"I can't believe I'm really talking to you…"
Castle couldn't concentrate on the woman who was kneeling next to where he was tied. All he knew was that his arms were hurting from the odd angle they were being held in and his head was pounding and had been for what seemed to be forever.
"The real Richard Castle." She reached out and touched his cheek, as if to prove to herself that he was really real, and Castle jerked his head back as far as he could at the touch. She frowned. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"
"Why are you doing this?"
"We have to keep you out of the way," she explained. "Jeremy is afraid you'll ruin everything."
"Ruin what? Where's James?"
"I can't tell you. Let's change the subject, though. I met you once before, you know? At a book signing. It was amazing. With all the people there, you still took time to talk to me one on one until the lady beside you had to hit you with her elbow. Do you remember?"
Castle hung his head, frustrated.
"No."
It didn't seem to bother her. It certainly didn't dampen her enthusiasm – which was completely out of place as far as Castle was concerned.
"I didn't think you would, but I'm your biggest fan. I've read all your books – a million times."
"Fans don't keep people tied up in closets."
"It's Jeremy. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully we'll get you on your way later and none the wiser."
Somehow he doubted it was going to be that easy.
It was a gentle touch that eventually pulled Castle from the dreams. Not nightmares – something inside him knew that he was safe – but dreams, nonetheless. As he slowly woke, he waited for the pain that he knew was going to accompany waking – it was never ending, after all – but it never came, and that coupled with the touch was enough to make him open his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Kate Beckett. She was in a chair by the bed he was in, and it was her hand that he'd felt touch his. She smiled when he opened his eyes, and he thought that there was never a better sight to wake to. He waited for the pain – there had to be pain – but he felt numb and fuzzy and there still wasn't any pain. She was watching him, maybe waiting for him to say something?
"Kate?"
Her hand tightened on his, and Beckett's smile softened at the groggy confused look in his expression.
"Hi."
"Where are we?"
"Hospital."
Her face was bruised, and there was a bandage above her eye, but she looked okay. He frowned, though.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. How do you feel?"
"You found me?"
Where had she heard that before? This time, though, Beckett could give him a relieved smile. She'd known he was missing and had been able to find him.
"Yes."
"Why don't I hurt?"
Beckett's smile grew. She was so relieved that he was okay – and despite that she had to kill someone, she was also relieved that he was safe, now. She didn't know what might still be stuck in his head, but she knew that those who had been willing to kill to get it from him were dead.
"Because they doped you with painkillers so that you'd be able to sleep."
The answer didn't come from Beckett. Kate looked over and saw that Lanie had stuck her head through the doorway just in time to hear the question. When she saw that Castle was awake and somewhat aware, she'd decided to speak up – and then she walked into the room, anxious to have a chance to check on him. And Beckett.
"I'm not sleeping," Castle pointed out, trying to focus on her through the swelling around his nose and eyes.
"You will," she promised, walking up to the edge of his bed and leaning over to look at his face and check his pupils. She was more used to dealing with dead people, but Lanie was a doctor, and she knew what she was supposed to be looking for. What she saw just then was someone who was far more doped than he realized. "They're going to keep you overnight to get the swelling down before letting you go."
Beckett had already heard that from the ER doctors. Which was why Castle was in a room instead of the ER.
"It'll also give you a chance to get some rest," she told him.
"And you, too, Kate," Lanie told her.
Beckett frowned.
"What?"
"They want to keep you overnight."
"That's ridiculous. I don't need to-"
"Your Captain told them otherwise. From what Javier told me, it's already settled. You hit your head pretty hard."
"I'm fine," she protested.
"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?"
Yet another voice from the doorway, and this time it was Gerald Cutter who walked through the door. Castle's doctor smiled at both women as he walked over to the bed, and then leaned over the writer. He put a hand carefully on Castle's head to tip his head back a little and studied his eyes first and then probed carefully around the swollen area.
"I haven't seen someone this stoned since college…" he murmured, finally, grinning. "Are you feeling any pain at all?"
"No."
"I bet." Cutter pulled Castle's blanket back, revealing his bare chest and stomach. "Ouch. What did they hit you with, Rick?"
Beckett and Lanie both looked, too. Castle's chest and stomach were criss-crossed with bruises – mostly new ones from the 'interrogation' with Rogers and Jeremy. There were also two welts from where he'd been hit with the stick. Beckett winced, but Castle only watched with detached interest.
"I don't know…"
"What's your daughter's name?"
"Alexis."
That answer was immediate.
"And what's the mayor's name?"
Castle stared up at him, blankly, and Cutter smiled.
"Yeah. At least overnight, maybe another day or so."
"He'll be okay, though, right?" Kate asked. She'd already talked to the ER doctors, but Cutter knew Castle best. He'd know better than the others.
"Yeah. He'll ache a bit, and definitely will need some down time. And he's not golfing with us this weekend." The doctor pulled the blanket up again, and then turned to Beckett and caught her chin in his hand, holding her still while he turned his intense gaze on her forehead and then her eyes, checking her injuries as well. "You will probably be down for a few days, also," he told her.
"And overnight for observation," he confirmed. "No arguments, Detective." He flashed that incredible smile. "Just pretend you're in a spa for the day."
Beckett rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue. Since she knew that Cutter was buddies with Montgomery, there was no sense in it.
"Yay."
Lanie had watched in silent amusement, and just when her friend was most unsettled, she asked the question that was really on her mind.
"I'm just wondering when they decided that the best way to get information out of Castle here was to suck on his neck…"
All three of them turned to look at Castle's neck – particularly the spot high on his neck that was marred with a bruise that looked suspiciously like a hickey.
Beckett groaned silently and tried very hard to make herself invisible.