Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance, Family, Humor
Rating: M for sexual situations and language
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters featured on the show Castle, they belong to the creator of the show, ABC and the others who do own them.
A/N #1: Great to get the feedback I did for the last chapter, so I'll go to my thank you for it! TORONTOSUN (I was glad you liked how the kids worried about Castle and Beckett with what was going on).
Thanks so much for the review, I enjoyed reading it and appreciate the time taken to write it out and send it my way!
A/N #2: The title of this chapter are lyrics from the song Fields Of Gold by Sting, from his album Ten Summoner's Tales.
You'll Remember Me
Running through the people, Beckett was trying not to push them out of the way, but she did a few times in the end. She reached the clearing just past the trees where she had found the piece of spoiler and saw the body on the ground. She couldn't see the head and was about to call out to Sumner if it was her husband when she spotted him. "Rick!" she called.
"Kate," Castle said, turning to her. He wrapped his arms around her when she ran into them and hugged her tightly saying, "You're okay?"
"Me? What about you," Beckett said immediately in a kind of scoffing tone.
"I'm fine, the bullets were close but I was shocked for a second," Castle said. He let her go and quickly took her hand saying, "It's Patrick, he was hit."
Feeling her body freeze at the mention of his name Beckett found she could only whisper as she was asking him, "Is he dead?"
"No," Castle said quickly. "But he's hurt, they're working on stabilizing him right now," nodding to where the detective was groaning in obvious pain.
Hurrying over to him, Beckett knew Castle was right behind her, but she was staring at her friend, watching as the EMTs were putting him onto a stretcher. She stepped forward as they were moving it and she said, "It's over Patrick."
"Kate," Darnley said weakly. "Kate," he repeated, reaching for her.
"Go," Castle said with a nod as his wife looked back at him. He watched her leaving with the others and then felt a hand on his arm, turning to see it was Skye. "The gun?" he asked.
"Carman?" the investigator asked in return.
"She's dead," Moreno said, walking up to them. "I wish you would have let me know what was going on. Though good thing I managed to go with you ladies; the rifle was a good idea Skye."
"It was," she replied, knowing the agent was taking the responsibility for the woman's death from them. She was about to ask how Carman had died when Castle pulled her with him after the others and explained it before she could speak.
"When she was shot she fell out of the tree, onto her head," he said.
"Fitting," Skye said, considering that. "But Patrick?"
Grimacing, Castle said, "The shots were rapid," before he looked at Moreno.
"I took possession of the firearm," the agent said. "It was a modified assault rifle, and it looks like she tore up the ground where Patrick and Rick were, so I'm not surprised you were in shock."
"When it happened he tried to shoot but she was right above him," Castle continued grimly. "He fell backwards when she was shooting again, and it looked like a bullet went straight through his knee."
"Oh god," Skye said as her wife who'd come up next to her was gasping.
"I'm still here Patrick," Beckett was saying as the EMTs were preparing to put his stretcher in the back of an ambulance. "Someone will get in touch with Trevor."
"Come with me, please," Darnley said.
"It's alright," one of the EMTs said as Beckett looked to them. "You can keep him calm."
"I need to tell Rick," Beckett then told her friend. She took his hand to gently squeeze it and said, "I'll come back." She hurried over to her husband and said, "He wants me to go with him, someone needs to call Trevor."
"Skye is," Castle replied. "And he'll come right away; their case is over too."
"Not fully," Beckett said. She looked back at the ambulance and then said, "I have to go."
"Wait," Castle said rapidly. He kissed her then holding her close before they parted and he then said, "Julia texted you."
"My-" Beckett began.
"I'll get everything for you, what hospital are they taking you to?" Castle interrupted.
"DC Metropolitan," Beckett said before she hugged him and shared a quick kiss with him before she was running to the ambulance. Since Darnley was already inside by then she climbed in and was ushered to the end of the back, close to the front. She took her friend's hand and told him, "They were calling Trevor right now," looking up as they were closing the doors. "He'll be there as soon as he can since we closed both cases."
"Not all the way though," Darnley said weakly.
