A/N: I know I said it's set after s8, but certain characters are still alive in this Caskett universe.
The doctor's name was suggested by my friend, remarkablebeckett on Insta.
Thanks for all the responses. :))

"Where is she, where is my wife?!" Castle demanted desperately, bursting into the hospital's waiting room. Ryan and Espo were already there, anxiously pacing on the corridor. Thank God they were allowed to ride in the ambulance with Beckett, at least she wasn't surrounded by a bunch of strangers on the way to the hospital, even though she most probably wasn't aware of anyone's presence.

"They took her into the emergency room in instand we got here," Ryan quickly briefed him in, gesturing toward the large double door.

"We haven't seen her since then, and apparently non of the doctors are willing to tell us anything, because we aren't family." He then added, seemingly frustrated.

Family. Shit, her father!

"Did you guys called her dad too?" Castle had asked, concerned.

"Yeah, we tried, but he didn't pick up." Espo chimed in with a sigh.

Oh, right. Her father was in his cabin in upstate Manhattan, Kate had mentioned it earlier this week. The cabin is a secluded place, deep inside the forest without any proper cell service, so that would explain why they couldn't reach him. Damn it, he will have to call him later then, Castle had noted to himself.

"It's been hours since you guys arrived, are you sure she still in there?" Castle had asked, nervously stepping here and there, ranking his hand through his short hair.

The two boys didn't say anything, they only nodded in response.

"Jeez, I can't believe this happening." He then added on a heavy sigh, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't worry Castle, she will be fine, she will make it." Ryan said in a low voice, gently patting his back.

Castle nodded, trying to reassure himself. Teardrops were forming at the corner of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall free. He took in a deep breath instead, trying to collect himself.

"Do we know anything about the poison at least?" He then asked, trying to change the subject.

"Like we said, they didn't want to tell us anything at first," Espo began, "however we showed them our badges to gather some information in sake of the investigation, and they told us she most likely got poisoned by eating food." The hispanic detective stated on a heavy, disappointed sigh.

Castle swallowed hard, slightly nodding, trying to process the information.

"Did you notice anyone strange near her lately?" Ryan chimed in, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"It could be whoever..."

"No, I didn't." Castle quickly trailed him off, his voice low and disappointed.

"Wait!" He then exclaimed, earning both of the boys attention.

"Actually yeah, I did see someone!" He asserted with a lighter tone.

"As in fact, it was her who noticed, a strange guy was sneaking around, glancing at us while we were eating in a restaurant two days ago." He stated with a sigh, the last part of his sentence barely audible, more like a whisper. It was hard to believe that all this mess started on that beautiful night.

"He was familiar," he went on quietly, lowering his gaze in shame, "but we didn't recognize him." He then added, already blaming himself for letting this to happen.

"It's okay Castle, you couldn't have known." Espo muttered in reassurance.

"So what do we know about the poison so far?" Castle had inquired with a sigh, after a long, unnerving moment of silence.

"Laborants and chemics are still analyzing it," Espo began with his usual detective voice, "but according to what they know so far, these kind of stuffs were mostly used at some kind of cosmetics, back in previous centuries."

Wait, cosmetics?!

"Kelly Nieman!" Castle blurted out without hesitation, without even thinking twice, suddenly remembering the creepy plastic surgeon offering a bag of cosmetics to Beckett a few years ago, but Kate refused to accept it. Could that be a sign?

"Why would Kelly Niemann want to hurt her like this?" Ryan questioned instantly, his voice rising in confusion.

"Look Castle, I know she is evil, but..."

"Jerry Tyson!" Castle cut him off, his eyes widening in realization. "The strange guy at the restaurant, it was him!" Castle had exlaimed, pointing his forefinger toward the guys.

"What makes you think it's him? You said you didn't even recognize him!" Espo jumped in, his voice gaining volume by each word.

"Yeah, because he was wearing a hoodie, but I got a glimpse of his face when he turned around and trust me, it was him. It had to be him." Castle went on determinedly, ignoring the boys disapproving glares.

"It all make sense now!"

"Nothing makes sense!" Ryan fought back, his voice rising with anger.

"Why would he do this, Castle? We aren't even running an investigation against him now." Espo joined, rising his voice too, trying to stop Castle's nonsense theorizing.

"I don't know, maybe to avoid suspicion, but... you guys don't believe me, right?" Castle shot back after a brief moment, hurt and disappointment lacing his voice.

"We would like to believe you," Ryan said softly, trying not to turn this into an argument, "but there is no evidence of any of this."

"She would believe me, you know." He snapped back instantly, slowly loosing his nerves.

"Kate would believe me, she would want us to go after him, she would..."

"No, Castle!" Espo cut him off with a hint of bitterness in his voice. "Beckett would want us to chase real leads, not imaginary ones." The detective stated firmly, holding Castle's gaze, and that was it, he lost all his nerves.

Esposito's voice left no room for any further argumemt, and Castle didn't want to make a scene here, but the boys, who were suppose to be at his side, who should never let Beckett down, apparently refused to believe him. As in fact, they made fun of his theories. It hurt, it really did, and he was ready to say something back, something which for sure he would regret later, but...

"Kate Beckett's family?" A calm, unfamiliar voice spoke behind his back, interrupting the whirl of his thoughts, and his rising anger.

"Yes, it's me. I'm Rick Castle, her husband." Castle had replied, his voice suddenly lowering an octave.

"How is she?" He then asked in concern, turning his back on the two boys.

