I completely sucks. RL has been kicking my ass lately and I haven't been able to write as much as I wanted to...I have more of this written but I wanted to add a few scenes and, well. We're several weeks later and I haven't exactly gone to where I wanted to. Hopefully next update will come faster...

Thanks for everyone who's favorited, followed and reviewed, and by all means, keep commenting/reviewing, it's always really appreciated!

Rain and cloudy weather was something Richard Castle was used to; it was something he appreciated or loved, even, depending of the circumstances. He had spent countless rainy weekends nesting in the loft with Alexis over the years, when it was just the two of them. They would bake and cook for hours before spending the rest of the day sprawled in the living room, watching movies or playing video games.

Richard Castle loved rain. But the drizzle and the thick fog that had enveloped Seattle and the Seattle Grace Mercy Hospital for the last two days was starting to affect him. And it was getting to his partner as well.

Castle cautiously stretched his legs and glanced down, hoping the movement wouldn't wake up the sleeping detective currently half lying on him.

Kate's features were slack with sleep, free of any indication about being in pain. He had no idea how she had managed to fall asleep with her cracked ribs on him, no matter how soft and fluffy the pillows crushed between them to support her were.

But she was sleeping, and it was all that mattered, especially after the night they had. Kate had been doing well and was recovering nicely until she'd woken up with a high fever the night before.

Meredith had explained that the shock and the stress Kate's body had been under so far had finally caught up with her but, after running tests, that everything was fine.

With nothing else to do but stare at the grey sky outside and listen to the rain spattering against the window, Kate's mood quickly went downhill, along with the writer's.

Castle had been surprised but secretly relieved when Kate had asked Bailey for stronger painkillers a few hours before. He was beyond lenient with her but her own patience was wearing thin and they both knew it, the detective snapping and glaring at everything and everyone that dared approached her.

He knew that she was hurting but refused to admit it, so part of him released a thankful sigh (and a pleasantly surprised chuckle) when the detective had asked him, after her IV was spiked with the dosage of Demerol she had been prescribed but always refused to take, to keep her company. In bed. Then, as he felt her fade and relax against him, Castle did what he liked best.

Watch her.

He was still watching her two hours later, not caring if his left side was numb from Kate's light weight on him. He could feel her warmth through the pillows and their respective pieces of clothing, and it reassured him. Put his mind at peace.

His fingers tracing random patterns over her side and thigh, a low vibrating sound startled him out of his thought. He glanced sideways, frowning at Kate's cell phone.

Swiftly grabbing it before it woke her up, Castle winced at the Facetime invitation. 'Crap.'

Knowing better than to ignore the call, Castle sighed. "Hey, Lanie."

"What's wrong?" Lanie whispered, having immediately picked up on the man's unusual ushered voice.

"It's fine," He said to the phone, trying his best not to cower under the ME's glare. "Kate had a rough night, but she's sleeping now."

Lanie's worried eyes darkened once Castle explained what had happened to her friend the night before. "Show her to me."

"You know she hates that."

"I want to see her. Now." Lanie hissed, and Castle would've recoiled if he hadn't been lying on a hospital bed with his partner dead weight grounding him.

Castle pursed his lips and changed the camera's setting so it filmed the detective instead.

The ME's smirk wasn't lost on him as he watched her watching their friend. "Looks like you make a good human pillow, writer boy."

"It's writer man, Lanie." Castle huffed. "Writer Man."

"If you say so, I don't have any proof of that."

"Shut up, both of you...sleeping."Writer and medical examiner stared at each other, only stopping when the groggy voice broke through the air.

Lanie chuckled and smiled when Castle's hand went to his partner's head, softly stroking her hair. "Sorry, go back to sleep."

"Hurts." The mumbled word was immediately followed by a groan when Kate tried to move. "Wait a sec, Lanie."

Castle dropped the phone on the bed and helped her get into a more comfortable position. "Better?"

Kate nodded and sighed, now resting on her back again. "You want to talk to Lanie?"

"It's okay, Castle. Let her rest and I'll call later, okay?" Lanie chuckled as Kate lazily waved at the phone and closed her eyes again, her head resting comfortably on the man's upper arm.

Castle disconnected the call and turned his attention back on his dozing partner. He fought his own exhaustion for all but ten minutes before sleep claimed him, his hand cradling Kate's protectively.

