CH11
It is now one month later: (Mid June, 1999)
They settled on the final purchase price of the church conversion at $9.05 million. At almost one million below the asking price, they got to select all of the paint colors, the marble tiles that were to be used on the arch ways in both hallways, plus they also were able to select the color stain for the floors and the ceiling along with a design change. The library/TV room turned into a library/study where Castle could write. That room was made to be all wood except for the ceiling. It was going to have a desk for Castle along with 2 seating areas.
The TV room was moved to the mezzanine which became a TV room/library. The fireplace was built out with a mantle so Castle could hang his Christmas stockings, while the wall around it used brick and the same marble tile in the archways to mimic the arch of the wood ceiling. It would have an area rug for the main seating area with the giant TV that Castle had wanted.
Kate had let him splurge in her reading room with his TV since she also had his writing study to read in. And it really was big. It was a Panasonic rear projection TV with a 56 inch screen. It was something called HDTV that was brand new and just coming available to the average consumer. Kate almost had a heart attack at the price.
The stairs were getting black wrought iron railings with a dark wood handrail that was the same color as the wood wainscoting in the hallway. There was even going to be some spot lighting for paintings on the wall. It had 2 glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
They were both surprised to find that the entire space was going to be fitted with fire sprinklers which would make their insurance company happy.
It was Kate's kitchen and Castle had let her make design choices all by herself. The developer had agreed to give them a $3,000 dollar bonus to be used where they please and Kate put all of it into the kitchen.
It would have a white farm house sink in the island with the stainless steel dishwasher next to it. The standard refrigerator was changed into a giant two door refrigerator on one side and freezer on the other. It was massive inside. One cabinet away was the gas range and oven. It had four gas burners and a flat frying pan area as well as a grill for indoor grilling.
There was a plug for a TV that would go on the counter in a corner. There was under cabinet lighting. They lost some space that was the kitchen seating area to get Kate's pass through so she wasn't hidden away in the kitchen while cooking.
The cabinets were a medium gray for the uppers and white for the lowers. However all of the upper cabinets had glass fronts that had the inside backs painted a bright yellow color with lights inside each cabinet.
A wine cooler of standard size went under a counter leading to the butler's pantry which was turned into their pantry with side by side laundry on the opposite side. Together with pot lights and the giant window on the outside wall, the space was nice and bright.
They agreed on hanging wall paper on the mezzanine area around the arches of the fireplace and the windows on one side. Since the wood ceiling was going to be stained a very dark brown it was feared that the space would be too dark, so a chandelier was added, increasing the expense of the electrical budget.
The same wall paper was used on the arch way spaces in the main living and dining room. It was selected to smooth the look from the lighter wood floors to the walls and columns used to support the ceiling; the same marble used in the hallway arch ways up to the dark stained ceiling.
They still had to select a dining room table and living room furniture, however the metal staircase was turned into wood using the same wood and color as the floor. It was an open staircase, meaning it had no risers, just wood steps.
There would be three chandeliers similar to the one on the mezzanine level only larger. They chose to have indoor shutters added to the lower half of the windows and glass doors using the same wood and color as the floor.
The same wood railing up the spiral stairs was used on the railing that separated the mezzanine from the main room.
While the developer's contractor was working on his job, their own contractor was working on removing the elevator to install a panic room with a trap door and ladder to get between the two levels. This same contractor hired a separate electrical sub-contractor to install the security system, cameras and all of the monitors in the two-level panic room.
Yet another contractor was already there installing an emergency generator that would power the security system, emergency lighting and the refrigerator/freezer. The single tank of gas should last a week or more depending on how hard the refrigerator works.
Today they were finally making a final decision on the fireplace in the living room and forwarding that to the developer and his contractor. They decided on mini columns identical to the ones holding up the wood arched ceiling. The mantle would be wood matching the color of the wood ceiling. Above that would be an as yet unselected painting with light sconces on either side that were wall mounted lights mimicking the hanging chandeliers.
"What are we missing Castle?" Kate felt like they were missing something, only to watch Castle shrug his shoulders. His mind was actually on his latest Derek Storm book, the last of a 3 book contract. Its launch required him to attend a launch party and attend signings at several local book stores for 2 weeks, however that was a few months from now, right around Halloween.