"I said that to Rick," Beckett told him when a smile, gently squeezing his hand.
"How is… he?" Darnley said, pausing to swallow for a moment.
"Fine, there were some small cuts on his cheek but other than that he was good," Beckett said.
"You kissed him?" Darnley asked.
A little surprised he was concerned about that, Beckett nodded before she said, "Yeah."
"Good, you'll see Trev before me… tell him I want the same from him," Darnley replied. The ambulance hit a bump in the road, and he groaned heavily before squeezing his friend's hand tightly.
"Is there anything you can give him?" Beckett asked.
"We are right now, the bleeding seems to have stopped," the paramedic replied.
"Did you shoot Carman?" Darnley was asking before wincing as the woman was injecting something into his arm.
"I did," Beckett said when the paramedic had moved away. "Skye was looking through the scope."
"How did you shoot?" Darnley asked, intending to sound shocked but not able to gather enough energy for that.
"She aimed for me," Beckett replied. "And it worked, she said her arm seemed to explode."
"Your husband told me she fell on her head," Darnley said. "I was glad."
"Rest Patrick," Beckett said, squeezing his hand as she could tell whatever drugs he'd been given were taking affect.
"You'll stay with me Kate?" Darnley asked.
Since her friend's voice was so weak and so pleading, Beckett answered seriously telling him, "As long as they'll let me I will."
"Thank you," Darnley breathed out heavily.
Beckett was relieved to see him soon falling asleep and she looked at the paramedic checking on his knee asking, "How much has he bled?"
"Not too much for it to cause concern," the woman replied. "Your husband was with him."
Nodding, and not surprised the woman had recognized her, Beckett said, "That's his coat… and Patrick's too."
"Looks like he made a tourniquet with them and it likely saved his life," the paramedic said. "It's his only injury."
"Good thing, do you know what kind of injury it is?" Beckett asked.
"Your husband told us as we were working on him that he was shot clean through his knee," the woman said. When Beckett put her hand over her mouth she told her, "With the bleeding no major arteries were hit, but I'm not sure I can answer to the state of his knee. I think Mr. Castle was guessing at it being a shot through."
"He likely guessed," Beckett commented. "They were right under the tree." She wasn't surprised when the paramedic nodded, and she then used her free hand to hold Darnley's as well. She didn't say anything else, only watching her friend until she could feel the ambulance stopping. She exited out the door she was near and hurried to the stretcher, following behind it as close as she could. She could only go so far before they were having her stop and a nurse led her to the waiting room outside of the ER.
Looking at the chairs, Beckett saw a few people sitting, one man standing and looking out the windows before she went to a chair away from the others. She was looking at the carpet, not really taking in the color of it before she covered her face with her hands.
"Kate," Castle said as he came to her.
Moving her hands away, Beckett saw her husband was kneeling and she said, "Rick, your knee…"
Castle wasn't surprised when his wife suddenly let out a sob and he sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly before he kissed at her temple. He didn't say a word as she was crying, allowing her to do that since he knew how much she had likely been stressing about Darnley. He glanced at Skye and Mary as they sat next across from them and gave them a brief nod before he turned his attention back to his wife as she was calming down.
"Sorry," Beckett said, taking the handkerchief he was giving her. She was surprised when there were more voices than her husband's and looked up seeing the McDouglas women there. "He was talking to me until they gave him something for the pain," she told them all.
"He didn't bleed that much did he?" Castle asked her.
Shaking her head, Beckett related what the EMT had told her before she squeezed her husband's hand tightly. "She told me that you made a tourniquet," she told him.
"I had to, I saw the blood," Castle said simply. He hugged his wife when she was doing so to him and he said, "And I had to help, I was the only one there."
"Did you make the call on the radio after that?" Skye asked him.
Nodding, Castle explained his order saying, "I ran to him, made sure Carman wasn't going to get up and then got our coats off before I tied them on him. After that Sumner came with Moreno and the agent took the gun before the EMTs came. Also basically everyone going to take part in the reenactment was coming over so the officers needed to deal with that too. It was crazy before you came down."
