"Can I ask you something?" Kate said timidly.

"Of course," Lanie replied.

"What do you think of Castle?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure."

"We've talked about this before. You know I think he's a good guy, and he cares about you. Despite, the little show you put on, you care about him too. Yes, he's made his mistakes, but everyone has. He wants to help you, Kate, and I think you should let him."

"But..."

"I'm not going to put any pressure on you, but I think you should talk to him, and let him talk to you too. The man's terrified to scare you away."

Kate smiled as she thought about what Lanie's reaction would be if she knew the truth.

"What?" Lanie asked seeing her smile.

"Nothing."

Kate's nurse, Amy, and a guy that was wheeling a machine behind him came in. "Hi, I'm Mark Harrison. I'm going to be doing your echocardiogram today."

"Ok," Kate said trying to sound nonchalant about it.

"I need to take some of your bandages off, so he can place the wand directly on your chest," Amy added as she put a pair of gloves on.

"I'll be as gentle and quick as I can," Mark said.

"Do you want me to stay? I can duck out and go find the guys," Lanie asked.

"No, stay. Please," Kate answered quickly.

Mark was true to his word. The incision was really tender, but it was tolerable. The pain deep in her ribs was starting to grow, but she didn't really think that was his fault.

"How's it look?" Kate asked after a moment.

"Oh sorry, I'm a tech. I can't give you any type of diagnosis. I'll send the images to your doctor, and he'll come talk to you," Mark replied.

"Lanie?"

"Sorry, Sweetie. I'm a ME. I haven't read an echo in almost 10 years."

"So we wait," Kate sighed.

"I'm all done. I will get this in the system and sent to your doc. I hope you get your results back quickly," Mark said as he cleaned the gel off her chest.

"Thank you," Kate smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Amy asked.

"Tired," she replied.

"That's understandable. How's your pain? We are going to get you a PCA pump this afternoon, but for now you're stuck telling me when you need more medicine."

"Um, I'm good for now. Thanks,"

"Kate," Lanie said sternly.

"Ok, I guess I could use a little."

"No problem. Don't hesitate to hit the call button if you need anything at all," Amy offered as she added the medicine to Kate's IV and headed out.

"I've been watching your heart rate tick up. I knew you had to be hurting," Lanie said.

"It's really not that bad," Beckett defended.

"I'm going to go ahead and let you keep lying for now."

"Lanie"

"There is absolutely no shame in taking pain meds. You got shot."

"I know."

"Ok, but you better use that pump, or I'll start hitting the button for you."

"I will."

"It's Esposito," Lanie said as she pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll be back. Try to get some rest."

As soon as Kate closed her eyes, she heard someone come in.

"Sleep, Katie," Jim said when she opened her eyes to look at him.

"Where's Castle?"

"On the phone with Alexis."

"I'm awake. We should talk."

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I think you just won the prize for being the 1 millionth person to ask me that."

"Everybody's just worried."

"I know," Kate relented.

"I need you to let your team handle this case. Detectives Ryan and Esposito are fully capable, and you need to rest. Your mother wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger for her." Jim planned to take advantage of the time he had alone with her.

"Don't pull the 'what mom would have wanted' card," Kate said sternly.

"Katie, please."

"The shooter is still out there. If we don't catch him, he'll just come back and try again. These people don't stop. They are probably waiting to see if I die on my own before they bother to try to kill me again."

"You're not dying." Jim was not going to let her talk like that.

"You heard the doctor."

"You're the strongest person I know, by far. If complications arise, we'll deal with it. If you need another surgery, we'll do it. I know you hate this and I do too, but Katie you're going to be fine."

She nodded slowly as she gave in and let tears fall.

"Oh, honey," Jim said softly, and he got up from his chair."I don't want to hurt you," he whispered as he put his arms around her carefully.

"I miss Mom," she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Me too, me too... But catching the guy who had her killed won't bring her back."

"I know," Kate replied as Jim released her. He was afraid to hold her for too long or too tight.

"I'm going to let Ryan and Esposito run the investigation till I can go back to work. They probably will have to close the case before then since I assume it will be months, but maybe they'll find something," Kate said after a few moments.

"Thank you."

"They have security set up, right?"

"Yes, but you have to ask Castle, Ryan, or Esposito about the specifics."

"I'll talk to them. "

"You should rest. I think everyone is coming by later."

"I am tired," she admitted.

That evening Ryan, Esposito, Lanie, Jim, and Castle were all gathered in Kate's room. Somehow Castle managed to charm the nurses into letting that many people come in at once, but they were only allowed to stay for a little bit.

"I want to thank you guys for all the work you've been doing on this case," Kate said.

"Hey, you know you don't need to thank us," Ryan shook his head.

"I'm going to stay completely uninvolved till I'm cleared to go back to active duty. If it's still an open case, I'll take a look at whatever you guys find."

"Thank you," Castle said. He couldn't help it. He was so relieved to hear her say that.

"Just let me know if you catch the bastard," Kate said with fire in her voice.

"Of course," Esposito replied.

"I don't want you guys taking big chances either, especially you Castle, Ryan and Esposito at least have training, they can handle dangerous situations. I need all of you to be careful. No heroics. Wear your vests everywhere and back off if it gets too hot. I mean it."

"You got it, boss," Ryan nodded.

