Kate opened her eyes slowly. Thank God the first things she saw was a pair of blue eyes.
"Castle ?"
"Yes , Kate ?"
"What happened ?" This place is not his comfortable loft. Not her apartment,either.
"You passed out. We're in hospital right now, waiting for the doctor to come. How are you feeling ?"
He brushed her hair softly, and then kissed her forehead.
"Like the whole room is spinning." She shut her eyes, and then squeezed them tightly.
"Just hold on, okay ?"
She nodded. 5 minutes later , a doctor came to their room. The doctor was a girl, with a name tag on her chest.
"Detective Beckett, Richard Castle, good afternoon. My assistant said you passed out an hour ago, Detective Beckett ?"
Castle didn't let her Kate waste her energy to speak.
"It's true. Her temperature was 102 degrees at 9am , I never checked again. She threw up 2 times in the last 3 hours. Not just a light one, the last squeezed her energy and I think that's why she fainted. She has a terrible headache,too."
The doctor amused with Castle's report.
"Clear. Detective Beckett, open your eyes widely, please."
Kate's hand was searching for Castle's to hold for, and hecaught her hand quickly to calm her.
"Now roll them,please, to the right."
And so she did.
"I think it's hepatitis. But I don't know which one yet, so my assistants will be here for your blood test,okay ? I have some work to do. , you can take care of her for a while."
"Of course I am. Don't be too long,okay ?"
"We won't ." The doctor left the room.
"You okay, Kate ?" Castle turned to her and held her hand.
"As long as you're here." She smiled weakly.
"I will alwaysbe here,you know ? I – I lo-"
Someone opened the curtain. "Mrs. Beckett, are you ready ?"
Oh. They're gonna inject her.
"I am. Anyway, it's 'miss' , not 'mrs'. Thank you for coming."
"Oh,well...I thought you guys are ."
The word 'almost' was what Castle and Beckett thought.
"So give me your right hand. Straight, please."
The officer took her blood with injector slowly, painfully.
"Nah, we're done. You guys have to wait for 20 minutes. Call the nurse if anything goes wrong. Get well soon." The officer left Castle and Beckett alone...again. They were quiet, even though Castle still stroking her hand. And instead of his presence, his voice was soothing her. She really hated how Castle was such a drug for her. One day, she'll learn how to get rid of him without tears,but now, she needed to hear his voice...soon.
"So Castle, tell me a story." Beckett broke the silence first.
"What story ?" Castle looked at her confusedly.
"Anything... About your childhood ?" Her green eyes lighten up like a 10-years-old-girl-with-candies.
"That's a really great idea. I'd like to tell you about my experience in Disneyland. Is that okay with you , sweetheart ?"
Oh. It's sweetheart now ?
She only nodded, too tired to speak.
"Okay. I was 13 that time – it's 29 years ago. My mom tied my hand to hers because she was afraid to lose me and I just cried because... God, please, not in front of the public. Not in front of my idol Mickey Mouse."
Kate laughed and it sounded like song to him. "Hey, you hurt me. I was 12 back then." He pretended to be annoyed.
"I asked her to buy a Mickey Mouse doll for me, but when we arrived to the merchandise store, there's only one doll left. I ran to the doll, but then this little girl stared at me with this 's so beautiful, you know ? I was falling in love with her. Hell – she is the first girl I fell in love with. But I love my Mickey,too. And her beautiful mom So I hugged the girl, and I kept hugging her, I told her that-"
"-Mickey was really in love with her and you were in love with her too, that Mickey was a bad person and wanted to took her from you, that Mickey was a jerk that you had to buy Mickey so you can cut him into pieces and save her. You promised her that you will find her someday,get her to the castle, and live with her happily ever after." Kate amused with her own memorizing-ability. That moment was really clear to her, the one who made her have no faith in magic – until she met Castle.
"Wait – how did you know about all of this ? How did-"
She cut his sentence. "Because that girl was me, Castle."
Castle's eyes widened. "You...you...It was you ? That 5-years-old-girl with the beautiful mom ? Seriously ? I met your mother ? What did she say about me ?"
"She said that someday I will find you because I just can't stop talking about you after that day." Kate still can't believe with the moment she had 28 years old ago.
"Gosh,Kate.. I do really found you. And I'm sooo thankful." He kissed her cheek. She blushed slightly. "Me too, Rick. Me too.""
"Do you still want me to take you to the castle ?" Castle teased. She was about to say something when suddenly the wave of nausea hit her stomach all over again.
"What happened?"
"My liver." She cried,again.
"You're still feeling sick ? Need to spew your guts again ?"
She shook her head.
"My liver, Castle. It hurts."
"Your liver ? You sure?"
She nodded,her hands clutch her stomach tighter. Castle 's eyes pointed on a bucket at the corner of the room, and grabbed it.
He tried to release her hand from her stomach, didn't want her to tore her skin.
"They keep punching me all over again"
"Who,Kate ? Who? "
"Something in my liver."
With that, she directed her head into the bucket.
"Are you sure ? You already spew too much. How about you drink some water first ? If you're not, it would be hurt like hell to puking some stomach acid."
She shook her head because her stomach can't handle it any longer.
As she spilled out her guts, he pulled her hair, massaged her neck again-harder, this time, because he know how hard it is to spew stomach acid and she has no energy left. She won't be able to make it alone without passed out again.
"Squeeze my hand. Squeeze it as tight as you want. It will minimize your pain."
He looked at his watch. It's been 6 freakin minutes, she haven't stop vomiting. God, he worried about her. He never saw someone retching for this much.
She felt her stomach muscles started to kill her.
She closed her eyes, tried to calm her stomach. Too much contraction made her feels like she's gonna faint again or what. It worked for a minute, but then she can't hold it again. Rick stroked her back and gave her a neck massages at the same time, because she squeezed his hand really,really,hard. His lips stayed in her hair, told her that everything is gonna be okay, and somehow it made her feels a bit better.
"Are you done ?" Castle kept his tone steady. If he's panic, she'd be,too.
She nodded. "It hurts."
"I know, I know. We'll go through it."
"Why the hell do you want to take care of this disgusting woman ?"
"Ssshhh,Kate, your eyes are red and puffy and I still think they're cute." Castle stroked her head. Kate rolled her eyes.
They were quiet for a few minutes.
"Do you think I'm gonna be okay ? I mean – she said I have hepatitis. What if – what if I have Hepatitis C ? 70 of 100 are killed because of Hepatitis C. I haven't catch my mother's murderer, Castle, I don't want to leave the world without solving this first." Her voice broke in the end of her sentence. It made his heart breaks.
"You're gonna be okay,Kate. We're gonna be okay."
A/N : Thank you for the reviews and story alerts ! And thank you lv2bnsb1 for the tips, the "paperwork" and "am-pm" things are fixed. Again, reviews are appreciated.