Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or any of it's characters ... you know what to get me for my birthday ;-)

This is a FICTION so I took some liberties with the characters, at least regarding their ages.

Enjoy!

Waiting. She hated waiting, waiting rooms and everything that went wit it. She could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks but she didn't bother drying them. They would just come back anyway, so what was the point? She took a look around the waiting room of the emergency room for the tenth time in an hour. It was a typical waiting room: rows of chairs against the walls, a table with old magazines and newspapers, people filling insurance forms, people yelling at nurses or at each other, people sleeping in painful positions, people queuing at the coffee machine … who knew an ER waiting room would be so busy at three in the morning?

She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt a small hand take one of hers. She followed the arm and saw that the hand belonged to a cute little redhead.

"Why are you crying?" the child asked quietly.

"I don't know. I guess I'm scared … and sad."

"Do you want Mr. Binky?" the child asked, handing her a stuffed rabbit. "If you hug him real tight you're not scared anymore. Daddy says it's because he does magic."

"I'm sure he does Sweetie." she said, smiling for the first time since she got to the hospital. "So, I'm Kate, what's your name?"

"Alexis. I'm five!" she answered proudly.

"Are you alone Alexis? Is someone here with you?" Kate asked, looking around the room.

"Daddy went to the bathroom. He told me to sit here and not to move until he comes back. We're here because my Gram twisted her foot. Why are you here?"

"I … uh … my dad was sick so I brought him here. And now I'm just waiting." she sighed.

"I can wait with you if you want. Daddy says it's less long if you have someone to wait with you." Alexis said.

"Your daddy has an answer for everything, doesn't he?" Kate laughed.

"Well, he knows a lot of things and he is the best of all the daddies." she stated, love and adoration pouring from her eyes.

"Miss Beckett?" a nurse called from the station.

"Well, that's me. You sit here and wait for your daddy ok?" Kate said, getting up from her chair.

Alexis nodded and waved at her before starting to play with Mr. Binky on the chair Kate had just left.

Stupid, useless, incapable … that's what Kate felt like when she left the doctor's office. Her father was going to be fine but there was still a problem. Through blood tests, they saw that he had been drinking much more alcohol than necessary on a regular basis. She was training to become a detective for crying out loud! How could she have missed that her own father was turning into an alcoholic? Sure, they were not as close as they used to be but still! She had brought him here tonight because he almost fainted from stomach aches after the dinner they were having at his place. She had been expecting appendicitis, an ulcer, even cancer, but she did not expect THAT!

She got out of the hospital as if she were on auto-pilot. She didn't see anything, she couldn't hear anything or anyone, she just walked and found herself outside. She seemed to go back to being herself when she felt the night air on her face. That's also when everything she had been told in the last half hour really sank in. She sat on the stairs in front of the hospital and started crying. She couldn't get herself under control. All the possibilities were running through her head and it was just … too much.

"Come on Alexis, give a kiss to Gram and let's go home. It's way past your bedtime and she needs rest so that her foot can get better." Richard Castle told his daughter.

They said their goodbyes and left Martha's room.

"Dad, when we come back tomorrow to visit, can we bring flowers?" Alexis asked, skipping down the hallway, her hand in her father's.

"Sure. What kind of flowers do you want to bring?"

"The same as on her pink pajamas. They're really pretty!"

"Ok then, we'll stop at the flower shop on our way over here tomorrow." Rick laughed, wondering for the millionth time what he did to deserve such a sweet daughter.

They got out of the hospital hand in hand, heading for the car when Alexis suddenly stopped walking.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Rick asked, turning to her.

"That's Kate." Alexis said, pointing at the young woman who was curled into a ball, sobbing.

"Who's Kate?"

"She the nice lady I was talking to when you were in the bathroom and ..."

"Alexis, how many times do I have to tell you not to talk to strangers? It's not safe!" Rick panicked.

"But she's not a stranger, she's Kate. And she was crying because her daddy was sick." she explained before letting go of her father's hand and running towards the young woman.

"Alexis, come back here" Rick yelled, running after her.

Kate lifted her head from her knees when she heard the name and saw the little girl near her with worry in her eyes. It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe and she didn't seem to be able to calm herself.

"Miss, are you alright?" she heard a masculine voice ask. Alexis's dad.

Kate nodded and tried to get up. She felt herself lunge forward before everything went black.

So ... what did you think of this beginning?

Don't worry this is just the start, the next chapters will be longer.