Chapter 5

Tuesday, April 30

Triage Tent 1

4:30 pm

Another victim was slid onto the table behind Lanie. Quickly she switched her gloves and disposable paper gown while the paramedic gave her a brief rundown.

"Had to cut this one out. He was pinned under a crossbeam, and doesn't look good. His belly is crushed. I was able to find a shallow pulse on site, but he's lost a lot of blood. I don't have a name, but one of the boys said he's a homicide detective."

Lanie spun around to see the man on her table, instantly fearing the worst. The man's body was badly mangled, his clothes soaked in blood. She blinked twice before she recognized the poor soul.

"Detective Bruce Goldman," she told the medic as she began to work. "He's Detective Karpowski's partner. He told me just last week, he only had six more months until he retired."

The medic, who's badge listed him as N. Moore, stood quietly, ready to assist if needed. Lanie listened for a long time, searching for breath sounds or a heart beat, but finally closed her eyes and grabbed a sheet to place over the fallen cop. "Time of death," she paused to glance at her watch, "4:36 pm."

Mutually, the two standing over the body observed a moment of silence.

Eventually Lanie placed a hand over the man's shrouded chest, "We should get him moved so we have room to help someone else."

Together they lifted the backboard onto the waiting stretcher. "Dr. Parish, you mentioned that his partner was named Karpowski?"

"Yeah. She's going to be devastated."

"Karpowski? Caucasian female? 'Bout 5' 5? Brown, wavy hair?"

"Yeah, why?"

Moore dropped his gaze to his feet and shook his head. "Lacerated carotid artery. She bled out before we found her. She was only a foot or two away from Goldman here."

Lanie felt shaky and weak. So far, she knew of six people that had been rescued or removed from the area most likely to be the fifth floor, including the first two casualties. But still no signs of Javi, Kate, Ryan or Castle. She knew, maybe better than most, how crucial every passing minute could be, and prayed that they'd be found before it was too late.

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Tuesday, April 30

Elevator

5:40 pm

Castle sat silently in the dark confines of the badly damaged elevator shaft. He was cold, weak, hungry and really had to pee. Kate sat just as quietly, and just as still. For the time being there was really nothing to say. They'd brainstormed escape options, but because of the nature and severity of their injuries, movement of any type was extremely limited. They'd tried small talk, but neither of their hearts were in it. Rick had tried some humor to ease the moment, but it fell flat, leaving them exactly where they were now. And for the moment, just being together was enough.

Every now and then his eyes would slide shut with almost coma-like heaviness, and when they did, he was momentarily free from the pain in his body and the anguish of the situation. Surreal dreams would cloak his reality with pleasant memories: father-daughter moments with Alexis, laughing, kissing and making love with Kate, hugging his mother, playing poker with his friends. All these memories morphed into realistic hallucinations, which acted like an anesthetic for his heart, mind and body.

But something would always startle him from this realm. Sometimes it was Kate speaking to him, trying to keep him conscious. Several times it was the terrifying sound of crumbling concrete falling or straining metal whining. Once, he must have moved and the instant body-searing pain woke him with a start.

This time he was blissfully enjoying dinner with Kate, Alexis and his mom. For a brief moment, they were safe, warm and a family. In his mind, he'd just cleared their diner plates and was about to serve dessert, when he felt something at his shoulder.

Slowly, in a groggy fog, Rick blinked his eyes opened and returned to their hellish predicament. A wave of pain rolled through him again, making it hard to focus on what woke him, but soon he could feel the slight shaking against his right bicep. It was subtle. It was silent. But he knew exactly what it was.

Rick stretched out his right hand, cautiously trying to reach Kate's leg without knocking either of her arms.

The moment he found her knee, he was met with a sniff.

"You want to talk?" he asked.

She gave no answer, but her entire body stiffened.

Castle could count on one hand, the number of times he'd seen Kate cry. She just wasn't a person who did that, who let themselves be vulnerable. With the possible exception of funerals, she thought that resorting to crying was a sign of giving up, succumbing to weakness. It was something Kate Beckett just did not do.

"It's OK. Let it out. I swear I won't tell anyone you're human and occasionally feel pain and fear.

"Shut up, Castle. I'm not crying."

"I don't recall saying that you were. I simply suggested that you not keep all of this in."

He could feel her relax a little against him.

Time passed, he didn't know if it was seconds, minutes or hours, but time continued on. Her shoulders still vibrated against him. Occasional sniffles or a muffled sob tore through the empty void surrounding them. But they didn't speak or move. Castle kept his hand firmly on her knee though, giving her any strength he could.

"You're so calm," Kate finally whispered. "How can you be so strong right now?"

"Not really. I don't feel calm or strong, I'm more just... numb." Rick paused and weighed his words, wondering which was better at the moment, being honest or protecting her. Honesty won out. "I think I'm probably going into shock."

Her sharp intake of air, ripped a little piece of his heart out. Maybe he should have kept his concerns to himself.

"Most likely. You've lost a lot of blood, but you have to stay with me. I can't do this, any of this, without you, Castle. I... I need you."

Rick's heart began to pound. It was probably the closest she'd ever come to telling him she loved him. "I'm not going anywhere, Kate. I swear."

