"Going to the precinct?" Castle asked when Kate made her appearance in the kitchen, already ready for work.
"Ya, you know...captain stuff" Beckett sighed and gave him a gentle kiss. "But it looks like you'll have company for breakfast" She added and smiled when she noticed the younger of the two redheads stumbling sleepily down the stairs and coming towards the kitchen.
Alexis is just at the beginning of the stairs and if she keeps going down this pace she will need a lot more time until she comes downstairs and notices what's going on in the kitchen, which means...Beckett happily concluded that she has time to give Rick another kiss... "Wow, did I do anything special this morning, that I deserved this kind of treatment?" Castle asked smirking as he happily returned the kiss. "You know I missed kissing those lips of yours" Beckett whispered, playing with his hair. "Then never stop again, because I'll kiss you for the rest of my life and you will not get rid of me so easily because I never plan to let you out of my arms again" Castle remembered the worst period of his life, when Beckett took the bag in her hand and walked through the door of their apartment...It was because of work and that afterwards they could have their happily ever after, she said that then, but those words meant nothing to him then, for him, that words were just mere excuses why she was giving up their marriage...and he spent countless nights trying to find the reason for her departure and waiting for the day when she would return, as she promised. He waited, waited...and finally she came back. His beloved wife is in his arms again. They share hugs and kisses again, eat breakfast together, drink their coffee, laugh together, they become a writer and his muse again... "Never, you promise?" With her question, Kate brought him back to the reality, reality he loved so much and he enjoyed every day of his life again because she is here, with him and they finally have their happily ever after. "If I have to, I'll take all the stars off the sky for you, but I'm not going anywhere, I'll always be right here, I promise" Rick charmed again and with that of course he added a classic Richard Castle smile. "Oh, and just that charm of yours" Kate couldn't resist him, it was like she fell in love with him all over again...She had that spark in her eyes again, the biggest smile all over her face and her heart was beating like crazy...for God's sake, how could she endure so much time apart from this man?? Now such a thing seems unthinkable to her and she won't even try to imagine it because it will never happen again. "I'm always charming, Mrs. Castle" Rick continued in a charming tone. Hm, are you Mr. Castle? And how about we move on the couch, cuddle a little? Beckett asked and before he could offer an answer they were already on the couch. "Oho, we're going to have to do this "separation thing" more often, if it's going to be like this when we're back together" Castle joked as Beckett lay curled up to him and in return he got one not-so-plesend-Beckett glare. "Just kidding, just kidding" He get away with it and put on a smile that he knew Beckett wouldn't be able to resist. And so it was, they lay on the couch in an embrace, giggling, Beckett couldn't keep her hands away from his hair, and Castle couldn't take his eyes off her smile, their lips colliding in countless kisses as if there was no tomorrow and they couldn't help themselves, they fell madly in love with each other all over again...
"I love you, Rick" Kate stated, losing herself in his blue eyes
"Oh,you do?" He pretended to be surprised and asked in a shocked tone, both still giggling as the tips of their noses touched.
Of course I do, silly head! Do you doubt it? Beckett asked a little more seriously, but she still couldn't keep her hands away from him, this time her right hand was on his cheek.
"Never. I'm just saying, one kiss would certainly confirm that statement of yours" He smirked.
"Oh, you think so?" Beckett asked and began flipping her hair.
"Mhm" Castle nodded quickly as his pupils began to dilate.
Their lips met again, this time in a slightly longer kiss, they both enjoyed the moment, attacking each other's lips...
"Oh, it's even better than I remember" Castle breathed out after they parted. Beckett just smiled sweetly and before she knew it her fingers were brushing his hair again.
"I love you very much, you know that" He whispered in her ear and made her giggle again.
"Rick..." She turned completely towards him, so now her brown-green eyes were looking straight at his blue...she couldn't help but kiss him again, she couldn't get enough of him, his lips were softer than she remembered, his eyes warmer and bluer...
