I am on a roll! 2 Updates in one day. I am so proud of myself. Since the juices were flowing, I knocked this one out as well. It's kind of small, but I think it's a good place to end this chapter. As always reviews are welcome. Do let me know if anything seems out of place or OOC.

Usual disclaimers apply - I don't own anything.

As a refresher, here is the last paragraph from the last chapter (italicized portion)

His pristine white shirt was covered in blood and soot and water. The bomb squad was working on the bomb strapped to his chest. Seconds, that seemed like a lifetime to Kate ticked by. And then - it was over. They got the bomb off him and a collective cheer went up from the FBI men around them. That's all Kate had been waiting for. She barreled her way between the men and was in front of him in seconds. His eyes were still closed and for a minute she thought he was unconscious. "Rick" she whispered his name and his eyes snapped open. It was the sweetest sight Kate had ever seen. It had taken almost losing him for her to really understand what this man meant to her and she swore right then and there – no more 'if-onlys'. No more running. She would do whatever it took to show him exactly what he meant to her.

-X-X-X-

Rick was certain he must have been hallucinating. His brain cells must have short circuited and he was seeing things. For standing in front of him was what appeared to be a very frazzled and unkempt Katherine Beckett. Wait Katherine? Where was she?

"Katherine…..Where is Katherine?" he said a little desperately. He gulped and tried to stand up, now that they had managed to free him from his various restraints.

Kate looked at him with concern and rushed forward to support him. He never called her Katherine.

"Rick, I'm right here." His knees buckled under him and he ended up in an awkward hug with Kate. That's when Kate saw the piece of glass sticking right out of the back of his right shin.

"Rick! We need to get you to a hospital."

He looked down at her and then at the agents surrounding them and repeated, "One of the hostages" he stopped and winced. "The manager – Katherine, where is she? Please tell me you got them all out."

"Yes Rick, we got them all out." Jordan stood behind Kate doing a slow inventory of his injuries. "They are being checked out by the paramedics outside. As for Katherine – she is on her way to the hospital as we speak." He nodded in relief and noticed Esposito standing next to Jordan. He smiled slightly and greeted the detective.

"Hey Espo – you look like shit man."

Esposito just shook his head and said, "Just glad to have you back bro."

Just then the EMTs arrived and Kate had to let Rick go. The paramedics got the piece of glass out of his leg and had it strapped up in no time. Seconds later Rick himself was strapped into their stretcher.

Its only when they started wheeling him out and Kate was being dragged out with the stretcher did she realize he had a death grip on her hand.

"Kate" he croaked from his supine position, trying to raise his head up.

"Right here Rick. Not going anywhere." She smiled warmly and ran her fingers through his hair affectionately.

He closed his eyes and they started to move again. Less than a minute later, his head popped up again. "Alexis!" He looked desperately at Kate. "Please tell me she isn't here"

"No Rick." Kate assured him. "She is her - in Camden. But not here…here. She is with Ryan at a safe-house close to this place"

"Just spoke Kevin. They are meeting us at the hospital." Esposito spoke from his left.

The ride to the hospital was a blur to Kate. The drive had been less than 2 miles and once they had made it through the sea of law enforcement cars and television vans outside, the had gone just a few blocks before pulling into the ER bay of Cooper University Hospital. Kate had thought she would have to fight to ride with Castle in the ambulance. But she had gotten surprisingly little resistance. It may have been due to the death grip Castle still had on her hand.

Kate was afraid she was starting to loose feeling in the hand. But she didn't care. As long as it meant he was alive and she had another chance with him, she was willing to live with a numb hand for the rest of her life. Kate was pulled out of her reverie by the sight of a distraught looking Alexis and Kevin standing by the ER doors. As soon as she saw her Kate and stretcher, she ran to them screaming, "Dad!"

When she reached them she looked down at her father and her breath caught in her throat. Kate knew the feeling. It was exactly what she had felt when she had seen him for the first time strapped to that on his part was doing his best to be his usual charming self.

"Hey, pumpkin. It's so good to see you."He brought his hand up to touch her . Mistake he realized immediately. It brought into sharp focus the ligature marks on his wrist.

Alexis grabbed a hold of his hand and gently ran a finger over the abrasion. "Daa-d" she managed to croak out before her eyes overflowed with suppressed tears and she broke down on her father's chest. Rick watched his daughter come unglued in front of his eyes and there wasn't anything he could do other than run his hand through her hair and tell her it looked worse than he felt. And then she was gone. Kate had gently pried Alexis away from her father's chest and taken her into her own arms, running her hands over the teen's back soothingly. Rick caught her eye and he mouthed a silent thank you to her before the paramedics started to wheel him away.

"Dad!"Alexis tried to break away from Kate to go after her father but Kate held onto her.

She took the girl's face in her hands and looked straight into her eyes. "Alexis, you need to be strong for just a little bit longer okay honey. He really needs to get checked out. Once he is settled in a room he is all yours sweetie. But I need you to be brave just a little bit longer okay?"

