Interest is flagging so I'll wrap it up in the next chapter. Won't waste time on something unappreciated.

OM

She Learned the Truth at 17 – by Oldest Man

Chapter 4

Mercy Hospital
Surgical Waiting Room

Kate and Alexis sat together talking quietly. Lanie Parrish was staring at her friend and feeling a little left out and perhaps, a little jealous.

The little redhead had broken down all Kate's barriers and the two of them were obviously very comfortable with each other if their laughter and quiet moments were any indicators. She glanced over at Esposito who sat with Kevin Ryan who had shown up after hearing about Castle via the police grapevine.

They were talking about some sports bet they had and she was surprised at how open Ryan was about almost everything. He seemed so innocent at times yet she knew some of his record. You don't get to homicide if you're an 'innocent'.

"My dad really likes you, Kate. Boy-girl like. He was really pis – I mean he was really mad about something you said and he shut himself up in his study and wrote and wrote and then just sulked."

Kate didn't know how to respond. 'Boy-girl like'? Castle?

"It's okay, Kate. He's a big boy. He knows his place. You know how he said you were pretty before? He changed his mind. He said you were the Ugly Duckling who'd grown into a beautiful swan but was too stubborn to just look at her reflection in the pond and see what only a blind man could miss. God, he's such a Twilighter, some times."

"He said that? Really? And what's a 'Twilighter'?" God, she sounded like some hormonal teenager in the throes of first love.

"Yeah, that's what he said. Kate! Don't tell me you've never read or seen 'Twilight'? No way. We've got the Trilogy of books and the latest DVDs at the house. You just have to watch it. It's – yeah, you have to watch it."

"Okay. Maybe we'll have a girls' movie night? Popcorn, a movie and all that stuff." She actually was looking forward to spending time with Alexis. She was a font of knowledge about Rick.

It seemed like she'd been sitting on the hard plastic chair for days when it had only been a few hours.

'Maybe Castle's right when he says I need to put on some weight. Right now I could use the padding on my butt.'

A surgeon walked out into the surgical waiting room and asked for the family of Richard Castle. They all stood up and approached the doctor.

"He's in recovery and he'll be moved to a regular room as soon as his stats are stable. He'll be our guest for a few more days and then you lucky people get to take him home. He'll be on crutches for a few weeks and then in physiotherapy for as long as it takes."

Ryan and Esposito left after the doctor told them 'family only' visitors until the next day. Lanie hung around in case Beckett had any questions but then left when it was apparent that there weren't going to be any.

"Kate, I'm heading back. Call me if you need anything. Alexis, don't let her do anything she shouldn't."

Alexis' stomach growled and she blushed and hung her head. Redheads are notorious blushers and Alexis had always been one of the most notorious. She hated blushing since a blush seemed to accentuate her scars because of the differing thickness of skin tissues.

"Alexis, I notice that whenever you blush you hang your head. I used to do the same thing but I guess as I grew older, I blushed less. You know you'll grow out of it, too. It's just that with your complexion, a blush is just so much more noticeable."

"I do embarrass easily. Kate, do you think I should have another operation? Do you think it would make a real difference? Dad says it's my decision. He always hoped that each operation would – fix me, I guess. He says it doesn't matter to him, that it's my life and my decision. What do you think?"

"Alexis, I think that what your father says is right. It is your decision. What do you think?"

"I never got a valentine. I'm almost 15 and I've never kissed a boy. I sit in the dark and watch romantic comedies and I'm afraid I'll wake up some morning at sixty and realize I missed out on so much. What if it doesn't work?"

"What if it does? But let's say it doesn't. Alexis, trust me, there's someone out there who'll be your perfect guy. You're too young to worry about being sixty. Sixteen will be hard enough."

'I never got a valentine either. Not after I got burned. Who the hell am I to offer advice? I mean, 'your perfect guy'? It's easier to accept it at 14 than at 28. There's no one out there for me. Maybe I should consider surgery. Maybe…'

A nurse interrupted her musings and told them that he was in a room, room 403 and that they could stay as long as they liked.

