184. Chapter 184

Chapter 184

"We got something new, Captain," Lorins told Beckett when they crossed paths during Beckett's second coffee break.

"What did you find?"

"The roommate looks good for this. Looks like she came close to doing this once before back in Arizona. Wolcott talked to the detective who handled the case there. It was a situation very much like this one but with a better outcome. I talked to the couple involved, Lyra and Roman Houston."

"Sounds like a soap opera couple," Beckett remarked.

"My thoughts exactly. Essie was Lyra's roommate and decided she wanted Roman…and convinced herself he wanted to be with her, too. She flirted a lot but got nowhere. Then he did the same thing Danny Muller did. Thinking she was their friend, and would be happy for them, Roman told her he was about to propose to Lyra sooner rather than later. Essie waited until he was gone, then she verbally assaulted her roommate, claiming that Roman was leaving her because he was in love with Essie and threatening that Lyra had better not get in their way. The roommate had the good sense to play along and find a reason to leave. She said she was afraid to stay there, so she went to her boyfriend and told him what had happened. They found a small moving service with an immediate opening; and after they knew Essie would be at work the next day, they started at Lyra's place, packed everything in both apartments and put it in storage. Then they found an efficiency at a motel outside the city to regroup and decide what to do. They said at Lyra's apartment they had to just put like items in boxes because Essie had pulled everything out of drawers and closets, thrown papers everywhere, smashed some of the things Roman had given Lyra. Lyra's room was completely trashed. Essie's room was neat as a pin. In the common area, a lot of Lyra's things were broken or thrown randomly around the room. They called the police and explained what had happened. The police there sent us the pictures, and it looked like there was some real rage involved. There wasn't enough evidence to convict her of anything other than destruction of property, so she paid Lyra's damage claims through the court, was given a suspended short jail term, ordered not to have any contact with Lyra or Roman, and then she left town."

"I guess she learned her lesson from that outcome and just went straight to bludgeoning this time," Beckett answered.

"We have the paperwork ready for a search warrant. She should be at work by now; and as far as she knows, we don't suspect her of anything. That should work to our advantage," Lorins reported.

"Past rage response and the circumstances being so similar should give us probable cause. Let's get the paperwork in and try to take care of the search before she gets home from work. Let me make a phone call to a judge, and you can take the paperwork for a signature and get to her apartment. You'll need to interview neighbors, friends and coworkers, too. Looks like you'll have a busy day ahead of you." She turned to leave, then turned back. "I may need to see you and Malicot a little later. It won't take long. My daughter has been sick for a couple of days, and we're getting concerned. Castle is taking her to the doctor…" She paused to look at her watch. "just about now. I should hear from him before long. If you're here and see Malicot heading for my office, just follow him in. If you're not here, see one of us when you get back."

"Yes, Ma'am."

On his first call, Castle told his wife that the doctor gave him a sample packet of some suppositories to try for the fever and a prescription for more if they help.

"Sounds lovely."

"Yeah, but she doesn't like the liquid Tylenol and keeps trying to spit it out. Maybe she hasn't been getting as much as I thought she was. The fever was higher, and the cough is worse, but we're still okay for now."

"You'll tell me if you need me there, right?"

"I will."

Beckett went to work organizing the rest of what had to be done in case she was needed at home later.

Castle's second call around two didn't go quite as well. "Kate, I called Jerome, and he said one of the other doctors in the practice is already at the hospital, so we can meet her there; and Jerome will be there as soon as he can. Jo's temperature has jumped to 104.1. Meet me at the hospital...the emergency room? I think I need you to hold my hand."

"As fast as I can," she promised. Beckett wasted no time calling Malicot. And Lorins, just back from handling the search warrant, followed him to her office. Beckett explained the situation quickly, adding, "I've already spoken to Captain Dohrman in case I can't get here for an emergency. I doubt that will happen, but I don't know what to expect yet. You know what to do, and everything you might need to refer to is on my desk. Call me if necessary, but I need to be at the hospital. I wouldn't be thinking clearly if I stayed here anyway. Neither of the children has been sent to the hospital before. Malicot, you're in charge today. Lorins is neck deep in a case, and I think you just closed one."

"Keep us updated?" he asked.

"I will," she said, taking her purse from her desk drawer. "Thank you both. I'll check in when I can, and I'll let Sarge know on my way out."

Getting to the hospital as quickly as traffic allowed, Kate jogged across the parking lot into the emergency room waiting area. After looking around the room for Castle and Jo without success, she approached the desk and said, "My husband and infant daughter are supposed to be here…Johanna and Richard Castle. He asked me to meet him here."

When asked for ID, she produced her badge and police ID, and the woman turned and told a nurse to take her to her family.

