Chapter 10 – Chris Stone thrown from van
Slightly before midnight, Susan Charlton stepped out of the foyer of a block of apartments to commence the short walk from her best friend's place to her own apartment across the road. The air was crisp and hit her wine infused brain cells a little too sharply. Her evening had been spent with one of her close friends lounging on the old red couch watching a marathon of their favourite show about a writer and his muse. A casual girls' night with bubbly wine and take-out meals. She closed the security door, then wiped the cat hair off her nose as she started down the concrete steps. The friend's cat had a thing for Susan. Whenever she visited the cat found a place on her to nuzzle up. She loved the cat not so much his hair loss.
As she stepped to the bottom step she almost stumbled in surprise at the unexpected and sudden screech of tires. She regained her balance fast enough to visually search for where the noise originated. A white van hurtled along the street between the parked cars in front of her. The vehicles barely made it between the parked cars. She dismissed it as a careless driver and continued on her walk home. However the noise of the van door being slid open in the quiet street caught her attention. Her gaze followed the van that at the end of the narrow street came to a messy halt, then jerked forward again. It almost stopped as a body was thrown from the side door out on to the road. The unconscious body tumbled to the road then rolled several rapid clumsy times before its progress was interrupted by the curb. The van accelerated with a roar of the engine, turned a sharp left and continued along the road the door slamming shut.
Susan, who wasn't a woman easily shocked or rattled, without a thought for her own safety, sprinted to the unconscious male. As she ran she wished she hadn't consumed so much food as it weighed heavy in her stomach. She found her phone in a pocket and as she halted at the curb side she dialled 911. Once she was connected to the operator she followed his guidance and assisted where she could.
Not quite thirty minutes later, Castle and Beckett stood on the curb side, staring down upon the body of the man who had been thrown from a vehicle.
Police and ambulance lights strobed against the brick apartments, reflected off the windows over their faces. The scene was a hub of activity with uniformed police officers and paramedics going back and forth. A small crowd of bystanders circled the police tape, most of them with their hands dug deep in their hoodie pockets.
The paramedics who had been the first to show up at the scene had called it in to dispatch that the victim was deceased. Consequently, the Homicide Squad had been contacted at the Precinct. At Gates' direction, the call had been dispatched to Beckett's cell phone. Castle and Beckett had arrived at the scene by foot within a few minutes of receiving the call.
An officer approached Beckett with a small note book in her right hand. "Detective."
"Evening Jones," Beckett greeted with a nod.
"Nice night for a run guys?" She inquired comparing the two. The detective was quiet and relaxed but her partner was breathing rapidly.
"We were playing Xbox games," Castle replied between puffs of air, "Then jogged here. Her idea." Castle's respiration was slowing down from their partial jog to the scene.
"We are only a few blocks from my apartment," Kate commented giving him a look. As usual she had fully recovered from their run and was breathing at her normal resting rate. She wore her jacket and had it zipped up to keep warm. She smiled deciding to tease Castle, and looked at Jones, "It was easy."
"I know it was for you, but I'm not built like a race horse." Rick remarked his eyes going from her face to her feet and back up to her dark eyes. He pulled off his jacket to cool down and slung it over his right shoulder smiling at the officer who had a chuckle at his humour. Rick loved it that Kate was naturally athletic but sometimes, such as tonight, he felt that he physically held her back. He wasn't built like her with long limbs and a slender body and he accepted that.
Kate narrowed her eyes at Rick in response to his comment then turned her attention to Officer Jones, "Did anyone in the crowd see something, perhaps a registration number?"
"With the exception of the woman who saw the deceased get thrown from the vehicle, nobody saw a thing."
"Typical." Kate pressed her lips together.
"Susan Charlton, who called it in, stated the deceased was tossed out of the van while it was still moving slowly and he rolled till he bumped into the curb."
"Ok. I'll have the detectives take her in to make a statement." She was already weary and now faced the fact she was going to be up for the rest of the night.
"Anything else Detective?"
"That's it, thanks Jones. We'll wait for the ME to arrive."
"Thanks Detective." She smiled then glanced at the writer, "Nice to see you again Castle."
Rick nodded at the officer, "Sure, Jones. Are you going to the Police Christmas picnic?"
"I'll be there with my partner," she replied.
Rick smiled with enthusiasm, and rubbed his hands together, "Good. I'm looking forward to kicking your ass in that race again."
"Sure Castle. Not a chance you're gonna win again," Jones said as she walked away.
Castle stepped so he stood close to Beckett who murmured, "We are so gonna win that game Castle."
"That's my girl!" He smiled at her eyes both of them sharing a moment. He then looked back at the body, rolling on the balls of his feet several times as he thought about the scene before them, "The men who did this, could have dropped this guy off first thing in the morning so we could have caught some zzzzz's," he only loud enough so Kate would hear.
