A/N: I'm not sure how many chapters this will have. I'm still playing around with how I want things to go. This is only the second fanfiction I've written so I'm still dabbling in everything, reviews are always appreciated so I know if it's worth continuing
Ten hours. That's how long it took for Esposito and Ryan to find her. Ten hours of being forced to stare at her now deceased partners body. Ten hours of feeling Peter Donnelly's knife carve into her skin as he threatened to find her family. Threatened to do the same to everyone she loved. Ten hours of him beating, strangling, torturing her.
Her boys were at her side as soon as Donnelly and his men were down. Esposito placing pressure on the deeper wounds while Ryan worked off the ropes around her wrists, exposing the raw flesh.
"Javi, I'm so tired" Kate choked out watching the man who was like her brother try not to break down at the sight of her. "We've got you. It's going to be okay, you're going to be okay. You just hang in there Beckett, those Castle kids need you." Esposito flashed a terrified look to his partner who had finally ushered emergency services to their location.
They managed to get Kate loaded into the ambulance before the remaining color drained from her face and the world went black.
It would be two days before the methodical beeping of hospital alarms would force her to drift back into consciousness. The doctors telling her how lucky she was. Kate knew she was lucky. She knew that if the boys hadn't found her within the next hour, her family would be planning her funeral. Kate faded in and out of thought as the doctors explained everything that had happened.
She had over 60 cuts littering her body. There were three deep wounds on her right thigh, the only ones that were deep enough for stitches. The ones that had her nearly bleed out and required a blood transfusion. Her throat was raw, bruises in the shape of handprints covered her neck. The doctor continued to drone about a major concussion and needing to stay out of the field for at least two weeks. The little attention the doctor received from her was lost when the hospital room door opened.
Alexis snuck in, passing her sister off to her father who sat attentively next to Kate's side. The doctor fiddled with one of the machines before nodding goodbye and making his exit.
Kates eyes drifted to her sleeping daughter as the baby sighed with content once placed in her father arms. Her attention shifted back to the red head who was now coaxing her brother to come further into the room.
Kate smiled at the boy. Her boy. Her son. His face covered in what she could only assume was chocolate ice cream and his tiny hand clutched the baby blanket that he insisted went everywhere with him. He looked so much like his father. His blue eyes that would scrunch up with laughter, the baby blonde curls that were starting to darken just like his fathers had at that age, the single dimple in his right cheek that made her heart melt anytime he smiled. "Mommy?" he hesitated. Eyes wide as he took in the cuts and bruises that were visible on her skin. His lip quivered and Kate felt her eyes immediately well with tears and her heart shattered. "Alexis" Kate started, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. Knowing her stepmom, she knew exactly what she was about ask. She scooped up her brother and placed him gently onto the bed, avoiding her right side. Kate squeezed her hand and mouthed a thank you before ignoring the pain and pulling the small boy up to her chest. She ran her fingers through his curls, kissed the top of his head, and wept. The beeping of the machine being drowned out by her sobs and her proclamations of love for the four people in the room who meant the world to her.