The girls sat quietly at the kitchen table, a larger bottle of red wine in arms reach and two empty wine glasses stood before them. Kate had her hands crossed on the table. Her thumbs nervously rubbed and fiddled against the skin on her hands. Lanie sat, cross-legged on the chair. Her right hand held the bottom of her wine glass while her left lay neatly tucked across her stomach.

"How many did you take?"

"Just the one."

The night had taken an awkward turn. The girls sat with their arms folded in front of them.

"They do say to take at least two. Those things can sometimes be false."

"I know. I've been meaning to but I haven't found the time."

"You haven't found the time, or you're too scared to know the truth for a fact?"

Kate sat silently. The lingering question hit her like a piano.

"I don't know." Kate swallowed hard, "Lanie, I can't think about this right now, with everything going on it-it just feeling wrong."

"Kate, maybe this isn't the best time, but is it ever a wrong time? I mean, this could be a really good thing. I know you and Castle have been in a really good place lately, maybe it was just a matter of time."

Kate said nothing. She only looked Lanie in the eye. That was all she needed to do.

"Look, we could be just looking too deep into things here. I mean, it was only one test." Lanie wrapped her fingers around the bottle of wine, "I'm going to have some if you don't mind, because, girl, this is stressing me out." Lanie poured herself enough for the both of them and took a sip, "you know what, I can't wait until morning, I'm sure we can find a 24 hour drug store around here somewhere. Let's get you a few more tests."

Four steal poles stood straight on the ceramic floor. Different from where they had been held before, the soft, almost comforting walls were replaced with dark, hard ones.

Each pole stood almost 4 feet tall, held together by a flat surface in the middle. An unsteady bed. A little less than an inch of cushioning laid on its surface.

"Brave thing you did there. Did you think she wasn't going to leave if you were just hurt?" Tyson walked around the flat object and looked down at a restrained Castle. "I guess pretending you were dead gave her no other alternative but to leave you behind and run. Smart."

Castle stayed silent. The gushing wounds in his chest seemed to lessen.

"Jerry, maybe he's had enough, for now. At least let him regain his strength. The man's on the verge of dying right here in front of us."

"Did I ask for your input, Jim?" Jerry Tyson gave him a look and ordered him to leave the room. Tyson looked back at Rick lying on the hard mattress, "I'll be back, don't miss me too much," he said and then quickly made his way to the door.

The two men stood a few feet away from the closed door. On the other side lay a bleeding, and semi-unconscious Rick expecting his death to be slow and painful. It was halfway there. It sure was slow but all he could think about was that his girls were safe and most probably together looking for him. Rick couldn't stop the smile from gracing his features at the thought.

"You know, I'm not too convinced that you want to help me here, Jim. You're going to have to try harder to convince me or that information that I promised I'd give you will die with me." Tyson jammed his index finger against Jim's chest and entered the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Jim reached in his pocket and pulled out a small necklace-locket. He opened this circular locket and looked at the picture, "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Jim entered the room and became someone else. Tyson picked up a couple of tools and hung them over Castle's face, "which one would you prefer?" With no response, Tyson pressed on, "alright, I was trying to be nice. You saw me, I really tried."

"I saw you," Jim said. His voice was cold and bitter. "I saw it all and I've got to say, you tried to be considerate of what he wanted." Jim looked Tyson straight in the eye without hesitation.

Tyson flashed him a wide smile and looked at Rick. "Well, you heard the man. I tried."

Neither one of their smiles faded.

Kate stepped across the doorframe once more. She placed her bag on the leather sofa and sat down beside it. She hugged both knees against her chest.

"Kate, come on," Lanie shut the front door with her heel and placed the brown paper bag on the kitchen. She pulled out a handful of reasonably sized pink boxes and dropped them on the table, "we've got four new tests. Despite the look the store clerk was giving us and what she said, I don't think it will be as bad as you think. I'm here for you, Kate, no matter what the tests say."

"I think I'll wait till morning."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"No, I jus- I just want to make sure I have a clear head when I take those tests."

"Yeah, no, I completely understand."

"Goodnight, Lanie. Thanks again, for everything." Kate opened the door to the spare room and closed it behind her.

Kate set her bag down on the bed. Pulling the zipper open, she sat down. Kate reached into her bag and pulled out a dark polo shirt. She let two tears crash on it, soaking in the fabric. Her sobs became silent. Her arms trembled against her chest. She laid on her right side and folded her legs. The weight of the entire situation hit her all at once. A square hit to the chest and she was winded. A sense of complete helplessness took over and rocked her body violently. No matter how many nights she lay wide awake to the sound of poison rain crashing against the glass window, Kate hadn't gotten used to the cold feeling of an empty bed.

Where did you go?

Kate's head sunk deeper into the pillow. Her hand tightened its grip on the polo shirt and she clutched it to her chest, breathing in his scent. She hoped it wasn't the last time.

"Don't you dare leave me," she whispered. "Please," she begged. Her body began to rock forward and back. An uncontrollable sense of comfort came over her.