When she gets there she has to brace herself against the sink as a wave of dizziness crashes over her. She takes a few deep breaths and tentatively makes her way to the toilet.
She stops when feels something wet between her legs and the first thing that comes to her mind is that her water broke, "Castle" she calls out a little freaked out and excited. It doesn't last long though. "Castle!" she yells in terror when she actually looks down, something is really wrong.
Suddenly she starts feeling weak and her knees start to buckle under her. She has to brace herself against the wall as the world slowly falls apart around her until it's completely dark.
Alexis hears Beckett, so she decides to go check if everything's alright. "Beckett?" she makes her way as fast as she can to their bedroom. "Kate?" she's growing more concerned by the second. When the detective doesn't answer she decides to take a peak in the bathroom.
"Kate!" when she opens the door she's met with a sight that has her on her knees by Kate's side in a heartbeat.
There's blood. There's a lot of blood.
"Kate!" she frenetically tries to make her open her eyes, but she seems to be unconscious. The teen takes out her phone and with shaky hands dials her father's number.
"Alexis?" he picks up.
"Dad, it's Kate. Something's wrong" she explains how she found her.
His heart immediately speeds up. "I'm almost there. I'll get someone. Stay with her and try to make her wake up" he says quickly. He's running now. He was only a few houses from theirs. He stops in front of the doctor's house and prays that there's someone. "Addison! Jake! Help!" he yells running to the door.
"Richard?" hearing the urgency in his voice, Addison comes out of the house immediately followed by Jake.
"Come! It's Kate. Something's wrong"
"Jake, call 911" Addison says as she rushes inside to get her medical bag and then follows Castle into his house.
"Alexis?" he yells when they barge inside the house. He's out of breath and his head is spinning.
"Up here!" Alexis yells from the bathroom. She's not sure what she's supposed to do or not to, so she just kneels beside Beckett making sure she's still breathing.
"Oh god" Addison says under her breath when she sees the detective, looking as pale as a ghost. She's limply sitting against the wall and blood is pooling below her. "Kate? Kate" she tries to make her respond. "How long has she been unconscious?" she asks the girl, who gets up to give the place to her father. But he's standing frozen behind the doctor, his mind numb and trying to get his breathing back to normal, with little success.
"I- I don't know. A few minutes"
Finally, Castle snaps himself out of his trance and falls by Beckett's side.
"BP is through the roof..." She says to herself while checking Beckett's vitals. "Baby seems to be okay" She says running her stethoscope over Beckett's stomach.
"What can I do?" Castle feels completely helpless.
"Just... Go over to my house and tell Jake to come. And take Henry" she tells him while trying to move Beckett from her sitting position to lie down on the floor.
"I'll go" Alexis volunteers and storms out of the room.
She immediately runs downstairs and tells Jake to come. She takes Henry in her arms following the doctor. She decides to stay just outside of the bathroom with the kid. She puts Henry on the bed and she starts pacing the room. All this feels surreal.
Castle is now a few feet from Beckett, giving the couple space to work. He runs his hand over his face. He can't believe this is happening.
They hear the sirens approaching and Castle sees the obvious relief on the doctors' faces.
He goes downstairs to open the door for the paramedics. They come in and take Beckett out of there in a gurney. They load her into the ambulance followed by Dr. Montgomery and Castle.
Meanwhile, Jake goes back upstairs and takes Henry. He offers to take Alexis to the hospital and before they leave, she calls Jim and Martha to tell them what happened and to meet them at the hospital.
In the ambulance, Addison is giving the paramedic instructions. They put an oxygen mask on her and hook her up to something. But Castle's not paying attention to what's going on. He's just staring at her, looking so powerless, helpless… He has her hand in his and is stroking it softy. He wants to make sure she knows he's still there. He'll always be there.
They're at the hospital in no time. They're received by a group of people who already know what to do. They wheel her into one of the exam rooms while Addison is barking out instructions and the patient's history.
Castle is instructed by a guy in scrubs to stay in the waiting room, to which he complies begrudgingly. He sits on one of the uncomfortable chairs, by the side of other distraught family members and buries his head in his hands. He just wants this to be over. He just needs them to be okay.
A few moments later, Alexis and Jake – who has Henry in his arms – run into the ER. They're about to ask someone about Beckett's whereabouts when Alexis spots a terrified-looking Castle in the waiting room.
Alexis rushes towards her father and Jake trails behind, leaving a respectful distance between himself and the Castles.
"Dad" he gets up when he sees her and takes her into his arms. "How are they?" she asks him once they break apart.
"They're working on her" he's completely lost, and the fact that he can't do anything about anything is killing him. But he has enough presence of mind to realize that she asked about them.
The young woman sits down by her father's side and takes Henry into her arms when Jake goes over to the cafeteria to get them some coffee.
Jake comes back and a few minutes later, then Jim and Martha rush into the waiting room.
"What happened?" Martha asks her son when she hugs him.
"Where's Katie?" a very worried Jim asks.
"They're taking care of her right now" Castle slumps back into his chair, but shoots back up when he sees Dr. Montgomery walking towards them. She's in scrubs now and she's holding a file in her hands.
They all gather around Castle as the doctor comes to them. "How are they?" he can barely manage to say.
Addison sighs before she hands him the file and a pen. "We stabilized her, we stopped the bleeding, but the baby went into distress. They're prepping her for a C-section now. I just need you to sign this consent form" she tries to break it to them as slowly as possible, but time is of the essence.
"Uh…" so many questions in his head, but he can't get his mind straight enough to be able to utter them. "Sure" he scribbles his signature quickly after barely glancing at all the side effects and everything written on the form. He trusts Addison enough to make the right decision. "Can I see her?" he asks handing her the papers and the pen back.
"I'm sorry, she's already upstairs. They should be okay. We just have to move fast" she explains. They have to get into it as promptly as possible in these situations. "I'll come get you as soon as she's back" she turns around and quickly makes her way to the elevator.
Castle stands there unable to move. Martha, Alexis and Jim try to give him some comfort while dealing with their own struggle to come to terms with the situation.
"Castle" Jake stands in front of him trying to get him to snap out of his trance. "Rick" when the writer finally looks at him, his expression softens. "You know Addison's the best. They're in good hands"
"And you know Katie's a fighter" Jim steps in. "She'll come out of this perfectly fine. And if that little boy has anything from his parents, he's a fighter too" the older man tells him sternly but gently.
Castle nods slowly taking it all in. He knows all of this already, but he needed to be reminded.
"Everything's going to be alright" Alexis looks at her dad and puts her hand on his shoulder reassuringly once they all sit down.
In the next half an hour or so - though it's felt like way more - they all take their turns to stand up and pace around the room. At some point, Castle falls back into his chair and focuses on a random spot in the distance while feeling Martha's comforting hand on his back.
He's scared out of his mind, but he knows they'll be okay. They have to be okay. With Beckett's will-power and Addison's magic powers they will be alright.
He's not sure he could go on without them. He loves them so much! Life can't just take them away from him.
He's not able to envision his future without them. He just… can't. It's too painful.
It's been a hell of a day and they can't wait to see the end of this.
They have to be okay.
AN: Next chapter we get to meet the little guy! ... Or not.
Stay tuned for what's probably going to be the last chapter! Thank you.