Beckett was going to respond, when she became serious as she spotted someone entering the room and stood up immediately before he spoke to her in concern as he was jogging to them.
"Where is Patrick?" Nkosi said, his accent thicker in his anxiety.
Stopping him Beckett explained what had happened, not leaving anything out as she knew the man would appreciate that. When she finished, she told him, "All I was told was that he was going to be taken in to be checked out and they might need to perform surgery. It depends on how bad his knee is. They told me I would need to be his spouse to be told anything else and they said that once you got here you needed to go to the nurses' desk."
"Thank you, Kate," Nkosi said, in tears by the time she finished talking. He hugged her tightly, feeling the comfort she was trying to give him as she embraced him back, and when she let him go he rushed to the desk.
"Come on," Castle said gently, pulling his wife back to their chairs.
When they were sitting Beckett caught sight of her boots and said, "We look weird."
"Definitely," Mary said in agreement. "And luckily we won't need to wear these for much longer."
"I packed our clothes here," Skye said, holding the bag up. "Your husband's and Patrick's are here on top."
"Should we change?" Castle asked his wife.
"Yeah, I want to get out of these," Beckett said. She paused and then asked, "Shoes?" not surprised Mary held up the bag she had. "Okay."
After the four had changed back into their clothes; and in the three women's cases shoes; they met back in the waiting room where Castle donned his shoes. They sat together to wait, Nkosi still at the nurse's desk, before the investigator was walking over to them.
"They may need to reconstruct his knee," Nkosi said, sounding stunned as Beckett had him sit in between her and Castle.
"They're not sure yet?" Mary asked.
Shaking his head, Nkosi then said, "He's doing okay though, he's not critical."
"That's a good thing," Castle told him reassuringly.
"I just hope they won't need to perform surgery," Nkosi said. He felt an arm go around him and he smiled slightly as it was Beckett. "Thank you, all of you," he told them before looking at Castle last. "Especially you."
"I did what Kate and Brad had me learn to do," Castle said. "But you're welcome; I just hope Patrick's okay."
"When do you need to go back?" Beckett asked him, smiling at her husband.
"They'll call me, they have my name," Nkosi said. "But you do not have to wait."
"We're waiting," Beckett said so firmly she wasn't surprised when the investigator started to sob quietly. She hugged him tightly, comforting him as her husband had done until he had calmed down. "Better?" she asked him.
"Yeah," Nkosi said, taking a tissue from his NTSB jacket he was still wearing before he dried his cheeks. "Thank you." He looked at Skye and then said, "The case will be closed once we find out who exactly it was that sabotaged the planes."
"Likely Mrs. Allard," Castle couldn't help commenting.
Realizing her co-IIC didn't know what they'd found out at the field, Skye was explaining to him what had happened before she said, "Since Proulx was still with Western, it's not really a surprise that it was probably Mrs. Allard. Though I wonder if she managed to get Carman to help her."
"At least it's over," Nkosi said, breathing out heavily in his unease. He felt Beckett squeezing his arm before he leaned back while they were waiting.
Though she wanted to be with her husband, Beckett knew she needed to stay with Nkosi for Darnley's sake before she heard what sounded like a group of people entering the room.
"Huh, the whole gang is here," Skye couldn't help commenting as they looked to see that it was Corbin, Proulx, Dyson, Sumner and the two FBI agents that had worked on their cases.
"Ms. Beckett?" Corbin said.
"Yes?" Beckett asked in surprise at being singled out.
"I've been told that you were the one to end the threat at the field," the man said. "I wanted to tell you thank you so much. All of you. If it weren't for your actions… I don't know what would have happened to all our reenactors." Corbin then grew serious and asked, "Is Detective Darnley okay?"
"We've all been wondering," Sumner said, embracing Nkosi as he stood up.
"I don't know yet, they're still trying to determine if he needs surgery," the investigator said, relieved when his husband's partner looked sickened at those words. "They will tell me when they can."
"I was hoping to extend him an invitation to the ball tonight," Corbin said with a sigh. "I was hoping he'd be well enough to attend."
