A Deadly Game and a Secret
by Castlefan6
Authors Note: This is one story I've seen requested but never read a completed fic before. Rick has been recalled to active duty; the Hamptons are just his guise to hide the true story. The only ones who know the truth are Gina and Roy. Based loosely off 2-24, A Deadly Game, for the beginning then completely AU.
Also, we take MANY liberties with the timeline from Canon and use events from other Canon episodes to make this a more believable fiction, thanks.
Chapter 9
Rick's Hospital Room
1:17 AM
/_/
Lanie had returned, and just sat and watched Rick for over an hour. She finally pulled the chair close enough to his bed to hold his hand, it was still cold, as she pressed her lips across the back of it. She gently moved the hair away from his eyes, and spread lip balm gently over his lips with her finger, she would use the right procedure when he didn't have the breathing tube in.
The only activity had been the nurses coming in on a regular basis, charting his vitals, emptying his catheter bag after recording the output of each visit. It was important to ensure the kidneys were working, especially for patients that were on a breathing machine.
His temperature was normal again, which was a great sign, she had kept a keen eye on all of his vital signs as they were being taken. Someone must have said something to the nurses, their behavior was nothing but professional, no side conversations, no jokes, just in and out in a matter of moments.
She finally laid her head on the bed, still holding his hand, his breathing was controlled by the machine, so he was in a deep sleep, she kissed his forehead, once again, wiping the hair from his eyes, and just listened to the machines. She must have dozed off, when she awakened, she was startled till she saw Rick, and heard the breathing machine. It all came back to her painfully again, she loved spending this much time with him, but not in these conditions.
The nurse came in and noticed she was awake, "How are you feeling Miss Lanie, the flight gets us all eventually" she smiled,
"Oh, I'm fine, I guess I dozed off, I mean"
"Perfectly normal, I know when I go home to Texas, I sleep a full day to get my body back in sync." She smiled, "Oh, by the way, I'm Gayle, I'm the head nurse on this floor," she said without any attitude, just stated it as a matter of fact.
"What part of Texas are you from?" Now that she had opened the conversation,
"A very small town just outside of Houston called Spring Texas, the founding fathers had a sense of humor. It never feels like any spring day I ever had before I met my husband. He's stationed here, well for another 11 months then we go home." She smiled,
"Oh, so your husband is in the military, what does he do?" Lanie asked,
"Oh, he's a doctor, he actually assisted in your boyfriend's tendon repair yesterday. He told me he was more nervous with Doctor Carson observing than he was on our wedding day" she smiled,
"He sounds like he is the best, I mean people talk about him as a legend around here," Lanie said,
"Oh, that he is, and a real sweetheart, his father was the first heart surgeon, then him, and now his son is developing new treatments for cancer, he lost his mom to it. The entire family is full of overachievers. Mr. Castle was operated on by him several years ago, and he didn't want anyone to mess it up" as he said on the call." Gayle laughed.
"Well, I'm a good friend, at least for now, hoping for more but it's all new to Rick, his ex-wife Gina has been incredible throughout this entire ordeal," Lanie said,
"If I can be frank with you Lanie, he can see the love, it's all over your face, and I know he isn't a stupid man. Every nurse I have, even those on leave wanted to bid on his recovery, I had to turn them away. He's a legend here as well, the story of what he did spreads quickly, especially with as many military families as we have here. He's a hero, to us, even though I know he doesn't want any of the credit." Gayle said,
"Well, he's pretty closed up about that part of his life, to him he's just doing what any American would do," Lanie said, as she looked over at him,
"He's going to be fine Lanie, both of you are, so if you need something, press the call button and tell the station you need Gayle, they will make sure I get the message," She said, "Oh the covers and extra pillows are in this closet and that couch pulls out into a bed. Can I get you anything, coffee is fresh if you'd like a cup"?
"Sounds great, I'll follow you, Gayle, you don't have to wait on me." As she stepped out of the room for a few minutes, Gayle was right, the coffee was fresh and just what she needed. She made friends with the nurses on break, once they found out she was a Doctor, and really appreciated them, their attitudes changed completely.
