Hi everyone,

Back from the weekend with a new update. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.


Chapter 3

The face of the teenager was a little pale, telling her that he probably lost quite a bit of blood. Johanna got closer to the hospital bed wanting to get a better view of him, the steady raising of his chest barely noticeable. A few wires were disappearing beneath the covers and the steady tone of the heart monitor rung through the silent room.

Staring around the room the curtains were closed and the light in the room was dimmed so that it wasn't too bright. This room was the epitome of loneliness, but that impression could easily come from her knowledge of his background.

Sitting down on the chair next to his hospital bed, Johanna watched him for a moment. His eyes moved beneath his lids and it took a few seconds, but his head was turning slightly into her direction and she found herself being watched by a pair of blue eyes. Though something about them seemed off.

"Good morning, Richard." Johanna smiled. He frowned at her but opted to stay silent for now. "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" The boy started, his voice a little rough and graced with fatigue. "I've been worse."

His tone was light-hearted, as if it was normal for such a young soul to live through the things he'd had to. His no-nonsense attitude towards his experience with hospitals and medical treatment conjured a sad smile on her lips. "You're talking about your accident."

This obviously caught him off guard, not having known that she knew about this, and his eyes widened in surprise but his mask of indifference was quickly put back in place after just a few seconds. "He told you."

He must be talking about Dr. Walsh, Johanna guessed. The doctor was probably the only one whom had talked to the teenager before she did. "Yeah."

"You know, he violated the hospital policy by that."

This time she was the one to widen her eyes in surprise, absolutely not having expected him to mention his rights. "You're right. He did. Will you sue him for that?"

"No." The boy sighed.

Johanna took a moment to think of something to say. The hurt teenager was more uncommunicative than she had thought he would. But maybe it was a defensive mechanism, protecting himself from any further harm. She was – after all – a stranger to him. One stranger of millions others in a huge world he was living in all by himself. "Thanks for helping me out back there."

Again, the boy only shrugged, careful not to move his bandaged body too much.

"I know it isn't any of my business, but what exactly did you do in the side street." That one had been on her mind the moment she had seen him running to her help. There had been nothing close by he could've headed over to.

"I was on my way to the library."

"The library? But that was four blocks from us." She stated, but she was only met by silence again. "Not a fan of buses, huh?"

"No money."

Johanna glanced towards the covered window, thinking of anything else to say. It was clear that her presence threw him off, maybe even making him feel uncomfortable and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Maybe it was time for her to leave him, let him sleep a little. She could stop by later the day.

She was just thinking of a good time for her next visit and almost didn't hear him speak up. Almost. "Why are you here?"

The confusion was clearly hearable in his voice, and she was sure that it was accompanied with a touch of curiosity.

"You saved me."

"I played a human pincushion, nothing more."

"No. You helped me there. Sadly, not many would've done what you did."

Another shrug, a not-a-big-thing-gesture.

"I should let you get some rest." She said, getting up from her seat next to his bed and walking over to the door. "I'll stop by some other time, okay Richard?"

"Rick."

"What?" Johanna asked confused.

"You can call me Rick."

She smiled. "Get some sleep, Rick."

With that she walked out of the door, making her way out of the hospital. Johanna hauled a cab, slightly feeling bad for not keeping her promise of calling her husband to pick her up. But it was the middle of the night and she didn't want to wake him. She'd be fine, the cab drive wouldn't take long and she'll be finally able to crawl into her bed and be engulfed in the embrace of the man she loved.

On her way home she looked out of the window, silently chiding herself for already starting to get attached to the lonely soul she left in a too big hospital room in the middle of the night.


Opening the front door and entering the comforting place of her home, Johanna was surprised to see the light still on in the kitchen. Getting out of her shoes and coat and putting down her bag, she moved silently towards the source of the light, finding her husband and daughter sitting at the kitchen island, both nursing a cup of hot chocolate.

Drinking a hot chocolate when she couldn't sleep was a habit of hers. One she did share with her daughter. Every time Katie would wake up because of a bad dream, or couldn't fall asleep due to loud thunder and too bright flashes, they'd shuffle down to the kitchen and make themselves some hot chocolate. After some years down the road Jim had adopted their habit, resulting in little family meetings in the middle of the night while sharing a cup of cocoa.

"You're still up?"

Two sets of brown eyes flickered surprised up to her. "Jo?!"

"Mom!" Her daughter exclaimed and quickly made her way to her mother, throwing her arms around her. Johanna put her own arms around her daughter, relishing the moment. God knew they were rare these days, seeing that her daughter thought she was pretty much able to do anything on her own. "Dad told me everything."

"Then you know that I'm fine, honey."

"Why didn't you call?" Jim asked watching his wife and daughter.

"Didn't want to wake you."

Jim scoffed. "You wouldn't have woken me up."

Johanna rolled her eyes. "I know that now." Kissing her daughter on her head, she broke their embrace and looked at her. "And what exactly are you doing still up, huh? Don't you have school in the morning? Please don't tell me you want to skip it. We've already-"

"Geeze, Mom! Relax. The first two classes were cancelled."

Jim cleared his throat after quickly emptying his cocoa, changing the topic. "How's the boy?"

"He'll be fine."

"Good to hear." Jim nodded.

"Doc says he's a fighter."

"Good thing he's just sixteen, otherwise dad must feel threatened by mom's hero." Kate stated teasingly, grinning at her father and breaking the silence that had threatened to break out.

"Oh shut up, Katie." He groaned, making Kate laugh.

As she stared at her daughter, Johanna suddenly knew what had seemed off as she had looked into the blue eyes of Rick. They were lacking something. Something important.

Vitality.

Her daughter was brimming over with it, showing it off with a sparkle in her hazel eyes. She was full of life, a bundle of energy. She could find joy in anything she encounters, could turn any of their family moments into memorial memories. Because her heart was into anything she did.

Rick's eyes were dull, his soul hardened by life's experience. He had obviously lost his joy of life, having lost anyone close to him. Didn't remember anything of his life. Everything he knew about himself, he knew only because someone told him that. He was stuck in the system, probably waiting to drop out. But what would he do then?

That night of the accident, he had lost himself.

But still, he had thrown himself into danger to help a stranger. A stranger he had no expectations of, didn't even think he'd see her again after he had closed his eyes while laying on the cold street. Hadn't considered his decision one second, ready to lose his life for good.

He was a fighter. And she'd be damned if she didn't help him fight his way back into life.


Hope you liked it.

It seems like the days will get cooler again in Germany… well, if one can call a 73°F-day a cool one….

Have a nice evening, guys