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Just a little reminder that this is mostly unbeta'ed, and that English is my second language so if there's any typo or mistakes, I am sorry.
The Seattle Grace-Mercy West Hospital was busy, interns running around like headless chickens while residents and attendings kept them in line, but New York M.E. Lanie Parish didn't pay any attention to them as she quickly walked through the surgery wing hallways, searching for her best friend's room. Castle's texts had been anything but helpful, so it was with relief that she finally pushed open the ICU doors after only a few minutes of searching and walking around.
She counted in her head and took a deep breath as she reached the 5th room, where Kate was.
The sight that welcomed her simultaneously comforted her, and broke her heart. Seeing her friend in a hospital bed again brought back memories of the shooting, except for one major difference. Castle was sitting next to the cop's bed, his head close to hers and his strong hand wrapped around Kate's slender one.
Lanie quietly walked in and stopped at the foot of the bed, letting her eyes roam over her friend's injured body, taking in any bruise and bump that was visible to the naked eye. She already knew it'd be hell to handle an injured Kate again, if last time was any indication.
Sighing at the painful memories, Lanie debated about waking up Castle or not. She guessed it was better he knew she was there so cautiously as to not startle him, the woman poked his hand a few times while whispering his name.
Castle grunted and yawned, cracked an eye open. The other quickly followed when he saw who was standing next to him. "Lanie, hey. You're here already?" He asked sleepily, wincing as his back popped when he vacated the uncomfortable chair.
Lanie let the man hug her, both needing the comforting touch right now. "Yeah, the plane was early and I paid extra for the cab driver to get me here as fast as he could. How is she?"
"The same. She woke up earlier but she was in too much pain so her doctor gave her something stronger. She's been sleeping for the last...almost three hours now." Castle yawned and glared as soon as his eyes met Lanie's. "No."
"Come on, boy, you look awful and you really need to change clothes," Lanie argued and, for the first time, Castle realized the blood stains on his shirt and pants. He had washed his hands after they had gotten to the hospital but he had forgotten about his clothes. "She won't be alone, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."
"She's going to wake up soon." Castle replied weakly, but the soft look the M.E. observed him with wasn't negotiable.
"I'll be right here with her, she'll understand. She's a grown girl, Castle, she's done it before."
Castle yawned again, the adrenaline from before having been gone for a while now. He was exhausted and needed a shower badly, but he lingered anxiously in the room nonetheless. "No. I don't know why, but this time is different. She wouldn't even let me leave the room while the doctor treated her and changed her bandages."
Lanie stared at him in surprise, although she quickly recovered. Her friend's chart was missing from her room so the M.E. didn't have a chance to take a look to know exactly what was going on but, judging on the novelist's dismayed features, it didn't bode well. "She let you look?"
"Not exactly, she allowed me to stay with her." He amended and raised his hands quickly in defense when Lanie seemed about to smack him. "I didn't look, Lanie, I swear. I just saw the gashes on her right leg and it was enough for me."
"Hey, she's alive, right? She's here, alive and with us, and we'll help her through this. But in order for that to happen, you need to be well rested and cleaned up. It is now...7:22 p.m, so I don't want to see you again before that time tomorrow morning." Lanie ordered him. "I'll stay with her the whole time so go, and bring back coffee. This isn't a discussion!" She warned him when he tried to argue again, so Lanie pointed him to the door until he took the hint.
"Fine." He capitulated at long last. "If you need anything, ask a nurse for Meredith Grey or Derek Shepherd. If they aren't available, ask for Lexi Grey or Cristina Yang, okay?" Castle sighed as he grabbed his jacket, already missing Kate. He bent over the hospital bed rail and kissed her gently on the temple, not even caring about Lanie being in the room as well. "I love you, Kate. I'll be back soon, I promise."
Kate began stirring on her bed thirty minutes later as she fought against the medication. "Kate?"
'Hmm.' The detective thought she knew the voice calling her but as part of her brain remembered being in Seattle and not New York, she thought at first she had hallucinated her friend's voice.
With regaining consciousness came the pain. It was threatening to overwhelm her but she fought against it and, instead of trying to crawl away from it like the previous time, she remained still and focused on her breathing.
It was only when she heard the voice again that Kate risked opening her eyes, expecting to see Castle at her side, but she was surprised to distinguish the features of her best friend. "Lanie?"