Something in Kate's eyes must have registered, for Alexis nodded reluctantly but looked forlornly in the direction her father had quickly made a decision and said, "How about this – stay here with Kevin, Esposito and Lanie. I will go stay with your dad and make sure he is not alone. Okay? That way if he needs you or if there is anything going on that you need to know about I will come get you. But they are going to be running all kinds of tests on him for a while and you really don't want to see that baby. Also Martha should be here any minute now. But if you want me stay with you, just say the word and I will have Kevin or Esposito go with him." By now Alexis was sitting in a chair between Lanie and Kevin and Kate was kneeling in front of her holding the girl's hands.

Alexis squeezed her hands once and whispered, "Go. I don't want him to be alone. I will be fine here."

Once again Kate was rendered speechless by the girl's maturity beyond her teenage years. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and squeezed Alexis' hands back and stood up. She looked over at Lanie who had one arm around Alexis' shoulder. She only said one word, "GO"

Kate moved swiftly towards the double doors she had seen the paramedics disappear through. On the other side of those doors, Castle was propped up on a bed with his shirt already stripped off and one of the nurses making good work on cutting off his jeans. Despite all his protests he had been unsuccessful in convincing them that he was more than capable of taking off his jeans. They did not want him to put unnecessary pressure on his left leg. This was the one that had the deep gash on the shin, thanks to the piece of glass that had lodged itself there after the explosion. So that was how Kate found him when she walked into the room. With one nurse cutting off his jeans, while another tried to clean the other gashes and scrapes all over his bruised and aching body.

"How is she?" were the first words out of his mouth when he saw her walk in. Kate didn't need to ask who he was talking about. Banged up as he was, his primary concern was for his daughter.

"Amazing" The word just popped out of her mouth and Rick started at her confused.

Kate shook her head and clarified. "Holding up amazingly well; considering the circumstances. I left her in the capable hands of Lanie and the boys. She wanted me keep you company. She didn't want you to be alone."Kate wrung her hands - suddenly nervous. After all that had happened in the last few weeks she wasn't sure he even wanted her to be there.

"Smart girl. And I am glad she didn't insist on coming in here. I wouldn't her to see her old man cry when his boo-boos are being patched up. " Rick smiled and promptly winced when it sent pain shooting up his banged -up cheek.

"You're going to have quite a shiner there Rick." Kate teased him trying to get his mind off all the poking and prodding that was currently going on. Kate remembered the feeling from her stay in the hospital and knew how awful it was.

"There we go", announced one of the nurses triumphantly. She was holding a pair of scissors and his now shredded jeans. Suddenly Rick felt very vulnerable. He was acutely aware that the only piece of clothing on his body now was his black silk boxers. And even those were completely drenched thanks to the water from the fire-hoses. He looked at Beckett from the corner of his eye and found her gaze glued onto his stomach…or at least he thought it was his stomach….unless….Whatever 'it'… part of his body she was staring at; she was looking at it like it was some alien thing she had never seen before.

"Beckett?" She didn't move nor stop staring.

"KATE", he said a little louder.

"Huh ….What?" Her gaze snapped up to meet his and he saw a blush starting to work its way up her neck.

Kate groaned inwardly. She had been caught staring…..no ogling Rick Castle's body…in a hospital ER no less. Kate wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

Rick on the other hand wished there was a thick blanket covering his body. In all his dreams and fantasies, when Rick had imagined Katherine Beckett staring down at his partially clothed body, it had not been like this.

"Okay how do you want to do this?" The nurse's voice snapped them both out of their musings.

"Do What?" They both snapped at the same time.

The nurse simply raised her eyebrows and indicated his boxers. "Take those off"

"Whattt" Again in unison, and in an elevated decibel.

The nurse hid a smile under a delicate cough and said in a calm clinical voice, "Mr Castle, you have multiple abrasions and cuts and bruises that need to be X-rayed, stitched up and looked at. Your boxers are drenched and it is hospital policy to wear a gown to said procedures - a dry one preferably. So in order to get your treatment started, we need to get you out of your boxers and into a hospital gown. How and with whose help - is your choice." The last part was said with a slight nod in Kate's direction.

"He'll manage", "I'll manage", they both squeaked at once.

Kate gave up any hopes of a dignified exit and rushed out of the room mumbling under her outside, she collapsed against the wall and bent down putting her hands on her knees. WOW. What had just happened in there? It was like her brain cells had taken leave. Seeing him safe and not as badly hurt as she had been imagining all day, seemed to have fried her sanity. Checking out a man in a hospital bed was a new low even for her. Thank god Lanie hadn't been witness to that! Or she would never live it down.

From inside she heard Rick's resigned voice say, "Just cut the darned thing off. The boxers that is" he added hastily. Kate fought down a giggle, but lost the battle and a beautiful smile broke out on her face. After everything that had happened today, it felt so good to be steps away from alive and kicking, albeit slightly grumpy and bruised Rick Castle. She quickly got out her phone and texted Alexis and Lanie. She gave them a quick update on his condition and promised to text again once she had more information.