"It's two o'clock in the morning Alexis, I was supposed to meet Beckett at nine! Where is she?" Rick explained frantically to a confused Alexis. He glanced around the room and saw that it had transitioned from dinner dates to young people flirting, dancing and sucking face.
"She probably just got caught up with paperwork and went home. You of all people know how hard she works," Alexis tried to reason.
Rick doubtfully nodded and picked up his phone to call her. Not a ten minute walk away Beckett's phone rang, abandoned by the side of the road. Rick's heart quickened when he heard it go to voice mail. He automatically assumed the worst, convincing himself that she had gotten called out on a case and had been shot.
He expressed these fears to Alexis who replied, "Ryan and Esposito would have called, Dad. She's fine!" She smirked at him, "Man, you've got it bad." Rick huffed but dialed Esposito anyways.
"This better be good, Castle," was his greeting.
"Sorry, man. Do you know where Beckett is?" Rick hastily asked.
"Naw, she was still at the precinct when I left at like eight. Why?" He replied sleepily.
"She was supposed to meet me here at The Old Haunt five hours ago, but she never showed," Rick explained.
"She's a big girl, Castle, she can handle herself. I gotta go," he groaned but hesitated before he hung up, "She's going to be fine, dude. You know how she is."
"Thanks..." Rick managed before the line went flat.
They hailed a taxi and Rick gave the address of the precinct as Alexis glanced at him, confused at first but then more concerned. His worried fed her own, though she tried to hide them for him. Rick called Beckett's phone again while they rode, but had no luck. When they arrived at the precinct, they were disappointed when Beckett wasn't there.
The stopped by her apartment next, though they both seriously doubted she would be there since she generally spent more time at the loft. They hopped out of the taxi and Rick searched his pocket for his key since the doorman had gone home for the evening. They made their way up the elevator to her apartment and slid inside.
"Dad, this is creepy! She could be sleeping," Alexis hissed.
"Well, she should have called, why would she have forgotten our date?" Was Rick's hasty reply.
Alexis waited uncomfortably by the front door while her father wandered around, softly calling Beckett's name. She looked around while she waited. The apartment was looking fairly sparse as Beckett's things slowly migrated into the Castles' apartment.
Rick's head hung as he slunk back towards her, "She's not here" he whispered. They were the only ones in the room, yet talking loudly would have seemed wrong. Alexis gave her dad a hug and leaned into his side as they made their way down to the street.
By the time they arrived at the loft, Rick had left countless messages for his fiance. They started concerned but became annoyed, fear shaking his voice. They checked the whole apartment together, room by room but came up empty. The two of them made their way to the living room and sat on the couch. Rick pulled out his phone to call Esposito again but Alexis stopped him and looked him in the eyes,
They can't do anything, Dad, it's the middle of the night and she's not even officially missing. We could go out and searched the millions of New York City streets for her, or we could get a couple of hours of sleep and be fresh in the morning. She could be with a number of people and there are a million reasons why she's not picking up her phone."
Rick slowly nodded his head but clenched her hand, trying not to think of the bodies they'd come across over the years or the fact that 3XK was still out there. He pried his eyes away from hers and towards the phone. Gingerly setting it on the table, he sucked in his breath and slowly sat deeper into the couch, pulling Alexis into his side. Eventually the two of them fell into a fitful sleep. Rick clinging to his daughter, his face distraught as his dreams filled with blood, murder and ringing cellphones.
As the adrenaline wore off with the gentle sway of the car, shock set into Kate's system. Her body slowly stopped shaking and became lifeless. By the time Tattoo Face had reached the hospital, the only place he could think to bring her, her hazel eyes had rolled back into her head and her breaths were short and shallow.
He dragged her from his back seat and carried her to the ambulance bay where he lay his forehead on hers and whispered, "I'm sorry," tears streaming down his face. He placed her down outside the doors and quickly hopped in his car, tires squealing in his effort to get away.
