Chapter 10 – Confusion

It had now been two weeks and 5 days since the drastic rescue, and Livie was still in a coma. Kate continued to stay with Castle and his family much she could tell to their delight, she had gone back to work as well but everyone could see she was less focused than she usually was. Everyone was trying to make her feel better; Castle followed her around a lot more she noticed and Lanie popped up for visits more often as well. She was grateful to them all for all they were doing for her. She spent most of her free time at the hospital with Livie, popping in briefly in the mornings and returning in the evenings after work, she also spent many of her lunch hours sitting vigil beside Livie's bed. The tests they had run had not worked in bringing her out of the coma but they were going to try again soon the doctors said.

It was nearing her lunch hour, so Kate was packing her bag, it felt nice not having to lie about where she was going when off to see Livie. "Hey" said Castle coming bounding up to her from where he had been chatting to Ryan and Esposito, "can I come" she raised her eyebrow at him "you really want to?" she asked "yeah" he said as though it was obvious so with a smile she nodded and he followed her down to the car.

10 minutes later they had parked and were in the hospital heading for Livie's room; Kate stopped to check on how her daughter was doing and ended up getting dragged to a doctor's office about asking her permission to re do the tests. Castle wondered into Livie's room and sat in the chair next to her. He looked at the young girl lying in the hospital bed, covered in wires, tubes and bandages, completely motionless aside from her gentle breathing. 'She really did look like her mom' he thought as he studied her. They had the same face and the same long light brown hair that hung in heavy curls that now lay framing her face on the pillow. "Hey Livie" he said gently "it's Castle, I um… I just wanted to say Livie… I can't wait to meet you and I know your mom can't wait to get you back' he looked at the unconscious child's face willing her to wake up "you were so brave on the docks, you have to pull through this Livie, it seems unfair that after surviving torture, being shot, stabbed and drowned, you are stuck in a coma, another obstacle blocking you and you mother from being together again. It isn't fair but you have to beat this one last obstacle Livie, for your om if nothing else, she misses you so much, I hear her crying late at night when she thinks no one else can here… so please, pull through this… for her"

He was so busy talking and watching her face he didn't notice her hand clench the blankets loosely. He stopped, waiting but there was no change to her peaceful expression so with a sigh put his head in his hands.

XO

'Your mother doesn't care about you' the man in front of me screamed 'she wouldn't pay the ransom.' I didn't know who he was; hell I didn't know who I was. This was weird; who was my mother that didn't care about me? who wouldn't pay some money to get me back, and it worried me that my mother wouldn't pay the ransom These men were screaming at me, screaming that my mother didn't care whether I lived or died. I clenched my fist angrily and then there was white hot pain erupting across my back, I yelled and yelled and screamed and screamed'

XO

Castle froze as he heard a small gasp; he raised his head to see Livie with her eyes wide open gasping as she looked around wildly. Instantly he leapt to his feet; "hey whoa there sweetie" he said moving towards her but stepping backwards as she recoiled away from him, her eyes wide with fear as she gasped in fright breathing heavily as she shifted and her hands clenched at the blankets. Castle was glad they had removed the breathing tube otherwise she would be choking over it now.

"Easy Livie" he soothed "don't worry I won't hurt you your safe now sweetheart." Slowly the girl began to relax, though she still eyed him apprehensively as her mouth moved for a bit as if she was trying to remember how to talk before she finally managed to ask "who are you?"

Castle smiled at her and said "I'm Rick Castle, the novelist… I work with your mom" she just blinked at him, obviously his name didn't ring any bells but that didn't worry him just yet. Cautiously he sat on the edge of her bed "you feeling ok" he asked gently "we've all been really worried about you." She stared up at him confused and he saw that she was shivering. But she didn't seem to be afraid of him; she just looked round the room confused.

