"How long has it been since you slept?"

He jerks upright, the book falling out of his hand onto the floor, pages bent and the spine cracking. Kate will kill him for that alone. He leans over in the chair, stretching to reach the book. "Uh. I don't know," he mumbles.

But Jim picks it up first, flipping it to see the cover. He grins as he hands it back to Castle. "One of her favorites, you know. She idolized Atticus all through high school. If I were a jealous man, I'd be worried that Mr. Finch was replacing me in her heart as her favorite lawyer."

"I thought it might… help," Castle sighs, slouching in the chair. "But…"

"She's going to be fine," Jim says. "Which brings me back to my question. When did you sleep last? Real sleep," he clarifies, interrupting Castle's thought. "In a real bed."

"I'm okay," he says. "I want to… need to be here."

"You know," the older man says, stealing the plastic chair from near the windows and sitting on the other side of the bed. "I didn't sleep the entire first year she joined the force. I was terrified that the phone would ring or there would be another knock on the front door with strangers telling me that she was gone forever."

Castle stays silent, watching Jim touch his daughter's hand, careful of the IV line and the heart rate monitor clipped to her fingertip.

"The first time she was injured in the line, I did the same thing you're doing."

"Did it help?" Castle asks, fingers brushing along the edge of the book, his nails catching on the pages. "Waiting?"

Jim shrugs. "Some. Mostly it drove me crazy, feeling so helpless." He pauses, clenching his hands for a moment before mirroring Castle and curling his fingers around Kate's. "We can't do anything for her right now."

"I hate this," he groans. "I have money. I should be able to…"

"To what, Rick?" Jim cuts in. "Buy her better? It doesn't work that way. I know you won't go get some rest but what do you say to us going down to the cafe across the street and getting some real food?"

"But ─"

Jim gets up, pushing the chair back against the wall. "She'll be here when we get back. Maybe the smell of coffee will wake her."

Castle stumbles on his first few steps, betraying exactly how exhausted he is. Jim doesn't comment though and Castle is thankful, so thankful, that the other man stays silent at his side as they walk down the hospital corridor. They take the elevator down to the lobby and head for the cafe on the corner.

Jim insists on paying for the three coffees and two muffins, pushing Castle's credit card back into the slot of his wallet. Castle carries the cardboard holder with the cups after Jim scoops the brown bag with the muffins up off the counter. The conversation is sparse on the walk back; Castle asks about Jim's law practice and the latest stats for the Mets and Jim lets Castle complain about the lack of writing he's been getting done.

The sound of quiet voices spills into the hallway from Kate's room. Castle nearly drops the coffees as he jogs to the doorway.

"Hey, Castle," she whispers, her voice tired and rough.

Her name is a sigh on his lips as he slides the cupholder onto the bedside table. He trips on the chair he left at her side, catching himself on the stiff mattress as she laughs. It's breathy and weak but it's there and that alone makes his heart a little lighter.

"Hi," he says, sitting ungracefully and scooting the chair close enough for his knees to hit the platform. "You're awake."

"Stating the obvious there." She smiles over Castle's shoulder. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Katie. How you feeling?"

"Just talking to the doctor about that," she says.

Jim sets the bag of muffins down. "I'll be outside then." Leaning a hand on the bed, he presses a soft kiss to her temple. "It's good to see your eyes open."

Castle starts to stand until Kate catches his wrist.

"Stay?"

"I can't. Medical information is confidential."

Kate turns to the doctor. "I can give permission for him to be here while you talk, right?" When the woman nods, Kate tightens her grip. "Sit down before you fall asleep standing up."

He makes it about three minutes with the doctor talking and Kate's murmured responses in his ear before he ends up asleep on the side of her bed, his head cushioned on her forearm, the fingers of her other hand stroking gently through his hair.