"Kate, I'm so sorry- I need to cancel our date-"
"What?" She's shaking her head at the phone.
"Sorry." His breath is coming fast, in short bursts. "I- I said that wrong. I- I'm at the hospital. Car accident."
Kate grabs at the desk as her vision goes momentarily black. Shit. She doesn't know if she verbalises the curse or not, but she's aware of Jones turning to her, grabbing her arm, keeping her upright as her legs threaten to collapse beneath her.
Rick's head is spinning. One second he'd been in a taxi, about to choose flowers for Kate, the next he'd woken up in the back of an ambulance, sirens wailing as they raced through the streets of New York.
"Tell me your name?" The paramedic was shining a light in his eyes.
"Richard. Richard Castle." He squeezes his eyes shut, tries to move away from the light. The motion of the ambulance is making him nauseous and he tries to sit up.
"Sir, I need you to stay still, let me check you out. Do you know what happened?"
He fades again, and the second time he wakes up he's in a hospital bed.
"Kate!"
The nurse adjusting his IV turns to him. "Kate?" she asks.
"Kate. I need to call her!" He starts to get up, finds himself grimacing in pain as he puts his weight on his arm to push himself up.
"Sir, lie back down, I need to get your doctor." She hits the call button beside his bed, and the doctor is there in an instant.
"Mr Castle. I see you're back with us. I'm Doctor Kennedy. Do you remember what happened?"
Castle nods, and winces at the pain the movement causes him. "Flowers. For Kate. And a taxi. And a car." He looks down at the bandage on his arm. "Ow."
"Ow, indeed," the doctor agrees. "We've got an IV in you to keep your fluids up, and we've bandaged up your wrist, you've got a few stitches in there. There's no major head trauma apparent, although no doubt you have a splitting headache. You're okay, but it's better to be safe than sorry. So I really want to keep you in overnight."
The situation is starting to get a little clearer in Rick's head. "I need to pick my daughter up from school," he informs Doctor Kennedy. "And I have a date tonight. So I need to go."
Doctor Kennedy shakes her head, but hands Rick her phone. "Call your girlfriend."
None of the words make sense to Kate.
"Castle. Rick. Slow down. Where are you? I'm going to meet you there."
There's fumbling on the other end, and a grunt, and a woman comes on the line, introduces herself as Castle's doctor.
"Ma'am? Your boyfriend has been in a car accident. There's no need to panic, but if you could come in, we can update you on the situation."
"Of course, of course." Beckett's nodding. The calm voice on the other end does nothing to ease her fear. All too often she's seen cops school themselves to be the calming voice when the situation is anything but. The doctor gives her directions to the hospital and hangs up before Beckett can speak to Rick again.
Kate turns to Jones and MacKenzie. "I have to see the Captain. I have to go."
"Everything alright, Beckett?"
"I don't know. I don't think so. My- boyfriend-" even now it sounds wrong, coming out of her mouth- "was in a car accident. They've admitted him, so…"
At Jones' beckon, the Captain comes out of his office. "Problem, Beckett?"
She knows she's Montgomery's favourite, sighs, suddenly exasperated with herself, her sudden panic. Rick called her. If he'd been too badly hurt, he couldn't have made the call at all, she knows. Still, whispers a nagging voice, a doctor had to take the phone from him. "Rick's been in an accident-"
"Rick?"
"Rick Castle, sir."
"Rick Castle- he called you?" The Captain sounds confused and looks over to Jones and MacKenzie for clarification. Kate thinks perhaps things weren't as obvious as they'd seemed to her, when Montgomery introduced her to Castle.
Jones shrugs. He's removed his hand from Beckett's arm, she looks like she can stand unsupported again. "She just got a call, telling her that her boyfriend was in hospital."
Kate sees Montgomery's eyes widen, almost imperceptibly, as he puts two and two together. "Right. Rick Castle. Beckett, go. And if you need to call off tomorrow, just let me know."
"Thank you, Sir. And tomorrow's my day off anyway-" She shrugs. "Thanks, guys."
When Kate makes it to the hospital her heart is in her mouth. She's directed to Castle's room, and she peeks around the door, not sure what she'll find. Her mind is set at ease when she sees Castle awake and talking, his doctor leaning over him. He's in a room by himself, the single bed maneuvered so that he's half sitting up.
"Beckett! Kate!" He sees her and a wide smile breaks out on his face, as he looks at his doctor. "I told you she was pretty, didn't I?"
Kate blushes. "Castle… hey."