This was when Jack started talking. "We need to arrange for the supplier to provide the contractor with the film that will be placed on the interior side of all of the windows."
"I don't want the windows tinted Jack, I want the sun to shine in. It's part of why I like this place so much is all the natural light and the height and numbers of windows." Kate didn't want the sun obstructed, the ceiling was going to be dark enough as it is.
"The film will not accomplish that. It acts like a prism and will not reduce the amount of sunlight in any significant manner. It is meant to make it difficult for a sniper to hit his target; it also acts as a method to make it harder for a round or shrapnel from an explosion from penetrating the glass.
The prism portion will mean that instead of placing a round in the center of your forehead it should glance off of the side of your skull. You will be injured yes, however you will not be dead. To the snipers point of view, you will be out of place by a couple of inches, making him miss his target. It also prevents 95% of UV light from entering which will reduce fading of fabrics and other items." Jack informed them.
Rick silently questioned Kate if that was okay. "Make the call Jack." Rick called out.
"Are you happy about all this?" Rick stops Kate, holds her arms, and looks into her eyes.
"No it's fine Castle, I really want to see it done and actually have someplace to live." Kate gave him a smile but it didn't reach her eyes.
"Is it your dad?" Rick asked still holding onto Kate.
That got Kate to look up at Castle and tears start to form. Kate knew she hadn't seen him in over a month. The most she had done was go over weekly and collect the mail and pay the bills from her dwindling bank account. She hadn't even gone inside in that time.
Kate was ashamed of herself, but she was also afraid of her own father after her last encounter.
"Help me gather up the cleaning supplies and trash bags and let's go look." Rick told her, getting Kate to step into his chest and allow his arms to hold her tight. It got Rick to kiss her head. "Come on, let's go see what there is to find." Together they head for the bathroom and gather cleaning supplies.
They took a taxi since they were going to wait to buy a car until after they had moved. Every step Kate took from the taxi to the front door got harder and harder for her. "Castle!?" Her heart was pounding and the fear of what they would find frightened her.
It wasn't what her father would do, Kate knew that Castle was more than capable of stopping her father from hitting her again. It was what she was going to find that scared her. Was he dead in there and decomposing? Had she left him to die? Was she about to see what her father had turned himself into from all the alcohol?
"It'll be fine Kate, I'm right here. You're not alone in this, not anymore." Rick held out his hand for the keys that he hoped Kate had with her.
The overwhelming smell hit them first thing after opening the door. Kate had smelled it before and it had her wanting to vomit almost immediately. It affected Rick also, however he at least knew the smell wasn't because someone had died. He was well acquainted with that smell.
Stepping inside they found the space was a disaster zone. There was vomit almost everywhere, empty alcohol bottles along with discarded microwavable TV dinners. Some were empty, others were not. A few of them had a little fuzzy growth on them.
What they didn't see was Jim. "Is he out? Is he even capable of driving a car in his condition?" Rick was looking around wondering just where to start.
Kate had a hand over her mouth and nose. "I sold them to get rid of the bills and earn some money; getting dad to sign anything at that time was easy." Kate talked through her hand.
"We need to find him first. Where is his room?" Rick asked getting Kate to point while still holding her hand where it is while she fights with her stomach.
Rick found him half naked and surrounded by vomit lying on the bed. Rick made his way through the land mines till he reached Jim. After checking for a pulse, Rick called out, "Jack call 911 and give them this address. Have them send an ambulance and advise them it is alcohol related." Rick looked to be talking to empty space.
Rick was still looking Jim over. "Ambulance has been dispatched, they have been apprised of his possible condition. How is he?" Jack had no way of scanning his vital statistics.
A sudden sound from the doorway had Rick turning around to see Kate standing there, probably falling apart from what she was seeing. "He's alive Kate, but he's in bad shape. I've had some basic medical training, but with this number of empty bottles I would guess alcohol poisoning. If he has injested enough it could kill him."
