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Now that she was awake, Dr. Mason made his way into Beckett's room to check her over. Lanie took this time to leave the room to make a quick call.
"Javi, she's awake."
Pulling himself back into reality from his deep sleep, Espo replied, "That's great, Lanie."
"No, Javi." He could hear the panic in her voice. "I mean, yes it's great that she's awake, but we have a problem."
"What's wrong? Do I need to come up there?" He was already dragging himself out of bed and tugging on his jeans.
"I don't think that's necessary, but she's asking for Castle. And I don't know what to do." Lanie sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Castle? Why is she asking for Castle?" After this summer, Espo was okay with never seeing the writer again after what had happened. He was tired of seeing Beckett hurt and wasting her time thinking about him.
"I don't know, Javi, but she doesn't seem like she's going to calm down until she sees him, or at least talks to him. I've got to call him and let him know what's going on."
Espo sat back down on his bed shaking his head. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"No, I don't, but I don't know what else to do and you didn't see the look of shear terror in her eyes when she realized he wasn't there."
Huffing he answered, "Do what you gotta do, chica. I'll stop by in the morning."
Richard Castle had spent the last three months, mostly in solitude, in his Hamptons vacation home. He had only planned on staying the week of Memorial Day, but when he saw that he was being replaced as Beckett's go-to guy, he knew it would be best to stay away for as long as he could.
He also knew in his heart that asking Gina to accompany him had been a mistake, but because he was hurt by Beckett's rejection, he told himself that being with Gina was what he needed.
Thankfully she only stayed through the first weekend, then went back to the city. She did, however, call every day and nag him about his writing and try to make small talk once she was convinced that he was indeed making progress on the book.
Gina was now back, though, staying the last week with him in the Hamptons, before he too, made his way back to the city.
He knew she considered him her boyfriend. And that was okay. But he just couldn't bring himself to accept that Gina was his girlfriend again. Yes, it was crappy on his part, but he could only accept that it was more of an exes-with-benefits/work relationship between them. And he didn't like the empty feeling it left him with. Castle had worked hard for two years not to be that guy anymore.
And then Kate Beckett took his heart and stomped all over it.
Over the summer he came to realize that it wasn't fair to put all of the blame on her. By the time Castle had broken down his play boy image and showed Beckett that he could be serious, he never actually pursued her in a serious way. It was always under the guise of innuendo or subtext, when what Kate Beckett needed was clear, no-nonsense words with actions that backed up said words. And he thought he was there. He had actually invited her to the Hamptons for the weekend. He thought she was going to accept but then did a figurative one-eighty and dropped the bomb that she and Demming were together. He knew, now, that he had waited too long to show her that he was serious. So even though he was upset with her, he was more upset with himself.
And thus, the summer away to try and get over her, which was dang near impossible when he had to write about their alter egos falling for each other.
Making his way up to bed where Gina was already fast asleep, Castle heard his phone chirp in his pocket. Worrying that something was wrong since it was pretty late at night, he quickly made his way to his office and swiped the phone to accept the call without even looking.
"Hello."
"Hey, Castle, it's Lanie."
He sucked in a breath knowing that this wasn't just a social call from the delightful ME. "Lanie, what's wrong? Is... is she..."
"No. No, Castle, Beckett is fine. She's fine... somewhat."
Letting out his breath he frowned into the phone. "Somewhat? What does that mean?"
He could tell Lanie was nervous about this phone call but he waited for her to speak. "Look, Castle, Beckett was in a wreck today. She hurt her left arm pretty bad and she was unconscious for most of the day, but she's finally awake now."
She took a long pause causing Castle to grow impatient. "And?"
"And... now that she's awake, she's asking for you. She looks pretty freaked out and she's only asking for you. I didn't know what else to do but give you a call."
"Me? Why me? We haven't spoken in three months?"
Lanie could hear the anger building the more Castle spoke. "I know, I know. Listen, I'm sorry. This was probably a bad idea. I should let you go and I'll get back in there with Beckett."
Castle pinched his eyes closed while balling his free hand into a fist. "Hang on, Lanie. Don't go yet. You called me for a reason."
"Yeah, I just think you are the only one that can make her feel better. I know it's asking a lot, but can you come see her?" Lanie held her breath at how difficult that question was to spit out.
"Lanie, you can't be serious right now?"
Castle's heart was racing and sweat was beginning to bead on his skin. As much as he did not want to go, he knew it would be impossible to stay away from Beckett when she was hurting and injured.
He cursed himself for the hold that she still had on him.
He quietly made his way into the master bedroom to gather his things.
"Richard?"
Of all the times that he could have gotten this phone call over the summer, it had to be when Gina was here. He cursed his misfortune.
"Go back to sleep, Gina." He made his way to the closet throwing his clothes in the bag he already had open.
"Why are you packing? It's..." Gina squinted and leaned towards the clock on the side table. "It's almost midnight. And we aren't leaving for another 2 days. What are you doing?"
Knowing this wasn't going to end well, Castle straightened his back and walked over to the bed so he could have a genuine conversation. "I'm going back to the city tonight. There's been an emergency and I'm needed somewhere."
Sucking in a breath she asked the obvious. "Is it Martha or Alexis? Are they okay? What happened? I'm getting my stuff too, just hold on."
She was surprised when he held her down with his hand. "That's not necessary. It's neither of them. They are fine. LIke I said, go back to sleep and get some rest."
Gina could see that he wasn't meeting her eyes. "Richard, what is going on? Tell me, right now."
Castle finally made eye contact with her. The guilt that she saw in his blue orbs told her all she needed to know. "It's her isn't it? It's your detective. And you're just going to run right to her."
