Disclaimer- Castle, mine? Nope! I wish!

A/N- Thanks for all the love! I go on vacation next week so I'm going to try to have one more update before I leave. Fingers crossed! As usual, thanks to Joanna and Janna for the help!

Chapter 7

Beep

Beep

Beep

The steady beat of medical machinery broke through Kate Beckett's unconscious state. She blinked away the watery glaze that clouded her vision. There was no recollection to when they reached the hospital or when she admitted. However, the fact that she was currently wearing a hospital gown and hooked up to an IV, it was safe to say she was definitely going to be here for a bit.

Scooting herself up a tad. she glanced at the clock on the wall and noted the early morning hour as the sun began to peek through the curtains on the window. She slept all night. The type of sleep that actually left her feeling refreshed. Her mouth no longer felt like sandpaper, which she assumed was due in part to the line pumping fluids into her system. They actually made it to the hospital. Wait, did they both make it? Where was Castle? And where were they?

Reaching to the side of the bed, she grabbed the cord that was attached to the nurse call button and pressed it. She laid her head back down onto her pillow for a moment and sighed. Someone needed to give her answers now or she would walk out into the hallway, hospital gown and all…

"You're up. How are you feeling?" A cheery woman greeted her while walking toward her bed. "I'm Nurse Finnegan."

"I'm feeling fine surprisingly. Where is my fiancé? And I know this makes me sound crazy, but what town am I even in?" Her nurse started taking her vitals and smiled down at her.

The woman went on to explain that the couple in the car dropped them off in the ambulance bay and the man she was with basically carried her into the ER before he collapsed. Castle was stable but unconscious with multiple broken bones and too many injuries to count. Currently both of them were registered in the hospital as John and Jane Doe because neither one had any identification on them. Due to the condition of their arrival, local authorities in Hillsborough, NJ were notified to check databases in the surrounding area for any missing persons matching their description.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett from the NYPD. But please call me Kate. And that man is Richard Castle. I need to be able to use the phone to contact my precinct and let them know that we're here…"

"Yes, most definitely. Here, let me pull the phone closer to the bed for you to reach. Also, the local authorities are already on standby for when one of you awoke; they have some questions for you. But the most important thing…you both are safe here." Kate gave the nurse a small, hesitant smile. Safety…what a relief. However, she wouldn't feel completely comfortable until she was reunited with Castle again.

"Am I okay though? We were both drugged a couple times and before we were abducted I found out I was…" She paused to gain her composure and swallow her pride. A complete stranger was not the first person she wanted to share the news with. Castle…he deserved to know. They deserved to celebrate together. This was not how the news of pregnancy should be acknowledged out loud…

"Pregnant…yes Ms. Beckett, we know about that. We ran some basic blood tests on you while you were out. Basically just trying to find out what was in your system, if anything, and to find out what we could do to help you. On any women of child-bearing age, it is standard procedure to run a pregnancy test on the blood drawn as well."

"So I'm still pregnant? The drugs I was injected with didn't harm the baby?" She closed her eyes and swallowed thickly. Preparing herself, she internally started building walls around her heart. Protecting her in case, Tyson harmed more than just her body.

"We don't know the extent of the damage that the drugs did to your system, at this point. We are going to run additional tests. However, your vitals that I just took now are good. You're heart rate and blood pressure are now within normal range, as compared to when you were admitted. How about you make your phone call and I'll let the doctor know you're awake. Then we can get those additional tests ran."

"Thank you…" Beckett smiled up at her and then reached for the phone to call the 12th.

Hearing the call ring through the ear piece was slow torture…it felt like it was ringing forever, after only a moment.

"Esposito." Happiness shot through her body, hearing her friend's voice on the other end of line.

"Javi!"

"Beckett! God, where the hell are you? Are you okay? Ryan and I looked all over that building for you…both you and Castle. Some meathead got the drop on me almost as soon as I entered that building and the same thing happened to Ryan. Gates found us hours later after we didn't check in, but you were already gone…" Her friends were okay. That knowledge lifted a huge weight from her shoulders. Her stupidity and carelessness didn't permanently injure her friends. She was smiling just listening to his voice and hearing him recall the rest of their ordeal. He had yet to take a breath to even let her say anything about where they were or what had happened to them. She laughed a little when he finally paused. "But seriously…are you okay? Where are you?"

"Espo, we're fine now. We're both admitted in a hospital in New Jersey. I can either get the nurse to talk to you about the location or you can trace this line. Either way, Tyson took us, drugged us and all but tortured Castle. He's still unconscious, but I was told he's stable. All that matters right now is he is alive, but I need you guys to get down here. We need to find Tyson before he finds us again…"

"We will be on our way as soon as I hang up the phone. But you can't go after him. Not like this, not now. You and Castle both need to heal from the ordeal. Let Ryan and I find the bastard…"

"It's not your fight..."

"To hell with that! You and Castle are our family…and if you mess with one, you mess with all. So don't tell me it's not our fight. We will be there soon. Just get some rest." Kate let a frustrated sigh fall from her lips. He was right…she knew he was right, but that didn't make any of this any easier.

"Fine. Thank you…" Slowly she hung up the phone and laid her head back into the stiff hospital pillow. They needed to find Tyson and quick, because every minute that passed, he was one step closer to finding them. Her thoughts floated through the horrors of the last couple days as she fell back asleep.

The door to Kate's hospital room flung open and a tall middle-aged man walked through holding Beckett's chart. He gave her a polite smile and walked toward her bed as her nurse followed behind him rolling in some bulky machinery to her bedside.

"Ms. Beckett, I'm Dr. Blakely. How are you feeling?"

