Castle heard the beeps of the heart monitor before he fully opened his eyes. He was in a small hospital room and sitting by his bedside was Esposito and Ryan.
"Hey buddy, how are you," Ryan spoke first. He had a pad and pen in his lap with his hands folded neatly on top. Castle could only groan. The morphine must have not kicked in all that much for the pain radiating through his head in waves.
"Not so good." The words felt thick in his mouth.
"We're going to catch the son of a bitch that did this to you. Don't you worry bro," Espo exclaimed.
"Yeah," Ryan chimed in. "Sorry Beckett isn't here. We couldn't get a hold of her. She'd be the first one who would want to know if something-"
Castle jumped up at Beckett's name so suddenly, Esposito and Ryan stared with wide eyes.
" Beckett! They took her! They took Kate!"Castle's heart monitor was beeping rapidly but he ignored it. Instead he tried to get out of bed, weakly throwing his legs over the side.
Immediately, the guys got up alarmed. Espo reached out to Castle.
"Whoa whoa, don't move, " Esposito told him at the same time Ryan asked" Who took Beckett?"
" I don't know, there were two men in masks going after her and she fell and they put her in the back of their van. Guys let me help find her," he pleaded desperately.
"Alright, stay here, seriously stay here while I go outside. I have to report Beckett missing." And with that Ryan stepped out the room. A nurse rushed in after. Castle's heart monitor was still beeping in a fast pace.
"Is everything okay in here? Mr.Castle, I'm going to have to ask that you get back in bed." The nurse sped to his side but Espo waved her off.
" It's okay mam, I have to talk to him. Police business."
"Can you at least calm him down? "
"I'll try my best." The nurse reluctantly left the room and Esposito looked back at Castle.
"I need you to tell me every detail you remember. Can you do that?"
"Of course," Castle answered, and started from the beginning of the date all the way to when he was knocked in the head. At the end of his recollection Esposito asked a few more questions to clarify things.
"You said she left before you did. Why?"
Castle felt the guilt weigh him down again. " A girl I met last weekend came to our table and messed things up. Her name is Melissa."
"And were you and Melissa still together?" Esposito was suddenly cold towards him and Castle knew why.
" No, we were never together. It was a one night thing I swear."
Espo was visibly fed up.
"Listen bro, this is about Beckett and finding her alive. But let me make this clear to you, you don't treat our girl like that, you understand. If you want to be with her you have to clean up your act because she deserves better."
Castle knew that. She deserved the world and he wanted to be the one to give it to her. But he didn't know how to convince Esposito of that, so he just settled on a nod. Esposito didn't looked convinced like expected but let it slid for now. Finding Kate was the top priority.
"That all Castle?"
"Yeah, that's everything," he replied somberly. Just then Ryan stuck his head in the door.
"Hey, there's some people here who'd like to see you." Before Castle could wonder who, his mother and daughter walked in after Ryan opened the door wider for them.
"Dad!" Alexis rushed straight to him giving him a light hug while he was still sitting up half way off the bed.
"Oh Richard," his mother said worried.
" I'm fine mother. It's Beckett. She's been kidnapped."
" But you guys were just on a date together," his mother exclaimed shocked.
"Don't worry, we'll find her," Espo stated,"You just get some rest." He patted Castle on the shoulder before turning and heading out the door. Castle finally reclined back into the bed but did not relax.
" It's all my fault."
" Dad none of it was your fault. You just want to feel responsible, want to feel guilty, because you couldn't stop it from happening. But it's not your fault," Alexis said firmly.
His daughter was smart but her words did not change his outlook.
It was his fault. But he knew how he was going to fix it. He was going to find her if it was the last thing he did.
Hey guys! Sorry about the wait. I think I'm getting ahead of myself writing all these stories but I have so many good ideas. At the same time focusing on one book sometimes means neglecting another. But that won't happen to this story. This one is my top priority right now so expect more updates soon. Don't want to leave you hanging!
