A/N: Hello people! I want to thank you all for the great response to my previous chapter. You've really blown me away the last couple of days with all the story and favorite alerts. So, THANK YOU! From the bottom of my heart :D

This is only my second story EVER and this is not even my language, so it means a lot to me to have this kind of response. I'm flattered and so, so very happy.

After that long 'Oscar Acceptance like' speech (I can be very melodramatic sometimes… :P), I'll leave you with the new chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter 12. FORWARD

Rick entered the Operating Room with a smile on his face, feeling optimistic for the first time in almost two weeks. The room was cold; both in temperature and appearance, which made him feel a little uneasy all of a sudden.

He was transferred to the operating table on a simple move and after that, the only thing he could see was a tangle of arms working over him and turning him around, getting him ready to start the party.

A woman with amazing blue eyes put a breathing mask on his face and ordered him to breath deeply. "Now try to relax, mister Castle, and count from ten to one, ok?"

Rick nodded and started counting. "Ten… Nine…Eight… Sev…" And then everything went black. But not for long…

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Something wraps around him and suddenly, Rick is standing in his kitchen as Alexis opens a letter from Stanford. Her face falls and he feels his heart breaking. Then everything starts spinning around and a super hero flies over their heads holding a sword and moving so fast they can't catch him. A moment later he's picking a container inside a dumpster. It's a human head. He blinks and he's kissing a blond woman I the middle of a hallway. Beckett comes out of a room and catches them, she's not happy. Now he's standing in the middle of an enchanted house, holding Kate's 'legs' while she's trying to climb into a secret passageway. In a second, he's sitting in a bank's floor, a gun pointed to his head and a very angry man, talking on the phone in front of him. A moment later everything blows up and he hears Beckett calling his name. Her smile tells him things he doesn't know he should believe, but they're there. And all is black again.

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Castle's blood-pressure starts to rise on the screen and it starts beeping like crazy. A couple of minutes later, the doctors have stabilized him and he's back to normal again.

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His world starts spinning once again and he finds himself wearing an Elvis costume, trying to hide his embarrassment to a very amused Kate Beckett, and in a second his heart is breaking, listening to a crying Beckett at the other side of a door. He wants to go inside and hold her and tell her everything will be ok, but he knows he can't. Then, a tiger shows its face through a hole in a wall. He's cuffed to Kate and they're both scared to death. Now he's entering a church and Kate's there. She greets him and they walk inside together. It's Ryan's wedding. Everything goes back to black.

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In the waiting room three women waited for news, sitting on three uncomfortable, plastic chairs. Kate had been keeping her distance from Castle's family. She could tell Alexis was mad at her and she couldn't blame her. They had gotten really close after the crash, and she had just disappeared from her life without an explanation when she had her fight with the girl's father. What was it with her and the Castles? She always seemed to hurt them no matter what she did.

Martha stood up and walked towards her. "Do you mind?" She asked pointing the chair next to Kate.

"Of course not. Please." Kate said.

The older woman sat and held her hand. "How are you, dear?" she asked.

Kate was surprised and she had to blink and swallow hard before she could talk again. "I'm fine. Thanks, Martha. How have you been?"

The redhead made a flourish with her hand. "We've been fine. Some ups and downs but we're fairly good." Martha's face went back to serious. "You need to talk to Alexis, Kate. This stupid fight between you and Richard is being hard on her."

Kate looked at where Alexis was. The young woman was looking at the tiles; her hands locked and placed between her legs. "I know. I should have called her… Excuse me." She said, standing up and walking towards Alexis.

She sat beside her and bumped her shoulder with the girl's. "Hey."

Alexis looked at her with a hurt expression. "What?" she said drily.

"I'm sorry, Lex. I should have called you. What happened between your dad and me had nothing to do with you." Kate said, looking at the same tiles the girl next to her was looking at.

"You disappeared. You said you'd be there for me no matter what, and you left." The girl shot back, her eyes still on the floor.

