As Kelly submerged Emma once again, Kate snapped. She disregarded the phone, her attention now fixated on the belligerent red head. She felt a restored vigor surge through her veins, a product of the adrenaline permeating her blood. Her muscles stiffened and her fists balled as she stalked toward Kelly in resolute ferocity.
Upon reaching Kelly, Kate seized the woman by the hair and thrust her backward forcing her to the concrete floor with great force. "You think that you can just do whatever you please without consequences, huh? Kate growled through clenched teeth, her weight binding Kelly to the floor. Kate's hands, without thought, had encircled the doctor's neck.
Her head no longer under the bitter water, Emma choked for oxygen and collapsed to the unforgiving concrete. Kate compelled herself to maintain her attention on Kelly. Though, Emma's deep coughs prompted concern. The rage assaulting Kate was disconcerting, radiating a profound animosity. Taking a life wasn't a part of who she was, though doing whatever it took to protect innocent lives was. She refused to watch Emma suffer a moment longer. She longed to return to the protection of Castle's embrace.
"You've done this." Kate avowed overcome by resentful emotion. Torment shrouded her as she watched Kelly choke, the life bleeding from her eyes with each passing moment. A product of her own hands. Sure, the past had required her to kill before, but a gun delivered a prompt death. A more humane death. The doctor's final moments would be antithetical; slow, filled with panic and fear. A death which Kate desired for no living creature.
Kelly efforts to clutch Kate's clothes were ineffectual. Nothing could save her now. Her endeavors haunted Kate and in many ways she wished it had never come to this moment. She yearned to awake from a troubled slumber to discover her world content and safe, as it was before. She'd roll her slight frame into the comfort of Castle's, his presence immediately warding off all demons. She would discover herself at home, in a reality with Tyson and Nieman an aspect the past. Lacking the ability to upset both present and future. But deep down, she knew that this nightmare would perpetuate until one duo were dead.
The minutia of time felt more an eternity. To wait as you permit a person to die was a cruel punishment indeed. "I never wanted to kill you, Nieman! I never wanted it to come to this!" Kate snarled in regret. "You left me with no other choice. Don't you see that?"
Kate could feel Kelly's body begin to relax. Nieman extended her hand and dusted her fingers along Kate's jawline in adoration. Her hand soon plummeted to the cement, eyes rolling backward. Kate couldn't combat the tears any longer, she was unable to stay the guilt consuming her. She knew she'd done nothing immoral. But she knew she'd never forget the sensation of a life dissolving beneath her fingertips. Fingertips once regarded with marked tenderness and affection.
Surprise filled Kate when the gentle pressure of a supportive hand rested upon her trembling shoulder. She turned to see it belonged to Emma, her eyes ablaze with apologetic empathy. "I'm so sorry, Kate...I...if it should have been me." She slurred with a hoarse voice, her eyes cast downward.
Kate could only muster a weak smile before pointing out that she and Emma would be wise to fasten Nieman's body to the table for good measure. As Kate inspected Emma's face her heart broke at its disrepair. Her once beautiful face was quite unrecognizable by comparison. It was now adorned with two abysmal cuts, various contusions, and sporadic swelling. The icy water had somewhat hindered the bleeding of her lacerations.
"Emma, we need to get you out of here before Jerry comes back." Kate said as she helped Emma to her feet.