The next several hours were mostly a blur as Kate was wheeled from one room to another to be poked and questioned and examined by doctors and nurses. Castle had been brought in at one point to help determine how big of a hole was left in her memory. Kate spent any downtime between tests trying to piece together what she knew.

Castle was her partner. She could only remember snatches of the 4 years he said they'd been working together, like watching short clips of a movie all out of order. Cups of coffee on her desk, absurd theories about spies or the mafia, a few disconnected images of dead bodies that she didn't have context for but assumed were cases she'd worked. A frightened face on the other end of a rifle pointed at her. Faces that she knew were Lanie and Esposito and Ryan and Captain Montgomery. Castle went still and silent when she mentioned Montgomery, though she didn't know why.

She had to fight the instinct to hide how confused she felt. Logically, she knew she needed to let the doctors see what her condition was, but it was hard. It was harder when Castle was in the room because he looked like a kicked puppy when she revealed how little she could remember of their work together. The questions the doctors asked didn't help her figure out who he was, focusing almost entirely on verifiable questions about how long she'd been a detective, who her coworkers were, her current lack of boyfriend. She started to draw some conclusions about Castle's feelings towards her when she noticed the poorly-hidden smile when she remembered that she's single at the moment.

Kate's latest quiet musings were interrupted when a red-headed teenager tentatively stuck her head in the door.

"Alexis!" The girl relaxed and grinned at Kate's immediate recognition. She came over and gave Kate a careful hug.

"Hi. I didn't know if you'd recognize me. Dad said you hit your head pretty hard."

"Yeah. I lost a couple of years at first. I'm getting it back in bits and pieces. The doctors say they're going to keep me here overnight for observation," Kate paused as her doctor came in, looking straight at him as she continued, "And I'll be able to go home tomorrow."

"Probably," her doctor answered her non-question. "But I'll likely want you to stay with someone for another day at least. You lost consciousness, stopped breathing, and as much as you try to hide it, I can tell that you've still got several large holes in your memory."

"You stopped breathing?" Alexis's eyes were huge as Castle entered the room. "Dad, you didn't tell me Kate stopped breathing!"

"Only for a moment," Kate snagged Alexis's hand and pulled her into another hug. "I just got the wind knocked out of me when I fell. I'm fine, I promise."

Kate looked up over Alexis's shoulder and caught Castle surreptitiously wiping the corner of his eye. Alexis let go and stepped back, trying to regain her composure. Kate's doctor glanced down at something in her chart and then back up at Castle.

"It says on Miss Beckett's admission paperwork that you're her emergency contact?"

"It's Detective Beckett." Castle glanced over at Kate. "And I just wrote myself in because I didn't have your dad's number. He doesn't know you're here."

Kate closed her eyes and sighed, then looked back up at Castle. "I'll call him and tell him myself."

"Well, Detective Beckett," her doctor continued, "Do you have someone who could stay with you tomorrow night? Provided everything looks okay tomorrow afternoon, you still might feel weak or have trouble concentrating for awhile. I strongly suggest you plan on taking it easy, and write things down until you no longer notice yourself forgetting little things like what needs to be on the shopping list."

"Kate can stay with us, can't she, Dad?"

Kate was surprised to see a shadow of discomfort flicker over Castle's face before he smiled at his daughter.

"Of course Kate will stay with us. Comfortable guest room, entertaining company to keep her from pushing herself before she should. It's a good plan."

"Do I get any say in this plan?"

Alexis turned to Kate with a raised eyebrow and glint in her eye.

"No. You're coming home with us. End of story. I'll go tell Gram."