350. Chapter 350

AU After Knockout

Episode 3.23

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: You can punch me if I say I own Castle. Rating: K Time: See above.

He saw a flash of light coming from directly in front of them. Sniper! Without any thought he threw himself at Kate, knocking her down.

He found himself laying on the ground with Beckett looking down at him.

"Oh my god! He's been shot. Lanie! Get a medical kit from one of the squad cars. Someone call 911 and get an ambulance her now!" She started taking off her shirt to staunch the flow of blood. He could feel something pressing down on his chest. "Find him. Find him now!" She screamed.

Castle was extremely proud of how Beckett was reacting to the shooting. One thing was puzzling him, though. Who had been shot? The answer seemed to hover just on the periphery of his conscious thoughts.

"Rick, shh... Rick. Stay with me, Rick. Don't leave me, please. Stay with me, okay? Rick, I love you. I love you, Rick."

Rick tried to answer her but he was suddenly so tired. He closed his eyes.

Darkness. He could hear people talking near him. He couldn't understand most of what they were saying. Aorta. I know that word. It's…medical. Yeah. Medical. Shit. I just may be in trouble. Darkness.

As she did so well, Kate had stuffed her fears and terror down and was operating on autopilot. "What do you mean they can't find him? A whole cemetery full of cops and no one can find a god damned sniper. Check every security cam for six blocks, no a dozen blocks. Canvas the neighborhood. Talk to everyone who could have seen anything."

"Look at old security cam footage as well." Espo said. "If this guy's a pro, I'm betting he would have reconned the cemetery to pick his spot."

"We should have the canvassers ask people about anyone hanging around the cemetery." Ryan added.

"We recovered the rifle." A uniform broke in. "We're sending it to CSU and ballistics."

"If this guy's a pro, I doubt if we'll find anything." Espo said gloomily.

"Check anyway." Beckett snapped. "And check everything. Then check it again."

She turned around to find Martha standing there. "Martha, I promise you we'll get him."

Martha smiled. "Katherine, I heard you. Please understand that you are family. No matter what happens."

Kate almost lost it. She hugged Martha, giving her time to control her emotions.

Darkness. Someone was holding his hand. "You're going to be all right, dad. You're going to get better."

He knew the voice, but couldn't quite put a name or a face to it. He wanted to tell her that he'd have to get better. He couldn't possibly feel any worse. He couldn't say anything.

"Gram! I think he tried to say something." Darkness.

Darkness. Someone was holding his hand again. And something wet was falling on his hand. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." He could smell cherries. Darkness.

"How are you, Richard?"

"I feel awful, Mother." He whispered around the tube in his mouth.

"Well, that's better than not feeling anything."

"I suppose."

He sat up when he saw Espo come into his room. "How are you doing, bro?"

"They tell me this is better than being dead, but I haven't heard from the pro-death side yet."

"This is the first day that they've let anyone but your family see you. Beckett would have come, but she's busy. Since you got shot she's more or less been living at the precinct. She's driving herself, and us, way too hard. We haven't come up with one damned lead on your shooter and it's driving Beckett nuts. Tell her to slow down when she comes to see you, okay?"

"That'll do a lot of good."

Espo smiled. "Yeah. But you should try."

"I will."

Later there was a knock on the door. "You decent? Awake?"

"I'm awake. I'm not sure I've ever been decent." He smiled when Beckett came into the room.

"How are you?" She sat by his bed.

"Pretty good for a guy with a hole in him. Or so they say."

"Castle…We've gotten nowhere with the investigation. The new captain, Victoria Gates, fresh from IA, is thinking about shutting down the investigation."

He shrugged. "No new leads. What else can she do?"

Kate was about to tell Castle what she thought Captain Gates should do, but stopped. She didn't want to upset Castle.

"So, can you tell me what happened at the cemetery?"

Kate felt a block of ice form in her stomach. He doesn't remember? How can he not remember? "You don't remember any of it?"

"I remember some of it clearly. I remember you saying that sometimes you find someone to stand with you. And then you looked at me. I hope you wanted me to stand with you."

"Absolutely." She smiled. "Anything else?"

"I have no memory what so ever of the bullet hitting me. You'd think that if you got shot, that would be the one thing you'd remember."

"I guess some things are blocked out by the mind." If he doesn't remember…

"I remember you kneeling over me, yelling orders and trying to stop the blood. Seeing you take off your shirt was very, very hot."

"I'm glad you remembered that. It's exactly what Richard Castle would remember."

"There was one more thing you said. Right at the end. I'm not sure that I got it right."

She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "Rick, I love you. I love you, Rick."

"I did get it right."

"And?" She said.

"And?"

She rolled her eyes. "I love you, so, do you…?"

"I'm an idiot. Of course, I love you. I do love you, Kate. I've loved you since forever."

"Good, because you'd have found out anyway."

"How?

"Do you know who saved your life? Here at the hospital?"

Castle had a horrible idea who it might have been. "Josh?"

"Correct. And after he had saved you he came out to see me. He was furious with you. He said I'd been shot at because you pushed me to look into Mom's case. We had a knockdown, drag out fight right there in the corridor in front of everyone. I not only broke up with Josh, I told him I was in love with you. I'm sure everyone in the hospital heard me."

"Funny. Espo didn't say anything when he was here. Neither did Martha or Alexis."

Kate blushed. "I asked them not to. I wasn't sure…How you'd…You know."

He tried to reach up and pull her down, but his arm was covered in IVs. Instead she leaned down. "I just said I love you, Kate. Is anything more necessary?"

"No."

Richard Castle sat in a wheel chair at the hospital door. As Kate pulled his Mercedes up, he tried to get up, only to be stopped by the nurse. He sighed and let Kate help him into the car for the short drive home.

Once back at the loft, Rick settled into his bed.

"I have something for you." Kate said, holding out a pistol.

"I can't legally…" He began.

"Espo knows one of the guys who issues concealed carry permits. You may owe him some Knicks floor tickets or the Ferrari, but the paper work will be here in a couple of days."

She sat down on the bed. "And I'll be back tonight."

He ran his hand over her cheek. "I'm looking forward to that."

"Don't. Nothing is going to happen."

"What? I thought you said you loved me?"

"I do. Which is why I asked your doctor if you're well enough for sex."

"If you asked Josh…"

"I asked a very nice doctor named Carol Crane. She said absolutely not."

"That's got to be some kind of violation of medical ethics." Castle grumped.

"It'll give you more incentive to get well quickly."

She leaned forward and kissed him. "See you tonight."

He leaned back on his bed. You can't ask for more incentive than that.