to do so. This was especially true considering that she was unconscious for most of their visits.

Her favorite gift was definitely the single balloon from Esposito, which read "congratulations" and was covered with pictures of more balloons. When questioned about it he'd admitted that the gift shop had run out of get well soon balloons, and after a long rant about how the hell a hospital could possibly be out of get well soon balloons, he'd admitted that he didn't want to arrive empty handed. She was glad to know that both Ryan and Lanie had given him a hard time about it. They'd also had a fun game making mild accusations concerning what the balloon stood for. "Congratulations on your cancer" and "Congratulations on surviving the surgery" were the top two choices, much to Esposito's chagrin. Kate smiled as she'd listened to Rick animatedly tell her about how much flack Esposito got for the whole situation.

She did note that each time she awoke Rick was there, settled in the chair next to her bed. At one particular time during the night she'd pondered how she had been lucky enough to be given her own room. Kate was suspicious that it had something to do with the man who was currently sleeping in the chair next to her. As she gazed at him she couldn't help but think to herself, He's so cute when he sleeps…ok he's so cute all the time, but especially when he sleeps. The doctors had come by one more time, when she was first fully conscious, to tell her that the pathology labs would take several weeks to come back. This was not to be of concern, she was assured, as they would still know all they needed before she was set to start chemotherapy. Kate tried to re-play segments of what she remembered from the day, but the longer she tried to stay awake the more aware she became of the discomfort in her chest. It didn't take long before Kate, who was eternally grateful for choosing the epidural, pushed her morphine button and drifted back to sleep.

Kate awoke with a start, disoriented and in somewhat of a panic. She knew that she was in the hospital, but was concerned that she'd not been to the bathroom all day. In the dark she felt around for her catheter bag. Thoughts including this is so gross and please don't wake up castle, floated across her consciousness as she continued to grope around in the dark to check her bag. Suddenly she felt it, something warm and squishy, she squeezed it harder, nearly pounded on it and she was filled with new panic. Oh my God, nobody's come in to change it! What if it backs up into me? I'll get sick, or what if it spills out in front of castle! With each passing moment her anxiety levels rose, which were only amplified by the speeding up of her heart-monitor and the dropping of her oxygen levels, which triggered more beeping. Suddenly she heard his voice, heavy with sleep,

"Kate? Is everything ok? Are you in pain?" He waited for her to answer for a second before turning on her bedside light.

Panic filled Kate as she knew that he would see her dilemma, unable to look at him she closed her eyes and spoke, "Castle, my catheter bag…I can feel it and they haven't changed it." For a moment she was met with complete silence.

He slowly and hesitantly answered her "Um Kate, your bag is hanging off the railing of your bed. It's not full at all."

She opened her eyes and looked at him in confusion, "then what is this?" she motioned down to the area she'd been squeezing.

Both partners followed her arm down to where her hand was grasping. Apparently, Kate Beckett had been pounding on her own thigh.

"What the hell?" She yelled. "I didn't even know it was there. I didn't know it was mine. Castle I can't feel my legs…I can't feel my own legs!" She looked to him in panic and was immediately pissed off by his amused expression, "What the HELL Castle, this isn't funny!"

He made his best attempt to look at her seriously, taking her hand in his own. "Kate" he spoke, "the epidural is acting as a nerve block, it is controlling your pain, but it's also blocking the feeling in your lower extremities. Do you remember the anesthesiologist telling you that you wouldn't be able to get out of bed for a day or so after the surgery?"

Kate stared at him for a moment and grumbled; "well now I do." He smirked at her and squeezed her hand again. She took in his smile and tried to hide her own, it was pretty damned funny afterall. With her best attempt to sound authoritative she threatened, "You tell anyone about this and I'll kick your ass Castle."

He was silent for a moment, but only for a brief pause, as he couldn't resist a comeback "Sure you'll kick my ass, you and your badass catheter bag-thigh superpowers." With that he started to laugh all over again, although his eyes were filled with nothing but pure love.

