Castle's partner

How to fix a broken girl

I'm stunned. I never thought a girl as strong as her would say something like that.
It's my turn to cry, which is rare for me too, but I feel tears starting to form in my eyes.
"I'm sorry." Her voice is barely above a whisper.
"Why are you sorry? I'm the one that should be sorry. He caused you enough pain to want you to die. I'm glad he's dead. If he weren't, I would have killed him myself."
Her eyes brighten for a moment, and I see the edges of her mouth fold into a smile, but it fades just as quickly as it came.
"I'm scared. I know this is going to sound really awkward, but we are like family, and you can say no but....."
"Yeah?"
"Can you sleep with me? I just mean like next to me. I'm afraid to be by myself because I know I'll have another nightmare. But if you're not comfortable with that its ok I understand."
I get what she's asking.
"Yeah of course I will. You are my little niece." I see her face fill with relief. She moves over in the bed, trying not to wince. I get in next to her, and she turns the other way.
"Thank you" she whispers before drifting off to sleep.
I stay awake a bit longer and wonder what I can do to fix a broken girl.

I wake up the next morning and look over at Ross. She is still asleep and I don't want to wake her. Suddenly a nurse comes in and starts talking rather loudly.
"Are you family? Because only family is allowed in here at these hours."
The loud sound of the nurse's voice wakes up Ross, who groggily answers, "yeah he's my uncle."
The nurse turns to me with a disapproving look on her face. I smile at her, trying to be polite, and she just smirks and walks out of the room.
I am thoroughly embarrassed, and I can feel my self blushing. However Ross thinks this is the most hilarious thing, and she starts cracking up. It doesn't take long before her laugh turns into a cough, and she grabs her side, and there is pain written on her face. She grabs the bed rail with her other hand so hard her knuckles turn white. The heart monitor attached to her finger goes haywire, bringing in two nurses. They gently shove me outside and close the door behind me. I can hear muffled talking through it, and slowly Ross's coughing subsides. A nurse opens the door again and lets me in. I walk swiftly inside and sit by her bed. She looks at me and tries to suppress a smile. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding. The nurses both walk out at the same time, leaving me to talk to Ross.
"Are you ok? I'm really sorry I didn't mean for that to happen."
Her face is still pale from the pain, and raw from the... kidnapping.
"Yeah I'm fine. You don't have to apologize. That was totally worth it."
"So how are you doing with everything else?"
Her face falls, and she bites her lip.
"I'm fine. Feels good to be here with you guys."
I know she's lying.
"Really? You're ok?"
"Yeah of course."
I look at her eyes. With Ross, all you need to do is look at her eyes and you can tell how she feels. They have lost their usual shine. Instead it is replaced with a dull, hard look masked with a look of exhaust.
"Can I ask you a question?"
She nods.
"Did you sleep at all while you were... Gone?"
She understands what I am asking and answers, "not really. I didn't sleep at all, actually. Well except when I was unconscious, if you can even count that as sleeping...." She drifts off after seeing the horrified look on my face.
I feel awful. She should have never had to go through this.
"Ok. You need to go back to sleep."
"But it's like seven in the morning. There's no way I'll be able to go back to sleep."
"Nope. I am staying right here until you fall asleep."
"But-"
"No buts. No go to sleep."
She scowls at me but turns over in the bed, and pulls the sheets up to her chin.