Room 403

It had been a long day. Alexis was asleep, curled up in a comfortable position on a chair leaving Kate with nothing else to do except watch 'Castle watch', something she'd never admit to in a thousand years. He looked – small – lying there with his leg elevated in a complicated brace. She hadn't taken notice of her treacherous hand that seemed to seek out his. It was warm and comfortable and was ignoring Kate's pleas to get back in her lap with its mate.

She held it loosely and felt warmed by the contact. He looked so young an innocent lying there. She wanted to shake him awake and make sure he was still alive. His hand twitched and hers sought to comfort it in an embrace, intertwining her fingers in his.

She watched her hand caress his and glanced up to see his blue eyes fixed on hers. She tried to retrieve her hand but his simply would not release its new-found lover.

"Hey." His voice was raspy and she broke off the affair she was having with his hand and put a straw between his lips and watched as he drank a few sips, never breaking eye contact with her.

"Thanks." Kate sat back down and once again her traitorous hand sought out its new lover. She knew she was blushing from the sudden bloom of heat on her cheeks but he didn't look away. No, if anything, he made the situation worse when he looked down at their hands and smiled a sweet smile of approval.

"How bad?" She whispered the answers with the same tone and volume with which he'd addressed her. It was like waking up beside a lover for the first time and enjoying the bubble that must surround them.

"What time is it?" He still hadn't looked away except for the brief moment he'd smiled almost paternally at their entwined hands.

"Almost 1am. Child Protective Services was going to put Alexis in the system until your mother got back but I told them I'd watch over her. We'll stay at the loft if that's okay. I'll arrange to cut my hours until either you're out of here or your mother comes back so she won't be alone."

"Thanks. Could you wake her up so I can say goodnight and then I think you two need to get some sleep. Thanks, Kate. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Their hands parted and she felt hers reach out again for its lost lover but she clasped it with her other hand and smiled.

"Good idea. We'll be back tomorrow after she's done with school. I'll have one of the guys drop off your cell phone so you won't be totally at the mercy of the hospital."

Kate gently woke Alexis who was immediately on 'go' when she saw her father awake and alert. After a long lecture about 'using that leg', she hugged her father and said to Kate, 'I'll get his personal things from the nurse and meet you there'.

Once the teen was outside of the room, Castle laughed quietly and, at a raised eyebrow from Kate, explained his laugh.

"She's raised me up into the man I am today. Mother moved in a year ago after husband #3, or was it #4? Well, after the bastard stole all the money she had. 'Mother' is just her title; Alexis has always handled day-to-day disciplining.

Kate laughed and then covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry, but the way you phrased that was so – "

"The truth doesn't always hurt, Kate. Look, you're dead on your feet. Head back to the loft and I'll see you tomorrow. Mi casa es su casa. Alexis…" A huge yawn interrupted him. "Alexis knows where the credit cards are. Order in whatever floats your boat and make sure she doesn't stay up past 11 studying. Now, amscray, Kate. You need to sleep."

This time it was his hand that slipped around hers and entwined its fingers among hers.

"Okay. Oh, by the way, just so CPS doesn't get in your face, we live together and are engaged. That's how I kept Alexis from being put in foster care. Don't blow our cover, Rick."

"Damn! Beautiful and smart. Smart is sexy, Kate. I appreciate your intervention. She – she doesn't deserve foster care but it brings home a need for a solution to one problem I have. Thanks."

"You're most welcome. We're planning on eating you out of house and home. She's plotting a 'Twilight' night and was appalled that I was totally ignorant of the books."

Her treacherous hand was caressing his again and seemed to have developed a mind unto itself. On impulse, she leaned over and kissed his cheek and then bolted from the room.

Castle smiled to himself and then pressed the button on the medicator and allowed the drug to ease the pain he'd been wrestling with since awakening. It had been worth the pain to see them together and to then to talk with Kate without the boundaries of the Precinct hemming in their words.

'Engaged? Living together? Cool…'

Castle's loft

Kate had kept her mind busy with mundane things on the drive back to the loft. Alexis had retrieved her father's personal stuff from the nurse and had fretted over his missing cell phone, wallet and keys.

Kate had assured her that he'd probably left his cell phone and wallet in the loft when he went to the gym to work out. That didn't explain the missing keys and she planned on checking out the gym when they got to the loft.

