AUTHORS NOTE

Hi guys! Thanks so much for all the support! I'll try to update at least once a week, probably on Sundays:)

He feels like he has slept for days. But her presence tells him otherwise.

He hears her whisper "Hey, Castle" as if she isn't sure if he's awake. Slowly, he opens his eyes. For a while, he can't see a thing. But when his eyes start to work, there's only one thing he can focus on. He will probably never get over wondering why this beautiful woman wants to be with him. And while he doesn't know the answer, he thanks God every day for it.

Castles eyes lock with hers "Hey, how long did I sleep?" He says.

"Well, overall a couple of hours. You did wake up a couple of times, though. Did you have nightmares?" Kate asks.

The moment she mentions them, he remembers the nightmares much more vividly than he wants to. She sees the sudden fall of his face and she gets out of her chair, towards his bed.

"Rick, what's wrong? What did you dream of?" Castle doesn't answer. He is lost in his own head.

Why is it so incredibly dark in here? You've seen dark places before, but this place beats all of those moments. You can't see a thing. You can't hear a thing. You can't remember how you got here. But the scariest thing of all, you can feel you are not alone.

"Castle? Castle, listen to me! Rick, you have to wake up!" Kate has never seen him like this before. His face is blank. The moment she touches his arm, he snaps out of it. He grabs her, but the moment he realizes it's her, he lets her go. He starts apologizing but he doesn't know what for. What is wrong with him?

"It's okay Rick. What happened? What did you see?" Kate asks, with a shocked look on her face.

"I, I don't know. It was.. It was dark. God Kate, it was so dark." Castle mumbles.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

"No... Yes, a little bit," Rick confesses. "They held me captive in some sort of box and they kept asking questions. I, I didn't answer them. I don't think I answered their questions."

"Castle, listen to me," Beckett says with concern in her voice. "Did you hear anything that had to do with human trafficking?"

"Human trafficking? No! The questions were more personal. They were about Tyson and Bracken. But not just them. They asked about a lot of cases we worked on together. Yes! That's it! They asked about you, Espo, Ryan, the entire precinct actually."

"Is that why they hurt you? Because you didn't answer?" Castle nods. Kate continues, "I have to make a few phone calls. Try to sleep, okay?"

"Kate, what's going on?" Castle says to an empty room.

"Espo, I am telling you, something is not right. He is not himself. He says things that make no sense. He says his kidnappers asked him questions about us, about the precinct. I just don't know what to make of it," Kate says as she stands in the hallway.

"Maybe he just has a concussion or something. Just roll with it. Check with the doctors and if they say he is fine then look into what he is saying." Esposito answers.

"Okay, thanks Javi."

"No worries. Keep me posted," Esposito says as he finishes the phone call.

Beckett tries to keep Espo's words in mind, but she can't shake the feeling that Castle was telling the truth. He looked so genuine, he was so convinced by his own story. Still, Kate goes to the nurse's station to ask for Castle's doctor, Dr. Hudson. Apparently, she is not on duty right now, but if it's something urgent they can page her.

"Oh no, it's okay. When will she be back again?" Kate asks the head nurse.

"Her shift starts at ten o'clock tonight, if you want to I can put Mr. Castle on her schedule."

"That would be great. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Ms. Castle."

She has to admit, it hurts. But not as much as when she had to cancel their honeymoon and they called her the same name. That moment was the first time in the first month he was gone, that she wasn't in work mode. She was sitting on her side of the unmade bed, unwilling to change anything for when he might return. The moment they called her by that name, she felt a pain in her heart, that hadn't left until his return.

She shakes off the feeling and keeps telling herself 'he's okay, he's here.' Only three more hours until the doctor comes to take a look at him. It's probably just temporary. He does have a writer's imagination, so he can produce very detailed stories. Yes. That has to be it. It just has to be.

When Kate returns to his room, she sees that Castle is asleep. He's on some heavy medication, so she can probably go home and change without him even noticing that she's gone. Maybe, everything will be back to normal when she returns. Maybe, he'll be fine. But maybe, their nightmare isn't over yet.

"Hey, lover." You love it when she calls you that. When she says that little word, you know she's being honest with you. You talk about the wedding. With your fiancée. You're getting married and yet you still can't over the fact that she is your fiancée. God, you were so nervous when you asked her. And you know that she deserved a big, elaborate proposal. It was just not what she wanted. And you would give her your heart, if she desired it. Hell, you would even give her your absence, if that were what she wanted.

You were so afraid that she wanted the latter. So afraid that she would say 'no', that she would walk out of your life. You were so afraid that you were going to lose her. Those minutes between your question and her answer seemed to go on for hours.

She chose you, and now you're here. On your way to your wedding. You both end the call with saying I love you, for the last time as fiancées.

You're happy, really happy. You try to picture her in her wedding dr….

Everything turns black.

He wakes up. He's not as scared as last time. Rick is still scared, his heart is still chasing, but at least he knows where he is now. As he opens his eyes, he just knows that Beckett is not here. He sees the next best thing.

"Hey, Pumpkin."

"Hey, dad. How'd you sleep?" Alexis answers.

"Pretty well, actually. Although I have to say that it's pretty hot in here. It feels like I'm burning up," he says with a big grin on his face.

"Dad! That isn't funny! I thought you were dead! We all thought you were dead. You didn't see…" Alexis ends with a big sob. Castle has a shocked look on his face.

"Oh, honey! Come here." Alexis listens to her father, sits on his bed and takes his hand. "Look, do you know how much I missed you? I thought of you guys all the time. There were times I didn't know if it was day or night and I was so scared. But then I thought of your sleepy head on Sunday mornings and the way you hug me when I return from a book tour and I always thought 'everything will be fine'. At least for a while. Alexis, you, Kate, your grandmother, every single one of you got me through the last months. And, of course, my incredible coping mechanism; sarcastic humor." Alexis gives him a look. "Okay, that mechanism may still be on. I'll work on it, promise?"

"Fine. Apology accepted. I'm just really, really glad you're alive."

"I know, Pumpkin. Me too."

AUTHORS NOTE

So, yeah, I continued. Again, let me know what you think!