a.n. Sorry for the long wait. I am still working on this story. I've written something every single day this year so far. The problem is that I keep switching stories. So yeah, my ADD is bad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.

Chapter Three;

January 10 1999 (just after midnight)

Kate was back in the waiting room. Her dad was in with her mom, listening to the doctor's report. He'd asked her to leave, apparently trying to protect her from the gruesome details. She knew she'd find out eventually, but for now, she was quite frankly thankful that she didn't need to hear again how close her mother had come to dying in that alley.

She sat on the hard plastic chair, trying her best not to let the stress get to her. She was supposed to be on a flight in just a few hours to go back to school. How could she go back to California knowing that her mother had come so close to death and might still be in danger?

Kate was brought out of her brooding by a man sitting down on a chair across from her. She only knew it was a man because she was staring at the floor and noticed the shoes he wore, which were definitely male in nature. She didn't really want anyone near her right now. All she wanted to do was be alone. Then maybe she could start to make sense of what she was feeling.

The waiting room was mostly silent except for the distant hum of nurses and doctors talking to each other. Every once in a while, Kate could hear a heart monitor beep in the distance, but it was all just background noise.

"Katie?"

Her dad was back. She looked up and noticed him standing next to the nurse's station.

"We should go home and get some sleep. They say she won't be brought out of sedation until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest."

Kate nodded. When she stood up, she finally took a look at the man who had sat down across from her. He was looking at her father curiously. He was tall, she could tell that even as he was sitting down. He had dark hair that seemed to have a mind of its own in the front, and she had the oddest need to run her fingers through it.

"Excuse me, sir," The man says. Her dad looked at him curiously.

"Yes?"

"Are you related to the woman who was stabbed tonight?"

Jim narrowed his eyes. "Yes. I'm her husband."

The man stands up. Kate was right, he was tall. A few inches taller than her. She could still only see the side of his face, but she can tell that he was handsome. Not in the pretty boy way that she hates, but the rugged good looking type that says he might be just a bit of a bad boy. She's always had a thing for bad boys, of course.

Kate curses herself for checking out a random stranger. Her mother was in the hospital after being stabbed. This was not the time for her to go looking for a new boyfriend.

"I'm Richard Rodgers. I was the one who found your wife. The detectives called me and told me that you wanted to meet me."

"Oh. They didn't tell me your name."

"I asked them not to. I don't really need any accolades for what I did. I was just in the right place at the right time. I did what anyone else would have done."

Jim reached out and shook Richard's hand. Kate looked at the man in awe. Somehow this stranger had saved her mom's life. It was surreal. The man was definitely well built, but he didn't look like the kind of man who could take down a trained killer.

It was as her father released the man's hand that her world changed forever. He looked at her. He looked her right in the eyes and suddenly the world was no longer varying shades of black, gray and white. No, there were colors. Kate couldn't have withheld the gasp if she wanted to. He looked equally shocked.

"It's you," he whispered. He reached a hand out, as if to touch her, but he pulled back at the last moment.

Jim looked between them, his expression interested. "Do you know each other?"

Kate shook her head. "No, dad. No, we've never met."

"I don't understand. Why are you… wait." Jim grinned. "The world is looking a little different, isn't it?"

Kate hated how he sounded so damn smug. He was so much like her mother. Always wanting to take credit for things as if only he knew how to do things the right way. She nodded nonetheless.

"Well, that's quite the coincidence," Jim said. "Katie, I'm going to go down and get the car. I'll meet you our front in ten minutes. Make sure you get his number."

Kate, who hadn't looked away from the stunning blue – yes, she was pretty sure it was blue, and it was definitely her new favorite color – eyes, wanted desperately to roll her eyes at the teasing tone of her father' s voice. But that would mean looking away, and Kate wasn't sure she ever wanted to look away from those eyes ever again.

"I'm Rick," he said, holding out his hand.

"Kate," she replied, giving him a shy smile, and shaking his hand. "Soulmates."

"Looks like it. I never thought the colors would be so clear. My mother tried to tell me about colors, but she really didn't do them justice."

"Tell me about it," Kate said, taking a step closer. She hadn't released his hand. Warmth seem to spread directly from the contact of their two hands up into her very soul. If his eyes weren't enough for her to be sure, his touch finalized it: this man was her soulmate. "I had no clue how much I'd like the color blue. That is the color of your eyes, right?"

"Yes," Rick said with a smile, giving her hand a squeeze. "Your eyes are gorgeous. I don't even know how to describe that color." He blushed, which Kate thought was adorable.

"So what happens now?"

"I...uh...don't know, really. I mean the romance novels all say we should get on a plane and elope and have babies, but I think we should wait a few days for that."

Kate laughed. "Probably. Should probably wait until my mom wakes up so she can gloat about me finding a soulmate when I was so adamant about not wanting one."

"You didn't want a soulmate?" Rick asked. Kate could see a bit of hurt in those lovely eyes, and she hated herself a bit for putting it there.

