Frozen Love (A Castle Fanfiction)

Complications

A.N: Alright, so I looked further into the brain the see what specific parts of the brain might have been affected by the car wreck and I found an interesting little tid-bit I want to share with you all. Did you know the the pre-frontal cortex (the logic and reasoning part of the brain) is not fully developed until about the age of 21? This is why teenagers aren't allowed to drink in this country because A) they can't fully reason out everything around them and B) drinking kills brain cells local to that developing area. So, if you want to be able to function properly as an adult, teenagers, DON'T DRINK! (I'm sixteen, so, no, I'm not some adult trying to lecture you...) Any who, that was my public service announcement for the day. Enjoy the story! :)

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Two days had passed and everyone had come and gone as they could. Javi and Lanie had come in over their lunch break and chatted for a minute. They both were more attentive to Brayden than me and I was absolutely fine with that. Ryan and Jenny stopped in after work, as did Alexis and one of her friends after school. Martha got back in the middle of the day the first full day I was there and didn't leave until she had to. I was being discharged today under some protest from Martha. She didn't want me to have to take the baby home and have Castle still be here, but neither of us had a choice. Still, Rick wouldn't have been able to see Brayden anyway because he'd have to stay in the I.C.U for at least a couple of days after he woke up and Brayden wouldn't be allowed anywhere near there.

It broke my heart to know that Castle wouldn't get to see his son, but I knew it was for the best. When I stood up to move around or use the restroom, the pain in my stomach seared at first, but by now it was only minor. As I got dressed and moved about to just be sure I could, Martha sat on the bed and coddled her new grandson. He was asleep, as always, but that didn't stop her from acting like he was awake. Finally when he began to fuss, she handed him over to me and I checked the time. He was hungry, I was sure, so I did what I had to do.

While I nursed him, sitting sideways on the bed, I asked Martha, "Are you sure Alexis bought a new car seat? I wouldn't want to use the one from the backseat of the wreck."

"Yes, Katherine, I'm sure of it. And it is secured in the backseat of the Mercedes, not the Ferrari. Alexis should be here around four to pick you both up and take you home." It was already three thirty and I must have asked that question and the others thirty times. "I still don't see why you won't let me look after Brayden while you go up and see Richard, though."

Yeah, I hadn't seen him. I didn't have the guts to go up there and looking at him with I.Vs in his arms and his head, leg and hand bandaged up, knowing what could happen the moment he woke up. The doctors seemed to tip toe around the fact that when I first arrived they said he should be out for two days and two days' time was up. It irritated me. All I wanted was to know if Rick was alright, but no one would tell me anything. I tried to ask Lanie what the odds were, but she didn't give me a direct answer. That was never a good sign.

"Martha, I just- I don't want- I can't leave Brayden just to see Rick lying there and not knowing if he's alright or not. I can't just go up there and see him the way he is and not know what's going to happen next, alright? I just- I can't." I was starting to get that panicky feeling all over and my body was partially rejecting the words I was trying to voice, slurring their meaning and causing me a great deal of pain.

She didn't push any further than that. Instead, she'd been doing for days what my mother would have done and had slowly guilt-ed me into the state I was in. Now she backed off and just simply let me be... shaken by her words. I really should go and see him, though. That's what he would want. And if it weren't for the guilt I'd feel leaving Brayden for even a microsecond, I would be up there. I'd swallow my fear and go up there. But I couldn't. Not without answers.