One
Chapter 10
Rick stood there fuming as he watched one of the cars from the service company he used start down the drive to where he, Alexis, and Martha were standing along with a nurse.
He had never seen Alexis as angry as she had been when he had begun asking why he needed to get a very good nurse here from wherever he could find her and that he had less than 2 hours to do it. The tone of her voice told him that she was now beyond furious with him. He had never had her give orders to him like she had been. He'd talked his mother into asking her what was going on. Except his mother came back with, "Just do it, Richard." That had and hadn't told him much. However a helicopter landed out back and out came a nurse. He'd tried to find someone local to no avail. Then he'd had to call in a few favors and offer to pay a huge amount of money to finally get someone. The helicopter alone had been expensive but it was peanuts compared to what he'd had to offer to get her out here.
"Alexis?" Maybe she was willing to talk now that everything was here.
"Not now, Dad," Alexis answered softly. Though it really wasn't enough for Rick.
"Alexis!" His anger over it all was beginning to flare and he wanted answers.
"SHUT UP DAD! Just stand there and wait." Rick was taken aback. She had never raised her voice to him in the past. Not even after… It was the only reason that he held his tongue and waited, frustrated. He hadn't seen Kate in hours and had no idea where she was.
He had been hustling to clean the house since no one had been out here this year. It didn't help that he was a little out of shape since he'd barely left his bed over the last 3 months or more. Running around cleaning was taking it out of him.
Then had come the revelation that it was necessary for him to find room for a patient along with a room for a nurse. It was stretching the resources of the house to its limits. The person coming needed a nurse's care that badly so he had given up the master bedroom to both of them. He was going to be sleeping on the hide-a-bed.
The car pulled up and the driver got out and quickly moved around to this side and opened the door. What he saw wasn't what he was expecting. "Hi, Castle, give us a hand." Lanie stepped out and motioned for Rick to move in and help the driver.
Lanie saw what was clearly a nurse. "Have you got a place to take her?"
"Yes ma'am, we have everything we should need." Susan Bader had come there with everything she could lay her hands on for a person suffering from an infected gunshot wound along with what was necessary for a person trying to detox from heroin. It was part of why she had asked for so much money. Finding out it was famous author Richard Castle requesting her services had reinforced her demand for so much. Her only real issue was her lack of experience working with people that were trying to kick the habit. She hadn't worked at all with people that were addicted.
Kim was actually there and was standing invisible at the front door, observing with all the others.
"Move it writer-boy." Lanie knew who was in the car and what her condition was. Lanie was really worried for her friend. She was in really bad shape. Her phone calls with Espo and Ryan had only reinforced why they were doing this. Kate needed to be healed and feeling better before coming out into the light. Someone had shot her and then they had grabbed her from the hospital. Knowing that the hospital had said nothing concerned all three of them greatly. Then there was the mortuary who had also said nothing. All of this spoke of someone with power being involved.
"Easy, easy." The driver started off doing most of the work until Rick could get in and help.
"WHAT! HOW?"Rick looked at Lanie after he'd gotten a closeup view of who this person was. Granted Lanie had wrapped her up completely until she almost looked like a mummy. The part of her he could see was her face and looking like a mummy was an apt description for her. Her eyes were sunken and she had almost no color.
"Just help, Castle; we'll talk later." Lanie wasn't willing to just stand there and answer his questions. Questions she didn't have many answers for.
Rick was bursting with questions and yet his heart was hurting at the same time. One question he had was, how the hell had Kate…Kim, gotten out of the house and hurt this badly? As they moved toward the front door he shot a solid glare at his daughter who as they started past her, had a look of shock on her face.
"OH GOD, KATE!" Alexis had seen people that were hurt, but Kate looked worse than all of them. Kim hadn't been lying to her about how bad a shape she was in.
Kim retreated to watch from a distance. Rick was giving directions as they entered the house. He and the driver set Kate down and the driver left; Rick lingered, filled with questions and pain.
"OUT!" Lanie started pushing Rick from the room.
"Lanie?" Rick wasn't even remotely interested in leaving.
"Let us work, Castle. We have a lot to do. Now OUT!" Rick was too shocked over all of it to put up much resistance and found his own bedroom door closing in his face and then being locked. He could hear Lanie's muffled voice through the door, though. "Right! Let's get to work."
Going back downstairs he found his mother with her arms around Alexis. A look of pain was on his mother's face. Rick was all set to give his daughter a piece of his mind, but hearing her muffled cries softened his stance. "That was Kate wasn't it." Alexis nodded.
"I don't understand. When and how did she leave the house and how did she get this badly hurt?" All Rick saw was the injuries and none of the evidence that it wasn't the same person as he was referencing.
