In what is undoubtedly some form of twisted karmic retribution by the universe for being so mean to our delightful duo, it would seem that I am officially sick.
With the flu.
For realz.
So having coming to terms with the fact that by tomorrow morning I will likely be banging on death's door with both fists, begging to be let in, I decided to try and polish up this chapter and post for all of you kind, healthy people tonight, so as to tide you over until the universe has decided that I have suffered enough for my sins.
Normally I wouldn't bother making excuses for my writing, but in this case:
All typos, nonsensical sentences, dangling participles, grammatical mistakes and undeniably poorer quality of this chapter are to be blamed on my stuffy head, sore throat, treacherous stomach, and chills.
disclaimer: Seriously? I'm sick, I think I'm allowed to play with them for a bit, don't you?
Chapter 4:
After entering a disturbingly quiet apartment, Lanie finally found the two of them, with no small amount of searching, curled up together on the floor of the bathroom, amidst an ad hoc pile of blankets and pillows, which, based on the evidence from the master bedroom, had been tugged off the bed and dragged into the bathroom with little care for the mess left behind. She was gratified to see that, despite the less than comfortable position the two adults where undoubtedly going to regret, they had at least had the presence of mind to have bottles of water with them to stay hydrated, as she had commanded Castle to ensure over the phone. Staring down at the two, who were still out cold and unaware of her presence, Lanie found herself nearly at a loss for words.
"Just what am I going to do with the two of you?" she sighed.
After getting over her initial shock, Lanie returned to the living room to bring the overnight bag that she had picked up from Alexis on her way over. Thinking back on it, she was glad that she had stopped over, or else she was sure that she would have been far more confused at what had greeted her than she actually had been. She just wished that when Alexis had anxiously asked her for an update on her father, that she had been a bit more specific about how sick her dad was. Fortunately, she was sure she had some sort of anti-emetic in her bag, she just hoped that it would help. Knowing that she would have to make-do with what she had, Lanie began to assess the task she had ahead of her with her two 'patients'.
Immediately, she was faced with a problem; given her own stature, there wasn't a chance in the world that she could pick up and move Kate, let alone Castle, who likely weighed at least twice as much as her. The doctor in her struggled to reconcile the conflicting needs of the two: they could not remain on the bathroom floor, but they needed as much sleep as possible, and she was sure that neither of them had gotten near the amount of rest that they needed. So her choice was either to wake them, or to call in reinforcements.
Grinning at the thought of the look on Javier's face when met with the sight of those two on the floor, Lanie realised that once healthy, one, the other, or both of them would be out for her blood. Not one to let a golden opportunity pass, however, she was sure to snap a picture on her cell phone of the delightful duo – purely for medical reasons, of course.
Sighing, she knew that she would have to wake them. They likely needed to drink more anyways, and they most certainly needed medication to get their fevers under control. Trying to decide which of the two would be the most pliable, she chose to wake Castle up first.
As soon as she touched his shoulder to gently shake him awake his eyes popped open and he lifted his head rapidly , grunting in confusion.
"Huh? Wha?...Kate!"
Hearing her name, Kate too startled awake, looking around the small room in confusion. Eventually both of their eyes landed on the ME, sitting back on her heels, trying to hide her smirk of amusement and failing miserably.
"Well good morning to you too, you darling rays of sunshine," she chirped out sarcastically.
"Lanie?" Beckett asked, still confused, "why are you in my bathroom?"
"You know, it's funny," she replied, "I was going to ask the two of you the same thing."
Looking down at the man who's head still rested in her lap for the first time, Beckett's eyes widened, remembering the last few hours. Running her fingers through his hair, she leaned down to ask him how he was feeling.
The surprise that Lanie felt at seeing her friend show such unabashed intimacy in her presence, with a man that she had yet to admit aloud that she loved, came second only to her concern when Castle's answer to that question came in the form of a new volley of heaves, forcing him to sit up rapidly and clutch the sides of the toilet. It was at this point that she realised that she was going to have to deal with her patients separately, and chose to get her friend back into bed first, before coming back to deal with who she was starting to recognize as her more troublesome patient. That doesn't mean you're not going to have a fight on your hands with Kate though, she thought ruefully.
After making sure that Castle hadn't liberated his stomach along with its contents, she turned to her friend, who was still holding his hand.
"Alright Chica, this is how its gonna be," she stated in a tone that brooked no argument, "you—" she looked her straight in the eyes, "are going to bed—"
"But—"
"Uh uh," Lanie cut off her hoarse protest, "to bed. Now." She stood up and started to help Kate to stand. As they teetered slowly out of the bathroom, their movements hindered not only by Kate's dizziness and weakness, but also by her unwillingness to leave Castle alone, Lanie turned back to the man who was still crouched pitifully over the toilet bowl, "I'll be right back for you Castle, so you better reach some sort of agreement with your stomach before I get back," she smiled.
