THANK YOU EVERYONE for your get well wishes! Thank you also for your patience in waiting for this chapter. Unfortunately, I was WAY sicker for WAY longer than I had anticipated – so between that and then having to play catch-up all week for the stuff I missed at the beginning of the week, this chapter got pushed to the backburner a little.

That said – Chapter 6 shouldn't be too long in coming, as a reward for your patience, as it is partially finished.

I'm just grateful that the brain's not pure mush anymore, just a little squishy around the edges (unlike this chapter, which IS pure mush!)

Imma gonna apologize now if the characters seem OOC in this chapter – in Castle's case, I think it's justified – but you'll see. I'm not sure that I captured Beckett and Lanie as well here – a week out of it and I've lost my touch! Damn you flu! *shakes fist in the air*

Disclaimer: One day I'm just going to outright claim that I own them and see how long, if ever, until I get a 'Cease and Desist' letter in the mail.

Chapter 5

As Katherine Beckett felt herself slowly drifting back to consciousness, she slowly became aware of a few things: that her bladder was on the verge of exploding, that her head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton, that every muscle in her body ached, and finally, that her pillow seemed to be moving of its own volition and was far, far warmer than it should have been.

Forcing her eyes open as her bladder continued to make its increasing urgency known, she found herself staring up at the sleeping face of one Richard Castle. Remembering the events of the previous day, she smiled slightly, forcing her aching arm up to feel his forehead, wincing at the heat that was being generated by it.

Realising that if she didn't start dragging her unwilling limbs towards the bathroom that they were going to have bigger problems and that she would be experiencing far more embarrassment over their predicament than she was sure was already coming her way once they were both feeling better, she began the arduous trek down the hall to the bathroom, leaning heavily against the wall in order to maintain her balance.

After dealing with her most pressing issues, she began to make her way back to the bedroom, noting that it was still dark out. Stopping briefly at the living room, she smiled a little at the figure of Lanie sprawled inelegantly across the couch, arms and legs akimbo, snoring softly. Turning to continue her journey back to the bedroom, a sudden coughing fit stops her in her tracks, forcing her to gasp for breath.

"And just what do you think you're doing out of bed?"

Busted.

"I had to pee," she answers, whining, surprised as much at the hoarseness of her voice as she is at the plaintive whine it comes out as, far too reminiscent of her current bedmate and co-sufferer. "What time is it?"

Sighing as she grabbed for her cellphone on the coffee table, "It's just 11.30", Lanie replies, starting to get up and walk towards her friend who is slowly drifting down towards the floor, sliding down the wall. Sitting next to her, she brushes her hand against the sick woman's forehead, asking her how she's feeling.

The look in Lanie's eyes stops her from simply stating the 'I'm fine' that is her usual answer to such a question. Instead she opts for the honest answer, explaining that her chest hurts from the coughing. Getting up and returning to her bag, Lanie brings back a bottle of red syrup and a medicine cup. Pouring some of the viscous syrup into the cup, she hands it to her friend expectantly.

"What is it?" she asks, her nose affronted by the smell, refusing to take the proffered cup.

"It'll make you feel better, trust me."

Eyeing the little cup dubiously, she takes it from her friend and tries to down it fast enough to avoid tasting it.

No such luck.

"Oh god, Lanie!" she gasps, forcing herself not to spit the vile syrup back out. "What the hell is this?"

"You probably don't want to know, but trust me – it'll help your cough," she chuckles at her friend's contorted face. "Now let's get you back into bed before that stuff hits you and I have to leave you sleeping on the hallway floor."

Just as they got to their feet in the hallway, they both stopped in their tracks hearing another voice talking. Following the voice, they find Castle sitting up in bed clutching the bucket and – conversing with it?

"Lanie?" Kate turns to her friend, her eyes showing both concern and amusement at the man sitting in her bed, who is indeed having a very lively conversation with the bucket clutched in his hands. "Did he just call the bucket 'Alexis'?"