She peeked back in on Rick, then pulled out a pillow and a cover and stretched out on the couch. She knew the nurses still made their rounds but they made a concerted effort not to make any more noise than they needed to. Finally, it was 7:00 AM, and Gayle came in,
"Lannie, my shift is over but you're welcome to use our showers if you want to freshen up before you have to sit and wait through the surgery," she smiled,
"Thanks, Gayle, I'll take you up on that, I really don't want to go to the room alone, I start freaking out," Lanie said, a tear came to her eye,
Gayle crossed the room, pulled her into a hug, "Trust me, next to Jesus himself you got the next best thing working on Rick. He's going to be fine, just wait and see. I'll be in tonight, but if you want to talk call me," she handed her a card, what was with these people they couldn't do enough for you,
Lanie hugged her back, "Thanks Gayle, I'll take that shower now," she said,
"Hey Lanie, I brought a pair of scrubs if you don't want to put your old clothes back on, at least until you get to your room," she said,
Lanie smiled, "My most comfortable clothes, thanks Gayle as she gathered the blue patient bag to store her soiled clothes in, as she put on the new scrubs after a good hot shower. By the time she had returned to the room, techs were in the room, preparing to take him to surgery shortly.
She walked in, and one of them said, "Good Morning Miss Parrish, Dr. Carson, will be here soon, so we are just getting Mr. Castle prepped. Our technician is setting up the Zoom call with Miss Gina, as soon as Doctor is here, he'll talk to you both."
"Thank You, Lanie, said, now dressed in scrubs and drinking a large cup of coffee courtesy of the nurse's station and her new friends. About five minutes later, a smaller older gentleman walked in the door, the staff immediately snapped to almost to attention, as he entered.
"Miss Parrish, I'm Dr. Carson (Extending his hand), looks like we have a little work to do on your loved one, Mr. Castle, shall we connect with Miss Gina so we can keep on schedule?" he asked in a kind voice,
"Yes, please do" Lanie croaked out, she could see the kindness in the older gentleman's eyes. "I want to thank you for agreeing to operate on Rick, I understand you had just retired, after several attempts, and, well, to have you agree to fly over to take care of him means the world to so many of us" Lanie got out,
"You're the one who loves him and hasn't told him yet, aren't you? You're welcome Lanie, Gina told me all about the situation when she called. I have to be honest; Rick is about the only one I would do this, or should I say my family would allow me to do it. They've been very protective of me since we lost my wife a few years back." He said a sad look on his face as they walked into a small office,
There was Gina, on the screen, "Oh Dr. Carson, it's so good to see you, well not like this, but thank you so very much for taking my call, and then answering our request." Gina gushed her eyes, red from crying, no matter how much makeup she used to try to conceal it.
"Gina, you knew I would, no one is going to mess up my previous masterpiece, from the scans I think our Rick will have a set of matching scars, this was the wound I took care of originally but on the other side. He's either very lucky, or someone has been praying for this boy very hard." Dr. Carson said,
He proceeded to explain the procedure, Lanie understood, Gina didn't have a clue, all she knew was that Dr. Carson was the only doctor she wanted handling this operation. It would be long and delicate, as Dr. Carson pointed out he would need to do a lot of preliminary work, grafts, and other processes, to get to the bullet.
They had once again agreed to place him on bypass, using the same incisions as the heart surgeon had done as he assisted in the repair of the tendon, under the watchful eye of Dr. Carson via Zoom call. Once he had explained everything, he set the expectations, "Gina, Lanie, I know everyone thinks I can fix anything, but there is high risk with this surgery, so, just to set your expectations, I'm a doctor, not God. Are we good to go?" he asked gently,
"Lanie I am if you are, I just want him to have the best chance, so what do you think?" Gina asked,
"I think it's time to get that bullet out and let him begin to heal, let's do this Dr. Carson." She said,
"Very well, Gina one of us will provide updates when they are available. I'm allowing Lanie to sit in the surgeon's gallery so she can see firsthand, that is if she wants to." Dr. Carson said,
Lanie was surprised, but answered quickly, "Thank you so much, Dr. Carson, I don't know if I could stand it in the waiting room. Gina, I'll call you with updates, and remember no news is good news." As the call went dead and screen black.
