Author's Note: Hello everybody! So first off, thanks a bunch for everybody who read and reviewed for the last chapter. And to KACULLEN, sorry I wasn't clear! I know that hospital policy would allow fiancés in; it was the doctor being a pain which prevented Castle from being in the room since doctors can technically kick someone out of their patient's room. I was just trying to set up for this chapter with Lanie kicking some doctor butt :) Again, sorry I didn't make that clear! I'll work on that. Oh and I'm not a medical professional, all my info is from WebMD, so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Okie dokie everyone, here is the next chapter!

I don't own Castle

Chapter 21

It was a good thing that Doctor Lanie Parish was good friends with cops. If she really needed to get somewhere fast she could call up Esposito and he could get out the gumball and break the speed limit and zip past the backed up traffic. She and Esposito managed to get to the hospital in a record breaking 10 minutes, which is crazy for New York traffic. Lanie went right up to the front desk. "Where can I find Dr. Johnson?" she asked.

"I can page him to meet you down here if you would like," replied the man behind the counter.

"That would be great, thanks," said Lanie. She and Esposito went to go sit in the chairs by the desk to wait for Dr. Johnson. "I swear, when I see that doctor…" she started.

"Just please don't get us arrested, okay?" joked Esposito in an attempt to make her smile. He had no such luck. Then, Dr. Johnson came out of the elevator. Lanie stood up and walked right up to him.

"Can I help you, miss?"

"That's doctor. I'm Dr. Lanie Parish, Kate Beckett's best friend."

The doctor visibly paled. "My apologies, Dr. Parish. Now, what is it you needed?" he asked.

"I need you to tell me exactly why Richard Castle is not being allowed in his fiancée's room," she stated. Esposito could have sworn that Lanie hadn't blinked since the doctor had arrived.

"In my medical opinion, Mr. Castle's presence would be detrimental to Ms. Beckett's recovery. I believe that it would be better for her medically if he was not in the room," said the doctor shakily. In truth, he really just was tired of Castle questioning him in regards to his fiancée's status and in how the doctor did his job.

"But her mother who just showed up out of the blue is perfectly fine, right?" questioned Lanie. Johnson did not respond. "That's what I thought. Now I have been told by Martha Rodgers that Kate has been diagnosed with pneumonia, correct?"

"Yes," responded Johnson shortly.

"May I see her chest x-rays?" asked Lanie.

"There was no need for the chest x-rays, she had all the symptoms and pneumonia is common in patients who develop infections after a splenectomy."

"So you diagnosed your patient with no real proof?"

"She has a fever, she's short of breath, and she passed out. She has pneumonia, okay! I had other patients to attend to, important surgeries to perform. I didn't have time to run a test to tell me what I already knew!" shouted the doctor.

"Oh, so Kate isn't important enough to get a correct diagnosis?!" Lanie shouted back.

"You don't know I was wrong!" The shouting caught the attention of Johnson's boss on the other side of the room.

"I'm Dr. Fraccica, can I help you?" he asked as he approached Lanie and Johnson.

"Yes, Dr. Johnson here was my friend's surgeon on her splenectomy a couple days ago. Today, she contracted a fever and collapsed. Dr. Johnson here did not order a chest x-ray before diagnosing her with pneumonia because apparently he has more important patients to attend to."

"Johnson is it true you diagnosed without a chest x-ray." Johnson nodded silently. "Alright, she's my patient now. Go home Johnson, I will meet with you tomorrow. Your cases will be given to someone else. Would you show me to her room ma'am?"

"Gladly," said Lanie smugly watching Johnson's mouth open wide with shock. Lanie led Fraccica to Kate's room. The doctor entered the room and picked up Kate's chart. Johanna seemed not to notice them enter the room.

"Okay, I'm going to take her up for a chest x-rays so we can properly diagnose her. I'll also be checking to make sure that there isn't any pleurisy if she does have pneumonia."

"I just have one more thing," said Lanie. "Would it be possible for her fiancé to be with her when you get back? Dr. Johnson was annoyed by his questions and told him that he couldn't be in the room."

"Sure, as long as he doesn't negatively impact her recovery, there shouldn't be a problem." Lanie thanked the doctor and went to the waiting room to find Castle. Esposito, who had been quietly following Lanie, extended his hand to Johanna. She took it, and they followed Lanie to find Castle and Martha.

As they entered the room, Lanie said, "Johnson's gone, Castle."

"How'd you do that?" he asked shocked.

"Man kicked you out and diagnosed my girl without a chest x-ray; I had to make a scene."

Castle got up and hugged Lanie tightly. "Thank you so much, Lanie." Then he turned to Johanna. "How is she?"

Johanna sighed. "She's not great. Her temperature is still well above where it should be and even with the oxygen mask, her breathing isn't great."

Castle's face fell. "Was she awake?"

"No, if she woke up, I would have left. I know she doesn't want to see my right not. I went so that she wouldn't be alone at least while she was asleep, I don't want to upset her and push her farther away."

Castle nodded. At least she understood where her relationship with Kate stood.

Later, Dr. Fraccica entered the waiting room. "First, I apologize on behalf of my colleague for the delay in proper diagnosis. Ms. Beckett does have pneumonia; however, the chest x-ray revealed that she also has some pleurisy, meaning that the pleura, the membrane around the lungs, is inflamed. It is sometimes accompanied by pneumonia, like in the case of Ms. Beckett."

"How does this change her treatment?" asked Castle.

"Well, we can administer some anti-inflammatories along with the antibiotics we her already giving her for the pneumonia. They should help bring some of the inflammation down. Mainly, this just alerted us of the severity of her illness. Are there any more questions?" The group shook their heads. "Alright, then I believe that Mr. Castle wanted to visit her."

Castle nodded his head and followed the doctor. When they opened the door, Kate was awake. He walked over, took her hand, and kissed her too warm forehead. "You're trying to give me a heart attack, aren't you?"

She rolled her eyes and smiled under the oxygen mask. She lifted the mask for a minute and said, "Not my fault you're getting older." Then she started to cough.

Castle quickly placed the mask back over her mouth. When she stopped coughing, he said, "Judging by the sound of that cough, love, you're not that far behind me."

End Note: I needed a little bit of humor at the end of this :) Okay guys, drop a review if you enjoyed! And I apologize for a shorter chapter, but I have and English paper to get to which kind of trumps this. Sorry! Until next time my dears!

~Celeste