Serendipity
"The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have."
-Henry James
He hated hiding out in the bathroom; all his instincts screamed against it. But she was right. Not because she was a cop, but because the shooter would be looking for them both, and just another woman in a bed on the maternity floor wouldn't arouse interest like Castle standing guard over her bed would.
He couldn't hear a thing standing in this tiled prison. His hands trembled when he brought them up to his head; Castle tried to clear the lingering haze by pressing his palms into the bones around his eyes. Light flashed in the darkness behind his eyelids.
His head pounded. He felt blood seep down the ruined part of his ear, tickle his neck. He should get some paper towels and try to staunch the blood, but he couldn't seem to do anything but stare at the door. Waiting. His hands dropped to his side, dangling there.
Castle couldn't stand it. He eased the door open a little more, able now to see all of her in the bed. Her eyes were closed, either because she was trying to maintain the illusion of just another patient, or because the pain was so great. Might be both. Her arm was hooked over the bassinet; her hand was still curled around the baby's, the little fist having grasped Kate's thumb and latched on.
Something burned in his eyes; he had to blink through it to see her. Slowly, her lids raised, her gaze met his across the too-wide space. She didn't try to reassure him, didn't smile. They held that connection, eyes locked, because they both knew.
This might be it.
If it came down to it, he had the element of surprise on his side, and he would rush the shooter before the man could fire. He would. No matter where or how the guy came in, Castle was going to make a play for the weapon.
And Beckett knew it.
If it came down to it, hiding in plain sight relied heavily on the shooter either not having a clear idea on what either of them looked like, or being far less detail-oriented than most. And that meant they'd be found out the moment the hired gun looked in on this room. He would find them, and he would shoot.
And Castle knew it.
This was it.
He wanted to grab her, hustle her inside the bathroom and hide her away. Why couldn't he? Why was he waiting in the bathroom for the inevitable? This was ridiculous. Either the shooter was checking the bathrooms, or he wasn't. Either way, it was better to be together.
Better to go down together.
He made a move to step outside, to get her, but he froze at something in the line of her body, the flinch of a muscle. Castle couldn't hear anything, entombed like this, but he saw Kate's face when it happened. She flicked her eyes back to him, a plea and a warning both, and Castle gripped the handle of the door, pleading back.
Not like this, Kate. Not like this.
And then he heard it, the subtle shift of a person in bed rolling over. Castle held his breath, staring at Kate, but she had closed her eyes again.
The disembodied voice floated to him, echoed off the tile in the bathroom.
"Are you the doctor?"
Slurred, drowsy, the woman in the other bed had woken up. Castle sank to his haunches and pressed his forehead against the tile, trying to breathe quietly.
"No. Go back to sleep," was the answer.
The woman mumbled something that Castle didn't catch; he saw a shadow fall across the door jamb, but still couldn't see the man standing in the center of the room. Kate's eyes were closed; her lifted arm managed to hide most of her face from anyone looking from that side of the room, but Castle could see her perfectly. His heart pounded.
"Tell them I don't want to see the baby before. . .before they take it. I don't want to know. Can you tell the nurses that?"
Castle trembled, his knees aching, trying to control his breathing. He eased the door closed, just a little more, so that the crack disappeared. He couldn't hear anything now, not even the man's deadly calm replies back to the woman. He peered into the sliver of light left, angled his head until he saw the man's black pants.
He was nearly to the bed; he was moments away from seeing Beckett's face.
Castle couldn't open the door wider without the man noticing now; he couldn't get into position. He saw the weapon in the man's left hand, at rest along the outside of the thigh, the barrel tapping. The woman in her bed had flopped back down, now she closed her eyes as well.
"Can you get me some water?" The woman lifted a hand and gestured to the pitcher next to the sink.
Something buzzed loudly and Castle stiffened. The man evidently heard it as well, because he turned slowly in the room, eyes narrowed. Castle stayed low, in the shadows, felt panic crawl into his guts.
He'd left the cell phone on Kate's bed, right at the foot. The man pivoted, tilted his head, his hand going straight for the phone.
Castle was going to have to do something. If he let the man bend down, he would see Kate for sure. He would know.
"Can't I have some water?" the woman asked again, causing the man's head to lift, looking at her.
Castle's heart was in his throat and he swallowed it down, a hand on the door knob, ready to spring.
"I'm not a nurse," the man said, clearly, and scooped the phone up without looking.
Castle flinched. The woman mumbled something and opened her eyes, as if focusing on the room for the first time.
Blood trickled down Castle's neck and pooled against his collar, sticky and hot. He shivered; the man was reading a text.
It could be anything. It could be the woman's boyfriend or mother checking up on her.
But Castle knew it wasn't for the woman. It was for him. It was Esposito.
The man lifted his head, his left hand twitched, and the barrel stopped tapping. Castle lifted himself into a crouch, slowly, eyeing the enemy.
A hand curled around the phone, his head cocked to look first at the woman still laid flat on the bed, and then to study Kate.
Castle used a finger to slide the crack in the door softly, softly, wider.
This was it.
The man took a step forward, bringing his back to Castle. He moved his head as if to peer around the lifted arm.
Castle nudged the door again, sized up the man, and cast one last, desperate gaze to Kate.
Her eyes were open. She was looking straight at him. Everything in her eyes, in her face was telling him no.
Stay in the car, Castle.
Yeah, that never worked out for him.
Time to move.
Castle took a deep breath and lifted his hand, thighs flexed, pushed forward-
He heard the loud sputter of unmistakeable radio chatter from a police walkie just outside.
The man jerked towards the door at a fast clip even as Castle's forward momentum spilled him out of the bathroom. The killer was halfway out the door when their eyes met; the gun came up in the left hand-
A shout in the hallway; someone had discovered the fallen patients.
And then the man was gone, slipped out of the door, and the woman in the other bed had sat up straight, staring at him, but Castle didn't spare her a second glance.
"Beckett-"
"Don't ever-don't ever to do that again," she said, reaching for him as he went to her side. The baby in the bassinet was awake and fussing a little, but Kate wrapped her arm around Castle's neck and tugged him down against her. "Ever."
"Kate," he murmured into her neck, shuddering as he felt the damp heat of her blood at his shoulder. "Your stomach?"
"You hear me? Don't you ever do that again, Richard Castle."
He leaned back, peeled her left arm away from her body. The bandages were nearly black with her blood. "Oh God, Kate."
Her lips were purple, the tips of her fingers were white. She'd torn something, something major; he had to get her medical attention.
Right now.
"Don't ever. . .ever do that again," she murmured, and he felt the limpness of her arm at his neck.
"Let me find Esposito. A nurse. You need help."
He straightened up, grabbed the edge of the bassinet, and glanced over at the woman in the other bed.
"Is she okay? She doesn't look good."
Castle stared at her a second, felt the side of the bassinet under his palm. What had she said? She didn't want to see it before they took it away.
"She's bleeding," he said lamely, and glanced at the baby again. Then Kate, pale and huddled on the bed.
"I had a C-section too. If she pulled the stitches, that could be really bad you know. I read up on it."
"I've got to find a doctor."
He left the baby at Kate's side and ran for the door.