To relieve the tension he tried "your mother will be so relieved you are awake." To his surprise a look of fear crossed over the Livie's face followed by confusion. "Why" she asked fearfully and he frowned "because she is you mother" he said gently and she stared up at him. "But those horrid people who hurt me… they said my mother didn't care, they said she wouldn't pay the ransom"

Castle looked at her in shock before he twigged what the problem might be "sweetheart" he asked gently "what do you remember about what happened to you." He watched as Livie frowned thinking.

She thought for a minute, "not much" she mumbled "why what did happen to me?" "Err" he said not comfortable about being the one that would have to tell her what had happened "err the short story is that you were kidnapped" she let out a gasp and stared at him in shock.

"I was what… kidnapped" she whispered, Castle nodded sadly "you were missing for 4 days" he said gently "we were all so worried about you." Livie swallowed before she looked away blinking obviously struggling not to cry. Gently Castle reached out and took her hand. She flinched at first but then she gripped it tightly and he squeezed it back comfortingly.

She stared into space with her eyes shining before she looked back at him and she let out a sob. Castle felt sorry for her, she obviously had no clue what was going on and was very frightened. "Shh it's ok" he whispered "shh don't worry sweetheart it's ok." He rubbed her shoulder gently before he stiffened in surprise as she suddenly leant forward and began to cry against his chest. Quickly he got over the shock and wrapped his arms around her as she clenched at handfuls of his shirt and he whispered to her that it was all going to be ok and that they were all there for her.

Just then there was a delighted gasp from the doorway and they both looked up. Kate was standing in the doorway with a shocked and delighted look on her face as she stared at them both but it slowly slipped and Castle looked down to see her daughter staring at her mother in confusion and apprehension. That was when he remembered what they had been talking about. How she didn't remember what had happened to her, but she had remembered something about her mother not paying the ransom.

Quickly he leapt to his feet and moved round the bed towards Kate who was still staring at her daughter in worry as Livie stared back, just as confused. Quickly he caught hold of her arm and gave her a gentle push muttering "can I have a word with you please Kate about your daughter"

He glanced over his shoulder as he left the room and saw bewilderment on Livie's face and she stared at him desperate for answers. "Don't worry I'll be right back" he said before he closed the door.

XO

Kate frowned and stepped out of the doctor's office. He had been talking to her for the past 20 minutes about the pros and cons of trying out that series of tests they had tried out again. She didn't really care; she knew they were going to conduct the tests any way, right then all she wanted to do was see her daughter. She made her way down the corridor hurriedly. She didn't know where Castle had gone, but she guessed that he would have gone to Livie's room so he could see her and then let her have some privacy with her. As she approached she heard the sound of sobbing, this made her frown again, wow had Castle really got that attached to her daughter? She stepped into the doorway and was greeted by an amazing scene.

Livie was awake. She couldn't believe it; she was awake after 3 weeks, and she was lying in Castle's arms sobbing whilst he stroked her back whispering that it was going to be ok and that they would be there for her. Kate couldn't hold back the gasp of delight – Livie was awake and she was going to be ok.

They both looked at her, Kate briefly noticed Castles worried and uncertain expression, but her eyes were on Livie, tracing over her features; she was the same, she still looked like her little girl. Then she noticed her child's confused face and she felt the delighted expression slip away as she stared at Livie, worried.

She stared in confusion at her until Castle leapt up and came towards her muttering loud enough for Livie to hear "can I have a word please Kate, about your daughter" then he pushed her out and closed the door behind them.

"Castle what's wrong with her" Kate asked desperately "why doesn't she remember?" before Castle could answer though Livie's doctor came hurrying over and once he heard that she was awake he told her to wait outside whilst he gave her and examination. Castle tried to head to the waiting room obviously to give her some space but she grabbed him and kept him with her; she was afraid of what the doctor might say and didn't want to hear it alone.

They waited for about half an hour. Castle called up the precinct and told them what had happened; the whole team sent their best and said they would pop in when Livie was up to it and the Captain granted her with the rest of the day off.

