Spill The Sickness Chapter 3
Because who needs to study for finals?
A/N: Here's Chapter 3. Thanks so much for waiting for this chapter, sorry it took a couple days!
Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or any of it's characters. I only own my wicked procrastination abilities.
"Alright, talk to you soon Jim. Cheers." Rick said, ending the call and placing his phone back into his pocket.
Next stop: grocery store.
Stepping out into the busy streets of New York, Rick hailed down a cab and proceeded to the nearest supermarket. Rick walked through the doors and was instantly approached by a greeter. "Well howdy there!" The friendly worker said animatedly. "Welcome to Safeway! Is there anything I can help you with? Would you like to try a free sample of our holiday Eggnog?"
"No thanks," Rick replied, "But could you direct me to the frozen food section?" The greeter motioned over towards his left. Rick thanked the man and headed over, unable to contain the slight spring in his step. He walked into the frozen food aisle, and began peering into the coolers, looking for those desirable Eggo waffles. After passing shelf upon shelf of frozen TV dinners, and far too many ice cream flavours to be considered normal, he found himself in the frozen breakfast section. He bypassed the Bagefuls, French Toasts and Pastries, and came across the Eggo waffle. Rick paused a moment, unsure as to what flavour and how many to buy. He knew Kate would be able to eat however many he bought; it wasn't like they went bad. However, if he didn't buy enough then he would either have to run out and buy more or sit there awkwardly as Kate was denied the beautiful, cardboard like goodness. On the other hand, if he bought too many it may look like he was splurging unnecessarily – something that she hated. Sighing heavily, Rick grabbed the 8 pack, right in between the small and large sizes. 'Thank god for variety' he praised internally. Throwing them into the small red basket he had picked up on the way in, Rick soldiered on, heading to the soup aisle to find the next item on his list: mini ravioli. Heading towards the easily distinguishable red cans, Rick was struck at how many different types of Chef Boyardee there were. Spaghetti, beef ravioli, mini ravioli, beefaroni, spaghetti sauce, lasagna, ABC pasta and even Mac n Cheese. Overwhelmed by the selection, the inner child in Castle was tempted to buy all of them. Stopping, letting his childish moment pass, he went and picked up 2 cans of mini ravioli and 1 of the regular beef ravioli. Proud of himself for not freaking out and buying impulsively, Rick continued down the aisle.
However, as these things often work out, all of a sudden he was surrounded by cookies. Pausing and sighing briefly, Rick couldn't control his inner child anymore. He quickly grabbed a box of Rainbow Chips Ahoy and a box of Double Stuffed Oreos and left the aisle quickly to avoid making more stupid purchases. Who knew impulse control would be so hard?
Even though it wasn't technically on the "list of things to make sick Kate Beckett feel better", Rick went to the tea section and tried to pick a tea flavour that Kate would like but would also be soothing. He decided on chamomile; it was a loved flavour by nearly everyone but was also known for being soothing.
Rick also decided some fresh fruit would be a good idea. Although the whole 'apple a day keeps the doctor away' concept would be a little bit late seeing as she was already sick, Rick decided that a little bit of fruit would go a long way for Kate. Once again, he found himself overwhelmed by selection. The selection of fruits gave no indication that it was November. There was still a large variety of tropical fruits that stocked the shelves, with no signs that it had been shipped from half way across the world. Apples were first: Rick chose Gala apples because let's face it, who doesn't love Gala apples? He threw in an orange and a couple bananas for good measure, and bought a small container of caramel dip because dipping apples in caramel was like eating a caramel apple, except you at least had the brief notion of feeling like you were being healthy.
Feeling quite content with himself, Rick headed over to the checkout. He began pulling the items out of his basket one by one, double checking that he hadn't forgotten any of the essentials. "Hold on!" Rick exclaimed. "I'll be right back, hold on." Rick explained to the cashier as he rushed off in the opposite direction. Making a beeline for the drink aisle, Rick quickly found the ginger ale and cranberry juice he was looking for. A trick he had learned when Alexis got sick, mixing ginger ale with fruit juice was guaranteed to make even the grossest stomach aches feel better.
