She Learned the Truth at 17 by Oldest Man
Castle leaned back against a parked car and Kate thought 'to hell with the image' and slipped her arms around him and hugged him, letting her face rest against his chest. She could feel the rapid beating of his heart and it was a comfort to her.
Natalie Rhodes made her way through the crowd and the line of officers pointing to Beckett and saying, "I'm with Beckett and Castle." She waved one bloody hand at the officer and pushed past him.
Chapter 21
Esposito and Ryan were transporting the suspect back to the 12th for interrogation, booking and arraignment. Esposito shoved the man into the back of a patrol car and told the officer, a rookie named Turner, to follow Ryan's car back to the station house. Esposito got in the back seat with the shooter and Mirandized him and then started asking questions but he got no response.
"Take the park road and stop near the bridal paths and take a hike, Turner. I need some quiet time with my friend here. We have things to discuss."
Turner twisted around in his seat and gave the older detective a 'what the fuck?' look but said nothing. He might have only been at the precinct 7 months but he knew Esposito by reputation. "Yes, sir, the park road. I think I need to find a men's room."
Back on the street, Kate and Natalie were talking about the events, well, Natalie was going on and on and finally Kate just asked her to be quiet.
"Natalie, shut up. Tell me about the woman I left you with?" She needed to talk about the shootings, not Natalie's impression of how Nikki Heat would have handled things. Nikki Heat was fictional. The woman with the bleeding throat was a real person.
"She died. The paramedics said her carotid had been torn and there was nothing I could have done. She – she looked at me with huge eyes and tried to talk and then she was gone, Beckett, just gone."
There were tears in her eyes and Kate felt a moment of guilt for how she'd treated her. This was all new to her and she was torn between bewilderment and being excited.
"There was nothing you could have done, Natalie. She was minutes away from dying the moment she hit the sidewalk. I knew it and I think she probably knew it. At least she had someone there with her, even if it was a stranger."
Natalie looked up at Castle who hadn't said a word. He looked pale and was sweating in 40 degree weather and his eyes seemed unfocused.
"Hey, Rick, you okay? You look like you're going to pass out on us." She tried for the right tone of voice – concern but friendly joking – but it fell flat.
"Castle, are you okay? Do you need to sit down?" Kate had stepped away from him when Rhodes barged in and she was 'Detective Beckett' now and needed to process the crime scene and get organized and back to the precinct. She had a murderer to interrogate.
He nodded and looked around for somewhere to sit.
"Natalie, take Castle over to the paramedics and have him checked out. That was a pretty intense fight and I can see a bruise forming under his eye. I have to get this scene secured or I'd do it. If he's okay, drop Castle off at home and I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
Just then she heard her name called and saw Captain Montgomery waving her over and so she pecked a kiss on Castle's cheek and went to speak with her boss.
Natalie helped Rick over to the ambulance parked at the other end of the street from where Beckett and her boss were talking. He seemed to stumble a bit and she tightened her grip on his right arm and helped him onto the bumper of the ambulance.
A paramedic came over and said, "Who do we have here?" with a leer and a glance at Natalie's breasts and she pointed to him and bit out, "He was the guy who took out the shooter and he's sweating and his eyes seem weird and unfocused. Beckett wanted you to check him out if you're done checking me out."
The paramedic looked guilty and then asked Castle how he was feeling and if he hurt anywhere.
"Took a punch to the left bicep and it's probably just a muscle bruise but it hurts like hell. And I took a shot to the left cheek and it's numb and I think I'm gonna have a black eye but other than…" He passed out.
"Castle!" Natalie grabbed him as he fell towards her and the paramedic called to his partner for help. Between them they got Castle up and into the back of the ambulance and onto a collapsed gurney.
They called in the situation to the hospital base station and received simple instructions. The driver motioned for Rhodes to get out but she shook her head and said, "I'm with him. I'm staying with him."
The driver closed the double doors and then drove off towards University Presbyterian, their base station for dispatch.
"Oh, shit!" The paramedic had taken off Rick's bomber jacket and Natalie saw the blood that began spurting across the paramedic's chest. He fixed a pressure dressing on his bicep and then ran another IV into the existing port and yelled up to his partner that "we have a bleeder here". Natalie thought she could feel the big rig begin to accelerate and the sudden warbling of sirens startled her as they passed through intersections.