Kate watched as the doctor gently took some tests, then he asked Livie to do small exercises, he made has clench her fists, catch a ball, move her arms in circles and eventually he asked her to stand and carefully supported her until she was ready and then let her go and had her walk around the room. Then he got her back into bed and asked her some questions. She answered him looking very worried and very confused and she kept glancing out the window at Kate the worried look increasing every time she did.

Eventually Kate moved away from the window and leaned against the wall feeling worried. "Hey" Castle said touching her gently on the shoulder '"it will be ok Kate I promise." She looked at him "she doesn't remember…what if her memory never comes back" she whispered "hey that is extremely unlikely" he said squeezing her shoulder "and as long as you show her how much you love and adore her now it won't matter." Kate smiled weakly looking up at him "you know I never knew how sensitive you could actually be Castle" she commented causing him to grin "oh Kate there is so much you don't know about me, when you found it all out you could write a book" she shook her head, "I'll leave the book writing to you thanks" she teased.

Just then the doctor emerged from Livie's room closing the door softly behind him. Kate looked into the room through the window to see Livie staring at the ceiling a look of frustration on her face. Kate looked back at the doctor searching his face for some clue as to how her daughter was. He looked at her calmly, his face unreadable. "Let's talk in my office" he suggested quietly. Trying not to let her worry show Kate followed him back to his office, dragging Castle after her.

They took a seat in his office and waited for the doctor to speak as he sat watching them obviously trying to decide how he to phrase what was on his mind. Finally he did "your daughter seems ok in herself, though she is experiencing some severe memory loss" Kate bit her lip "how bad" she asked dreading his answer and she was right to do so. The doctor sighed "unfortunately she is missing most of her memory. She remembers very little about her life, she doesn't remember her childhood, her friends of her family" he looked at Kate sympathetically "thing she seems to be most worried about is not remembering you" he said "she says that all she can remember is being beaten with a white hot iron and being told that you didn't want her back and you wouldn't pay the ransom and if you loved her you would have saved her by now"

Kate felt tears in her eyes and felt Castle grip her hand for support she took a deep breath before asking "will her memory come back" the doctor thought for a minute "I think it will but only time can tell, it might come back over a long period of time or it might all come back at once, I will call someone up to have a talk with her and see if she can help her recover some memories."

Kate nodded "what should I do now" she asked worried about what she should do. The doctor smiled at her before saying "for now I think you should give her a day or two to see if her memory will come back, it quite often does in the first 48 hours, normally I would tell you to go in there and show her how much she means to you but considering all she remembers is being told you don't love her I thing that might just stress her out" he turned to Castle "I think you should be the one to comfort her right now" he said.

"Me" Castle said in surprise "why." the doctor smiled at him "because you were there when she woke up and quite often patients who don't remember anything will latch onto the first person they see who knows them in desperation for answers"

Castle looked at Kate uncertainly who smiled "I'm glad it's you Castle" she said truthfully; she knew Castle would help them both as best he could. She then turned to the doctor once again "how long till she can come home" she asked. He thought about it for a while "well I would say a few more days here and then we will see how she is doing with the therapy sessions we need her to do. Once she has finished with them, we won't be able to do much for her here so we will re-evaluate in a few days" Kate nodded still struggling to conceal her worried emotions. She thanked the doctor and then she and Castle walked back to Livie's room.

"Kate" Castle said "if things are going well and you want Livie to keep bonding with me like the doctor said you are both more than welcome to continue staying at my place, I have another spare room that Livie can stay in" he glanced at her hopefully. Kate smiled at him "that would be nice Castle, thank you for the offer, but let's see how it goes hey, the doctor might think it better to just get her back into her average routine" he nodded almost disappointed. Kate thought about that, he must really like having her live in his home and it was clear that he was determined to help her and Livie as much as possible. He really was very sweet.

Her life was changing a lot now; she was walking along a road and she didn't know where it was taking her and where it might end…

Thanks for reading

Please review

Mysticgirl