Alexis began her explanation while holding onto Martha for all she was worth. "That's the real Kate, Dad, and not Kim." Rick tried to think this through while Alexis continued. "She was taken from the hospital and held. I think they meant to kill her and bury her body out in the woods, never to be found. But the man they used decided otherwise. He kept her. Kate's an addict now…heroin."
He stared at his daughter in horror. Then he spun in place, looking up the stairs where he'd carried Kate and back at his daughter. "Heroin." He tried it on for size and started thinking of the implications for her. They were all bad.
"How do you–" He started another question only to have his daughter turn away from Martha and look at him with those same hate filled eyes.
"Because I didn't disappear after she was shot. Because I didn't shut down and lock out the world like you did, Dad. I went to school, asked questions, learned what you didn't." Alexis tried to hang onto her anger. She needed her dad to wake up and think and act. "Are you going to help or do I need to send you back to the city?" Alexis left Martha and stomped off leaving her shaken father in her wake.
"She has a point, Richard. Katherine is here now and she needs help. How much help are you going to offer this time? Or would you like a drink instead?" Martha wasn't as mad at him as Alexis appeared to be, but she wasn't happy with him, either.
"Whatever it takes, Mother. Whatever it costs." He just hoped he had enough money to fix her. "Heroin." He shook his head in bewilderment, wondering how Kate had become addicted. He left his mother and looked at Alexis who was going out the back door as he headed for his study.
It was time to do some research on what it took to kick heroin and what he needed to expect as Kate recovered. He had no illusions; it was going to be bad. But he loved her fiercely so there was nothing she could do or say that would stop him from helping.
Alexis knew what to look for even though Kim was invisible. "It's bad, isn't it?" Alexis hadn't gotten far after leaving the house.
"Yes," Kim responded quietly, not surprised that Alexis had spotted her. She was learning to like the young woman.
"I can't stay mad at Dad much longer. It hurts too much." Alexis was fighting off crying. She hated being this mad at her dad. If there was one bright spot, it was that her mother hadn't put in an appearance. She loved her mother, she did. Even if her mother was such a… She couldn't say the word. It was too hateful even if true. "Just stay gone, Mother."
Then Alexis had an idea. "You're from 51st century – don't they have something that will help? You can be there and back in a heartbeat. It might be a year to you but a second to me." Alexis looked at where Kim was standing. "I know what I'm asking might be a lot, but you must see that Kate is special to a lot of people. …Please, won't you help?" Surely medicine had advanced a lot in 30 centuries.
Kim had known this was coming the second she had seen her condition. "And if I want payment?" She didn't mean money.
Alexis was pretty sure she knew her dad was rich so it wasn't money. That meant it was something more personal. "And if I say no?" What were the stakes in this deal?
"You're correct, medicine in the 51st century is better than in the 21st." Kim had considered this and though she was ready to offer, she wondered if – and this was a big if – calling in a few favors was going to be enough.
"Keep in mind that what I can bring will be limited. It needs not be questioned to the point that it isn't used." Kim was reminding her that she couldn't take Kate to the 51st century for treatment.
Alexis thought she understood. "So I'll need to be creative to get Lanie to use it. What do you want?" Of me were her unspoken words.
"You said I shouldn't just kill my clones. I don't think you truly understand what you're asking of me." Kim stared at her with hard look. "Are you willing to fight – not just for your Kate but for the other four of me that I need to hunt down?" Was Alexis smart enough to get the message in regards to what she was offering?
Alexis caught her look which wasn't easy since she was hard to see. "You can't take me with you, so either you're willing to bring me everything you learn or… You're serious?! You have a way to let me come with you? Another of those…things. Vortex Manipulator." Was that what Kim was offering?
"You're young, you're brilliant in your own way. You stood up to your father which tells me you're driven when you want to be. And to be honest…" Kim shook her head. She wasn't ready to travel down that road just yet. "Plus my own research tells me you're willing to learn. So do you want to learn something truly unique? To go where no one from your century has ever gone? To work with me wherever it takes us in search of my clones?
"Keep in mind that while I might be swayed at the moment to let Kate live, the other clones are totally another matter. You'll have your work cut out for you. It will be a challenge. Do you think you're up for it?"
"Help Kate and travel through time and space with you?" Alexis needed to think about it. "You go get what Kate needs and start teaching me about you. I need to know you before I commit myself to following you. What if I don't like you? No offense," she added quickly.
Kim actually laughed. Alexis was smarter than she had given her credit for. "Deal. I'll be right back." She raised her arm and touched a series of panels while Alexis lifted a hand to block out the light.
"I hope I know what I'm doing," Alexis managed to say to herself before there was a brilliant flash of light. A very visible Kim was back an instant later. Alexis began to laugh. "I'm going to have to get used to that, aren't I?" Kim might have been gone hours to her but that device meant she was back a moment later.
"Here, I'll be out on the beach when you're ready to talk. I really would like for you to come, but as you say, you need to learn. I've learned what I need to know, so I need to offer you the same chance." Kim handed it over. "There are directions on the inside. Make sure they follow them precisely," she warned her. She smiled at Alexis and turned to leave.
