A/N: Wow! I've made it to 10 chapters! This is by far the longest story I have ever written and there is still more of this story to come. Thank you for sticking with me through this journey. Thank you for the feedback I have been receiving. I appreciate any and all feedback. I do take your feedback to heart. I make note of it and use it as a reference if I'm having some kind of writer's block. Just like any other author I have my own process. Anyway, please enjoy this next chapter.

Chapter 10

Kate and Alexis arrive at the hospital a little after 8am. They were both silent on the car ride on the way to the hospital. The ride, in the elevator, up to the room was just as silent. They were both excited and nervous to see Castle. When they got to Castle's room a nurse was checking on him, so they decided to wait until the nurse left the room to go in and see him.

Once the nurse left, Alexis and Kate walk in. They both see that he's awake, but still looking pale and tired. Alexis couldn't stand the distance anymore, so she practically runs over to her dad to give him a big hug, careful not to hurt him. "Daddy! You're ok. I was so scared." Alexis has tears running down her face. She is so relieved that her dad is ok.

Alexis wasn't letting go of her dad. All Castle could do, with the energy he had, was rub his hand up and down Alexis' back. "Sh, I'm ok pumpkin."

Kate walks around to the other side of the bed, runs her hands through his hair and grab his hand. She so badly wants to kiss him, but Alexis hasn't let go of Castle yet, so it'll be hard to give Castle a kiss. Kate gives Castle a smile. "Hey, babe. How are you?"

"Eh, I've been better. I feel like I've been hit by a truck." His voice was hoarse from having a breathing tube down his throat.

Kate gets tears in her eyes. "Babe, you can't scare us like that again. We're a family. And I would like our family to continue growing, but I can't do that without you." Kate wipes away the tears from her eyes. "Please, don't be that reckless again. I can't lose you. I'll never be ready to lose you."

Alexis had finally let go of her dad as she has tears running down her face. She wipes them away quickly. "Mom's right, dad. I'm not ready to lose you either."

Castle's eyes widen. Had he heard his daughter correctly? Did she just refer to Kate as 'mom'? Castle clears is throat. "Mom?"

Kate chuckles, looks over at Alexis, and then back down to her husband. "Yeah. It was a new thing to me too. She said it for the first time, last night. I was just as surprised as you, but I actually liked it."

Castle gives them both a weak smile. "Good, I'm glad."

"You look tired, babe. How are you really feeling?"

Castle lets out a long sigh. "Well, as I said, I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I have some pain. It was worse before you came in. The nurse had just given me some pain meds. I'm also a little sore. But, you're right I am tired." Castle's eyes start to close. "The meds are making me sleepy."

Alexis puts a hand on Castle's shoulder. "Ok, dad. Get some rest. Mom and I will be right here."

"No, I don't want to sleep. I want to stay awake as long as I can."

Kate runs her fingers through his hair. "You need to rest. Like Alexis said, we'll be right here." Castle just nods his head. "But, one thing before you fall asleep. Would you give your wife a kiss?" Kate bends down to press a kiss to his lips. Castle returns the kiss before the meds take over and he falls asleep.

Alexis finds the chair she had used the day before and starts to sit down, but she stops to ask Kate, "Did you want to sit, mom?"

"No, it's ok sweetie. You can sit there. I'll see if I can find another chair somewhere. But, first, I need to find something to eat. All I had was a cup of coffee. Can I get you anything?"

Alexis thinks about it for a minute. "Um, I not exactly hungry, but I know I should eat something. A muffin or a pastry, of some kind, would be good. Thank you."

"Sure thing bud. I could also go for another cup of coffee. Did you want any more coffee?"

Alexis holds up her travel mug. "No, thanks. I'm still good."

Kate walks around to the other side of the bed where Alexis is sitting, after she presses a kiss to Castle's temple, and kisses the top of her head. "Ok. Are you going to be ok here for a while sweetie?"

"Yeah. I'll be ok."

"Ok. I'll be back soon." Kate turns to walk out the door in search of some breakfast for herself and Alexis.