"Tell me about it." She clipped her NYPD badge so it hung from the top of her zipper. "But we know that's the life of a detective Castle."
"I know. We were only about five minutes away from hitting the shower then going to bed."
"Five more minutes and someone else would have received the call."
"Now we're standing over a dead guy only a few blocks from your place." Castle gazed down upon the body. The deceased male was on his back, the bottom half his body covered by a sheet. His shirt was cut open and his chest bare from when the paramedics had worked on him. The paramedics waited by the bus and a half dozen uniformed police kept the area cordoned off. A few inquisitive neighbours had come out but they were disappearing to return to bed. "Meanwhile, everyone is waiting for the Medical Examiner on call to arrive. I trust it will be Pearlmutter."
"Probably," Kate mumbled as she stepped away.
Alone and distracted, Castle studied the surface of the body. He stepped closer. The poor guy had been beaten almost beyond recognition. His left eye was swollen shut from repeated hits. There was a knife slash over his cheek. Rick, who rested on his hands on his knees as he leaned over to get a better look, noticed his knuckles weren't injured from hitting back. Rick stopped breathing. The left index finger of the victim moved. Rick waited. Again. It moved again.
He stood up and looked about, "Kate?" Castle called once again watching the body for movement. He knew Kate would not believe him but he had to share it with her.
"Mmm?"
"I need to touch the victim. Do you have disposables?" He glanced to her. She was fiddling with her iPhone.
"No. I don't carry gloves when I'm off duty."
"I thought you would." He replied.
"You know you can't touch." She said without looking away from her phone.
"I know, but I think I have to."
"No Castle."
"I think he's still alive, Beckett."
Kate slipped the phone in a pocket and placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving. She peered down at the body for the third occasion, "The paramedics declared him. That's why we're here."
"Well, maybe they are wrong. He moved, Kate. I swear to you, I saw his finger twitch."
"It's the body's process of dying." Kate replied and gave his shoulders a stroke.
"I know what happens." Rick ignored Kate's touch of reassurance and crouched down to reach to the body. He pressed two fingers over the carotid artery.
She tissed at him, "No, Castle," she whispered, "you know the ME's get pissed off if the bodies are too compromised.
This time Castle ignored Kate's huffing and puffing of objection as she circled the body with long strides. He looked up to her face filled with anticipation about whether he was actually going to feel a sign of life. He was aware he made her nervous when he did things he wasn't supposed to do. It drove her crazy, but sometimes the risk was worth it. He waited what seemed a long time for a sign the guy lying on the ground dead, was indeed alive. He was about to give up, then he felt it. A single bump slid beneath his fingers. His eyes widened, "He's alive, Kate."
"You're jerking me!?" She hissed, glancing about.
"No, seriously! He's alive." He felt a second pulse. "Again," he told her.
Kate knew Rick was dead set serious. It was all over his face, in his voice. He wasn't playing around for once. With that, she instantly turned about searching the area for the paramedics and found two of them talking to the uniforms, "Hey!" She called to get their attention, "Guys! Over here!" Once they turned to find out what the noise was about she pointed at the guy lying on the ground, "This guy is alive!"
Rick stood and stepped to Kate's side where they were well out of the way of the paramedics, "What the hell? How did they miss that?" He asked her.
"I don't know."
For a couple of seconds they observed the paramedics hastily skating about to collect their equipment. They scrambled about in a bit of a fluster.
Castle leaned in close to Kate's ear and murmured so the paramedics didn't hear, "There must be a reason they missed it."
"It happens for a lot of reasons," Kate quietly stated, "The paramedics might be weary and over worked, the body is cold perhaps rigid. Their machines don't find a heartbeat."
"You really don't know." Rick quietly remarked with a bit of a smart ass smirk appearing as he looked at her face. He knew by the vacant stare she held into the distance that he was right.
Kate bit her bottom lip holding back a smile, "I've already admitted I've got no idea why they miss it, but they do. Drop it."
"Mmmm. He's definitely cold." Rick pointed a finger at the man who was apparently decease, "And rigid."
They watched the paramedics rush over to the patient balancing their equipment in a clumsy state. They were in a bit of flap now that Castle had picked up signs of life. Had it not been so serious it was quite comical. The paramedic in charge stated to Beckett as he knelt down beside the man, "We found the man, stiff as a rod, cold, and very clearly deceased." To everyone present the patient had obviously died before he was dumped during the night.
"You sure you felt something?" Kate inquired in a murmur. "They will be so pissed at you if they were right especially since they already tested him on the cardiac monitor."
Rick's jaw tightened momentarily before he relaxed and said with confidence, "He moved,"
"Twitched." Kate corrected.
