A/N : Hey again, I really enjoyed writing this chapter so I hope you like it. Once again I don't sadly own Castle.

One of nurses gently places the oxygen mask back over her mouth. Even though she is asleep her breathing is still laboured, the mask will allow her body get the oxygen that her lungs are craving for. The heart monitor wires are carefully reattached so that they can monitor her heart beat, rhythm and blood pressure. Her body has taken an extreme battering today, it has experience something that nobody should have to endure. It fought hard to keep her organs and brain supplied with oxygen, when her muscles lost the fight to keep her afloat. Her lungs took in dirty germ filled sea water, the one space in your body where water should never reach. The germs were given free range to attack her immune system and man was it fighting back with all its might.

She will have a battle ahead of her, a body fighting a now invisible enemy. It will tire her, having to use all her resources to keep infection at bay. She will feel every strain and every move for the next few days, her muscles tired from keeping her afloat for so long. Her head will ache from the trauma of being hit by a hard object. The area will bruise in various colours as the body heals itself, ranging from black to purple to green to yellow. Finally the emotional trauma from nearly drowning will be the worst. The body can generally heal it's self in a short period of time but the mind that takes longer. The nightmares, dreams, visions and memories will plague her for a while longer.

He is desperate to talk to the doctor to find out what is going to happen now and to find out how she really is. The doctor signals to him that he will be right back so he remains at the side of her bed. Brushing his fingers delicately over her cheek and forehead, being carefully not to touch the welt that has formed there. She looks rather peaceful asleep, nothing like the Beckett, he first came to see on his arrival to rhesus. He still can't fathom that he nearly lost her again today, it doesn't seem to compute.

He hears the doctor come back into the room and he leaves her a minute to go talk to him.

"Mr Castle was it, I'm Doctor Relph?"

"Hello, yes it is but please call me Rick….How is she?"

" She is stable for now but she isn't out of the woods yet. She inhaled a lot of germ infested water into her lungs. She will need to stay over night for three doses of intravenous antibiotics to help her body fight any infection that may develop. I'm not saying one definitely will but as a precaution the antibiotics are needed. Also she took a nasty knock to the head, so we will be monitoring her neurovascular signs as well. That involves make sure she knows who she is, where she is and what year etc. As well we will be making sure she has full power in all of her limbs and that her speech doesn't become affected."

"Okay I think I understand the basics of that. Did she have a scan?"

" She did we took one of her head and one of her lungs. The one of her head was clear but we can't rule out a small bleed occurring over the next hours hence the tests. The one of her lungs showed a small area of consolidation at the bottom of her lungs."

He gives the Doctor a puzzled look at this last bit, he has no idea what that means. The Doctor seems to note his confusion and continues to explain.

"Consolidation happens when fluid gets in to or forms in the lungs. Hers is from inhaling the water, it is only minimal so her body will cough it up within the next few hours or days. So don't be too alarmed if she starts coughing harshly. We will give her a medicine that she breathes in as a gas to help bring up the gunk. I'm hopeful that if she remains stable overnight that she maybe able to go home with supervision tomorrow afternoon."

" Thank you, for explaining it all to me and thanks for all you have done so far."

" All part of the job Mr Castle. We will be moving her to her own room upstairs soon, where you will be able to sit with her properly."

For the time being he goes back to stand by her, he shoots off a couple of texts to update the gang on her progress. He knows if they were allowed that the boys and Lanie would be standing in resus too.

...

She opens her eyes to a harsh bright light, a white ceiling looms over her. For a moment she forgets where she is, imagining she is at home in her own bed. Then she hears a beeping in the distance, and she scans the room. Suddenly it all comes rushing back to her, the coldness of the water, the darkness that over took her. She panics and tries to sit up but her body aches all over, she lies back and tries to calm her breathing down.

" You're having a panic attack Beckett just calm down."

She chants this over and over in her head. She looks down, that is when she sees him and as quick as it begun her panic attack dies down. He is sitting in chair next to her bed, he has his head laying on the bed just next to her hip. One of his arms is under his head and the other is grasping her hand. He looks just adorable, she has the urge to run her fingers through his hair but her free hand has drip attached. She wonders how long he has been here, he must be getting a crick in his neck but she doesn't want to wake him just yet. She wants him to get some much-needed sleep.

She is content to just lay back for now and stare at his sleeping form. Yes she knows staring is creepy, she has called him out on it so many times but she can't help it. She is just glad to see that he is okay. She feels a tickle at the back of her throat and she swallows harshly trying to budge it. It doesn't work and she feels her chest constrict and before she can stop it she starts to cough. She is coughing so much that she finds it hard to catch her breath in between and this makes her start to wheeze. The pain is unbearable, it feels like something is clawing out of her chest through her mouth. The jerking makes her ribs and stomach muscles burn with pain.

The noise that sounds like a seal barking wakes him up. He looks up to find her struggling for breath and it scares the shit out of him. He reaches over and pushes the call bell for the nurse, before sitting up and patting her on the back. He knows the doctor warned him about this but he was nowhere near ready for the reality of it happening. The nurse comes rushing in and helps to sit Beckett forward, she also changes the mask over to the one with the special gas the doctor was talking about. This seems to help with the breathing and the cough subsides. She reaches for a tissue and spits something into it which he is fine not knowing what . She leans back the energy sapped from her already tired body. He passes her a drink of water which she willingly takes. The nurse takes her leave happy that her patient is okay, which leaves them alone again. She places the glass back and gives him a crooked smile. It is the best thing he has seen in days.

"Hey Castle."

"Hey Kate."

That is all that needs to be said for now, they're just happy that they're both alive. He leans forward and places a delicate kiss to her forehead. His hand lingers on her cheek, his thumb making small circles on her skin. He goes to lean back when she places her hand on the back of his neck. She keeps him just inches from her face, he can see straight into her piercing orbs. She moves her oxygen mask aside with a bit of effort with her free hand, while he's distracted by her eyes. She pulls him down so that her lips meet his, she doesn't care how sick she feels she needs to feel his touch. She places feather light kisses on his lips, which soon turns heated. She craves him, her mouth moulding with his, his hand running through her hair. Her once dry lips moistened with his.

He pulls back a few seconds later and she is disappointed but she understands why. She is left breathless but in a good way this time. He is just looking at her with eyes full of love. He understands she is disappointed at him stopping so soon.

" Later Kate, later okay let's get you better first."

She smiles at this and shifts over in the bed. She leaves a gap wide enough for him to lay next to her comfortably, so she pats the space beside her. He looks hesitant not wanting to hurt her.

" Castle please, I need to feel you next to me and that chair looks so uncomfortable."

She doesn't normally like to beg or show weakness but he has seen all sides of her now. He nods and crawls in next to her, he settles down in the bed. She waits till he is comfortable before she leans into him laying her head in the crook between his shoulder and neck. He places his hand on her thigh, in a tender yet protective hold.

" What about if one of the nurses comes in and disapproves?"

" They're brilliant at their job but screw the nurses right now, I need you here."

This makes him chuckle, the sound resonating through his chest, it is like heaven to her ears. Awhile later he hears her breathing even out and he realises she is once again asleep. He soon joins her and as he nods off he wonders what the boys and Lanie would think if they caught them like this...…Little does he know they don't have to wait long.

A/N I hope you liked it. You know what to do leave a little review :D. Next Chapter hopefully up soon.