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Tuesday, April 30

The 12th's Former Bullpen

4:15pm

Esposito made his way toward the occasional sounds of his partner. More often than not, if there was anything to follow, it was a moan or cough, (which were getting harder to hear now that the sounds of rescue machinery were growing louder) but at least it was a sign of life. After escaping from under the desk, he had to push obstacles and debris out of the way, dig through more and climb over others, only to move several feet away. Large slabs of concrete, which he knew were pieces of the former sixth floor flooring, made navigating the mess even harder. Eventually though, Javi cleared the worst of it and crawled into an improvised tunnel made by a wall that had been knocked over at an almost forty-five degree angle.

The minute he stuck his head in, the tight space amplified the rasp of Kevin's wheezing, allowing him to finally find his partner.

"Kev, man. I'm here. I'm gonna get you out."

He crawled through the almost complete darkness until his hand came down in warm, sticky pool. He wiped his hand on his shirt and then groped forward so that he could find Ryan, who he knew was the source of the blood. When he didn't answer right away, he patted Kevin's cheek. "Kevin Ryan, I know you can hear me, now wake up!"

"Javi?" Ryan whispered.

"Yeah man. It's me. Where are you hurt? Are you pinned? I can't see anything."

"Don't know. Can't feel much."

Espo ran his hands from Kevin's head, down his shoulders, across his chest and then over his belly. That was when he found the problem. Something large and jagged had impaled itself into Ryan's gut.

"Whaisit?"

Esposito swallowed deeply. He didn't want to scare his friend. "A piece of something got ya pretty good. If I can find your phone, I can check it out a little better.

Javi continued to pat his partner down and thankfully found the phone, but not anything else that seemed like a serious injury.

When he turned on the phone, the tight space was immediately flooded with almost blinding light. Espo cringed but Ryan moaned and covered his face with his arm.

It didn't take long for Javier's eyes to adjust, and he was soon able to see exactly how horrific the scene really was. Kevin was ghostly pale, and had an enormous bruise on his left cheek and upper lip, but even worse was his abdomen, where a large shard of their white board, complete with notes and a crime scene photo still on it, stood erect from his flesh and moved in and out with each shallow breath.

Tears sprang to his eyes, and he didn't try to stop them. Instead, he double checked that his friend still had his eyes covered, while he stripped out of what remained of his shirt.

"Keep your eyes closed bro. It's bright. I don't want you to feel any worse. Just trust me to take care of you, and you'll be OK."

"Mmmmmhmmm."

Carefully, Javier packed his shirt around the laminated wood fragment and then looked around to assess the rest of the situation.

Right now, the shelter created by the fallen wall seemed stable enough. Though the only thing that he could tell was holding up said wall over them, was an oddly angled desk, which quite possibly could be the same one he'd been trapped in.

He touched the "call" icon on the phone and quickly dialed 911. There was an answer right away, but it was so garbled he couldn't make out what the dispatcher said.

"Can you hear me? My name is Det. Javier Esposito, badge number 7049. I'm in the 12th precinct. There's been an explosion and my partner and I are trapped. He's injured badly and needs assistance right away." Another garbled response followed. But he continued on, hoping that whoever was on the other line could hear him. "We were on the fifth floor near the back/center of the building, at the time of collapse. I repeat, my partner Kevin Ryan, badge number 42344, is injured and in need immediate attention. Please! Can you hear me!?"

The voice spoke again for a while but not even one word made sense through the static and cut outs. "I can't hear what you're saying. I'm going to hang up and try again."

Three more calls, one going out and two coming in, failed, before the phone died, leaving him exceptionally frustrated.

"Damn it!" he shouted. It felt good to scream. It felt like a slight pressure release on everything building up inside. He crawled closer to the entrance of the space, stuck his head out and yelled, "HEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOO! HELP! HELP US! WE NEED A MEDIC!"

For a good five minutes, he continued to yell to whomever might hear. But when he started to grow hoarse, he returned to Kevin's side.

"Javi, I need ya to do sumthin for me." Speaking seemed to drain Kevin's strength so Espo leaned in as close as possible.

"Anything Dude, whatcha need?"

"Need you to take care of my family, like you did for Ike."

"No. No. No. You're gonna take care of Jenny yourself. We're gonna get out of here and you're going to go home and live a good long life with her bro. Don't talk like that."

"Please. I need you to. She's pregnant man. I need you to watch out for her; for them."

Javier's eyes began to tear up again, so for the first time, he was glad the light from the phone was out. "Kev, listen to me. You are going to be the one watching out for them."

"I might not. I can't hang on much longer."

"Yes you can! For your wife and child, you can!"

A fit of painful, gurgling, coughing wracked the young cop's body. "Promise me."

Javier found the hand of his best friend. "I promise I won't let them or you down, if you promise me you won't give up."

A long silence stretched out before Kevin finally choked out the word, "Deal."

Esposito squeezed the other man's hand, and then took his badge from around his neck and placed it in Ryan's clammy hand.

"I gotta go get help, Dude. But you hold my badge and let it remind you of your promise to me and to Jenny and your child. I expect you to give it back when I return."

There was no answer, but he could feel Kevin's fingers tighten around the shield.

Without looking back, Javier scrambled out of the tight space and headed up over the rubble toward the now steady hum of machines.

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A/N: Don't throw things! The story isn't over yet!