This is your friendly heads up! We're nearing the end of our story. Just a few chapters left. I am humbled by your support and willingness to stick with this project- especially considering the length of time it took to finish! I can honestly say that my life has completely transitioned since starting this story- love life, professional degree, new job, new city...whirlwind of a time. Yet you've all be there, ready to encourage and support, and offer advice on improvement. :0)
Reviewers are the cream in my coffee, and I'm latte girl. That's a lot of cream ;-)
The morning of the surgery arrived, and both girls were instructed on how to prepare themselves the night before. Alexis and Mia were both given special soap to use before bed, a liquid designed to kill any virus, bacteria or threatening agent that may increase infection risk. They were also instructed to not eat after midnight, leaving both girls hungry by morning.
"I promise I'll give you whatever you want, doctors willing, when you're out of surgery and ready to eat again." Castle promised the girls, offering a kiss to Alexis' forehead and a smile to Mia as they prepared to drive to the hospital.
Kate was relatively silent, keeping her thoughts to herself as she prepared for not one, but both girls to go under the knife. The detective could recall few times in her life that equaled that morning's apprehension. She also reflected that the others seemed to involve Mia as well. Whether it be late in her pregnancy, grappling with the unknown to come in both of their lives, or after the building collapse resulting in a critical injury for the teen. Beckett exhaled slowly, attempting to keep her nerves in check.
She turned when she felt a soft hand on top of her own. "Welcome to motherhood, my dear." Martha whispered, all too familiar with the anxiety that accompanied the job of parenting.
Kate smiled, squeezing Martha's hand appreciatively as she looked back to the girls through the rear-view mirror. They were deep in conversation, discussing a book that Alexis planned to lend to Mia following the surgery. In fact, it was already packed and in the trunk of the town car. Their love of all things literature was just one of the many things Alexis and Mia had in common; not to mention the issue of their shared DNA.
The detective smiled as she listened to them, incredibly grateful that above all else, the girls would have one another. Alexis provided a sense of security for Kate. She knew that if something should happen to her, to Castle, or heaven forbid to the both of them, Mia would never be alone. As long as Alexis was there, Mia would always have family. Beckett was overwhelmed by the comfort she found in that thought; it gave her a sense of security that she hadn't known in years.
They arrived and settled into the hospital. By this time all the staff in the pediatric unit were familiar with Richard Castle, with his girlfriend, as they referred to Kate, and with their respective daughters. They loved Mia, and relished in the miracle of her survival, a miracle that they'd all helped to bring about. The nurses also loved Martha and Alexis. They appreciated their unwavering support and dedication, as well as the smiles and gifts they came bearing.
None of the hospital staff were surprised that Alexis had agreed to donate a kidney, although the fact that a match had been identified so close to Mia was astounding. This was especially unbelievable considering that the medical staff had no idea they were related. Lanie kept that information to herself. The exception was the urologist, who was informed to make the doctor aware that chances of Mia's accepting the organ was higher than had the donor been unrelated. Castle and Beckett offered their permission for the necessary medical staff to know and felt secure that hospital policies regarding confidentiality would protect their secret.
Martha settled them into the room, the very same one Mia had occupied weeks before, by unpacking the girls' things and creating a domestic environment for the duration of their time in the hospital. Unlike last time, the room was structured to allow for two hospital beds, along with all the monitoring equipment necessary, to share the middle of the room. A reclining Chair was nestled into each corner of the room, allowing for one person to remain by each of the girls.
Finally, three chairs were situated at the opposite wall of the room, specifically designated for visitors. The nursing staff had even gone as far as to wheel in a snack cart, stocked with a fresh pot of coffee, cream and sugar, for the adults. It once again reminded Castle why he preferred this hospital, even if it did relate to terrible memories; memories of waiting helplessly while Mia struggled to survive, and before that Kate- bleeding out with a bullet in her chest.
Castle pushed those horrible memories from his mind as he watched the girls talk, watched Kate take a seat on the bed next to Mia while laughing at the girls' antics. He observed the way she brushed her hands through Mia's hair, pulling it behind her ear as the teen continued to talk. God, I love her. He thought to himself, struck once again by how incredible Kate was, and how fortunate he felt that she'd let him in. We have a little girl. He then reflected, taking Mia in once again, relishing in the fact that he now had a life-long tie to Kate in Mia.
"Richard," his mother startled him from his musings, "Why don't you help me get everyone settled in." Martha handed him Kate's things, motioning for him to place them with his own bag. Martha settled in by the recliner that was nearest to Alexis' bed, kissing the red-head on the cheek as she moved around her. The older woman had even gone as far as to bring flowers to sit on the wheeling table by both girls' beds.
Alexis smiled; glad to have her grandmother there. She was also glad that her dad would have Kate- and she him, as the girls went into surgery. She smiled as she watched him place his things by Kate's bag. Nobody in the hospital room expected that the partners would be sleeping anywhere else but together. Any doubt that they could both fit into the narrow recliner was dismissed during their last round at the hospital.
Soon the charge nurse stopped by, shaking everyone's hands and requesting that the girls get changed into their hospital gowns. Several minutes later they were joined by the anesthesiologist and Dr. Kaplan, the urologist.