His 'missing' items were at the front desk. The doorman had hurried to open the door at 2am when he'd seen who was getting out of the vehicle on his CCTV monitor.

"Miss Castle, your dad's things are at the desk. I'll get them for you. How's he doing?"

Explanations given, the two tired 'Castle girls' took the elevator to the 21st floor and the loft. After a brief 'discussion', Kate was lying in Rick's bed surrounded by his scent. The mattress was sucking the life out of her and she'd never felt anything so marvelous. The sheets felt like silk and her last thought was 'I could get used to this' before falling asleep.

6:45am

Alexis had coffee made and was already dressed for school when she knocked on the door and woke Kate.

"Kate, coffee's made and I'm heading off for school. I'm meeting some friends for a quick breakfast and I'll be back around 3:30ish. See ya later."

Beckett's first thought was 'where am I and who is outside my door' but memory kicked in and she mumbled a good morning and got up.

"Morning. Alexis, did you say 'coffee'?" She didn't want to get up. The life-sucking bed was so comfortable and the sheets and comforter were like a lover's embrace – so warm and welcome. She shook her head and headed for the shower. She had just enough time to get back to apartment and change and then make it to the precinct.

She was blow-drying her hair wondering why Castle had a built-in salon quality blow dryer in his bathroom when Alexis pounded on her door shouting, "Kate, we have a problem. Kate?"

Beckett pulled on her clothes and opened the door, forgetting for a moment that she hadn't brushed her hair out in her concerns for Alexis.

"What's the problem?"

"The press. I got off the elevator and saw several photographers that I know from past encounters. You're going to have to leave by the garage entrance. I'm sorry, Kate. I had no idea – maybe they're just here for Dad and don't know he's still in the hospital."

"No problem. I'll finish up here and leave by the back way. Thanks for the coffee by the way. Now you better scoot or you'll miss your friends."

While Alexis braved the paparazzi who'd congregated around the building's main entrance and shouted question at her that she ignored, Kate slipped out the back way and into her parked car. She was just putting the keys in the ignition when someone knocked on her side window. She glanced over, startled, and her hair swept back with the movement and someone took a picture then another and yet another.

She fumbled with the keys while she heard 'Are you Richard Castle's fiance? Do you live together? Are you really a cop?' There may have been others but those were the ones that stuck in her mind,

She pulled out and drove quickly to her apartment where she slammed the door in anger and frustration. 'How dare those animals take my picture!' She had other thoughts but that one kept repeating itself in her mind.

She dressed quickly for work and got caught up in paperwork for a case and didn't think too much about the morning's events.

Later that afternoon she dropped Alexis off alone to see her dad because she had been called out by Esposito and Ryan on a body drop.

"Hey, I thought I was off rotation. I had to leave Castle's daughter at the hospital to come here and I need to get back. What's so important?"

"Remember the guy with no hands? We got another one. Same deal. Shot execution-style in the back of the neck and his hands are nowhere to be found. The Feds took over the first case. Should we call them in on this one?"

"No. We'll work this one until someone tells us otherwise. Keep me in the loop and ask Lanie to call me with her results."

She drove back to the hospital and ran into Alexis in the hallway, leaning against the wall with her face in her hands. She'd obviously been crying and refused to look Kate in the eye.

"Alexis, please look at me. Is there something wrong with your dad? Has something happened?" She turned to the room door, drawn by the sound of an angry Castle cursing at someone.

She walked into the room and was surprised to see him sitting up with newspapers strewn all over the bed.

"Look, you tell that fat ass to be here in 30 minutes or he can kiss the annual donation to the Burn Unit goodbye. I want answers and I want them right now. Room 403."

He disconnected the call. He didn't see Kate standing in the door and he made another call. She never expected to see Castle this angry. She never expected him to be capable of such anger.

"Paula, Rick. Get hold of the accountant and cancel the donation to the Mercy Burn Unit. No, I'm not insane, I'm mad. Did you see – okay, then you know why. Bastards. Don't they know the meaning of the word 'privacy'? Also, get on the horn to your PR gnomes and start damage control. She never signed on for this and I'll be damned if I'll allow her to be further hurt by these – these jackals. I don't care about that, just get it done."

