Xxx

Castle paced back and forth down the long corridor…waiting, that's all he felt he had been doing was waiting. The scene felt so familiar, the last time he had paced in a hospital hallway had been the day Rome was born. Now a decade later, he was in that same spot, waiting for news once again about his son.

It had been nearly two hours since finding Rome and only a brief twenty minutes father and son had been reunited, before his son was ripped from him again.

Castle didn't know what had happened in that ambulance, whatever the cause, Rome had suffered a grand mal seizure, which stopped his heart.

Castle had to give his son CPR and watch as the EMT shocked Rome over and over with the paddles. They got him back, but the second they got to the hospital he had another seizure and the staff wheeled Rome down the hall to the ER, leaving Castle alone in the hallway, not allowed to be with his son as he fought for his life…left with Balto still clutched in his hand.

"Richard!" Martha's voice carried down the hall and Castle weakly looked up, as his mother and daughter ran down the hall towards him.

Oh god, he had forgotten to call them…they must have been waiting by the phone for a call about Rome and he had forgotten to call. Beckett must have called them.

"Mother," Castle croaked out as the three embraced "mother Alexis I am so sor-"

"Darling don't apologize, Beckett called us, we came as soon as she did. Where is he? Where's Rome can we go see him?" Castle's chest tightened and the look in his eyes took Martha's breath away "oh god no Richard," she said, tears welling up in her eyes, preparing herself for the worst.

"Dad?!" Alexis asked

"He's in with the…with the doctor," Castle managed to breathe, he was trying to hold on for Martha and Alexis' sake, but it wasn't easy. "He had a seizure on the way here," Castle's voice cracked, willing his body to fight the tears, but they came…they spilled out down his cheeks "they had to resituate him…his heart stopped."

"Oh Rome…" Martha sobbed,

Alexis sat down hard on the bench, heaving her tears. Instantly Castle's father senses kicked in and he was on the bench next to her, holding her close and rocking her.

"Shh, pumpkin, shh, it's okay, it will be okay."

"I…I don't want to lose him daddy," she managed to sob out and Martha slid next to her, sandwiching her.

"Your brother is a fighter Alexis," Martha said, reminding them both of that fact "he will not accept this."

"Mr. Castle?" a new voice entered the hall way and instantly all three were on their feet. Martha held Alexis close as they faced the doctor in front of them in scrubs.

"Yes?" Castle replied

"Mr. Castle I'm Dr. Pillar,"

"My son…is he?"

"It was rough for a while. Your son had three more seizures before we finally got them under control. He's stable for now, but I expect one maybe two more mild seizures before we're out of the woods. He was extremely dehydrated, and had a slight fever which encouraged the seizures, it left him weak and therefore vulnerable, but we've got him on fluids now and he's responding nicely to that. His foot was infected, but we treated the infection and we have him on a high level of antibiotics to fight the infection. My biggest concern is what caused the seizures in the first place."

"Can we see him?" Castle asked, at this point he didn't care what caused the seizure, he needed to see Rome, see his son and be reassured that his son was alive and was safe.

"Of course, this way," Dr. Pillar gestured for the family to follow "let me just give you a rundown of what you will see. You need to be prepared because it is a little shocking for most. First off, we have Rome hooked to a lot of machines. He has two IVs, for fluids and the antibiotics.

"Because his heart did stop and he was having trouble breathing on his own when we resuscitate him we have him on a ventilator, a plastic tube is pumping air directly into his lungs, in a few hours we will wean him off of that, when we do he'll have trouble speaking, but it will only be temporary. He has electrodes on his temples so we can monitor his brain activity just in case there is another seizure. We also have a few on his chest to monitor his heart activity.

"His wrists were in bad shape, we have them bandaged for now, but there may be scaring left, we won't know how bad the damage was until the healing process begins. It's going to be tough for him to sign for a while. We do have him sedated right now, just in case there are any more seizures, but we left his hearing aids in, so talk to him as if he can hear you because there is a chance he can.

