It was now a little after 9 pm. Kate returned to Castle's bedside shortly after the boys left and has hardly left his side since. She has held his hand and kept a vigilant eye on any movement he had. The hours had passed quickly as she was lost in her thoughts. It was growing increasingly difficult to continue to wait for him to wake up. Too bad life didn't have a rewind or fast forward button. She would rewind the last 4 months, completely redo all the decisions she made. She would also really love to fast forward through the waiting.

The nurse had come in a few times to make sure he was still doing ok. Every time she left, Kate would send a text to the team to keep them updated on his progress. She even sent it to Alexis and Martha on the off-chance they had cell service. The nurses had taken pity on Kate, and brought her in some cafeteria food. Food was the furthest thing on her mind, but she knew she needed to keep her strength up if she was going to be of any use to Castle.

Just then she felt his hand grasp hers. Her eyes flicked down to wear their hands were joined. It seemed that his hold on her hand was more than just a muscle twitch. Castle was waking up!

"Castle? Rick, can you hear me? It's ok to wake up now, Rick. You are safe and you are going to be ok. Rick, I want to see those blue eyes of yours, so it's time to wake up."

"I don't know if you are ready to see me, and I know you are going to be upset with me, but I am ok with that if you can just wake up for me. I'll even let you use my gun or handcuffs on me. Come on, Rick. You can do it, Castle. You are stronger than anyone I know."

Kate continued to mutter encouragements and pleas to keep him close. It was apparent that he wasn't quite ready to wake up, but she felt it was important for him to know she was there. More importantly, that he wasn't alone.

"Rick… I love you. So much."

Castle felt like his body had been lost under the pressure of something dark, heavy, on his body. No matter how hard he tried he could not get the cloud of confusion to lift. His world was dark, and he could feel a dull pain somewhere. It was too difficult to figure out the exact location of the pain. If only he could figure out where he was, then maybe he could save himself.

He wished he had someone to tell him what to do. Talk him through this situation. It seemed every other time in his life when he was in mortal danger he had… Kate… next to him. Through bombs, tigers, freezers, trained killers, and cars accidents he always had her to protect him. He felt utterly alone in this hell he has found himself in now.

His family must miss him, where ever they might be right now. He can't remember much about that but he knows enough they would be worried. His team would probably be able to help him too. If they know he is missing. Is he missing? This confusion was almost more than he can handle.

Wait.

Is that…Kate?

He can barely make out a voice. No, Kate isn't here anymore. She left. The voice seemed like it was getting closer and closer. If he could just… find the voice in the darkness then he knew he would be ok.

Then he could feel a pressure in his hand. He tried to look down to see what it could be but it was still too dark to see anything. The pressure too great to even shift to find the object resting there. With every ounce of strength he could muster, Castle grasped the object. It felt like a hand. A hand? Is someone else down here with me? The hand in his held on tighter. Maybe he wasn't so alone.

Castle lost his thoughts again for a moment. Drifting off to a place of unconsciousness. It felt peaceful, and definitely less scary than that darkness. He wanted to stay away from that place as long as possible, but his curiosity to find the voice he heard gave him the strength to fight. He needed to find that voice again. He knew that the voice would lead him home, to his loved ones.

There! He could hear murmurings. It was most definitely a female voice. Of course his self-conscience had recently switched from his voice to hers so maybe he was just hearing voices in his head. Is this how crazy feels? Creepy.

He felt stronger and stronger as the voice grew closer. Castle also determined that the voice was in fact that of his ex-girlfriend, Kate Beckett. How did he know? He woke just in time to hear her say…

"Rick… I love you. So much."

"Kate," he whispered. That was all the strength he had left.

Beckett whipped her eyes up to his. He was awake! He was awake and looking at her! He called her name! She hadn't felt such joy in… well… ever.

"Oh, Rick. I'm so glad you are awake! I was so scared. I need to call the nurse…" she jabbered.

"Kate. What are you doing here?"

"Rick, you were shot. Do you remember that? You are in the hospital."

He was silent as he tried to process what she had just said. Shot? Hospital? This was the worst prank he'd ever been a part of. Feeling this way and then having to look into her eyes… it was too much.

"Beckett. You need to go." Castle said and shifted his eyes away before they closed again.

"Kate? Did you need something?" the nurse asked while entering. Castle just fell back to sleep.

"He woke up. He recognized me and then fell back to sleep after I told him where he was." Kate said without emotion in her voice. She felt a cold shiver in her body after his words.

"Well that is just wonderful! Next time he wakes up we will need to do some testing. Call me as soon as he wakes again. It won't be long until you have your husband back!"

Oh, she felt like strangling this overly peppy nurse. She was making the pain even worse. So, all she could do was smile and nod at Nurse Obnoxious as she left the room.

"Sorry, Castle. I'm not leaving you yet."

To Be Continued