Kate woke up in the hospital bed hours later. The nurse was checking her chart and switching her fluids when she noticed Kate's eyes fluttering. "Oh sweetie," she cooed, tears in her eyes, "It's lovely to see you awake."
The nurse was older, maybe in her 60's. She had a kind face and a plump stomach that was oddly comforting and motherly. Kate tried sitting up but collapsed from the pain, the effort leaving her gasping. "What happened?" she croaked, squeezing her eyes before gazing into the heavens in an effort to conceal her hurt.
"I'll call the doctor and she'll fill you in. First thing's first, can you tell me what your name is?" the woman gently asked, passing her a glass of water, "And your emergency contact information." Kate took a sip and drowsily gave her name and Castle's number.
The woman smiled sadly, "Thank you, my name is Olivia by the way. If you need anything, and I mean anything, please let me know." Kate smiled weakly back as Olivia left the room to find the doctor.
A couple of minutes later two women walked into the room. "It's good to see you awake, Ms Beckett. I'm Dr. Night, I've been taking care of your physical health. This is Dr. Thayer, a psychologist," the taller woman greeted, shutting the door behind them.
Kate had been examining her body and jumped when she heard the voice, "Sorry, I guess I'm a bit on edge. Can you tell me what happened? How long have I been here?"
"What can you remember?" Dr. Thayer asked softly before they took a seat beside her bed.
Kate's eyes drifted to her wrists as she thought. "I remember walking to The Old Haunt last night," she started slowly, "It was last night, right?" She looked up alarmed. Dr. Night nodded solemnly. Kate looked relieved and continued, "I was running late so I cut down a side street and there were these men." Kate unintentionally shuddered. "they were so drunk. They got up close and physical with me," Kate drew in a shaky breath, "I was going to call it in but then everything went black." she paused, "That's all I remember." Kate's voice dropped as she slid her fingers around the raw skin surrounding her wrists. Her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "Why was I tied up? Why did they beat me? Was I drugged? Why don't I remember?"
The two doctors looked at each other and Dr. Thayer opened her mouth to reply, but Kate kept on, "I'm a cop, you know? So I can handle myself. it must have been the case I was working on. I'm a homicide detective you know," Kate's breathing quickened and the heart rate monitor started to beep more quickly as her rambling came faster and more distressed.
"Kate, Kate look at me," Dr. Thayer spoke calmly but forcefully, "Look where you are, you're safe. You're in a hospital." Kate's wide eyes flitted around before finding Dr. Thayer's. "From what we can tell due to your injuries," Started Dr. Night, "you were beaten, so we ran some tests and looked for signs of rape." Kate stilled as a flash of tongue down her throat leaped into her memory. She was suddenly aware of the pain that coursed through her sex. Her head fell backwards as the doctor continued.
"The tests came back positive so we collected the DNA samples and checked for sexually transmitted infections." Kate turned her face away from the two women and felt tears brimming in her eyes. "We'll need you to come back for check ups regularly over the next couple of months." Dr. Night stood, "We'll get the results from the most recent tests in a couple of days. I'm going to come back and check on you in a couple of hours." She turned to leave before halting and quietly adding, "You're a fighter, Kate." and leaving the room.
Kate didn't say a word for the next twenty minutes as Dr. Thayer gently explained a future filled with the emotional repercussions she was likely to face and gave her information on support groups and permanent psychologists. Kate's face remained emotionless until after it had crusted from dried tears. Her eyes were focused on the gentle pattering of rain on the window, the doctors words falling on deaf ears.
When Dr. Thayer got up to leave, Kate quietly cleared her throat. Thayer paused and Kate whispered, "Don't…" She glanced at her wrists before looking into the doctor's eyes "Don't tell my family. When they come, don't tell them. And can you ask Dr. Night to do the same?"
Thayer hesitated before nodding, "You'll tell them though?"
"Yeah," Kate lied, "I will."
The ringing phone woke Rick and Alexis with a start. He lunged towards it and answered. It was an unknown number but he breathed, "Kate?" into the speaker regardless.