A swat on his chest startled him awake an hour later. Blinking blearily as he tried to get his bearings back, Castle winced when a hand rammed against his chest again, this time more forcefully.

Fear twisted his guts when he took a look at Kate next to him. She face was flushed, her eyes glassy and her breathing was shallow. Castle all but launched himself out of bed, fumbling for the call button as his other hand reached for her. "What's wrong?!"

"I feel funny." She breathed out as her eyes fluttered closed, her throat bobbing as she swallowed thickly.

"What do you mean? What feels funny? Kate?" Castle demanded louder, all pretense of calmness gone as he repeatedly pressed the call button. "Kate?!"

Shiny eyes locked on him. Fearful. "My heart feels funny. Rick, I-"

"What's going on?"

Castle sighed in relief as Miranda Bailey walked in, her no nonsense tone already reassuring him. They had been off to a bad start but once the writer had apologized for his rudeness and saw how well respected and competent the petite attending was, their temporary relationship had improved drastically. "She says her heart feels funny."

Bailey calmly pulled her stethoscope from around her neck and lowered Kate's gown a bit, lowering the chest piece over the detective's heart. "Sorry, but it's going to feel a bit cold."

Castle bit his lip to refrain from asking the butt load of questions burning his mind, instead focusing his attention to his partner's tense features. His hand subconsciously went to her head and soothingly stroked her hair as they both waited for the doctor's diagnostic.

"How long have you been feeling like this, Kate?" Bailey asked as she moved the stethoscope around, now listening to the lungs.

Kate licked her lips tiredly, forcing herself to take normal breaths. "That's what woke me up."

Bailey nodded as she went around the bed and began fiddling with the unused heart monitor, efficiently hooking the detective back on the machine. "What you have is called ventricular tachycardia. It meant that your heart's ventricle is beating too fast. I'm going to have Dr. Yang paged so she can monitor you more closely, and we're going to change the medication you're on."

Moving around the bed, Bailey then busied herself checking the other monitors before going back to Kate, an oxygen mask in hands. "Your oxygen levels are a little low so we're going to help you breathe for a bit, alright?"

"Does it have to be the mask?" Kate asked weakly, her voice muffled as Bailey gently placed the apparatus over her nose and mouth and adjusted it so it wasn't too tight.

"You're going to have to stop talking now, unless it is for informing us you're in any distress." The small woman scolded her, earning a weak glare in return.

Both Castle and Kate flinched when the heart monitor came to life, the frantic heartbeat echoing through the room startling them. Neither Castle nor Bailey missed how Kate raised her hand over her heart, as if trying to forcing it back into her chest.

The sound disappeared as Bailey shut it off and she smiled to Kate reassuringly. "I should've known that you'd be the one to keep me from catching a nap tonight."

Kate attempted a weak chuckle at Bailey's teasing. "No offense, but I'd rather be sleeping as well. I hate this."

"This kind of arrhythmia isn't uncommon with patients with a cardiac history. Try not to worry, we'll make sure it all goes back under control as quickly as possible. I'll go have Yang paged, and I'll send a nurse to monitor your heart until Yang gets here, alright? And stop talking!"

Castle's heart tightened at the strain showing on Kate's face as soon as Bailey was out the door. "You okay, love?"

"Don't...call me that."

"Shhh, no talking." Castle quietly reminded her as he pressed his lips on her temple, the kiss lingering so he could breathe her in. "You're going to be fine, you just need to relax, okay?"

Kate took a slow, slightly deeper breath and nodded, all fight in her gone. Castle was marvelled at the intensity he saw in her eyes; despite being clearly exhausted she was quietly gazing up at him, trying to trust his words as she did so many times before.

His own heart skipped a beat when Kate seemed to have come to a solution and shuddered nervously underneath the breathing mask, her hand tugging shyly at his shirt. "Hold me?"

Not having to be asked twice, Castle wrapped himself around his partner, careful of the tubes and wires still trapping her in bed. His hand at her back gently lulled her back to sleep, her grip on him never loosening as she slowly succumbed to the effects of the drugs once more.

He counted every breath she took while his eyes remained fixed on the heart monitor, willing for this new nightmare to be over soon.