24. Chapter 24

AN: Again, there's dialogue in this chapter that came from episode 1 of season 4. Credit for that goes to the professionals who gave us these wonderful characters and have allowed us to play with them.

Also again, my apologies for the delay in posting. Chapters should be back on a more regular schedule from here on. I've never left an abandoned a story; and you can rest assured, that won't start with this one. Thanks for your patience as well as the follows, favorites, and reviews. It's all appreciated.

And I appreciate that one of my younger relatives, who's an ER nurse, tried to helped me match the injuries to the "couple of scars" Beckett mentioned - which didn't match open heart surgery. We had some fun going through different possibilities where she would tell me, "Nope. She's dead." What we decided on might be at least vaguely plausible, but the medical folks can feel free to fire the cannons at me at will.

xxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 24

As they all sat in the family waiting room and worried together while Castle filled out paperwork for his wife, Alexis asked quietly, "Dr. Parish, when will we know something about Kate?"

Lanie looked up from where her head rested on Esposito's shoulder and sat up. "With the trauma team it shouldn't take too long. I've seen a couple of trauma teams in action, and it's amazing how fast they can work. They'll evaluate her and get her ready for surgery. Then somebody from the team will come and tell us what they know up to this point and they'll take her to surgery. How long we wait to hear something after that will depend on what they have to do. The surgeon will come and talk to us afterward."

"How long will that be?"

"It's probably going to take a while. I think we still have plenty of worry time ahead of us." She reached across and took Alexis's hand comfortingly.

"Is she going to live?"

"She was alive when they took her to trauma. We'll take that as a good sign. Okay?"

Alexis just nodded.

A few minutes later, one of the doctors came and asked for the contact person for the family. That duty was ceded to Castle without discussion.

"I'm Dr. Southwick," he began. He gave Castle a brief explanation of what they had found and then said, "We're taking her to surgery. If you'd like a second or two first, follow me."

Castle glanced guiltily over at Jim.

"Go on, Son. I wish I'd had that second or two with Johanna."

Castle quickly followed the doctor to where Kate's gurney was being pushed toward the operating room. They stopped long enough for him to touch her arm, place a kiss on her forehead, and whisper, "Stay with me, Sweetheart. I'll be right here waiting for you." Then they took her away and he watched until he couldn't see her anymore before he returned to the waiting room and sat down between his mother and his daughter. Martha hooked her arm through his, and he wrapped one arm around Alexis's shoulders, inviting her to lean against him. Esposito sat across from them with his arm around Lanie, and Jim Beckett and Ryan sat near Castle's family.

Time dragged by, and after the first half hour, there were trips to the status screen to see if Kate was still in surgery.

When Dr. Kovacs finally came to speak to them and asked, "Family of Katherine Beckett?" the entire group stood. Taking stock of the diverse assortment of people there and trying to understand their individual connections to the woman in his OR, he hesitated a second or two before responding.

"I'm her husband," Castle told him.

"Mr. Beckett…"

"I'm Mr. Beckett. This is my daughter's husband, Richard Castle," Jim clarified.

"Mr. Castle… your wife is out of surgery."

"I don't care what you call me. Please, just tell me about my wife. She won't mind any of these people hearing what you have to say. They're all family or considered family."

"If you'll follow me, we can speak more privately across the hall."

"All of us? Is that possible?"

The doctor sighed and looked around him. "Is that a request?"

"It is. We've just lost Captain Montgomery. This happened at his funeral as she was giving the eulogy, and…"

"We'll make room," he answered. "This way."

He led them to a conference area, where they all had to stand for everyone to fit in the room.

"She had us worried at first," the doctor stated. "Breathing was shallow, and her blood pressure was dropping too fast. She experienced a traumatic hemothorax…"

"That involves blood and the chest, right?" Castle asked.

"Sorry. Right. There was internal bleeding, and air and fluid from the lung injury. It was putting pressure on her heart. We've repaired what we could, and it appears to have gone well," Dr. Kovacks told them. "There was extensive damage to part of a lung, and we had to remove one lobe; but she should be able to function normally without it. There was an entry wound and an exit wound, the second larger than the first, and there was also damage to a couple of ribs. She'll have a chest tube for a few days for drainage, and that's going to cause her some discomfort."

"Will she be all right?" Jim asked.

"There are no absolute guarantees, but we're hopeful. It won't be a quick or easy recovery, though. She'll be here for about a week before we consider allowing her to go home. We'll continually evaluate during that time, make decisions accordingly, and keep you informed. When she does go home, she'll need someone available around the clock…a lot of family support."

"That won't be a problem. She'll have everything she needs," Castle assured him.

"When can we see her?" Jim asked

"Once the nurses get her settled, we'll take you back to see her. Any questions we might not cover now, my PA and the ICU nurses can answer later."

"I have two more requests, Dr. Kovaks. The first is for my wife to be moved to a private room as quickly as possible. Any additional expense won't be a problem. She was shot by a professional killer who wasn't caught, so security is a high priority. NYPD will undoubtedly arrange for officers outside her room, but that may not have happened yet. The second…this is Doctor Lanie Parish, one of NYPD's medical examiners, a good friend," Castle told him. "Would you explain the medical particulars of Kate's situation to her? Lanie excels at translating doctor speak into something we civilians can understand."