He disconnected the call and threw his head back against the pillow muttering, "Shit. She'll never let me in now." He scrubbed his face with his hands and then looked up and saw her.

"Kate. I'm so sorry. I had no idea they could be so heartless. Please, just say something?"

She walked in, intending to sit with him and find out what had pissed him off so badly when a folded section of the newspaper caught her eye.

"No! No! This – no!" She turned and bolted from the room, unable to stifle the sudden sobs that tore from her chest.

"Kate! Wait! Please…" He tore out his IV and somehow got his leg out of the suspended sling and then hopped out into the hall in hot pursuit.

A nurse tried to stop him and he just ran her over. Every step was agony but he knew it was nothing compared to what Beckett must be feeling.

Someone called for an orderly and a big guy stepped out of a side hall and tried to stop him.

"Sir, you're tearing up the doc's work. Let's get you into a wheel – "

Castle elbowed him in the chest and hung onto the railing and pulled himself along, trying to keep his weight off his right leg.

"Kate! Damn it, Beckett…" He hobbled into the surgical waiting room and pulled himself over and into a chair beside her. She was bent over, face in her hands, elbows on her knees, and sobbing. He sat down gratefully and put his arm around her back and leaned over and almost whispered.

"Kate, I'm so sorry. I'm trying to get them to stop any further publications. I can't undo what's been done but I can damned well make certain it doesn't continue."

She sat up, shrugging off his arm. "You need to get back into bed and quit scaring your daughter half to death. She was out in the hallway – "

"I know. She brought me the paper and saw – and then she ran out. I didn't know, I swear, Kate. Alexis isn't afraid, she's angry and feels responsible. We both do. I never thought that – "

"Mr. Castle, I heard you wanted to see me." A large man in a very expensive suit stood in the doorway looking disturbed at the interruption.

"Yeah. You just lost $25,000. I started the pediatric burn ward with a quarter million dollar donation. The Alexis Rogers Foundation. Ring a bell? Well, it's gone. I'll give it to Sinai from now on."

"What? Be reasonable, Mr. Castle. The children – "

"One of your staff violated my privacy and caused someone I care a great deal about personal embarrassment and hurt. I can't tolerate that. Get one of your minions to prepare AMA discharge papers. I can't get out of this gossip mill fast enough. You can count on hearing from my attorneys on this one."

"Rick, you can't just leave. Your leg – " Kate couldn't believe all that she'd heard and that he was leaving AMA.

"Please take Alexis and me back to the loft. I'll be fine there. I won't bother you again after this. I'm just so damned sorry it happened."

It took 20 minutes to get him dressed and into a wheelchair and then out to Kate's car. Neither of them said one word to each other and Alexis just sat quietly after Castle managed to crawl into the back seat.

Beckett pulled down into the underground garage after being stopped by private security who verified her name against a list. Apparently Castle's instructions had included private security and for once she was glad he had such power.

By the time Alexis and Kate got him situated on the couch, his face was pale and sweaty from the pain.

"Castle, you weren't the one who took the photographs. Neither you nor Alexis should feel guilty. Look, I've gotten used to the stares and winces when people catch a glimpse of my face. I'm tough. I can handle it. Let me say goodbye to Alexis and then I'll go. I don't think you should come to the precinct anymore though, Rick."

"Beckett, please, just listen to me. I want to, no, I need to make this right. Look, there have been a lot of improvements and advances in plastic surgery. Let me – let me pay for one last operation. I want you to be comfortable in your own skin. I want you to be happy."

She sat down beside him and leaned against him unconsciously. "Why? Why is it so damned important that you do this? You don't owe me squat, Castle, and I'd rather you gave the money to a hospital. I am comfortable in my own skin and – "

He reached over and pulled her hair away from her face and she cringed and pushed him away, looking down and away from him, hiding her face.

"Are you, Kate? I don't think so. Go say goodbye to Alexis. I'll send you a copy of my book. Thanks for staying with her. Thanks for everything. Be safe out there."

"Rick, I – " There was really nothing she could say at this point. Her reaction to his touch and his response spoke volumes. She said goodbye to Alexis and then leaned over and pressed a kiss into Castle's sweaty hair and left.