I want to thank each and every one of you that have favorited this story. I especially want to thank each and every one of you that have taken the time to leave a review. Before I started writing, I never knew how important they were. They encourage me and make me want to write more.

That being said, I'm not sure how happy I am with this chapter. I wrote at least 5 drafts before I was happy and not sure if it's any good.

They arrived at the book launch party shortly after eight that night. Castle thought that Kate had never looked more beautiful. Her hair had been cut and done in a braid. It was put in a bun on the top of her head. There were a few tendrils that had escaped, but Castle thought that it only added to the effect.

When she had walked into the living room that night, he had to catch his breath. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He had been rendered speechless. She had smiled nervously at him and asked, "Well, what do you think?"

It had taken him a few seconds to answer her, but when he did he managed to croak out, "You are absolutely stunning."

Kate had blushed and walked over to him, kissed him and asked, "Are you ready?"

He leaned down and brushed a kiss on her cheek and then whispered, "I want to stay home tonight. I want to take you back into the bedroom and make love to you all night long. God... Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

He let his lips nip at her ear and felt her shiver. If she hadn't spent forever getting ready, she would have kissed him and taken him back to their bedroom. Instead, Kate whispered, "Probably the same thing that you do to me. I love you Richard Castle."

Castle smiled, "And I love you Katherine Castle. Are you ready to leave?"

Kate nodded, "Better now than never."

He offered her his arm and she took it with a smile. They walked to the elevator and caught the elevator down to the bottom floor. There a limo was waiting for them. She gave him a look, "A limo? Really Castle?"

He shrugged and told her, "Paula."

Kate nodded as he helped her inside. She knew that he was required to make a grand entrance. Kate kept shaking her right leg as they drove. She was nervous and couldn't help it. Finally, Castle put a hand on her leg and whispered, "It will be fine. Just smile for the cameras. You will be fine."

She nodded and knew that he was right. She didn't like the spotlight, but she would do it for him.

All of their friends and family had already arrived. Lanie rushed over to her and smiled, "Your dress is amazing. I can't even tell you are pregnant."

Kate smiled, "Donna did an amazing job. Didn't she?"

Nodding, Lanie smiled at her best friend. Castle and Kate made their rounds and said hello to all the right people. Soon, it was time for Castle to do the obligatory book signing. He kissed her softly and said, "I'll see you in a little while."

Kate nodded, "I'm going to find Lanie and catch up with all the gossip from the precinct."

Castle smiled and she kissed him softly and went off in search of their friends. He smiled as Paula led him over to the signing area. That is where he spent the next three hours. Signing copy after copy of his latest book.

He went off in search of Kate and smiled when he was pointed to a back room. The hotel staff had grabbed a cot for her. Apparently she had been exhausted and his mother had insisted that she needed to lay down. He had woken her and led her to the limo. She smiled, "You took forever."

"Sorry. There were a lot more people than usual."

She smiled lazily and said, "That's a good thing."

He nodded and whispered, "It's a very good thing. I love you."

"Love you too."

"Are you ready to go home?"

Kate nodded and he led her to the front of the reception hall. All in all it had been a remarkable night. The critics loved the new book and they were projecting that the sales were going to be through the roof once again.

The bottom fell out of Kate's world when they were standing and waiting for the limo to pull up. Kate was standing off to the side talking with Lanie and Ryan. Castle noticed a man approaching him with a copy of his book. He was sure that they were going to ask him to sign it for them. However, instead of asking him to sign it, the person pulled out a small handgun.

Castle asked him, "What do you want?"

"I want Kate. You don't deserve her. She loves me."

Before he could react, the gun was pointed at him. Castle simply reacted and reached out to grab the gun. Castle struggled with him and the gun went off striking him in the stomach. The last thing he remembered was that he hoped someone could stop him before he tried to hurt Kate.

