Chapter 21: The Hospital

Time to find out what's wrong with Mason! Enjoy!

I do not own Castle.

"Emma!" Kate yelled as she put her shoes on.

Emma came running into her Mom's room, "Yes?"

"I need you to get your shoes and grab a book or something. We have to bring Mason to the hospital."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know yet. Just please hurry up."

While Emma was getting ready to leave, Kate put on Mason's shoes and a jacket.

"Mama, what's going on?" Mason asked.

"We're going to bring you to see a doctor. Emma are you ready?"

Emma came running down the stairs with a coloring book and crayons. "Here I got Mason's stuffed animal too." Emma said as she handed it to Kate.

"Thank you honey, let's go."

Once in the car Kate tried calling Rick again, no answer.

"Hey Em, did Daddy say if he was going anywhere after dropping the girls of at school?" Kate asked

"I don't think so."

Kate pulled out her phone again, no answer: "Rick, where are you? Please call me."

"Mama? We almost there?" Mason asked.

"Just ten more minutes. Are you okay?"

"I hot and I itchy."

"I'll open the window for you. Try not a scratch okay?"

"Otay."

Kate opened the window and played some music lightly to try and lighten the mood. When she heard her phone ring she almost jumped out of her seat.

"Rick?" Kate asked.

"Kate, what's going on?"

"I'm taking Mason to the hospital. Where the hell are you?"

"I'm on my way to the hospital."

"Great. Good to see you still care."

"What are you talking about?"

"Bye."

Kate hung up and threw the phone on the passenger's seat, then she stepped on the gas.

Rick Castle walked through the hospital door with his head racing with one question, what is wrong with his son? He spotted Emma and Mason sitting together on a small couch.

"Hi guys, where's Mom?" Rick asked.

"She's talking over there." Emma said as she pointed towards a desk.

"Are you okay here?"

"We're okay."

Rick made his way over so he could see Kate. As he approached he could hear that Kate was yelling at the lady behind the desk.

"Kate? What's going on?" Rick asked.

"She won't get Mason a doctor." Kate responded.

"Is that true?" Rick asked the lady behind the desk.

"We will be more than happy to get you son a doctor. There are more serious cases and your son may need to wait a while." The lady responded.

"There is something wrong with my son. He is serious, get him a doctor right now." Kate said in a serious voice.

"With all respect you are not a doctor." The lady said.

Kate was about to respond but Rick interrupted her, "She is his mother. If she says its serious then its serious. Please get our son a doctor."

The lady behind the desk nodded and picked up the phone. "You can take your son into room 5 on the left."

"Thank you." Rick said.

Kate and Rick got the kids and made their way to room five. They were assigned a doctor rather quickly then.

"Hello, My name is Dr. O."

"I'm Rick and this my wife Kate. These are two of ours kids, Emma and Mason." Rick said.

"And what seems to be the problem?" Dr. O asked

"Mason has had a fever and a stomach ache for two days now. This morning he threw up 8 times, three times just after having two bites of toast. I also noticed some hives around his neck." Kate said.

Dr. O kneeled down so he was on Mason's level, "You must be Mason!"

"Yes. I like your Elmo." Mason said referring to Dr. O's Elmo tie.

"Thank you very much, my son Matthew gave this to me. Would you like to come sit on my special table?"

Mason nodded his head yes and climbed on top of the table. The doctor began to do a standard checkup, his ears, eyes, mouth, and blood pressure.

"How's your tummy feeling Mason?" Dr. O asked

"It really hurt."

"Can you take a deep breath for me?" Dr. O asked

Mason took a deep breath and yelped in pain.

"What's wrong with him?" Kate asked

Ignoring her Dr. O asked Mason, "Do those little spots near your neck itch?"

"Yes. Mommy told me not to itch."

"Well your Mommy is a very smart lady. Mr. and Mrs. Castle can I talk to you in the hallway?"

"Emma can you stay here and keep your brother company?" Rick asked his daughter.

"Yes Dad." Emma responded

The doctor led Kate and Rick into the hallway. "What's wrong with him?" Kate asked

"I'm not completely sure but I believe your son has a gluten allergy." Dr. O said.

"What can we do to confirm this?" Rick asked.

