Richard Castle had taken the day off to catch up on some writing. Kate had become a major distraction since they began officially dating three months prior. When Kate wasn't at work she was with Castle and that's how he liked it, never out of his sight for long. But his publishers had been pressing him for the next instalment of Nikki Heat, this is how he came to be alone at his loft while his darling Kate was at the 12th. Castle was worried about her. She was working alot of hours over the last few weeks due to a very complex case. She wasn't getting nearly enough sleep and as hard as he tried to get her to eat more, his efforts were futile. He was being so careful not to push too hard for fear of her running. He knew she loved him but Katherine Beckett liked to do things her way, he had to be grateful she had let him in this far.
Kate had snapped at Castle that morning as he prodded her to have a little more to eat. She wasn't deliberately starving herself, she had picked at a few things on her plate but she just wasn't up to anything more than that. "Castle just leave it would you!" she snapped. Castle recoiled at her tone. "Fine Kate, just let it be known I am worried about you. I love you more than anything. I just think you need to look after yourself a bit more. These long hours, lack of sleep and not getting enough calories are going to catch up with you! But if you are not going to listen, then I'll stop. Its only because I care" Castle replied. "Look Cas I'm sorry" Kate sing songed. She popped a grape in her mouth and rolled her eyes. "Okay Kate I'll drop it" Castle remarked. Kate smiled at him, quietly thanking him with her eyes. "Now get to work writer boy, I expect some major progress when I get home. I love you" Kate said as she gave him an all too quick kiss and she was out the door.
Kate arrived at the 12th alot more under the weather than she had let Castle know. She was finding it hard to keep her eyes open and used her hand to steady herself on the desk as she spoke to Ryan and Espo. "Beckett are we keeping you up?" Espo asked playfully. Kate just stared into space. "Yo Beckett!" Espo repeated a little louder. Kate heard this and laughed. "No Javi, your just boring me!" Kate tried to divert his attention by kidding around. It must have worked because Esposito just laughed and returned to his desk.
As the day went on Kate began to fade a little more with each hour. She was dizzy, pale, clammy and had trouble focusing. The most tell tale sign was how unsteady she was on her feet. Coffee she thought to herself. That might help. Slowly she stood up from her desk. She gripped the edge of her desk as a wave of dizziness overtook her. "You okay boss?" Ryan asked concerned. "Oh yeah Ryan, I'm fine. How's Jennys new job going?" Kate asked hoping distraction would work on Ryan like it did with Javier. It did. Ryan proceeded to fill Kate in on Jenny's new job a little more detailed than Kate would have liked seeing as she was having enough trouble just standing let alone taking interest.
"Ryan can you go over those files one more time for me and check for anything we missed" Kate asked tiredly. Ryan eyed her over still concerned. "Sure thing Beckett, how about you head to the break room and take ten minutes to relax you haven't stopped all day" Ryan suggested. Kate was like a sister to both Javi and himself. They always had her back and couldn't help but be concerned about her welfare. "I might just do that" Kate did her best to sound cheerful. She waited until Ryan returned to his desk to look at the files before she made her unsteady journey to the break room. Once she was there she plopped herself down on the couch and rested her head in her hands. "What is wrong with me?" Kate asked herself in a whisper.
Ryan sat at his desk looking over the case files. His phone lit up with Castles number. He chuckled to himself knowing how hard Castle would have tried to not ring and check on her. Truth be told though Ryan had almost gone behind Becketts back and rang Castle himself. He thought better of it though, not wanting to break her trust. "Hey Castle" Ryan greeted. "Ryan no time for chit chat I'll get straight to the point. How's my girl?" Castle asked seriously.
"In all honestly I know what you mean about her being tired and a tad unsteady" Ryan spoke. "Unsteady? What do you mean unsteady" Castle asked shocked. "Chill Castle, it will just be tiredness. She's in the break room relaxing as we speak" Ryan backtracked. "If your sure. I'm so worried about her. I won't call her because she will think I'm being to over protective. Listen I've ordered Chinese for you hard working detectives it should be there in ten. Enough for everyone. Make sure she eats!" Castle reiterated. "Will do Castle, she'll be fine. If she looks like she shouldn't be here. I'll ring you to come and get her. You'll just happen to be calling in if she asks though" no way Ryan was going to let Beckett know he rang her boyfriend to come and rescue her. "Thanks man, I owe you. Just keep an eye on her." with that Castle ended the call.