She froze as he fell to the ground. Every nerve ending in her body flashed and danced as she watched the man that she loved take a bullet. Their suspect also stood frozen, the gun still pointed at his target. He hadn't intended on shooting anyone. Thought that he had a gun with no bullets just to scare them.
"I'm sorry." He turned and bolted away from them. But everyone was hovering over Castle who was on the ground, his hand over his stomach where he had been shot.
"Javi, call backup!" Kate yelled as she ran towards Castle. She crashed down beside him, tears running down her cheeks.
He reached out his hand and cupped her cheek. "Kate." He said breathless. The color was draining from his face. "I love you."
"No, Richard Castle, don't you dare leave me."
His eyes slowly began to shut as his grip on her cheek softened.
"No, no, no." She started panicking. "You keep your eyes open! You're going to be fine." She grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it.
Espo rushed up behind her. "Beckett, the medics are here."
She studied his face one last time and kissed his forehead. "Always."
The two men rushed in then and started taking Castle away to the ambulance. Espo went over to Kate and wrapped his arms around her. "He's going to be okay."
"I need him, Javi." She cried into his shoulder as she watched the man she loved get carried away on a stretcher.
"I know."
She sat in the waiting room chewing on her nails when she noticed Josh rush down the hallway across the room. "Josh!" She jumped up and ran to him.
"You have to save him."
He felt so badly for Kate. He hadn't had the best example of love growing up. His mom wasn't around a lot and his dad left when he was young. Even when
he was dating anyone, even Kate, he still didn't have a good indication of what love was.
But he had to admit that when he saw Kate and Rick, he saw what he had been missing; he saw what love was.
"Kate you need to sit down."
She was crying again, the nerves and anxiety getting the best of her. "No, he needs me."
"He needs you to sit down. I'm going into surgery now." He led her over to the seat she was at previously. "I'm going to save him."
She sniffed once, looking him in the eyes, the gratitude she felt too much to handle. "Thank you."