Kate bit her lip and combed her hair with her fingers, trying to think what to tell her. "I know. I meant what I said to you, Alexis, but I haven't been doing things the right way lately… I'm really sorry." Kate reached to touch the girl's face, making her look at her. "Look, I don't know what's going to happen between your father and me after this, but I know I don't want to loose my relationship with you. – Alexis' eyes were hard on her - I understand that you're mad at me. The first bump in the road and I leave without a trace… I promise it won't happen again."

Alexis closed her eyes for a moment before she spoke again. "I need you to keep that promise, Kate. You can't fail me again."

"I won't. You can be sure about that." Kate saw a tiny smile drawn on the girls face. "Friends again?" she asked.

She looked back at the detective and nodded. "Yes." She said turning a little to give Kate a quick hug. "Do you think you and dad will make up soon? I really miss having you around all the time."

Kate smiled at that. She found it really sweet. "Well, we need to talk about what happened but I don't think now's the best moment. He needs to get well first."

Martha sat beside Kate, leaving her in the middle of both redheads, each of them holding one of her hands. "It's been 4 hours now. They should be done soon. This is worse than waiting for the critics after an opening night." The older woman said.

Rick was resting in the recovery room, barely awake, when a nurse started smacking him softly on the face to make him wake up.

"Mister Castle? Can you hear me? You have to wake up. How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I…" His voice was scratchy and his tongue felt like a shoe sole. "Thirsty." He managed to say.

"Ok, I'll bring you some ice chips. You'll be moved to a room in a minute." The nurse informed him, before leaving to get his ice chips.

Ten minutes later he was in a hospital room, feeling like a truck had gone over him. – Ironically, that happened almost three months ago… -

After talking to the surgeon and being told that everything had gone perfect, the three women were led to Castle's room.

"He'll be a little drowsy yet, so be patient. If he is in any pain call the nurses. He'll be on strong painkillers for a while." The doctor told them.

"Thank you, doctor." Martha said.

The man gave them a quick nod. "Mrs. Rodgers, Mrs. Castle, Miss." And walked away.

Kate had turned crimson red when the man had called her Mrs. Castle. How come that everybody thought they were married?

Alexis opened the door and turned around when she saw Kate was standing outside, not intention to move. "You're not coming?" She asked.

"I need a minute." She could see the panic on the girl's eyes. "Don't worry, I'm not going to run. I just need a while."

Alexis nodded and walked inside the room and closed the door, leaving the detective outside.

"Dad!" The girl called, when she saw her father lying drowsily on the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Castle smiled. "Kind of beat. But I can't complain." He said. "Where's Kate? She said she would stay." He asked a little worried.

"She's outside. She said she needed a minute." Alexis told him, trying to reassure him. "She's coming in, dad. Don't worry."

"You know what? We've already seen you and you're doing just fine. Maybe Alexis and I should go out to grab something to eat. It's past lunchtime. Come on, darling, lets go." Martha said leaving the chair she was sitting on and walking towards the door.

"But we just got in!" Alexis retorted.

"Come on, kiddo!" The older woman said, holding the girl's arm and moving her out with her. "They need to talk, dear. It won't be easy if there's an audience." She said on her granddaughter's ear. "See you later, Richard."

After Martha and Alexis left, it still took Kate a while to enter the room. She didn't know how to act around him now. She walked inside looking down, moving her eyes slowly up, until they found his.

"Hi." Was the only thing her mouth could articulate.

"Hi." He said back. She didn't move. "Are you going to stay there all day? I know these chairs are like sitting on a cactus, but at least you'd be closer, you know." He joked.

Her feet started moving again and she reached his bedside, sitting on the chair he'd been pointing for her.

"How are you feeling?" She asked timidly.

He looked at her, concern spilling out of his eyes. "Right now, I don't know. Kate, are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." She looked back at him with a soft smile, but she knew he didn't buy it. "Ok, I'm not. It's just that I don't know what to do, Castle." She stood up and walked around the room. "I want to be here for you, but at the same time I can't stop being mad at you. Does that make any sense?" She asked.