"It wasn't that I didn't want one. I knew it would happen someday. I just wanted to live my life. It seemed silly to put everything on hold until you met your soulmate."

Rick nodded. "That makes sense."

"So, if marriage is out of the question for at least a week," Kate joked, "What should we do?"

"How about we get coffee? Tomorrow? I know your dad is waiting for you now. And it's like 1 in the morning."

"I'd like that," Kate said shyly. She didn't want to leave him behind, which was stupid. She didn't even know him beyond his name and that he was her soulmate, but she couldn't help it. Something inside her deeply wanted to stay by his side. Maybe, hopefully, forever.

Rick grinned at her, then bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll let you get back to your dad. I can't...I can't even begin to say what it means to finally have met you."

With that, Rick squeezed her hand one last time and walked away, though he did look over his shoulders. When he was out of sight, Kate could swear the bright vibrancy of colors that had been present just a few moment before got a bit dimmer.

-:::-

When she got up, Kate looked around her room. It had been her room for her entire life, and not much had changed in the last few years. There were posters of rock bands on the wall and shelves full of books. Her desk was messy despite her not having been at home for a few months.

What was different was that she finally saw her room in color. Everywhere she looked, she found a new color, a new combination, something that she had never even thought of as having color. One thing she discovered was that she was horrible at decorating. Now that she could actually see color, the colors of her room did not go together.

She wondered if her dorm room was just as much a mess of mismatched colors. Kate assumed that it was. Now that she could see in color, she'd have to redecorate.

After finishing her morning routine, she went down stairs and greeted her dad. "Morning, dad. When are we going to the hospital?"

"We can leave in a few minutes. Get some food into you first."

Kate nodded and made up some toast to go along with the cup of coffee she poured from the pot that her dad had already brewed.

"So, did you get his number?"

Kate groaned. She had hoped that she would get a little more time before her dad started to tease her about Rick. Though just thinking about him brought a silly grin to her face.

"Yes. And we're going to have coffee. Maybe today."

"I'm sure you'll have a great time, sweetie. I remember the first few days after I met your mother. Everything was so overwhelming and new. I'm glad you get to experience that now."

"Dad, you and mom got married three months after you met. I'm not doing that. Rick and I will take our time."

Jim laughed. "I'm sure you will." Changing the subject, he asked. "Did Mr. Robertson give you a hard time?"

"No. He was understanding, even if I did call him at 10PM California time."

She had made a call to her school counselor and told him what had happened to her mom. After a brief explanation of what had happened, and a conversation with her dad, she had managed to take the rest of the semester off. Luckily the semester had just started, so she hadn't lost any of her tuition. It would set her back, but she didn't want to be on the other side of the country while her mom was recovering from a stabbing.

And now, after having met Rick, she didn't want to go to California and leave him behind. Just the thought of doing so sickened her. It was both exciting and terrifying to feel need for someone she didn't even really know. But she knew from the stories her parents had told her that it wasn't unusual for soulmates to get together almost immediately. Her parents had gotten married just three months after meeting, after all. In fact, her aunt and uncle got married just a week after meeting for the first time, and even that wasn't out of the norm.

Kate didn't think she'd be rushing down the aisle with Rick any time soon, but she also knew, just knew, that some day she would marry him. It didn't even scare her all that much. 19 years old and she didn't even mind the thought that she might be married by the time she reached 21. Not if it was Rick she was marrying.

A half hour later, she and her dad were sitting at her mom's bedside. The doctors had explained how they were keeping her under sedation until they could ensure that there was no more internal bleeding.

They spent the day at the hospital, both happy that Johanna seemed to be stable. The doctors removed the sedation that afternoon as they had promised, and were just waiting for her to wake up on her own. Kate was holding her mother's hand when her phone rang. It caused her to jump. Not many people had her number and honestly, she often forgot she even had a cell phone. It was the same model that her mom and dad had, and she usually only used it to talk to them.

She pulled it out of her purse and looked at the little display. It showed a number she was unfamiliar with, but she decided to answer anyways. She left the room for a moment so as to not disturb her mom.

"Hello?"

"Kate? It's Rick."

Kate smiled. The first sound of his voice was so soothing. She was definitely going to be a complete sap about this man.

"Rick, Hi."

"How's your mom? Is she awake yet?" Rick asked.

"They just took her off the sedation, so she should wake up soon."

"That's good to hear." Rick paused. "I don't want to take you away from her, but would you like to get some coffee? I could meet you there and we could grab Starbucks."

"That sounds nice. There's one just around the corner."

"I can be there in 15 minutes?"

"I'll meet you there," Kate said, resisting the urge to squeal. She was going to get to see her soulmate again. How did anyone put up with this feeling? Every time she thought of him, she felt like she was going to float off the ground. And the colors. The whole world just seemed so much brighter when he was in her thoughts.

Kate clicked off after saying goodbye, and rushed back to her mother's room. She pulled up short when she realized that Johanna's eyes were open.

a.n.2. Just a short one, but it was important. Next chapter, we have coffee!