Kate turned around when she heard the first shot. She saw someone struggling with Castle, but she couldn't move fast enough to stop the scene playing out in front of her. She heard two more shots and then watched as her husband fell to the ground. She saw the bright red stain spreading on his white shirt. She ran to him and tried to stop the bleeding. Ryan had taken off after the suspect while Lanie called for an ambulance.

Lanie tried to push Kate aside, but her best friend refused to move. Lanie finally told her, "Let me do this."

"I can't. I can't lose him."

"I know. And I won't let you down. Please sweetie?"

Kate finally nodded and moved away from her husband. She felt like she was watching a scene in a really bad movie. A movie that she wished she could rewind and change. It felt like everything was in slow motion. She watched as the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics jumped out and rushed to help her husband.

She felt the tears streaming down her face. She saw Ryan standing next to her and asked, "Did you get the man?"

Ryan nodded, "He killed himself. Saw me running after him and put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger."

All she could thing was that she was glad the man was dead. She walked towards the ambulance and tried to get in, but Lanie stopped her, "You need to let me go with him."

Kate shook her head, "I need to be with him Lanie. Please?"

Lanie was adamant, "Go with Ryan sweetie. I will take good care of him."

Kate finally nodded and watched as her friend climbed into the ambulance. She watched as the doors shut behind her. She watched as the ambulance sped off for the hospital. It took every ounce of strength Kate had to keep standing. Watching half of her heart leave in that ambulance nearly killed her.

She remembered all of the times and all of the cases they had worked together. He was supposed to put his life in danger then. Not at a book signing. This was his safe place. His career wasn't supposed to put him in danger. These kind of events were supposed to be there safe place. If someone would attack him here, were they safe anywhere anymore?

Kate felt someone's hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Ryan standing there. He smiled sadly and told her, "I will take you to the hospital."

She could only nod and let him lead her to his car. It felt as if she was in some kind of bad dream. If she was, she hoped that she would wake up soon. Even though she knew they were getting closer to the hospital, it seemed like it was taking forever.

When they pulled up to the emergency room entrance, Kate threw open the door and ran inside. She was thankful that she was wearing flats. She reached the information desk and asked, "Richard Castle?"

The woman looked at her, "And you are?"

"His wife."

The woman nodded, but after seeing the look on her face, she sensed that Kate was very distraught. She smiled at Kate and told her, "He was just brought in. They rushed him into surgery. I will let the doctor know you are in the waiting room."

It was then that the nurse noticed that Kate was pregnant. There was no way she was going to let Kate sit in the hard plastic chairs. So, she motioned for Kate to follow her. She led her to a private waiting room. There was a nice recliner that Kate could use. Kate nodded and told her, "Thank you."

The nurse nodded softly and left the room. Kate sat in the waiting room and closed her eyes. She wondered if this was going to be the day that she had to say goodbye to the man that she loved. She wondered if her sons were going to lose their father. She didn't even try to stop crying. She simply let the tears fall.

She didn't even open her eyes when she heard the door open. She heard a muffled sob and then, "Kate..."

Kate opened her eyes and saw Alexis standing there. She could tell that her stepdaughter had been crying. Kate went to stand, but Alexis shook her head and rushed over to hug her. Then she asked, "What happened?"

Kate wiped her eyes and then whispered, "I'm not sure yet. I was talking with Lanie and the next thing I knew I heard shots. Then I saw your dad falling to the ground. I... I should have been able to stop him. If only I had been closer. It's all my fault."

Alexis wanted to blame someone, but she knew that it wasn't Kate's fault. She shook her head, "It's not your fault Kate."

Kate looked at Alexis and could tell that she was being honest with her. There was no anger or blame in the young girls eyes. Simply fear and heartache. She was afraid for her father.

Then Kate heard, "Exactly. Richard would give up his life for you Kate."

Kate looked up and saw Martha. She got up and Martha held her arms out. Kate walked towards her and the two women embraced and cried together. His wife and his mother crying for the man they bother loved. Each silently praying that they were strong enough to help the other.