"Hey sweetie." The M.E. grinned while her medical trained eyes locked on her friends'. "Do I need to call a doctor?"
Kate sluggishly shook her head the best she could, far from being in a hurry to be poked and prodded again. "What...you..."
"Hey, don't talk, okay? Keep your strength for when you'll really need it. I got here about an hour ago, there was no way I was going to stay in New York while you're here."
"But-"
"Nuh-uh. What the hell went through your mind today? Are you trying to kill us? You could've been killed, or worse!"
Kate winced at Lanie's words, knowing they were true even though she hadn't planned any of this. It was Jensen's fault if he had grabbed her before falling through the glass, not hers. "Worse than...die?"
"Don't. I'll do the talking for now, and don't play smartass with me, Katherine Elizabeth Beckett." Lanie warned her. The medical examiner had only used her full name twice before, and it was never a good sign. "You could've broken your back or neck, you could've stayed paralyzed or have neurological damages! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"I...I didn't-" Kate began but her heart was pounding in her chest and the force of it was sending waves of pain through her ribs and back. Lanie's demeanor changed the second she saw the tears in her friend's eyes and heard the heart monitor increasing rapidly. "Hey, hey it's okay I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell and, and come on sweetie, breathe for me, okay?"
"Is everything okay?" Meredith asked as she entered the room, alerted by the monitors' frantic beeping. She quickly walked to Kate's bed and glanced at the heart monitor, frowning. "It's my fault," Lanie blurted out as she stood as well and lingered closed to the detective's bed as well. "I was talking and I got upset, I said things I shouldn't have."
Meredith absently nodded as she adjusted Kate's IVs, her eyes focused on her patient. "Are you okay, Kate? Do you want me to go and find Mister Castle?"
Kate hadn't noticed Castle's absence yet but now that Meredith had mentioned it, she frowned in confusion as she looked around the room for the man. "He'll be back in a few hours, sweetie. I sent him back to your hotel to change and get some rest." Lanie explained gently. "I'm Lanie Parish. Kate's best friend." She added when Meredith stared at her intently.
"Oh, okay then. Well, I was coming to let you know that my shift had ended so Dr. Kepner will be taking care of you tonight, and Dr. Bailey and Sloan will probably come by in the morning as well. They're the ones who operated on you today so they'll want to check if everything's healing fine." She informed Beckett, turning to face her but missing the spark of fear that ignited in the detective's eyes at the mention of surgery. "But Derek's on shift all night so if there's something wrong you can ask for him, okay?"
"Katie, honey it's okay." Lanie quickly tried to capture the woman's attention as soon as Meredith was out the door. "It's not as bad as you think it is, I promise you."
Judging by the glare Lanie received, Kate was far from being convinced. "I want...to...see."
"What? Hell no, girl! You're all bandaged and settled for the night, I ain't touching you until that doctor comes back." Lanie put her foot down and ignored the detective's frustrated look. "And you know you can glare all you want, there's nothing you can do that can change my mind."
Kate knew her friend was right, which only annoyed her even more. Still, she wasn't ready to back down. The plan B she had come with lasted for about ten seconds until she tried to move her hand in a feeble attempt to touch her limbs over the blankets, but found out she couldn't even do more than weakly bend her fingers. "Lanie..."
The M.E. was back to her side in a heartbeat and took the offending hand in hers. "Honey, you went through a glass ceiling and fell down three stories less than twelve hours ago, your body is still in shock, give it time. You'll be better in the morning. You should try to sleep because the whole 'dark circles under your eyes and looking as if you were hit by a truck' look? Not your best one."
Kate sighed and closed her eyes, relieved when it made the harsh fluorescent light disappear. She heard a noise and her eyes snapped back open, thinking Lanie had left. "I'm right here, I promised you I wasn't going anywhere." The whisper came from her right so, after some effort, the detective stared into dark chocolate, concerned eyes of her best friend. "Go to sleep, sweetie."
Instead of doing so, however, Kate fought the medication and stared into dark chocolate eyes, her hazy mind spinning. Lanie leaned forward and rest her head against Kate's when she realized that she wanted to talk but couldn't much because of her weak lungs and the mask covering her face. "I'm sorry." She finally whispered, needing to voice what had been plaguing her since Lanie had arrived. "I didn't...he...grabbed...me and...fell with...him...couldn't...stop."
