I absolutely hate hospitals as a patient but really don't mind them as a visitor. It's quiet and the nursing staff bring you coffee and little pastries after they find out you're an American and have paid cash for your lady friend's treatment.
OM
Canyon House
Los Angeles, CA
Dr. Pharris dropped by on her way home from her office hours and promptly took charge of Castle, shooing Kate out onto the deck with instructions to 'make him comfortable' while she unlimbered her various vibrating saws and other tools.
"Now, Mr. Castle, it's important that you sit still and don't move. This won't hurt, I promise you and we'll have you fixed up in no time at all. Once you're fitted for a proper brace, your physical therapist will begin working on your hands."
It was immediately obvious why the removal was done outside. The plaster dust was everywhere by the time she'd removed the 2nd cast. Although very brusque in her speech, she was gentle and very careful with his arms, cutting off the gauze sleeve that protected the skin from the plaster with bandage scissors.
"There, all done. Now all I need are a few more moments of your time. I need to take a few photos of your arms and hands against this hex board and we'll slip on the temporary frames and I'll see you in a week or so when the permanent frames are fabricated."
All in all, it took just over an hour to remove and replace the casts with the temporary braces. Castle hadn't said a word, just watched while Kate chewed on her lower lip. His wrists were swollen and pasty white and the doctor pointed out several places where the casts had been too tight and would have possibly caused tendon stress and pain.
Promising to have the new braces fabricated in a week, she waved and was gone.
"Wow, intense lady. Reminds me of a detective I know in New York. Scary lady and very intense when working her craft."
"I'll take that as a compliment, Rick. Want to sit out here in the sun for a while or go back to bed?"
"Depends. Feel like a nap?" He smiled that special smile and Kate felt herself blushing. Damn it – he was in no shape for any fooling around. He's such a tease.
"Well, actually I was going to call Natalie and ask her if she could Castle-sit for a hour or so while I go down town and have these prescriptions filled and pick us up a few more clothes to wear. Is that okay?"
"Kate, this is California – clothes are optional." His eyes twinkled and she again felt herself blushing and cursing their luck.
"Okay – I'll just get the prescriptions and you can lay around naked and explain to Natalie's son why 'Castle ain't got no clothes on, Mommy'."
"Kate, just go. I don't think Natalie's presence here is such a good idea and I don't want David to see me like this. Just go but be careful. These idiots drive like there's no tomorrow. Think New York cab drivers on steroids with cell phones."
She laughed at the image and then helped him back into the house and into bed.
"When I come back I'll help you bathe. You're all covered with plaster dust. How do your hands feel?"
He wiggled his fingers and grimaced at how stiff they felt. "Stiff, but there's no pain in the wrists like I expected. I've never broken a bone and I expected a lot of pain. Pleasant surprise."
"I'll be back before you know it. If the phone rings, just let it go to the machine. I'll pick you up some t-shirts and boxers so you can lounge around in clean comfort."
"Maybe some sleep pants? If Alexis and Mother are coming tomorrow I can't sit around wondering if anything's hanging out on display. If it were just you and me, I wouldn't worry but Alexis – "
"Yeah, good thinking." She kissed him soundly and was gone before he could reach around her and drag her into his lap.
"You'll have to be faster than that, Rick. Behave. No excitement until you get a clean bill of health." Damn it!
Despite what he'd told Beckett, he was exhausted but kept up a good front to keep her from feeling guilty. He heard the front door close and pushed himself off the bed and into the bathroom and washed himself as best he could and then slowly, very slowly, walked back to the bed. The 15 feet seemed like a mile and he was out of breath by the time he carefully situated himself in bed. He was asleep almost instantly.
He dreamed of the crash, of 'Heaven' and the '40s' nightclub but was spared the episode in Luci's bed and the outcome. He awoke sweaty and nervous but remarkably rested and was just getting out of bed to use the bathroom when he heard the phone ring and his mother's voice on the answering machine.
'Richard, please pick up if you're there. Kate, if you're there…Alexis and I are in New York and we're bringing a suitcase for Richard and we'll be in late tonight. We'll catch a cab from the airport and we'll be there around midnight. We can't wait to see you both.'
Beckett had taken the smallest of the four cars in Meredith's garage, a convertible, and was sitting in traffic, quietly fuming and grasping the reasons for California being the home of 'road rage'. Every idiot in the world had a cell phone glued to their ear while waiting for someone to make a mistake so they could change lanes since every other lane seemed to be progressing faster than theirs was.
She had been sitting in the sun for over an hour and she just knew that she was going to have an interesting tan line since she'd been wearing a pair of sunglasses she'd found in the console.
'I wonder if Rick would consider buying me a car like this when we get married?'
She immediately hated herself for her thought. She was an independent woman and she didn't need a husband to buy her a car – even an Audi convertible. Finally seeing an opening in the lane leading to her turn, she changed lanes and laughed at the horns and fingers that greeted her lane change.
'Fuck 'em. I need to get back to Rick before he does something stupid like…get out of bed. I told him an hour and it's been almost three…'
The trip to the bathroom had sucked the life out of him. He barely made it back to the bed before falling into an exhausted sleep. Like Kate, he'd forgotten the tranquilizer to stave off any dreams and so as he slept, he relived the destruction of his relationship with Beckett, and the crash, and the crushing fear of dying alone. But the thing that pushed him over the edge was a word-for-word remembering of his phone conversation, such as it was, with Beckett that had prompted his flight out of Los Angeles.
He was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack when Kate returned and walked in to check on him.