DISCLAIMER: The characters of the show CASTLE do not belong to me, they belong to ABC

Author's Note: Wow. Fifty-two story alerts. I've never had that many people following my story before. Ever. Now if all of you left a review... ;) I write for you guys. I write so that you have something to read while we endure the torturous wait of summer. Thank you so much for your support, and to my five reviewers, thank you SO much. Your words mean a lot. And now, chapter two.

Chapter Two

Stay with me...stay with me... the voice pleaded with her and Kate did her best to focus on the voice which belonged to the man that she cared deeply for. I love you, he whispered, as though that would change the fact that she had just been shot. I love you Kate.

Kate Beckett wanted nothing more than to tell Richard Castle that she loved him too, that she was willing to dive into a relationship with him and that she was willing to take a stand with him by her side, but the protective vest that she had thought to wear hadn't done enough. The pain overwhelmed her, and Kate found herself falling into darkness.

...

Castle had no idea how long he had been sitting in the emergency waiting room. But he was sure that it hadn't been nearly as long as his mind was making it out to be. He had seem various emergency situations come and go and he even caught the sight of Josh wheeling a patient to one of the surgery rooms. Seeing Kate's boyfriend made his blood boil, but Castle was very surprised at the unconcerned look on the doctor's face and he figured that no one had told him what had happened.

He was about to stand to go and let Josh know, mainly for his own peace of mind when Kate's attending surgeon came into the waiting room. "Good gracious, it's Mr. Castle right?"

Castle turned and nodded. "It is. Is she...?"

"Oh still the same," the doctor assured. "But what are you doing here?"

"You said that only family could be with her now and well, I didn't want to go home and..." Castle trailed off, feeling like a little lost kid. He didn't know why he was there. In the hours that he had spent waiting in the emergency room he had convinced himself that Kate didn't love him, that she'd never love him and that his confession had probably come too late.

"And I think that you've waited long enough," the doctor assured with a sympathetic smile. "Come on. I'll take you to her room."

...

It was the steady beat of the heart monitor that brought Kate back to consciousness, that and the fact that she could hear voices.

"I'm surprised that you're still here."

That was the voice of her father.

"You know that I couldn't leave her."

That was Castle. Kate wanted to reach out to him but she felt to tired and so groggy and without her controlling it, she found herself slipping back into unconsciousness.

...

"You're right," Jim said with a sigh. "I should have known... pull up a chair."

Castle did as he was told and felt only a little bit better at seeing how Kate was breathing. "She looks so tiny there," he muttered aloud, catching her father's eye. "Every time I'm with her I'm always struck at how big her personality is. How strong her confidence is..." Castle paused and glanced back to Kate. "I don't like seeing her like this."

"No," he agreed. "Neither do I. But let's thank our lucky stars that we're only seeing her like this, and not in the morgue."

Castle nodded. The thought that Kate still could die flirted around the edges of his mind but he wouldn't let it gain hold. Even though the thought that she couldn't and wouldn't love him permeated his entire being, he focused on the thought that if she survived then all would be right in the world.

The two men, the two closest men in Kate's life at that moment sat in stony silence watching her breathe and sleep. Only once did their vigil get interrupted and that was by Josh who was making the rounds.

"I'm sorry but visiting hours are," he began but his voice was cut off when he saw Kate lying in the bed. "Oh god. What happened?"

"She got shot," Castle stated plainly. "At Montgomery's funeral. The one that you were supposed to attend with her."

Josh looked panic stricken, and guilty. "I got called in."

"Do you know what she was saying just before she got shot?" Castle asked as he stood up, putting all his pain and anger into the words that he directed at Josh. "She was saying how the best thing we can do in this world is find someone to stand with against the battles that we must face. Clearly you're not willing to face them with her."

"I am," Josh stated, though his voice said otherwise.

Castle shook his head. "No," he stated firmly. "You're not. You're not and I am."

"Son," Jim stated as he too stood. "I think that you'd better leave."

Josh merely looked between the two men before nodding. He turned to leave but then stopped in the doorway. "I do care for her," he stated under his breath, loud enough for Castle to hear. "But clearly she has better people in her life right now."

When Josh was gone, Castle slumped down in his seat. All his anger was gone and all that was left was a resounding emptiness. An emptiness, he observed, that would not be filled until Kate woke up.

"You're a mighty brave man Castle," her father stated with an approving nod. "I'm glad that my daughter has someone like you to watch over her."

"If only I had been watching a little closer," Castle berated himself. "I saw the flash of the sniper rifle. I knew what was going to happen but I couldn't make it compute fast enough in my head. Maybe if I had..."

"Maybe if you had you'd be the one lying there or worse and I'd still be here, with a heartbroken Katie to console."

"But at least she'd be alright."

Jim shook his head. "We can't rewrite the past Castle. All we can do is look forward to the future and seize every moment that comes along. Katie loves you. When she wakes up..."

"Don't you mean if she wakes up?"

"When she wakes up," Jim continued. "I know that she'll tell you."

Castle sighed and it was a heavy sigh of a man tortured.

Jim gave him a sympathetic smile, all he could muster. "Watch her for a while will you? I'm going to find the nurses and let them know that both of us will be staying."

"But visiting hours...?"

"Visiting hours be damned," Jim stated firmly. "She's my daughter and I'm staying. If I stay, so do you. No questions asked."

Castle nodded and watched as Jim Beckett left the room, leaving Castle alone with Kate. Silence descended upon him, no thoughts crossed his mind. He was all consumed by the rise and fall of her chest, and the steady beat of the heart monitor.

TBC