XxX
4 hours Later.
An exhausted Dr. Carson said, "OK, let's prepare to take him off bypass, be prepared for any leaks, bullets have a habit of nicking arteries on their way to their final resting spot in the body."
The machine was turned off, as everyone in the operating room held their breath, Lanie was almost ready to faint, finally one jolt of the shock wand, and the heart started beating strong and all signs looked good.
"I think we can call this complete, anyone see any leaks, or can we close?" Dr. Carson asked
The team did a thorough examination and finally, the chief resident said, "Let's close doctor," as Dr. Carson began to stitch, Lanie called Gina, and passed on the news. He was being moved back to his suite, the ICU nurses would now take over from Gayle's staff for three days, or until he was released back to general care.
After calling Gina and Roy, she thought she better call Kate, and as much as she dreaded the third degree, she pressed her friend's speed dial number.
"Hi Lanie, all is well I hope?" was all that Kate said,
"Yeah, yeah, it is. Rick had surgery this morning, and well, he came through it fine. They are rotating the nurses from ICU to take over his suite for the next three days, then he'll go back to general care. I don't have any idea of when they will discharge him to Walter Reed, all that was said was it depended upon his progress, heart, and arm" Lanie said, a little surprised by the tone of Kate's voice.
"Well, thank God he came through it OK, are you all right?" she asked,
"Yeah, I'm fine just tired, I should be asking you that, you seem different today," Lanie said,
"Well, I guess I had to face facts, and move on, it's not healthy hanging on to what could have been or getting in your way," Kate said,
"Excuse me, is this the Kate Beckett I know? The one who would do anything to prove she deserved one more chance? What happened to her?" Then it hit Lanie, Kate had met someone,
"Well, you know"
"What's his name, Kate? I know you don't give up that easy, so what's his name and where did you meet him?" Lanie asked,
"Well, if you must know, I took my bike to Dad's cabin a few weekends ago, I met Josh at a gas station, he was on his Harley as well filing up. We've had a few dates that's all" Kate said,
"So, what happened to all of the concern for Rick Kate, you fuck a new guy and forget all about what you said? Hell, Rick isn't even awake and you're already moving on, I gotta go" Lanie said and hung up,
She was pissed, hurt, and left wondering what the hell was wrong with her friend. She had gone out of her way to try not to hurt her, or at least talk to her woman to woman. Now less than three weeks since then, she's met another man and from the sounds of it getting her groove on with him. That was going to hurt Rick, no matter what he said. She would have to find a way to break it to him and hopefully make it up to him.
The next three days went by like a blur until finally, they were going to take Rick off the vent and let him wake up. They had packed and bandaged his shoulder into almost a portable cast where he couldn't move it, to allow the tissue to heal completely, throughout the wounded area.
It was the third day since surgery, and Rick had still not woken up, Dr. Carson kept assuring her and Gina in Zoom calls, everything was OK, and finally, she was sitting by his bed, holding his hand, her head on the bed. She didn't even know why she did it, but she was singing a song low, Lay Down Beside Me, she had reached the second verse,
So, lay down beside me
Love me and hide me
And kiss all the hurtin'
Of this world away
Hold me so close
That I feel your heart beat
And don't ever wander away
She heard the most beautiful sound in the world, his voice, "Lanie, please sing it again, thanks for being here for me" she looked up to see his eyes wide awake, bluer than ever, and she knew she was crying.
"Rick, thank God, I was so worried about you. How are you feeling, I mean, outside of like you've been run over by a garbage truck who backed up and did it again, "she saw his eyes smile, then his face, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He seemed surprised at first then returned the sweet kiss, no tongue not this early in the recovery.
