Burden of Proof
It is a fallacy, the Burden of Proof.
You cannot claim that "miracles exist because no one has proven that they do not exist."
You cannot claim that "he is guilty because no one has proven he is innocent."
"I just talked to the boys. How is she?"
"Not much change. She may come out of it any time now, though. She's squeezed my hand a couple of times in the past few minutes as I've been talking to her."
"Oh, look! She just moved! Kate!"
"Katie?"
There's two thoughts running through her mind as Kate Beckett swims back to the realm of consciousness. One thought quickly masks the other as her nerves slowly begin to feel again and register her injuries.
Pain, and lots of it.
It hurts to move, so she doesn't, not really. It feels as though a bomb has gone off in her head, rattling everything around in her skull, burning and throbbing at her cheekbone, her jaw, her temple. Her lower back prickles with a sensation like tiny knives poking into her and it makes her muscles spasm against her will in discomfort. Her shoulders and neck feel stiff, her limbs feel heavy to lift and her fingers are digging into some sort of fabric, but there's a spongy resistance each time she grips and digs in deeper with her fingertips.
A bed, maybe? Not her bed; it's too narrow, the mattress too thin. A hospital bed then. That would make sense. If she's in so much pain, she must be in a hospital.
Wait, why is she in a hospital?
"The nurse is paging Dr. Collins right now."
"Good."
"Kate, are you awake, honey? Kate, open your eyes for me."
"Damn it, she's in so much pain. What the hell's taking them so long?"
Noise gradually begins to filter into her ears, the sound muffled, as though she's listening from underwater or from behind a thick barrier of glass. She vaguely registers the sounds around her as voices but she can't hear them, not on a level of which she can comprehend what's being said. She can't tell if someone is speaking to her or speaking to someone else that may be there, but the chatter continues. One voice is an octave or two higher than the other and she winces as she strains to focus in on it.
The effort is useless. She can't make sense of any of it and it's just taxing her more to try to.
Her head is throbbing, more so than it was however long before, and as she struggles to open her eyes, even just a slit. It's too bright. She can't see properly. Her vision is blurry, unfocused, and she can only make out shadows of figures before her. Two, three? One is moving around and maybe there's another one approaching now. She's not certain.
Doesn't matter though, not right now. Hardly a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things at the moment. The only thing she's registering at this moment is pain. She's in pain, so much pain. God it hurts. Everywhere. It hurts everywhere and she just—
She opens her mouth, tries to vocalize her agony to these shadows she hopes are people, but her hearing is still shot. She can't even tell if her own voice is coming out in words, a moan of pain or a strangled sob, if even that. She's betting on a mix of the latter two because she just feels so miserably pathetic.
A voice at the back of her head chides her: Pull yourself together, Beckett. You were shot in the chest before. This is nothing in comparison to that.
"I'm so sorry for the wait, it's a zoo in here tonight. Has she been responsive?"
"Very little."
"...hurts."
"Oh, Kate."
"I know sweetheart, I know it hurts. We're getting you help."
"Dr. Collins is on the way, but she gave me the go ahead to give her something for the pain."
"Hear that? The doctors are giving you something for the pain so just hang on, Katie. Hang on."
She grits her teeth and something—someone?—takes hold of her hand, and that's when her initial second thought upon waking comes flying back to the forefront of her mind: Castle.
Right. She remembers now. She was with Castle. They'd been...arguing. Yes, there was an argument between the two of them. It was something trivial; a misunderstanding blown out of proportion. They'd been doing that a lot lately. He'd joked around recently saying that the honeymoon was over because now they were bickering over the silly quirks and personal habits that they'd discovered about one another in the past three months they've been together.
Today's fight was...shit, why can't she remember? Her head is so fuzzy. But he came over after they left work. They'd left separately and she wasn't expecting him to come over. She'd still been angry at him, didn't want to see him at all, but there he was and...oh. They worked it out, didn't they? They did. Words turned to touches, touches to kisses and then...
Yes. They worked it out. But there was another fight. That's how she got hurt. Not a fight with Castle; he'd left. Why was it he left? Where was he going?
Doesn't matter.
Someone else was in her apartment, that's what matters. Someone broke into her home; someone that she recognized. A case they were working on?
Cole...? No. Coleman. He went by the name Coleman.
Big guy, and he caught her off-guard. They struggled. He got the upper-hand on her and she was trying her hardest to fend him off when Castle came back.
Oh God, Castle came back.
She heard him call out to her and then there was nothing. Everything went black. The rest of her memory ends there. Gone. Blank.
Oh God. Oh no. If she's hurt, what about Castle? Is Castle here? Is Castle hurt?
Where's Castle?
"Detective Beckett, my name is Dr. Collins. Can you tell me what happened tonight? Who did this to you?"
"Cas..."
"What's that sweetheart? What did you say?"
"Cas..tle...Castle..."
"Castle? Did she just say 'Castle'?"
She scrambles, clawing at the bed beneath her, still writhing because shit it hurts, but she's fighting it anyways. She has to, has to get up, has to find Castle. Her head is spinning, pain exploding everywhere but no, she doesn't care. She's felt crippling pain before. This is nothing. This won't stop her. Nothing will stop her.
The shadows start to swarm around her, then the voices escalate in tone, in frequency. There's three of them speaking, she can at least manage to distinguish that.
Good, they're paying attention then. She could care less about herself right now. She has her own questions and she has to know if he's okay. She needs Castle. Has to find Castle.
"...Cas..tle. Castle."
"Castle's not here, honey."
"It's Dad. Dad and Lanie. You have to calm down. Relax, sweetheart, just relax."
"Castle. Hurts."
"You mean to tell me that the man who brought her in did this to her? Rick Castle?"
"No, that can't be—"
"Cas...Ri..ck."
She heard it. She definitely heard it that time. Someone said his name. They said his name!
She opens her mouth again, his name and her fears on her mind and hopefully her lips but she can't tell if it's reaching them, these shadowy specters before her. She growls, frustrated, because she can't see them, still can't hear them properly. She can't communicate a damn thing the way she wants to. She struggles against her condition, trying to get up, trying to move. Someone's hand on hers tightens as another one pushes her back down, holds her to the bed.
They don't want her moving. Of course they don't, but she can't...she needs to know that Castle is okay.
She can't stop. Not until she knows. Someone needs to tell her Castle is okay.
"Kate, you have to calm down. Be still."
"Castle...Castle..."
"Katie, please. Relax. Just relax."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Beckett, but we're going to have to sedate her."
The hand gripping hers tightens, then becomes a soft caress, soothing her as she thrashes until suddenly, she feels calmer, drowsy.
Damn it, they're drugging her. Why are they doing that? They can't knock her out, not until she finds Castle.
She needs Castle.
Where is...Castle...?
"That's bullshit! You know just as well as I do that an injured patient can be disoriented as hell when they're in this kind of physical condition! Look at her!"
"Dr. Parish, if Mr. Castle is innocent then the evidence should stand to prove that, right? Until then, my hands are tied by hospital policy. I'm sorry. I have no choice. Now, I'll be back in to check on her in a couple of hours. Please don't hesitate to call a nurse if anything changes."
"Damn it, will you just—"
"Lanie...Nothing you say will dissuade her at this point."
"This is...it's wrong, Jim. All of this is just wrong."
"I know. Come on, she'll be out for a while. We'd best go tell the others."
"This is going to destroy, Castle. Kate, too, once she's coherent."
"All the more reason to tell Rick before someone else does."