"Hello, is this Mr. Richard Castle?" came from the other end of the phone. Tears started to stream down his face as he cleared his throat and softly said, "Yes."
"I'm calling about Katherine Beckett. We understand that you're her fiance?" A woman on the line asked.
"Yes, is she…" He couldn't force the last word out of his mouth.
"She's alive, Mr. Castle, but we would like you to come into the hospital to discuss the details."
A whoosh of air expelled from Rick's lungs and relief plastered his face. Alexis took his hand and squeezed it.
"If you could make your way to New York Grace Hospital that would be great. Reception will know where she is."
"Thank you," Rick whispered before hanging up.
They arrived at the hospital thirty minutes later after jumping in the shower and changing into fresh clothes. Rick bounced his leg on the taxi ride over and was constantly checking his phone for new messages. Though Alexis tried to distract him with small talk, his mind was full of images of Beckett. She looks like Swiss Cheese in one, and was missing both legs and an arm in another. He cursed his writer's brain for having an overactive imagination.
By the time they arrived at the hospital his heart was thumping loudly and he was out of breath despite the lack of physical activity. Alexis guided her father to reception and found that Beckett was in room 4017.
Dr. Night met them as they stepped off the elevator. "You must be Mr. Castle," she started, holding out her hand, "Dr. Night, Kate's physician." Rick shook her hand and nodded, waiting for her to continue. "Katherine has been the victim of what we believe is a mugging gone wrong," Night easily lied, "She's shook up, but should be fine to see you. Try keeping the physical contact down to a minimum, her injuries cover a large part of her body."
Rick's eyes widened as he nodded. He followed the doctor to room 4017 where she gently knocked and slowly opened the door.
Rick suck in his breath as he took her in.
Her eyes filled with fear as she identified him as male rather than the love of her life.
He winced as she saw her beautiful right eye swollen shut, the other one had blue stitches running over the eyebrow and along the side of her face. He felt sick as the purple lump on her forehead appeared to grow before his eyes and he took in the crusted blood that stretched from either side of where her lips met back towards her ear where the gag had rubbed her skin raw. Her usually defined cheekbone had been covered by bandages, but he could tell that it had swelled to nearly twice the size. Her throat had ghastly purple hand marks around them as well as a shallow cut which was eclipsed by the length of stitches that ran across her collarbone.
Rick's concentration was only broken by the heart rate monitor which had begun to beep more quickly. He took two bounds towards her only to have it sky rocket as she slunk in her bed and braced herself for more punishment.
The only thing she could see as she looked at him was the vague faces of the men who had hurt her. As she saw him approach, her mind's eye placed a knife in his hand. She was sure he had come back to finish her. She would be dead now, but she didn't want to die anymore. She wanted to live and feel the sun on her back and see the smile on Castle's face every time they solved a case together.
Castle's face fell as he saw the reaction she had. She was afraid of him. He didn't understand.
Dr. Night stepped forward and took Rick by the arm, guiding him to a chair beside her bed. "Just talk to her, and make sure your daughter is with you, she should help. Remind her where she is and that she is safe." Rick looked hurt and confused, "But she's afraid of me…" he trailed off, "Why is she afraid of me? What happened to her?"
Alexis had stood by the door for the entire ordeal, afraid to go in and afraid to go away. It scared her that this strong role model could be so broken. She listened to what the doctor had said and resolved to stay. She made her way tentatively towards Beckett and gently touched her perfect hands. "Kate," she started softly and knelt down to her eye level, "Kate, look at me. It's Alexis. I'm here, you're safe." She cooed.
Kate looked into the big blue eyes of the young girl and grounded herself in them. She let out a small sob and wound her fingers through Alexis' before closing her eyes and turning her head away.
The young girl glanced back at her father and saw him slouched over, fists in his eyes, tears dripping down his face. She tightened her shoulders and straightened her back, blinking away the tears that threatened to spill over her lids.
The three of them sat there for what seemed like hours listening to the rain hit the window. None of them spoke, none of them moved, all of them cried.