A/N: Sorry for being gone for so long. I've got a few chapters written out already - there's just editing to do - so hopefully the next update won't take quite as long.

Beta by Iris and Anika

Disclaimer: not mine!

This was getting ridiculous.

Rick drummed his fingers impatiently against the top of the counter. What was taking them so long?!

A throat cleared loudly.

Rick stilled and looked down to the source of disapproving throat clearing. Jane, the woman behind the counter, was glaring up at him from her seat.

Right, he thought. His fingers drumming against the countertop was probably annoying to the people around him. But he couldn't help it – he had all this nervous energy to burn. If only they'd bring him to Arriana already, he'd be out of their hair. Rick gave Jane a tight smile. It didn't help that they had gotten off on the wrong foot when he had arrived ten minutes ago.

"Hi, my name is Richard Castle," he wheezed, out of breath from rushing over to the Emergency Department.

As soon as the cab driver had pulled up to Bellevue Hospital earlier that day, Castle chucked a handful of notes at him – more than enough to cover his fare – and hurried to the reception desk in the main block. He was then directed to the Emergency Department, which of course, had to be on the other side of the building.

Jane, her nametag read, was the personnel in charge for the Emergency Department on this particular day. She looked up at him unamused. It was in her job description to deal with distraught family members all day long.

"Mr. Castle, how may I help you?"

"My daughter, she, she was sent here, the teacher mentioned a playground accident."

Jane gave him a quick nod and Castle added belatedly, "Arriana, her name is Arriana Beckett. She's seven years old."

"Arriana Beckett? Mr. Castle, are you a family member or legal guardian of this child? And if so, can I please see your supporting documents? Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't disclose any information to you," Jane told him politely.

Castle noticed that she had stopped typing on her keyboard. Why had she stopped? Was she really not going to locate his daughter for him?

"It's kinda complicated," Castle explained, "You see, her mother and I got married recently, but I'm going to adopt Arriana, we just haven't gotten the paperwork yet, you know how these kind of things take time. Please, have you found out where she is?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Castle, I'm not allowed to disclose that information to you without further proof backing your claim."

Castle shot her an incredulous look. "Seriously? Come on, this is my daughter we're talking about! She's probably in pain and terrified, and I need to see her. My wife's an NYPD detective, and she'll be here any second now. Let me tell you, when she finds out that you won't let me see our daughter-"

"With all due respect, Mr. Castle, if your wife really is an NYPD detective, then she'd understand why we have protocol in place. I will release the information when she arrives."

Castle rubbed his forehead distractedly. He still hasn't gotten word from either Kate or the boys – heck, she was probably still in court.

"How about the teacher that came with her? Arriana's teacher can vouch for me; she could assure you that I've been picking her up from school and that I'm her father. Will that do?" He was grasping at straws here, but it was worth a shot.

Jane gave him a constricted smile. "I'll contact the nurses to bring her teacher here."

So there he was, standing by the counter, waiting for her teacher to come and confirm his identity to Jane. She had probably expected him to take a seat and wait, but he couldn't help it. He had to be close by, even if it was just to make sure they wouldn't be wasting any more time.

He had also been trying to secretly sneak glances at the computer screen, just to see if Arriana's information had been brought forward, but Jane had caught on to his tactics and promptly cleared the search field before returning to her work.

"Ms. Summers, thanks for coming down here," Jane greeted a twenty something year old girl, looking expectantly from her to Castle.

Castle's eyes widened fractionally as he poised his head to one side questioningly. Was he supposed to know who this Ms. Summers person is? Jane was now frowning at him. Uh oh. This did not bode well.

"Ms. Summers, do you know this man here?" Jane asked, gesturing to Castle. The young lady looked confusedly at him and asked, "I'm sorry, should I know him?"

"Mr. Castle, you had me bring down the teacher to confirm your identity, and yet she doesn't seem to know you. I think it's time for you to leave, sir."

Castle looked from Jane to the other girl. "Ms. Summers? You're Arriana's teacher? What about Mrs. Brown?" he asked.