"I can do a test on him. I will inject a small amount of gluten into Mason's skin and see how he reacts to it."

"Isn't that dangerous? If he is allergic to it, couldn't it hurt him?" Kate asked with a worried look.

"I will have medicine right next to me in case anything goes wrong. I assure that it is completely safe." Dr. O assured them.

"Okay, will do it" Rick said.

The doctor nodded and left to get the paperwork. Kate launched into Rick's arms and let out a deep breath, "I'm sorry for snapping at you over the phone."

"Don't worry about it. Are you okay?"

"I'm scared and stressed out."

"Mason is going to be okay. He's up and talking, he's okay."

"I know he is. I'm just feeling emotional today."

"Is everything okay with the baby?"

"Everything is perfect. Let's go wait in the room for the doctor."

They went back into the room to find Mason and Emma coloring a picture of a kitty. Ten minutes later the doctor came back in with the paperwork.

"We had to order the gluten from another hospital, it should be here in thirty minutes. For now just sit tight and fill out this paperwork." Dr. O said.

Kate nodded and took the paperwork from is hand. Taking a pen out of her purse she began to fill out the paperwork.

"Hey babe, the kids need to be picked up soon." Rick said

"What are you talking about? It's only 10:30."

"They have a half day today."

"Of course they do."

"How about you go pick them up and I'll stay here with Mason."

"I should stay here, I'm his mother."

"Kate you are clearly stressed out, its not good for the baby. "

"Fine I'll go. Call me if anything happens?"

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too. "

After saying bye to Emma and Mason, Kate made her way to the school. She got all three kids out of class and in the car as quickly as possible.

"Mama are we getting ice cream?" Liam asked.

"Not today baby. Mason's in the hospital so we need to go see him." Kate said

"What's wrong with him?" Tegan asked with a concerned voice

"We think he had an allergic reaction. He's going to be okay though."

Once they arrived at the hospital Kate led them over to a couch in the waiting room. "I need you to stay right here, do you understand?"

All three children nodded and Kate made her way to check on Mason. As she approached the room she could here Mason crying through the door. She pushed the door open to find Mason crying into Rick's arms.

"What's wrong?" Kate asked.

"Mama, they hurted me!"

"Who hurt you baby?"

"They poked me and made me itchy."

Kate looked at Rick, "You did the test without me?"

"The doctors said we couldn't wait. I'm really sorry, don't be mad." Rick said

Kate took a deep breath and sat next to Mason. "You were a really brave boy today. I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you Mommy, we leave soon?"

"We have to wait for the doctor to come back with your test results first." Kate said.

The doctor walked in right then, "It looks like Mason is allergic to gluten, it is all out of his system. We can give you some papers on a gluten free diet."

"That would be great, thank you very much." Rick said

The doctor handed them some papers before leaving the room.

"Mama, we leave now?" Mason asked.

"Yeah baby, we can leave now." Kate said.

That night

After tucking in all the kids Kate and Rick sat together on the couch. Kate rested her head on Rick's shoulder as he ran his hands through her hair.

"Crap I need to talk with Emma." Kate said as she started to sit up.

"Why?"

"Hope told me she was crying last night. I need to see what's going on."

"It can wait until tomorrow, come lay down."

"Rick, I need to go talk to her."

"You can talk to her tomorrow. It's been a long day, Emma is tired and you are stressed."

Kate nodded and laid back down. "Thank you for being my rock today. I know I was kind of a mess, I was just so worried."

"You're their Mom, its your job to worry about them."

"I love you." Kate said simply

"I love you too. Can I ask you something?"

"Should I be worried?" Kate teased

"Haha funny. What do you think of going to the Hamptons this weekend, just the two of us?"

"What about the children?"

"We can ask Alexis and mom to watch them. I think we need to get away, get a break."

"I don't know babe. With everything going on, is going away a good idea."

"Do you remember when you wanted your Dad to watch the girls overnight for the first time?"

"Yeah, I was pregnant with the boys."

"Do you remember what I said?"

"Just because I'm Mom doesn't mean I can't have a break."

"That's still true. You are stressed out Kate, let me take you away for the weekend."

"Bring the massage oils."

"So you're saying yes?"

"I'm saying yes."

Rick gave her a big kiss before leading her into their bedroom.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please write me a review.