Chapter 13
OK, this chapter jumps around to different points of view quite a bit, but hopefully I set it up well enough so you can all still tell whats going on also the timeline has been updated as well for those interested. ENJOY :p
Kate was vaguely aware of being lifted onto a stretcher and carried out of the house. She felt the cool morning air on her face a second later and closed her eyes, letting breeze blow over her. God that feels good, she thought, but she didn't remember getting so hot. Suddenly she felt Castle's hand leave hers and stretched her hand out to find it again. She tried to form a sentence to ask where he was and what was going on but couldn't think of what words to use. Her mind barely registered being lifted into the back of an ambulance. All she wanted was to hear Rick's voice again, and feel the soothing motions of his fingers on hers. The paramedic was trying to tell her to calm down, that she shouldn't strain herself.
Then his voice was close again, somewhere to her right. She relaxed a little bit as he kept talking. Kate caught bits and pieces of what he was saying but it was getting harder to hear through the thick fog that seemed to be developing in the back of the ambulance. She knew he kept saying her name, and that was all she needed. Kate had always loved the way he said it and tried to focus on that. As long as she could hear him saying her name she could stay awake, she could stay with him. Beckett didn't know what was going to happen if she let herself fall asleep and she didn't want to find out.
Another voice began talking and Beckett figured it must be the paramedic. She wanted to ask what he was saying but her mouth didn't seem to be working. She looked over at Castle to see if she could get anything out of his expression, but when she turned her head he was simply staring at her. His eyes seemed to break through the fog that was threatening to overcome her. The smile that almost, but not quite, reached his eyes told her that he was trying not to show how worried he was.
The next time he spoke she could actually make out the words. . "It's ok Kate, I'm still here. I'm not leaving you, no matter what." There was a pause before he continued while stroking her hair. "It's ok to fall asleep Kate. I won't let them take you away from me, I'll still be here when you wake up. I promise. But you still have a hard fight ahead of you, you need to save your strength."
She took a second to let her mind process the words, but after only a short hesitation she understood that he was going to do everything in his power to keep the promise he had just made. She managed to nod her head as everything got hazy again. The last thing she saw was a look of relief on Ricks face before everything went quiet and black.
Castle jumped out of the ambulance, only a second behind the stretcher carrying Kate. He promised her that he wouldn't leave her and he had every intention of keeping that promise. The second they were through the doors of the hospital everyone sprang into action. The stretcher was surrounded by nurses, who transferred her onto a hospital bed and began wheeling her towards an operating room at the other end of a hallway.
One nurse turned around to face Castle, who had started to follow the rolling bed. "Sir I'm afraid it's staff only past that set of doors, there is a waiting room right around the corner if you want to wait-" she was cut off by Castle brushing past her as if he hadn't heard a word she had said.
"Sir!" she called after him. "You can't go down there!"
Castle barely heard the woman who was standing in front of him talking. All he could think was that Kate was getting away. He couldn't let her go. He strode past the nurse and headed after the wounded detective. She had just been pushed through the doors and he was almost there when two sets of strong arms grabbed him from behind. "No!" he yelled. "I have to follow her!"
"Sir I'm sorry but if you can't calm down right now we are going to have to escort you from the hospital." One of the security guards said.
Castle stopped fighting as much but didn't lower his voice. "I need to see her. I have to be in there with her!"
The other security guard jerked one of Ricks arms behind his back and it seemed to calm Castle down. "Sir you need to lower your voice. Yelling won't help her."
The next thing Kates mind registered was being rushed down a brightly lit hallway by a bunch of nurses that seemed to be yelling for security. She tried to look around and saw Castle jogging to keep up with them. He had a determined look on his face that she knew all too well.
A second later she was being pushed through a set of doors and Castle was trapped on the other side with two beefy-looking security guards holding him back. By the look of it he was giving them a good work out.
She wanted to tell the doctors to let him through, but her brain somehow managed to connect being in a hospital with going into surgery and she knew he couldn't be there for that. Instead she tried to find him behind the doors. She wanted to let him know she was going to be ok, that she would be out soon. She had stopped moving but when she looked around the doors were too far away. She tried to sit up and pain shot through her shoulder making her cry out again and fall back. She was about to form the words to tell the doctors she wanted to see Castle before she went into surgery but the new shocks of pain were washing over her and drowning out everything else. Suddenly someone put a small mask over her nose and mouth and the quiet blackness overtook her once more.
Castle still strained against the arms holding him back, but was quickly realizing this was a fight he was going to lose. "I have to see her, I can't let her go in there alone, I…I promised…" As he mentioned his promise all the energy seemed to leave his body at once. The past three days caught up with him all at once and he sank to the floor, focusing all his remaining will power on breathing. His knees came up towards his chest and he hid his face in his hands. Rick Castle didn't care that he probably looked like an idiot, he didn't care that there were hot tears falling down his cheeks. All he cared about was the woman behind that set of double doors, the woman that he was head over heels in love with. Kate, his beautiful Kate, had been…he couldn't even think the word. Shot.
Castle looked up. The security guards were still standing in front of him. Not sure if he was safe to leave alone now or if he was going to try and follow a woman on the stretcher again. "It's ok," Rick said. "I'll go to the waiting area. I just…" his voice trailed off as he realized he didn't know what he was about to say.
The security guard that had spoken to him first nodded in understanding. "Listen guy, we'll be at the end of the hallway. You can…sit here for a few minutes but you're going to have to move to the waiting area."