"I'll see what I can do," he muttered weakly, not even lifting his head up from the toilet seat.
After getting the detective into bed, Lanie quickly returned to the bathroom to get the pillows and blankets to cover her shivering form and to make sure that Castle was still alive.
"Stay," she ordered, sending a meaningful glare over her mask on the way out the door.
Once she got Kate settled, with blankets and pillows, checked her temperature and other vitals, made sure that she drank an entire glass of water and took the medicine that she gave her, she started back towards the man in the bathroom, from whom they had not heard anything for some time.
"Lanie?"
"Yeah?" Lanie turned back to look at her friend sitting in bed propped against the pillows.
"Make sure he's ok," she pleaded softly.
"You know I will, girl," she smiled sympathetically. "I'll have him back in your bed in no time," she tossed out over her shoulder, happy to see the eye roll that she had been hoping for.
Returning to the bathroom, she grabbed a facecloth from the counter, wet it and approached Castle, who hadn't moved from the position he had staked out at the toilet. Sitting down beside him, she got him to raise his head so she could run the cloth over his face.
"Kate?" he asked, looking at her with eyes that were glazed over with fever.
"Castle," she admonished smiling, "you're sick as a dog in here! You need to worry about your own self for a couple of minutes. I'll get you back in her bed soon enough," she winked at him, happy to see him make the effort to grin back. "Now you need to tell me what's happening with you so I can get you back to taking care of her. Deals?"
Nodding in response, he slowly laid out the progression of his own illness, answering the ME's questions as best he could whenever she interjected. Seemingly satisfied with his answers she told him " I think you've definitely got the same flu as Kate. Unfortunately for you, yours presented with this delightful little addition."
"Tell me about it," he muttered.
"Alright Castle, I need you to take this, it'll settle your stomach," she handed him a little pill from a foil package.
"Won't stay," he whined a little.
"This one will, I promise," she spoke, as if to a child, "just let it dissolve on your tongue."
Doing as he was told, Lanie got to work on getting him to change his clothes and get into bed before the medication made him too drowsy to do it himself. Leaving him to change, she went to fetch the small plastic garbage can that Kate left in the kitchen. Just in case, she thought.
Having left it by the bed and having checked on her other patient, who thankfully seemed to be sleeping again, she returned to the bathroom to find a pale faced Castle, now in a t-shirt and sweatpants, slowly working his way down the hall, a bottle of water clutched in his hand. Helping him into bed, she went through the same drill with him as she did before, indicating the location of the garbage can should he need it. Seeing him start to drift off to sleep, she left the two to their drug-induced stupors and returned to the living room, pulling off her gloves and mask and reaching for her phone.
"'Javier? We're gonna have to postpone our evening," she smiled into the phone, "But don't you worry – I have a picture for you that will more than make up for it..."
No sooner had Lanie left the room than both Castle and Beckett rolled over to face each other in the bed, looking into each others' bleary eyes.
"How many do you think she took?" she whispered hoarsely.
"At least a couple thousand," he whispered back, smiling weakly. "Are you ok with that?" he asked, concerned that she was going to be embarrassed now and push him away.
Shaking her head no as a cough temporarily prevented her from answering.
She reached up and smoothed his hair back off his face once the fit had passed. "Besides," she wheezed softly, a mischievous glint in her eye despite her illness, "I caught her and Esposito making out in the morgue last week."
"I never realised what a devious woman you are, Detective," he smiled, though his eyes were beginning to droop closed against his will as the drugs took hold.
"I learned from the best," she whispered, smiling. Seeing him finally succumb to the medication, she moved herself closer, and, resting her head against his chest, finally succumbed to sleep herself.
Ok, so I'll be honest, I'm not very happy with this chapter. I consider it the 'necessary evil' chapter, where not much happens, though it's all necessary set-up for upcoming chapters. Chapter 5 will be the road to recovery, however, and with that – more Casketty goodness! :)
As for my lovely reviewers – shout outs to:
All of you who loved the whole 'dragging the blankets into the bathroom scene' – it was my favourite scene to write! I'm glad you all enjoyed it too!
Keal: Just for you! Thanks for the idea ;)
AND a huge THANK YOU for those of your who have reviewed on every chapter! That means you Becket NYPD, youdude, gmay, ilovemyjeep, Bella Paige88, Lunotto, knittingeek, m, and Tols!
And for all of you who put me on your story alert – y'all just obliterated my record! There are more of you for this one story than for all my other stories put together! I nearly fainted when it hit 100!
Please keep the reviews coming! I'll take the bad with the good so send me your feedback and I'm open to suggestions for upcoming chapters :).
Now if you'll excuse me...
::coughs:: ::sneezes::