"Don't worry. I've seen a hundred gunshot wounds like this. It's just a surprise since I didn't see any evidence of bleeding."
Natalie picked up Castle's jacket and hugged it to her. She was an actor not a nurse or EMT and she'd already seen her fill of blood and death in the real world in the space of thirty minutes.
"Hey, don't you dare pass out on me! Don't look at it if you can't handle it. I can't handle two patients by myself and this guy needs my attention." Gone was the lecher who'd checked her out. In his place was a young professional with no time for hysteria. She shouldn't even be in the back of the bus.
Castle regained his wits enough to pull off the oxygen mask and grab Natalie by the sleeve of her jacket and tell her that his cell was in his inside pocket. "Use speed dial one for Beckett. Tell her not to worry. Tell her…" He was out again.
Natalie reached into his bomber jacket and tugged out an iPhone but it was ruined. A small caliber bullet was imbedded in the screen. She held it up and showed it to the EMT.
"Hang on to that. He'll probably want it as a souvenir. Lucky bastard. Probably saved him some hospital time."
She couldn't call Beckett without the number and she couldn't call his family. All this would have to wait until they got to the hospital.
Natalie had folded Castle's jacket over her arm and something felt – squishy – in the sleeve and she shoved her hand into it and jerked it out like she'd touched something evil. Blood. Her hand was coated with his blood.
"Hey! His sleeve lining is saturated with blood!"
She wiped the palm of her hand off on her pants leg and wondered just what the hell she was doing running around behind those two. She made herself a promise to call her agent and find out if she had any recourse to the studio's demand that she 'shadow' Beckett. She felt a lot more comfortable on a sound stage than a crime scene.
"Yeah, that's a normal side effect of a compromised major vein or artery or did you flunk basic biology at 'Actors School'?" He'd had it with her. She had no business being in the bus. He had his hands full just keeping his patient stable. He didn't need an hysterical actor fucking up his shift.
Central Park
Near the Bridal Paths
Officer Turner zipped up his fly and looked at his watch. He'd given Detective Esposito enough time or so he thought and he walked slowly back to the patrol car to continue on to the 12th Precinct. He didn't want to know what had happened in his unit while he was taking a whiz. Ignorance was bliss.
Esposito removed the needle from his prisoner's elbow joint and wiped it clean on the dirtbag's pant leg. He rolled down the window to get a breath of fresh air. The smell of vomit almost made him sick but he was sickened more by what he'd extracted from the suspect.
Turner opened his car door and leaned in and then stepped back, gagging. The suspect had vomited and the smell…
"He got car sick, that's all. Let's get a move on. Traffic was a real bitch and I guess between the fumes and the start/stop of traffic, he got sick. Sorry about the mess, Turner, but don't worry. I take care of my friends. Isn't that right, Mr. Coonan?"
12th Precinct.
Kate had called Rick's cell twice since turning the crime scene management over to the Captain. It went to voicemail. She was starting to hyperventilate and needed to calm down and center herself. He was with Rhodes and probably just shaken up by the fight.
Coffee. She needed coffee.
Ryan was on the phone with Esposito asking him basically 'Where the hell are you, Javier?' and getting a bullshit answer in response.
Kate caught the tale-end of the conversation and looked at Kevin with a raised eyebrow that said more than she wanted it to.
"Esposito's pulling in now. The suspect got sick and they got caught in traffic. He'll be here any minute now. Oh, yeah, Esposito said he Mirandized the guy in front of Officer Turner so you won't have to worry about any technicalities ruining this. I's dotted and T's crossed as always."
She was finishing up her coffee when she heard the elevator 'ding' and walked out into the bullpen. She saw Esposito hauling the man down the corridor to the interrogation room.
Their suspect looked up at her and for the third time in her life, Kate Beckett stared into the eyes of the man who had disfigured her so long ago. She took a deep breath and followed Esposito and their suspect into interrogation.
She could do this. This was no different than any other interrogation. Forget about the acid burning her skin and her screams. Forget about the pain and agony. Concentrate on organizing the evidence against him and getting a confession.
Her personal issues were relegated to a place in the back of her mind.
'Where are you, Castle? I need you!'