Spill The Sickness Chapter 5

Because going back to University clearly is a cause for inspiration

Rick got out of the taxi and began running. He was swerving and diving through the streets, trying – and failing – to avoid hitting the crowds of people that were walking excruciatingly slow on the sidewalk. He briefly considered running on the street, but them decided that life was good as it was and it would do Kate no good to have him lying in a hospital bed. He was issued more than a couple death threats by passersby who he had accidentally hit with his bags of supplies and apologies were spilling out of his mouth left, right and center. His legs were screaming in protest but adrenaline was pumping through his veins and his heart felt like it would leap out of his chest because Kate Beckett loved him.

Finally, like a beacon of light shining in the sky on a dark and stormy night, Rick spotted Kate's apartment. Feeling a weight lifted off his chest, he picked up the pace, tapping into energy sources he didn't even know he possessed. Slipping his key seamlessly out of his pocket, he opened the front door to Kate's apartment with such force that he very nearly broke the handle off. As he neared the elevator, he saw that it was currently up on the 5th floor. Kate's elevator was infamously slow (something that they had taken advantage of on more than one occasion) so he decided to bypass it and opted for the stairs instead. Taking them two at a time, Rick's smile grew as he neared the 3rd floor, where his sick girlfriend presumably lay waiting. As he got into the hallway, he continued running. His feet felt like they were flying across the ground, until suddenly his feet grew too big. That, or his legs finally decided it was simply time to quit. He found the ground coming towards him as he tripped over his own feet and plummeted to the ground.

Making the spontaneous call that his gifts were more precious than the bones in his body, he tucked his bags into his chest as a football player would with a recently caught football and began to spin as his knees hit the ground. Landing firmly on his back, and hearing a few cracks in the process. Rick smiled as he saw all of his stuff in the bags safe and sound. Clearly, his fall had made a loud noise, but he was too busy, squeezing his eyes closed and wheezing and gasping to hear door opening and sock covered feet padding down the hall over to his unmoving form.

"Castle?" Kate asked, sounding a lot like a chronic chain smoker, "Why are you lying on the floor?"

He opened his eyes to see his girlfriend smiling patiently at him as she towered over him, barely concealing the love pouring out from her. As she knelt down to check on him, Rick replied "Oh, you know Beckett. I just realized how truly beautiful the carpet in the hallway was so I decided to get a closer look at it."

Kate laughed softly. "Is that really the best you got?"

"I was rushed woman, you didn't give me enough time to come up with something better. Give me a second and I'll spin you a tale about the tiny people living in the carpet and their tiny war and how I was the only man big enough to stop it."

"Well clearly your imagination is still fine. How are you feeling?" Kate asked as she ran her fingers through the hair on the nape of his neck, tracing the shell of his ear with her thumb.

He wanted to ask her about her half-asleep, drugged up declaration earlier. But upon looking past her bright eyes he saw that she still looked awful. He chose to let the conversation wait for a more convenient time and instead asked: "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that? I'm fine Kate. Nothing feels broken. But what about you? How are you doing?"

Kate sighed, loose strands of hair being blown away from her face. The remains of what used to be a messy braid lay limply at the side of her neck. Her nose was still red, she looked pale and diseased, but she was still the most beautiful thing Rick had ever seen.

"Honestly Rick, I feel like crap. I just slept the whole day away but I barely feel any better. My eyes are still red, my throat feels like I just ate razor blades, and I can't do anything without falling asleep because of my cold medicine. I can't decide what food I want but I'm hungry, and I want to watch TV but I can't figure out what show and I'm just so sick of being sick." She took a deep breath. "Sorry, needed to get that off my chest. What's in the bags?"

Rick began to sit up, ignoring the protest from his back. "Well, it just so happens that I've been scouring the streets of Manhattan gathering everything on my MKBFBJ."

"Make Kate Beckett Feel Better Journey?" she asked.

"Damn woman, you're good. That's uncanny. But yeah, that. Anyways, why don't you go get yourself comfortable and I will do my best to help make you feel better. Okay?" Rick looked into her eyes, seeing the resignation in them.

" 'Kay" Kate responded, as she grabbed Rick's hand and helped him up. Taking the lead, he led them back into Kate's apartment and took them over to Kate's couch. She sat down, and Rick grabbed the blanket draped across the back and placed it beside her. "Give me a minute." He said, wandering over to the island in her kitchen and placing the bags on the counter. He first grabbed the cold medicine, lozenges and Kleenex and placed them next to the bag. Grabbing the face pack, he threw it into the freezer to let it cool and moved on to the bag of groceries. He pulled out a Gala apple, found Kate's apple corer, and quickly cut the apple into pieces. Placing it on a plate next to the caramel dip, he then whipped up a large glass of cranberry juice and gingerale, placing several ice cubes into the glass. Practically dancing through her kitchen, he grabbed a bowl and threw the mini ravioli into it, placing it into the microwave as he got to the final bag. Rick recalled the conversations he had had today, from Esposito to Kate's dad to –

"Shit, no, wait." Rick yelled at no one in particular. "I forgot to go and get the music that Lanie suggested. I asked her and she told me all about MC Hammer, and reminded me of the B-52s. But then she brought up movies and I –"

"You talked to Lanie?" a voice suddenly asked from the living room. Kate had sat up from her fetal position on the couch and was now making her way over to the kitchen, wrapped up in the blanket as if she was a caterpillar inside a cocoon.

Rick paused, internally smacking himself. This wasn't part of the journey, or the plan. "Um, yeah. See, I wasn't sure what was guaranteed to make you feel better. So I had called Lanie because you two have been friends for a while. After all, I felt that she would know better than your dad what kind of music you like so I called – "

"And my dad? Really Castle? Why was this all so important to you?" Kate asked, the confusion on her face so plain. Rick wanted nothing more than to take her face between his hands, kiss the tip of her nose, smooth away her furrowed brow and kiss her senseless. Instead, he settled for words; or at least tried to. "Kate, we've been in this thing for over 6 months now. And I've never been too overbearing with my feelings because I know you weren't quite ready to say the words yet. But seeing you sick today made me realize that I'm in this for the long run and as your partner and boyfriend I wanted to make you feel better. And more than that, I wanted to do the best job possible because I want you to know that I'm serious about this and that I'm worth it. Despite all the fights and stupid arguments we get into I want this Kate. You, me, us. All of it. I just wanted you to be able to smile on even the worst days and I wanted to be the reason you were smiling. So I went through all this work because I love you. And then you told me that you love me too over the phone as you were drugged up and falling asleep and I knew that I needed to see you happy and well again. Even though you probably don't remember it, it's okay. You don't need to say it again because I know you do but if you aren't ready to say the words it's fine I just want you to feel better…" Rick trailed off, unsure of how forgetting music led to him saying 'I love you' but yet here he was. Too afraid to look up and see what Kate's reaction was, he chose to look down at the counter instead.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay in last chapter. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it.

I'm on a roll, I just wanted to get some of this posted right now. Let me know what you think of the chapter and I'll be sure to update again by the end of the week.

Cheers!