Tell Me a Story
Disclaimer: I still don't own it, and they're way more evil than me
AN: this will be a series of disconnected one shots, based on prompts that I receive through tumblr. Because I wanted them to have a home here.
For everyone kind enough to ask. Past, present, and future
Anonymous prompt: kate gets shot but this time she's pregnant (happy ending)
This time, he sees the movement, the quick flash for what it is, and his physical contact beats out his shout of warning. He yanks and her wrist, pulling her down on top of him.
The bullet makes contact, through, catching her vest in the back, near her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She says into his ear, voice tight with pain. Castle went down on his back, and he'd broken her fall.
"I'm," he gets out, sounding breathless from the fall, "fine. Are you -"
She wants to lie, spare him the worry. Because she knows that it will sound so much worse than it really is, and she hates the idea of putting him though that. But, there has been too much of that, and last time, it had nearly cost them everything.
"Hit my shoulder," she admits quietly - "but just through the vest. I'm okay, Rick."
"You're shot!" He hisses, moving gently but quickly to put her off and get to his feet. She stays seated on the ground, carefully cradling her arm.
She says nothing as he moves around behind her to check, ensure the bullet is in fact stuck in the vest and not her body. She can hear the boys behind them, controlled chaos as they go about apprehending the shooter. The sounds of sirens are approaching, and she realizes they are about to be inundated by backup and paramedics.
Castle helps her to her feet as they pull up. "You need to get this looked at," he says, his voice insistent as his hand hovers at her injured shoulder without touching.
"I'm fine," she insists again. "There will be bruising, you know that. But it's not the same, Castle. I'm walking and talking. I'm here." She brushes the fingers of her good hand at his cheek, but winces when the action causes more movement than she expected.
He shakes his head "You need to get this checked out," he insists. "Your shoulder could be dislocated, you could need a cast or a brace. Plus, you're in pain."
She wants to resist, but he's right. And she owes him, a little, for last time. She can already see the dark shadow of memory that plays at his eyes. There will be nightmares, she's sure. Probably for both of them.
They end up at the hospital at the paramedics insistence, wanting her looked over thoroughly by a doctor for good measure. It takes much longer thing Castle thinks it should, and Kate is fairly certain he's on the verge of bribing someone to get her seen when the doctor finally comes in.
"Mr. and Mrs Castle," the kind faced older woman begins before she's even looked up from the chart in her hand her hand. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but we wanted to wait on the results of your blood work from intake. A good call too, I'd say."
"I'm sorry?" Kate says, not understanding.
"Your x-rays look good, and there's no dislocation that we can see. But, there's probably a good deal of muscle strain and some bruising, so you'll be needing something for pain, no doubt. But with female patients, we like to check the blood work first. Just to be safe." The woman smiles softly at their confused expressions. "I'm assuming since you didn't mark it on the form, you didn't know you were expecting."
The air seems to have gone out of the room, Kate thinks. "We're -"
"Pregnant?" Castle finishes for her. Helpful man.
"Indeed," the doctor confirms. "All seems in order there, but we'll do an exam and a scan, just to be sure. And I'd advise you to avoid fieldwork from here out Detective."
Kate's blood runs cold. It - she could have lost…this could have been so much worse. "I didn't know. I had no idea. I would never have been…" She trails off, because the words don't feel like enough.
"I know, Kate. I know," Castle says quietly. Then to the doctor he adds, "She fell."
"Soft landing," Kate cuts in quickly. "You broke my fall." She looks at the doctor. "Someone should look at his back, and his knee," she adds, concern momentarily overriding her shock.
"We'll give everybody a once over," the doctor promises, "but as I said so far everything looks good. You're all very lucky."
And they are, fine and lucky, both. They take a cab home and find a message from Gates waiting on arrival telling Kate not to set foot in her precinct for the rest of the week, and to expect to be chained to her desk until she's fully cleared from the shooting and recovery. The Captain doesn't know the half of it, Kate thinks.
But she doesn't care. She doesn't think she's ever looked forward to days of paperwork quite this much. And from the self satisfied grin that hasn't left Castle's face since they were given the all clear, she's pretty sure he agrees.