"Richard, it's nice to be in love, but some of us are trying to eat breakfast here.." The voice interrupted them. "Mother?!" Rick immediately recognized the voice and straightened from lying to sitting... "Aa..and Alexis?!" Rick's face flushed when he saw his daughter and mother sitting at the kitchen table. "Martha?! Alexis?!" Kate peered over Rick's shoulder with an embarrassed look and red cheeks. "Well good morning to you too, lovebirds! " Martha smiled at her son and daughter-in-law. "Ah..um...how long have you been here?" Rick asked a little softly and his usual deep, strong voice turning to shy and low. "Long enough to hear it all" Alexis answered his question and made his cheeks even redder. "Ah...Um...It's not what it looks like" He searched for the right words as he tried to focus. "...and it's not as it sounded!" Kate quickly continued to try to fix the already rather awkward situation. "It's nothing I haven't heard or done before, you know me and Alexis are overjoyed that you are back together and that you two have made everything work again plus we don't have to listen to Richard claiming that he's going to win his wife back!" Martha said a little too much and thus revealed to Kate that all the days she was gone Rick was just figuring out different variations on how to win her back, and before Martha could talk further about how Castle just dragged himself aimlessly around the apartment doing nothing while Kate wasn't here, Rick managed to stop her on time, so she just move on another topic. "And just so you know, if you continue like you started this morning, I'm expecting another grandchild soon" Martha couldn't help but throw a tease. "See, and others are eagerly waiting for that to happen, not just me" Rick gave Kate a look, a look she knew exactly what it meant and what Rick was trying to tell her. "Then you will look forward to tonight's conversation" She retaliated quite mystically to intrigue mind of her writer as much as possible. "Is this what I think it is?" A smile instantaneous flashed all over his face after hearing those words. "I don't know what exactly you think, and now chap-chap, move, I have to go to work" She left his question unanswered, gave him a kiss, said goodbye to Martha and Alexis, and headed for the door.But he's Richard Castle, and Richard Castle can't reconcile if he doesn't find out something that interests him so damn well... "I'm actually going with you!" He grabbed his jacket and joined her at the door. "You do?" She asked in surprise at his decision. "Ya, I am, what's the worst that can happen? Like something terrible is going to happen if I walk into the precinct? True Espo and Ryan will be a little taken aback because they will no longer be the most handsome in the room, hah but what can I do..." His ego growing bigger and bigger with every word he spoke.
"Should I be worried, Castle?"
"No need because my heart is already stolen by you and only you" Castle had a ready answer with which he knew he would achieve what he loved to watch the most, Beckett's smile.
"Take care, see you tonight for dinner!" Martha and Alexis greeted them and returned to their breakfast which they could now enjoy in peace.
"Then that conversation you said..." Castle was again trying to soothe his curiousity when he and Beckett were on their way towards the 12th.
"Ah, no, no, learn to be patient" Beckett immediately cut that attempt to the root and Castle decided to come to terms with that he would get no response, but only for now.
///at the precinct///
"Sitoo! Ryan!" Castle cheerfully greeted the well-known Latino and Irish detective duo as he and Beckett stepped out of the elevator.
"Oh hey Castles!" They greeted classically, jokingly, but quickly corrected themselves "Captain! We meant...Captain!"
"Hey, it's okay boys! Have we solved anything with that case?" Beckett asked about a case that had plagued them for a long, long time and they could not move from one point.
"We actually solved the case!" They said proudly in sync.
"And they're just arresting the assassin, you'll never believe who-"
Ryan and Espo's story-telling about the case was disrupted when the assassin they were talking about shot down the police officers who were holding him and managed to grab one of the policeman's guns...
GUN SHOOTS!! EVERYONE GET DOWN!
But before Espo and Ryan could react and grab their guns, the first two shots were already fired and flew straight at them.
"KATE! NO!" Castle exclaimed and jumped to tackle her down.
"Ugh, this one was close!" Espo noticed while he and Ryan were behind their desks waiting for the assailant to run out of bullets, they knew very well that this type of gun carried by police officers at the precinct, had 6 bullets and 5 had already been fired, meaning only one more remained...When he fired the sixth bullet, Espo got up from the shelter and had a clear shot at the attacker, but he only shot his arm to incapacitate him.
"Okay it's over! Are you all right?" Ryan declared after the other officers took care of the attacker and checked once more if everyone was okay.
"Kev? Javi?" Ryan heard a confused and somehow stunned voice behind him. "Beckett! Are you okay?" Ryan ran to the desk where the voice was coming from. "Ya, I am, I'm just a little dazed as if I hit my head on something..." She was still talking confused. "Yes you did, when Cas-" Ryan started explaining to her, but stopped when he saw a body on the floor not far from the desk where they were... "Castle, man, you can get up, it's over!" He called to him, pinning all his hopes on hearing the writer's voice in a few seconds.
