Because I am feeling the self inflicted pain of stupidity and clumsiness right now!
"If you wanna scream, yeah..."
Her eyes are closed, her entire body still in the bed when he enters the room. She looks serene, at last, calm and peaceful so Castle takes a deep breath, relieved, and lets the door shut behind him with a soft shhft...
That makes her head snap up.
Shit.
Her lips pale and her eyes narrow immediately, glaring at him. So far beyond a 'Beckett death glare' that he startles, jumping backwards as if zapped by the lightning force of her anger, throwing himself against the wall for safety.
"Kate..." He starts, tentatively. He has to try and get a word in first. Explain because this is so not all his fault...
"This is all your fault!" She growls, grimacing as another wave of pain surges through her. She clutches at her stomach with one hand in a vain attempt to stem the tide, to hold off the agony.
It does nothing and he steps closer wanting to be there for her, with her, wanting to hold her hand. But her knuckles flash stark white against the pale blue sheet covering her and she focuses all the pain roaring through her body into her eyeballs, sending laser beams of misery in his direction.
"It takes two to tango, Beckett." He smiles weakly, trying for a little life saving humor, hopefully, maybe...
"Don't you come near me." She barks, her body contorting with pain until, on a deep breath, she drops back to the bed.
Castle takes a tentative step towards her anyway and as she opens her mouth to speak -yell, berate, from the look of her eyes maybe maim and kill- the door opens and a nurse wanders in.
She's young, clearly new and just a tad too bouncy even for him. Her smile is wide and she's humming the tune of something familiar as she taps the same beat against a clipboard she holds tight in her hand.
"Miss...Beckett? How's the..."
"Detective." Kate grits out, growling the word through her clenched teeth, muscles working hard in her jaw.
"Which detective?" The nurse asks, her eyes still on the chart and Castle flinches.
Oh no, no, the last thing Beckett needs when she's in pain is someone dense rubbing her the wrong way.
Denser than him that is. Guilt flares through his chest again, he is an idiot, moron, a dunce, a cretin, a fool. He is an entire walking thesaurus of moranity (if that's a word) and stupidity, because it was an accident...it was a total accident, an unplanned accident and now-
"Meee." Beckett seethes, the slow blink that should turn the nurse to stone doing little but setting his pulse on Rumba or Lambada or Tap dance frenzy, something...
"Oh, I see." The nurse laughs, looking Kate up and down, her appearance doing little to convince the woman.
Her hair had been up in this pretty bun twisty thing but now it falls in disheveled strands over her flushed and sweaty face, her shirt is rumpled and the way her body contorts in pain, strikes flames against the tender edges of his heart.
"Do you?" Kate growls, her head thudding back onto the pillow as she breaks eye contact for a few seconds and Castle finally feels able to breathe again.
It doesn't last long.
The nurse raises her eyebrows to Castle and he tries to shake his head in warning, tries to send subliminal messages straight into her brain that no Kate is not floopy or crazy or anyone that you should be turning your back on right now. Yes, she is in fact a detective and she does have a gun and for gods sake woman you are taking your life in your hands by talking to her in that crazy high pitched singsongy voice.
"Drugs are kicking in I see." The nurse laughs, unaware of the danger.
Kate's eyes cut to her bouncing blond ponytail, to her cheerful baby bear pin and fall finally to rest on her ever tapping pen as it raps incessantly against her clipboard.
"I haven't had any drugs." Kate claws at the bed as she drags herself into a sitting position with one hand.
"Would you like me to fix that Miss-?"
"DETECTIVE!" Kate yells, snatching the pen from her hand as the nurse offers her something to sign. She pouts petulantly, her face at war between pain and annoyance, feeling sorry for herself and feeling the need for vengeance on...anyone.
The nurse turns from the bed mumbling under her breath and Castle startles all over again when he sees her top lip quiver and guilt flares twice as fierce as before. He reaches out, stepping away from the bed to intercept, to fix it - it's his fault after all- but the door opens behind him again and the scarily in charge voice of Lanie Parish floods the room.