"Hold his hand, touch him, let him know you folks are there. When the sedatives wear off, he's going to be disoriented and frightened, especially with the vent. Most kids try to pull it out because they think they are choking on it, you can't let him do that, once he's awake we will extract it. I highly recommend at least one of you is with him at all times for when he wakes up."

Dr. Pillar led them past a nurse's station towards a curtained area, nurses and doctors alike walking around, checking on patients and reassuring families.

A nurse was checking on Rome, when she saw the family she smiled gently and stepped back.

Alexis bit her lip to keep from crying out when she saw her little brother in the hospital bed. He looked so tiny because the bed was meant for an adult, the beeping of the heart monitor and the noise of the vent was too much for Alexis, she buried her face in Martha's clothes, sobbing.

"Shh, sweet heart, it will be okay, he's safe, we got him back, that is what's most important right now, he's safe." Martha soothed

"I will have an orderly get a few chairs for you folks. As soon we wean him off the vent, we'll move Rome to private room. It's protocol to keep vent patients nearby to monitor them."

Castle nodded, that made sense, he reached forward and lifted Rome's small hand gently, the bandage on his wrists and the paleness of Rome's body made Castle choke back a tear as he brushed Rome's bangs back, wishing he could just pick Rome up and hold him.

"Thank you Dr. Pillar," he managed to say

"Mr. Castle, there are few things I'd like to discuss with you if you don't mind."

Castle hesitated, he was so close to his son only to be pulled away again. But the doctor looked serious and Castle gave in, he took Balto and slid the well-loved stuffed wolf next to Rome, it would be there when he woke up.

"We'll stay with him darling," Martha said, sitting in one of the chairs next to Rome's bed, she took his hand and held it tight, while Alexis went on the other side held Rome's other hand.

Castle nodded and followed Dr. Pillar out into the hall, from the angle he could still see Rome clearly which helped.

"I know your family has been through a horrific ordeal and you just want to sit with your son, but there are a few things I felt you should know and I thought it best if it your daughter stayed behind, with your mother?" Dr. Pillar paused

"yes my mother." He explained

"Your daughter seemed having enough trouble coping with this."

"It's been a tough week for all of us," Castle replied

"Do you know exactly what happened to your son during his ordeal? What he was put through?"

Castle raised an eyebrow, confused for a second as his body went numb, all sorts of scenarios raced through his mind.

"My god…he didn't…if he tou-"

Dr. Pillar went pale for a second and quickly waved his hands as he shook his head frantically

"Oh no Mr. Castle, I apologize for my wording. I promise you we did not find any evidence that he touched your son. I only meant we found some oddities with Rome's work up and I was hoping that since you were a part of the case and were on scene you could shed some light that might answer our questions."

"What kind of oddities?"

"The seizures Mr. Castle, they have been concerning me and it comes down to Rome's blood work."

"His blood work?" Castle repeated

"We found traces in Rome's blood work, we're still running some tests to determine what it was. Rome was dehydrated, he clearly has been without water for several day. I suspect the grand mal in ambulance was just the most severe. Judging by the abrasions on Rome's tongue and inner cheek, as well as the various bruises on his body, I suspect Rome has had several minor seizures over the last few days, all leading up to the big one that occurred in the ambulance."

"Are you saying he was poisoning my son?"

"We can't be sure, there's no needle marks on Rome, it's possible that the wound on his foot was much more serious than it originally looked. An infection could certainly cause the seizures Rome experienced. Rome was certainly more vulnerable, he was already pretty weak a few days into his ordeal and the limited of water and I'm assuming lack of food just encouraged that." Dr. Pillar paused "I'm going to be straight with you Mr. Castle, had you and your team not found Rome today, when you did, we might not have been able to save your son."

Castle felt like he was about to choke on his own breath.

