32 or 37?

What happens when Kate Castle wakes up in hospital but has completely forgotten almost the last 5 years of her life including that she now has a husband and daughter...? How will this affect her relationships...? Rating may change, unsure yet :).

I unfortunately own nothing castle-related! :( If I did I wouldn't be down waiting for Mondays to hurry up! :)

Castle sat completely still next to Kate as silence fell about the room. He felt his heart drop to his stomach as he heard Kate's last words.

The doctor broke the silence, "Kate, referring back to the tests I was talking about... We ran a CT scan and x-rays all which have shown up no problems. If you don't mind I would like to quickly check you over now and then we will have to discuss some about your memories if you're feeling up to it?"

Kate nodded her head. "Fine."

"Great." The doctor looked hesitantly at Castle and calmly asked, "Would you prefer if Mr. Castle waited outside?"

"No" Kate replied immediately "He can stay." Castle breathed a sigh of relief at this and hesitantly turned to turn Kate and gently took her hand in his, which only made her smile in return.

The doctor began his tests by shining his flashlight into her eyes so that he could check her pupil reaction and sensitivity to light. Then he checked her pulse rate. "Ok, just a few quick questions. Any dizziness?

"Slightly lightheaded."

"Vomiting?"

"No."

"Blurred or double vision?"

"No."

"Headache?"

"Yes."

The doctor began filling in a chart as she spoke. "Confusion or drowsiness?"

"I, err..." She thought about lying but knew that Castle would soon tell the doctor anyway. "I felt quite disorientated when I woke up and I can't seem to remember things like what happened, my memories seem blurred and far away."

"Ok." The doctor stated looking down at his chart for reference. "As we suspected you have a minor concussion which we can discuss later in further detail, first I would just like to ask you some personal questions so that we can check your memory."

"Personal?" Kate asked getting defensive very quickly. 'God I hate hospitals' she thought to herself.

"Nothing too personal" the doctor injected quickly trying to make her feel more comfortable. "Firstly your name?"

"My Name?!" Kate asked thinking how ludicrous that sounded.

"Kate..." Castle said giving her a pointed look.

She just rolled her eyes. Castle had to smile to himself at this. "Katherine Beckett."

"Age?"

"32"

"Address?"

"2540 E. 3rd Street"

"Profession?"

"Homicide detective for the NYPD" Kate said exasperated. "Why is any of this information important?"

"Ok. I think that that's enough for now, I would like to speak to Mr. Castle alone quickly if that's alright?" The doctor asked giving Castle a pointed look, to which he proceeded to stand to exit with the doctor.

"Why would you need to speak to Castle alone, is there something I need to know?" Kate was quickly becoming irate, she hated hospitals as it was and she had this strange sense they were keeping something from her.

The doctor paused a moment. "I just wanted to speak to Mr. Castle in private as it seems, there are some memories you have forgotten and obviously it can be quite troublesome for patients to hear." He explained as calmly as possible.

"Just tell me." Kate said adamantly.

The doctor turned hesitantly to Mr. Castle who just looked completely shocked. He now knew that his wife had no recollection of the past five years of her life due to the answers she'd given the doctor and he just didn't know what to say.

"Ok." The doctor paused, "Some of this information may be very shocking for you to hear, do you understand?" He politely asked.

Kate looked over to Castle and he could see the worry etched on her face even as she did her best to mask it. He quickly came back to his position by her bedside and took her hand giving it a strong squeeze. "I'm here."

"I know." Kate replied quietly before shocking Castle by leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "Thank you."

"Always." This made her smile.

She looked to the doctor. "From the answers that you have given it appears as though you have lost up to the last five years of your memory Kate, most likely caused by Traumatic amnesia which is obviously due to the blow to the head you suffered yesterday.

Kate gaped in shock. 'Five years?! No this can't be happening.' "I'm sorry, five years? This can't be right." She looked to Castle to see him fidgeting slightly in his seat and his gaze averted to the floor. "Castle?" She whispered meekly.

He looked up to see her pained expression. "I'm sorry." At this Kate felt all the worry build up inside her and she let a tear escape down her cheek. The doctor merely sat on a chair at the end of her bed patiently waiting to explain. "What don't I know?" She asked directed at Castle.

"Kate look..."

"No! Will somebody just explain to me how they seem to think that they know I have lost five years of memory?" Kate seethed.

The doctor chose this point to jump in "Kate..." When her attention stayed with the doctor he continued. "When I asked you them questions before they weren't to annoy you, I wanted to see if you had recollection of recent events. Unfortunately when I asked you your age you answered 32...?" She nodded. The doctor looked straight to Castle. "Would you prefer to tell her Mr. Castle?"

Castle sighed heavily and looked up to see Kate looking expectantly at him "Just say it Castle." She muttered.

"Ok..." He was trying to stall. "Kate you're not 32 anymore" he whispered sounding broken, "We just celebrated your 37th Birthday three months ago."

Hey guys, I hope I got Medical bit right, did look it up on the internet but ya no :) Sorry for how long this took to update, wasn't the plan at all. My mum is really unwell so unfortunately life just got in the way. I will try to update more frequently for you guys but no promises, sorry! :) Also to everyone who left me reviews and PMs thank you for your time, this is greatly appreciated. :)

In answer to the question from castlelover234 ... yes, she does know Castle from him shadowing her, I am just undecided whether she will have some memory of them dating beforehand or not. If you guys have a preference just let me know! :)

So please review and if you have any suggestions of where you would like to see this go, am open to ideas. Criticism welcome :) Thank you very muchly :)

CaskettFan2012 xx :) xx