Disclaimer: I do not own anything as it's been said earlier.
…
Jim was wheeled into the hospital surrounded by a handful of doctors. One of them approached Kate and assured her that her father was going to be taken care of so she didn't have to worry. Kate went into the waiting room and started pacing the room filled with worried relatives. She sat down on one of the chairs and looked around the room. She was anxious; it had been too long since she had to wait for her father to recover. She got up and walked around the hallways; she took out her phone and checked for new mails. She was so absorbed in her reading that she bumped into the person who was coming her way. She stumbled to the floor and looked around for her phone. Once she knew it was still functioning, she looked to the other person sitting on the floor staring at her. He looked older than what she would have thought. His hair was shorter than when she knew him, and his face reflected the time that had gone since she last saw him. The thing that shocked her was the way he looked at her, like if she was the only one in the room.
"Josh?" She asked once on her feet.
"Kate. What are you doing here?" He asked.
"This is a hospital Josh, and my father just got transferred here from an ambulance." She said nonchalantly as she went back to the waiting room.
"Kate wait!" He tried to catch up to her. He grabbed her arm and tried to stop her, but she stared at him and got loose.
"Look, this is not the time Josh. But if you want to catch up, you know where I work." She noticed a nurse waiting for her return.
"He's stable; the doctor will be with you shortly. You can go in and talk with him." She pointed at the door where he was resting.
Kate opened the door to see her father deep in thought; he looked at her when she shut the door. She didn't say a word to him, leaving him time to process all the events. She sat next to his bad and took his hand in both of hers, letting him know that she was there. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"Not in here Dad, it's not a conversation to have in a hospital room. The doctor will be here in a minute and I don't want him to hear anything." Just as she finished talking, said doctor walked in.
"Mr. Beckett, I'm Dr. Harris." He introduced himself. "And you must be Mrs. Castle" He smirked at the woman. "From what I've seen and heard from the paramedics who took care of you in the site, you have suffered an acute stress reaction. This means that because of some traumatic event or an event of significance, your brain worked in a different way than your body. The brain is composed of three parts, let's say, the cortex, where higher thinking skills arise, the limbic system, where emotions evolve and the brain stem, which control the basic survival skills. When someone experiences a traumatic event, these three parts work together to face the threat they think they have indentified. Now, the symptoms your daughter described to the medics are often seen in these cases, so we're off the woods. Now, it would be wise for you to spend the night here in case you suffer another episode. This can happen in the next four weeks, so you need to be aware of it, you will need therapy with a psychologist and try some relaxation methods so you don't work up your nerves. Also you shouldn't be near the source of the event whether it's a person, an object or a place. Do you have any questions?" He asked calmly. Kate looked at her father and waited for him to answer.
"No, everything's clear. Thank you doctor." He said as he watched the man retreated from the room.
"Dad, I have to leave now. Rick will stay the night with you in case something happens. I love you Dad." She kissed him on the forehead and went to the door.
…
She opened the front door of the loft and smiled as she heard small feet run through the hallways. Jo and Roy came crushing to her as if they hadn't seen their mother in years. She hugged them back. She saw Alexis standing in the doorway; her arms crossed looking at her family.
"Dad just left actually, I'm not sure how you missed him." Her daughter informed her.
"Well, then I guess it's time for a bath, isn't it?" She said looking at both of the kids.
"I'm going to my room and study for my exam, just call me if you need any help." Alexis kissed them goodbye and went to her room.
"Jo, stop pinching my arm. Roy, go to the bathroom and start running the water, not like last time. A bit colder than boiling." She said watching her only son run up the stairs. She sighed; there was no point in slowing him down. She picked Jo up and carried her to the master bedroom so she could change into comfortable clothes. She took one of Rick's shirts and yoga pants and placed her heels near the bed.
"Mommy, are you going to tell Grandma how you got the scar?" The little girl asked seriously.
"When the time comes I will. Why do you ask?"
"Because Grams told me they were all scared when the bad man shot you"
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Without missing a beat, the girl started rambling about her friends at school.
…..
Kate managed to tuck them in just like any other day; they were asleep by the time she got out of the room. She was tired, there were so many things they needed to do before she got to bed. She heard footsteps coming from the kitchen and went to see which one of the kids had gone to get a snack. Instead of two small children, Alexis was in the kitchen rumbling through the cabinets. She had found her doing the same thing over the years, when the girl stayed up studying; she would go to the kitchen and get a steaming cup of tea to work her nerves. She found what she was looking for, two bags of tea and placed them on the counter. Alexis smiled as she saw Kate get their mugs; they had been a Christmas present from Rick, two identical mugs with their names on the side. Alexis sat on one of the chairs, and waited as Kate poured the boiling water on both mugs. She then placed the bags in the water and watched as they tainted the water.
"How's Jim?" Alexis asked in a worried tone.
"He's stable, your father's with him at the moment. God, I was so scared." She shook her head, chuckling at the thought of the past experience.
"Thank God he's okay. Is Dad with him?" She asked the older woman.
"Yes, just in case something happens to him this night."She took a sip of her tea, relying on the familiar taste. "Have the guys found anything about my mother?" Alexis smiled, that was Lieutenant Castle speaking, right down to business.
"Not that much really. She just vanished, she died in legal terms. There was no evidence of her being in the country or in any legal system for that matter. Whoever they are, they are really powerful, they know how to cover their tracks. We also searched for Lockset, but nothing came up."
"Maybe we're looking at it the wrong way, maybe it's not a what, but a who what we have to look for. Maybe Lockset is the one behind all of this. You remember Vikram? You need to call him and arranged a meeting with Javi and Kevin. I'm calling your Dad right now and discuss this so you can go and sleep some for your exam tomorrow."