AN: I was shocked by the response to the last chapter, thank you so much. So on with the next chapter.
Disclaimer : I still don't own Castle.
He gets taken one way as the they go through the ER doors and he has to watch her being whisked away in the other direction. He tries to fight to go with her but it is in vain, they tell him he can't, they need to check her out. He gets taken to a cubicle and told to sit on the trolley. He just wants to be with her but he knows he should get checked out as well. The curtains pulled round him and he is left staring at the most hideous pattern he has ever seen. He can't help but wonder how she is.
She gets wheeled into resus, she is awake for short periods of time. As she passes down the corridor she gets flashes of the harsh white ceiling every time she opens her eyes. She can hear the noise of machines and people rushing past before the darkness consumes her once again. She next awakes as the paramedics rattle off her condition and vitals. Hearing them talk she thinks this doesn't sound good. She has an oxygen mask placed over her mouth and nose, the rush of the oxygen tickles her nose. She feels a sharp pain in her arm, she looks down the trolley and sees a nurse putting a needle in. Once it's stabilised with a bandage she sees the nurse place a line on to it attached to a large bag of fluid.
She has the sudden urge to cough, she doesn't know if it is the oxygen drying her throat out or something else. Her whole body feels like it is spasming as she tries her hardest to hold it. However the need is to great she coughs and at the same time heaves. She is quickly turned on her side involuntarily by the doctors and nurses as she vomits in the bowl they have placed near her head. Her throat is on fire by the time she finishes, and her stomach aches but strangely she feels a bit better.
"Miss Beckett, how do you feel?"
" I feel like I nearly drowned, but I'm okay."
She brings up a hand to her head and for the first time realises that she has a bump on the side of her forehead. She pokes it with a finger and soon regrets the action.
"Shit that hurts."
What she doesn't realise is that she says that out loud, she soon has the doctor prodding her head.
" Does this hurt?"
"Of course it does, I took a gun butt to the head and now you are poking at it."
She doesn't mean to harsh seriously asking if it hurts while prodding it, it is not rocket science. She feels the trolley move and it makes her jump.
" We are just taking you to CT for a scan, don't worry. We need to rule out a serious head injury"
She begins to wonder if anyone is here, how did she get out of the water. She has no recollection of events after going in the sea. Does Castle know she is here? She really wants to see him now.
Castle doesn't have to wait long before the doctor arrives to give him the once over. His temperature is taken and it seems to be normal. No hypothermia for him today, he is so glad. He is given a stat dose of antibiotics through a needle placed in his arm. For cover from being in the dirty harbour sea water the doctor explains. He then has the needle removed and is given a clean bill of health and some dry hospital scrubs. He gets changed in a flash and then heads in the direction of where they took his girlfriend.
He comes to the ER reception, and speaks to the nurse sitting behind it.
" Excuse me, I am looking for Detective Kate Beckett. She was brought in by ambulance 20 minutes ago."
" Sir if you take a seat, I will find out where she is and get someone to come speak to you."
Take a seat, he doesn't want to take a seat. He needs to see her, he needs to make sure she is okay.
" I need to see her please just let me go through."
" Sir take a seat please."
He was getting more frustrated and he could feel the emotions building up within him. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, his chest became tight as he was trying hold it all back. He tried to stay calm he really did but it just all boiled over.
" No I need to see her NOW! I have just seen my partner drown, I had to pull her limp body out of the sea. So don't you tell me to sit down."
It was too much the tears streamed down his cheeks, and splashed on his scrub top. Leaving marks behind, he swatted his hand over his face trying to stop there further descent. The nurse picks up the phone and dials someone, he waits while she talks to whoever is on the other end. He just pulled his girlfriend out of the sea, she was drowning. It is all too much he leans forward, and leans on the desk in front of him. His chest is so tight now that he has to fight for every breath, his nose is streaming. He looks a mess, a relative of another patient takes mercy on him and hands him a tissue. He takes it with a slight nod, and blows his nose.
"Sir I have spoken with the nurses in Resus, I can take you through now. If you would like to follow me."
The nurse "Sam" he deduces from looking at her badge, stands up from the desk and heads towards the double doors. He steps in line with her and waits for her to put the pin in the keypad to let them through.
"Castle, where is Castle?"
She feels much more awake now and except for the pounding in her head she feels good. She doesn't understand why he isn't here yet. Surely he knows she is here. He was at the dock with her, oh God the fire fight she remembers that. What if he was shot, what if one of the guys was shot. She needs to get out of here, she needs to find her boyfriend and her team. She whips the oxygen mask off and shoves it to the side. She pulls at the line in her arm, it kills but she has to get if off, and what are these wires attached to her chest. She is now in full panic mode, her breathing is becoming laboured, the colour draining from her face.
" Miss Beckett, you need to calm down and stay on the trolley."
There is a nurse standing in her way, mumbling something that her brain doesn't register. She just needs to go. Another nurse appears and a doctor, all together they slowly help her back on to the trolley.
" Castle, where is Castle?"
That is all he can hear as he heads down the corridor towards resus. That is Kate, that is his girlfriend shouting. He hears panic in her voice, and it scares him to the core. He begins to quicken his pace, he needs to get to her quick. He rounds the last corner, then he sees her. She's being helped back on to the trolley by the medical team. She looks so pale, and he can see that she is finding increasingly hard to breath. He gets within touching distance, before he says…
" Kate, I'm right here Kate."
He pulls her into his arms, and ignores the looks from the nurses and doctors. He feels her grasp on to his neck with both hands, her breath fanning across his neck. He hears a sob and then another, he feels her hot salty tears run on to his skin.
" I thought I lost you Castle. I woke up and you weren't here."
" Shhh Kate it is okay I'm here now. God don't scare me like that again."
He sits him self down on the edge of the trolley, with her in his arms. The team give them their space realising the only thing to calm her down is this man. They sit there for what seems ages, embraced in each others arms. He places feather light kisses to the top of her head, soon she has gone back to sleep. So he lays her down gently and turns to speak to one of the doctors.
" I'm her Boyfriend and partner Richard Castle, how is she really ?"
AN: Let me know what you think about the chapter. Please review etc.