Kate slept through the majority of the next day, waking every few hours, but only long enough to catch a glimpse of Rick beside her or hear a snippet of his voice nearby before sleep overcame her once more. She had known after the events of the night before that her exhaustion was strong, but she hadn't necessarily expected for it to knock her out for nearly fifteen hours.

"Morning sunshine," Rick greeted her at around five in the evening the next day, when she finally managed to lift her head and keep her eyes peeled open for longer than a handful of seconds. "You need to eat and Campbell wants to see you."

She groaned and huffed indignantly when Rick gently manhandled her into a sitting position. Campbell was her psychiatrist and during their last session, he had gotten her to open up far more than she had originally intended to allow.

By the end of the session, she had revealed too much of herself and become a whimpering mess curled in the chair across from him.

"What does Campbell want with me?"

"Well, I spent the morning pushing your discharge papers to the top of the list, speeding up the process, and when I spoke with him about it, he mentioned that he needed to assess your mental state before he could sign off on such a serious decision."

"When?"

"Tomorrow morning. If all goes as planned, I was hoping I'd be able to take you home after lunch."

An excited tremor clamored up her spine, either from the mention of actually going home or going home with him; she wasn't sure. But her eager anticipation was rivaled by the unease of preparing for her session with Doctor Campbell. She had never looked forward to the appointments, but this one was especially foreboding knowing it would determine whether or not she could finally leave the hospital.

"Your dad was here for the majority of the day as well," Rick said, pulling her from her reverie of dread.

"What?" she whispered, feeling her heart drop into her empty stomach. "And I missed him?"

"He left a little while ago, but he'll be back," Rick told her quickly, rising from beside her to bring over a tray of hospital food. "He was here the night before too."

Kate stared down glumly at the turkey sandwich and accompanying fruit cup sitting in her lap.

"Where is he now?"

"My place, I think. He went to the storage center last night, picked up a lot of your things."

"He must really like you," she surmised, taking a sip from the water bottle he passed to her.

Rick's eyebrows creased in curiosity. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, look who's awake."

Kate glanced past the curtain only halfway drawn around the bed and smiled at the sight of her father coming through the doorway, a duffle bag hanging from his arm and a greasy fast food container in his hand.

"Hey, I made you that sandwich," Rick huffed as she carelessly pushed the cafeteria tray onto the table at the side of the bed and rose to greet her dad.

She rolled her eyes at him from over her father's shoulder as she stepped into his embrace. "I'll eat your sandwich later. I smell a Remy's burger."

"Doctor Rodgers mentioned you were getting desperate for real food," Jim chuckled, keeping his arms around her even as the white bag of food began to warm her back. "You okay, Katie?"

Kate turned her face into his neck, hugged him back. The few visits her father had made to see her had been brief and uncomfortable, a wall of hurt and years of loss hanging between them, but as she stood in her dad's arms and inhaled his familiar scent that lacked the unwanted addition of alcohol, she felt the walls between them slowly but surely beginning to dissolve.

"I'm good," she murmured, pulling back and taking a seat at the edge of the hospital cot. Her dad sat down beside her while he opened up the bag and handed her a burger.

"Cheeseburger okay with you, Rick?"

"My favorite." Her doctor grinned as he plopped down in the chair across from them that she was sure her father usually occupied instead.

Kate noticed as she nibbled on one of the fries from the bag that her dad and Rick got along well, the rapport between them effortless and natural, and she found herself envious yet relieved. If something happened to her, again, they could lean on one another.

"Detective Beckett, did you walk yourself here?" Dr. Campbell asked, a hint of a smile playing on his always calm face and she offered a small lift of her lips in return as she nodded. "Coffee?" he offered, referring to the pot she could smell brewing in the staff lounge down the hall, and she really would love some on this early Monday morning, but she shook her head in declination.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes," he said, sitting forward in his office chair and motioning for her to close the door before she took her seat in the cracked pleather at the opposite side of his desk. "I know we've only met a few times throughout your stay here, and I'm inclined to give you the all clear on your discharge papers, but I just wanted to discuss a couple of things before you leave."

Kate nodded once again, skeptical this time. She did like Campbell, he was an easy man to talk to and if he had any judgments about her or anyone else, he never let them show. But she hadn't spent much of her time in this type of therapy, only attending twice a week of the near three weeks she had been in the hospital for recovery, and she would not say anything now to jeopardize her chance of finally getting out of here.

"How are you feeling, after what happened with the gunman the other day?"

Kate brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and tried not to let her gaze with the doctor break, knowing it was one of her tells that he had quickly picked up on.

"Fine, I want to know who sent him."

"So you can solve your mother's case?"

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat; Rick could have warned her about how much her psychiatrist knew.

"Yes."

"Are you worried about your own safety?"

Again, she had to force her gaze to remain locked and steady with the man across from her. She admittedly had not been sleeping well the last two nights, constantly waking in fear with a cold sweat running down her back every other hour and usually causing Rick to jerk awake beside her. Both waiting for the next attack.

"No."

"Do you plan to go back to work soon?"

"As soon as I possibly can. I intend to contact my captain in the upcoming week," she confirmed resolutely.

Campbell hummed, wrote something down on the yellow legal pad he kept on the center of his desk.

"Are you at all worried about leaving the hospital?" he asked and she frowned in confusion.

"No, why should I be? I've been waiting to go home since the day I woke up."

"And I've admired your determination, Detective, but I just wanted to warn you beforehand, it might be a little overwhelming the first couple of days."

"Overwhelming?"

"To be back out there," he supplied, gesturing towards the window behind him. "Being surrounded by other people and worldly commotions. Here, you've been on your own with the exception of the hospital staff and occasional visits from your friends and family. It doesn't happen to everyone – we're all different – but I do feel you may be at a higher risk considering the fact that you were recently made a target for a hired assassin."

"How much did R- Doctor Rodgers tell you?" she questioned without missing a beat, but Campbell gave nothing up either.

"Only what he thought was necessary. He wants to take every precaution necessary to keep you safe and healthy, Detective. As do I, which is why I simply wanted to advise you to take it easy, don't throw yourself out into the world like you haven't been kept from it for the past two years."

What Campbell was telling her made sense, it did, but she refused to believe she couldn't handle having her life back. She had been in a coma, not held captive, not isolated from humanity; she had just been asleep. And yeah, there was someone out there who wanted her dead, but it wouldn't be the first time in her life.

She would be fine.

"Am I free to go?"