Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
It turned out that the banker really had committed suicide. The fact that he did so by stabbing himself over half a dozen times in various body parts was purely, as Castle had said with a sly grin, overkill. He had been found at the bank, the knife next to him, in a pool of blood. Everything had pointed to an angry client. That was until Lanie confirmed that the angle was all off on the entrances of the stabbings and only the man himself could have inflicted the wounds.
"But why'd he kill himself?" Castle wondered from his seat on the corner of Kate's desk.
Kate rearranged the contents of the cardboard box as she placed the pile of crime scene photos in with the completed 5s. "Who knows. Belongs to the beat cops now."
"Hate to see a mystery go unsolved. Going against my every nature to let you turn that over to some uniforms just so they can put it on a shelf," he muttered, handing her the lid for the box.
"Not necessarily unsolved. Uniforms might find a cause to his actions when they go over it."
Castle hummed, obviously unconvinced. "So, what do we do now with no case? Coffee and doughnuts?" His voice rose at the end, excited by the possibility of filling a stereotype.
Kate laughed, pushing the box as close to her desk as she could with her foot, sitting down in the chair with a sigh. "You want to spring for doughnuts for the precinct, go for it. They'd certainly make paperwork a little more enjoyable."
"I seriously hate paperwork." He sat in his own chair, his phone out ready to dial up his favorite doughnut shop in the city, and finally live out a dream of being a typical TV-cop when the phone in his hand rang. Unknown number but the caller ID said it was for NYU Langone Medical Center.
"Mr. Castle?"
Kate glanced over when he sat forward, his body radiating tension that she hadn't seen a moment ago. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard, moving slower but still typing out the report she had been working on. Watching him carefully.
"Yes?"
He was on his feet in a second, running toward the stairs.
"Castle, wait!" Kate grabbed her keys, leaving her jacket over the back of the chair that spun as she got up. He bypassed the elevator and she caught the door to the stairwell as it eased shut behind him. "Castle!"
She caught up to him in the lobby as he tried to weave through the incoming shift of uniforms. Pushing aside a few, she snagged the sleeve of his shirt, pulling him to a stop just inside the front doors. He shoved his phone into his pocket and tried to get past her but Kate planted her hands on his chest and gave him a shove back against the wall. "Hey. What's wrong?"
"I need to go. Now." Again, he tried to get around Kate but she shifted so she was in front of him. "Seriously, Beckett. Out of my way." That tone of voice was one Kate hadn't heard from the man before. And whatever had just happened was serious. He hadn't used her last name for a long time; she'd been 'Kate' pretty much since the day they met.
"No." He blinked in surprise when she spoke, crossing her arms. "I'm not letting you go anywhere when you're like this. Tell me what's going on."
Castle glared and Kate glared back until he let his head fall back against the wall. "It's Mother."
This time, Kate laced her fingers through his. "I'll drive you. No need to get in an accident because you're rushing the taxi driver and he runs a red light to get you to the hospital faster."
Taking her unmarked had perks.
Mostly those perks fell to the red gumball light she dug from the center console and lit up on the dashboard coupled with the siren she hit to get through intersections on the way to Langone. The twenty minute ride in afternoon traffic was cut down to seven, a record even for Kate who never used the light or siren in the car for anything but police business.
She tossed the laminated police plate up onto the dashboard as Castle climbed out of the passenger seat, headed toward the emergency room doors at a straight-out run. For a man that complained every time they had to walk up a flight of stairs when there wasn't an elevator in a building, he was definitely not holding back at the moment.
The automatic doors slid open as he barreled toward them, barely closing before Kate reached the same point and they opened again. The nurses at the front desk weren't perturbed as Castle jogged over, leaning on the desk, and talking to one of the young ladies as if she were deaf.
"My mother, Martha Rodgers… I got a call…" he said between deep breaths. "She was at…"
Kate walked over, nudged Castle with her hip. He scowled but moved aside as Kate laid her badge out on the counter. "Detective Beckett. You admitted a woman, Martha Rodgers. Looking for a status."
The nurse started typing, her long, painted fingernails clicking against the keys. "Yeah. She's stable. Room 213."
"Thanks," Kate said, taking her badge back before looping her arm through Castle's, pushing up on her toes to whisper into his ear. "Deep breaths, Rick. Don't need you two sharing a room because you decided to faint in the waiting room, okay?"
Since she seemed to be waiting for a response, he nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Okay, yeah."
They went down the hallway, eyes scanning for the right room number. Kate's fingers tickled the inside of his wrist, bared below the cuff of the pale blue dress shirt, until she felt his fingers twine with hers. With the connection, she felt the tension of his shoulder relax an inch, heard a fresh rush of air as he exhaled.
Martha could be heard before she was seen. And what were heard were not the groans of pain or complaints but blatant flirting.
"Oh, Richard!" the woman exclaimed, grinning over at the door when she spotted her son and Kate. "You really didn't have to come. It's nothing."
