Ryan felt the uncomfortable tightness return to his chest as they made their way past the emergency room entrance and followed the long corridor to one of the private rooms.

A uni had been stationed outside of it, more or less as a precautionary measure. The mid-thirties patrol sergeant nodded at them wearily as they rushed inside where Lanie was waiting for them, a somber expression on her face, a stethoscope wrapped around her neck.

The unusual sight made Ryan frown and he let his eyes drift over to the bed next to her where Esposito was sleeping peacefully, his hands tied to either side of the metal framework by thick leather straps.

"What's going on?", Beckett asked slightly out of breath, then pointed at the restraints, "Did he hurt somebody?"

"No, no he didn't. Not lately.", Lanie replied dryly, "There was an incident earlier when they tried to lay the IV and he went nuts. I should have seen it coming considering what happened. He took out three orderlies before I got him to calm down. Javi felt horrible about the whole episode and actually agreed to have them sedate him for a bit. It will help his body work through these drugs and give his system a rest. His heart rate and blood pressure are still well above normal levels and his kidney function has suffered. Despite the sedative, he's been coming in and out of it pretty violently at times, so I thought I'd keep him strapped down until the worst is over with, making sure he won't hurt himself or anybody else. But that's not what I called you down here for."

"That's…not it?", Castle asked exasperatedly and stepped behind Beckett, acting like a guardian shadow.

"Here, let me show you.", the ME nudged and walked over to Esposito, before pointing at his throat, "You see those contusions to either side of his larynx?"

Leaning forward, Ryan followed her index finger circling the faint pattern along his partner's throat.

"Somebody choked him?", Beckett asked, only to see Lanie nod.

"Based on the size of the prints and the pressure applied, I'd say somebody tried to crush his larynx, somebody very strong with long fingers. Also, the report on his physical came back and Dr. Warner detected some wheezing in his lungs, the type you get from people who almost drowned. I took a listen myself and there's definitely evidence of water in his lungs. So, I sent his clothes to the lab and they found traces of highly chlorinated water near the collar of his fatigues, the type used in pools."

"Somebody held his head under water.", leaning against his partner's bed, Ryan frowned, the conflicting information not going along with what they assumed happened over the past few days, "You think somebody tried to interrogate him? Or torture him?"

"Probably a bit of both. He's got some bruises on his arms and upper body that are less than twenty-four hours old. My guess is that he fought with somebody. I was also able to get a partial fingerprint off his throat and sent that in. Once I got word back from the lab, I knew I had to talk to you down here, not in the office."

"Why is that?", Beckett asked nervously.

"Because the fingerprint came back belonging to somebody in the military."