After awhile, Alexis joined them and they cried together.

It seemed like days before the door to the room opened. Kate looked up and saw a doctor standing there. There was a grim look on his face and for a split second Kate thought the worst. She thought that he had died. "Mrs Castle?"

Kate nodded, "Yes."

"I have news. Some is good and some not so good."

"Okay."

"He was shot in the stomach and there was a lot of damage from the bullets. Internal bleeding and the spleen was practically destroyed. The liver was thankfully spared. He lost a lot of blood."

Kate swallowed hard and nodded and the doctor continued, "He's very lucky to be alive. We are going to watch him closely for the next few days. He is being heavily sedated so that he can heal."

Kate nodded and then asked, "Can we see him?"

"I will allow all of you to see him. If you will follow me I will take you to him." Before he

The three women followed the doctor into Castle's room. Even though Kate had a feeling what to expect, she was still shocked by his appearance. He was pale and he had so many wires attached to him, she was afraid to touch him. He was wearing an oxygen mask. Kate let out a small sob and Martha took her hand and squeezed. Kate tried to smile, but she knew that she came up short. She couldn't smile when the man that she loved was in here. Fighting for his life.

She heard Martha and Alexis talking to him, but it was as if she was in a vacuum. She could only stare at her husband. Hoping that maybe this was some kind of mistake. The other women finished and she found herself alone with him. Looking down at the man that she loved, she couldn't find the words to say. He was the master of words. So, she did the only thing she knew to do, she leaned down and whispered to him, "I love you Rick."

Then she managed to take his hand for a brief moment and she placed it on her stomach. She pushed in and she wasn't disappointed when she felt a kick in reply. She whispered, "We are here waiting for you. We need you Castle. What I wouldn't give to hear you tell one of your bad jokes or some silly theory about what happened."

She wasn't sure what she had been hoping would happen. Maybe she hoped that he would smile and wake up. Maybe this would prove to be all a bad dream. Whatever she had been hoping for didn't happen. He was so quiet and that scared her more than all of the tubes and wires that were attached to him. She pulled over a chair and sat down. She held his hand and cried silently. Wishing for him to wake up. Hoping for a miracle.

She must have fell asleep because the next thing she knew she was being jerked awake by the sounds of alarms going off. Before she knew what was happening, there were doctor's filing into his room. She watched as they went to work on him. One of the doctor's told her, "We need you to leave now."

A nurse took her hand and led her back to the waiting room. She was terrified that her husband was going to die and that she wasn't going to be there to say goodbye. She knew that all she could do was wait and pray that he pulled through this.

She was talking with Alexis and Martha when the same nurse came back into the waiting room. She smiled at Kate and told them, "They are taking him back into surgery."

"What's wrong?"

She shook her head, "They aren't sure, but a preliminary ultrasound shows that he might be bleeding internally again. So, they are going to go in and check where it's coming from."

Kate could only nod as the nurse walked away. She hated this. She hated feeling so helpless. She hated not being able to help the man she loved. She heard a small knock on the door and Martha opened it. She saw Ryan and Esposito standing there. She asked them softly, "Do we know why?"

That was all she could say. Ryan nodded, "Apparently it was someone that was obsessed with you Beckett."

"Me? Why me?"

"Apparently he has followed you and your career for years. He became obsessed with you."

Kate felt her legs give out and she wondered if this was a dream. She wasn't anyone special. She was simply a detective. Apparently someone had taken an interest in her though. So, it was all her fault that the man she loved was in this hospital fighting for his life. She wondered if she would be able to forgive herself. Then, she wondered if he would forgive her. If he survived that is. She felt both frustration and grief.

Looking at Ryan, she whispered, "It's my fault. I need to get out of here and..."

She stood up, but only made it a few steps before she collapsed. Luckily Ryan caught her and called for a nurse. She called a doctor and they rushed her back. Leaving her family and friends wondering if this nightmare would ever end.