For a moment, Castle just stood there, dumbfounded. He started to go after her, but decided it might be better to leave her alone for now.
Oh, Kate was jealous. She was definitely jealous.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these wonderful characters.
When Kate got to the guest room, she collapsed on the bed in an exhausted heap. Castle infuriated her. Who was he to say he would carry her kicking and screaming to ER? Unbeknownst to him, she hadn't got sick in his bathroom, but she had been perilously close. No, he assumed the worst and didn't even bother to ask her any different. Although she would never admit to it, it didn't help matters that she was jealous, very jealous. It put her panties in a bunch that Gina was so confident that she still welded some magical power over Castle. And Meredith? How dare she corner him like a bitch in heat while Kate was in the very same room? Beside the anger and jealousy she felt, there was also undeniable lust. She saw him naked when she bumped into him after his shower that morning. She knew how taut and muscular his chest looked. She also knew how well endowed he was. She fantasized about how delicious it would be to run her hands down that sculpted chest and be possessed by those strong arms. She wanted to know how amazing it would be to feel him inside of her, to be one with him. Truth be told, she envied Gina and Meredith because they knew what it felt like to be made love to by Castle. She realized she knew at one time too, but now the memory was gone. Then, there was Heatwave. Something was so familiar about Nikki and Rook. It was just out of her reach. Earlier, when she read the sex scene between them, she felt herself get heated and twisted in need. Those were his words, and it was almost as if they were seducing her themselves. Even as miserable as she felt, she couldn't stop wanting him, craving him. Maybe that's what infuriated her the most. She knew she was weak where he was concerned because of how much she was helplessly in love with him.
Castle tried to go to bed. He got comfortable and closed his eyes, but sleep just wouldn't come. After tossing and turning for over an hour, he got up and decided to alleviate some of his stress by writing. After a couple of half-hearted attempts, he was finally able to access the world of Nikki Heat and complete an entire chapter. Just as he was reclining back in his desk chair and feeling pretty pleased with himself, he heard what sounded like "Oh, God" from upstairs. He immediately got up and went upstairs to check on Kate.
He found her on her knees in front of the commode. She was holding her stomach, while she was painfully having dry heaves. She was in a cold sweat and tear tracks were visible down her face.
"Oh God, I feel so bad. It hurts so much…" She interrupted herself with another dry heave. "I can't take this anymore. I just can't take this anymore." Her shoulders slumped in defeat and she started sobbing.
Castle was more than concerned now; he was really worried. He made up his mind. She was going to ER, and she was going now. He wouldn't tolerate any arguments from her. He scooped her off the bathroom floor, protectively wrapped his arms around her, and carried her to the bed. She was too weak to protest. He got out a pair of yoga pants and took off his shirt.
"Kate, don't fight me on this. Don't you dare fight me on this." He put the yoga pants on her, took off her nightshirt, and replaced it with his own shirt. After he was done, he tucked a stray brown curl behind her ear and brushed his lips gently on her forehead.
"Kate, I would take care of you myself if I could, but I can't help you. You need a doctor. I'm taking you to ER. It's non-negotiable. I won't put you or our child at risk."
"But…" Kate looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and tried to voice a small whimper of protest.
He cupped her face in his hands and tenderly wiped the tears on her cheeks away with his thumbs. "You listen to me, Katherine Beckett. You're dehydrated and in pain from being so sick. I care about you and our child too much to risk losing either one of you. Don't you dare ask me to do that. Do you hear me?"
She meekly nodded her head in agreement. She tried to stand on her own, but found she was light-headed and somewhat unsteady on her feet. As soon as Castle observed this, he scooped her up into his arms again and carried her downstairs. He put her down on the couch to rest while he grabbed another shirt for himself and his keys. With no questions asked, he carried her to his car and drove directly to ER.
When they got to ER, a doctor named Gibson treated Kate. He immediately ordered her an IV and some bloodwork. He told them that Kate was experiencing something called hyperemesis gravidum. He assured them that it should pass in a week or two. In the meantime, he planned to help alleviate her symptoms by prescribing her a safe anti-nausea med and running two bags of IV fluids through her. He encouraged her to eat small, frequent meals and drink plenty of fluids. The baby's heartbeat was strong at 160 beats per minute. She could go home as soon as her IV was done. After Castle was convinced she would be okay, Kate urged him to grab a quick cup of coffee from the cafeteria.
Just about the same time, Dr. Gibson's shift came to an end. He handed his charts off to the doctor coming on shift. Due to a bet Josh lost with another doctor, he found himself covering his buddy's shift in ER. Dr. Gibson briefed him on his patients before he left. When he came to Kate's chart, Josh felt his stomach clench. Why this ER? Why now? She was pregnant? Oh God, he thought. This was just great, just fucking great. He figured she was pregnant by that bastard writer, and that fact put his dick in a twist. He'd just pop in and out of her room quickly and be done with it. It sure didn't help how things had ended so badly between both of them.