Enraged when reality dawned on her, Lanie contained herself as to not worry her friend even more. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Does Castle knows?"
Frowning at the woman's lack of response, Lanie exhaled a deep breath as she saw that Kate had succumbed to sleep.
'7:20 a.m.' Castle sighed and slowed down his pace as he walked through the surgical wing corridors. He was taking Lanie's warning seriously because throughout the years, he had seen what she was capable of if you were stupid enough to step on her toes. 'I guess it's no wonders why she and Kate are best friends,' he thought absently as he did his best to appease his nervous mind at the idea to finally being with Beckett again.
Castle got a glimpse of himself just as he walked by a window and he couldn't say he loved what he saw. He was pale and even the three cups of coffee he had drank already weren't enough to give him the boost he needed to survive the day. The man had gotten only a few brief hours of sleep before a nightmare woke him up in sweat. He had almost came back at the hospital then, but he had come to his senses at the last minute.
He was still pondering whether he should be proud for sticking to his promise or smack himself for being afraid of the M.E. when voices coming from Kate's room reached his ears. "No, I'm sorry, not yet but you can ask Dr. Bailey when she'll get here."
Curious as to put a face at the new voice, Castle put on a cheery smile and walked in the room. "Good morning, ladies."
His grin faded when he saw the pure look of annoyance emanating from Kate's pale features. He shot Lanie a concerned glance but the woman only shrugged, clearly not wanting to talk. Confused but playing along anyway Castle turned on the new doctor. "Hi, I'm Rick. You're one of Kate's doctors?"
Chief resident April Kepner blushed and smiled brightly, nodding. "No. Well, y-yes and no. I'm Dr. April Kepner, hi. I'm not technically one of Ms. Beckett's doctors but as chief resident I have to check everyone's round to keep up for when one of the other doctors aren't here."
Castle smiled politely and shook the girl's hand and caught sight of Kate as she glanced to Lanie and rolled her eyes. The effect wasn't complete considering she was still heavily sedated and groggy, but the intention was there.
Castle bit back a laugh, half-amused and half-confused as whatever seemed to be going on in the room. "Is everything okay?" He asked as he rounded the bed to go and sit on the remaining available chair, but not before locking eyes with the injured woman and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Hey."
"Hey."
"You shouldn't try to talk with the mask on, it makes your lungs work harder to breathe and since they're still pretty weak, every unnecessary effort should be avoided, okay?" April advised Kate with an authoritative tone as she moved a small cart closer to the bed. This time the glare was obvious to anyone but April. "Dr. Bailey should be here soon and then we'll redo your bandages."
Castle and Lanie exchanged a look and the man quickly took the detective's hand, squeezing it so she'd turn her eyes on him. The irritation faded from her features when she glanced up at him and saw his warm smile. His thumb's soft strokes on her hand were soothing and Kate had almost forgotten about the doctor in the room until she spoke again with an unusually shrill voice. "I must say it is an honor to have you here, sir. I mean not here here because you aren't a patient and it's definitely not a happy thing for you to have your um, friend here but I guess I'm just trying to say that it is an honor to meet you."
Lanie locked eyes with Kate, her expression screaming 'are you freaking kidding me?' while Kate was getting seriously annoyed with the doctor. Her hand was clutching the sheet tightly and the medical examiner knew that only the medication was what kept Beckett to bite the doctor's head off.
Thankfully they were all distracted when two more doctors came in the room, everybody immediately falling silent. "Morning, everyone." Dr. Mark Sloan announced himself as he shot a self-assured look around, a smile wide on his face. "I believe we haven't been introduced." He walked over to Castle and Lanie, his hand raised. "I'm Dr. Mark Sloan, head of cosmetic surgery, and Dr. Miranda Bailey is the general surgeon attending here."
"Richard Castle and this is Lanie Parish," Castle made a quick presentation, all the while staying close to Kate.
"Now that everyone knows each other and has exchanged addresses for next year's Christmas cards, maybe we could get back to why we're here so we can leave Ms. Beckett alone to rest." Dr. Bailey said with a stern eye, shooting everybody a professional glare.
Everyone stood straighter and looked positively chastised, except Kate, who was smirking under her mask. "And you think this is funny, don't you?" Bailey told her, but her voice didn't hold the same edge as before and there was the slightest trace of a smile on her lips.