"No…" he managed to say

"Whether his kidnapper knew it or not is up to the police to decide, but he was slowly killing your son, slowly and very painfully by not treating his wounds and the limited water and virtually no food. Your son is going to have a long recovery. He may need physical therapy for his arms and legs. Being restrained and confined like that even for a few days is detrimental to the muscles and Rome was in that situation for nearly a week. Between that and the limited food means Rome is going to be weak for a while. He may stumble after taking a few steps or need to sit down periodically.

"There is strong risk right now of torn ligaments and even dislocations if he is not careful. For the next week or so after he is released from here you need to be vigilant. He will try to return to his normal activity and for a while that will be tough. He needs to take it easy, but that does not mean you need to baby him. It's fine for the first week or so, but if you want him to return to normal you need to let him do things for himself, but be there to help if need be."

"I understand" Castle replied

"Parents often say that, but when they see their child struggling to walk, the first instinct is to jump in and help."

"How long will it take before he's back to his old self?" Castle asked, a little afraid to hear the answer.

"That is up to Rome. He's survived Mr. Castle which shows how strong Rome really is. A few weeks and the physical signs of his ordeal will fade, he may still carry the scars, but that will be it. Emotional wounds may take a little longer to heal. I can almost guarantee he will have night terrors. He may have an aversion to certain lights or even become afraid of the dark. Certain actions and even noises may trigger panic attacks. It's impossible to know what if anything will trigger something. His school should be made aware. I highly recommend he talk to someone about his ordeal. I can give you the names of some wonderful child trauma psychologists, but it can also be someone he's close with, someone who Rome trusts completely, but I wouldn't recommend a family member. But I would recommend it Mr. Castle, especially if Rome insists he's fine, in my experience that's usually the first sign that they are not fine. It's hard to accept Mr. Castle, but for a while Rome is not going to be the same kid he was before this whole thing started, he may never go back to being the exact same kid again, we just do not know. He will most likely have a mild form of PTSD for a while, perhaps longer, and the entire family needs to be prepared for that."

Castle nodded

"Thank you doctor,"

"You're welcome, I'll be back to check on you folks in a little while." Dr. Pillar said patting Castle's arm "Mr. Castle?"

"Yes?"

"Sir, your son is a fighter, one of the toughest strong willed kids I have ever seen, and he clearly has a strong family support system. I have no doubt that with both of those factors in his favor, he will come out of this, it will just take some time."

"Thank you,"

"I thought you might like to have this," Dr. Pillar reached into his pocket and pulled out Rome's small bracelet. "it was in his pocket, his clothes are in a plastic bag Mr. Castle. I would consider tossing them, but we found this in his pocket, it looks like he was trying to hide it, trying to keep it safe."

Castle took the bracelet in his hand and ran his thumb over Rome's signature, he had been waiting, terrified that one of the clues left by M would contain Rome's bracelet, he had wondered why it hadn't surfaced…Rome had saved it, he had protected it.

Sighing, Castle walked back over to his family, Martha had taken his spot next to Rome's bed, she was holding his hand tight, and brushing his hair back.

Alexis had his other hand, but she also had her head on his stomach, not putting all the weight on him, but so he knew she was there, it was something she would do when they were little. There were many times when Alexis would use Rome as a pillow, especially when she was six and he was a year old.

Castle took the chair next to Alexis, he rubbed her back and put his other hand on Rome's, the family finally together.

No one would leave Rome's side.

xxxx

A few hours passed, Alexis was the first to notice Rome was waking up, his breathing became deeper and she could feel him twitching under her head and she sat up slowly, stiff from the long time in that position.

"Dad?" Alexis whispered, Castle had fallen asleep, his first real sleep in a week, comforted by the fact both his kids were with him, both were safe. He had his hand on Rome's, but was snoring softly. "Dad, wake up,"

Castle sat up quickly,

"Pumpkin what's wrong?"

"I think Rome's waking up," she said nodding at her brother, Castle rubbed his eyes and woke up instantly. He looked Rome over, Alexis was right, Rome was getting twitchy, which was always a sign he was waking up, Castle could see Rome's eye lids moving, he was making a sighing noise that Castle loved.

