"Hey, you're finally at home!" Castle's pleasant voice rang through the kitchen in instant she had set her foot inside the loft.
"Yeah," Kate sighed aloud in relief, unable to even greet him properly.
"Finally." She then added under her breath with another long, heavy sigh, quickly getting rid of her coat and high heels.
Kate was dealing with a strong headache all day, she couldn't wait to finally be at home. She was also tired an exhausted, barely standing on her own two feet.
She had a long day again, working hard on a new case, which seemed to be more complicated then they tought it would be.
"Dinner is almost ready, you want some?" He had asked with his usual, gentle voice, interrupting her thoughts.
"No, thanks." Kate replied without even missing a beat, without even thinking any further. She had barely eaten all day, but the thought of food itself made her naouseous all over again.
She was feeling fine all day - well, not completely fine, but let's say it was okay - and now, the smell of dinner (which in normal circumstances she would find delicious) only made her stomach even worse.
"Is everything okay?" He had inquired, concerned, taking a few steps toward her.
"Yeah, I'm just not hungry that's all." She lied, avoiding his gaze, tucking a few disheveled strands of hair behind her ears. She then took a step closer to him as well, hugged him tight, inhaling the calming scent of his after shave.
"I'm so tired Castle. I'm going to lie down for a bit, okay?" She then muttered into his embrace with another heavy sigh, the soft fabric of his shirt muffling her voice.
"Yeah, sure!" He replied in a low, husky voice, caressing the lenght of her honey brown hair, which was now shimmering like gold in the strong lamplight.
The gentle stroke of his fingers made her relax, she had even closed her eyes for a moment too long, then she quickly lifted her gaze up to lock her eyes with his, before she would fell asleep right there in his arms.
Kate flashed him a sweet, but tired smile, and before she could think any further, his lips were suddenly moving over hers, his tongue brushing the corners of her mouth. It was just a quick kiss, just a quick brush of their lips nothing more, but still, it was enough to make her feel better.
When their lips aparted to get some air she had murmured a silent "thank you" into his ears, then she pulled away from his embrace, trudging toward the bedroom to finally have some rest.
When she stepped into the bedroom and changed into her Pjs, she perched herself at the edge of the bed, reached for her phone with a tired, heavy sigh, then after grabbing the device and opening the contact list she dialed her best friend.
"Hey, Lanie!" Kate greetened her friend in instant she picked up.
"Sorry for calling this late, I just... uh, can I ask you a favor?" She had asked nervously, lowering her voice, biting her lower lip. Lanie was quiet for a brief moment, probably surprised by her late night call, but she told her to go on anyway, so Kate went straight to the subject.
"Can you do some test on me tomorow?" She blurted out after a short beat of silence with an unsteady voice, twirling a loose curl of hair around her forefinger.
"What kind of test?" Her friend had asked back curiously, a hint of concern hiding in her voice.
"I uh... let's just say I'm not feeling well." She mumbled in a hushed tone, taking quick glances toward the door to make sure no one is listening even though the door was closed.
"Kate, if you aren't feeling well, you should go to real doctors." Her friend had replied in a warning tone.
"Aren't you a real doctor too?" She remarked instantly, ignoring her friend's seriousness.
"I am, but you know what I mean." Lanie had pointed out, her slightly teasing voice pleasantly ringing through the phone.
"Yeah I know, but it's not that bad, don't worry. Besides, I trust you so much more, Lanie. So what do you say?" Kate had asked with a sigh, almost pleading.
"Well, okay then. See you in the morning." Her friend had gave in eventually, after a short beat of silence.
Kate had let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding in when Lanie's hesitant, but reassuring voice rang through the speaker.
Thank God she agreed without asking any more questions, Kate had sighed out in relief after thanking her friend and ending the phone call. She knew Lanie was worried about her, she always is, that's why she is such s good friend, so Kate decided to explain her everything tomorow.
Scraping her hand through her slightly disheveled hair and letting out another tired, heavy sigh she placed the phone back onto the tiny night stand, crawled in bed and fell asleep in a second her head hit the pillow.
"Heey, girl!" Lanie had greetened her with a big smile on her face, when she entered the morgue on the next morning.
"You look like hell, are you sure it's not that bad?" She then added in concern, her eyes roaming over her entire frame.
"No, I'm not sure Lanie, and I don't even know where go begin." Kate had sighed aloud tiredly, barely able to stand on her feet, despite the amount of hours she had slept last night.
"Don't scare me, girl!" Lanie warned her teasingly.
"Let's just start with what kind of tests do you want me to do, okay?" She then added, giving her the courage to go on.
"A proper blood test." Kate had blurted out with a heavy sigh.
"I was throwing up yesterday morning, and..." she said haltingly, unsure how to even continue.
"So you think you are pregnant?" Lanie chimed in dazedly, filling the void of silence.
"Well, yeah..." Kate had stammered, running her hand through her hair. "Yesterday I thought I was but," she then paused, sucking in a deep breath. "Now I'm not sure Lanie, I feel like something else is going on, and I need to know what that is." She went on with another heavy sigh, releasing a breath she hadn't known she was holding in.