Rick tried to smile up at the man but knew he wasn't fooling anyone. "Thanks." He watched as the two men in uniform marched to the end of the hallway. He stayed where he was for a few more minutes, working up the energy to get up. Finally he managed to wipe his eyes and stand up, though his legs seemed barely able to hold his weight. As he sat down in one of the waiting room chairs he sent a text to everyone on the team, along with his mother and Alexis to let them know what hospital they were at and what was going on. A second later Castle realized that he was going to have to call Jim Beckett and tell him what had happened. He pulled out his phone and slowly scrolled down the list of his contacts until he found the one he wanted. His finger hovered over the touch screen for a second as he ran his fingers through his hair, dreading what he was about to do.
He hit the button and brought the phone to his ear as he lowered his head. The older man picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Hey Jim, it's Rick Castle."
"Hey Rick, what's going on?" Jim said warily. The two men were on good terms but they didn't talk on the phone for no reason.
"Jim…" Castle paused, not sure how to say when he knew needed to be said. It was probably best not to beat around the bush. "Kate's in the hospital."
The man on the other line took a slow, deep breath. "What happened? Is she going to be ok?"
"Lanie was kidnapped two days ago. We found her this morning, and went in with backup. Esposito was…out of control and Kate stopped him. The guy turned his gun on her and shot. She was wearing her vest but he hit her in the shoulder."
Castle could hear Jim continuing to take deep breaths. "What…what does that mean? How bad is it?"
Rick wracked his brain for everything he knew about gunshot wounds. "Shoulder wounds usually aren't bad, as far as gunshot wounds go, but she was confused and shaking. She was conscious until shortly after we got her into the ambulance. The paramedic said it was a good thing she's as strong as she is…that she would need it in the next few hours. She lost a lot of blood." There was silence on both ends for what seemed like ages. Castle was the one to break it. "They took her into surgery a few minutes ago. I'm sorry Jim, I…"
"Castle, this isn't your fault. She's a fighter, everything…everything will be alright. Thank you for letting me know so soon. I'll be there as soon as I can. You shouldn't have to wait alone."
Castle was going to protest but decided against it. "I'll see you soon Jim." He said as he hung up the phone and let it fall into his lap as he leaned back. The chances of Beckett being in surgery for a while were high and from the scene he had caused he could tell all the nurses knew who he was waiting on. Rick knew he should rest a little bit, but he didn't think he could bring himself to let go like he had urged Kate to do just a few minutes before. He couldn't even keep his eyes closed for long before he started replaying the scene from back at the house. Two gunshots going off…her cry of pain…the trail of red as she slid down the wall. He shook his head and opened his eyes, trying to focus on something that would distract him. It didn't work and the video in his mind kept going. Her ragged breathing…the frantic, but far away look in her eyes as she tried to tell him to stay with her.
He turned his eyes to the wallpaper across the room and set to work memorizing the patter. It seemed to work but shortly after he started, his mind got bored and drifted to where Kate way lying, unconscious, in an operating room. He tried to find something else to focus on. 15 minutes later he fell asleep with his head tilted back, trying to count the dots on the ceiling tiles.
Jim Beckett was sitting on his couch reading the newspaper when his phone rang. He picked it up from its place on a table next to the couch. "Hello?"
"Hey Jim, it's Rick Castle."
Jim immediately straightened up as different, mostly macabre, scenarios started running through his head. He liked the writer a lot, and knew how good he was for Kate, but he didn't think they had ever talked on the phone. Why was he calling unless…he made himself stop and took a deep breath. "Hey Rick, What's going on?" he said, hoping that his words didn't betray his emotions too much. But then he heard what he had been dreading since the day his daughter had become a cop.
"Jim…Kate's in the hospital."
The older man took another slow, steadying breath and asked what had happened. He listened at Castle told him how Lanie had been kidnapped and Beckett had been shot in the process of apprehending the man responsible. He trusted the writer to tell him the truth about how bad things were and listened while he was told about shoulder wounds. He thought he was handling it well until he heard that she had lost a lot of blood. Both men had stopped talking and there was silence. Jim wanted to say something, but he didn't know what. He knew that Rick would have as hard a time dealing with this as he would, and he wished he could offer some sort of solace.
However it was the writer that spoke first. "They took her into surgery a few minutes ago. I'm sorry Jim, I…"
He told Rick that it wasn't his fault, that she would be ok, and only hoped that he would believe him. He knew she was a fighter, that she would make it through. She had always been the strongest person he knew. He stayed where he was on the couch, letting the information sink in. Ever since Kate had joined the academy Jim had had nightmares about her meeting the same fate as her mother. To know that his dreams might become reality in the next few hours, it was almost crippling. He told himself multiple times that he had to get up, and go to the hospital, but his legs wouldn't move.
After what seemed like hours he managed to stand up. He kept telling himself that she was strong, that she had such a passion for life, and for her job, that nothing, not even getting shot, would keep her from it. She was going to pull through, she had to. He grabbed his coat and his keys and closed the door behind him. He knew there was nothing he could do, though he hoped his presence would bring at least a slight amount of comfort to the writer, to the man that had done so much for Kate. He also knew that for the next few hours at least, everything was simply a waiting game.
Well there ya go. Hopefully you all understood everything despite my jumping around. Also after this morning I don't have internet for like 3 or 4 days so there won't be anything new before then. But as soon as I get it back there will be a new chapter for you guys reviews are always loved :p