Castle closed the door to Kate's room and stood in the hallway for a moment with his eyes closed. He'd hardly slept last night and Kate hadn't fared much better. The nurses had come in every few hours to wake Kate, asking her what her name was and if she knew where she was or what was going on. Kate managed to answer them politely even though she was clearly cranky about being woken. Castle kept himself from feeling grumpy about it by remembering the moment when Kate had stopped breathing and reminding himself of how necessary an inconvenience the questions were.
But now Kate was tucked in bed in his guest room, safe and surrounded by people who loved her. The last little bit of adrenaline trickled away. Castle put his hand on the wall as he swayed with sudden exhaustion.
"Go to bed, dear." Castle hadn't heard his mother come up behind him. "You've had a rough couple of days. You both have. I'll wake both of you for dinner."
"I have to wake Kate in an hour... She's got medication..." Castle tried to hide how tired he was, but the slurring of his words gave him away.
"I'll do it. Go sleep. You'll be more useful to her when you're rested." Martha took him by the elbow and steered him toward his room. She patted his cheek with a small smile before turning and pulling the door shut behind her.
Castle stared at his bed for a moment before kicking off his shoes and collapsing onto it. He tugged a blanket over himself without bothering to get undressed and closed his eyes. He drifted uneasily off to sleep, remembering the look on her face when he said the kiss hadn't been real.