"Yes… n-no! She's not my detective and I'm not just running right to her, but yes, it's Beckett and apparently she needs me, so I need to do what I can to help make the situation better for her."
Gina was fuming now. "And what about me, huh? What about my situation-our situation? I came out here to spend some time with you and you're just going to leave me here?"
"This isn't about you or us, okay." He tried desperately not to raise his voice. "This is something I have to do. Look, stay here tonight, stay the rest of the time. But I have to go. Let me know when you're back in the city and I will make this up to you." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm not going to argue about this anymore. I'm just wasting time and this is something I have to do. We'll talk when you get back."
With that, Castle finished packing and threw his stuff into the front seat of his car. He was thankful for the long quiet drive ahead, hoping to clear his mind and think about what was about to happen between him and Beckett. Because right now, he honestly had no clue as to why she would be asking for him or what it could mean.
The one thing he did know, he would probably never be able to deny Kate Beckett of anything. And that thought terrified him.
Beckett had been pulled back into a deep slumber by the painkillers she was given. Lanie was thankful, as she watched her friend sleep.
It was now the middle of the night but after the phone call with Castle, Lanie was too wired to sleep.
Lanie had been shaken at the look on Beckett's face once she finally regained consciousness earlier in the evening. Something didn't sit right with Lanie about the way Beckett was asking for Castle and not being okay without him, but she chalked it up to the trauma of the accident. Morning would come and they would get her prepped for surgery and then hopefully all would get back to normal.
Lanie was pulled from her thoughts when she heard a light knock and then saw the door slowly opening.
Castle popped his head through and immediately laid his eyes on a sleeping Beckett. He was taken aback at how peaceful she looked. He had an image in his head that he would find her with all kinds of bruises and cuts and burns, and that she would be hooked up to several different wires trying to keep her alive. He was pleasantly surprised that what he saw was nowhere near as bad as the images his writer's imagination conjured up.
The tension that had built up during his drive was finally starting to ease some at the sight of her. It was the first time he had been able to really stare at her uninhibited since they had first met. Her hair had grown out even longer and had natural looking highlights instead of the red color she had been dying it. Simply put, he thought she looked gorgeous. Three months of radio silence between the two and she still managed to take his breath away.
Castle startled at the clearing of a throat. He looked to the other side of the room and found Lanie sitting with her arms crossed against her chest with curious smirk on her face. He hadn't noticed her because the light was out and the visitors couch sat back in the shadows of the room.
"Dr. Parrish."
"Castle." Lanie pushed herself off of the couch and made her way next to him. "Thanks for coming. I know the situation isn't the best."
Castle nodded his head and pursed his lips. "I'm not really sure I should have come, but I..." He trailed off and didn't finish his thought.
"I'm not sure I should have called you but Kate Beckett is a hard woman to say no to. I get it, Castle. I really do."
They both stood and stared at the sleeping detective in silence for a few moments until Lanie grabbed Castle by the elbow and gently lead him out into the hallway.
"What's up, Lanie?" Castle could see she was in deep thought about what she was about to say.
Taking a deep breath, Lanie dove in and went for it. "That's my girl in there, Castle. I don't know why she was asking for you and I don't know how she is going to be when she wakes up and realizes you are really here, but you need to know that before the accident she wasn't in a good place. She wasn't her best self."
Confusion on his face, Castle asked, "Okay...What are you talking about? What was going on with her?"
Sighing with exhaustion, Lanie decided it would be best to go with honesty. "You hurt her this summer. She hasn't been the same since you left."
"I hurt her?" Castle was furious. "She's the one that turned me down. Are you forgetting Tom Demming? And where is he, by the way? How can you even put that on me?" He was trying to keep his voice down knowing how late it was. "What about me, huh? Did it even occur to you that she hurt me? I'm the one that hasn't been himself this summer, did you know that?"
"Castle, calm down. I'm not the bad guy here. I know she hurt you. You both hurt each other. I'm just trying to give you a heads up of what you could be walking into."
"I can see it in your eyes that you have more to say. What aren't you telling me, Lanie?"
"Look, I know she shoved Tom in your face, but Castle, if we're being honest here, you shoved Gina in her face too."
Castle was stunned. "What?"
Lanie continued, "You invited her to the Hamptons one minute and then the next you already had another woman lined up when she said no. Tell me how that looks?" She wasn't about to tell him that Beckett had actually broken up with Tom the day Castle left. "And you should know, her and Tom are no longer together and haven't been for a while."
Castle looked up at her in shock. He didn't know what he was expecting her to say but it wasn't that. Part of him was glad that Beckett didn't have a good summer but then he felt guilty knowing that she hadn't been herself. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was her. He only hoped to be the one to bring her that happiness.
Castle decided then and there that he would do what ever he could for Beckett even if it wasn't in the capacity that he wished it could be. If she would let him be her friend then he would be the best friend a person could ask for.
Deep in thought, Castle hadn't noticed that Lanie was no longer standing with him in the hallway. He turned towards Beckett's room when he heard Lanie speaking softly to someone.
Stepping into the room, he watched as Lanie patted Beckett's good hand. She then turned her head to him. "I'm just gonna give you two some time." Turning to head out, Lanie made her way to the waiting room.
Castle stepped aside allowing Lanie to leave and then came about a foot away from the hospital bed. With his hands tucked deep into his jean pockets, he finally met Beckett's eyes.
The smile she was giving him made him want to weep. With joy or anger, he wasn't really sure. But either way, it was still the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.
Rendering him speechless with her smile Beckett finally spoke up.
"Babe, hey!"
