AN: Rewriting and uploading this chapter took a lot longer than I expected…I apologize for the school year hiatus, so here is a filler chapter before I leave town for a week-long competition. I hope you enjoy!

FYI: Some language, but minimum.

Relief though? He didn't know why. Didn't he just save this elderly man's daughter and granddaughter only after putting them in the initial danger? Shouldn't he be the one angry and mourning what had happened, while Castle was upset and angry? Angry at the world for what had happened, angry at Scott Dunn for the bomb, and lastly, angry at himself for writing the books that had put Kate and her daughter, her precious sweet little angel in the hospital.

"Yeah. You could say that it had something to do with me."

"Why, good morning there, Sleeping Beauty! How was thee's nap?" Castle says in an English accent while he's walking over to the side of her bed. "Would you like to play another round of Texas's Hold 'Em? Of course, minus the fact that your mom is so going to kill me later for teaching you this game." Castle mumbles to himself as he sets-up the game and helped the little girl readjust to sit up straighter in her bed.

"Yeah, Cassy. Wlet's pway again." Emily says and Castle has the feeling that the three-year-old is all too happy to play yet another game of poker. "My had fwun last time."

"You had fun last time?" Castle asks with fake enthusiasm, trying not to look at all the bruises and scratches on the three-year-old's innocent body. Oh, Lord, how he feels beyond responsible for what had happened last week.

Even after the brief and angst meeting with Kate's father, which consisted of a lot of guilt and remorse on Castle's part, the heaviness in his chest remains a burden that he doesn't think will ever go away. It was then that the doctor whom had operated on Emily had come and asked for Castle and Jim; stating that her injuries were minor compared to her mother.

Once all the smoke and dried blood had been washed off Emily's body, and the doctors could see the actual cuts and scratches on her body, she was determined to be in stable condition and removed from the ICU section of the children's ward. Even though, the doctor kept stressing to Jim and Castle that Emily was not out of the woods and that the recovery process would be long and tedious one.

Her back was the worse area of them all: she had an open wound that looked like she had been repeatedly whipped in the same spot, her arms and legs had scratches and bruises covered all over a them, and her chest was a lengthy story. The previous morning Castle had learned a valuable lesson, bruised ribs can make a little three-year-old angel scream at the top of her lungs when she first wakes up from a coma, but they can also trigger an asthma attack caused by a burning building filled with a lot of smoke.

To Castle, the best news of it was that nothing had been broken, either bruised, sprain or swollen.

"Cassy, Cassy, CASSY!" Emily screamed, jerking Castle from his darkening thoughts that were leading him down the rabbit hole. A place that he fought to visit after watching Kate's own turmoil with that special-type of Hell.

"Oh, yes sweetie, let's get back to the game. Shall we?" Castle asked. He set the stack down in front of her for her to cut into two halves and try to make as equal as possibly.

The sound of a glass door sliding open behind Castle made him turn around in his seat just in time to greet the elderly nurse.

"Hi Nuwse Cindy!" Emily greeted in a very giggle voice, one that Castle had quickly learned to become her 'I am so not peeking at the cards and cheating so I can have all the winning cards' voice.

Castle watched as Nurse Cindy looked from him to Emily and back again with a very disapproving look on her face. She shook her head trying not to laugh at the two trouble-makers sitting right in front of her; she was even chuckling as Castle and Emily pretended to act as if they did not just get caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"You do know that these are all glass windows, right Mr. Castle? And we can see everything that goes on in here." Nurse Cindy asked while she checked over Emily's vitals.

"As a matter of fact, yes I do. I did pay for this particular room for a reason, remember Nurse Cindy?" Castle stated. When Jim and Castle were first able to visit Emily, the room was located at the back of the children's ward and held two beds in it with the only form of privacy having been sliding curtains. It did not take long for Castle to write a large check to the hospital's charity foundation in exchange for Emily being moved to a private room where she could be easily monitored.

"Evewythingy?" Castle was forced to suppress his laughter when Emily's eyes widened and her voice hitched at the nurse's statement.

"Everything." Castle and Nurse Cindy said at the same time while smirking at each other, both trying even harder to not laugh at Emily's antics.

"You cwt dek tis time." Emily said looking down at her hands with a small pout on her bottom lip, a tell that Castle realized meant that she knew she had been caught.

"It's okay Emily; everything is going to be okay." Castle said, putting emphasis on the subject and verbs, hopping that she caught the hidden message within his words. Much to his amusement, the look on the Mini-Beckett's face said everything that she couldn't in that one moment without having a full-blown meltdown for her mother again.

Like mother-like daughter, they both had a nervous breakdown when they had first woken up after arriving at the hospital. Once again, the weight in his chest returns at the thought of Kate; she had been placed in a medically induced coma only to be woken up and then involuntarily sedated. His detective had freaked out, demanding information on her daughter and when none could be offered to her at the time, she had lost it by screaming, hitting, attempting to pull out her IVs and crying for her baby-girl.

Nurse Cindy took this as her cue to leave with a smile and one last good-bye to each of them before wishing them good-luck on their "game." She also left with a promise of being back within the next couple of hours to check on Emily before lights out. The first night that Emily was admitted to the children's ward, the hospital staff had tried to make him leave at lights out; however, when Emily had started fighting and crying over being left alone, Castle had simply refused. He, once again, learned that a very generous check to the board of the hospital can easily persuade them to let him stay.

Suddenly, a wave of depression took over his body and ruggedly-handsome features as he looked over at the picture on Emily's night stand. Castle had taken it one night when the whole team had gotten together for a family dinner at his place; Kate was dancing with Emily in her arms and he captured the moment on his phone to have it forever.

Ryan and Esposito had found the picture buried in the wreckage of Kate and Emily's apartment and had given it to Castle when they came to visit. He had the picture reprinted out at the drug store multiple times and each in different picture frames, with words and designs decorating the frames in comforting and innocent colors. He placed it on the side of Emily's bed for the angel girl to admire it day-in and day-out

Kate had a copy on the night stand in her room too, for whenever she finally woke-up.

Maybe someday soon, if not for Emily's sake, then at least for his lucidity.

He was tearing up on the inside knowing that in less than a week, he would be granted temporary custody of a three-year-old whom would be going home with him to his loft. Castle knew that his fatherly and parenting skills would always be with him, but he wasn't sure that he knew what to do in this scenario.

"Emily, you know that your Mommy loves you very much and that she is trying so hard to wake up and to come back home to you. Nevertheless, Mommy also has to rest up so she can get stronger and healthier." Castle stated as he gently grasped Emily's small chin in his large hand and forced her to look him in his eyes. At her nod and the sight of tears gathering in her eyes, he pulled her into a hug and whispered soothing words into her ear, attempting to keep her calm and her sanity intact.

But he was sure that his was already gone.

AN: As normal, comments, suggestions and reviews are always welcomed!