"Standard procedure in cases like this is to have security stationed near the patient, and I would expect that someone is already there, for the safety of the staff as well as the patient. Just a moment." He called the recovery room and verified that security was in place. Doctor Parish, I think we can do this quickly." Dr. Kovaks extended an arm, inviting Lanie to take a place closer to him as he offered information in medical terms while the others listened, trying to glean what they could from what the doctors were saying. Then he stood to go.

"Thank you, Doctor," Castle said, shaking the other man's hand. "For everything you've done."

Before leaving the room, the doctor told the group, "Short visits will be limited to Ms. Beckett's husband and father right now, and I wouldn't expect her to be awake right away. I'd suggest the rest of you should go home and get some rest. I'll be sure the staff is well aware of the security situation."

"I don't know about you, Bro'" Esposito said quietly to Ryan, trailing a bit behind the others as they all left the room, "but home is the last place I'm going. Not till we catch the son of a bitch who did this."

"Right behind you," Ryan agreed. Catching up with Castle, he said, "We're going back to the precinct. See if we can turn up anything new. We'll stay in touch."

"Thanks, guys."

A little while after the doctor left, a nurse arrived and took Castle and Jim to Kate, and they were relieved to find a member of hospital security in the recovery area. They were allowed five minutes with Kate, but she still wasn't awake.

While the three women were left in the waiting room, Martha placed a hand on Lanie's arm and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Kind of. How about you?"

"I'm afraid," Martha answered. "I love that girl like she's my own child."

"Since you won't be in the room to ask questions first hand, I can tell you what Dr. Kovaks said if you'd like."

"Is she going to live?" Alexis asked.

"We're being honest with everybody, right?" She looked at Martha, who nodded.

"I don't want to be coddled," Alexis insisted. "I want to know if we'll still have Kate, and whether she's going to have any problems after this."

Lanie nodded. "Barring complications, which are always a possibility, the doctor is hoping for a full recovery. Right now, her heart is beating without help, but it was bruised. It's called a myocardial contusion. The doctor believes they found and stopped all sources of internal bleeding. She's still intubated…and on a ventilator. Because of the lung damage, she'll have the chest tube for several days, and it's going to be painful. Losing one lobe of the lung is something she can survive, still live her life normally, and still do her job; but we're not talking about that happening any time real soon. If the next few days go well, she'll probably be fine in the long run; but for the time being, she's going to be in a lot of pain. The lung surgery would be enough of a problem for her breathing at the moment, but damaged ribs alone would cause pain when she breathes, too. Double whammy. She won't be going back to work for at least a couple of months, probably a little longer…likely starting with desk duty and gradually working into more activity from there. I don't envy your home life for a day or two after she finds that out. You know how independent our girl is. Once she's home, she's likely to be hard to live with at times; so if you need help, you can call me. I'll come and try to talk some sense into her when she's worn you and Castle out.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Alexis asked, her voice sounding more like a child than usual.

Lanie got up and moved to sit next to Alexis and hugged her close. "Alexis, if the fight in that woman holds out and all the love in this family counts for anything, I think she's going to be just fine.

"If love is all it would take, I think I could make her better right now."

"Then we'll have to count on that, Honey. Just keep it coming."

Martha reached out to rub Alexis's back gently as Lanie held her.

Jim and Castle walked toward Kate's curtained off space in recovery and stopped in their tracks as they entered.

"She looks so still…and fragile," Castle said softly after they walked inside the curtains.

"She's a fighter, Rick. We have to count on that."

Jim stood on one side of the bed, holding the hand without the IV, and Castle stood on the opposite side with his hand on her upper arm, gently moving his fingers across the skin near her shoulder. Both of them simply needed to feel that she was warm, alive, and still with them. They stood in silence, both of them willing her to live.

In what seemed like no time at all, the nurse came back and told them they needed to leave, reminding them that visiting time was limited. Both men reluctantly agreed, and Jim lifted his daughter's hand and kissed it, then placed it gently on the bed.

Castle found a place where he could bend and kiss her forehead without disturbing the various tubes and equipment, whispering, "Come back to me, Kate. I love you." After one more kiss, he stood and joined Jim for a silent walk back to the waiting room.

When he and Jim were nearly back at the waiting room, Castle suggested, "Why don't you pack some things and stay with us until we know how things are going? That way we'll all get any news at the same time…and you won't be alone. I'd lose my mind worrying about her if I had to be alone with it. Even knowing I'll have Mother and Alexis, who love her dearly, it's going to be bad enough."

"I don't want to impose."

"It's no imposition, Jim. We're all her family, and we'd all be happy to have you with us. There's a guest room that's always made up. It's no trouble."

"I'll think about it."

"Did you find out anything new?" Alexis asked, getting up as soon as she saw her father. "How is she?"

"Nothing new. She wasn't awake…still unresponsive."