Running back to the cash register, Rick was pleased to see his stuff still there on the conveyer belt waiting to be rung through. "Thanks man" Rick said to the teenager behind the cash register.
Soon the items were rung through and Rick was on his merry way, wishing the friendly greeter at the door a lovely evening. Running through his mental list, Rick began checking off what he had already gotten. He had gotten sickness related things and he had gotten food related things. Both of which were guaranteed to make Kate feel better. But he needed something else.
He needed entertainment.
He knew that Kate had a wild, fun side. He had gotten to see it over the last 4 and a half years, and especially in the last 6 months. However, there was still so much of her that was a mystery. He wanted to get Kate something that he knew would make her feel better. So he called up the one person who would know the wild side of Kate the best.
"Well hello there Writer Boy. To what do I owe the pleasure of your phone call?" Lanie asked.
"Really Lanie? Can't I be Writer Man at least?"
He got no response except a fit of laughter from the other end of the phone. "Anyways, I was calling because Kate is sick and I'm getting her things to make her feel better. I was wondering if you could help me out."
"Sure Castle," Lanie replied, "what do you need?"
"Well I've already gotten food and cold medicine, but I'm looking for things to cheer her up. I know Temptation Lane was a guilty pleasure for her, but what else? Music? Books? Movies? Do you know?"
"Well, if my girl asks, I never told you any of this. But she's a sucker for MC Hammer. One time, her and I went to a karaoke bar, had a few drinks, and next thing I know she's up on stage belting all the words to 'Can't touch this'. Also, for some reason she loves The Cardigans. 'Lovefool' was her jam back in the day. To this day, when she's getting ready to go out she'll have that song playing. And she'll dance and sing along and it's just like she's a teenager again. Also, the B-52's. She went to their concert decades ago and still has her ticket stub and a t-shirt she bought." Castle smiled through the phone. He knew all too well about Kate's B-52's shirt. A favourite of both of theirs, it hung off her shoulder and was just long enough to be worn with nothing under it but left her legs looking endlessly long. It was soft and worn and just so Kate that Rick had trouble keeping his hands off of her when she wore it, not that she really minded.
Lanie broke him out of his reverie. "Now, that's music. Movies are a whole other story. You probably know this better than me, but she loves cheesy sci-fi movies. And I'm not talking your average sci-fi. I'm talking full on "Plan 9 From Outer Space" bad. Any terrible cheesy sci-fi film, and I can guarantee that she's seen it. Find her a couple of those old relic films and you will have her feeling better in no time at all.
"As for TV shows, Temptation Lane is obviously a classic. She told me she's been catching up on Modern Family and The New Normal. If you can find those then I'm sure you'll make her a very happy girl."
Rick sighed, thankful that he had gotten some good answers. "Thank you Lanie, you've been a huge help."
"Thanks for taking of my girl Castle. She's really lucky she has you. You two are great for one another."
"I'm the lucky one here Lanie, trust me. Thanks again!"
"Talk to you later Rick." Lanie replied, as the phone hung up.
Suppressing the urge to do a fist pump in the air, Rick hailed another cab, and got ready for his penultimate destination on the MKBFBJ – Make Kate Beckett Feel Better Journey.
Next stop: Blockbuster
A/N 2: Don't even know if Blockbuster is a legitimate place to buy TV shows and movies anymore. They went bankrupt here in Canada so I don't know haha. Anyways, there you have it! I'm hoping to have at least 2 more chapters with this story. I'm hoping that I'll get the next chapter posted by the weekend but I don't know how much time I'll have to write. My finals for University are starting this week and going on for the next 3 weeks so we'll see.
Thanks so much for reading!
Take care!