She couldn't help but smile, and stifled a bit of a giggle too, as she muttered "Jackass" to him.

Over the next several days Kate continued to recover. She'd been allowed to discontinue to epidural within the first 48 hours and, with the assistance of the resident physical therapist, was helped to get up and around again. Although she'd insisted that she did not need a physical therapist to walk after such a short period of time, the hospital's policy insisted on having assistance walking within the first several hours out of bed. Once they were satisfied that she could self-ambulate (first with a walker, which also did not sit well with her), she was up and around.

By day four in the hospital Kate was taken completely off of IV medications and given oral pain killers, partially supplemented by injections. Although happy to be up and using the bathroom on her own again (and to have feeling restored to her legs), she found herself pretty nauseated by the pills. Her time was passed with visits from Lanie and the boys, with Alexis stopping by after school. Alexis was wonderful, and kept Kate busy with books and music, updating playlists for her regularly. On her last visit Alexis had brought Kate a copy of The Hunger Games, which Kate found to be gruesome-yet compelling.

At times when her dad visited he'd ask Rick for some privacy with his daughter. Kate was appreciative, not because she didn't want Castle there. Quite the contrary, she loved having him by her side. She was grateful for her dad's actions because it forced Castle to get out of the hospital and go home, where he could eat, shower and nap. When Kate finally thanked her father for doing it he'd admitted that his actions had nothing to do with not wanting Rick around, and everything to do with giving him a break from the hospital. It also gave them time to chat about the man while he was elsewhere.

"Dad", Kate spoke softly one mid-afternoon. "What do you think of Castle? I know you like him and you're glad he's been such a great friend to me, but what do you think of him as maybe more than a friend?"

Jim Beckett smiled and decided to have just a bit of fun with his daughter. "Well Katie, I think he's a great friend, but more than a friend? I just really don't think he's my type." He smiled at his daughter.

"Dad! You know what I mean. It's just that I think things are developing between us and I really want to know what your opinion is." Kate apprehensively looked at her father, who simply smiled at her.

"Katie. I think he makes you very happy and I think he loves you very much."

Kate couldn't control the grin on her face. "Dad" she whispered "I think I'm in love with him too." Her smile was wide and Jim could see the joy in her daughter's eyes. He laughed softly,

"Yeah, you may have indicated that before you went into surgery sweetheart."

Kate looked at her dad in surprise. "I did? Did I say anything else?" She asked.

Jim paused for a moment and looked at her, "no. That was just about it Katie."

By day five of her hospital stay Kate was getting restless. She was ready to leave and she wanted out as soon as possible. Castle tried his best to keep her occupied, with one of his more successful attempts turning into a Texas Hold'em match, with the winner claiming hospital jello. After some very immature celebrating, and a few "In your face!" comments from Castle over his Full House, Kate rather enjoyed her Four of a Kind, and flaunted her lime jello as he sulked. She wasn't really a fan of lime jello, but for the chance to rub it in her partners face, Kate made an exception.

That night Kate was awakened by the first nightmare of her stay in the hospital. Although she couldn't remember the exact details of the dream, she'd awakened in a cold sweat and was calling out his name. Within an instant he was there, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding her until she stopped shaking. As he made his move back to the chair he was stopped by her hand grasping his wrist.

"Stay with me" she whispered to him. Smiling softly to her, he urged her to scoot forward a bit toward the far side of the bed. As she did so he scooted in behind her, bringing her back flush with his front. He wrapped his arms around her mid-section and was able to offer her the warmth and support of his nearness without bothering her stitches.

As they lay together she spoke, "Castle, I want to go home." He nestled his face into her neck, placing kisses there. "Kate" he whispered "you're coming back to the loft with us, remember?" He tried to push away the twinge of sadness he felt at her words. Afterall, she'd promised him that she would try to let him take care of her, that she'd let him in. She sighed at his words, laced her fingers into his and replied, "I know. That's what I mean." At her words he kissed a trail up the side of her neck, and rested his lips behind her ear. There, in the hospital bed, Richard Castle felt like he'd just won the lottery.