"Oh, no, I'm just a substitute teacher. It's my first week at the school," she explained, continuing, "Are you Arriana's father?"

"Yes, I am. How is she? Where's Arriana?" he asked hurriedly.

However, Jane cut in right then. "Not so fast, Mr. Castle. Unfortunately Ms. Summers is unable to confirm your identity, so we're still legally bound to withhold that information from you."

"What? It's not my fault the substitute teacher rode along to the hospital! If it was her normal teacher, she'd tell you that I really am Arriana's father."

Ms. Summers looked apologetically at him, feeling guilty because she couldn't help him out. Castle knew it wasn't her fault. He just couldn't understand why Jane had to be so uptight about things. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he knew that they were just protecting their patients, but right now he was a distraught father, and each moment without news of his daughter was torture.

Castle suddenly noticed the newspaper clutched tightly in Ms. Summers' hand. "Were you reading Page Six from this morning?" he asked. There just might be hope after all.

"Yes," she replied, handing it to Castle when he excitedly gestured for her to pass it over. Jane cocked an eyebrow as Castle hurriedly flipped the pages, her expression silently asking, Just what in the world are you trying to do now?

"Aha!" Castle exclaimed, excitedly shoving a page in front of Jane. It was the same article that Kate had shown him that very morning, and most importantly, it was the proof he needed. "Look, that's me and Arriana. Photographic evidence," he said triumphantly, "and you can even read the article later on to confirm my story. Now, can I please know where my daughter is?"

Arriana had been getting her X-rays done, so Rick waited anxiously in the corridor as Ms. Summers told him what had happened in school. The light above the heavy set of double doors turned off, indicating the procedure was done. Moments later, Rick heard the bolt getting slid out of place on the other side of the door.

He eagerly pushed off against the wall that he had been leaning against. "Arri!" He called out, rushing over to the gurney that was being wheeled out by a nurse. Arriana struggled to sit up, a wobbly smile appearing on her face.

Rick noticed how she cradled one arm limply, trying not to jostle it too much. The hospital blanket covered her lower half, but aside from a few scrapes on her forehead and arms, she looked fine, if a little pale faced. Rick attributed it to the anxiousness of being in an unfamiliar setting all alone and the fear that came with the pain in her arm.

"Hey, Arri, how're you feeling?" he asked in a soothing tone, lowering his voice to mask his own anxiety. He had to tamp down his own fears, focus on reassuring Arriana. "I'm here now, everything will be fine," he continued, rubbing her back with slow movements.

"Where's Mommy?" she asked, glancing around and looking back at Rick with her sad eyes when her mother wasn't in sight.

"She's on her way, sweetie. Mommy's stuck in court, but she'll come over as soon as she can, okay? In the meantime, you can tell me anything you want and I'll try my best-"

"I want Mommy!" Arriana cut in petulantly and she crossed her arms. Or she tried to anyway, crying out in pain as she remembered that one arm hurt whenever she had to move it. Her lower lip began trembling and her breaths came out in short, shallow gasps.

Why couldn't Mommy be here? Everyone kept telling her that Mommy would be over soon. Why couldn't they understand that she was scared and in pain, and the only person who could make it better was her mom. She had been brave, keeping her tears at bay and trying her best to ignore the pain as the nurses positioned her arms at different angles to take pictures with the big machine, but she was tired and all she wanted was for Mommy to be here with her!

Rick sighed, understanding that it was all too much for Arriana and that she just wanted to be comforted by the most familiar person in her life – Kate. "Mommy will be over as soon as she can," he repeated to the seven year old before turning to the nurse who took that as her cue to fill him in.

She smiled sympathetically at him – she was used to seeing kids preferring one parent over the other, normally going for their mothers, especially when they were afraid. "Mr. Beckett-"

"Castle," Rick corrected, "It's Mr. Castle. I married her mother recently – it's complicated, but she's still my daughter." Rick frowned, hoping the nurse wouldn't put him through the grinder like Jane did. He and Kate really needed to sort out the adoption and discuss the option of changing Arriana's name.