Rick was over to Kate in a flash when he saw Kate had started shaking, tears running down her cheeks. "An ambulance is coming, it may not be too late."
It was now that Kate broke down on Rick's shoulder one more time. This time she was blaming herself for leaving her father to do this to himself.
To Rick it looked like Kate was ready to fall apart on him as they watched the EMTs take Jim out to the ambulance never saying a word about the space itself. Finding out where they were taking him, Rick had Jack call them a taxi to meet them there.
When they both got to the hospital only to find that they had to wait along with all the other countless number of people who were here for any number of reasons.
They waited hours. Rick was forced to watch Kate pace, in her attempt to keep busy with too much of her mind on the only family she had left, knowing he was slowly killing himself.
It was still more hours and Kate had walked herself into being tired and was leaning up against Rick while Rick was listening to his stomach rumbling. They had missed lunch and it was getting into dinner time.
"Family of Jim Beckett." The door opens and his name is called out, which had Kate on her feet with Rick right behind her. "Follow me." The lady told them.
"You are who?" She asked as they start walking further into the hospital. "He's my father." Kate answered while Rick decides to remain silent, not sure what his place is except to be beside Kate.
She leads them into an elevator and takes them up to the fourth floor. "Your father has been moved into ICU for tonight. Come morning he will likely be moved to a 2 person room. … He's in here." She motioned for them to enter.
Inside they both found Jim lying in bed with an IV in his arm, a tube under his nose, a clip on his finger tied to a machine that was beeping softly. He looked paler than Kate had ever seen him, but at least he was alive.
"I'm sure you've heard about the percentage of alcohol in the blood where anything above 0.08% is legally intoxicated. The real level of intoxication is measured by BAC which stands for Blood/Breath Alcohol concentration. How many drinks you've had is not a good measure to determine your level of BAC. It is a combination of body weight, sex and body fat percentage.
Your father is a little under 200 pounds, he's male and he has low body fat percentage. His body fat percentage is likely because he isn't eating properly and his body is using up its accumulated fat to compensate. Tolerance to alcohol also varies from person to person.
In your father's case his BAC level registered at being .313 using a blood test. At this level the common symptoms is alcohol poisoning with loss of consciousness. A level of .40 and above usually results in the person going into a coma with possible loss of life to due respiratory failure. It's estimated that just 3 or 4 more drinks more and he would be at or above a BAC level of .40. It is likely that he passed out before he could drink that much.
We have done what we can to counter the amount of alcohol in his blood stream at this point. The IV is to keep fluids in him and help him flush his system. We've also given him a vitamin shot. Tomorrow we are going to do another blood test to determine how much possible damage he has done to his kidneys and liver. If needed we may ask for an MRI to be performed to get a better look or perhaps just an ultrasound.
The common symptoms of alcohol poisoning are mental confusion, stupor, coma or inability to wake-up, vomiting, seizures, slow breathing, irregular breathing and hypothermia.
Right now he is being kept warm as you can tell, his breathing while shallow is presently steady. The EMTs told us about the heavy vomiting." She pauseed since she isn't sure Kate is listening anymore since she is buried in the man she is with chest, crying.
"I heard every word, we'll try and keep a better eye on him." Rick told her.
"We'll probably release him tomorrow if our next blood test comes back good enough. A word of caution. The more often he drinks the easier it will be for him to be like this again. The problem with that is that he will become more likely to exceed a BAC level of .40 and drink himself into a coma. After that happens it is anyone's guess.
I'm sorry I can't give you better news, however he is alive and will recover. He really needs to stop drinking or his next trip here may be his last or next to last.
Visiting hours ended an hour ago, however I can give you another 15 minutes and then I'll have to ask you to leave and come back tomorrow during visiting hours." She took her leave of them giving Kate a sympathetic look.
Internally she was hoping the guy she was with was up to getting her through this or what would happen if she loses her father.
Rick walked Kate over to see her father and then stepped back a few steps to let them have some time. "I'm sorry dad, I should never have let you get to this point, but I was scared. Please dad, I can't lose you too. You're all the family I have left."