"You're still holding it?" Mary asked.
"We pushed back the time to six," Corbin said. "Someone at the field told me about the ransom note that Ms. Dyson received. But you four are more than welcome to come."
"Please, Patrick would want you to," Nkosi said as the two couples were looking at him.
"Is it in costume?" Castle asked.
"It is, but we can have them sent to your hotel. I just need your measurements," Corbin said. "And in case you're thinking we're being insensitive we're going to have a memorial for Mr. McRae there to honor him."
"We'll go," Beckett said for herself and her husband.
"Us as well," Skye said. "Let us write everything down so you can head back to the field."
"We're not having the final run, not this year," Corbin said. "We had enough of a battle today," he said, shaking his head. He waited for the two couples to write on a piece of paper before he was given it and he said, "Someone will go up to your rooms with the costumes," reading the numbers of the two rooms there.
"Thank you," Beckett said, the others saying the same. When the man had left, she turned to Dyson and Proulx before she said, "Are you alright?"
"We are," Proulx said first rapidly. "I just wanted to make sure all of you were since you were helping us… you did a lot for us."
"Your head?" Skye asked him.
"It's fine but-" Proulx started to say.
"But I want him to get some rest since he's insisting we go to the ball," Dyson interrupted. "Though we kind of need to… McRae," she finished with gently.
After the couple had said goodbye to them, Beckett watched as Sumner had Skye walk to the side of the room with the agents and they were talking before she led them back over to where they were sitting. "Did you search their apartments?" she asked.
"We did," Moreno said. "Barnes was with us at Mrs. Allard's apartment she has with her husband."
"You got a warrant?" Castle asked in surprise.
Shaking his head Moreno said, "Mr. Allard let us know that we could search."
"Is he still going to face charges for trying to strangle Carman?" Mary said.
"That's up to the DA," Sumner answered. "It might not happen, she's dead and she was a criminal so his defense attorney told us he's going to push for them to drop those charges."
"I'm not sure if I should be glad he did that or outraged," Castle said.
"Outraged because she was a woman," Skye told him.
"And not the psychotic part of her," Mary added.
"What did you find at their places?" Beckett asked.
"First is from the women's phones," Moreno said. "We confiscated those and we have discussions of their plans between them along with Loewe and Murphy."
"They used a code," Barnes took up. "But it wasn't hard to pick up."
"Every letter of the alphabet was replaced with the letter that was three away," Sumner said.
"I recognized spoiler as v-s-r-l-h-u," Barnes said. "And the plot was three different ones we discovered."
"For the two men… raping Ms. Dyson though they really thought they were going to have a threesome with her," Sumner said. "Mrs. Allard just wanted to make Mr. Proulx's life a living hell, messing up his two companies and bringing them down."
"A little stupid," Skye said. "Her husband was going to lose his job."
"Her other brother lost his job at Western," Moreno said. "About five years ago and I spoke with Mr. Allard and he said she never really got over it."
"That's a better connection with Proulx instead of Potomac," Castle commented. "But what about the planes?"
"It was Carman," Barnes said, looking at Nkosi and Skye.
"We think," Skye began as Nkosi nodded to her. "That whoever did that; in this case Carman; cut the bolts enough for the plane to continue."
"The two were in maintenance two weeks ago," Nkosi added.
Nodding her head Skye said, "They were able to fly normally, but the two crashes we had were the result of the sheering becoming a fatigue crack that eventually snapped off completely." She looked at the agents and asked, "Do we know for sure what she was aiming for with that?"
"It was Proulx," Moreno said.
"And to take down Dyson in her case," Barnes said. He looked at Skye and said, "She was the one that took everything, and the killer."
"But Mrs. Allard had the chance to learn sharpshooting training," Beckett reminded the agents.
"We think Mrs. Allard taught her," Summer said. "I think she was trying to put as much blame on Carman as she could."
"Wow, that came back to bite her in the arse," Skye said. "So we have everything set?" she then asked, looking at Nkosi.
