A low monotonous tone filtered into Kate's hearing as she slowly fought her way back to consciousness. She forced her eyes open, blinking blindly in the harsh lighting of her hospital room.
"Kate?" She looked to the side of her to her bedside chair, finding Castle sat, watching her eagerly.
"Hi." She croaked. His smile almost split his face as he stepped up to the side of her bed, gently taking her hand in his.
"Hey." He murmured. "How you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess. What happened?" Castle motioned to the side of her bed and she nodded. He perched on the edge careful not to jostle her.
"What's the last thing you remember?" She looked over his shoulder for a moment and he could see trying to find the memory was painful. He gently squeezed her hand, flashing her a reassuring smile.
"Uh, we were talking to the victim's, boyfriend?" Castle nodded.
"Luke Bishop." Kate nodded slowly.
"Yeah. We arrived and he let us in and..." Castle squeezed her hand again, taking pity on her.
"He hit you Kate. He picked up a golf club and swung it into the side of your head. You have quiet a sever concussion and you had to have four stitches across your temple." Kate's hand came up to find the bandage but Rick captured it before it could make contact. "That would hurt Kate." She nodded. "You were out for about twenty minutes before you came round. We were handcuffed to a pipe. We talked for a few minutes before you passed out again. You'd lost a fair bit of blood."
"Are you okay?" Rick smiled.
"I'm just happy you're awake." She flashed him a smile before turning to him seriously. "What's wrong?"
"Charlie?" Rick squeezed her hands.
"He's with the boys."
"At the precinct?" She asked incredulously.
"They said they were gonna show him lock-up." Kate's jaw dropped slightly before she moved to get out of bed. "Hey, Kate I'm kidding." He assured her, gently laying his hand on her shoulder to make her get back in bed. "Wow you are concussed if you believed that." She gave him a sheepish smile.
"Where is he really Rick?" He smiled softly.
"At mine. Once we knew you were safe, Ryan went to get him. I told him he could take him back to the loft; Espo joined him about half an hour ago. You've been out for about an hour." She processed all the information he'd just given her. She nodded quickly and gave him a small smile.
"Thank you Rick." He squeezed her hands with a half smile.
"You should have told me Kate. I wouldn't have judged and I respected you more than to put him in Nikki Heat if you had asked me not to." Kate shook her head.
"Castle, Charlie is the single most important thing to me in my entire world. Telling people about him isn't something I make a habit of, for his safety as much as my own piece of mind. I would never forgive myself if he was affected by what I do."
"I understand that, of course I do. My priority has always been keeping Alexis out of the media, you know that." Kate nodded. "But, I hope you know, I will always be there, for the both of you, whenever you need me." Kate smiled gently.
"Thank you Castle." He leaned in to kiss her forehead.
"Always."