"Please call me Kate. I'm actually starting to feel more like myself. As much as I hate this thing in my arm, I think the fluids are helping." She softly replied to the doctor while trying to readjust her body into a more comfortable position on the hard mattress.

"That's great to hear. I reviewed your chart and all your blood work looks good actually. There isn't any evidence of any drugs still in your system, which is the good news. The bad news is that since we can't see the remnants of what you were injected with, we can't be 100% sure that it didn't affect your pregnancy. .." Kate sucked in a sharp breath. Damnit. That bastard- he can't win. Emotion flooded her thoughts and water started to cloud her vision.

Trying to put herself back within her guarded walls, she took a deep breath, wiped away the excess water from her eyes and tried to gain her composure. "So how do we know the baby is okay?" Her voice came out more shaky and broken then she intended. This doctor was basically a stranger and this wasn't how she handled herself around someone unfamiliar. She held it together in front people unless she let them in. Her inner circle. He wasn't within those walls, but her hormones were apparently already playing tricks on her. Maybe that was a good sign?

"Well the hCG levels in your blood are still within normal pregnancy limits so that's a positive indicator. We brought in the ultrasound machine and the fetal Doppler to do some additional tests to double-check the fetus's development…" First ultrasound…Castle needed to be here. He shouldn't miss this…

"My fiancé? Can I wait until he can be here with me?"

"Mr. Castle is still unconscious. And I understand your desire for him to not miss out on this, but we really shouldn't wait. I promise you that as your pregnancy progresses, there will be plenty of ultrasounds and Doppler reads that he can be present for." Beckett swallowed the sob down into her throat and nodded her approval.

Skillfully, the machines were all hooked up in place while the nurse adjusted Kate's hospital gown and bedding to leave the small patch of skin of her abdomen uncovered. With wide eyes, she watched as the doctor brought the instrument to her stomach applying a little pressure. Odd swoosh sounds filled the air, until he eventually moved it to the right position and the heartbeat echoed through the small room. Her baby…their baby. The idea itself floored her, but it felt right. She was hearing their wonderful miracle for the very first time and what a miracle it truly was after their nightmare. "Does it sound okay? Is the heartbeat strong enough?" She strung the questions together, barely finishing the first before the second fell out of her lips.

"Perfect. The heartbeat is very strong and stable within the fetal range we like to hear…"

"Good. At least that's good…" This was all new and the fear of the unknown, coupled with the drama that Tyson brought to their lives; it was a lot for her to deal with alone. Castle would have been her reassurance during this, her rock.

Dr. Blakely handed the fetal Doppler back to the nurse and grabbed a bottle that was sitting on top of the larger machine in the room. "This may be a little cold…" He warned before squirting the blue gel onto the skin underneath her bellybutton. The nurse switched on the machine and the monitor. She then typed in all of Kate's information into their system, including the date that she started her last cycle. Beckett cringed a bit when she realized that it was almost 2 months ago. Everything with planning the wedding and then the issue with Bracken, she lost track of some of these personal matters.

With all the information now displayed on the screen, her doctor brought the device to her skin and began moving the gel around. A similar sound to the Doppler echoed through the room, as a black and white grainy image appeared on the monitor. "Okay…see this right here?" Kate squint her eyes and slowly nodded. "This is your baby and do you see that flickering over there? That is the baby's heart beating." Happy tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched the image before her. It was almost too much. Any fear or hesitation she had, crumbled when she saw the image. The walls she tried to re-erect were no longer needed.

"I'm having a baby…" She smiled astonished as it finally fully hit her for the first time. This was very real.

"Yes you are. From everything we see and can measure, the fetus appears to be 8 weeks old, which would match the date that you gave us. Heartbeat is strong and development seems with normal ranges. However, due to the ordeal you experienced, we will have to classify you as high-risk and have you monitored by your doctor a little more often. This is strictly as a precaution…"

"I understand." It was reassuring to know that the doctors would be watching closely to make sure their baby was healthy. This was no less than Castle would have demanded himself. The doctor finished up the ultrasound, wiped off the remaining gel and printed a picture of the ultrasound for Kate. This was the photographic proof of the miracle that was growing inside of her. Strong and resilient, like both her and Castle…

Time passed by before Kate's nurse informed her that Castle was awake and she could now see him. By this point, she had already changed into her regular clothing that her Dad brought out to her and she already had her release paperwork in hand from the hospital. It wasn't like she was leaving. She wouldn't leave the hospital until Castle was leaving with her.

With ease she pushed the door into his room open and hovered in the doorway just taking in the scene before her eyes. Bandages were covering random areas of his body and machines were beeping steadily into the otherwise silent area. His face was a little swollen and very bruised, but when his eyes blinked open, he took her breath away. She couldn't love him anymore then she did in this moment.

"Hey there tough guy…" Beckett's lips turned into a smirk as she walked toward his bedside. Reaching for his hand, her fingers lovingly massaged the battered skin and then interlaced their fingers together. Her other hand feathered his hair out of his eyes before she bent down to breathe a kiss on to his forehead.

"Kate, are you okay? You're crying…" Oh, she didn't even realize that the tears were streaming down her face. She was just so happy to see him.

"Babe, you're here and you're alive. I'm happy…" She smiled at him as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. This was it. No more waiting. Cautiously Kate reached into her back pocket and pulled out the print from her ultrasound. "This isn't the best way to tell you, but I can't wait for the perfect time to tell you this amazing news…" Leaning back over his body, avoiding the cords and IV line, she placed a kiss right on the outer shell of his ear, laid the picture into his grasp and whispered. "Castle, I'm pregnant…"

TBC

Thoughts?