When Beckett woke her head was just beginning to hurt, which had probably been the reason she woke in the first place. She opened her eyes, slowly, and realized almost immediately that while she'd been sleeping she'd cuddled up against Castle's side, her arm draped over his stomach – above the blankets – and her cheek against his ribs. She was warm, and comfortable and truthfully, if her head wasn't throbbing she might have just gone back to sleep. But it was hurting, and a quick glance at her alarm clock told her that he was due a pain pill soon. If she was beginning to ache, he was really going to start hurting soon. Better to get that taken care of before it even started.
Carefully, moving slowly to avoid waking him, she slipped out of her bed and made sure he was warmly covered and still asleep before she went into the living room. Her stomach was growling, so she decided to make something to eat. Something easy to eat, so Castle could manage it, too. She knew the medication she was going to give him said to take with food, and while the doctors had all told her that a protein shake would work if he was too tired to down anything else, she'd feel better knowing he'd had a real meal.
Looking through her newly acquired groceries, Beckett opted to make tuna sandwiches, deciding that they'd be easy enough and wouldn't over stuff him. While she was doing that, she set some eggs boiling, too, figuring egg salad or simply boiled eggs would probably make a good snack at some later date. She peeled an orange and segmented it, half for him, half for her, and pulled out the tray that she used on the rare times she decided to eat in bed. Her sandwich, his sandwich, the orange slices, a tea for her and a glass of milk for him and a handful of chips just in case. Then she took one of her painkillers and put one of his on the tray, too. Even if he wasn't hungry, she'd have him drink the milk to wash the pill down before letting him go back to sleep. Picking it all up, she carried the tray to her bedroom, where he was still sleeping.
OOOOOOOOO
"Castle?"
He knew that voice. Soft and sexy. The best kind of voice. He felt reassured, although he couldn't remember just then why that was so important. All he knew was that he was safe, and warm.
"Castle? Wake up a little, will you?"
She was close enough that he could feel her warm breath tickling his ear. It was enough to make him open his eyes and see what she was doing.
"Kate… hi…"
Beckett smiled at him, and he was reminded again that she was beautiful.
"Hi. How are you feeling?"
He hesitated, taking stock of himself. He was tired, and felt odd, and just on the edge of his periphery he felt an ache that was almost certainly a precursor of greater pain to come. He didn't feel up to explaining any of that, though. Instead, he settled for the first thing that came to mind.
"Tired."
"Any pain?"
"A little… nothing too bad." Now that he was a little more awake, he thought she looked tired. "Are you okay?"
"Yes." She ran her fingers along his forehead and then down his cheek. "I made lunch. Think you can eat something?"
"I'm tired…"
He knew it sounded petulant but he couldn't help himself. The thought of getting up and eating seemed to drain him of energy.
"Try a little, okay?" Since he'd do anything for her, he nodded and started to reach for his blankets to get up, but her hand on his arm stopped him. "I brought it to you," she told him.
"Oh." He sank back into the pillows behind him and closed his eyes against a sudden onslaught of pain behind his eyes, focusing somewhere near his nose. "Ow…"
Beckett took the pain pill and pressed it against his lips. She hadn't missed the way he'd suddenly winced and she knew exactly what was causing it.
"Take this, Rick…"
He didn't even open his eyes. He felt the pill and knew she wouldn't be giving him something unless she thought it would help. He swallowed the pill and then felt a straw against his lips and took a long drink of the milk she was offering him. Normally he'd feel ridiculous allowing her to hold the straw for him, but just then he was grateful she was willing.
The straw was pulled away and he thought she might let him sleep, but suddenly something else was against his lips.
"Now this…"
He opened his mouth and she fed him a piece of the sandwich she'd made him. When he chewed it and swallowed it, she decided to just feed it to him a piece at a time rather than try to get him to wake up enough to feed himself. If his shoulders were hurting him, it'd be easier to do it that way anyway. She tore the sandwich into easy to handle pieces and fed them to him slowly. Then, she managed to cajole him into eating a couple of the segments of orange before the pill she'd given him made him fall asleep in between bites.
Beckett leaned back a little and ate her own lunch – which was really more of an early dinner considering the time of day and how long they'd slept. Her headache was gone – either from eating or the pill or a combination of the two – and she debated going back to sleep, too. Then she remembered that she had eggs boiling and she took the tray back to the kitchen and pulled the eggs off the stove and put them into the fridge to cool. There wasn't much of a mess to clean but she cleaned it anyway rather than having to deal with it later. Once that was done, she went to the door, put the chain lock on and then sat down on the couch with a tired sigh and picked up her phone and made a quick call.
"Hey, it's me."
"You sound tired. Get some sleep."
"I just woke up."
"How's Castle?"
"Sleeping. But I managed to get some lunch into him."
"Good. Do you need anything?"
"No. I think we'll be good."
"Did you look under his blanket yet?"
Beckett rolled her eyes.
"Did you have something to do with that?"
"Not me, girl. He went to bed and that was how I found him. It must be his default setting."
"Well, he's still in that setting. He's pretty out of it, so there isn't much sense in telling him to get dressed."
"Not to mention it's probably far more interesting to –"
"Stop."
Lanie snorted her amusement, and Beckett couldn't help but grin.
"Good night, Kate. Call me if there's anything I can do for you guys."
"I will. Good night."
They ended the call and Beckett went back to her bedroom and watched Castle sleep for a few minutes, debating whether she should join him or just sack out on the couch. Eventually, she decided that it'd be better all around if she was close by in case he woke up and needed something. And she had to admit that she'd enjoyed having someone next to her when she woke up.
She walked across the room and slid under the blankets again, trying to be quiet and not wake him. As she slid as close as she could without actually touching him – trying to mooch a little of the pillows – she felt him shift just a little in his sleep, and his hand reached for hers. Beckett smiled, touched, and closed her eyes, but felt his hand tighten just a little, probably reflex more than anything else. She rolled onto her side, and resumed the position she'd woken up in. It was comfortable, it was intimate but not so much so that it would keep either of them awake, and she could hear his heart beating if she stayed quiet.
And Lanie was right; it was more interesting.