"I guess so. Look, Kate, I know this is being hard for you, I understand, really." He said following her pace around the room with his eyes. "You've seen the folder, is there anything on it that can tell us what was going on? Cause, I can tell you, I have no idea."

Kate stopped her pacing, her hand on her forehead, rubbing it slowly. "I haven't opened it." She confessed.

"What?" he asked in disbelieve. "You've had it for almost two weeks now, and you haven't opened it? Why?"

She turned to look at him, embarrassment and fear all mixed up on her stare. "I can't." She simply said.

Rick's eyebrows knotted over his eyes. "You can't?"

"It's complicated." She said. "Your mother told me you were trying to protect me." Move his attention to other thing, that was what she needed now. "From what?"

He frowned again. "Kate, they almost killed you last year. Do I need more reasons? Sincerely, I don't know what of me trying to keep you alive is what pisses you off so much. Have you ever thought how would this be the other way around?" he asked.

She tore her eyes from him, resuming her pacing, her hands on her hips. "I guess I'd do the same. But that doesn't change anything, Rick. Loving someone doesn't give you the right to rule their lives and do what you think is better for them just because of that. The fact that I'd do the same thing doesn't mean it'd be ok." She shot. "I understand your concern and I know it must have been hard for you to do it, even thought you don't remember now, but this has been a very important part of my life for a long time and no one, not even you, has the right to decide what to do about it but me." She stopped on her tracks again. "And you know what? Now that I think about it, you've been investigating on your own. There were new leads on your smart board. So, I can't put my life in danger to solve MY mother's case but you can? You think they would care about blood relation if they'd find out you've been digging into it? They'd kill you the same, Rick! And you have a family."

"So do you, Kate." He retorted feeling a little angry. He had been caught at the 'loving someone' part but hearing her say she wouldn't leave anyone if she died, made his blood boil. "There are a lot of people around you. Don't think that loosing you wouldn't mean anything to us. As you have said, loving someone doesn't give you the right to live their lives for them, but if you have the chance to keep them alive, if you're given the chance to protect them from the devil, you do it. No matter what." He stated with his hoarse voice.

Kate sighed loudly, letting her hands fall from her hips in defeat. "Ok, you're right. I don't want to fight anymore."

"Come here." He ordered. She walked towards the bed, staying at a reasonable distance from him. "Kate, I can't move, ok? Don't make me beg."

She moved closer and he grasped her hand tight, pulling her even closer to make her sit beside him. "There. Much better." He said with a grin. "Let's forget about this for a while, ok? I'm tired and I've missed you too much to spend the first day I see you in weeks fighting." That got him a genuine smile. "That's better."

She relaxed a little, leaning against his side. "I'm sorry I make things so difficult. I'm trying, Rick. I really am."

"I know." He said kissing the back of her hand. "Hey." He poked her with his elbow. "Have we just said we love each other?" he asked with his childish enthusiasm shinning in his eyes.

Kate blushed a deep red, recollecting all they had said on the last minutes. "Yeah, I guess we have." She replied.

"Oh man! That's the most unromantic way ever!" He whined.

She grinned and kissed his cheek, making him look at her. "Yeah, but that's our way, right?"

A/N: Okay, we're done for now. I hope you've liked this one. I personally think it sucks but, please, don't stop reading!

My thanks to CastleWriter16 for her suggestions; I really appreciate your insight ;) And thanks also to everyone reading this and reviewing (some of you have been doing it from the beginning and that's SO cool!), adding this to alerts and favs and all that. You make this story. - WOW! I'm reaching my melodramatic top today… But still, I love you, guys :P

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So, you've finished the chapter and you've reached this never ending author's note and you keep reading, because you're that wonderful, and then you see that line down there, yes, the one on blue letters that says 'review this chapter', and you go and click on it and then leave a few words for me to read; and all that, just because you're such a beautiful human being.

Did you know I was a psychic? Lol. (Nah, but, pretty please? –puppy dog eyes-).