"Esposito and Ryan said they'd meet us at the hospital." Castle knew he was babbling, but the paramedic had told him to help keep Kate awake. Castle was half sure the instruction was meant to keep Castle calm and out from under foot, but he was grateful for the task anyway. Kate couldn't look at him while she was strapped down, but Castle could see the crinkle of confusion around her eyes.
"Who?"
The paramedic looked up from the IV he was hooking up to meet Castle's worried expression.
"Memory loss isn't unheard of with head trauma and it's probably temporary. Don't panic about it until she's had some time to start recovering. Her vitals are good, she's young and in pretty good shape. These are all good things."
Castle nodded, swallowed hard, and reached over to hold the hand that Beckett was holding out to him. Her hand felt cooler than it should, though Castle didn't know if that was just from laying on the ice before the ambulance arrived. He had the sneaking suspicion that the paramedic was downplaying how serious this was in an attempt to keep Castle from freaking out in the back of the ambulance.
Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her eyes flew open. "Lanie! I was supposed to meet Lanie for lunch today. We always have lunch together on Tuesdays..."
Castle couldn't help the flutter of hope at her mistake. "It's Friday, Kate. But I'm sure Esposito will give Lanie a ride to the hospital if she needs it."
"Esposito and Lanie are dating..." Kate wasn't entirely asking, but she didn't sound sure of herself.
"Well, they're kind of not-dating dating at the moment. But yes." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, letting go when the ambulance came to a stop and the paramedics started moving to get Kate out and to the ER.
"Castle?"
"I'll be right outside in the waiting room. You'll be okay."