Thank you all so much for your support and enthusiasm. We're heading into the next stage of the story now, starting with this chapter, and I hope you'll all stick around for the ride. And a special thanks to my guest reviewers, whom I can't answer personally. You know who you are, and I appreciate you taking the time to read and review.
Alexis stepped off the elevator, feeling only slightly strange that she wasn't coming here to see her dad and/or Kate. Having interned for Dr. Parish a few years back, she had spent a fair amount of time at the 12th Precinct, but most of it had been in the morgue and the surrounding environs. Dr. Parish wasn't working today, and Dr. Perlmutter, while never outright rude to her, was backed up, so Alexis elected not to bother him even for a quick hello.
She instead focused on the people she had come to see as she walked towards the bullpen. Javier and Detective Ryan...Kevin, she mentally corrected herself...were both staring at a computer monitor intently.
Javier looked up to see Alexis standing there holding a huge bag of Chinese takeout. "Alexis," he said, surprised to see her. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied. "I was just in the neighborhood, and it's about lunchtime...you guys haven't eaten yet, have you? Hi, Kevin."
Ryan scrubbed at his face before smiling tiredly at Alexis. "Hi, Alexis. No, we haven't. Is that mu shu pork I smell?" he asked.
"Yes," Alexis replied, holding out the bag. "If this is a bad time, though-"
"We could use a break," Kevin said, looking at Javier and taking the bag from Alexis.
"Caught this case this morning. We're not getting anywhere yet," Javier said, rolling his stiff neck on his shoulders. "And while we're waiting on the uniforms to bring in the vic's wife and his girlfriend, we can take time out for lunch. Can you stay, Alexis?"
"Are you sure it's all right if I do?" she asked as she followed Javier and Kevin into the break room.
"Karpowski's the acting captain. She won't mind," Javier reassured Alexis as they sat down at the table.
Soon they were seated around the table in the break room with the Chinese food Alexis had brought and drinks from the machines. "Any idea yet when your dad and Beckett will get to go home?" Kevin asked.
"A couple more days was the last report, as of last night, as long as they keep progressing the way they are," Alexis replied. "Thankfully the kitchen's done."
"How'd it turn out?" Javier asked as he and Alexis reached for the carton of orange chicken at the same time.
"Go ahead," they said in unison.
"Ladies first," Javier insisted.
Alexis scooped out roughly half of the orange chicken into the empty side of her Styrofoam container of chicken lo mein, then handed the carton back to Javier. "I think it turned out great," she said. "So does Gram. Hopefully Dad and Kate will approve. They picked everything out online. I've shown them a couple of pictures, but Gram says the pictures don't do the space justice."
Kevin swallowed a mouthful of mu shu pork before saying, "So did you redo the whole kitchen?"
"Almost," Alexis admitted. "The floor, the cabinets, and the dishwasher are all new. We didn't change the counters, the sink, the refrigerator, or the cooktop." She took a drink of her bottled water and said, "Once Dad and Kate are out of the hospital and settled at home, we can get started on meeting to study for your sergeant's exam, Detective Ryan," she said. He opened his mouth to remind her to just call him Kevin, but she hastily corrected himself. "Sorry...Kevin. It's going to take a little getting used to."
"That's okay," Kevin replied. "I still have my study guide. I think I need some new highlighters, though."
"And index cards," Alexis said firmly. "Index cards are your friends when studying for exams."
"Index cards for what?" Kevin asked.
"You can make flash cards," Alexis replied. "Write a question on one side of the card, and the answer on the other side."
"I still have my study guide too," Javier said. "And flash cards are an excellent idea. I don't know why we didn't think of that before. I guess because we didn't have the valedictorian of the Marlowe Prep Class of 2012 as head tutor 'til now."
"You know about that?" she asked, surprised.
"It was all your dad talked about for weeks," Javier replied.
"'My daughter is the valedictorian of her class!'" Kevin said in his best Castle impression.
Javier laughed. "Remember what Gates said when she found out? 'Do brains skip a generation or two in your family, Mr. Castle'?"
"Ouch," Alexis said. "My dad's smart. So is Gram. We Castles are an intelligent bunch. But where Gram's passion is acting, and Dad's is writing, mine is different from theirs."
"Medicine, right?" Kevin said, remembering Alexis's internship with Lanie.