"She is still unconscious," the man in the white lab coat began, "but don't worry, she will make it." He added, lifting his hand in surrender. Castle only nodded, waiting for him to go on.

"We emtied the contents of her stomach by performing a gastric lavage on her," the doctor began to explain, never leaving Castle's concerned gaze.

"So the poision is now gone from her system, and she is expected to wake up in a few hours."

Castle had sighed out in relief, releasing a breath he hadn't known he was holding in.

"We are gonna keep her overnight, "Dr. Scott had continued sternly, "and if everything goes well, she will be discharged by tomorow morning." Castle nodded in relief, all the tension in his body finally lessening.

"Come on, I will show you her room." The doctor said with a soft smile, gesturing toward a long corridor which led to hospital rooms. Castle had followed him instantly, pushing through the swinging doors without even taking a glance back at Ryan and Espo. Maybe it was selfish, but he couldn't look into their eyes now, not after this argument they had, and besides, all he could think about was Kate now. He couldn't wait to finally see her.

He slowly, quietly eased the door of her hospital room open, trying not to break the peaceful silence. The doctor said he can stay until she wakes up, so he silently walked in, sauntered to her bedside and sat down on the small plastic chair next to her.

She was laid up in a hospital bed, changed into a short sleeved hospital gown, with a bunch of wires flowing down her arm. She wasn't on machines, no, just an IV fluid was attached to her left arm, but still... seeing her like this, her body stiffened, her eyes closed, only made his insides twist in knots.

"It's gonna be fine, Kate. I'm here." He whispered into the silence of the room, gently caressing the side of her face, brushing away a few, disheveled curls of her hair.

Her forehead was still burned up, which made him uncomfortable. According to the doctors the poision is gone from her system, which means she shouldn't have fever already, and yet, here she was, still fighting hard againist the... whatever kind of chemicals were still most likely lapping in her system.

Nevermind, Castle had thought to himself. She is strong, she will make it.

Hours have left, and Kate was still unconscious. Something isn't right, Castle shook his head in disbelief, nervously walking here and there in the small hospital room, cursing himself the entire time for not being there when she needed it the most. He tried to occupy himself by playing a game on his phone, he even tried to think about the fight with Ryan and Espo, was contemplating to call them and apologize for turning his back on them, but no matter how hard he tried to distract himself, it wasn't helping. Nothing was helping to get rid of all the unnerving thoughts whirling in his mind. Jeez, he just wanted her to finally wake up!

Letting out a frustrated, heavy sigh, he finally gave up on strolling here and there. He slowly pulled the tiny plastic chair closer to her bedside, careful not to make any disturbing noise. When the chair was in its place he tiredly slumped down, rubbing his eyes. He didn't even know what time it was, probably late night already.

He was about to grab his phone from the bedside table, when out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of Beckett, slightly moving in her bed.

"Kate?" He asked tentativily, snapping his eyes back to her.

A low moan broke free from her mouth in response, and all his fears and worries were suddenly gone. She was finally waking up, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Kate, oh hey!" He spoke to her gently, caressing the lenght of her face. She didn't show any response, only moaned and wheezed again, louder this time, her body involuntairy jerking forward by each intake of a breath.

No, no. Something isn't right, he shook his head, frowning in concern.

"Kate?!"

Her body jerked forward once again, harder this time, and her mouth was opened, visibly gasping for air.

She wasn't waking up, she was struggling to breathe.

"Kate!" He shouted her name in instant the realization hit him, jumping off from the tiny hospital chair to hove above her, urgently bushing the button to call for help.

Her body was now violently shaking, her lungs contracting with the need of oxygen, but the air could barely make it past her shrinking, closed up airway.

She was just gasping, coughing and wheezing, choking on breathless noises, the heat of her struggling breath staining his skin.

Castle held her by her forearm, careful not to jostle the bunch of IV lines. He was trying to sweep her hair away from her face by gently caressing her cheeks, but he could barely even hold her at one place, due to the harsh tremors wracking her entire frame.

Her eyes were now briefly opened, unfocused, staring into the nowhere.

"Kate, look at me! I'm here, you hear me? I'm here." He pleaded to her desperately, stroking the side of her face, trying to soothe the strong wave of agony rippling through her system. She was gasping for air even harder now, trying to take in a deep breath, but she failed each time.

"It's gonna be fine, just hang on, you hear me? It's gonna be okay." He kept begging to her, talking in reassurance, even though he knew it's pointles.

She was fading in his arms, he could tell that for sure. The color of her skin grew paler, her eyes darknened, and the jerk of her body wasn't that violent anymore.

No, no, no!

"Kate, stay with me! Stay with me, okay?!" He pleaded desperately, with tears in his eyes. He then quickly slid one of his hands beneath her neck to support her head, like he did all those years ago in the cemetery, when she was dying in his arms. There was no blood this time, but the situation was nothing better.

"Stay with me, Kate!" He echoed his own words, clinging to the hope that she may hear it, pushing the panick button with his free hand like an idiot.

"I love you too much Kate, don't leave me please, you know I can't live without you, right?!" He stated, confessed, pleaded on a broken sob, trying to keep her awake for as long as possible, but her unfocused eyes rolled back into her skull anyway, as the lack of oxygen was slowly dragging her under. She eventually gave up on breathing, gave up on fighting. Her head lolled to the side, hitting the pillow.

He was still talking to her, still pushing that damned panic button, until her last breath fanned out against his skin, until her body was heavy, limp and unmoving in his arms.

And that's when he finally heard the footsteps approaching.

To be continued...