First, she refused to let him help her after she was discharged. Instead, she isolated herself and went to her dad's cabin to heal. After refusing his calls for two weeks, he finally went to the cabin and confronted her. She told him that even though she liked him, she would never love him. Things got ugly between them, and he excused her of screwing Castle behind his back. Kate responded by hurling a glass of lemonade across the room, breaking it into hundreds of pieces against the wall. He remembered her trying to maintain control and hissing, "You son of a bitch. I never cheated on you. Get out. Get the hell out. I never want to see you again. I swear if you bother me again, you'll be sorry. Now, get the fuck out."
Oh well, the sooner he signed off on her chart, the better. With that in mind, he entered her room.
When he saw her, he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of emotion that hit him. She was still so beautiful. He had forgotten how much he cared about her. She seemed so small, so vulnerable. She looked up at him with expectant, innocent eyes.
"Kate…God, I'm sorry, but I have to cover for a friend of mine and we're short-staffed. If I could have, I would have handed your chart off to someone else. I'll just make this quick, and then we can both go our separate ways as if this never happened, okay?"
Her eyes looked at him in confusion. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?"
"Kate, c'mon, don't play games with me. You know damned well who I am."
"No…I don't. I recently had an accident, and I can't remember the past few years of my life. Do we know each other?"
"Know each other? Kate. We were involved. We were lovers. Don't you remember? Josh?" He frantically opened her chart and skimmed through it. Sure enough, she was diagnosed with temporary amnesia from a recent motorcycle accident. He tightly clenched his fist at his side. "I can't believe he would put you at risk by allowing you to drive that damn bike, knowing you were pregnant."
"If you're referring to Rick, I'm sure I had a mind of my own and made my own careless decision all by myself."
"No, Kate, you don't understand. That guy's almost got you killed more than once." He paused for a second, and then he continued, "Is he the father?"
Kate's questioning eyes became tearful and stared at him in more confusion than before. "Yes…yes…I think."
He couldn't stand to see her like this. He reached out, took her hand, and started to rub gentle circles on it with his thumb. At the same time, his other thumb wiped away a tear as it rolled down her cheek. Despite herself, Kate sensed something familiar about him.
At that exact moment, Castle stood in the doorway to Kate's room. He saw Josh standing next to Kate, caressing her hand and comforting her. A wave of fury and jealousy swept through him. How dare he take advantage of Kate, especially when she couldn't even remember him. "I don't know what the hell you're doing, but you can either take your hands off Kate now, or I swear I'll break them. Have it your way."
Kate saw the frigid blue of Castle's eyes and felt a punch of fear when she heard the savage tone in his voice.
Josh immediately let go of Kate's hand, stepped up into Castle's face, and glared angrily at him. "What have you done to her this time, Castle? Christ, she doesn't even remember me! What the hell have you done to her?" He forcefully shoved Castle.
Castle lost control, grabbed Josh by his labcoat, and drove him up against the wall. "Now you listen up, Josh. It seems to me that there's been a bit of a misunderstanding here. I've had a long night, so I'm going to be a gentleman and pretend this never happened. I would suggest you finish up Kate's chart out there, and we both go our separate ways. Do we understand each other?"
"You son of a bitch…" Josh swung his fist to hit Castle in the face, but Castle knocked it away, let go of his labcoat, and punched him in the nose. Kate yelled at Castle to stop. Josh fell to the floor, and his nose started to bleed. He shot daggers at Castle. "What? Are you afraid she'll remember just how good it was with me? How she used to beg me to touch her?"
Castle snarled and dragged Josh to his feet with one hand. He pulled his other hand back in a fist to pummel Josh again.
"Stop it, Rick. I mean it, or I swear I'll call security." His eyes caught hers and noticed the fiery determination in them. He let go of Josh, not because he was afraid of security, but because he didn't want to upset Kate any further.
Josh quickly found his footing. He glared at Castle, and then looked at Kate. "When you wake up and come to your senses, call me. Until then, I'm done. You're free to go home after the nurse takes out your IV." Without looking back, Josh stormed out of the room.
Shortly after, the nurse came in, discontinued Kate's IV, and gave her a prescription for anti-nausea medication. Kate noticed she felt noticeably better. However, during this entire time, neither Kate nor Castle said one word to each other.
In fact, they were silent all the way back to the loft.
I know this might have been a little angsty. However, jealous passion mixed with a little bit of anger can really heat things up, bring out animal instincts, and cause a loss of control. In light of this, I promise next chapter will be HOT. By the way, it felt so satisfying to have Castle hit Josh. ;) Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! kiki hope-You're right. That would be ick. Therefore, I fixed that at the beginning of this chapter. Hope you liked.
Please review! Give me the inspiration to write this next chapter.