By the time she reached them, Dr. Bonner was examining Jo and ordering tests. Jo was crying, and Castle looked like he was trying hard not to. Kate went to him and put her arms around him. "Your backup is here," she whispered. "I'm glad you insisted I go in this morning. I'd rather have been with you and Jo; but when you called just now, everything was organized. All I had to do was explain to my two lieutenants and Sergeant McDonald and walk away. Do you know anything yet?"

Dr. Bonner looked up and smiled. "We're waiting for bloodwork, Mrs. Castle. We're going to admit Jo at least for the night. We'll make decisions after that based on test results and further examination, but we need to keep her hydrated and get this fever down. I want to keep an eye on the cough, too. This hospital has an excellent pediatric unit, and a room is already being arranged for her."

Like most unexpected trips to the hospital, the wait seemed endless; but eventually, Jo was assigned a room, and after another seemingly endless wait, they were informed that she had bacterial pneumonia. She was being given fluids and antibiotics, and her hand was taped to a small back board so she wouldn't dismantle the IV.

After the initial activity of setting up everything needed for her hospital stay, the doctors and nurses finally left the parents alone with their baby girl, who was finally sleeping.

Kate turned to Castle and they held each other as they watched Jo. Kate couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"Hey. Pneumonia doesn't sound nearly as bad as some of the things that have gone through my mind since Jerome told me to take her to the hospital right away," Castle told her. "Jerome knows what he's doing, and he said he'd be here as soon as he could."

"I know; but she looks so lost in that big hospital crib, and she can't move her hand, and there's an IV in her tiny little arm, and she wakes herself up coughing, and she's so listless, and I don't want to wake her up, but I want to pick her up and hold her and never let her go, and…"

"Deep breath, Sweetheart. Let's wait for Jerome before we panic."

"Yeah. Because I didn't see a few manly tears in your eyes, too."

"And I'm manly enough to admit it." He took his own deep breath. "Okay, I'm thinking everything you just said, too. Feel better now?"

"No, but I love you a little bit more."

"I can accept that," he answered, leaving a slow series of little kisses on her head and her temple. "She's going to be okay. She has to be."

"Was Alexis ever this sick?"

"Not like this. She had to have her tonsils out when she was six. It was such a routine surgery, but I was in a panic until after I took her home. You know how I am. I had researched tonsillectomies and had seen too many mentions of unusual problems caused by odd circumstances. Jerome would talk me down when it looked like I was losing it. Mother was on tour, Meredith had left us long before. Gina wasn't in the picture yet. I was completely alone. Just before you got here, that feeling swept across me again…just for a second or two, before I remembered that I don't ever have to feel that way again."

"No, you don't. We're in this together." She cupped his face with the palm of one hand and gave him a soft, reassuring kiss.

That, of course was when Dr, Jerome Barrett walked in. "Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. A little comforting going on here?" he asked with a smile.

"Trying not to let each other panic," Castle explained. "I was just telling her about Alexis and the tonsillectomy."

"A total wreck, this one," the doctor answered. "We became friends not too long after that when our daughters were playing soccer together," he told Kate as he picked up Jo's chart to review it. "I know it looks bad, but she's been a very healthy baby up to now, and Dr. Bonner has already set everything I would have done into motion." He moved the side of the crib to listen to Jo's lungs and said, "She's going to be a sick little girl for a day or two, but the fever was already down a little when they brought her in here. The IV will deliver the antibiotic she needs and keep her hydrated, even if you can't get her to drink anything. And when she's awake, you can hold her. The room comes with a rocking chair, if you haven't noticed; and someone will bring in a cot if one of you wants to stay overnight. They try to accommodate worried parents as long as it doesn't become disruptive."

"Any chance both of us could stay overnight?" Castle asked. "Alexis and JD have our son overnight; so after tonight, one of us needs to be home with Jamie. Right now, neither of us wants to leave our little girl."

"This is one of the larger rooms. There might be enough space. I'll see what I can do," he promised. "I'm willing to bet that neither of you have eaten since I sent you here. I'd suggest one of you go to the cafeteria and get the two of you something to eat. You need to take care of yourselves if you want to be able to take care of your baby."

"I'll go," Castle volunteered. "Anything special you'd like me to look for?" he asked Kate.

"Surprise me." He nodded, kissed her cheek, and left with his friend, stopping on the way for them to talk to someone at the nurses' station about cots and overnight stays.

When Castle returned, Kate had Jo in her arms in the rocking chair, accommodating the arm with the IV. Jo was crying the sad, hollow sounding cry of a tiny human being who feels overwhelmed and has no other way to express it, and Kate was talking to her softly with tears falling. Looking up when Castle came back in, she said, "She sounds so pitiful. She woke herself up coughing again, and this is all I can do for her."

"You're letting her know that her mother loves her and she can depend on you. That's important." He opened a bottle of cold water and handed it to Kate. "I don't think we've had anything to drink since we got here, either. The sandwiches can wait until she's sleeping again."