"Actually, no," Alexis admitted. Both men looked somewhat surprised, but not too surprised, to her relief. Gram had been very surprised, but to her credit, Martha had recovered quickly and then been nothing but supportive. Alexis was a bit concerned at how her dad and Kate would take the news, since she hadn't had a chance to tell them yet, but Gram was convinced they'd be fine with it, and Alexis was hoping that Gram was right.
"I thought about it for a long time...being a doctor, I mean," Alexis continued, "but lately, I've realized that's not what I'm really passionate about, so then I started thinking about what I am really passionate about, and I've decided that I'm not going to be a doctor." She looked from Kevin to Javier. "I haven't had the chance to tell Dad and Kate yet because there hasn't really been time. But I know this is what I want to do. I'm sure of it. And now I know exactly where I'm going and how I'm getting there, educationally and professionally speaking."
"Well, don't keep us in suspense," Javier said.
"Yeah, what's the good word?" Kevin asked.
"After I graduate in December, I'm going to law school," Alexis said with a smile. "I've already applied to the law schools at Columbia, NYU, Fordham, and St. John's University here in New York City. I should be hearing from them all soon, and depending on where I get in..." She trailed off. "Of course, Columbia's my first choice, since I've been there for four years already, but if the law school doesn't take me, I'll go where I get accepted."
"Columbia Law School would have to be crazy not to accept you," Javier replied.
"Yeah," Kevin said. "You should be a lock for Columbia Law."
"Well, once upon a time, I thought I was a lock for Stanford," Alexis replied, "and I didn't get in. So I'm not taking anything for granted. But I know I want to go to law school, and I know I want to stay here in New York City. And I also know that I want to be a prosecutor. I want to put away the murderers and criminals that you guys and the rest of the police catch, the kind of people that Dad and Kate caught for so long." She paused and smiled. "I guess you could say I'm going into the family business, just a slightly different branch of it."
"Well, congratulations," Kevin said.
"Yeah, that's great news," Javier said. "And you'll make a great prosecutor."
"You really think so?" Alexis asked hopefully.
"Absolutely," Javier said.
"Definitely," Kevin added.
Karpowski stuck her head in the break room then. "Lunch break's over, guys. Unis just brought in Paul Carstairs' wife. The girlfriend's out in Queens, so they're not here with her yet. See what you can get from the wife."
"We're on it," Kevin said, scarfing down half a spring roll and chasing it with a gulp of soda. "Thanks for lunch, Alexis. If you see Castle and Beckett before we do, tell 'em we caught a case, but we'll be by to see them as soon as it's wrapped up."
"I will," Alexis promised. "I hope you get somewhere with the guy's wife...or his girlfriend."
"They might be too obvious," Javier said. "But we'll get the killer, whoever it turns out to be."
"I know you will," Alexis replied.
"Thanks for lunch," Javier echoed Kevin as they left the break room to go and talk to their latest murder victim's wife in one of the interrogation rooms.
"You're welcome!" Alexis called after them. Then she cleaned up from lunch and headed home to the loft.
Kate stood in front of the large glass windows, trying not to look like she didn't belong there, even though technically, she didn't. She glanced at her watch; of course Castle's final all-clear was taking longer because he had to be cleared by two therapists—his respiratory therapist and his physical therapist—and she had had to be cleared by just her physical therapist. She hadn't told him why she wanted to meet here before they left the hospital, which they were lucky enough to be able to do a day earlier than they were originally told. She had both of their overnight bags with her, parked on the floor at her feet. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text, which was immediately answered. Smiling, she replied, telling the person she had texted where to meet her and Rick, then pocketed her phone once more.
After two weeks, they were finally going home. They were a long way from full recovery. They would both have to continue with physical therapy, and Castle with his respiratory therapy, on an outpatient basis for most of the summer. The magic number, at least for Kate, was eight weeks. Since her surgery had been performed what Dr. Gallison termed "the old-fashioned way," her body would take longer to heal from the bullet to the abdomen and the subsequent removal of her spleen, so with the exception of physical therapy, she was, to her disappointment, restricted as to what, exactly, she could and could not do for the next two months. And having been through this before, she knew better than to push herself too hard too fast, because she might only do more damage that way.