"Kind of, yeah." Kate replied before wincing, her throat feeling as if she had swallowed gravel.
Bailey pursed her lips as her narrowed eyes found April's, the resident already knowing what she was going to be asked but remaining silent nonetheless. "Did she have anything to drink since last night?"
"Only a few ice chips. She hasn't been cleared for liquids yet." Lanie piped in as she turned to April with dark eyes. "Dr. Kepner here said it wasn't safe to remove the breathing mask yet."
"Well, all vitals look good so I don't see the harm in taking it off a few minutes. I need to test your lungs' strength anyway, so we'll be killing two birds with one stone." Bailey smiled down to Kate before extending it to Castle and Lanie as well. "I'll just undo this..." The short woman cautiously reached behind Kate's head and finally released her from the mask, at the woman's greatest pleasure. "Thanks."
"Now I know Dr. Grey has authorized you in here last night, but we will need the both of you to give us a few minutes, and we'll come and get you as soon as we're done."
Castle was about to protest when Kate squeezed his hand, her eyes wide but not as afraid as before. "You can go."
"Are you sure?" Neither of them wanted to leave her, but the detective was keeping her ground. "I'm sure. Go call your daughter, and you," she glanced at her best friend, "talk to Espo, see how's everything back home."
Lanie rolled her eyes but acquiesced and carefully hugged her friend before kissing her on the cheek. "Be nice to them, or there will be no surprise for you later."
Kate glared, knowing that everybody else had heard as clearly as her, but Castle's face suddenly inches from hers made her forget all about her friend's warning. "Castle."
"Don't be stubborn. They're all here to help you." Their foreheads were touching and his eyes stared hard into the woman's darkened sienna orbits, hoping to infuse her with his love and faith in her. "We'll be back as soon as they're done, okay?" Castle brought his hand to her cheek, his thumb softly stroking it as he leaned and pressed his lips on her cheek, so close to her mouth she could almost feel his lips on hers.
All were quiet in the room as Castle and Lanie left the room. Kate had her eyes closed as she tried to bring her heartbeat back to normal and she hated more than ever to be wired to a heart monitor. As much as she wanted to hide it, the machine was currently proving everyone just how much the man's touch had affected her.
"You're okay?"
Kate forced her eyes open and turned her head to where Dr. Sloan was watching her kindly. "Yeah."
"That was some-"
"Dr. Sloan! We're trying to work here?" Kepner chided him curtly as she turned to Kate and put on gloves. "Sorry, Ms. Beckett."
Kate ignored her and instead focused her tired gaze on Bailey. The woman might be short, barely over five feet tall, but it wasn't fooling the detective; she knew she was the one with the most authority there. "Do you really need to have...three doctors in the room to do whatever...it is you need to do?"
"Oh, um no, not necessarily, but this is a teaching hospital, so-"
"Isn't she chief resident?" Kate interrupted her and doing her best to ignore the girl who was currently staring at her with wide eyes.
"Yes, but-"
"It means she already has several...years of medical training...right? Was my surgery unusual, did it involve some sort of...complications she's never seen before?"
Bailey and Sloan exchanged a look, both fighting off a smirk. "No," Sloan piped in helpfully and with a wide smile, "your surgery was uneventful and a complete success."
Kate nodded and tried to relax on her bed, letting her eyes slide to April briefly before going back to the other doctors. "Then I'm sure you wouldn't mind me asking Dr. Kepner to step out? Aren't two...doctors enough already?"
"With all due respect Miss, this is your not decision to make." April countered, her eyes still wide but definitely irritated at the detective's behavior.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure...it is within my rights to refuse to be looked at like...I'm sort of rag doll by someone whose...presence isn't mandatory here."
Sloan snorted and shook his head at April. "Sorry, Dr. Kepner."
Bailey glared but she had to admit that her patient had guts. Richard Castle might be getting on her nerves, no matter how big a fan she was, but she was starting to like Beckett. A lot. "I would normally agree to such a request but she will need to do your bandages after, is that going to be a problem?"
Kate was feeling the painkillers pulling her to sleep again, but she wasn't done yet. "Meredith told me I could...request Dr. Grey or Dr. Yang if I wasn't comfortable...with anything or anyone. I know I'm asking a lot, but would it be...possible to ask any of them if they were available?"