'Nothing' turned out to be a sprained ankle and a hairline fracture in her right wrist. Kate gave his hand a squeeze before she let Castle go over to his mother. The male nurse that Martha had been working on seducing stopped by Kate, glancing back at the bed.
"She's really okay?" Kate asked in a murmur, not wanting to frighten Castle once he had sort of calmed down.
The nurse nodded, tucking his clipboard under his arm. "She's fine. Stepped off a platform on the stage without thinking. She'll be out by tonight; we just want to make sure none of the pain meds we gave her when she came in are messing with her body."
Kate smiled a thanks at the man as he left. Then she leaned her shoulder against the doorframe, watching. Castle had edged onto the bed at Martha's hip, holding her uninjured hand in his as his fingers rubbed little circles on the back of her hand. His shoulders shook as she told a joke.
"Hey, Rick?"
He turned as if surprised that she was still there. "Come over, Kate. There must be a chair here… somewhere," he trailed off as he scanned the room for one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs.
Kate shook her head. "Need to go get Al from school." She pushed up off the frame, smiling at the other woman. "You're okay, Martha?"
She waved off Kate's concern with the hand not encased in a short cast. "Fine, darling. Go get that beautiful girl of yours."
Castle got up, patted his mother's hand once, and followed Kate out into the hallway.
"Listen, Rick, I-"
The rest of her words were cut off when he took her wrist and swung her into a hug. Not a gentle hug, but one that she felt as he crushed her ribs together even as he tried to pull her closer. A hug of relief and gratefulness and love. Kate let her head settle in the crook between his neck and shoulder, her nose nuzzling his throat.
"She's okay," she whispered knowing he could hear. "I'll be back. Just going to get Al and we'll come visit."
His hands traveled up to her shoulder blades, tracing the hard angle before falling back down to her waist, squeezing the muscle lightly. "Thank you, Kate. I… I don't think…"
Kate placed a finger over his lips. "Shush. Not a problem, Rick. Be back in an hour or so. Think you can handle the wounded diva until then?" She lifted her brows in tandem with her smile, moving her hand to feel the hint of stubble along his jaw line.
"I'll try."
"All I ask." She stepped away, "I have my phone."
Castle started after her until Kate spun around, poking a finger in his chest and pushing him back toward Martha's room. "Go. Be with your mom until Al and I get back. We'll bring a snack."
"Thanks."
"What did I say about that word, Castle?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she walked backwards toward the front intake desk. "Banned. Now go."
"Where's Rick?"
The first words out of Al's mouth as she skipped toward Kate, her backpack bouncing as she came to a halting stop. Kate took the girl's hand, smiling at the chipped neon pink and lime green nail polish they had put on the little fingernails over the weekend, as they walked toward the car. Castle almost always came with Kate to pick Al up from school before they either dropped him off at his apartment or chose a place and hung out for the night.
"He's with Martha."
"Where?"
Kate took her daughter's backpack as Al climbed into the backseat. "At the hospital."
"At the hospital?" Al's scream had people passing by looking at the two of them with concerned glances. "Mom, why's Rick at the hospital?"
She pulled Al's fingers off of her shirt where they had wrapped around the fabric and moved to get into the front seat. "Martha tripped while at rehearsal for her play today and sprained her ankle. She's fine. They're both fine."
"Can we bring her flowers?" Al asked, eyes still wide in the rear view mirror as Kate started back toward Langone. "And candy?"
"All of the above. Rick wanted a snack and I'm sure Martha would love to get some flowers from you, kid."
They stopped at a corner flower store where Al decided on a mixed bouquet of daisies and carnations and springs of baby's breath, the entire bunch of flowers covering up her face as she held onto the stems while Kate paid. Al refused to let go of the flowers when they stopped at a convenience store, holding onto them as they found enough sweets to feed the entire wing of the hospital.
Kate was burdened with the food while Al ran down the hospital hallway yelling "Rick!" when she reached every door. It wasn't until Castle appeared in the doorway that Al stopped and ran full-tilt into his knees, crushing some of the flowers as she hugged his legs.
"Hey, kid," he said, tugging the end of her curls. Then he turned his eyes up to Kate and her armful of M&Ms and Skittles and Hershey Kisses and Tic-Tacs and 3 Musketeer bars. "Hey, you."
"Move aside before I drop this all on the ground and we have to clean it up," Kate said with a smile. Martha was still lounging in the bed, a script open on her lap, a pencil in her hand. "Still feeling good, Martha?"
The woman moved her script so that Kate could let the candy tumble out of her arms and onto Martha's sheet-clad legs. "As long as you keep Richard occupied so that the nice nurse from before can come back in, I'll be fantastic." The woman winked before turning the eraser of her pencil on Al. "Hello there, pretty girl."