"Romey? Doc can you hear me it's dad, come on kiddo, we're all here, just waiting on you." Castle pushed Rome's hair back out of his eyes, "come on,"

It took a second or two, but slowly Rome's eyes slowly fluttered open, he looked around, a fear in his eyes at not recognizing his surroundings, until they fell on his dad, he tried to talk, to call out to his dad, but couldn't, not with the tube down his windpipe.

Like Dr. Pillar had warned, Rome began panicking, he felt like he was choking, he tried to reach for the tube, but both his hands were being held so he couldn't.

The heart monitor began beeping, matching his frantic heartbeat.

"Rome it's okay, it's okay," Martha cooed "sweetheart it's okay,"

"Alexis go get a nurse, tell them to get Dr. Pillar,"

Alexis nodded and ran past the curtains,

"Hi kiddo, hey there you are," Martha said, signing, Rome slowly stopped panicking and his body relaxed as she brushed his hair back "we've missed you darling,"

Rome nodded, tears in his eye, he lifted his hand, Martha still holding it, she let go realizing that he wanted to sign, it hurt to move his wrist, even a little bit, but he ignored the pain, he had to sign, he had to communicate, so he signed 'missed you too,'

He looked over at Castle and Castle saw the calmness in Rome's eyes, he didn't need to sign, didn't need to speak for this one, his eyes told it all, he, he was safe with his dad, his dad had rescued him.

Castle smiled gently and signed to Rome 'I love you,' just as the doctor came rushing in,

"Hey there Rome," Rome eyes went to the doctor, studying his face "my name is Dr. Pillar, I've been taking care of you. You gave us all quite a scare."

Rome looked at his dad then at the doctor and signed

'I'm sorry'

Dr. Pillar chuckled and shook his head

"nothing to apologize for," he paused and signed 'can you hear me okay?'

Rome nodded and signed back 'I can hear,'

"Good boy," Castle whispered giving Rome's hand a squeeze

"We're going to take that tube out of your throat okay Rome? It's there to help you breathe, but I don't think you need it anymore." Martha moved to the other side of the bed, Rome's eyes following her, trying to keep all three of his family in his sight, making sure this wasn't a dream, that they were really here. "Okay buddy, what I'm going to do is pull that tube out, we'll do it on the count of three, I want you blow out like you're blowing out birthday candles, as hard as you can. Can you do that?"

Rome nodded

"It'll be okay Rome," Alexis said, Rome looked at his sister, and no one missed the relief in his eyes, his sister was okay, she was safe, no one would hurt her as long as he was alive.

"Ready pal?" Dr. Pillar asked and Rome nodded again, Dr. Pillar reached over, unhooked the tube from the ventilator "on the count of three, one…two…three," with that he pulled the tube from Rome's windpipe. Instantly Rome started coughing and gasping for air, he felt like he was going to be sick. "Good job Rome, nice work, you handled that perfectly,"

Rome tried to speak, but his throat hurt too much, he couldn't.

"D…da…" he tried to croak out, Castle reached for his hand and held it tight

"I'm here Rome,"

Dr. Pillar smiled gently at Rome

"Don't try to speak just yet Rome, soon I promise. We're going to move you to your own room in a little while, and maybe if you're feeling up to it we'll get you some ice cream." Rome grinned a little at the prospect of ice cream, he was so hungry and now he was remembering it. "And I want you to go easy on the signing, I know it's your first instinct to do, but your wrists are in bad shape, they need time to heal, so only sign if it's really important. In an hour or so you should be able to speak okay?"

Rome nodded

"Good, I'll be right back, just going to check on your room. If you guys need anything, just hit the call button."

Dr. Pillar was true to his word, about twenty minutes later Rome was wheeled down the hall to a room, it wasn't exactly private because it had another bed in it, but it wasn't occupied, Rome had the room to himself.

Dr. Pillar also kept his word about the ice cream, which a nurse brought to Rome an hour or so after he woke up. He only managed to eat a few bites, before his throat began to hurt and he sadly pushed it away.