It seemed as though he and Kate were destined to revisit that conversation whether or not they wanted to. As soon as all of this was over, of course.

"All right, Mr. Castle," the nurse continued, just going with it. She began pushing the gurney down the corridor, and Castle helped her on the opposite side. Arriana was light, so it was easy to maneuver the gurney whilst the nurse continued talking.

"Arriana's just had her X-rays done, and we'll be bringing her up to the pediatric ward while her doctor decides what needs to be done. There are no broken bones, but it does look like there's a mild dislocation. Dr. Jones will be able to tell you more about it later. Other than that she's had a few surface scraps, and we'll clean them out in the ward. Arriana has been a very brave girl," the nurse ended on a bright note, trying to cheer the little girl.

"Yeah, she got that from her mom. So the only major thing to worry about is her arm, right? She didn't injure her head or anything?" Rick asked.

"We'll take good care of your daughter, Mr. Castle, nothing to worry about."

Rick's cell began buzzing in his pocket and he quickly reached for it. He had put it on silent mode when he arrived at the hospital, but he turned it to vibration mode so he wouldn't miss any calls.

Rick excused himself and answered the phone. "Kate," he greeted, relief coating his voice. Arriana perked up, looking at him expectantly. "She's- she's here, I'm with her. Don't worry, she- she's fine. Are you done? I'll fill you in in a bit – why don't you talk to her first."

She misses you and she wants you went unsaid, but he thinks Kate could tell that from his hesitant tone. He didn't want to make Kate feel even more upset for not being able to be there sooner – she was probably beating herself up over it already, but he wanted to give her a slight heads up. Rick handed the phone to Arriana, mindful to pass it to her good hand.

"Mommy? Where are you?" Arriana asked into the phone, clutching it tightly in one hand.

Rick could tell the moment she heard her mother's voice. Her body sagged in relief, and a split second later, the big, fat tears began flowing. His little girl was strong and resilient, but there was something about being with your mother or hearing her voice that just beckoned the release of floodgates.

He remembers snatches of his own experience as well. Rick never had a problem holding the tears at bay whenever he got injured as a small boy, but the moment Martha collected him in her arms, the floodgates would open and tears poured out.

"I want you, Mommy, I just want you," Arriana sobbed softly. Rick bit his lip as his heartstrings tugged, patting Arriana's head soothingly. It was what Kate would do if she were present. He wondered if maybe it wasn't such a good idea to put Arriana on the phone with Kate.

Arriana struggled to wipe her tears with her hand, and Rick quickly stepped in to help her, gently wiping the tears away with his thumb. Her sobs lessened, and Rick knew Kate was talking to her again.

"Okay, yes," Arriana mumbled, sniffling occasionally. After a few more "okay Mommy"s, she said "I love you too" and handed the phone to Rick.

"Kate?" he greeted.

"I'm on my way, I- I'll be there soon as I can. You're sure she's fine?" Kate asked distractedly. It was quieter than before, so Kate must have left the courthouse already, she was probably in a cab as they spoke.

"Yeah, Kate. We just got to the pediatric ward where they're going to clean her surface wounds while we wait for her doctor to come with her X-ray results. They say she might have dislocated her arm, but the doctor will explain it to us when he comes."

"Okay, I'll see you soon. Love you," she told him.

"Kate," he murmured into the phone, lowering his voice slightly so she'd have to focus if she wanted to hear him, "don't beat yourself up over this. I'm here with Arri, so don't worry, all right? Love you too."

Rick slid his phone back into his pocket as the nurse excused herself to get a debridement tray. "Daddy?" Arriana asked in a small voice, looking up at him with her shiny, red-rimmed eyes.

"Hmm?"

"Could you- can you please hold me?" she asked softly.

Rick smiled widely, telling her, "Of course, sweetie." He enveloped one arm around her, pressing a kiss into her head.

Mommy had been right, she had been selfish and had hurt Daddy's feelings by insisting on having Mommy around when he was there trying to comfort her. He could hold on to her until Mommy came, and she could stay brave a little longer. Mommy was on her way.

A/N: Review? Pretty please?