Disclaimer: I don't own Castle.
Character(s): Richard Castle, mention of Kate Beckett, Alexis Castle, etc…
Pairing: Castle/Beckett
Status: Complete
Genre: Angst
Rating: K
Author's Note: So…a little angsty Castle because well, I was in the mood. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Vivid

He dreams in color. He dreams in wonderful, beautiful, vivid shades of red, blue, green, and yellow. He dreams of her. And sometimes him. Mostly, him and her. Happy. Living life to the fullest. Succeeding in the pursuit of happiness. He dreams of what their children would look like; how they would interact with Alexis. How they would grow. Live. He dreams of them, in mid July, the hot sun looming overhead, her in a wedding dress, making her way down the aisle. Alexis, in a bridesmaid gown, standing beside Lanie, who wears a proud, satisfied smirk as she watches her friend walk. Lanie's hand on her growing abdomen as her husband watches her. His mother and her father in crowd, smiling with tears in their eyes. He can feel her lips on his after the preacher says "You may kiss the bride."

But, he lives in dark, contrasting shades of gray. The doctors and nurses smile pitifully at him as he reads her the new Nikki Heat novel that he was working on. It isn't finished yet; he can't finish it yet. Not with her like she is. He prays, night and day, for a full recovery. His mother, daughter, and friends watch from afar, not getting close because they're not sure what to say. And if they are sure what to say, they don't know whether or not it'll make him worse. The days go by in a daze. He barely is able to get up in the mornings, but the only reassurance is that he will see her or what is left of the her she once was. The doctors tell him that he needs to live with the fact that she will never wake up. That he'll never see her smiling face again. They don't truly say that, but that's what he hears. He argues with them, telling them that they are wrong, and that he is not going to give up on her. And so they move her to a permanent care facility that he pays for where the people continue watching him.

Blankly, he sees himself on the cover of tons of magazines, but he doesn't read them. He already knows what they're going to say. They pity him. But he doesn't think they understand. They don't know that he can't give up because without her, he'll be nothing, and he thinks that she's going to be okay. But one day, he does. He gives up. He gives in. He had just been in a vicious argument with her father, and afterwards he goes to her room. Then, he realizes. He's not doing what she would have wanted. She, the Kate Beckett that he was in love with, wouldn't want to be stuck inside a hospital bed, practically dead. And even more, she wouldn't want him to be miserable because of what had happened to her. She would want him to be happy. That's practically what everyone had been telling him, but he didn't understand it. Until that day.

Still, he doesn't realize how he's going to live without her or the shell of what she has become. But still, he finds himself there, holding her hand, as they unplug the cords. He winces as he waits for the slowing of her heart beat, but it doesn't come. The nurses stare with wide eyed amazement, murmuring that this only is a once in a million chance, but all he truly sees are her eyelids fluttering open and her heart beat staying the same. And her mumbling the word that he'd never thought he'd hear from her again.

"Castle."

Her voice is weak, hoarse, but he doesn't mind. Tears of joy are running down his face. Finally, his world lights up, and once again he begins to live in color.

(I'm a sucker for happy endings. :D)