Rick was never one who could never wait for anything. And that included news of what was going on with Kate. To say he was impatient would be an understatement. The chaos that ensued after she was shot was basically just that, chaos. Hastings had decided along with LT to rush up the stairs to the apartment after they heard the gunshots. When they entered what they saw what was a total mission failure. They rendered first aid until the proper medics could arrive. The only measure they could take was to get Kate to a hospital and try to keep her alive. But Rick had other plans. He knew that Kate was in the capable hands of Ann and LT so he took off after Tariq and Enayat. He followed the same route they took but failed to catch Tariq and his brother. By the time he got to where they could have gone he hit a dead end. He was frantically searching in every nook and cranny to find them. But where he was, was a haven for those who were wanted for a crime and the undesirables. When that gave him nothing he started to interrogate the shop owners and passers-by. Again he came up empty.

He was now pacing the area in the waiting room. There was no way that he would not be here when they were told about her condition. When he arrived on the floor her whole team was there sitting in what looks like the most uncomfortable chairs ever made. He did a quick headcount and found out that of the six that came with him there are only five there including himself. Esposito was missing. It's as if Ryan was connected to his mind when he realized that Esposito was not there.

"He's doing something," Ryan said.

"Kevin he better not be going rogue because if he is God help him."

Lieutenant Ryan had the decency to look ashamed. And then looked directly at the floor. Rick knew that whatever Esposito was doing he wasn't going to like it.

When Ryan finally looked up, everyone sitting in the chairs was looking to Rick as if he was in charge. But he wasn't in charge and he had no thoughts of taking over her team. But they still looked to him for leadership. He needed to deal with this issue immediately but then he realized he could never take her command away from her. This was her command and she was the one in charge not him. He wondered how long it would take for them to suggest that he did take a leadership role or suggest that he be in charge.

Hospitals in foreign countries are not the best places to be worked on after being shot. Doctor's training is substandard in countries like these and the equipment they need to get you through your crisis isn't top-notch. Montgomery who had intel on what happened with Kate's op and decided to step up and use his rank to pull some strings to get her the care that she needed. He was able to divert a team of surgeons just returning back from Saudi Arabia. Their original flight plan was to have them land in Bagram two and a half hours after they took off. He was lucky enough to find them just leaving the airbase in Saudi Arabia. He got the proper authorization and diverted their plane to New Delhi. They would be there within the hour to work on Kate.

The doctors in New Delhi were told to stop any future surgical procedures on Captain Beckett. They were however told to keep her alive at any costs just short of an operation. Knowing this was an order from the United States government they complied. For now, basically, all they were doing was babysitting a patient.

Major Dawn DeLuca was the person you needed in an emergent situation. She was the best trauma surgeon the Army had ever trained. When she was told that they were being diverted to New Delhi she had the chief of staff there send her the file on one Captain Beckett. The file arrived when they were just starting their descent into New Delhi. The pilot told her that she would have about 20 minutes to get familiar with the case she was going to be working on in the next 25 minutes. Ground transportation was standing by at the airport with a U.S. Army MP escort.

True to his word the pilot had them on and ground 19 minutes later. Once the ladder was swung out from the Gulfstream's fuselage she was already waiting to exit the plane. The military police had two Humvees and she was hustled into a late model black Chevy Tahoe. She had barely enough time to get her seatbelt on when the sergeant threw the Tahoe into drive and punched it. Time was of the essence he told her.

She loves the Army because they do everything on a time table. She finished up her reading about Kate Beckett's case and before she knew it they were ushering her out of the back seat and into the hospital. Arriving at the surgical suite she sees 5 people standing around waiting patiently. She can only guess that this is Captain Beckett's crew who now is depending on her to get the job done.

She sees everyone in uniform except one person. Of all of them, he seems to be the one who is most worried. she walks up to Lieutenant and reads his name tag that says Ryan on it.

"Lieutenant Ryan I'm Major DeLuca. I'm going to be operating on Captain Beckett but before I do I need to know if you know if she has any allergies or reactions to medication?"

"Major as far as I know Captain Beckett is not allergic to anything. But all I'm asking is that you do your best in there."

"Don't worry Lieutenant I will."

Rick who is hearing everything she was saying stops pacing in steps up alongside Kevin.

The major is not quite sure who he is but decides to get some information before she goes into surgery.

"Can I ask who you are sir?" Major DeLuca asks the stranger she sees in front of her.

"My name is Rick Castle. I was part of the operation that was going to take down someone who murdered friends of mine. As you can tell it didn't end the way we expected."

Dawn just looks at him not really quite sure if she understands what he means to Captain Beckett. He is a catch that she knows just by looking at him.

"Mister Castle since you were at the scene I need to know what you can give me in way of her wound."

"She was shot in the abdomen I'd say about three inches below her rib cage. She has lost a lot of blood. We tried stopping the blood flow but after we got here I don't know what happened to her."

"Very well. Now I'll be the first to let you know what happens after I get done operating on Captain Beckett. She will come out of this in one piece that I will guarantee you I will not lose this patient."