"Soon Doc," Castle said gently ruffling Rome's hair "you'll be able to pack down a triple scoop, everything on it extra whipped cream, hot fudge sundae soon."

"When dad?" Rome asked

"When we get you home," Castle tried to explain, but Rome simply shrugged and gave his dad a weak smile. He tried to itch around the electrodes that were all over his body and frowned at them.

"When can I get these things off?" he asked

Martha, who was sitting on the other side of Rome's hospital bed leaned forward and kissed his forehead

"Soon Romey,"

"I really don't like soon," Rome admitted "it sounds like it'll be really close, but it ends up being really far in the future."

Martha, Castle, and Alexis chuckled a little. Alexis scooted closer to her brother and hugged him as gently as she could

"Missed you so much Rome," she said smiling a little

"Missed you too Lex, missed all of you guys."

"And we missed you Doc," Castle replied "but you're safe now, soon you'll be home in your own bed."

"Again with soon dad," Rome moaned, itching around the electrodes "I really want these things off, they're making me itchy, like when I had chicken pox." He paused "why do I have them on anyways? I'm awake, weren't they just for when I was asleep?"

Castle and Martha exchanged a look, and Rome noticed it. He winced and tiled his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Doc, the electrodes have to stay on for a little while longer,"

"Why?"

"Romey it's so the doctors can keep an eye on you," Castle paused and sighed "Romey you had a seizure on the way to the hospital. It stopped your heart pal."

Rome's eyes went wide as he followed his dad's hands, just to make sure he wasn't missing any part of the conversation

"my heart stopped" Rome asked timidly "like literally stopped?"

"It did pal, but the paramedics and I were able to get it beating again. But the doctors were worried that you might have another seizure so that's why you have the electrodes on your chest, so they can monitor your heart, and the ones on your temples are in case you do have another seizure they can see it coming and try to stop it."

Rome bit his lip hard, one of his classmates had epilepsy, and Rome had seen him have a seizure once or twice in school and it was always a scary experience. He couldn't imagine having one himself.

"Am I going to have more?" he asked softly

"We hope not darling," Martha explained "these are just a precaution,"

Rome nodded

"Okay," he said as Martha took his hand gently and gave it a squeeze, minding the bandages on his wrist.

Castle was about to go into more detail when he heard a knocking on the doorframe of Rome's room.

Seconds later, Beckett poked her head in cautiously, a worried smile on her face.

"Hi," she said softly "you guys up for visitors?"

Castle smiled at his partner with relief and nodded

"Romey, look whose here," he said. Rome twisted his head around his grandmother to look at the door and grinned widely when he saw Beckett.

"Detective Beckett!" he exclaimed as loud as he could, which because of the tube that had left its temporary mark on his throat, wasn't very loud.

"Hi Rome," she said coming inside, in her arms was a small teddy bear, which she brought over Rome "the gift shop didn't have any wolves I'm afraid," she explained handing the bear to him, and hugging him gently. When she let him go, Rome smiled up at her

"It's okay, thank you," he said "for everything,"

"You're welcome Rome," she turned to the doorway and called "come on in guys," she turned back to Rome and smiled wide "I hope you're up for a lot of visitors, because there's a few people that really wanted to check on you."

Rome looked at the doorway with curiosity as Detectives Ryan and Esposito came into the room, followed by Dr. Parish, all with goodies in their arms. Dr. Parish had a book, Ryan and Espo had balloons and Rome could see a small box tucked under Esposito's arm, which contained a small remote controlled helicopter.

"Hey there's the man of the hour!" Espo exclaimed as they crowded into the room.

Rome couldn't keep the grin off his face. Espo reached forward and Rome, minding his wrist as carefully as he could fist bumped Espo, before doing the same with Ryan.

Lanie leaned over and hugged him gently, before she signed to him 'glad you're safe sweetie'.

