Disclaimer: Still not mine.
Pre-chapter-A/N: This chapter was very hard for me to write, for many reasons. I hope you can enjoy it anyway :) Huge thanks to all my beta readers, especially Trinxy, who is responsible for me not screwing the characters up as badly in this chapter as I obviously had :D
Chapter 2
Castle rode with Kate in the ambulance. He sat by her side and held her hand, but barely looked at her. Instead he stared at the medical supplies lined up at the side of the car. He could barely reach her, as the paramedics were hectically attaching the oxygen mask and an IV, connecting her to a variety of small monitors.
He didn't want to see her like this again. If it weren't for the steady beep of the machine in the background, he would've thought she was dead. Her whole body was speckled with bruises and he was sure she had massive internal bleeding.
He didn't even dare to close his eyes, because he just knew that he would relive every second again. He had gone through this before. It was hell.
Half her face was covered by the big mask that supplied her with oxygen. Her head, that he had caressed only minutes before, was now smeared with blood. A strand of her hair had fallen into her face and was glued to her forehead with blood. He was sick with worry. His hand was still clamped around hers so noone could see him trembling. He needed the physical contact to assure himself that she was still alive. He had lost her one too many times to just sit by calmly.
He had called an ambulance, her father, Lanie, the boys, Captain Gates, his mother and Alexis. He left a message when someone didn't pick up. Castle, as calm and collected as he wanted to be on the phone, was a nervous wreck. His mind hadn't processed yet what had happened; whatever he had done, he hadn't thought. He just functioned.
He heard the EMTs who were in the back of the ambulance with him, but he didn't really listen. He stayed out of the way when they arrived at the hospital and they pushed the gurney to the ER, but he didn't let her out of his sight. He only stopped when the staff refused him further access. The sudden stop made him more conscious of his surroundings. He recognized the hallway he was standing in; he was in front of the operating rooms.
When he had nothing left to do to focus on, the situation hit him took a seat near the entrance to the OR and buried his face in his hands. His phone in his pocket began to vibrate, which pulled him out his lethargy.
It was Lanie, letting him know that she and the boys would come as soon as they were finished processing the crime scene Kate and Castle had been on their way to. He bet they couldn't form a clear thought anyway, so they requested another detective who could stay at their crime scene and finish processing it. Protocol definitely sucked when you had someone close to you in surgery.
He could hear her sobbing over the phone. The last time he saw the sassy medical examiner shed tears that weren't tears of joy was… right. At Montgomery's funeral. The picture he got from the short conversation they had wasn't pretty. The boys were worried sick about their "big sister". They wanted to find the culprit, but there was no crime. It was a senseless accident.
When he had put his phone away, he could hear someone yelling his name. He looked up and saw Alexis running into his arms, crying.
"Dad! What happened?"
He ran his hand through her hair, soothing his daughter in his arms, kissing her forehead. He couldn't talk just yet but only held her. Even after they parted, he had difficulties speaking.
"Pumpkin! Thank god you're here! As you know, I… I proposed to Kate today, and she said yes. But when…" his voice trembled. "when we were about to get the car she was… hit by a car and she was lying on the street… she wasn't moving. Unconscious, just like at Montgomery's funeral…" He finally broke into tears and his daughter joined him.
He was tempted to send her home, but he knew she wouldn't go now, not until she was sure that Kate would live, at least. She could be as stubborn as her dad when it came to Kate. They both sat down.
Castle wanted to be alone so he wouldn't need to bottle up his feelings, but truth be told, he was glad that he had his daughter in his arms. At least he could reassure himself that one woman he loved was okay.
They waited together for hours. Alexis eventually drifted off to sleep, and he didn't wake her when Esposito, Lanie and Ryan finally arrived. He told them what he knew, which wasn't much.
Lanie's puffy eyes and the slightly smudged mascara told him that she had only recently stopped crying. Ryan was paler than normal, and even Esposito seemed to have lost some color.
Esposito hugged Castle, in an attempt to calm his friend down. As he pulled back to let Ryan take over, his cell phone rang. It was Gates. He stepped aside to take it, as Castle remarked from the corners of his eyes, still in a hug with Ryan.
After Javi hung up the Captain's call he was scowling. He shifted from one foot to another as he spoke, his face sullen. When Castle saw his face, he pushed Ryan back gently and threw a questioning look at Esposito.
"Yo, Castle. Gates wants us back at the precinct. Sucks, man." He laid his hand on the author's shoulder. "You gonna be okay, bro?"
Castle nodded. Javi gave the others a short briefing of the call. Castle was thankful for their support, and he knew that they wanted to stay longer, but the Captain's orders were very clear: They still had a case.
Besides, Beckett was 'in good hands', as she said; she didn't specify if she meant the doctors or Castle. Any other time, Castle would've been over the moon about Gates' statement. Now, however, he didn't care about anything; anything but Kate - his Kate.
A/N: I'm going on vacation tomorrow for a week to a place without internet, so I decided that I post the promised cliff hanger when I can actually take the heat for it :D Well, you don't know how Kate is yet, so technically I'm not leaving you without cliff hanger^^ Next chapter will be a bit more revealing, but we'll see. Reviews are appreciated :)