"Kate!" He waves his right arm around. Bandaged, she sees. "Kate, I didn't get a cast."
"I see." She bites her lip and comes into the room. "What's going on?" Her panic is gone now she can see that he's okay, although his pupils are dilated and he looks just a little too excited. She wonders what they've got him on.
The doctor introduces herself, shakes Kate's hand.
"Officer Beckett," Kate nods back at the woman before moving to stand next to Castle, afraid to touch him, but longing to do so.
"Okay, Officer. Your boyfriend was in a car accident when the cab he was travelling in collided with another vehicle. Mr Castle was the most seriously injured- now, he's fine, just a large gash on his wrist-" At that, Rick waves his arm around again, before dropping it with a soft moan. "He's got a concussion, so we're keeping him in overnight for observation-"
"I wanted to buy you flowers-" Rick interrupts the doctor, who smiles at him mollifying.
"So," Doctor Kennedy continues, "As I have repeatedly told Mr. Castle, he will not be taking you out for dinner tonight." Castle looks so crestfallen that Kate can only laugh. "He's on some pain medication- so he might be a little out of it- but he's all yours, you can visit with him as long as you like." She nods to the buzzer on the wall, and turns back to Castle. "Let us know if you need anything, Mr. Castle."
She leaves, and Kate allows herself to relax, forces herself to exhale. In the bed, Rick looks like his head is swimming as he smiles goofily up at her, and she has to repress a laugh, because, yes, apparently Richard Castle is kind of funny when he's high on pain killers. "Ow," he announces, obviously looking for a reaction like a little kid, and she rewards him with an eye roll. But she also sits on the edge of the bed and bites her lip as she takes his left hand.
"Wow, Castle. You kind of scared me there."
"Sorry." He doesn't sound sorry, ignoring her as he stage whispers, "Kate, they need to let me go. I need to get Alexis from school and then take you out." He nods and moves as though to get up, as if she'll co-conspire with him.
Kate easily pushes him back down. "Castle. Let's… rearrange our plans a little. Can you call your Mom to collect Alexis from school? And they can come here and visit, and hey, we can all have dinner here- and we'll have our date another time-" And off his frantic head shaking, she concedes- "tomorrow? No?"
"No. No. My mother is out of town, I had a babysitter for Alexis tonight. Who's going to pick up Alexis?"
Kate looks at her watch, thinks fast. "What time does Alexis get out of school?"
"Three."
"Okay. Castle-" Kate pushes him down again, sighing at his panic. "Castle. Stay. Right. There. It's only just past one now. I will pick Alexis up. Okay? I will go now, there's plenty of time- and I will collect her, and I will bring her here to visit you, okay?"
"But I still have to go home, Kate. Beckett?" He tries out her last name as though that will win him points. "Who's going to look after Alexis overnight? She can't stay by herself!" He's triumphant, as though he's solved the problem.
"For God's sake Castle. Lie down. I will collect Alexis, and then she can stay with me tonight, okay?"
His eyes soften. "With you? You'd do that?"
She shrugs, uncomfortable. Wow. She'd do that. Will do that. She didn't know until now, that she would do that, roll with it all that easily, just to look after this man and his daughter.
"What about Katrina? Her babysitter?"
"Well, let's call her and let her know that she has the night off. Where's your phone?
Rick shakes his head. "Smashed."
"Well, how did you call me then?"
"I know your number, Beckett," he says, as though having her number memorised, concussion and all, is completely normal. And then, sadly. "I liked my phone."
Kate nods at him to placate him, pats his shoulder as she turns to go. "We'll get you a new one."
When Kate leaves to pick up Alexis, Rick has to pinch himself to check whether he's dreaming. He's still vaguely disappointed that they are cancelling their date, but if the alternate plan involves Kate helping him out, dropping everything to look after his daughter- well, he considers himself lucky.
He feels himself fading but he wants to stay awake. They'll be back soon, right? Kate was going to meet Alexis at the gate, and then come straight back. Wasn't she? He finds he can't quite remember what she said, but he's sure she's going to pick Alexis up, so he's not worried, not exactly. It's just- he doesn't remember what she said, and that bothers him, and he's starting to think there might be something to this concussion business on which they all keep insisting.
A blonde nurse knocks on the open door and comes into his room to check. He thinks she's his age, maybe a little older. "Mr. Castle," she greets him. "How are you feeling?"
He shakes his head. "I don't know."
She raises her eyebrows at him. "No? Headache? Is your wrist hurting?"
