CH19
"Detective Beckett. I brought someone who has been hounding me to come see you ever since I found out you were in the hospital." As Rick drags a chair over near the bed.
And suddenly Alexis comes into view, after she climbs up to stand on the chair.
"Hi, Kate! Dad says you are sick again. And I made him come so I could take care of you.
I'm the 'Head Nurse'!" Alexis states proudly. Standing erect and poking herself in the chest twice.
"Well Alexis, I'm not really,…." And is cut off by Alexis.
"Oh no. You can't fool me. People who are in hospitals are sick. And you need me to take care of you." Not taking any chance of a no for an answer.
"Well, you were a pretty good head nurse last time." Kate concedes.
"See daddy. I told you so." Which instantly got Kate to open her eyes wide.
"So you are here to make sure I get better huh." Kate questions looking at Alexis.
"Yup. You'll never get better without me. So I'm staying." Making a face that conveys the topic is now closed.
"Uhm, Pumpkin. I'm not sure,…" But Kate interrupts him.
"She was pretty good Castle. Better then you were." Kate goads him.
"Well, maybe. But I don't think, ….." Only to be interrupted again.
"You're not going to disappoint your only daughter are you, Castle?" Kate is enjoying watching Castle squirm.
"This is not really a very, …." And interrupted again.
"I don't feel too well. I think I'm having a relapse." Kate coughs just to add some effect to the sickness.
"DADDY! You are making Kate sick. Now stop!" As Alexis stomps her foot down on the chair and gives her dad an evil eye.
"You heard the head nurse, Castle." Kate twists the knife just a little more.
Rick just raises his hands in defeat. "FINE. Fine, you win. You can stay and help Kate get better."
Looking directly into Kates eyes. "You should be ashamed detective Beckett. Turning my only daughter against me. Oh the pain." As he brings his hand up to look like a knife had just been plunged into his heart.
"Don't be so dramatic dad." Alexis responds while rolling her eyes for good measure. And turns back to look at Kate.
And Kate just winks at Alexis, with a silent, guess we told him, huh? And Alexis just starts beaming with a wide smile.
"Since you seem on the road to recovery, I guess I'll go home. Maybe I'll get some writing done."
"CASTLE?" Kate looks at him with her eyes wide. Teasing Castle was fun, but this is taking things too far.
"Oh, you're sick and need a head nurse." Rick counters.
"But Castle, what am I suppose to do with ,…." And gets cut off by Rick.
"She's perfectly safe here. You have to get searched and practically sign your life away at the entrance to this room."
"Castle, a hospital is no place, …." And is again cut off by Rick.
"look at those eyes, and tell me that you don't need a head nurse!?"
Kate takes the chance and looks over at Alexis who is giving a combination stern, pleading, puppy dog look. With a face that seems to be nothing but her blue eyes. 'DAMN! I'm in trouble now.'
"I'll be by to pick you up in the morning in time for school pumpkin." And Rick leans in to give his daughter a kiss on her cheek. Then leans down to Kate's face. "You're 'Head Nurse' will take good care of you, detective." And gives Kate a quick kiss on her cheek also, and also lifts his eyebrows a couple of times. Silently telling Kate, 'Two can play our little game. And I win this round.'
"You take good care of her pumpkin." And Rick exits the room. Leaving Kate alone with Alexis.
What neither of them know is that he never actually left the hospital. He just went back into the waiting room and tried to get comfortable and catch a quick nap.
Waking up he found it was now 4 hours later. Getting up he went back to Kate's room. Went thru the mandatory screening (TSA want a bees), and opened the door to check on his daughter. And just smiles when he finds her ON Kates bed lying as close to Kate as she could get. With both them having their arms wrapped around each other.
Rick decides that Alexis is in good hands and smiles wide (his daughter just might be a miracle worker). Let's the door close and goes downstairs to his car and grabs his phone charger, and walks across the road and checks into a hotel for the night.
4 Hours earlier:
After Rick is gone they both just stare at each other for a moment. Finally the silence is broken by Alexis.
"I don't have my thermometer."
"I think that machine does it for you."
Alexis makes an 'OH' look with her mouth. "I don't have any pills either." Beginning to worry that she has nothing to do as a head nurse.
"The doctor already game me those." May be she will want to leave when she finds there is nothing to do. Kate wonders.
Now Alexis looks worried. She wants to help Kate, but doesn't know what to do.
"What are the other duties of a head nurse?" Kate asks.
"They make the patient feel better?" Alexis says softly. Suddenly perking up. "I can do that!"
And Kate sees her get down off the chair and disappears lower than the bed. Then Kate can hear the sound of something hitting the floor, followed by another. 'She's taking her shoes off? How is that going to make her feel better?'
Then Kate can hear the chair moving followed by Alexis climbing back up to stand on the chair. Then she is climbing up onto the bed!
Moving slowly Alexis finds a spot and lays down part on and part off of Kate. Then wiggles to find a good spot and wraps her left arm around Kate's stomach and squeezes a little.
Kate had lifted her arm to prevent Alexis from getting tangled in the wires leading to the machine that monitored her vitals.
Now she had a little girl snuggled up close with her arm wrapped around her middle. While Kate just lays there with her arm stuck up in the air. 'Now what do I do?'
'If I tell her to get down I'll hurt her feelings. And Castle is not here to take her. Oh crap!'