But it didn't happen, there was no answer so he tried again "Castle, it's not funny anymore, get up!" Still nothing...
"No, no, no Rick no..." Kate half whispered half sobbed when she regained consciousness and her gaze followed the direction Ryan was looking at.
"Javi, come the hell here!" Ryan yelled out of control while at the same time he was trying to calm Kate down and help Castle who seemed to have been shot."Oh for God's sake, Kevin, call an ambulance, what the hell are you waiting for?!" Espo yelled just as nervously because neither of them knew exactly what they were supposed to do now when Castle was shot and Kate next to them had a complete breakdown and was crying her eyes out, holding on Rick's shirt. "I already did, I'm not that stupid, I know ambulance need to be called in situations like this! Ryan snapped at Espo."All right then, Dr. Ryan!" Espo retaliated with the same measure.
"I know we've been arguing for a long time and we don't know if this partnership of ours works anymore, but this isn't a situation for arguing, Javi! Our friend was shot, and we as the biggest assholes are still doing all this about ourselves and our problems!" Ryan flared up to the end but also calmed down quickly. Espo immediately agreed with Ryan.
"Where was he shot?" He asked when they both calmed down a bit. "Two shots to the abdomen, but that's not the biggest problem, look at his head" Ryan pointed to Rick's head, which lay in a pool of blood, he seemed to ram his head into the corner of the desk with all his might before falling to the floor. "Ugh this doesn't look good, chances are slim-" "Don't say that, Javi! He'll make it and he will wake up and everything will be okay, he will, he must, he promised me he will never leave me! He promised me! What are we going to do without him?" Kate burst into tears again, sitting next to Rick and holding his hand in hers, refusing to accept his hand wasn't as warm as it used to be, it was cold...lifeless... "Wait! Wait! Hold on a second! Beckett did you say 'we'? Are you...?" Ryan was the first to notice. Instead of answering, Beckett just burst into tears even more, which almost certainly confirmed to Ryan and Espo that the answer was yes.
In the next 10 minutes it all happened pretty fast, an ambulance came, picked up Rick and under rotation and with a siren they went to the nearest hospital, Ryan, Beckett and Espo drove after the ambulance and Kate knew well what was next, she had to call Martha and Alexis...
And what the hell to tell them??
Hey Martha your son is in an ambulance fighting for his life because he was shot...Oh, and yes, Alexis your dad almost died trying to protect me, so if you lose your father, it's because of ME. All those thoughts just made her cry and cry even more, until she couldn’t breathe from the tears... "Kate, it'll be okay, he'll make it" Ryan tried to comfort her as Espo pressed the accelerator, cursing all the cars in his path and chasing after the ambulance. "How the hell do you know that?!"Beckett yelled at him, she knew he just wanted to help, but she couldn't control herself. "I don't know, but I have hope and I believe in Rick" He replied and only caused Beckett's tears to flow even harder down her face...
///at the hospital///
Three and a half hours have passed since the door of the operating room, where Rick was, closed and had not opened until now, when a nurse ran through the door... Everybody's teary eyes immediately snap wide open and began to follow intense all the running in and out of operation room...within seconds, the same nurse, accompanied by two surgeons, ran down the hall again, but this time Kate managed to stop her. "Can you please tell me what's going on?" Kate asked in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry ma'am, but all I can say is that the situation is not ideal, now excuse me, but I have to go" The nurse ran through the operating room door, and Kate just stood there as if buried, she gave up on tought about going back to her seat and just curled on the floor, stucking her head in her hands to cover up those unstoppable tears... Martha and Alexis doing the same thing, only they were sitting on chairs.
///Operation room///
"He's falling into cardiac arrest! We start with resuscitation!" The chief doctor requested a resuscitation electrode.
"Charge, 150! Clear!" Rick's body shook, but the line on the monitor remained straight.
"Charge, 200! Clear!" They repeated the procedure with stronger shock power, but the line was still straight...
"Charge, 300! Clear!" This was the last attempt, but that damn line stayed straight, no heartbeat and the monitor was beeping with all its might.