"We'll be taking Alexis down to surgery first." The doctor began, "the anesthesiologist will be by soon to give her a mild sedative- just to ease the pre-operative process." Castle nodded, holding his daughter's hand firmly as he listened.
"We'll wheel her down, and once we get started it shouldn't take long."
"How long?" Castle questioned.
"It really will depend, we go as quickly as possible, but take as much time as we need to ensure the health of both Alexis and her kidney. We plan to have Mia down within the hour." He explained.
Castle nodded, turning to his daughter as she received a shot. Soon she was groggy, a smile on her face as she allowed her dad to nestle her in the hospital bed. Mia stood from where she was, securing her own hospital gown modestly and moving to where Alexis lay.
The younger teen held Alexis' hand.
"There will never be anything that I can do to pay you back for what you're about to do for me." She spoke softly, squeezing tightly as she smiled. The teen had been captivated by Alexis from the start, wanting to know more about her, wanting to learn from her, desperately wanting a friend in her. However, this was beyond her wildest dreams.
"You would do the same for me." Alexis said, intoxicated by sedatives by this time.
Mia smiled and nodded. She was struck by the reality that she found the red-head's words to be true. Just like Emmanuella, the teen found that she would, in fact do anything for Alexis.
About 90 minutes passed before the hospital staff came for Mia, following the same procedure of sedating her before wheeling her away. Castle stood on one side of her bed while Beckett remained on the other. The partners each took one of her hands, squeezing them with all the love and support they could muster.
As the grogginess set in, Mia smiled lazily to the both of them, looking back and forth from her mother to her mother.
"I have a mother again." She stated, careless and free with the assistance of the medications. Kate simply nodded, leaning down to kiss her daughter's forehead.
"I have a mother and I get to keep her." Mia stated to no one in particular, clearly high as a kite by this point. She then turned to Castle, smiling at him adoringly.
"I wish I could keep you too." She stated.
Castle couldn't stop the tears from coming as he brought Mia's hand to his lips. He kissed her small fingers before leaning in to kiss her on her forehead.
"You can." His voice quivered with emotion, "I promise, Mia- you can." The girl was asleep moments later, leaving Castle and Beckett to wait as the nursing staff wheeled the teen down to join her sister in the operating room.
They sat silently, side by side on the recliner and fingers laced together as they waited. Soon her head rested on his shoulder, taking any strength he was willing to give and offering the same to him. It wasn't long before another doctor stopped by, coming to update them on the status of the girls.
"Alexis is out of surgery and is currently in recovery." He smiled at the pair of them, happy to offer good news. Castle let out a sigh of relief, turning to embrace Kate and breathing just a little bit easier now that Alexis was stable and recovering.
"Everything is going ok?" Rick then asked. He was relieved to know Alexis was well, but had two daughters under the knife. He wanted information on both of them.
The doctor nodded in understanding, "The laparoscopic procedure went very well, Alexis remained stable and we were able to remove the kidney without incident. They closed her up and inserted a drain, just to promote more rapid healing." He explained.
"I accompanied Alexis to the recovery room and as I was leaving the O.R. they were preparing to implant the kidney into Mia. While she's still in surgery, things appear to be going just fine." The doctor finished.
Kate smiled, "Thanks for giving us the update. It's great to hear that Alexis is recovering." The detective offered.
Rick added, "When will we be able to see Alexis?"
"She'll spend about 45 minutes in recovery. We'll wait until she's alert and oriented, then we'll wheel her back here." Castle and Beckett nodded, smiling with gratitude as the doctor made his exit.
The partners turned to one another, both letting out a sigh as they embraced.
"One down, one to go." Castle stated.
Several hours passed and Alexis was back in the room. Her hospital bed was raised, allowing her to be slightly elevated as she drifted in and out of consciousness. She sipped slowly on a smoothie, allowing Martha, Rick and Kate to dote on her as the anesthesia slowly made it's way out of her system.
Nearly 5 hours had passed when the doctor finally made another appearance. They weren't surprised, as they'd been warned that Mia's procedure would be much more invasive compared to Alexis'. The younger teen had endured a full, open procedure as they attached the healthy kidney. In fact, by the time Dr. Kaplan entered the room even Alexis was oriented enough to listen along to the news.
"Mia is being moved to recovery as we speak and she was fantastic through the whole procedure. Her vitals are steady and the kidney appears to be functioning as if it was her own." The doctor happily shared. The room was filled with sighs of relief, laughter and embracing at the news.
"We'll continue to monitor her over the next week, watching for any type of rejection or complication. The tube we discussed during last week's visit has been inserted and is functioning. It will help to drain her urine and prevent any blockages until she heals up." The urologist smiled before adding, "She should be out of recovery and back with you all in about 45 minutes; Although I don't really expect her to be alert and oriented until tomorrow."
Alexis wore a giant smile, as Martha clasped her hands together with delight. She leaned in to kiss Alexis on the forehead and whispered, "You're a hero, kiddo." Her comment earned an even bigger smile and a slight flush from the young woman.
Castle and Beckett embraced. Both laughing with relief, the partners lost themselves in the moment and kissed firmly for all to see. As they pulled apart they were greeted with the smiling faces of both red-heads.
"I'm glad to see that they've got their act together" Alexis commented loudly to her grandmother.
She then smiled warmly to Kate, glad to see that her family was coming together once again.