She really had guts, Bailey smirked inwardly. She thought about denying the request just to see her reaction, but whether she liked it or not, Kate Beckett was a VIP in this hospital, a special request that had come from the Senator Donovan himself. "Kepner, go page Lexi Grey, tell her to come."
"What?"
Bailey raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you what-ing me now?"
"No, ma'am. I'll go find Dr. Grey."
Kate could have sworn she saw April glared at her on her way out, but she didn't care. She had enough to deal with without having to suffer through another of Castle groupie. She had seen the way the resident kept glancing at the writer, her writer with googly eyes and there was no way she was going to let her touch her. On the plus side, by the way the other two doctors were looking at her when she met their eyes again, she had just made their day. "Sorry."
"It's fine, no worries about it. April can be...intense, but she's a good doctor." Sloan told her with a smile just as he put on gloves as well and began to pull back the covers.
Kate swallowed with some difficulty and let her eyes closed a few moments. "Is she better...than you?"
"Ha! You were right, Dr. Bailey, she is a funny one. Is that how you treat your suspects in the interrogation room?" Sloan laughed and Bailey smirked although she quickly pushed it back.
"Yeah, they wish." Kate tensed as she felt expert hands pulling down her hospital gown and cautiously peeled back bandages, willing herself not to flinch as the tape and gauze pulled on her stitches and skin. She focused her gaze on the ceiling, feeling awkward and hating that the current situation was making her blush. She fought the desire to squirm away from their touch and suddenly wished she hadn't told Castle to leave as the stress and pain from the accident were starting to catch up with her again.
Bailey noticed the strain on the woman's face and she checked her vitals on the monitors, frowning at them a moment. "We're almost done, Kate, and everything seems to be healing perfectly fine. There is some swelling but that's normal, so there's nothing to worry about that. How's the pain on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest?"
Kate struggled to think a moment, her thoughts clouded by the remnants of painkillers. "I don't know, 6?"
Sloan looked over at Bailey. The detective was hiding her pain well but, as Bailey read the decreasing level of oxygen and rising of her blood pressure on the monitors, the numbers were betraying her words. "Really? How bad is it comparing to your previous injury?"
No amount of pain was able to downplay the glare Sloan received from the injured woman and he realized he had just entered a dangerous territory. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude but we saw the surgical scars."
"Believe me," Kate 's voice stronger than she felt, "when I say that this doesn't even compare."
"I'm really sorry Kate, Dr. Sloan didn't want to put you on the spot. We'll just wait for Dr. Grey to arrive and then we'll let you get some rest. Would you like more water?"
"Please. Can I see?" Kate ultimately asked after draining several small gulps of water.
Bailey placed the glass back on the table and checked the monitors one last time before settling her gaze on the detective. "I think you should wait for the swelling to go down first, and to have someone with you. As good as Dr. Sloan is, right now it looks worse than it actually is. Now, I know you're not too eager to have the breathing mask back on but your oxygen level has decreased a bit too much so we'll try this instead." The general surgeon explained as she pulled out a nasal cannula and expertly tucked it under the woman's nose and behind her ears. "If isn't enough though you will have to put the mask back."
"Dr. Bailey, you paged me?" Lexi asked from the doorway, looking curiously at Kate and making obvious efforts to avoid glancing at Sloan.
"Yes, Miss Beckett, this is Dr. Grey. She will be in charge of taking care of your bandages, if that's okay?"
Kate caught the pointed look Bailey shot her and she smirked, glancing at Lexi who had came in the room to stand by the bed. Lexi was different from her half-sister, she noticed instantly. Lexi was taller, her hair was longer and much darker but her big, doe brown eyes were as friendly and kind as her sister's. "Yeah."
"Well, if my job is done, I have other patients to see. Miss Beckett, it was a pleasure." Bailey said and Sloan followed closely, squeezing her hand as he left.
"So, I hear you specially requested me?" Lexi asked and smiled at Kate as she gathered everything she needed to do her job.
"Your sister said I...could ask for you or Cristina...if I didn't like the other one." Kate ushered as she scrunched up her nose, disliking the feel of the rubber tube under her nose and running across her face.
Lexi laughed and Kate decided at that moment that she liked the other Grey as well.