"It is, I've spoken with your boss," Barnes said to Skye and Nkosi. "And he only requires the paperwork."
"I'll take care of it," Nkosi said.
"T-" Skye started to say with a frown.
"I'll need to be with my husband, I'm sure he'll need to rest and I can fill everything out then," Nkosi said. "And I have everything here already," he said, holding up the bag he'd brought with him. "I'll start the report as well." When his co-IIC was nodding reluctantly he then turned his attention to his husband's partner. "You can do the paperwork for the case?" he asked her.
"Of course," Sumner said.
"Do they need to sign anything?" Nkosi asked, nodding to Castle and Beckett.
"No, they're fine," Sumner replied.
"What-" Beckett started to say before she stopped. "We can't leave after this."
"You want to go home to your children," Nkosi said. "You can now if you'd like."
Shaking her head firmly; and not surprised that Skye was doing the same briefly; Beckett told him, "Not until I'm sure Patrick is okay and he's okay with us leaving."
"What about Maddy and Keo?" Mary asked him.
Shaking his head then, Nkosi said, "I told my parents what happened, but I told them not to tell the kids. But as soon as it's okay for them to see him they'll come."
"I'll call later to see how he's doing," Sumner said.
After the three had left them, the group settled down to wait again before Castle noticed someone walking over before he realized the woman's direction was to them. "The doctor's coming over," he said to the others quickly.
Watching as Nkosi jumped up and met the woman halfway, Beckett was staring at them, trying to discern Darnley's state from her face but it was no use. When Nkosi turned around to them, she was reassured at the relief so obvious on the investigator's face and she asked, "Surgery?"
"No, he only needed some staples and stiches. He was shot along the side of his knee, not straight through it as they feared," Nkosi said, hugging her tightly as soon as he reached her. He couldn't help letting out a shuddering breath before he said, "They fixed him up, but they want to keep him overnight since he has a bump on the back of his head. He may have some damaged muscles too, but that's what they'll see tomorrow before he's released."
Beckett was hugging the investigator back as tightly before she felt other arms around them. She smiled and said, "Your past husband is fine," it becoming wider as they listened to Nkosi's relieved laugh.
Once they had let go Skye asked, "When will you be able to see him?"
"As soon as they move him to a room, which will be soon," Nkosi said. He looked at everyone with him and said, "You may leave if you wish."
"Not a chance," Skye said.
"She's right, if they'll let us see him," Mary said.
After Nkosi left to check with the nurses once she had nodded in agreement with the two women, Beckett suddenly recalled Julia and turned to her husband before he was speaking first rapidly.
"We can wait to talk to them all," Castle said.
As she'd seen what their daughter had texted and her husband had written back as her, Beckett sighed and said, "I think she'll be suspicious." She expected her husband to be surprised about that, but when he nodded she asked, "What's wrong?"
"I think your mother was there," Castle replied. "At the field." He explained what had happened before Carman had started shooting at Dyson and Proulx and said, "We were lucky there were so many officers there or we would have had everyone running."
"I couldn't see that far," Beckett said. "Luckily though. But… I'm not sure about telling her exactly what went on."
"No, she'd have nightmares about that," Castle replied. "But we'd have to tell her something," he pointed out before they looked at Skye across from them as she was obviously clearing her throat.
"What?" Beckett asked her.
"Julia does know about you being shot doesn't she?" Skye said.
"She does," Beckett replied before she sighed. "I don't know about telling her details, we'll just explain we had to get our suspect," she told her husband.
"Exactly, she'll suspect something happened," Skye said. "And she won't feel like she's being insulted."
"That's true," Beckett said with a slight smile. She then looked over at Nkosi and asked, "Did they move him?"
"They did, but he isn't awake yet so I'll wait to call you to come in once he is," Nkosi said.
"That's fine," Skye said.
"But you can't wait here," Nkosi said in concern.
"We can have lunch," Castle said, not surprised when his wife and the McDouglas women were nodding in agreement to that idea.
"And bring you lunch," Beckett told the investigator.
"I… is that alright?" Nkosi said, having been about to protest before he realized he would appreciate that.