Laughing out loud, Lanie just shakes her head, completely at a loss for words. The laughter, however, is enough to attract Castle's attention, causing him to swivel around quickly, nearly throwing himself from the bed.

"Lanie!" he rasps gleefully, "when did Alexis get here? Did you let her in?"

Seeing the concern in her friend's eyes, she turns to Kate and answers softly under her breath, "the drugs I gave him to settle his stomach can, on very rare occasions, cause hallucinations. Go figure that Castle would be one of those rare occasions."

Both women approached the bed, rolling their eyes, neither even trying to wipe the amused smirks off of their faces. After getting Kate into the bed beside Castle who had turned back to his fairly in-depth conversation with the Alexis-bucket, Lanie decided to take advantage of his wakefulness to get more Tylenol and water into his system.

As Lanie left the room, Kate finds herself putting her hand on Castle's shoulder to try and get his attention back from the bucket. She finds that as amusing as the whole situation is, it was still a little disturbing. Feeling her hand on his shoulder, he looks up at her for the first time, an odd look on his face, his eyes faintly glazed with fever and the effects of the drugs.

"What?" she asks softly.

Letting go of the bucket in his lap for the first time, he reaches his hands out to cup her face, and she finds herself shivering at the touch. That is, until he starts to squish and mould her cheeks as though they were made of Play-doh.

"Castle!" she hisses, grabbing his hands in both of hers.

He stops suddenly, sobering a little, his eyes taking on the quality of a lost little boy, and she feels bad for being so harsh with him.

"Sorry," he whispers back, his eyes wide with sincerity, "but your face just looked so squishy."

Trying to aim a glare in his direction, she can't help but roll her eyes and smile a little.

"Before you kill him, just remember it's the drugs talking," she hears the laughing voice of her friend come from the doorway behind her.

Hearing Lanie's voice, Castle's eyes light up and he turns toward her. "Lanie! Your face," he coos marvelled, "it sparkles."

"Great," Kate mutters, "I get to be squishy and you get to sparkle?"

"I'm the bringer of the drugs," Lanie shrugs with a mirthful smile, "I bring the sparkle" she winks, approaching the man in question with the water and Tylenol.

Getting him to drink it down, she turns to her friend smiling broadly, "don't you worry though, with that cough syrup I gave you, things are like to get a little sparkly for you too."

"Do you hear that, Kate? We'll chase double rainbows together!" Castle marvels, lying back down in the bed, the Alexis-bucket now lying forgotten on the floor.

Wanting to argue with him, but finding herself struggling to keep her eyes open, her brain fogging over under the influence of her own medication, she merely lies back down on her own side of the bed. Taking her cue to leave, Lanie doesn't miss seeing Castle roll over and nearly tackle the woman next to him, pulling her flush against his body with a squeak of surprise.

Hearing the snicker of amusement from the ME's departing form, Kate weakly tries to free herself from Castle's surprisingly strong grip. "I can't breathe, Castle," she whispers, taking shallow breaths.

"Oh sorry!" he chirps, entirely too happy for someone in his condition. Or someone in mine, she thinks to herself ruefully.

Ultimately, he loosens his arms enough for her to breathe, but she quickly realises that expecting him to outright let her go is not going to be an option that night. Thinking back on the care that he had shown her throughout her illness, and his, she thinks, she finds that she's not all that concerned with pushing him away. Together they fall back asleep.

I would like to send a very special thank you once again to my repeat-reviewers – I count on you guys for your wonderful words with every new chapter. You have no idea how, as I thought my head was going to explode into a fiery ball of snot, how much better reading all your wonderful reviews and get well wishes made me feel. I hope that this chapter lived up to your expectations.

For all my new reviewers – you too rock my socks off! Keep it coming! It's all of you guys together that give me the kick in the pants I need to actually continue writing. I couldn't do it without you.

*Big flu-virusy hugs all around*

=)

ps. The anti-emetic that Lanie gives Castle is called 'ondansetron' and its a real thing. The hallucinations are a VERY uncommon side effect - but seriously - that stuff'll make you feel like a million bucks!