Day One

She hadn't left his bedside unless completely necessary. The nurses would occasionally come in needing to change his bandages or look at his charts and would politely ask her to leave, already fearful that she would yell at them. Again. Each time they suggested she should attempt to go home and get some rest for a change. Each time of course that led her to glare at them until they left his room again.

Alexis had recently gone home with Martha. Martha and Kate had discussed how they both believe that while Alexis should be there to see her father, she shouldn't be there all the time. No teen could handle seeing their father in a coma. They had invited for Kate to come as well and sleep at the loft but she politely declined.

She didn't want to leave him. She thought if she left and something happened… She wouldn't be able to deal with herself. Based off his medical report, it seemed as though anything could happen.

The doctors had informed them of his medical status earlier that night.

"Family of Mr. Castle?" A man in green scrubs asked as he removed his surgeon's mask.

Kate looked at his scrubs and saw blood.

Rick's blood.

Oh God.

"Here!" the crowd replied in unison. Alexis, Martha, and Kate eagerly walked to the doctor while most of the members from the precinct and his fellow writers and poker buddies stayed back a few steps, except a few individuals who stepped forward.

Lanie took Kate's hand as Martha took Alexis'; knowing they would need emotional support for whatever news was to come.

"I'm Doctor Blaine. You're all apart of his family?" He questioned.

Martha replied, "Yes Doctor Blaine, practically. Now what can you tell us about my son?"

"We were able to remove the bullet from his chest."

Everyone let out a gasp of relief, but only for a moment.

"What else?" the red headed teen inquired.

"While we were able to remove the bullet from his chest, the risk of infection is still probable and likely and he has a concussion."

"When can you find out?"

"Right now he's lost a lot of blood and isn't stable so we don't want to test him quite yet. When he's in the clear and has woken up we'll do a series of tests."

"And when exactly will he wake up?" Kate questioned quietly, her strong demeanor lacking for once.

"He has entered a coma but other doctors as well as myself believe he will wake up within the next four to five days."

"Has there been any damage to his brain?" Lanie asked.

"As I said with his heart, we won't know until we are able to test him while he is stable but he does have a concussion."

"Do you think memory loss is a possibility?" She asked as her follow up question.

"It's very possible. Based off of what I heard, when he fell he hit his head pretty hard. It may not be something to worry about though. More often then not victims like Mr. Castle do not suffer any memory loss."

"So we just have to wait it out?" Alexis asked as she wiped the steady flow of tears falling from her face.

"I'm afraid so. Your father is strong though. I have faith that he will pull through."

She was lightly tracing patters on his hand. Over the past few hours she didn't know what to think or how to feel.

She felt numb.

As soon as she heard the gunshot she started reacting on impulse, something cops really shouldn't do.

Rick went down while she was supposed to be protecting him. She was supposed to be protecting him so that he wouldn't get injured. So that he could go home every night to his loving daughter and mother who would be lost without him. So that she wouldn't have to be without him.

She had taken a lot of thought into the events of the shooting. She was the one that allowed him to come. She was the one that strapped on his Keplar vest and gave him the okay. She told him to be safe though. She didn't tell him to jump in front of her if someone shot at her.

Idiot.

Most people thought that it was brave that he jumped in front of her, protecting her from harm, but she was a cop.

She expected the possibility of being shot as well as other possible injuries that could happen as a result. He was just a writer. He didn't expect to be shot, she was sure of it. She wasn't even sure when the mayor agreed for him to shadow her if he really knew the dangers of doing so.

But he had jumped in front of her and ultimately, saved her. She wasn't sure how she felt about that.

She was upset and felt a twinge of guilt. He protected her from getting shot. That bullet was meant for her, but he took it of his own free will. He wanted to, out of instinct. She wasn't sure what that meant though.

It was funny. If anyone had dared to call Rick Castle her partner before, she would have defiantly denied it and make them take it back. She always used to think of him as simply a shadow. After this though, she realized he was never just a shadow. He is her partner because he's been there through the tough and happy times. He's brought her an extensive amount of food of all different kinds after a rough case. He's been there standing next to her as she stared at the murder board, searching for a connection. He's been there to take a bullet for her. He's been a partner all along, she was just stubborn to admit it.

As she sat by his bedside, she took their whole relationship into question. Did he like her? Lanie was always telling her that he did and that was why there weren't as many blonde bimbos around recently. But that couldn't be true… could it? They flirted all the time but she always thought it was simply a game of cat and mouse. Now though? She wasn't so sure.

She knew that her feelings for Rick weren't strictly platonic though.

She began to fall asleep by his side as she realized she couldn't wait for him to wake up so they could finally confront their feelings.


I'd like to say thanks to all of the readers that has added this story to their favorites / subscribed to the story alert! It makes me so happy :) I also really appreciate the reviews and I would love to see what you think. Review to let me know how you think I'm doing so far! Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!