Dawn spins on her heel and turns towards the operating theater. Within five minutes she's gowned up, gloves on, and place face shield down, and surgical mask in place she's ready to start operating.

She isolates the surgical field and with two simple cuts, the entire wound area is exposed. She is already searching for the bullet that ended up in this woman's abdominal cavity. She wants to be thorough and she is. She found the first 40 caliber bullet close to her left kidney. The round perforated the kidney but it's nothing she can't fix. Once she has that repair complete she starts searching for other intrusions. It's common to miss a fragment of a bullet that broke apart inside the body so she makes sure she checks everything in the field. she checks the pancreas, the spleen, the right kidney, and even as high up as the heart. She's surprised to find a second round embedded in the bottom of the esophagus near her stomach. If she didn't do a search for the second round it would have been a deadly outcome. She would have bled out internally in a matter of days.

Making one last sweep over the abdominal cavity she finds nothing else other than two rounds and a small fragment that she pulled out. They're in a small dish as evidence because she knows that her team is going to need them to track down whoever shot her.

She removes her face shield and pulls down her mask. She walks into the clean area removes her gown and gloves and disposes of them then she looks at her watch, four hours, and 37 minutes from start to finish. She picks up the chart makes notes for the people who are going to be transporting her back to her final destination. But what surprises her most is that there were no medical personnel from this hospital assisting her. It was just her and a nurse. An Army nurse if that. She wonders what happened or who got their toes stepped on. It doesn't really matter to her she came in and did her job and that's that. She takes her clipboard with the note she just wrote up with her and heads out through the doors to tell her team what happened.

Rick and never left the waiting room once. He stood there and watched the doors that led to the surgical unit. He didn't want to miss the doctor returning to tell them how Kate was doing. The second the doors swung open he was up out of his seat and almost at a full run towards the doctor.

"Major DeLuca, how is Captain Beckett doing?" Rick asks.

"Mister Castle any surgery can be life-threatening at times. But this was pretty much an open and shut case. She was shot twice in the abdomen and she lost about half of blood volume before we were able to stabilize it. She's going to be in a lot of pain for the next month I'd say. Once she gets back on her feet physical therapy will be the order of the day. That's going to take her at least another two months after her initial recovery. But I can tell you that she will be good as new within three months." The major explained.

All Rick could do was stand there, close his eyes, and say a silent prayer to whoever would hear it. She was alive and that's all that really mattered in his eyes.

"Thank you major DeLuca for doing your best," Rick says to her.

"That's why the Army trained me for mister Castle."

"When will we be able to see her?" Ryan asks.

"Right now she's in ICU recovery. She should be there for about 2 hours but I'm pretty sure that she's going to be on the move before that time is up. United States Army personnel are not really expected to say in a civilian hospital. This was just to get her stabilized and ready for transport. My guess is that she's going back to the states on a medical transport plane. Probably out of Bagram."

Rick needed to get away. He knew that Kate was going back to Walter Reed and he wanted to be nowhere near that. He had a pair of brothers to catch and kill. In a way, he's glad that he didn't sign the papers making him a lieutenant colonel. What he needs to do was talk to Kevin about Tariq's last location.

Rick watches Kevin as he stares at the departing Major. He walks up to him and asks him for any intel he has on Tariq's last location.

Kevin can tell that he's going to do something he really shouldn't. But who is he to stop him so he pulls out his tablet does a satellite scan and finds out that Tariq is likely across the border and into Afghanistan by now.

"Rick, I can tell you that Tariq is no longer in the area. With his connections to the black market and the underground, my bet is that he would be in Afghanistan by now. You do know what happens if you get caught in that country being a US citizen, don't you?" Kevin asks.

"Kevin here's what's going to happen I'm going to go see Kate before I leave. When I leave you have no idea where I have gone. Make sure Kate gets back to the states in one piece. I know for a fact that it's only going to be you, Anne, LT, and Kate."

"What do you mean Rick? Espo's coming with us too."

"Kevin, have you ever considered what's going on around you? That's the first rule you always follow. You need to have tactical awareness of any situation that you're faced with. Or has the day been too hectic for you to notice?"

Kevin takes a look around the room looking for their personnel. He takes a quick headcount and finds out that Esposito who he thought had seen earlier while Kate was in surgery is no longer here... again.

"When did he leave Rick?" Kevin asks.

"Kevin, I'm not even sure he was even here in the first place. The last time I saw him he was in the apartment where Tariq was."

"I don't know what to do Rick. I'm the one in charge now. Javi has gone rogue, you're going after Tariq and I'm betting you that Kate will be moved within the hour."

"I'm sure she will be. But I need your tablet. We can still communicate and you can update with me with locations for Tariq. We will be in touch Kevin. Right now I have a murderer to find."

Rick takes the tablet that Kevin offers him and turns to leave the hospital.

"Good luck Rick," Kevin tells him.

"Luck has nothing to do with it, Kevin."

TBC