Hey guys, I know it has been a long time since I've written anything, but I'm back :). So this chapter is a bit suspense since I had this idea of doing something horrible to our happy family. Having a baby isn't always a bed of roses, but don't worry it'll be fine at the end :) I hope you like it. and it isn't really a long chapter, but I just can't make it interesting when I make them longer than say 1500 words max so.

Chapter 10

It had been hours. Emma just didn't stop crying. The voice that normally calmed her down very easily, sounded like despair, and most of all panic. "Rick something is wrong I just know it." Kate said calling Castle.

On the phone Castle could hear this wasn't his daughters normal cry, and although he was worried, he tried to calm Kate down. Kate didn't really listen, she kept on talking about how the three week old infant didn't want to eat, hadn't slept in over three hours, which was highly unusual given the fact Emma slept every time after a feed.

"Okay hon, calm down. It doesn't help Ems if you freak out. Just … take her temperature." Kate did what Castle said. "Castle – Kate freaked out – she has a fever of a hundred and three!" saying that made it feel real: her little girl was sick. Real sick!

"Okay, I'll be there in a sec. Just try to give her some water on room temp, and put her in a light onesie, okay? When I get home, we'll call the pediatrician. He'll tell us what to do. Oh and honey please, keep calm." And before Kate could say a word Castle ended the call.

"You guys. I have to go. Something is wrong with Emma, she has a fever of a hundred and three, doesn't want to eat, sleep or stop crying." "Jeez bro! That's serious. You want us to do something?" Esposito and Ryan could see the worry in Castle's eyes. "That's it dude, you're not driving like this. You're gonna rush and get yourself killed. I'll drive. Javi, call Lanie. Tell her to go to Beckett. She'll be there way sooner than us." "Got it bro."

Kate tried everything to calm Emma down, she sang the song that her mother used to sing, read a story, tried to feed her, give her a bottle of water. Everything she could think of. When she heard a knock on the door she picked the baby up, held her very close and answered the door.

She was relieved when she saw Lanie, knowing it would be, or Castle or one of the boys, that would have called her.

"Jesus Kate! You look awful, and my god baby even worse." Kate started crying and was mumbling something, but Lanie couldn't understand because Kate's voice was completely overmastered by the baby's crying.

Lanie put down her bag, which she brought to examine Emma, and took the screaming baby over from Kate. "Okay Kate, take a minute. You're stressed out, and that isn't helping little Ems here. Au contraire that's making her cry even harder. Now I'll examine her, and we'll get her to the ER if we have to, okay. It'll be fine, you can do this. Give me my bag, please."

Kate sat down on the couch, looking at her helpless baby girl who was screaming even harder when Lanie tried to take her temp again. Her body temperature was even higher, and that wasn't a good sign. The little one's heartbeat was irregular, and so was her breathing. Seeing that Kate totally lost it Lanie tried to reassure her. "That could be from the crying, and she hasn't slept in a few hours. But it could be something else too. Pack a bag, get the necessary things, diapers, clothes, and so on. I'll dress her up and call Castle. I'm taking you two to the ER."

When they arrived at the ER, Emma had a light seizure. The doctors and nurses pulled her through, put her on a vent, and an IV with antibiotics after they did a lumbar puncture. Little Emma had bacterial meningitis.

"Is that serious, will she make it?" Kate and Castle asked the doctor. "It's a good thing you reacted so soon, she'll probably be fine but she'll have to stay here for a week or two. And just to make sure, we'll start her closest relatives, meaning you two and anyone else who sees her regularly, on antibiotics."

Little Emma was in the NICU, still sedated, with a vent to normalize her breathing. The sight was sad. They knew she would be fine though. Everyone, who wasn't there yet, came to the hospital as soon as they heard. Alexis was the first one to arrive, totally freaked out. She didn't believe her little sister, the baby she waited for, for almost twenty years, was going to be okay until she spoke to her doctor. Martha arrived a few minutes later together with Jim. They were all talking, while Kate was with Emma, when Kate collapsed. She was burning up, and wasn't breathing properly, had a stiffness in her neck and couldn't stand the light. The nurses rushed her to the ER.

The diagnose: starting meningitis together with the stress. She hadn't drank anything, wasn't feeling the symptoms when she was at home, because she was too worried about her daughter.

Just as a precaution everyone was sent home with antibiotics, only Castle stayed. He convinced the doctor to allow him to stay the night and that nurses brought Emma to Kate's room once she was taken of the vent, which was around nine.

"You two almost gave a heart attack tonight, don't ever do that again!" he said when Kate woke up. Both her and Emma's fever was coming down, and Kate was feeling a bit better.

"That was the scariest thing that ever happened since we had Ems." Kate said. "I'm so glad Lanie came so early, I knew you weren't going to be home for another thirty minutes. She noticed Ems' breathing wasn't right, so she got us to the hospital." "And you didn't feel a thing?" Castle asked. " I was feeling a bit sick like I had the flu in the morning, but Emma was worse. And I became worried when she didn't want to eat around noon, I mean she's always very greedy when she's even the slightest bit hungry, and now she just turned away. At that point I forgot all of my symptoms really."

"I should've stayed home, when you said you weren't feeling well, even after you told me to go." "That wouldn't have cured us, now would it?" " No, but I would've taken you guys to the ER a lot sooner." Castle felt guilty, Kate could tell. "Babe, that wouldn't have made a difference. You didn't make us sick, and you couldn't have cured us even if you wanted too. Now stop blaming yourself." Kate ordered Castle. He just answered "I love you too."

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