I officially, definitely, completely suck. I haven't dismised any of my stories, but real life really got in the way lately...After getting a nudge from a kind reader about this story, I promised I would have something up soon. This was not supposed to become so angsty, but...Consider it as kind of a bridge between the first chapters and what's coming next. Thanks a lot for reading for sticking with me and this!
Richard Castle had never run as fast in his entire life.
He has never managed to run more than five block at full speed either.
But, as he reached the corners of Broadway and 5th, his feet picked up speed and his frantic heart pumped even more blood in his desperate limbs as he half-ran, half-stumbled the last hundred feet, his whole body and soul agonizing.
The beat cops protecting the scene moved away as he charged towards them, one of them uselessly pointing him in the right direction.
Other cops and firemen obliviously formed a clear passage for the writer to use as he stormed past them, his eyes hopelessly stuck to the sight before him.
Castle ignored the chaos and shouts of people surrounding him as he almost came crashing on the crown vic's wrecked frame.
He didn't even feel a strong hand pulling him back until something, or rather someone shoved him back in warning. "Get it together, man."
Castle nodded and ran a sweaty hand down his face. Everyone noticed how shaky it was but no one commented on it. They knew.
Castle took several deep breaths as he walked to the car, struggling to keep a straight face on. He blocked out the image of the completely smashed car; he refused to even glance at the taxi cab still crushed against the detective's car, the way they formed one sick version of one gigantic mass of a faceless vehicle. He barely acknowledged Esposito's taut body leaning inside the vehicle, hiding the person he desperately needed to see. "Kate?"
His poker face went to hell the second the faint mewl escaped his girlfriend's lips. "Castle?"
Esposito had the sense to pull back before getting knocked back on his feet, freeing up the space for the writer to come closer. "Easy, Beckett, okay? Castle's here and they're almost ready to get you out of there."
Kate squeezed her friend's hand as he released it. "Thanks, Javi."
Castle forcefully ignored the blood staining the Hispanic detective, focusing instead on his girlfriend's features.
He almost wished he hadn't. "Hey."
He watched helplessly as his partner's throat struggled into make her vocal chords work. "Hey."
Castle reached inside and used his sleeve to gently wipe the blood trailing down her face, wincing with her when he inadvertedly pressed over a slowly forming bruise. "Sorry, love. I'm so sorry."
Kate tried to shake her head but the neck brace the medics had used to stabilize her spine made it impossible and she sighed, the air catching in her throat. The weak cough sent burning flames throughout her body and she went rigid, moaning as she tried to move. "Christ, Kate, don't move!"
"Hurts."
Castle bit the inside of his cheek. He had to keep it together until she was out of the car. One look at her face and he knew that if he broke now, she'd broke too. "I know, sweetie. It's almost over, okay?"
Looking inside the car, Castle focused on the woman's seemingly uninjured hand and took it, frowning at its coolness. His thumb automatically began to rub small circles in her palm, where she was most sensitive, to warm it up.
They spent the next moments in silence, the writer attuned to every hitch in his girlfriend's breath, cringing with her whenever a wave of pain tore through her.
Over fifteen minutes had passed when Castle saw from the corner of his eye Esposito and Ryan talking with one of the firemen. They weren't very happy, from the look on their faces. "Hey Kate?"
The detective hummed, her eyes blinking weakly through the haze of pain and shock.
"You really didn't want to have dinner with Paula tonight, huh?"
Kate barked out a surprised laugh. "Oh God, Castle. Don't make me laugh."
"Sorry, love."
"Stop…calling me…that." She panted as she struggled to look at him. "Rick?"
Castle immediately leaned closer and pressed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Yes, ma'am?"
The expected roll of eyes didn't happen but his partner did purse her lips a little. "I can't…can't see you. Please."
The way the taxi had crashed in Kate's car made it hard for a tall man such as Castle to lean inside enough to make eye contact with her but he made it work. The muscles in his back and legs protested as he kept himself half-bent over the car's thankfully open window, but he ignored them and smiled when their eyes finally locked. "Hey there, beautiful."
"I'm…sorry. Didn't get…you…your coffee."
"I don't care, as long as you're okay," he chided her gently and reached out, brushing his thumb over her lower lip. "Don't do that, you're hurt enough as it is." Kate finally released her reddened lip from between her teeth, and groaned. "It hurts, Rick."
Their relationship was still new. Although they had seen each other at their best and some of their worst, this side of Kate, broken and utterly miserable, was not something Castle had witnessed a lot. It terrified him.
Her admitting about being in pain, either physical or emotional, was not something the cop easily did, even now. If she had been conscious longer when she'd been shot, Castle had doubts she would've voiced being in pain so readily so, for her to share so promptly about being in pain left the writer heartbroken.
His hand coming up to cup the detective's cheek Castle leaned in and, a little awkwardly, brought their lips together in an attempt to distract her.
There was no way to tell if Kate was going to be pissed or not about the sudden move, but Castle got his answer when his girlfriend's mouth opened and he felt the tip of her tongue on his lips.
"Um. Sorry to interrupt, guys, but they're ready." Ryan apologized, his face slightly flushed but a gently smile on his lips.
This time the groan escaping Kate's throat wasn't one of pain. Castle chuckled weakly and kissed her forehead. Kate weakly rolled her eyes and bit back a whimper when the move aggravated the pounding in her head. "Castle?"
Castle kissed her one last time, and then peppering her pale features with light kisses as he heard heavy footsteps, no doubt belonging to firemen, approaching them. "Yeah?"
Kate swallowed and winced, her fingers twitching in the writer's hand. "I'm really fed up of getting stuck in cars."
Because RL tends to suck my inspiration (and time) Reviews, comments, anything is welcome, really. Suggestions, requests and/or ideas are welcomed as well! Oh, and...Castle is back in less then 24h! Can we all say HALLELUJAH!?