Author's note: You'd think that Spring Break would mean more time to write, not less! Again, I'm sorry about the wait, but here you all go.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Roy Montgomery rushed into the emergency waiting room, he found Detective Ryan sitting in one of the many chairs, fumbling through a Time magazine and Richard Castle standing near the door talking on his cell phone. Montgomery nodded at Castle, but didn't interrupt his call, and opted instead to go over to Ryan, who was happy to toss his magazine on the end table.

"How is she?"

"Gunshot wound to the side. The doctors are saying that the bullet went in and out, but they wanted to double check for any internal injuries so they are running a bunch of tests."

"Is she in surgery?"

"Not unless they find something with their other tests," Ryan said. "The guy I talked to said that opening her up to look for injuries would only create more. They're using an ultrasound, I think."

Montgomery looked over at Castle, who still looked terrible. Bruised and somewhat swollen, he was garnering looks from people who were obviously wondering why some doctor hadn't taken him into the back to take care of him.

"Who's he talking to?" Montgomery asked, wondering who could keep Castle on the phone that long when he had to be worried about Beckett.

"Building manager," Ryan answered with a smirk. "He wants to know who's going to fix the damage to Castle's place from all the gunshots."

The Captain smiled at that.

"Rick can probably afford the costs."

"What did Javier find out?"

Esposito had gone to the precinct to take care of the paperwork from the latest round of craziness – and to find out exactly what they were supposed to be doing with the diamond.

"It goes into evidence for now," Montgomery answered.

"Then what? Does Castle get to keep it?"

"Keep what?" Rick asked, walking over just in time to hear the question.

"The diamond."

Castle looked at Montgomery.

"I don't, do I?"

"No."

"Awww."

"But there is the matter of the reward from the insurance company."

"How much?" Ryan asked, curiously.

"We didn't ask."

Before anyone could say anything else, Lanie entered the room, clearly worried. She saw them and headed over.

"How is she?"

Castle was quick to reassure.

"The doctor's say she's going to be fine. They're checking her now to see how much damage the bullet caused."

"Was she awake? Did she say anything?"

"Yes. She was conscious the whole way here. They didn't give her a lot of chance to talk, though. They were asking her all sorts of questions."

He knew well those questions, since only a short time before he'd been the one on the receiving end of them. He was going to say more, but one of the emergency doctors made an appearance just then and they all stopped and turned to her as she walked over. The doctor obviously knew who Castle was, because she couldn't manage to suppress the smile when she saw him, and they all saw a slight flush on her cheeks. Castle was used to that reaction, and had he not been so worried he would have found it appealing. As it was, though, he just held back, since he knew Montgomery would want to be the one asking all the questions.

Sure enough, the Captain was the first one to speak once they knew for sure that this doctor was heading for them.

"How is she, doctor?" he asked.

"I'm relieved to be able to tell you that there doesn't seem to be any serious internal injuries. Just the gunshot."

"She's going to be okay?" Castle asked.

"We'll keep her overnight, just to observe, but she should be fine. They're admitting her, now."

Rick sighed in relief, and Lanie put her arm around him, just as relieved.

"Can we see her?" Montgomery asked.

"As soon as she's settled, yes. She's going to be a bit groggy from the medications we've given her, though, so don't expect much by way of conversation."

"Thank you."

She flashed Castle a smile.

"You're welcome. I'll be around if you have any questions."

She left them alone, then, and they all settled in to wait a little longer, but now without the lingering concern.

OOOOOOOOOO

Kate Beckett had been injured a couple of times in the line of duty. Nothing too serious, and never anything that had require more than a quick stop in the emergency room. Certainly nothing like this; with the tests, and all the doctors and nurses and the wires, machines and painkillers. It was a little scary, and she wished that Rick was with her to hold her hand and flash her that confident smile that she loved so much and reassure her that she was going to be okay. The medical staff at the hospital were great – they kept reassuring her that everything looked fine – but the medication they gave her was making her feel detached and out of sorts, and all she could think of was that she wanted him with her.

Finally, they were finished with the tests and got her settled into a room and into bed with only a minimal amount of monitoring equipment. Beckett dozed off, unable to fight the painkillers, and she was sleeping on her uninjured side when the others quietly entered her room to check on her.

Castle was the first through the door, and he quietly moved over to the side of her bed, looking at the monitor that was keeping track of her heartbeats and her blood pressure, but apparently not many other stats. That had to be a good sign, he decided. Proof that the doctor had been telling the truth when she'd said that they weren't too concerned about Beckett. If they were, he reasoned, there would be a lot more wires, tubes and machines.

"She looks okay," Ryan murmured, softly, not wanting to wake her.

"Yeah, she does," Montgomery agreed, relieved.

Neither of them went beyond the entrance of the room, but Lanie walked over to stand by Castle, who had carefully taken Beckett's hand.

"She's going to need sleep more than anything right now," she said, her hand resting lightly on Castle's back. "We should let her rest."

He nodded, knowing she was right, but unwilling to let go of her hand. She was hurt because of him, after all, and the weight of that guilt was unbearable. Bad enough the cut and bruise from the car crash, but now a gunshot?

"I'm going to head back to the precinct," Montgomery said.

"Me, too," Ryan agreed. Esposito would want to hear face to face how Beckett was, and he'd also need help with all the paperwork from the shooting at Castle's. They were so behind on everything as far as the case was going – not a big surprise considering all the twists and turns that kept jumping up at them.

Lanie hadn't missed the stricken look on Castle's face, although she was certain the other two hadn't noticed from the doorway.

"I think I'll wait around here for her to wake up," she told them.

"Let us know if we can do anything," Montgomery told her.

"I will."

They left, closing the door behind them, and Lanie brushed her hand along Castle's back.

"Are you okay?"

"This is my fault…" he whispered, letting go of Kate's hand and sinking into the chair that was right beside the bed and burying his head in his hands. "I led her right into an ambush."

"This isn't your fault, Castle," Lanie told him, resting her hand on his head. "Kate knew there was a chance of something happening, that's why she called Javier and Ryan and told them to meet you guys there."

"She could have been killed."

"She wasn't."

"It could have been so bad…" his voice broke, and he leaned forward, his battered face coming to rest against her belly. Lanie held him, reassuring him as well as she could until Kate could wake up and do it herself.