"Let's go again!" the chief doctor ordered.
"But doctor-" One of the anesthesiologists started
No one dies in my operating room! I said let's go again! the chief surgeon, Dr. Mendiaz, refilled the electrodes and began resuscitation...
"Charge, 300! Clear!" He tried again and finally, the hissing sound of the monitor was replaced by Rick's weak heartbeat.
"We have a sinus heart rhythm!" It was declared and they returned to complete an already sufficiently complicated operation.
///hospital waiting room///
After 6 hours spent in the waiting room without any information, Dr. Mendiaz finally came out and uttered "Family of Richard Castle?" Everyone immediately jerked out of their chairs, Kate, Martha, Alexis and everyone from the precinct was there, but no one had the courage to ask about Castle's condition...
"Is my dad okay?" Alexis was the first to get the word out through sobs.
"He's...his heart stopped twice, he was without a heartbeat for a minute and a half, clinical death almost occurred. My team and I did everything in our power to keep him alive, but that he is good, I can't tell you that, we have to see what damage to the brain was caused by the fact that there was no blood flow through the body the time when heart was not pumping...He is now in a clinical coma, but later we have to wake him up to see the damage to the brain" The doctor tried to simplify as much as possible so that everyone would understand what he was saying. "So you say there will probably be brain damage? " Martha somehow managed to ask a question. "Most likely yes because if we add the fact that he got a pretty strong blow to his head and his brain was without oxygen for full minute and half, chances are very small that there is no damage to the brain" The doctor tried to explain and somehow calm all the people in front of him, but they all burst into tears again. "Now I can only approve one visit, who will it be?" After the question was asked, everyone almost immediately agreed that it would be Kate. "All right, Mrs. Castle, follow me" Dr. Mendiaz said and they soon found themselves in front of the room where Rick was lying. "5 minutes only" He warned before letting her into Rick's hospital room and closing the door behind her. "Rick" Kate called him, but as expected, there was no feedback...He just lay there, the monitors breathing for him, he was connected to countless wires and pipes, his face pale and dull... "You promised me you'd always be there, you promised me this morning, Rick" She spoke to him through sobs as she held his hand in hers and massaged it lightly with her thumb, just as he did to her every time she was upset... "Then why did you leave me? Why did you leave us? Yes, us, about that our conversation tonight was supposed to be..." She paused to stop a cascade of tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks... "You're...you're going to be a dad" She announced and now she was unable to control the tears that just kept coming and going... She needed him, his hug, his voice, his touch...But instead she got a group of doctors who enter the room and address her "Mrs. Castle, please leave the room" Why? Why would she leave the room when Rick is fighting for his life there? No, she won't come out and that's it!, That's what she decided and that's how it will be. "Mrs. Castle, please, we'll try to wake your husband, but you need to leave the room first" Dr. Mendiaz tried to explain to her once more calmly and with a friendly smile. "So he's going to be okay?" Hope reappeared in her when she heard those words. "I promise nothing but we will do our best, and now please..." Dr. Mendiaz pointed to the door and this time Kate obeyed.
After midnight passed, everyone was still waiting in the waiting room and no one even moved, they had no desire to either eat or drink, although Kate knew she had one important reason to eat, she didn't even think about food...
"Okay people!" Dr. Mendiaz called them when he came to the waiting room, he did not call them by name because there were too many of them.
Espo, Ryan, Kate, Alexis, Martha, Jenny and Lanie immediately strained their ears and all eyes were on Dr. Mendiaz.
"He is awake but..." And before Dr. Mendiaz could finish the mentioned group of people ran towards Rick's room.
"... he is not the same!" He finished the sentence as he ran after them to try to stop them, but to no avail because they were already at the door of Rick's room:
"Rick!"
"Dad!"
"Richard!"
"Castle!"
They all shouted in the same voice, but Castle just stared at them and didn't say a single word until Dr. Mendiaz did not walk into the room.
"Who...are.. these.. people, doctor?"
Castle asked between coughing with a dry, heavy, hoarse voice as he watched the people, at the door of his room, lose the smile on their faces and the confusion in his eyes only grew more and more...
This is my new book called "Last time" And here's chapter 1!
Thoughts??
*Yes this was in my Castle-one shot but I decided to make it into a book*