"Thank you," Rome replied "thank you guys,"

"How are you feeling kid?" Ryan asked

Rome nodded

"Better, still kind of tired, and hungry."

The group looked at the ice cream bowl curiously

"His throat's still too sore for him to eat." Castle explained and Beckett raised an eyebrow.

'Sore?' she mouthed

Out of Rome's eyesight Castle demonstrated with hand gestures, and Beckett understood instantly. She hadn't realized that Rome had to be put on a vent, it was only then she noticed the electrodes all over his tiny body. She looked at Castle for another explanation and he mouthed

'seizures, they stopped his heart briefly'

Beckett tried to keep the horrified look off her face, but really struggled to do so. Castle gave her a grim nod and shrugged.

"Can I talk to you for a second Castle?" Beckett asked and Castle nodded, Rome was too busy watching Espo take the toy helicopter out of the box to notice anything else. Rome's grin was contagious as Espo began flying the mini copter around the room.

Out in the hallway, Castle looked at his partner and friend expectantly

"What's up?"

"Thought you should know about Martin."

Castle felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach drop. That bastard was lucky that Beckett had come in when she did, he was fully prepared to make Sebastian pay, the only thing that had really stopped him was the fact that Rome was in his arms, hiding his head, begging to go home.

Castle knew he couldn't do anything to M, not in front of his son, Rome knew that his dad would do anything in his power to protect him, but Castle did not want Rome to see that side of him. But M would do good to pray to whatever god he believed in, if Castle ever got him alone.

"Let me guess, that bastard lawyered up." Castle growled and Beckett shook her head

"As a matter of fact he didn't, he confessed to everything, said he didn't want a lawyer, he willingly signed a confession right then and there." Beckett paused

"What's he going for an insanity defense?"

"Who the hell knows? The evidence against him is mindboggling, we've got Carlson ready to testify against him, the DA set him up with a plea bargain."

"What's going to happen to him anyways?"

"Carlson?" Beckett asked and Castle nodded

"He'd normally get twenty-five to life as an accessory to kidnapping, but because of the plea bargain he's getting fifteen to twenty, possibility of parole in ten. Actually he asked for maximum security, that way he doesn't have to mingle with general population."

"What will happen to Sebastian?"

"Depends on the judge, even if he pleads guilty, whoever the judge is will probably demand the max. Life without parole. He claims he doesn't want a trial, he said he doesn't need one."

"Arrogant sonuvabitch," Castle muttered

"No trial is a good thing Castle, it means Rome won't have to testify,"

"Thank god for that," Castle replied he looked into the hospital room, Rome was laughing and smiling, two things Castle never expected to experience from his son again.

He knew the terror Rome had experienced was going to take a long time to heal, but he also knew Dr. Pillar was right, Rome was a strong kid, he would be okay in time…

Castle knew that it would be better for everyone if there was no trial, no chance for Rome to have to take the stand and face M, no chance for Castle and M to be in the same room together. He could not guarantee that he would not go after M for everything that he had done to Rome, done to the family.

"Hey Dad," Rome's voice caught Beckett and Castle's attention

"Yeah kiddo?" Castle asked looking the room, just as the helicopter flew by his head, then flew back into the room "Who put the helipad down here?!" he exclaimed and Rome grinned

"Was just going to tell you to duck!" Rome replied pointing at Espo who was holding the controller.

"Sorry dad," Epso said grinning as he gently nudged Rome, everyone burst out laughing at that.

Xxxx

A/N: So hopefully the medical stuff made sense, if it didn't I am very sorry. This is the third to last chapter for this fic, two more somewhat short chapters will follow and that will be it. By the middle of November thereabouts I'll begin posting the next fic in this I guess it really can be considered a series now, which will follow Season 2, it will also pick up pretty much right after this fic ends.

The support that HugMe and I have received for this fic is amazing and honestly humbling, you people have really helped this fic, as well as my previous fic of Like Father Like Son be something I'm extremely proud of. So thank you everyone, and please keep the support coming, it really does mean a lot.