Kate didn't really know what to do. The hand on this side had that clip on his finger and it was the arm that had the IV in him and his face was so pale from what he had done to himself. "This isn't what mom would have wanted dad. Killing yourself isn't going to get you any closer to her."
Kate withdrew back into Castle's arms, there just wasn't anywhere else to go. Besides she knew she was falling in love with him, if she wasn't already. Just didn't know why she couldn't say the words. Maybe it was because she wasn't totally in love with him …yet.
"Let's go home Kate; we'll come back in the morning." They only had 15 minutes after all.
They were almost back to the apartment. "I want the unit Castle. … I want to find out who did this to my family." Kate had made her choice, or perhaps it was her father who had made it for her. Almost losing her father had woken her up, it was time to grow up.
Kate was sitting on the love seat nervous as hell as Castle walked back into the living room carrying the unit in his hands. "This doesn't come back off Kate. Once it's on, it's on till you die, hopefully of old age.
Kate looked between Castle and the unit. "Have you also decided on what type of job you want to try for or go back to school? You could still be a very good lawyer and fight your mother's fight."
"Being a lawyer won't help me find out who did this even with this… thing. Person, AI, whatever." Kate pointed out. "Which means?" Rick questioned.
"Do you know what it takes to get into the FBI? I mean they take college kids, right?" Kate asked since being an agent might help get her what she wants.
"You must be under 37 years of age when you are hired but at least 23 years of age."
"Have a driver's license in a US state.
Have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree from an accredited four year university.
By physically able to complete the training and execute the duties. This includes the ability to fight, complete fire arms training, and other duties as required. You should consider yourself physically fit.
You should be able to transition into one of the following areas of expertise.
Law ( Must also possess a Juris Doctor)
Language (Must be proficient in a language and able to pass the FBI language exam).
Accounting (Must major in Accounting and be able to pass the CPA exam or FBI equivalent).
Diversified duties (Require an advanced degree with work experience or a minimum of 3 years of work experience).
A three year commitment is required when you accept employment."
Jack answered her question before Rick could say anything.
"I need to finish college first. I don't know how many of my classes will transfer and college doesn't start for another few months." Kate was a little bummed but not surprised.
"That is one method yes. However it is not the only one. You can get in by completing 3 years of work experience." Jack countered.
"I'm not going to get hired as a lawyer until I finish college and pass the bar and then 3 more years of work before I can apply." Kate knew she was only 19 and had the time but that meant 7 more years of classes and work to get in.
"That is not the only method." Jack informed Kate.
"To be hired by the New York Police Dept. you need 8 qualifications.
Candidates should be at least 21 years old at the day of hiring.
Be a US citizen.
Candidates should earn at least 60 college credits with a GPA of 2.0 from an accredited college or university or has served in the armed forces for at least 2 years with an honorable discharge.
Be a resident of New York.
Have a valid NY driver's license.
Uncorrected vision of at least 20/100. Corrected vision with glasses, contact lenses or after Lasik surgery has to be 20/20. Color blindness is an immediate disqualification.
Candidates should pass a drug and alcohol screening.
Candidates should pass a background investigation.
To qualify for hiring you could complete the police academy. To do that you need a number items first.
Take a written service exam from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS).
Take the pre-hire interview in the medical division.
Take the medical exam.
Take the standardized written psychological test.
Take the JSP or Job Standardized Test.
Take the oral interview.
Undergo a character investigation.
Undergo further training in the New York Police Academy. (This usually will last 28 weeks, after that there will be a 10 week field training.
To go up in rank, for example if you wanted to be a homicide detective, that would require you to complete your 1 year rookie period followed by 8 weeks of FTO. Then you need to be recommended by your precinct captain to take the detective training followed by a written test. You will be a junior homicide detective until you have completed one year of service. After that you again need to be recommended by your precinct captain to be promoted to lead homicide detective.
The standard time from completing your rookie year is 4 years. A determined person may be able to lower that time to 3 years. While the standard time from junior to lead detective is another 4 years. Again a determined person may be able to lower that time to 3 years.
However if you still want into the FBI, you would need to finish the police academy followed by 3 years of service before beginning the application process." Jack gave her an alternative option.