"Okay, he twitched and I felt his pulse, twice." He held his gaze at Kate expressing he was sure about it. They fell silent as the paramedics proceeded to place the cardiac monitor dots on the patient for a second time. It was protocol with any deceased patient to ensure that he or she was in assystole. Rick understood that because of the fact that they'd already completed the procedure once before they had been called to attend. If the paramedics happened to get the same result the second time the guys would definitely be pissed at him for questioning their declaration of the man's death.
Everyone waited with abated breath. Rick thought his heart was going to burst with anxiety. He glanced anxiously between the paramedics and Kate's worried face.
Then, to everyone's surprise, the monitor gave off a single beep. Kate's mouth fell open. A second beep occurred then a string of them.
Rick grinned, started to breathe once again, and reached out to Kate's shoulder he lightly squeezed. She took his hand a little excited about his discovery.
The rhythm of the guy's heart was almost completely normal. The paramedic looked at Rick and Kate, as though somehow he had made a mistake putting the ECG dots on, as obviously this patient was dead, and there could be no electrical activity anymore.
However, the monitor didn't lie. The man's heart fired its normal electrical currents, but the heart wasn't doing what it was supposed to. Beat.
"He has EMD." One of the paramedics said loud enough that Castle heard.
"What's EMD?" He asked.
"Electrical Mechanical Disassociation," the other paramedic replied. The same paramedic immediately started CPR by doing chest compressions and the other ventilated the patient.
When the intensive care paramedics arrived Castle and Beckett stepped well out of the way as the vehicle came to a halt. The fresh team sprung from the vehicle with their equipment and approached the paramedics who still worked on the man. A short discussion followed then the intensive care team took over. One of them inserted an ETD tube into the patient's trachea to breathe for him. The other paramedic inserted an intravenous cannula into the patient's jugular vein and started to administer adrenaline.
Castle watched on filled with anticipation. He prayed they paramedics could keep this guy alive, could save his life. He could barely contain his excitement when given a few minutes the patient's heart spontaneously started to beat on its own. A paramedic declared the patient had a good, strong, pulse. Within another minute the unconscious man was lifted to a gurney and covered with thermal blankets before he was loaded into the ambulance. The patient's condition remained unchanged and stable.
Once the doors were closed and the ambulance was moving forward with lights blazing and sirens going, Castle looked at Beckett with a smile of satisfaction and disbelief, "Dude … there's another learning lesson for us."
"What's that Castle?" She smiled in amusement at how pumped he was. It was going to take her forever to get him relaxed enough to go to bed and sleep. With Rick excited this late in the evening, she knew she was destined for a long night.
"Sometimes the strangest things happen in this job… and that's all there is to it."
"Mmm.. like with me ending up with you has my partner." She teased then seriously stated "And we're off the case now he's still alive. Let's go home." She started to walk in the direction of her home with Rick chasing after her. She called Ryan's phone fully aware it would be Esposito who was driving. He soon picked up the call, "Ryan, hi."
"What's happening, Beckett?"
"Go home Ryan. The guy is alive. We don't have a body."
"What? He was declared deceased half an hour ago."
"I know. Castle saw the guy move." She briefly filled him in on the story as she and Castle headed back to her apartment. They briskly walked keen to get home to go to bed as it was almost 1.30 am. "Be in the bullpen around ten guys, unless we get another call in the meantime. The way perps drop bodies nowadays, they don't have any consideration for a girl's beauty sleep."
The boys laughed. They also said goodbye and finished the call. Once the phone was put in her pocket, Kate found Rick's hand and together they walked back to the apartment.
He liked it a lot that she had reached for and held his hand all the way. It made his chest hum and he wore a smile of content. It was still there when he let go of her hand and followed her through the doorway inside her apartment. He locked and secured the door, dropped the keys in the bowl and continued into the living room.
The shower water was already running by the time he met Kate in the bathroom. She was stripping her body of clothing and glanced up to him with a smile full of naughty thoughts. She folded her track pants and left them on a pile of clothes.
"C'mon Castle. Keep up." She invited with an alluring tone.
"You will be struggling to keep up with me," he replied and whipped off his top he threw in the clothes basket.
"Yeah sure," she scoffed as she felt for the temperature of the water watching him push off his boxers. "Sexy," she whispered, "Very sexy indeed."
"What is sexy?" He inquired gazing upon his naked body before he looked at her questioningly.
She rose her left eyebrow a smile creeping over her face, "Your chest, your ass is very cheeky…. Your:" She waved a hand at his groin, "Bits."
"I know you like that part of me."
She drew him closer to her as she stepped under the steamy shower. "Hurry Castle, the water is nice."
Ok, if you want to read more then please let me know.