Alexis hugged her father and said, "That must have been hard for you."

"It was hard for both of us," he answered, resting his cheek on her head. "Jim feels about her the way I feel about you." Looking over his daughter's head at his mother, he said, "I've told Jim he's welcome to stay with us until we know more about what to expect."

"Of course," Martha answered. "Please consider it, Jim. You don't need to be alone. You're family, too."

Alexis reached out and took Jim's hand. "I'll make you hot cocoa again," she promised.

Jim smiled. Hot chocolate had become something of a thing between them.

"I don't want to leave yet," Castle told his daughter, "but I want to check in with Ryan and Esposito. How are you holding out?"

"I'm scared."

"Me, too." He squeezed her a little tighter and said, "Give me a few minutes and we'll walk down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. They won't let us visit again for a while, and it's way past dinner time. You must be hungry."

"We're fine. Go call them," Martha insisted. "We want to know if they've made any progress, too."

Castle went in the hall, dialed Esposito, and was put on speaker.

"How's she doing?" Ryan asked.

"So far, so good. Nothing new since what the doctor told us while you were here. She's still in recovery. Jim and I were allowed a few minutes to see her. She isn't awake yet, and she's hooked up to all kinds of things. It was…" He sighed in resignation. "The doctor sounds encouraging, but all we can do is wait and hope for the best."

Esposito demanded, "Anything changes, you let us know, understand?"

"Absolutely."

"We've got the shooter's rifle," Esposito told him.

"It's clean for prints. Lab's running a trace right now for DNA," Ryan added.

"Well, what about the gun," Castle asked. "Can we track the gun?"

Esposito answered, "According to the DOD, the serial number matches a weapon issued to a Navy SEAL who was killed in action seven years ago. His body was recovered, but the weapon was not." Obviously talking to Ryan, he asked, "Anything from the K-9 unit?"

"Dogs picked up a scent, tracked it to the west side of the cemetery. But they lost it there."

"In a sea of cops, how does this guy go unnoticed?" Castle asked in frustration.

"He may not have," Ryan answered. "Half the guys we talked to remembered seeing a groundskeeper taking cover from the shooting. But according to the grounds staff, none of them were in the area."

"He blended into the chaos and then disappeared," Esposito added.

"Just so you don't forget, there was an exit wound, so the bullet's probably still there somewhere."

"Already got people on it. Had to work around the shambles the funeral turned into."

Castle breathed another deep sigh. "It was supposed to be over. If Montgomery's plan was to keep her safe, then why are they still coming after her?"

"I don't know, Bro'" Esposito said angrily. "God knows who else is involved."

"Thanks, guys. I need to get back to Alexis. I feel like I've neglected her."

"Go easy on yourself, Castle. There's only one of you. She's a smart kid. She knows that," Ryan sympathized.

"Yeah, but dads are good at feeling guilty. Talk to you later." He went back to the others and had to report that there wasn't anything new on the shooter.

Jim stood and took Castle into the hall to suggest, "I know you don't want to leave, but why don't you go home and take care of your daughter? She's scared, and she needs you for a while. I'll stay here and call if there's even a small change. I've already called in to let the partners at the firm know I won't be in tomorrow. You can come back and be here tomorrow morning, then I'll go home and get some sleep."

"And pack a bag?" Castle prodded.

"I know what you're doing, Rick, and I appreciate it. I'll call my sponsor, and think I'll be all right." He paused a moment, kneading his fingertips on his forehead, and then dropped his hand, straightened, and admitted, "But this is rough…and I can't fail my daughter again. Company might not be a bad idea. I'll stay here tonight, then I'll go home and get some sleep. After that I'll pack a bag and take you up on your offer."

"Good. You'll have your own space if you get tired of our company, and anybody you'd invite to your home will be welcome in ours. Why don't you get something to eat before we do? Then I'll take my family and Lanie to dinner in the cafeteria and spend some time with Alexis. But I'm not leaving the hospital. I'll send mother and Alexis home later."

Alexis caught the tail end of the conversation and spoke up right away. "I'm not going home. If anything happens…good or bad…I want to be here. I'm staying until she wakes up."

Close on her heels, Martha agreed. "I have nowhere to be tomorrow. If Katherine does well tonight, I'll go home and sleep in an actual bed for a while. Then I'll come back tomorrow evening and bring the two of you a change of clothes if you're still being stubborn. There has to be an available shower around here somewhere."

"Will you bring my ring, too…the one Kate gave me?" Alexis asked. "It's in the little white jewelry box on my desk."

"Of course, Darling."

"I'm not going anywhere, either," Lanie reported. "Perlmutter is subbing for me tomorrow morning. I'm taking his late shift tomorrow night."

Castle simply nodded in appreciation. As Jim had said, company wasn't a bad idea.

Jim wasn't really hungry but made a quick coffee and pastry run before the others left the waiting area. Nobody else was particularly hungry, either, but they all went to the cafeteria and picked up some things that would keep if they weren't eaten until later. Then they went back to camp out in the waiting room overnight.