A/N: Just a quick thank you to everybody who has favored, followed or reviewed this story. I am glad you are enjoying it so far.
Chapter 4: Awake
Beckett is not sure how long she was asleep, but judging by the stiffness in her neck and back, she assumes it was a while. Also, the bags hanging above Castle's head is now almost empty. Something woke her, but she is not sure what. She stretches, attempting to release some of the tension in her upper body while simultaneously taking in her immediate environment. Then she notices it – the beeping of the heart monitor is picking up pace. For a second she worries, but then a soft moan escapes Castle's lips and she knows that he is finally coming to. Kate, now standing as close as she can to the bed, gently cups Castle's cheek with one hand while holding his left hand in her other hand.
After a few minutes Castle's eyes opens, at least as far as the swelling allows, and Kate can see the pain in their now dark blue depths.
"Beckett?" soft and raspy.
"Hey, Castle. I'm here. How are you feeling?" Stupid question she knows, but she asks anyway; her hand that was on his cheek now reaching for the call button.
"Like an eighteen wheeler ran me over, and then backed up all the way to make sure it did a good job. What happened?"
Kate winces at the imagery his words conjure in her mind. "That bad, huh? Just try to stay still; I'm sure they are going to give you something for the pain soon. You don't remember what happened?" She looks up when the door opens, sees Doctor Allan entering, and then focuses on Castle again.
"I remember leaving the judge's chambers, the wedding licence in my pocket... Then nothing until now." He pauses for a breath, and groans again. Then, "Damn, Kate. How wild did the wedding night get?"
Kate hears the doctor choking back a laugh, and feels the heat of a blush rising to her face. How can he possibly be so witty when he has just regained consciousness, she wonders. Deciding to dodge the question, she goes with "You ran into a bit of trouble earlier. Castle this is Doctor Allan, your attending physician." She directs his attention to the doctor, who is now standing next to her.
"Hello, Mister Castle, glad to see you are awake. How are you feeling?" The doctor nods when Castle repeats his previous statement, "Well that is to be expected, after what you went through. I will be giving you something stronger for the pain in a minute. But first I have to ask you a few questions; you have, what I suspect to be, a severe concussion so I am just checking for any problems that may have arisen because of it."
"Sure, doc. Fire away."
Doctor Allan goes through the usual questions, getting the all the correct responses. When he gets to "Can you tell me your given names?" he frowns at the response.
"Richard Alexander Rogers", Castle says.
Kate interjects at this point, remembering that his intake forms only states his legal name, "That is his given name, he changed it when he first got published."
The doctor nods, makes a notation on the chart and then turns to Castle once more. "Alright Mr Castle, that is all for now. I am going to give you something for the pain; it will also let you go back to sleep. However I am going to have to wake you in a few hours to check on the concussion again." He injects something directly into the IV-line.
Castle nods slightly, "I know the drill. Had a few concussions in my day, that one time…" and he drifts off to sleep.
Beckett waits while the doctor checks the readings on the various machines showing Castle's vitals and making additional notes in his chart. When he is done, he turns his attention back to Kate, "He will be sleeping for a few hours. Everything seems to be going well, maybe even better than I expected. The concussion looks like it is not as bad as it seemed at first. It is quite normal for patients to have some memory loss in situations like this, sometimes those memories return and sometimes not – only time will tell. Unless there is complications Mr Castle should make a full recovery, it will however entail some physical therapy and obviously some time."
Kate can feel a weight lifting off her shoulders at his words, and she sends a silent prayer of thanks to the heavens. "Thank you, doctor. I am going to update his family in the meantime, and check on the progress of the case. I will not be long. If you need to reach me, I will be in the waiting room."
As Kate leaves the room, she notices that there are now two new officers outside the door. She greets them, tells them where to find her and then moves down the corridor to go and find Martha and Alexis. As she expected they are in the waiting room, overtook by exhaustion they have fallen asleep leaning against each other, heads resting against one another. In one of the corners the boys have set up a makeshift office – laptops, phones, legal pads and a coffee machine, which they must have borrowed from somewhere, placed on a table with a few chairs arranged around it. They are both absorbed in what they are busy with; but when Kate enters the room, they look up immediately, giving her questioning looks. Kate indicates to them to hold on for a moment and then gently wakes the two redheads up. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Ryan and Esposito getting up and moving closer. She also notices with satisfaction that they are now both wearing their side arms – which serve as an explanation to the lack of uniforms outside the waiting room.
Alexis is wakes up with a start, concern and panic flashing across her face, "Kate, my dad? Is he OK?"
Kate puts a reassuring hand on Alexis' arm; sees Martha is now also awake, the same question in her eyes. "It's OK Alexis, Martha. Nothing is wrong; he actually woke up for a bit a while ago." She lets the words sink in for a moment and sees how the two women in front of her relax. "He was in a lot of pain, so Doctor Allan administered some pain meds after he did a quick concussion check. He is sleeping again, should be for a while. The doctor is optimistic that he will make a full recovery, given ample time and some physical therapy."
"Does he remember what happened?" Ryan asks.
Kate shakes her head, "No, the last thing he can recall is leaving for the wedding. The doctor says it is normal for some memory loss, but he may never remember what occurred between there and here." Turning her attention back to Martha and Alexis, "I'm sure you two would like to freshen up and go see him. Why don't you? I'll be right here, talking to Javier and Kevin."
Martha nods and gets up, "Yes, that sounds like a good idea, I would like that. Alexis, do you want to go with me? We'll see you in a while Katherine."
"Sure Grams, that sounds nice. See you, Kate."
Once Kate is sure that they are out of earshot she turns to the men still standing there, "Right guys, tell me what you got."
A/N2: I expect to be wrapping this up in about one or two more chapters. Including what happened on that stretch of road.
And maybe some fluff, if you would like some that is...