She rubbed idly at her hip. The Weather Channel had forecast an 80% chance of rain in the city, and if the ache in her hip was any indication, they should be getting quite a cloudburst at any moment.
At least her ribs were healing well, and cleanly. Her ribs would be healed first, the bones knitting themselves back together without any kind of outside aid. In the meantime, they would make the physical therapy for her abdomen challenging, to say the least, but Kate Beckett never in her life backed away from a challenge, and she certainly wasn't going to start with this one.
The last time she'd been in a position similar to this, she had gone it alone, by her own choice. Looking back, she could see that she had made it harder on herself. Her dad had wanted to be of more help than she'd let him be. Castle would have been there 24/7 if she had only asked him to, given him any kind of indication that she wanted him around. She had restricted Lanie, Ryan, and Espo to phone conversations. She hadn't even started seeing Dr. Burke regularly until after the case with the sniper that brought her PTSD raging to life.
This time, though, Kate knew she wouldn't be recovering alone. She'd come so far from that closed-off, emotionally walled-up woman she'd been after her first shooting. My first shooting. That's sad, she couldn't help thinking. But then she looked through the glass windows and couldn't feel any sadness at all, only joy, and anticipation of the time in the not-too-distant future, hopefully, when she would be standing here with Rick, and they would be here because they both belonged here.
She felt Rick approaching and smiled before she turned around and saw him, striding confidently down the corridor towards her, wearing his own smile. "There you are," he said happily when he reached her side. "All cleared?"
"To leave the hospital and to start physical therapy, but not cleared for much else," Kate replied. "How about you?"
"Yeah, all the 'i's are dotted and all the 't's are crossed, and I can leave the hospital as long as I come back for respiratory therapy and start physical therapy." He put his arms around her waist carefully, and she put her arms around his neck. "I was surprised when I saw the signs when I stepped off the elevator on this floor," he said.
"I wanted to meet you here because I want to make you a promise," Kate said seriously.
They were standing in front of the nursery windows, and Rick followed Kate's gaze to all of the babies inside. He couldn't wait until they were here and looking in the windows at their own baby.
Kate's gaze left the babies in the nursery and returned to Rick. Looking deeply into his eyes, she said, "I promise you that the next time we're in the hospital, this will be the reason: because we've just had our first child, and we'll be standing here looking in the nursery at our baby."
"You've got a deal," Rick replied before dipping his head to kiss Kate gently, a kiss she returned just as gently.
They touched foreheads for a moment before Kate pulled back and said, "While I was waiting for you, I texted someone to pick us up and take us home."
Rick smiled. "I called someone on my way up here in the elevator to pick us up and take us home." He bent down carefully and picked up both of their overnight bags. Kate immediately took hers from Rick. He opened his mouth to say something, then stopped. It was just her overnight bag, not a bag of anvils. She could handle it. He gave a wry, rueful half smile as they headed for the elevator. Once inside, seeing it was just the two of them, he confessed, "I just...I don't want it to be just us the first time we go home."
"I know," Kate replied, her expression mirroring his. "Neither do I. I'll be damned if that bastard scares us out of our home, but the first time is going to be the hardest, and it's important that we face it the best way we can, and that means we don't have to do it alone, or even just the two of us." Right before the elevator doors opened, Kate said, "It wasn't Alexis I texted. I know she's getting help, but I don't want to put that particular burden on her and maybe set her back."
"I didn't call Alexis, either, for that very reason," Rick replied.
They spoke at the same time, the words only slightly different.
"So who did you call?" "So who did you text?"
The elevator doors opened on the ground floor of the hospital, and standing not five feet away from the elevator as Kate and Rick disembarked was Jim Beckett. "Hi, Katie, Rick," he greeted them both with a smile, a kiss to Kate's cheek, and a clap on Rick's good shoulder. "You know, Katie, I had just answered your text when my phone rang and it was Rick, calling to ask if I could meet you two here and take you home."
Kate and Rick looked at each other and smiled before turning back to face Jim. "Well, you know what they say, Jim," Rick said. "Great minds think alike."
"So, are you two ready to get out of here?" Jim asked.
"More than ready, Dad," Kate replied.
Jim smiled at his daughter and son-in-law. "Then let's go," he said, and the trio left New York Presbyterian-Lower Manhattan Hospital and headed straight to Rick and Kate's loft on Broome Street.