Finally bringing her hand down and wraps it around Alexis protectively. Kate doesn't want her to fall off the bed, she reasons.
"You sure you wouldn't rather be at home with your dad?" Thinking that Castle had actually left.
Kate can feel that Alexis just shakes her head and says nothing. Then wiggles a little again to find that good spot.
Kate just lays there quietly, when finally noticing that Alexis's breathing has become constant and shallow. She had gone to sleep snuggled up against her.
'This feels weird. Really weird.'
But after a little while she finds that she kind of likes it. Getting to sleeping next to someone just might not be such a bad thing after all.
And Kate allows herself to fall asleep with Alexis wrapped tightly around her. Never knowing that Rick had never left and had peaked in to check on them while they slept.
Rick got up early in the morning and took a quick shower and put the clothes he had worn the day back on and headed for the hospital.
Finding 2 different uniforms on Kate's door, who repeated the TSA pat down (as Rick called it now) and slowly opened the door. Not sure what he was going to find.
What he found was the same as he found last night. Both had their arms tightly wrapped around each other with his daughter snuggled in close. He debated how he was going to get his daughter out without waking Kate. But decided that if he took his daughter and Kate did not know it, she might freak. Although having him catch her with her arms around Alexis might cause her to freak also. Oh, well.
Moving in to try and touch his daughter awake, "Pumpkin. Come on pumpkin. Time to wake up."
But all he gets is a mumbled "Gooo way."
Trying again with a little more force. "Come on, time to wake up. I need to get you home so you can go to school."
"Hool? No hool today."
Chuckling to himself. He switches tactics and decides to wake Kate instead. "Beckett? Time to wake up detective."
And all he gets is a groan. "No mom, don't wanna go to school."
'This is turning out to be harder than I tought.' "Great, now what?"
Rick pulls out his phone and does a search and turns up the volume to maximum, which for a phone still isn't all that loud. And presses play and holds the phone just above Kate's chest.
And a trumpet begins to play 'Reveillie'. Which gets instant success.
"CASTLE! What the hell?" Kate moans out still partly asleep.
"DAD!?"
"I tried to wake you two gently, but you both ignored me. So I resorted to other more drastic measures."
"Try a little less hard next time Castle."
"Yeah, dad. What was that squealing anyway?"
"Come on pumpkin, it's time to get you home so you can shower, change and get to school."
"SCHOOL!" Alexis is awake now. "I gotta go Kate." As Alexis unravels herself from Kate's grasp and gets picked up and set down by her dad. "My shoes? Where are my shoes?"
"I take it she wasn't any trouble for you?" Rick asks Kate.
"NO! No trouble. She makes a good head nurse. Thanks Castle."
"Come on pumpkin, let's get moving." And Rick head for the door, only to have it open for him.
And in walks Captain Montgomery and Dr. Gilligan.
"Beckett, how are you feeling?" Roy asks.
"I'm fine sir. The Doc said I could go home today." Kate tells him.
"Do you have someone to watch you for a day Miss Beckett?" Dr. Gilligan asks. He had peaked in on Kate during the night also, and liked what he found.
"I can stay with my dad." Kate reasons it is possible. Then sneak out and go home.
"Doesn't he work during the day Beckett?" Roy starts shooting holes in her scheme.
"I'm home all day. She can stay with me." Rick volunteers.
"OH NO. That's ok Castle. I'll be fine."
"Beckett!?" Roy isn't having any of it. "The Doc wants someone to watch you, Rick is available. You've already spent a few days there when you had your cold. One more day there won't kill you."
'OH yes it will' Thinks Kate. 'But it will give me a chance to kill Castle.'
Taking Beckett's silence as acceptance. "Great! It's settled then. You'll stay with Castle so someone can watch you."
"CAPTAIN!?" Change your mind, please.
"I'll take care of you Kate. …. When I'm not at school." Looking up at her dad.
Rick shrugs his shoulders. 'You did say she makes a great head nurse."
Resigned to her fate. "Fine." Sounding dejected.
"You going to the Fund Raiser, Beckett?" Roy asks. Knowing about the fund raiser for the families of the fallen officers.
"She'll be there sir." Rick answers for her.
"Great, I'll see you both there." Slaps Rick on his back. "Don't spend too much of that money. Some of that is mine." Roy jokes with him.
"Why does everyone only want my money?"
Roy turns to look at Beckett then back at Rick, and just laughs, and leaves them. He has work to do.
"You'll be ready to go in about 3 hours, Miss Beckett. That should give your 'volunteer' time to get his daughter to school and come back here to get you. Your discharge papers should be filled out by then.
Sounds like you are in good hands Miss Beckett. I'm going to go see if there is an opening for a 'Head Nurse'" Smiling down at Alexis as he leaves.
With a beaming Alexis next to him. "We have to go detective. I'll be back to pick you up in 3 hours."
"It's not necessary Castle." Kate tries to talk her way out of this mess.
"Kate?" Alexis looks at her with her now patented sad face with puppy dog eyes. Alexis was not letting Kate out of this. NO WAY HOSAY! She was coming home with them and that was final!
"I'll be waiting Castle." Kate gives in. 'I can run down murderer's and other low life's, how does a 5 year old (OK, ok, almost 6), get to me?'
'And why are they both smiling at my misery?'