"It is," Beckett said. "Would you like me to come up to bring it?"
Nodding, knowing she wanted to see his husband to check on him even if he was still unconscious, Nkosi said, "That will be fine, and his room is 447. Thank you."
"What would you want?" Castle asked as they were standing up. He glanced over at Skye as she was suddenly leaving with her wife's purse before he turned back to the other investigator.
"A sandwich, any kind, just not tuna," Nkosi said quickly. "I don't want it to smell for Patrick."
"I'll be back," Beckett said, squeezing his arm before they went to the exit of the waiting room. "Skye?" she asked Mary.
"I'm here," the investigator said quickly, walking over to them. "Your contacts?" she asked Castle.
"Oh… let me take them off at the cafeteria," he said as he realized his were still on. They walked together and he ducked into the bathrooms outside it, having his glasses in one of his shirt pockets.
While Skye and Mary were waiting for Castle, Beckett was hurrying to grab a turkey sandwich and a small salad with vinaigrette she knew already he liked before getting orange soda for Nkosi.
"Good idea," Skye said as Beckett had come back to her and her wife. "He loves that stuff."
"I hope Patrick won't mind," she said with a slight smile. "I'll come right back once I see Patrick." When the two women nodded, Beckett hurried over to the elevators and went to the fourth floor before walking to the nurses' desk, telling them what she was doing.
"Mr. Nkosi let us know, head back," the woman there said with a nod.
Walking by the rooms on the desk's left, Beckett was afraid she would have to go all the way down the hall to reach where her friend and his husband were. Luckily she was wrong, and she only had to go past two rooms before she found Darnley's.
"Come in," Nkosi said, standing up from his table. "Thank you, I'm starving… I think."
"I don't blame you," Beckett said, her gaze going to her friend. She was startled when the items were coming out of her arms and she looked to see the investigator was taking them.
"Patrick won't be pleased to see this," Nkosi told her, indicating the bottle of soda. "And I will be grateful to hear his complaints," he added quickly taking everything to the table his husband would use when he could eat.
Watching him lowering the tray of the table, Beckett asked, "Do you mind?"
"No," Nkosi said as he was sitting down so he could start eating.
Walking around to the other side of the bed, Beckett took Darnley's hand, hating that he wasn't squeezing it back. She thought of him getting something to eat and turned to the investigator when he was speaking before she could.
"He will eat once he is awake," Nkosi replied. "It may only be soup, I didn't ask, but I just hope he can eat."
With a quick nod, as she knew her friend had a healthy appetite, Beckett said, "I'll go, the others are waiting for me. Text me once he wakes up."
"I will," Nkosi said since he wouldn't know where the four would be. "I'll let him say when he wants you to come in… it will be soon after he's up."
"I know," Beckett said, going over to him and hugging him tightly before she pressed a kiss to the side of his head. "Thank you for watching over him."
Laughing a little tearfully, Nkosi took her hand and squeezed it firmly saying, "Every time we see you I'm reminded why Patrick loves you so much."
Beckett nodded, touched at that, and she said, "Keep an eye on him."
"I plan to," Nkosi told her as he was nodding before she left.
Heading down to the cafeteria, Beckett shook herself before she went to where her husband was waiting for her outside of the room. "He's still out," she told him.
"I thought so, they're looking at everything that's available," Castle told her, about to go into the cafeteria when she was stopping him. He leaned over to kiss her as he turned back to her, knowing already what she wanted. When they parted he asked, "You're okay?"
"I am," Beckett said, nodding her head. She then smiled and told him, "He'll wake up, it's just a question of when." She squeezed his hand before he could say anything and told him, "Thank you for putting your glasses back on."
"You're welcome," Castle said. "Come on, you're probably hungry."
"I am," Beckett said before they walked inside. They joined Skye and Mary and started to look around the options before getting their food and finding a table to eat at before they went back to the waiting room to return to their vigil for Darnley.