When Jo was finally asleep, Castle put her back in the crib and he and Kate ate the sandwiches he brought. Two cots were brought in and they managed to fit them both in the room, but one nurse said that it would only be for that night, that there just wasn't enough room to work around two on a regular basis. Both Castles thanked them, put the sheets in place, and stretched out diagonally across the two cots, both to accommodate their height and to be closer together; and they tried to rest while Jo slept. They pulled the blankets over them with Castle's arm across his wife's waist so there was body contact and spooning.

When she was awake during the night, the two of them took turns rocking Jo…also waking every time the nurse came in to check on her. In the morning, still tired, they folded up the cots, and Kate went to the cafeteria to pick up their breakfast and coffee.

When Jerome made his rounds and checked Jo that morning, he seemed happy with the progress. "I know you would rather have an overnight miracle, but her body needs time to recover. She's getting the right medications and responding well to them. Her temperature is down to 102. That's considerably better than yesterday when you brought her in. I know you'd like to see more of a drop, but it should continue to improve as the antibiotic does its job. It's going to be a gradual process, so you should plan on at least a couple of days here. We'll reassess as we see improvement." He explained again what was being done and why, answered their questions, and assured them Jo was progressing normally.

"Thanks, Jerome…for the patience, and for helping our baby girl," Castle said, shaking the doctor's hand before he moved on to his next patient.

"I'm glad to see that you're not alone with the worry anymore, Rick. Kate, she's going to be okay. I know both of you well enough to know that at least one of you will be staying, but somebody needs to go home and get some rest during the day so the other one can do the same tonight. Try to relax a little bit. The nurses here know what they're doing. Jo is in good hands. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jo was awake after the exam, so Castle took her out of the crib and held her, taking a bite or two of his breakfast now and then, and he and Kate both sipped at their coffee as they tried to comfort their baby.

They discussed who would stay at the hospital when, and eventually decided that Kate would still let John pick Jamie up at school. She would try to sleep for a few hours until he got home and then explain to their son about the hospital and about only one parent being at home for the next few days. She would spend the rest of the day with Jamie, and John and Martha offered to keep him overnight and get him to school the next morning. Castle had been taking care of a sick infant for several consecutive days, so she insisted on doing the hospital stay that night to allow Castle a full night's sleep in his own bed.

On her way home, she checked in with the precinct and spoke to Malicot.

"How is your little girl?" he asked. "My kid has never been in the hospital, either. I'd be a nervous wreck."

"It's pneumonia, but the doctor says she's responding well. She'll be here today and tomorrow, then he'll reassess when she can go home. I'm going home to get some sleep now so Castle can get a good night's sleep tonight while I stay with Jo. He's been on sick baby duty most of the last few days, and he's exhausted."

"Glad to hear she's a little better. A lot of folks here are helping you worry. Oh, and I checked with Lorins a few minutes ago to see if she'd heard from you. She said to tell you they arrested Essie for murder. They found the murder weapon wrapped in a blanket in her closet…arrested her late yesterday afternoon at the office where she works. She hadn't even mentioned to her coworkers that her roommate was dead."

"I guess Lorins is in charge tomorrow, then," Beckett answered. "Work that out between you and let Sarge know."

"Will do."

"Thank you. A lot."

"Anytime, Captain."

When she got back to the loft about ten, Kate stopped to speak to John. She caught him up on Jo's condition and he sent her to get some sleep. He said he'd take Jamie to lunch again, take their time getting home, and call when they were almost there. Kate gave him a hug and thanked him for acting like a second father and went home. She called her first father, gave him the same report, took a quick shower, and collapsed on the bed with her phone close by. And she slept soundly for about three hours. As promised, John called to let her know he and Jamie were on the way home, and she got dressed to meet them.

"Mommy! You're home, Jamie said excitedly and hugged her when she kneeled to meet him. "Where's Daddy?"

"He'll be home tonight. That's why I'm here now."

John waved at them and started to close the door behind him. As he left, Kate called, "Thank you John. We appreciate all the help this week."

"No problem. Jamie and I get along just fine, don't we, Kid?"

"Yeah," Jamie answered with a smile and waved back at Grandpa John.

"Your Grams and I will see you tonight," John promised as he left.

"Grandpa John got us hamburgers for lunch. Is Jo sleeping?"

"Come sit with me. I need to explain a couple of things."

Kate sat on the sofa and Jamie stood in front of her at her knees. "What do you need to explain?" he asked.

"Jo is with Daddy. He had to take her to the hospital, and…"

With a horrified look on his face, he almost shouted, "Hospital!?" and the tears started. Before Kate could say anything else, he was working up to full blown crying, "But Jimmy said his daddy had to take his Grams to the hospital…and she died, and he'll never ever see her again." He was losing control and sobbing by then. "Is Jo gonna to die? I don't want Jo to die and I'll never ever see her again."