Ah. She means his injuries. Right. He nods. "Yes. Headache. And my wrist- my wrist is itchy. Pins and needles?"
The nurse nods. "You had a local anaesthetic, when the doctor put the stitches in. If you've got pins and needles, that's the anaesthetic wearing off. I'll get you some more painkillers, just some Tylenol, and you should try and sleep, before your visitors come back."
Castle takes the pills she offers him without complaint. His head is starting to clear, and he sees the sense in taking something innocuous rather than the heavier stuff. He takes the moment to figure out the bandage on the wrist. He can move all his fingers, so he thinks he'll probably be able to type okay when he gets home. Ugh. His eyes are getting heavier, and he wants to fight it, but he can't think of a reason to keep his eyes open, so he goes with it, and lets himself fall asleep.
Castle wake up to a quiet knock at the door, a whispered "go ahead" and a flurry of movement as his daughter flings herself at him. Kate's hanging back a little, smiling quietly as she watches the scene.
"Hey Pumpkin. What's the time?" he manages. His voice is scratchy, like he hasn't spoken for days.
Kate looks down at her watch, a thin timepiece that looks altogether too delicate, and just right all at the same time. "Five-thirty. We were gone awhile, sorry." She tilts her head as though she wonders whether she did something wrong.
He wants to wave it away, but Alexis is clinging to his good arm, and the bad one feels like it weighs a tonne, so he just nods. "That's okay." Kate's still standing in the doorway and he frowns. "Will you come here, Kate?" She perches on the seat beside his bed, and he notices the bag she's holding. "What do you have?"
She grins, a wide smile that warms him. "I thought you'd never ask." On the bed beside him, Alexis giggles. Okay. So they're both in on it. Interesting. She unzips the bag and reaches in, looking at him and winking. "So, when they had you on all those drugs before, you were saying something about flowers?" She pulls out a bunch of flowers- tulips that are slightly squashed- and presents them to him.
Rick snorts. "You put flowers in a backpack? Seriously?"
"I would have out them up my sleeve, but that wouldn't work with this jacket." She looks around the room. There's a bathroom opposite the bed, so a sink, but no vase. "We'll have to ask a nurse for something to put them in."
"Where else have you guys been? And more importantly, what else did you bring me."
"Lots of stuff!" Alexis is smiling. She's still snuggled up to him, but she's not as anxious as he'd thought she might be, so whatever Kate said to her has obviously done the trick.
"You want to show him the next thing?" Kate asks Alexis.
Alexis reaches into the bag and pulls out a phone. An old phone. "A phone!"
"An old cell," clarifies Kate. "I went past my place to change, and I found it. We can take the SIM out of your smashed phone, and see if it works in this phone, okay?"
Castle grins, and takes the phone, teasing, "Beckett. That's sweet. Not only did you get me a phone, but-" he holds up the handset, a clunky green Nokia, popular in its day, antenna and all- "you also got me the gift of time travel! I'd photograph this moment but- oh, wait- I can't!"
"Nice." She smirks at him. "So glad I went out of my way to find that for you, just for you to mock me."
"Not you. Mocking the phone, not you, Beckett." Actually, he's just plain impressed. She's thought of everything. Alexis extracts herself from under his arm, and goes into the bathroom.
"Anyway." Her eyes are dancing. "After I met Alexis at school, we went back to your place, and got you some clothes- for tomorrow- you are still not getting out of here tonight, and Alexis has some stuff in here too, if it's still okay with you for her to stay with me tonight?"
"Of course it is. Although, it strikes me as unfair that my daughter is getting a sleepover before I am." He raises an eyebrow at her. "Hey- you don't have roommates or anything, right?" He trusts Kate, but it's a whole different level to let Alexis stay the night with someone else. He's not really as comfortable with the idea as he wants to be. But, he lets Alexis stay at her friends' places, and their parents aren't cops. Plus, Alexis really likes Kate. He decides to go with that, let himself trust his daughter's instincts.
Kate shakes her head.
"I didn't think so- I just- Kate- hey. I just thought of something. How did you get into my apartment? I didn't give you a key did I?"
She throws her head back and laughs. "Your daughter was with me- who your doorman obviously knows- and I have a cop badge- so trust me, getting into your place wasn't a problem."
"Wow. I never knew breaking and entering was so sexy. Cop badge." He thinks of something else. "Beckett, you said you got me clothes. Did you go through my underwear drawer?"
At that, Kate tilts her head, sighs in exasperation. "Really, Castle?"