Typing as quietly as he could on his computer, Nkosi was a little more focused than he realized on the report. When he heard a heavy sigh he shook himself and looked up to see his husband's hand was moving. That made him get up and he pushed aside the moving table before taking that hand. "Patrick?" he asked gently, staring at his husband's face. "Othandekayo?" he then added.
"Have I mentioned how much I love hearing you calling me that?" Darnley said before he opened his eyes to see his husband standing next to his bed.
Beaming in his joy, Nkosi leaned over and brushed his lips to his husband's and said, "It's wonderful to see you awake."
"I can imagine… how late is it?" Darnley asked in concern.
"Only a little after one," Nkosi answered. "Careful," he said as his husband was trying to push himself up. He pressed the button for the bed to assist him and once he had he ran his hand over his husband's hair.
"Everyone else is okay still, right?" Darnley asked.
"They are, they're still here, waiting," Nkosi said. "And we were told about what they have found."
"The cases are over?" Darnley said hopefully. When his husband nodded, he breathed out in relief and said, "Good. Wait, the kids?"
"I can call my parents," Nkosi said. "They are waiting at home with them, my father got Maddy."
"Good, call them and I want to see the others," Darnley said. "Wait… again, sorry, what about me?"
"I have to call the nurse, let's wait to tell you about the cases," Nkosi replied as he was pressing the nurse call button on the remote with the bed.
Looking at her father's watch again, Beckett saw it was getting closer to two and she said, "This is worrying."
"He could be awake," Castle told her gently.
"I know, but…" Beckett started to say before she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. "He's awake," she said in relief. "He wants to see me right now."
"That makes sense," Skye said quickly as the writer looked unsure.
"He did say you could come in after I talk with him; the three of you," Beckett said.
"Then we'll wait for you to let us know when we can come in," Castle told her.
Seeing the McDouglas women nodding in agreement with that, Beckett leaned over to her husband and shared a kiss with him before she got up and walked to the nurses' station. When the woman there waved her by, she walked hurriedly to the room, knocking before she heard a familiar voice calling her inside and she rushed in. She immediately spotted her friend watching her smile before he was speaking with a smile on his own face.
"Long time no see," Darnley said. He wasn't surprised when Beckett nearly ran to him and he held his arms out to her once she was next to the bed and let her hug him as tightly as she could. "I'm okay," he said. "They have me on pain meds for the stitches and staples. My knee looks horrible but at least I didn't need surgery." When she let him go he told her, "There goes my career with the Rockettes."
Shaking her head Beckett said, "Why am I not surprised you said that." She cupped his face with her hands and said, "You'll be able to walk tomorrow?"
Not surprised she'd guessed the doctor had come in to see him Darnley said, "I should since it was just along the side; but I'm still hoping of course since I don't want to stay here any longer than I need to." He looked around the room and said, "Let's… call the others in, I hate to think of them out there waiting," to his husband.
"Right," Nkosi said. "I'll go get them."
Watching his husband leaving, Darnley said to his friend with a frown, "I wasn't trying to get him out of here."
"I don't think he thought that," Beckett said. "I'm guessing he left us a little time on our own."
"He's been worried?" Darnley asked. At his friend's nod he sighed and then asked, "You?"
"Of course," Beckett said immediately. "I'm not really sure how I couldn't. But I'm relieved you didn't have to have that surgery."
"Yeah, Rick?" Darnley said.
"He's fine, the cuts are small so… he's fine," Beckett replied. "But luckily it's over."
"It is, you guys can go home to your kids," Darnley told her, taking her hand. "You don't need to do the paperwork though I'm not sure how I'm going to do it."
Beckett was about to explain to him what they'd talked about in the waiting room before the door was opening after a knock. She wasn't surprised it was everyone else and she watched as they were greeting Darnley, Skye and Mary hugging him before her husband was shaking his free hand.
"You look great," Castle said.
"Why thank you," Darnley said, pretending to smooth back his hair vainly. He smiled as the others laughed and said, "I'm so glad you're all okay."
"We are that you'll recover soon," Skye said. "And that you have the chance since you're done with the case as well."
With a slight frown Darnley looked at his husband and said, "Okay, what happened. Trev didn't tell me since the doctor had to check me out. What did we find out?"