Alexis is left alone in the room with her dad who is sleeping, due to the meds he was given. She takes a sip of her coffee from the travel mug. She grabs hold of her dad's hand. "I'm so glad you're ok daddy. We were all so scared. We all care about you." She gets tears in her eyes and takes another sip of her coffee. "Dad, even Jim was getting emotional. Detectives Ryan and Esposito, along with Lanie stayed until after you were out of surgery."

Alexis wipes away the tears from her eyes. She just spends the rest of the time in silence waiting for Kate to come back. She finishes her coffee and sets her travel mug down on the ground next to her chair. Once she sets the cup down on the ground, she moves the chair closer to the bed and holds Castle's hand. She just watches him breathe. The door opens after a while and she turns to look to see that it's Kate.

Kate walks in holding a bag and a coffee cup. "Hey, sweetie."

"Hey, mom."

Kate walks over to where Alexis is sitting and hands her a pastry. "Here you go."

Alexis takes the pastry from Kate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kate walks around to the other side to place her stuff on the table next to Castle's bed. "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

Alexis shakes her head. "No. I just spent the time watching him breathe. I finished my coffee and said a few things to him. I know he's sleeping, but I like to believe he could hear me."

Kate finishes her bite of breakfast. "Yeah. I like to believe that too." She takes a sip of her new cup of coffee. "He's most likely going to be doing a lot of sleeping the next few days, maybe even the next few weeks. It'll help with his recovery from surgery." Kate wipes the crumbs from her mouth with a napkin. "Once he starts physical therapy, he'll tire himself out, that he'll continue to sleep."

Alexis nods as she wipes her mouth. "With this talk about his recovery, you know what I was just thinking?"

"What?"

"Does Gina know what happened? Did anybody call her to tell her that dad had been shot? I certainly didn't."

Alexis is right. Kate didn't think about Gina at all until Alexis brought her up. "I didn't call her either. You don't think she would make your dad continue writing while he's recovering, do you?"

Alexis shrugs. "I honestly have no idea. But, it wouldn't surprise me if she still did make deadlines for dad and his writing."

Kate gets a little angry. She was never a fan of Gina's, especially since she's one of Castle's ex-wives. "She better not make my husband work while he's recovering from, not only surgery, but a gunshot wound. I'll give her a piece of my mind if I have to."

"Mom, relax. Let's not jump to any conclusions. First, we need to call Gina and tell her what's going on, in case she doesn't already know." Alexis lets out a long sigh. "If anything, I'm kind of hoping she heard about it on the news."

"How? Montgomery's funeral was private."

"True, but a shooting happening during a police captain's funeral? How often does that happen? I'm sure it made the news somehow. You and I were kind of in our own little world, that we had no idea what else was going on. We were more concerned about dad than anything else."

"You have a good point. Not only was there a shooting at a funeral, a best-selling novelist was shot. That has to be some pretty big news."

"See? But, we should still call Gina. She is his publisher after all."

Kate nods. "Ok, I'll call her as soon as I finish eating my little breakfast." Kate takes a slight pause. "Unless you want to call her. You had some kind of relationship with her in the past. I don't."

"Yes, you have a point, but I think in a situation like this, she may need to hear it from a cop. Not from a family member of a celebrity. Especially, if it will affect his career."

"Ok, when I'm finished here, I'll step outside and make the call."

Once Kate has finished eating and drinking her coffee, she took her trash, along with Alexis' and threw it out. She stepped outside to make the call to Gina telling her what had happened. While Kate was outside making the phone call Castle wakes up again.

Castle turns his head to look at his daughter, who is still sitting beside his bed. With a tired voice and droopy eyes, "Hey pumpkin." Alexis gives him a warm smile. Castle looks around the room and his brow furrows. "Where's Kate?"

Alexis reaches for her dad's hand. "She just stepped outside to make a phone call."

"Is everything ok? Does it have anything to do with the shooting?"

Alexis squeezes Castle's hand. "Relax dad. It's nothing like that. She's just making a call to Gina to tell her what happened. With all the excitement yesterday, nobody had thought to call your publisher telling her you would be out for a while."

