"Dad, quit cheating!" Alexis grumbles as her hands fumble over the buttons on the controller.

"How am I cheating? It's not my fault I'm good at this game," Castle says.

He cheers as he laps her just as his phone starts ringing.

"You should probably get that," Alexis says, eyeing the small screen.

"Not till I win. Besides, it's probably just Beckett about a murder. She can wait."

"The caller ID doesn't say Beckett."

Castle finishes his final lap with a victorious fist pump and answers his cell on the last ring.

"Richard Castle."

"Hi, this is Dr. Asher calling from Mount Sinai Hospital on behalf of Katherine Beckett. There's been an accident."

His heart is in his throat the whole ride to the hospital. He'd been too flustered to wait for the car service so he flagged down the first cab he saw. All he can think about is the last time he saw her in the hospital, pale and fragile just after she'd been shot. This time wasn't anything like the last; she had crashed her motorcycle.

His mind whirs with the horror stories he's heard about bike accidents: broken bones, paralysis, brain damage, comas where people never wake up. He can't lose her, especially not now when they're so close to finally being more than partners. He's felt it the last couple of weeks, her pull towards him being stronger than ever. He prays that she had been wearing her helmet.

Castle sprints into the hospital, skidding to a stop in front of the information desk.

"Beckett," he says, breathing hard. "I'm looking for Kate Beckett. Or um Katherine."

The woman at the desk types at her computer and then looks up at him. "Room 407."

He thanks her and then sets off to find Beckett's room. His heart is pounding in his ears as he gets closer. 405. 406. He pauses when he gets to 407 and tries to mentally prepare himself for the worst.

Castle takes a deep breath and steps into the room. She's sitting up in the bed, her hair disheveled, scratches on her face, her left arm in a cast and sling. But other than that she looks fine, nothing like the awful horror stories floating around in his head.

"Hey," she says softly when she sees him.

"Hey," he returns, pulling up a chair to her bedside. "What happened? Are you okay?"

She waves her left arm around. "This is the worst of it. Some jackass cut me off and I swerved, ending up in a ditch. My bike's totaled, but I'll be fine."

"And I'm your emergency contact?" he asks with a smirk.

Beckett shrugs, wincing when she moves her shoulder the wrong way. "Dad's out of town."

"So naturally I was the next best person to call. Not Lanie or Espo or Ryan, but me."

"Well yeah," she says, scraping her right hand through her tangled hair. "You're my partner."

He nods. "Ah I see."

"Should I not have listed you?"

"No, no. It's fine that you did. I kind of like it actually. Although I would have preferred that they let me know that you weren't brain dead when they told me you had been in a motorcycle accident. I had horror stories swimming around in my head."

"They didn't tell you?"

Castle shakes his head. "They probably would have if I had asked. I was a little too panicked and hung up and hailed the nearest taxi." He laughs at himself, looking up at her. "Quite honestly, I wasn't sure if I could handle what I was going to find when I got here. I can't see you like last year again, with the life leaving your eyes…it hurts too much."

Her hand brushes against his, eventually lacing her fingers through his. She gives him a weak smile.

"I'm sorry to scare you like that."

He smiles back, squeezing her hand. "I'm just glad that you're okay. Well, mostly okay. When do you get to leave?"

"Tomorrow. They want to keep me overnight to make sure that I don't have a concussion."

"I'll keep you company until they kick me out," he offers, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand.

"Thanks," she says, giving him a soft smile.

He nods, not stopping the movement of his thumb. Beckett clears her throat and holds up their clasped hands at eye level, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I – sorry," Castle says, starting to untangle his hand from hers.

But she stops him with a shake of her head, pulling his hand back and bringing her arm back down to the bed.

"Castle, there's uh, there's something I've been meaning to tell you," she starts, averting her gaze to the hospital blanket.

"That you like holding my hand?" he asks with a grin.

She smiles back, letting her thumb trace over his hand. "I lied – I've been lying to you."

His face goes pale. "Oh god. How bad is it? Did they tell you you'd never walk again? Do I need to hire a top notch neurosurgeon?"

"No, Castle, no it's not about the accident. It's about when I was shot."

He looks confused now, not entirely sure where she's going with this. What is there to lie about regarding that? Unless –

"You heard me, didn't you?"

Beckett nods, still avoiding his eyes.

"Why would you lie about that? I've asked you about it numerous times –"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry that you lied? Or sorry that you don't love me back?"

She chews on her lower lip. "I needed time, Castle. For all I know, you only said it because you thought I was going to die and you wouldn't have to face the aftermath."

"I said it because I meant it."

"I know that now –"

"And how much time did you need?" he asks, cutting her off. "Wasn't the three months where you completely cut me out enough for you?"

Beckett finally shifts her gaze back over to him. "I just needed to be sure."

"Of what?"

"Of you…of me. Castle, I – I want to give this a shot. I don't want to die without ever having known what it's like."

"What what's like?" he asks, cautiously.

"Being with you."

Castle sighs, "Kate –"

"I know the timing is bad. But the more of these…near death experiences I have, the more I realize how you were right. I do waste my time in nowhere relationships with men I don't love. I do it because I'm afraid of getting hurt. Of losing someone else that I love. But I've come to realize that if I don't stop lying to you and maybe even to myself, that I'm going to lose you. And that is the farthest thing from what I want."

He stands, and for a brief second, Beckett thinks he's going to walk out on her. But instead he tangles one of his hands in her hair and leans down to kiss her, being careful of the cut on her lip. He pulls away and rests his forehead against hers, again being careful of the cuts.

"I don't think Gates is going to like it," he tells her.

"Who says we have to tell her?"

"She won't notice the sexual tension just radiating between us?"

Beckett laughs. "Pretty sure that's been there."

Castle laughs too and sits back down in the chair. "So we're doing this? We're dating?"

She smiles. "Yeah, I guess we are. I hope it's not rushing things, but I made you my emergency contact."

"Eh, it's only fair. I have already seen you naked."

She glares at him. "What? When?"

"When your apartment blew up," he winces.

"You told me you didn't see anything!"

Castle shrugs. "I lied."

Beckett rolls hers eyes. "You're unbelievable."

"Hey, you're the one who made me your emergency contact before we've even been dating a full 24 hours. You're not going to be one of those clingy girlfriend types are you?"

"Do I strike you as clingy?"

He scrunches his eyebrows together, like he's pretending to think about it. "No."

She rolls her eyes again. "I really am sorry that it took me so long to get here, to be ready for this."

"I'm just glad that you did. But I'm still a little irked that you lied for so long."

She gives him a soft smile. "I'll make it up to you."

"Katherine Beckett, is that sexual innuendo I detect?"

"It wasn't." She quirks an eyebrow at him. "But it can be, if you'd like it to."

A devilish grin spreads across his face. "Oh this is going to be fun."

Beckett laughs, wincing a little when she jostles her left shoulder too much.

"We still have a lot to talk about, you know, before we're fully in this," Castle says, squeezing her right hand again.

She nods. "I know."

"But for now, let's just worry about getting you out of here in one piece, deal?"

"Deal."