As they all explained to him in turn, Beckett felt a little strange that she and Darnley weren't letting go of each other's hands. But Nkosi was sitting at his husband's other side before they had finished. "It was a hell of a case Patrick," she told him.
"Definitely," Darnley said. "And I'm sorry you were all so much at risk," he said. He couldn't help smiling when the others were telling him that they hadn't minded and he said, "But since the paperwork is all taken care of you can go home." He paused and then turned to his husband asking, "The report for yours?"
"The team and I can handle it," Nkosi said, looking at Skye.
"Don't get me wrong," the investigator said hurriedly. "I would help but we'd like to go… soon."
"Soon?" Darnley asked.
"Yeah, not until tomorrow… Friday at the latest," Castle answered.
"Oh, you guys don't need to wait for me to get out of here," Darnley said. "Unless it is tomorrow morning; they'll check me after I wake up and have breakfast."
"Perfect, we'll wait until then," Beckett told him.
Pretending to grumble, Darnley then said, "Then I have to ask, you guys are going to the ball later right?"
"Do you want us to?" Beckett asked.
"Yeah! You know how cool it is?" Darnley said. "And yes I went and didn't tell you; I was dressed as a soldier and didn't want to get the teasing."
Shaking her head Beckett said, "We wouldn't have, and you'll have the chance to tease us."
"You're going?" Darnley said with a smile.
"You knew?" Skye asked.
"I did, if you're going you have to wear a dress which means I can tease you," Darnley said. Something came to mind and he said, "You will come to see me, right?"
"We will," Castle said quickly.
"So will we," Mary said with a nod.
"Are you wearing a dress?" Nkosi couldn't help asking Skye. When she immediately snorted he said, "I thought so. But it will be interesting to see yours," directing the last to Beckett and Mary.
"To me too," the former said.
Mary laughed at her for a moment before she said, "To be honest that's what I thought too. We'll find out at the hotel."
There was a knock at the door then and everyone turned to see it was a nurse who said, "Your family is here sir."
"Right," Darnley said.
"I'll go out to them and bring them when the others leave," Nkosi said, standing up and quickly sharing a kiss with his husband before he left.
Beckett watched as the others were saying goodbye to Darnley before they were leaving and she turned her attention to her friend. "Please tell me you'll have time off," she told him.
"Yeah, how long I don't know," Darnley replied, glancing down at his right knee. "But I think I should have at least a week, which will be paradise."
"I'm not surprised," Beckett said, she leaned down to him, kissing his cheek before she told him pulling back that she had kissed the side of Nkosi's head.
"Thank you," Darnley said immediately.
"Why?" Beckett asked, slightly laughingly.
"He would need it," Darnley told her. "You have a comforting personality."
Shaking her head and smiling in amusement Beckett replied, "I'm really glad to hear that."
Tugging on her hand, Darnley pulled her to him until she was moving to give him another hug. They were embracing one another tightly before he said, "I'm glad you're here though."
"Me too," Beckett said. "But your family is here and you can see your kids," she told him with a smile. "I'll come back later."
"I want to see your gown," Darnley replied, letting her go as she moved away from him.
"You will," Beckett assured him. She squeezed his hand and said, "I'll see you tonight." She smiled when he waved to her and she hurried out to the waiting room, going straight to Nkosi. "You can head in," she said, smiling at Maddy and Keo who appeared serious. She said hello to them and the investigator's parents before the family was walking to Darnley's room. "I think we can go," she said.
"We told Trevor we were going to," Mary commented. "We're going to rest and wait for our costumes."
"Good idea," Castle said though he was looking at his wife as he spoke.
"It is," Beckett said in agreement. "It was a… rough day."
"Very," Skye said, nodding. "Should we take a cab together?"
"I think so," Castle said. They left and he reached for his wife's hand before they were stepping outside. He smiled at her as she squeezed his hand and he let Skye hail a cab before they were getting in, driving to their hotel as he listened to the three women behind him talking about how they would get ready for the ball later that night.