Al was standing a few steps from the bed, the flowers clutched to her chest as she looked at her friend's mother up on the bed. At the edge of tears. Kate knew just from the way her daughter was squinting, then blinking rapidly, then trying to smile, she was close to crying. So she moved closer and ran a hand over Al's head, scratching the girl's scalp gently.
"Brought you flowers," Al said finally, holding the gathering of colorful petals out for Martha. "Cause they help you get better."
Martha set her pencil in the valley between her pages of the script to take the flowers. "These are lovely, Alexandra. Just beautiful."
Al moved back, reaching for Kate's hand. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, darling. Just a little misstep at the rehearsal. Happens all of the time." With the flowers along her side, Martha grinned at the girl. "But you're right – flowers definitely make people get better."
Castle stepped around them, taking a Milky Way bar from the pile. "Candy helps, too. Studies have shown there's scientific proof behind it."
Kate rolled her eyes at the man, giving Al a pack of M&Ms that she ripped open. "Sure they did."
"Swear. I'll show you the studies when we get home."
Over the next two hours, they settled into positions around Martha. Castle had taken up the seat at the end of her bed while Kate held Al in her lap on the plastic-like armchair Castle had stolen from a neighboring room. Al had her head cushioned on Kate's shoulder, her fists curled around Kate's shirt. Exhaustion and sadness and worry radiate from the little body. Martha was taking a nap, the script still spread out over her lap. Castle has his phone out, furiously typing away on the touchscreen, adding what Kate can only guess are last minute changes to book signings and release dates; a new book set to come out next month means he's going to be taken away from the city for a few days.
"Mom…"
Kate shook her head, trying to get rid of some of the sleep niggling at the back of her brain. "What, Al?"
Al turned in her lap, burying her head into Kate's hair. "Scared 'bout Martha."
There it was. The point where the five year old couldn't hold up the brave face anymore. Kate could feel the warm spots of tears as Al let go. "Oh, sweetie. Shh… Martha's fine. She'll be back to singing and dancing tomorrow, just on crutches for a little bit."
"What if…" Al sniffed, tilting her head so she spoke against Kate's neck. "What if she dies?"
"Martha's not going to die from a sprained ankle and broken wrist, Al."
"But… But what if?"
Kate pressed her cheek to Al's, whispering. "But she isn't. She'll be around for a long time, making our dates with Rick more colorful and exciting. Okay?"
Al took a shuddering breath before sighing. "Yeah."
But Kate could tell everything was not okay with the girl. She was still tense, her fist still curled around the shoulder of Kate's now-wrinkled deep red button down, and her cheek was wet with tears. So she started to hum, quietly but enough for the vibrations of the tune to reach Al.
Castle looked up from the screen of his phone when she started singing. Not just mumbling along to the words of "When You Wish Upon a Star" while watching Pinocchio at his apartment. But actual singing. He doesn't recognize the tune but she's definitely the one singing the song; the TV in the corner of the room is off and the door is shut so it's not coming from outside.
He watched as Kate shifted Al closer to her, resting her cheek on top of Al's head, and Castle had the feeling he was seeing what they looked like five years ago. Newborn Alexandra Beckett being sung to sleep by her equally-exhausted mother. And again, he was hit with the overwhelming respect he had for Kate. Raising a kid alone with only the help of your father, a recovering alcoholic, could not have been easy.
Yet just looking at them, he never would have guessed that Al was fatherless and that Kate had not a single steady man in her life save for her dad.
Until now, Castle wanted to add to his own train of thoughts as a caboose. It had only been since January, but he'd stuck around. Enchanted not only by Kate but by the little girl that she guarded like a lioness.
"That was beautiful."
He didn't realize he had actually spoken until Kate looked over at him. She had stopped singing and he could see that Al was asleep. "Uh, your singing. It was beautiful."
She smiled softly in the bright lighting of the hospital room. "Thanks."
"No, really. It was…"
"Beautiful. You've said so." Her eyes narrowed with her close-lipped smile. "So, Heat Wave is released next month. Do I get an invite?"
"Nope." Her eyes widened in surprise, his face straight.
Kate's mouth opened, then shut. Then repeated the motions another three times before she got out a bewildered "What?"
Castle shrugged, going back to his phone. "I like to keep my muses locked away, out of sight from the public. You know, for their own good."
"I want to go."
Oh he can't fight her when she talks like that. He could hear the hint of disappointment weaving through her voice. The emotion was creeping into her eyes when he held his hands up. "Kidding. You're first on the list, Kate. And Al, if you want. I wasn't sure because, I mean, it's going to be late and…"
"No. Dad can look after her for the night." She bit down on her lower lip, nibbled the skin for a moment before releasing it. "Thanks, Rick."
"Hey. Banned word, remember?" But his smile gave away what he was truly feeling.
"Right." Kate looked over at Martha, nodding toward the woman. "Want to wake her up and get on the road back home? Al has school tomorrow and she should be in bed."
Castle got up, pocketing his phone, grinning. "Let's get the one-woman show on the road."