A/N: Damn it, Jim, I'm a Music Teacher not a Doctor! Yeah, I don't know if the medical jargon in here is right. I'm just going with it. It's not really important to the overall story.

I've had a little drop off in reviews, which is a little unnerving to a person who writes almost never. I'm not going to beg for them, it's not becoming, but if I shouldn't waste my time writing this you can let me know, too.

I know where I want this story to go, but I'm having a hard time getting there, but we're progressing slowly. I feel like I can't keep skipping time and recapping it, it gets mundane. So, I decided to progress in a way that emotionally feels right to the characters instead of getting ahead of myself. Ok, enough from me. Enjoy (I hope)…

Still own nothing…

The waiting game continued. He went from being alone in the blue room too being swamped on either side by family and friends. When his mother and Alexis arrived there were blurs of red before he was enveloped in their warm embraces. Why do they have to be wearing Red? He asked himself. He hated that color today. He couldn't get the image of red on his hands, his clothes, staining her white sweater and on her beautiful smile out of his mind.

At some point Jenny had joined Ryan and was sitting with him as they stared at nothing. Lanie was leaning heavily on Esposito and every once in a while they would exchange glances and sigh. The Captain had come and gone. He wanted to stay, everyone knew that Beckett was his favorite, but the ringing of his cell phone had dragged him back to the precinct. He demanded that the boys call him at even the slightest news, and they promised they would.

Castle was sitting slumped in his chair with Alexis cuddled on his shoulder and his mother sitting on the opposite side with her hand on his arm. They had asked what happened and he choked out the story once again. He left out the gory details to spare his daughter, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was smart enough to fill in the blanks herself. He both loved and hated that about her. She was brilliant, and he was so proud of her, but he wished that she could have kept her naivety about the cruelness of the world just a little longer.

Richard Castle didn't wait for much these days. Having a lot of money and fame allowed him to the front of the line in pretty much everything and he enjoyed that for the most part. He wished those rules applied now. He wanted to know what the hell was happening instead of being kept in the dark. He would have gone around waving money if he thought that would help, but he knew it wouldn't. He would have to wait, just like everyone else, and it was driving him out of his mind.

Finally, seven hours from when he held her in his arms, a doctor entered the blue waiting room.

"Family of Detective Beckett?" He looked around.

"Yes, Us!" Castle jumped up, startling Alexis from his arm. Everyone else followed him to his feet.

"Oh, Wow, there's quite a few of you." The doctor raised his eyebrows at the group. "Well, then, first, I'm Dr. Howard. I've been treating Detective Beckett since she was brought in."

The doctor shook hands with Castle, Lanie, Ryan and Esposito who were closest to him and continued.

"When she was brought in, she had lost a substantial amount of blood." Castle almost gagged again at the thought of the red substance on his clothes and skin but was able to focus again as the doctor continued his report.

"We were able to give her a transfusion and locate the source of the bleeding. She had been struck in the left-side of her chest where the bullet both entered and exited."

All Castle wanted to do was turn and cover his daughter's ears and tell her to hum a tune. He didn't want her to listen to this. It wasn't right.

"The bullet nicked and broke a rib which then punctured her left lung. We immediately took her to surgery where we were able to repair these injuries with very little difficulty. Barring any complications in the next 24 hours, I would say that Detective Beckett will make a speedy recovery." He smiled.

The group let out a collective sigh and hugs were shared all around. Castle could have sworn he heard a small sob from Lanie into Esposito's shirt, but he was too busy hugging his daughter, who was tearing-up herself, to investigate.

"We're moving her to a private room because of her status with the NYPD and we'll let you know when she's ready for visitors." Dr. Howard explained, "I have to warn you, though, she's going to be in some pain for a while and we're going to be giving her IV pain meds pretty consistently for the next 24 hours because of the rib. Then we'll wean her off and hopefully she'll be able to go home in about 3 days."

"3 days!" Castle asked incredulously, "Isn't that a little soon?"

"I know it seems a relatively short amount of time, but we're confident she'll be back on her feet in no time." Castle watched the doctor smile and attempt to diffuse his anxiety but it wasn't working too well.

"She'll need someone to be with her for a week or two, to help change bandages and remind her about medication, but Detective Beckett is in great health and her body is going to heal itself very quickly, I assure you."

Castle looked around the waiting room as the boys shook the doctor's hand again and thanked him and Dr. Howard made his exit. Lanie was looking at him and she knew what he was going to ask before the words crossed his lips. Before he could ever have the words form from his thoughts, three cell phones rang in almost unison.

Lanie, Ryan and Esposito excused themselves to answer their phones while Castle's attention turned to his family.

"Would you guys mind if Beckett stayed with us?" he asked, "I know it's a lot to ask, but her Dad is unreachable until next week according to Esposito, and it appears they all have their hands full with work." He gestured to the three people on their phones.

"Nonsense, Richard." Martha shook her head. "Of course she'll stay with us. It's safe, secure, and she'll have everything she needs."

Next to his mother, Alexis was bobbing her head up and down. He knew his daughter looked up to his detective and cared for her as much as his mother seemed to. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen anyone that met Beckett and didn't wind up appreciating her for exactly who she was. Even the criminals she had caught, in some way, respected her.

He turned back and was met with three perturbed-looking city employees.

"They're putting us on point in the Raglan case." Ryan explained, gesturing to Esposito.

"And I'm examining the body." Lanie added.

"We would all love to stay here, but the best we can to for her is finding the bastard that did this." Esposito added, looking apologetically at Alexis after swearing.

"No, I understand." Castle said. "You'll keep us updated? She deserves to know everything you find."

"Of course, bro." Esposito smiled. "As long as you take good care of our girl, Castle."

"but not too good of care…." Lanie added and smiled, "and I want to know if she even coughs wrong, do you hear me?"

"Absolutely, you'll be the first one we call, Dr. Parish." Castle smiled at the M.E. He knew that Lanie was trusting him to not screw this up and it was a lot for her to relinquish the control over her best friends health.

No sooner did the trio leave, plus Jenny, did a polite nurse enter the waiting area and announced that Beckett could have visitors. Castle didn't want to go. He was as scared as he was in the diner even though he knew she would be all right. He just wanted to go home and crawl into bed with the covers over his head and hide like the little boy he sometimes resembled. A small hand grabbing his arm pulled him back.

"Come on, Dad." Alexis smiled. "Beckett needs you."

And so, he went.

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