(A/N: ZOMG HOW AWESOME WAS "COUNTDOWN"? *attempts to breathe normally again* Okay, sorry, back to the story.)

~Chapter Five~

When she woke up roughly six hours later, the heart monitor still beeped the same pace. She ran her hand over her face slowly, and then simply stared mournfully at the man she loved until Lanie quietly stepped through the door.

"Kate? How're you doing?"

The detective responded with a mumble into her hand that she rested her chin on that sounded something like "fine".

Lanie came and took the chair next to her friend.

"How's he doing?"

Kate let out a long, slow breath that she had been holding in her mind for who knows how long, and then bent over in her seat, resting her elbows on her knees.

"I wish I knew..." she whispered, more to herself than anybody.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." The ME lowered her voice to Kate's level, and started to make comforting circle patters on her back with her palm. They remained in this position in silence until something slipped from Kate's mouth.

"It's not supposed to be this way." Her friend remained silent and just let her talk. "He's...he's Castle. He's Rick Castle. He's not supposed to go like this. People like him never go like this...And it's all my fault."

"Kate-"

"If I had protected him better, then he wouldn't have sixty different IVs stuck in his arm right now," she snapped. Lanie was silent again for another moment, and then piped up again.

"Kate, lemme ask you something. What would Castle say to you if he could hear you right now? If he heard what you just said."

The detective held her tongue once more, as she realized what Lanie was getting at. She swallowed back a choke in her throat and spoke slowly.

"He'd say that...that it wasn't...it wasn't my fault. That...not wanting to give up is just...is just what makes me a good cop. It's what...it's what makes me...extraordinary." Kate buried her face in her hands. She couldn't look at him anymore. She needed his voice to say that word; to call her that. She felt so empty inside.

"Listen, Kate, if there's one thing I know about Castle, it's that he loves you. Like, a lot. And I'll bet you that right now his little writer mind is doing all it can to get him to wake up so he can get back to you. So he can get back to loving you."

Kate slowly peeled her hands from her face and looked at her ring once more and brought it close to her cheek. Lanie was right.

And Lanie knew that she was right. She grabbed for her friend's other hand and gently pulled her from the chair that had become her bed over the last twenty-four hours.

"C'mon, you need some air."

Kate didn't protest, as she felt as if the pleather on the seat of the chair was beginning to grow on her, but she couldn't help give Rick one last, teary look as she made her way out of the room, the heart monitor's beep still ringing in her ears as she and Lanie headed for the water fountain.