A/N: I'm so happy with the response this fic has gotten so far...PLEASE REVIEW AND ENJOY this chapter...
Beckett, Ryan and Esposito had been waiting for almost twenty minutes now. The ambulance is ready for a quick transport, the only thing missing is the patient. They were not far from the scene, but even so the three detectives couldn't see what was happening at the ruble, making Beckett more impatient as time passed. The dark sky was clear, and although there was still some debris and smoke coming from the building, you could see the starry sky. Beckett was pacing in front of the ambulance and was starting to make Esposito and Ryan a little dizzy.
"Beckett, digging a hole right in front of the ambulance is not gonna get Castle out any faster." Esposito said in annoyance after ten minutes of Beckett's pacing.
"Why is this taking so long?" Beckett said to no one in particular, completely ignoring Esposito's comment.
"Beckett your boy was buried under six floors of concrete and debris, give the firefighters some credit." Ryan said. Beckett just glared at them in indignation. It was like they didn't understand who was down there, but deep down she knew they were just doing their best despite the deplorable circumstances.
"Wait..." Ryan said about ten minutes later. "Do you guys hear that?" Both Beckett and Esposito looked at him and listened carefully. Then, their faces lighted up.
"Is that...?" Beckett said with her voice trembling and tears in her eyes.
"That's cheering!" Esposito confirmed with a huge smile on his face as they heard applauses.
"He's out!" The three detectives yelled in unison, crying and laughing hysterically. Castle was finally out. Beckett couldn't hide her tears and her legs were shaking so bad she had to squad as the firefighters brought her fiancé back to her. There was a long line of them coming out of the giant mess that used to be a building and although she couldn't see Castle yet, she did see the large stretcher they were using to carry him out of the ruble.
"There!" Ryan yelled, as a small group was making their way through the paramedics, officers and firefighters cheering, and Beckett finally saw him. She cried. Shaking, she ran towards him. As she saw him for the first time after the explosion, Beckett tried as best as she could not to cry harder. He was covered in dust, his shirt was ripped and pants that once were black were now almost gray from all the debris. She saw blood stains over his clothes, but paid little attention to it. She finally reached his face.
"Castle..." Beckett said with a shaky whisper. There were cuts all over his face, a particularly nasty gash on his forehead, plus was covered with dirt. His eyes were barely open and he had a mask over his nose and mouth.
"Hey.." Castle's low voice was muffled by the mask. He looked at her lovingly as he saw the tears in her eyes, trying to give her little comfort despite the situation.
"Hi..."Beckett breathed. "You scared me there for a bit." She gave him a watery smile while she gently ran her fingers through his dusty hair.
"I assure you..." There was a small cough. "I had no intention to do so." Although he wanted give her some kind of comfort, his arms felt heavy and useless. They walked fast until the reached the ambulance and both Ryan and Esposito approached them.
"Hey Castle why do you always have to called the attention?" Esposito joked, though deep down he was more than relieved and grateful he made it out alive. Castle tried to move his neck to look at him better but couldn't. He was wearing a neck brace.
"Try not to move Rick." said Beckett's soft voice.
"I'm glad you're okay Castle." Castle heard Ryan's voice in the distance. His eyes were closing and slowly pulling him into darkness.
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The ride to the hospital was stressful to say the least. Castle was unconscious most of the ride, while the paramedic worked on him. Beckett held her fiancé's hand the whole time, afraid he was gonna slip at any moment. The paramedic quickly inserted an IV on Castle's arm and started working on Castle's left leg. Beckett couldn't help but seeing how his leg was swollen and adopted a dark color. The paramedic pulled something that looked like a wooden board, the detective only assumed it was to splint his leg.
"I'm trying to keep the bone straight." The paramedic told Beckett, though she wasn't really listening over the fact that her fiancé's leg was deep purple. "The color is just for being under pressure too long. As soon as the doctors relieve the pressure accumulated in his legs is more than likely they'll return to the normal appearance."
Suddenly, the machine watching Castle's heart started beeping faster, which alarmed Beckett. The paramedic moved over Castle's shirt and seemed to check for something, though Beckett didn't know it and was more preoccupied by the numerous bruises that covered his chest. His situation was way worse than he let it show when the firefighters got him out.
"What's happening?!" Beckett yelled at the medic.
"His breath sounds….is bad…" He said without looking at her. "His pupils are blown…massive head trauma…"He said to himself, then he raised his head up to the driver. "How much longer until we get him to the hospital?!"
"Not much Jake! Just keep him alive for two more minutes!" the driver answered.
As Beckett heard that small conversation, she was only left to pray to whoever could help Castle survive this.
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It's been almost twelve hours since Beckett learned Castle was buried under what used to be a building. Ten hours hours since they told her it would take four hours to get Castle out and four hours since the doctors told her they were going to do everything they could to save him. She was pacing the waiting room with a cold coffee in her hand, waiting impatiently for the news that her partner and fiancé was gonna be okay. Ryan and Esposito had gone to pick up Alexis and Martha, who were at the precinct waiting for news on him. She couldn't help thinking about the other victims and how lucky she was that they had found him before it was too late. She wondered about Gina too. She hadn't heard anything thing from her, but then again Beckett didn't have the in mind for anything that wasn't Castle. She'll find out later, when she knows for sure that Castle is going to be fine. Then, the doors from the surgical area opened, snapping Beckett from her thoughts.
"How is he?" Beckett asked as she felt some bizarre emptiness in her stomach.
"Are you Beckett?" the doctor asked.
"Yeah…" Beckett answered annoyed. She wanted to know about Castle's condition, not that he knew who she was.
"The reason I ask is because it was the last word he said before we anesthetized him." The man explained. "Well, first things first. Mr. Castle came here with massive internal injuries, numerous fractures and extensive head trauma, due to the building collapse. For now we managed to stabilize him by operating his abdominal and chest injuries, as well as repairing all the bleeders we saw in his brain. However, his body was too weak to sustain any further procedures, which is why we haven't operated on his fractures."
"So I suppose he's not conscious right now." Beckett concluded. God, it all sounded as if Castle was not gonna survive this. But she just couldn't think like that.
"That's right. We're keeping him sedated and intubated for his body to regain strength for the future surgeries."
"So he's gonna be okay?" Beckett asked quietly almost as if she didn't want to know it.
"Well the next 24 hours are critical right now. If he makes it through them without any major complications, then we will take him to the OR again, but I need to warn you, it will be a long and painful process, and it is more than likely that he will have some kind of damage afterwards."
"How bad could the damage be?" the detective could feel her heart ache and stinging inside her chest.
"It's hard to predict at the moment." The doctor told her gently. "Tomorrow we're gonna lower his sedation to check on his neurological function, but for now we're most concern on keeping him alive."
"Can I see him?" Beckett asked after a moment. She felt like it was all to much to handle, yet she didn't think she could wait any longer to see him and give all her strength, even if it was by just holding his hand.
"Follow me please."
A/N: I know it took forever, but then again I'm also working on another story so….see you in the next chapter….please review