"Is that why my lips aren't so chapped Lanie, have you been applying lip balm?" He smiled, "I thought I was imagining it,
"No, I won't even give you a hard time, I kissed you every time I came in, and when I left, after the breathing tube was removed. What do you remember Rick, tell me what you want, or we can talk another time if you don't feel up to it" she said, as she pulled her chair closer, and held his hand tighter?
She fed him a few ice chips, to moisten his throat, then stole another kiss, and looked into his eyes to see if she could tell if he had any reaction, his eyes were smiling.
"Could I have some more ice chips, I know I can't drink for a while" he said,
"Well, that's a surprise, you being a good patient, and well, I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here beside you, why not Gina or Paula, or even Kate" she saw his face scowl with the mention of Kate,
"Well, I know when I'm beat, there's no way I can con a doctor to give me something I shouldn't have yet. As for Gina, I hope she's with Alexis as we planned. Paula? Hell, they would have thrown me out with her, good thing she didn't come, and well Kate had better things to do." He said, then added, "Besides I like who's sitting with me. I never forgot that first kiss you gave me, it made me want more, but"
"Hey Shhhhh, no more, here eat the ice chips, and for your information, you can kiss me as much as you feel like, I never thought you would remember our first kiss, but I will never forget it.
"When you get a little more awake, do you feel like me calling Gina on Zoom or if you want to rest, I'll step out of the room, and call her on my cell?" Lanie brushed the hair out of his eyes, God those eyes, she was dead every time she locked on them.
"It's OK Lanie, I know she's worried, probably as much as you are, but hey, I made it, I'll be fine. Call Gina to keep her from worrying any more than she has already."
Lanie pulled out the satellite phone, dialed the number for Gina, on the app, then turned the iPad to face Rick, a few seconds later, she heard Gina scream, "Rick, sweetie how are you?
"I'm better, Lanie is here, she's been here since I don't know how long but she's feeding me ice chips until the doctor clears me for the liquid diet, how are you, how's our girl, she doesn't know does she." He asked
"No Doll, it was all I could do to keep from crying in front of her, turns out the shower is still a good place to cry in private. I asked Lanie to come over to you, well, if you haven't figured something out soon, you will. Anyhow, I knew you wouldn't want Alexis to know about this just yet, but Rick, you're going to have to tell her soon. She's not the little girl anymore sweetie, she knows something is up.
"Think of the bright side you get all the green jello that you love so much now", Gina actually smiled as Rick frowned, "Not funny he got out,"
Lanie turned the pad around, "Hi Gina, I thought the surprise would do you good. He's tired, so I'm going to let him rest while I chase down the doctors and get his chart updated. The sooner he gets something in him, the sooner he can take a step back to feeling normal. I'll be with him, he doesn't have to lift his arm, and I don't know if anyone has even told him what his wounds were. I'll get Dr. Reynolds to do that," Lanie said, with the first smile she had shown since the call came.
"OK Lanie, thanks for letting me see for myself, Rick, I still love you but think about what I said, you'll figure it out if you try, talk to you both soon, Love to all," the screen went back,
Lanie pressed the call button and asked to see Dr. Reynolds Rick was awake and needed evaluation for the proper diet. "He'll be right there, and we're happy he's awake Lanie, let us know if you need anything," came the voice,
"Bribing the nurses is my old trick," Rick said, then noticed Lanie was in scrubs, "What happened to your clothes Lanie, they didn't put you to work here did they" Rick smiled,
She leaned in and kissed him again, "No, but if that was what it took to stay with you, I would have done it. Let Dr. Reynolds brief you, then we'll talk, OK?" she kissed him again, each kiss becoming more natural and Rick responding more and more to them. Just then they heard a knock on the door, it was Dr. Reynolds,
"Excuse me, I'll be brief as he walked into the room, and Lanie pulled back reluctantly, he was alive, he was awake and he had remembered their first kiss, it was going to be OK.
TBC