"Please tell me you know what you're doing…"

Beckett nodded.

"I've done it a few times."

"On people?"

"My dad used to let me try it on him a few times."

"Your real dad? The one I've met? Who isn't your stepdad because you accidentally slipped with the razor and your mom had to go find another guy because her first choice had bled to death on the kitchen floor?"

Kate actually chuckled at that.

"Yes. My real dad." He didn't look 100% convinced, but since he wasn't all that mobile, Kate figured he probably wasn't going to jump out of the chair and run away. She tried for a confident look as she squirted some shaving cream on her fingers and then started to slather it on his jaw, careful to be gentle when she reached the swollen areas. She met his gaze, and smiled as she lathered his chin and upper lip. "It won't hurt a bit."

"I've lost blood already, you know…" he told her. His eyes were smiling, though, and she was glad to see it. A big breakfast and the assurances that his memory problems should go away had helped ease the troubled look in his expression that she'd seen earlier. He still looked terrible with the bruising and swelling, and he still looked really tired, but not as awful as when he'd woken up that morning. She was hoping that the shave would make him feel even better.

"I'll be careful," she promised, wiping the shaving cream from her hand with a wet hand towel she'd brought from the bathroom when he'd finished eating and picked up the razor Esposito had brought from Castle's place. "Hold still."

He closed his eyes and held his breath, which just made Beckett's smile widen. She had barely made the first swathe with the razor, though, when there was a knock on the door and it opened and Lanie walked in.

They both turned to look, and the medical examiner smiled when she saw what they were doing and came over to join them.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

"I just came over to check on our patient…" she said, looking down where Castle was sitting and frowning at all the bruises. She put her fingers on his chin and used that hold to turn his head to the side to give her a better view of his swollen eye and cheek. "How are you feeling, Castle?"

"I'm okay."

"He's not okay," Beckett disagreed. "But he is better than he was last night."

"Javier said he was pretty beat up…" Lanie said, cleaning the shaving cream off her hand. "Who beat you up, Castle?"

"I'm not sure…"

"He doesn't remember," Kate told her. "But he will," she added, quickly. She figured changing the subject would be a good idea, and already had her next topic in mind. "Did you find out anything about the dead body?"

"He didn't drown," Lanie answered, her fingers gently sifting Castle's dark hair to look at the stitches in his scalp. "The lungs didn't have any water in them. Cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck. With two other shots – one in the leg, and one in the stomach. Almost looked like a strafing, the way they lined up. I pulled a .44 caliber slug out of his leg and his stomach, but the throat wound was through and through."

"Do we have an ID yet?"

"No." She brushed her hand on Castle's shoulder. "But at least we know who it isn't."

"True."

"Are you going to keep an eye on him?"

"You know, I'm right here," Castle said, only slightly annoyed that they were talking over his head. He really didn't feel like holding either end of a conversation, but he did want to be part of any decisions that were made.

"We know," Lanie assured him. "But Javier said that you were pretty out of it last night and I didn't want to add to it if you still didn't feel up to it."

"Martha told me yesterday when I talked to her that they were planning on being home in a couple days. That should give him time to heal up before they get here and hopefully will keep Alexis from getting too freaked out."

"I have an extra room if you want me to take him," Lanie offered.

"I'll keep him," Beckett said. "Montgomery's given me permission to follow up on this part of the case – especially since we need to find out why our dead man had Castle's wallet in his pocket."

"I'm going to get that back, right?" Castle asked.

"Eventually."

"I need to get to work," Lanie told them. "You guys need anything?"

"I think we'll be okay," Beckett replied. "It's probably going to be a fairly quiet day."

"Well I'll call you if I find out anything."

"Thanks, Lanie." She left and Kate sat back down in front of Castle and once more picked up the razor. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

She shaved his face with care, figuring that the last thing he needed were nicks to pile up on the rest of his aches and pains, and then she washed his face with a clean, wet cloth, making sure to get rid of all the leftover shaving cream.

"Well?"

He brought his hand up to check her work and smiled.

"Feels right."

"Well don't sound so surprised," Beckett chided. "I told you I've done this before."

"I won't doubt you again."

Beckett doubted that, but she didn't say anything to contradict him just then. Instead she reached for his shirt and helped him get it on over his head and pull his arms through the sleeves.

"So? Now what?" she asked, running her fingers along his jaw, just to make sure she didn't miss any spots. "Ready to go back to bed?"

Castle wanted to tell her that he didn't need to – especially since he'd only been awake a short time – but he had to admit that he didn't feel like doing anything else just then.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"Since I'm here at home instead of at the precinct, I'm going to read some of the department policies that they are thinking about implementing. I've only been putting it off for weeks."

"Then I'll nap, I think."

She watched as he got to his feet and made his way back to the couch.

"I can make up the guest room bed," she offered.

"Couch is fine," Castle told her, practically falling into it when he reached it. "That way if you need me I'm here."

She couldn't think of anything she might need just then, but Kate just nodded. He closed his eyes, but brought his hand up to his face again, running it over the uninjured side of his face.

"You did do a good job," he murmured, leaning sideways until he was back against the pillows that had kept him propped up earlier and sighing. "Thanks, Kate."

Beckett helped him get his feet up onto the couch and covered him with the blanket.

"You're welcome."

Then she went to find the papers that she wanted to read, leaving him to his nap.