"Does writer boy know about this?" Lanie had inquired with a lowered, gentle voice, her face wearing the expression of concern and worry.
"No, I want to know for sure before telling him." She asserted with a stern voice. There is no way she is going to involve Castle into this. Not yet anyway.
"Well, okay, it's your choice." Lanie commented with a shrug, searching for something in her drawers.
"Then sit up there, so I can take your blood." Added the medical examiner, gesturing toward a large metal table with a pair of needles in her hand.
"How long til we get the results?" Kate had inquired after sitting up on the table, where usually dead bodies use to lay.
"A few hours maybe? I will call you as soon as I have them, okay?" Lanie told her with a reassuring smile, unwrapping the needle from it's box. She waited until Kate pulled up the sleeve of her shirt, then she slowly, carefully inserted the needle into her left arm.
It was past 3 p.m. already, and the test results were still nowhere to be seen.
Kate was anxiously checking her phone in every five minute, even though she knew it's pointless.
After Lanie took her blood in the morning she stayed there for a little while to collect herself, and to explain everything to her friend.
Lanie had listened to her carefully like she always did, saying she will hurry the blood test to get the results as soon as possible, and yet here she was, still without answers, pursing her lips in pain, trying to repress a whimper as another wave of nausea swirled through her stomach.
Kate was now in the precinct's small bathroom, gripping the porcelain egdes of the sink, trying to stand on her quivering, unsteady legs. She heaved in a few deep breaths, trying to keep herself together, then she leaned over the sink and vomited a bile, again and again.
She had barely eaten all day, so there wasn't much to throw up anymore, but her angry stomach still refused to calm down, as in fact she was feeling worse and worse by each passing hour as the day slowly dragged by.
It wasn't pregnancy, she was hundred percent sure about that by now. She had probably gotten some kind of a virus, her forehead was burning up and her entire body was shaking hard. If only she would have those results already, she had thought to herself as she heaved up more and more into the tiny bathroom sink.
When the riot in her stomach finally began to ease she slowly lifted her gaze up, still gasping for air, taking a quick glance at herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, her hair disheveled, her her entire body trembling like a leaf. God, she looked like even worse than she did in the morning, she grimaced, suddenly feeling the disgusting taste of vomiting still lingering in her mouth. Kate was about to rinse it out when another, strong wave of nause washed over her, almost sending her to the floor. She quickly in- and exhaled through her nose to gather herself, but it wasn't helping. Nothing was helping. She could barely breath past the agonizing, umbearable knots twisting in the pit of her stomach. Her mind was fuzzy, her face drenched in cold sweat.
She needed help. Kate hastily fumbled around to find her phone, when she realized she had left it on her desk.
Damnit, she grumbled under her breath weakly, tears swelling up in her eyes.
She was holding onto the sink more firmly now, forcing her unsteady legs to keep her upright, but the unsettling feeling at the pit of her stomach grew stronger and stronger by each passing second anyway, and the room was spinning around, no matter how hard she tried to blink past the bursts of blackness blurring her vision.
Kate shouted for help with every ounce of energy she had, but no one heard her desperate cries. The bathroom door was closed, the bull pen almost emty, everyone minding their own business. The boys, Ryan and Espo were somewhere out there, tracking down a lead connected to their current investigation.
She was alone, worried, broken and devastated.
A low whimper broke past her quivering lips as she eventually let go off the sink, letting herself collapse to the floor. Her vision started to swim, the world around her slowly faded.
"Castle," was the last thing she managed to get out on low whisper before her eyes fell shut entirely, her weakened body slowly surrending itself to the coaxing, endless sea of darkness.
Castle had stayed at home the whole day, working hard on a chapter he was behind with. He was right at the middle of an exciting, intense scene, words were flowing out of his mind like a river.
He didn't even realize how many hours he had written in one sitting, until his phone rang, interrupting the whirl of his thoughts.
He startled at the buzzing sound, growling under his breath.
"Hey, Lanie! What's up?" He had inquried after checking the caller's ID and putting the device to his ear. Rising up from his chair and stretching his spine he took a quick glance out the window, suprisingly noticing that it's already dusk outside. Wow, he had really written a lot today.
"Oh wait, whaat?!" He then snapped back loudly, tearing his gaze away from the window. His eyes widened in shock, in instant Lanie's distressed voice filled his ear.
Castle had no idea what kind of test results was the Latina talking about, but he quickly grabbed his keys and coat, pocketed his phone and stormed out of his loft to hail a cab.
The night had settled by the time the taxi had finally arrived to the given adress, thanks to the slow traffic they somehow got mixed up into.
The cold and frigid November air made him shudder in instant he stepped out of the car, but it was his least concern right now.
After quickly paying the driver, Castle hurried toward the hospital building, cursing the bad traffic under his breath for arriving this late. He ran as fast as he could, straight to the stairwell without even taking a glance back, up til the third floor without even stopping, Lanie's terrified voice echoing in his mind the whole time. "Beckett got poisoned. Ryan and Espo found her unconscious."