Alexis was left standing there holding a box. It was about the size of a music box except this one was all silver in color. "Only you can open it," Kim called over her shoulder. "51st century," she reminded her as she continued walking.
Alexis clutched it to her chest. If this did what she hoped, it meant good news for her dad. However, it also meant she would be leaving him. "Vortex Manipulator." It meant she could come home whenever she chose. Literally whenever.
"I hope I'm up to this," Alexis said to herself. She had to save Kate first before she fought for the other four Kates or Kims. "How long could it take?"
"A lifetime!" Kim yelled, having heard everything Alexis had told herself.
That had Alexis looking at how far out Kim already was. "How?" Alexis answered her own question, "…51st century." She sighed, steeling herself for what was to come. She went back inside and continued up the stairs. Thankfully she didn't see her dad. She knocked on the master bedroom door. Lanie's voice rang out. "Go away, Castle, or I'll hurt you."
"It's me, Alexis, and I have something that should help. Unlock the door." It only took a moment for Lanie to open it and look past her to make sure Castle wasn't using Alexis to worm his way in.
"It's just me and I have this for Kate. It has directions inside it." Alexis opened the box and handed it over. "Use it, Lanie, and don't ask me any questions. Kate really needs what's in it."
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Lanie really did have a lot of questions but at the moment Kate was her main concern. "Please use it, Lanie, it will help." Alexis was putting trust in Kim. Besides if Kim really did want Kate dead she could have killed her after finding her, then leaving and never looking back. Plus if she did agree she was going to learn exactly what it was.
"Help her Lanie, dad really needs her." If Kate died, Alexis really feared for her dad. Alexis let her close and lock the door. She walked away and stood there in case they needed something.
Lanie went back to Susan and together they read what it said. "What is it?" The R.N. wasn't convinced they should use what they didn't know what it was.
"We need ice if we're going to get her this cold." Lanie had read the directions, and while she had never heard of this procedure, Kate needed help badly. She really feared that the infection was doing serious damage. Lanie opened the door and was mildly surprised to find Alexis still standing there. "We need ice, lots and lots of ice. Enough to fill the tub."
"I'll get it." Alexis got out her phone and started walking. Her dad may know people but she knew companies in the Hamptons and she had her dad's credit card. All those shopping trips into town were going to pay off.
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"Alexis." She cringed at the sound of his voice – her dad had caught her. Knowing she had to face the music eventually, she really hoped he didn't ask too many hard questions. Questions she knew she couldn't answer.
"Hi, Dad." Alexis waited for it.
"You've been avoiding me and I know I deserve it. But can we go back to the way things were? I promise to not disappear on you again. I know I screwed up." Rick was more than willing to eat humble pie if it meant his daughter didn't hate him anymore.
"Dad–" Alexis started to try and say something.
"GREAT!" Rick wrapped his arms around her. "I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore." He hugged her a little tighter.
"I'm going to go see Kate." Alexis wasn't mad at him anymore and Kate was in his bedroom.
Alexis stopped him cold. "You mean Kim."
He pointed at one bedroom and then his with a look of shock and confusion on his face. "I'm…going…to go now." Rick began backing up until he hit something and started laughing at himself. "I'm really glad you're not mad at me anymore." He hurried to the master bedroom.
"I'm glad we're not mad at each other, either," Alexis said softly, even if she still was. Though she had to admit that staying angry with her dad was a lot harder than she thought.
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"OUT, CASTLE! GET OUT!" Rick had the bedroom door slammed in his face. He'd wanted to see Kate and hadn't let a locked door deter him. After all, it was his house and his bedroom so he knew where the spare key to the door was. But what he hadn't planned for was having Lanie twist his ear off the second he got two steps into the room. He was left standing there holding his ear. The one that was throbbing, still telling him that Lanie twisted far harder than Kate ever had.
"AND STAY OUT OR I REALLY WILL HURT YOU!" Lanie yelled through the door.
"I know it's none of my business but why?" Susan had obviously seen and heard everything.
Lanie sighed heavily. "He loves her and despite her denials, she loves him just as much. But if you loved someone that much would you want to see what she looks like now? Have that burned forever into your memory? He needs to remember what she looked like before this."
The nurse saw her point, though she hoped that he would only see what he wanted to see, not what he did see. "And we're using that?" She pointed to the box they were given.
Lanie was torn. "Have you had much experience with getting someone off heroin?" She needed to know what to expect.
"I know what to do for her wound but no, I haven't worked with someone who has an addiction. I wasn't told that she had one," Susan said defensively.
Lanie was glad to have her since Kate was in really bad shape. It also told her that yes, they would be using what was in that box. Hearing Kate groan had them running. It was starting and they were both going to be challenged.