Kate scooped him into her lap, pulled him close, and said loud enough he would hear her through his sobbing, "No, Baby, no. Jo isn't going to die. She isn't. She's already getting better, but she's still sick. She's only going to be there long enough for the doctors and nurses to make her better."

"Are you sure?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.

"That's what Dr. Barrett told us this morning. He said she'll be sick for another few days, but she'll keep getting better until she can come home again. Jamie, most of the time, when people go to the hospital, they get better and go back home. Sometimes, somebody has something wrong that the doctors can't fix, and they might die. But Jo has something called pneumonia, and they know how to fix that. She just has to stay long enough for the medicine to make it better. She'll be back home with us soon. Daddy is staying with her today so she won't be alone and scared. He's coming home tonight, and I'm going to spend the night with her tonight."

"So she won't be alone and scared?" he asked through rough breaths.

"Right. We don't want to you to be alone and scared, either. One of us will be at home and one of us will be at the hospital until Jo is better. You might be with Grams or Alexis or JD or Granddaddy or somebody else who loves you a lot while Daddy and I trade places, or when you go to school and come home, but Daddy or I will be at home when you get back, and we'll tell you every time Jo gets a little bit better. I promise."

"You're crying, too. Are you sure she's going to get better?"

"I'm crying because you're so sad. I don't like it when my children are sad. I love you both too much." Jamie wrapped his arms around his mother and eventually settled his crying jag but not his need to be held.

"Mommy is kind of tired because Daddy and I were both taking care of Jo last night. Want to come and snuggle in my bed with me for a while?" He nodded his head against her shoulder, and she stood with him and carried him to the bedroom. She took his shoes off, toed off her own, and tucked him under the covers with her, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his as he recovered from his scare and his crying jag. Eventually they both fell asleep for a couple of hours and just relaxed and cuddled for a while when they woke up, until they felt like getting up.

Kate played board games with him until dinner time, and they made dinner together, enough for Castle to have some when he got home.

At six-thirty, Martha and John came to stay with Jamie while Kate went to the hospital so Castle could come back home. They kept him entertained until Castle came in the door saying, "Where is my little boy?"

Jamie ran to him and Castle picked him up for a big hug. "Jo is still getting better," he told Jamie loud enough that the others could hear.

"Is she laughing again?" he asked. "She hasn't even smiled for a long time."

"She hasn't yet, but she's feeling better than she was yesterday and the day before. She'll be better before long. She's a Castle, and Castles are strong, right?"

"Right." Jamie agreed, wrapping his arms around his dad's neck. "Can I sleep with you tonight, Daddy? I'm a little bit scared."

"Go get your pajamas and bring Bear and your toothbrush. I could use some company, too," Castle answered.

Jamie hurried upstairs and returned with his nighttime supplies while Castle thanked his mother and John for being willing to have Jamie stay with them. He quietly explained what Kate had told him about Jamie's reaction to Jo being in the hospital. "I think he needs his daddy tonight."

"It sounds like he might. We'll go and let you bond with your son. Get some sleep, Kiddo," Martha told him. "John will come and get him for school in the morning." And she and John went home.

"Mommy said something about some yummy supper that the two of you made, and she said you saved some for me," Castle said. "Where is it? I'm starving."

"It's in the 'frigerator. It was good. Come on." Jamie dropped his pajamas and toothbrush and Bear on the sofa and took his father's hand, pulling him across the kitchen. Castle made noises of appreciation as he ate, entertaining his son. Then the two of them got ready for bed together, brushed their teeth, and tucked themselves in for a good night's sleep.

Castle called Kate while Jamie was getting dressed and let their son talk to her before John picked him up for school.

"Is Jo still okay, Mommy?"

"She is."

"Did she laugh yet?"

"No. But she smiled at me early this morning while I was rocking her. It was a tiny, kind of sad little smile, but she smiled. I have to go. Dr. Barrett just got here." Castle had the phone on speaker, and turned it off.

"Daddy, Mommy said Jo is still getting better. And she smiled."

"Jo gives good smiles, doesn't she? It makes all of us feel better. Mommy will call me back after Dr. Barrett leaves, and I'll tell her to take a picture for you if Jo smiles again."

Jamie gave his dad his own smile and said, "Okay."

"You give good smiles, too, you know. It always makes me feel good to see you smile." Castle wrapped his little boy in his arms and kissed his head.

John knocked on the door to take Jamie to school, and Castle answered it, giving his son an almost fierce hug. Then he put him down to get his school things saying, "Have a good day at school, Buddy. Mommy will be here when you get home. I love you."

John patted Castle's upper arm and said with confidence, "It won't be long. Things will be back to normal soon." Then he took Jamie's hand, and they left for kindergarten."