Castle held Alexis's hand tight as they stepped into Kate's hospital room. He locked eyes with the young woman lying in the bed. She was beautiful.
"So, rumor is you're a fan of my books" Castle said immediately regretting his choice of words. His mother was right. He is terrible with women. "I'm sorry that was terrible," Castle said slightly stumbling over his words. "I'm just really nervous. I just don't what to say. I thank you does not seem like enough."
Kate couldn't believe best-selling author Richard Castle was nervous to meet her. "Looks like you're not the only one who is nervous." Kate replied as she pointed and smiled at Alexis. "Hey, sweetheart are you okay?"
Alexis squeezed her dad's leg tighter and started to cry.
Castle kneeled down as Kate looked on with a worried look. "Hey Baby Bird what's wrong?"
"She saved me from the bad man and got hurt because of me." Alexis sobbed into her dad's leg.
"No, this is not your fault"
Castle was slightly taken aback at the amount of force behind Kate's response. His eyes bulged out as he watched her struggle to get out of the bed. Kate was trying to remove her nasal catheter, when Castle gathered Alexis in one arm and gently pushed Kate back onto the bed with the other. "Hey, you don't need to be getting out of bed."
Kate shifted closer to the edge of the bed and motioned for Castle to put Alexis on her right side. "This is not your fault…" Kate looked slightly panicked at Castle.
"Alexis," Castle filled in.
"Alexis, this is only the fault of that bad man who tried to take you. I'm so thankful that I as there to help you. You did an excellent job yelling. You did everything you were supposed to do. Do you think you could give me a hug?"
Alexis sniffed loudly and then buried herself into Kate's side.
Castle looked on as Kate's eye squeezed shut briefly. He knew she was ignoring the pain for Alexis. He also knew he was falling for this extraordinary woman.