Castle groans. "Knowing Gina, she'll most likely still make me work." He lets out a sigh and rubs his free hand over his face. "Why did I ever marry that woman? What did I ever see in her?"

"Um, dad, I think you married Gina, because it was convenient. She is your publisher and she wanted to keep an eye on you while you worked, so the two of you got married."

"Ugh! That was a mistake."

Alexis sighs. "You really think Gina is going to make you write?"

"Yes, I do. She acts like she cares about other people when she wants to. The thing she cares most about is the production. Getting the books out there to make sales."

Kate walks in the door and sees that Castle has woken up. "Hey." She gives Castle a warm smile. "You're awake."

Castle lifts his free hand to summon Kate over to him. "Yeah. I'm awake. I was looking for you. Alexis had said you stepped out to call Gina." He shuts his eyes and lets out a sigh. "How did that go?"

Both Castle and Alexis stare at Kate when she hesitates. "Well, it was sort of awkward. Your wife calling your ex-wife." She sighs. "I don't ever want to call her again, unless I absolutely have to. But, anyway, it went as well as it could have. She didn't hear about the shooting on the news. And she sends her well-wishes."

Castle grimaces. "How soon does she want me to start writing again?"

"With all honesty, she didn't say. She was a little surprised that you had been shot, only because it had happened during a funeral. She isn't at all surprised that you took the bullet for me. Gina does want you to get better soon, but she didn't say how soon."

Alexis chimes in on the conversation. "Hey, dad? Speaking of getting better, when you get released from the hospital, is there some place you would want to go to recover?"

Castle thinks about for a minute. He looks between the two women there with him. "Hm. Going somewhere that is private and peaceful. I don't want to go back to the loft. There is too much noise, especially here in the city."

"Are you thinking the Hamptons?"

"Yeah, I am thinking the Hamptons. It's out of the city, it's peaceful. I could get some fresh air. We can even have the physical therapist there, when the time comes for that."

Kate rubs a hand over Castle's shoulder. "Hey, there might be another option."

Castle and Alexis look at Kate questioningly. Castle is the one to ask. "What's the other option?"

"My dad's cabin up by the lake. You're family. I'm sure he'll be happy to let us stay there through your recovery. Besides, it could get you away from Gina. Gina knows where the house in the Hamptons is. She'll find you there."

Castle gives her a smile. "That is true. She'll know where to find me if I don't start writing as soon as she would want me to." Castle back tracks to what Kate had said about 'us'. "Ok, who's 'us'? You said that your dad would be happy to let 'us' stay there."

"Oh, yeah, about that. I've decided to take some time off work to be with you. To help you with your recovery. I want to be there for you. If you're going out of the city to recover, I don't want to be away from you. The time off is not approved yet, because I still have to ask the commissioner."

Alexis speaks up. "And dad, I still have school. I wouldn't be around a whole lot to help you either, no matter how much I want to."

Kate looks at Alexis. "You're always welcome to come up on the weekends to see him. He's your father. I can't and won't keep him away from you." Kate looks down to her husband. "So, Castle, what'll it be?"

Castle looks back and forth between his wife and daughter. "I think the cabin sounds lovely."

Kate bends down to kiss Castle on the lips and then smiles. "Ok. Great. I'll give my dad a call later to figure everything out."

Just then a nurse comes in. "Oh, hi. I'm sorry to interrupt. I just need to run some tests. Do you mind stepping outside for a moment?"

Kate and Alexis look at each other. What kind of tests could they be running? Oh, well, they're not really going to question the professionals. Both Kate and Alexis give Castle a kiss on the cheek and walk out of the room together. The two of them wait in the hallway. Hopefully, the results come back with good news, on whatever tests they're running.

To Be Continued

Note: THANK YOU to Natalie Elizabeth, LittleLizzieZentara, and EvaKAlways! I never would have made it this far if it weren't for the 3 of you! You 3 were the ones who got me started on writing, thank you. Look how far I've come!