A/N: haha, I know. What an evil lil cliffhanger that was.

I do not own Castle or Heat Rises.

"Guys?" Kate asked as she approached the two detectives.

"Beckett. Uh, hey," was all Ryan could say,

"Look, we tried to tell him that we should call you, but he insisted not to say a word. When the ambulance got here and took him that's when Suarez called yo-" Esposito explained,

Kate finally realized, by the look on his face, she knew who he was talking about.

"What happened?" she tried to keep her voice still,

"Gunshot through the lower left side. Lanie says his ribs could be severely damaged. They're bringing him to the hospital. We were gonna wait for you, but his condition just kept getting worse and worse."

"Did...did you call Alexis? Martha?" she blinked the tears away. Castle. Richard Castle. Shot at 4 in the morning. This just wasn't a good day for her at all.

"No. We thought it'd be best if you.." Ryan's sentence faded away after realizing Kate took her phone out and ran to her car.

"Martha? Hi. Could you and Alexis come to the Bellevue hospital? I'm afraid your son has...Well..something happened...I'd..rather tell you in person." she listened to the voice on the other line.

Kate can't handle this. She can't. Martha agreed and said would be there in 10. She hung up and tossed her phone to the passenger seat. She gripped the wheel and let tears fall down her face.

She needed to get herself together before she sees him.

Showing up at the hospital, Kate made her way to the front desk,

"Richard Castle? Was brought in about an hour ago?"

"Ma'am, visiting ours aren't until 10," Kate quickly pulled out her badge,

"but I could make an exception, he's in room L140."

Without thanking the nurse, Kate realized she was practically running. Ignoring the constant "Slow down!", "Watch where you're going!" comments.

She finally got to the room. She figured it was better to look through the window but the blinds were shut. She turned the knob of the door, and walked in.

Still standing there, she didn't know what to do. She hasn't seen him for two months. She absolutely never thought their first meeting in two months would be seeing him, laying on a hospital bed, unconscious, bandaged and hooked up to machines.

She brought her hand up to cover her mouth. Tears quickly ran down her face. He looked awful. All she felt was pain. She felt like she was to blame for this.

If she was still his partner, he wouldnt be in this situation. She'd be there. Trying to protect him. The more pain she felt from thinking about him getting shot, the more she cried.

She pulled up the chair next to the bed & just sat there. Looking at him. She so very wished she could take his place. Take the pain away from him. Just then, Martha and Alexis slowly walked in.

"Kate?" Martha called, Kate stood up and started to say,

"I wish I was there," she started to cry, "I wish I was.. there to protect him. This wouldn't have happened," More and more tears flowed down her face and Martha couldn't take it. She quickly made her way to Kate and hugged her.

"Dear, it's not your fault. Don't beat yourself up for this. For all we know, it's Richard's brain right now that we'd have to blame."

"What do you mean?" she mumbled,

"It was his idea to end the Heat books. He decided to do research on his own,"

"It apparently caused him to end up here," a voice quietly said,

Kate and Martha broke apart. Alexis was at the foot of the bed, looking at her father.

"He wanted to get the feel of being around this place where all these gang bangers are. He was supposed to meet a friend," she started to tear up.

"Will he wake up?" Looking up to the two ladies with watery eyes.

"I'm not sure. I didn't speak to a doctor, yet." Kate answered,

At that moment, they heard a light knock on the door.

In came Dr. Josh Davidson.

Oh great. Kate mouthed.

A/N: Ending it here. Don't worry.. Chap 11 will be right up. This was an appropriate place to stop.. Gather your thoughts..relax..breathe.
Ready? :)