But Esposito jumped in, "Beckett, we will bring this guy down. We found a lead earlier-"

"Javi, I don't want to know. I can't let myself go back down that rabbit hole... at least not till I'm back on my feet."

"Alright," Esposito agreed.

"Now tell me about security, does everyone have a detail?"

"You, your dad, Lanie, and Castle. If anything happens we can add more," Ryan answered.

"Wait I have a detail?" Lanie asked. This was the first she was hearing of it. She had spent most of her time either with Kate or Javi, she didn't need her own protection too.

"Yeah, you're Beckett's best friend. It's entirely possible you could know details about the case," Esposito answered.

"Javi, I'm fine. I don't need protection, and you should have told me about this," Lanie replied getting angry.

"It's just for a week or so. We haven't had any incidents or threats. There's no reason to believe any one is in danger, but we want to be certain," Castle said hoping to calm her down. He then turned to Kate, "We ran background checks on all your doctors and nurses as well."

"NYPD is paying for all this?" Beckett asked.

"We had officers for the first 2 nights, but I hired a private firm to take over today."

"Castle-"

"No, I'm not messing around with this," he interjected firmly.

"Fine," she relented. Secretly, she was relieved to know everyone was safe. Castle was being pushy about it, but she was still happy it was taken care of.

"I think we should call it a night," Jim said breaking the little staring contest his daughter and Rick were engaged in.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow. Thanks for everything," Kate said agreeing.

They filed out with a chorus of "Good nights", and Lanie told everyone that would listen to call her if anything happened. Jim and Castle came back though.

"You guys should go too. You both look exhausted," Kate said.

"I'll stay. Rick stayed last night," Jim offered. "You should go see your family." He turned to Castle.

"They're fine. I just called home a little bit ago."

"Castle, I appreciate it, but you really should go. You need to eat a decent meal, shower, and get some sleep. Plus, Alexis is probably scared and she needs you home," Kate insisted.

"You're going to stay?" He asked Jim.

"No, he's leaving too. I'll be fine."

"Katie," Jim sighed.

"No, you need sleep and food too. I will be fine alone for one night. I will see you both in the morning."

"Are you sure?" Her father asked.

"Yes."

"You'll call if you need anything at all?" Castle added.

"Yes, and the hospital has both your numbers."

They begrudgingly left. Kate was glad they agreed because she really needed to hit the pain pump as many times as it would let her and go to sleep. Her chest was on fire, and she really didn't want to have to hide it any longer.

Castle rolled over away from the loud shrill of his phone still basically asleep. After a second, he startled awake and lunged for the phone suddenly very aware. His fear was confirmed when he saw "New York Presbyterian Hospital" on the screen.

"Hello"

"Richard Castle?"

"Yes. Is Kate ok?"

"This is Julie her nurse. Detective Beckett's having a hard night. It looks like she had a nightmare. Her heart rate is up, and she hyperventilated when she first woke."

"I'm on my way," he responded quickly.

"We gave her some medication to help her calm down, but she's been asking for you."

"I'll be right there. Thank you for calling."

Castle got up and practically flew to the hospital. He stormed right into her room. "Kate," he said quietly when he saw her. She was sitting up in bed and had tear tracks down cheeks. She opened her arms, and he walked over and gently hugged her. As soon as Kate could reach him, she latched on as hard as she could. He gripped her tighter in response but still was cautious of her injuries.

"I thought you were dead," she whispered and put her head on his shoulder refusing to let him go.

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm right here, Kate," he soothed. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, and she began to cry again. "Shh, it's ok. You're ok."

"It was so real."

"It was just a dream. I'm here." Castle sat on the edge of the bed at her hip and tried to help her rest against the pillows. He knew she couldn't stay upright for long even with him holding her.

"I thought I lost you."

"No, no, never."

"I love you," Kate whispered as she leaned heavily into his side. Castle put his arm around her shoulders.

"I love you too." He kissed the top of her head and rubbed his hand up and down her arm. After a long moment he said, "You should lay down. Try to go back to sleep," and he shifted to get up.

"No!" She grabbed his arm. "I can't go back to sleep."

"Come on, you're exhausted. I promise I'll be here when you wake up," he said softly.

"Don't leave," she begged.

"I'm just going to sit in the chair so you have more space. Trust me Kate, I want to hold you, but if we stay like this you are going to be really sore. What if I help you scoot over in bed a little bit, and once you get comfortable, I'll move the chair right up to the edge, so I can still be really close?"

She nodded, and he helped her shift. He slide the chair so its side was directly touching the side of the bed.

"Give me your hand," she whispered.

He gave it to her without hesitation, but she grabbed it and pulled practically his whole arm into bed with her. Castle smiled and wiggled a bit in his seat to make it work for him too.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked after a moment, but she didn't answer because she was already fast asleep.

A/N: Thank You so much for all your kind reviews! I'm really glad everyone liked the medical section. There is more medicine coming up in the next chapter. Also this story is super close to 100 followers. Thank You to everyone who has followed and favorited. As always, I would love to know what you thought of this chapter. Did I keep Kate in character? I'm trying to balance her strength with the inevitable problems she must face from her situation. I really love the nightmare scene. I wanted her to be very open and vulnerable. I also opened her up a lot in her talk with her dad. What did you think? Thanks for reading. Next chapter will be up Monday.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Thanks,

Meagan