"Katherine Beckett do not yell at the people in charge of your pain relief."
Kate's eyes narrow for barely a second before her face falls and she whines, "This hurts Lanie."
Lanie grabs the chart, holds the door for the happily escaping nurse and takes over, filling the room with a sense of calm Castle never realized he desperately missed. "Well yeah, you dislocated your shoulder Kate."
"He did." She focuses all of her attention on Castle, her eyes shining, "Him not me. Him. He spun me Lanie," She turns to her friend for sympathy, "Some Tango move he saw on the T.V."
Lanie covers her mouth, glancing at Castle, her head angled and questioning, he shakes his own in response and Lanie rolls her eyes.
"He dipped me and then flung me-
"Your heel broke, Beckett." Castle defends, coming to her side at the bed whether she likes it or not, "Your crazy four inch spiked heel broke...and I wasn't dipping you I was-"
"Throwing me."
"-saving you."
"Down the stairs." She growls.
"From a suspect with a gun." He whispers, "and it was six stairs, just six-"
"JUST!"
"-and you landed awkwardly."
"Wait, gun?
"You didn't tell her?" Lanie asks, her eyes on the chart but her grin all too aware, too knowing.
Castle smirks, "Couldn't get a word in."
Kate rolls her eyes but most of the anger has simmered away now. "The suspect had a gun?"
Castle nods, and he holds up a hand as Kate starts to talk, "Don't worry Espo and Ryan got him. No paper work either, the Captain took pity on you." Castle grimaces, "She said being saddled with a childish oaf with two left feet was punishment enough."
Kate makes a face, somewhere between thank god, thank you and ow as she moves and her shoulder twinges again. "Not an oaf." Kate grumbles, "But...no more spinning. Your dance moves leave a lot to be desired, Castle."
"I resent that." Castle risks a touch, running his fingertip over the back of her hand. "I'm light on my feet and I can be very graceful when I ow ow ow..."
He flinches as she crushes his hand in her own, nails that feel like talons piercing his skin and her grip...he's fairly certain he's not letting her near his special area ever, ever again.
Pain marrs the almost-smile that just glanced her lips before the hurt came roaring back and he tries not to yelp, scream or full force sob as her movement sends waves of agony through her body...directly into his hand.
He grimaces and counts to ten, sings a song to help him get there, but by six he's back to wanting to scream.
And then she relaxes.
Castle glances to Lanie, her eyes catching his and darting to the I.V before flitting away innocently, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. He turns at the sound of the door opening, his hand clenched tight in Kate's, but in the good way, and he prepares himself to intercept another unsuspecting nurse.
He almost gasps when he sees the woman who fled not five minutes before, smile back in place and a determined look on her face he appreciates.
Maybe it's the ever lessening death grip she has on his hand, maybe the pain meds worked faster than he anticipated but either way Kate's looking a lot more pliable, especially now she knows the truth about her accident.
"We'll step outside." Lanie says quietly. Kate nods at them both, giving Castle a small smile when he hums, "Be nice" at her ear before following Lanie from the room.
In the neon lights of the hospital corridor he let's out a long slow breath turning to Lanie, his eyes wide and his face pale, clutching his still throbbing hand to his chest. He cradles it protectively, pouting down at it as he says,"Remind me never to get that woman pregnant." He hisses, "She's gonna kick my ass in the delivery room."
Lanie's eyes lift from her the folder, her mouth falling open and Kate's blood test forms in her hand. Her eyes widen, "Oh writer boy...you are in so much trouble..."
"WHAT?" Castle screeches, stumbling into Lanie and trying to grab the files from the woman's hand.
She snickers and he reels backwards, one hand to his chest with barely subsiding panic, horror and realization washing over him, and a tiny amount of admiration for the M.E. She winks, turning on her heel, leaving Castle behind her as he yells. "That's not funny, Lanie."