Booth, frowned in the dark. He had been in a deep sleep. Something had woken him. He could feel her curled up against his arm, one hand lay heavily on his thigh. The silence in the room began to wrap itself around him again. Closing over his head, muting the world. He felt himself slipping back into that warm space that held his dreams.

The shrilling of the phone pulled him back out of that inky blackness. He lifted his head, trying to see the alarm clock.

"Who the hell?" he mumbled as he reached over his wife and fumbled to grab the phone. His hands were like large dead lumps of meat on the ends of his arms, his fine motor skills non existant as the phone crashed to the floor.

"Shit!"

"Booth?" Brennan muttered sleepily, looking around in the dark. "What's going on?" her voice was croaky.

"Sorry. Sorry Bones. Some idiot was ringing. I knocked the phone on the floor." he whispered. It was as if his voice was an intrusion on the night.

He was leaning across her body, trying to see where the phone was.

"Booth. You're squashing me" Brennan said, pushing him away from her. "I'll get it" she added, reaching out and flicking on the bedside lamp.

She leaned over the side of the bed, her hair falling down towards the floor as she looked under the bedside cabinet.

"Here it is" she began to say, jumping and almost dropping the phone again as it started ringing again.

Booth grabbed it out of her hand, determined to give whoever was calling at three am a blast.

"Who is this?" he barked into the phone. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

He didn't get a chance to say anything else as the voice on the other end relayed a stream of information.

"What? When? How?" was all he managed to say.

Brennan sat up, her hand pressed into the mattress, as she leaned towards him, trying to hear who was on the other end.

"Give me the phone" she whispered.

Booth shook his head, holding up a hand, palm facing her.

"I'm not sure. Maybe an hour or two? I can't think." he mumbled into the phone, one hand rubbing at his stubbled cheek. "I'll be there as soon as I can." he added before pressing the disconnect button. His hand dropped to the bed covers, still grasping the phone, his face drawn, almost grey.

"Booth?" she asked softly.

"It's Pops. He's had a stroke. They say he's in a coma. I need to go. They said. He might not. " his voice caught in his throat, causing him to choke on his next words. "Bones. What if. What. What if I'm too late?" his face blanched.

Brennan stared at his face. The man before her wasn't her husband any longer. He was an eight year old boy. He was a seventeen year old teenager. He was a twenty two year old young man.

"I gotta go Bones" he said again, finally looking at her. "I gotta go now. Tonight"

His eyes looked flat. The sparkle that always made her heart skip wasn't there. His mouth was being dragged down by the sadness that was filling his heart.

She nodded "I know. Of course you do. We both need to go." she said, continuing to nod. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She looked around and picked up the first piece of clothing she could find to pull over her nakedness. It was Booth's FBI tshirt.

She had a quick vision of herself last night, slowly peeling it up his body, over his broad chest, over his muscled shoulders, over his head, up the length of his arms which he held high over his head. She had thrown it over her shoulder not caring where it landed. She could smell him in the fabric. A deep, rich, earthy, muskiness that filled her with his strength.

He sat on the bed for a few more minutes, staring at the ripples in the blankets, the phone still clasped in his hand. He lifted it and stared at it.

"I don't have anyone to call" he said softly holding the phone out to her.

Brennan took the phone and placed it back on the bedside table and turned to smile sadly at Booth.

"Do you want me to try to find Jarrod?" she offered.

Booth shook his head, his mouth downturned "No. I don't want him there. Not now. He's been quite happy to be a stranger for the last five years. Last time I talked to Pops". The words caught in his throat. "Last time. He said he had given up on hoping that Jarrod would come back. It was easier to just accept that he didn't want to be part of our family anymore." Booth shook his head "Do you realise we don't even know where he is right now? If he's alive or dead? He's my only brother and he doesn't care whether we worry about him or not."

Brennan didn't really know what to say to him. She knew how that felt. Her own brother had been missing from her life for years before coming back into it. But it wasn't the same. Jarrod only ever cared about himself. He couldn't understand the guilt that Booth carried with him. So she said nothing.

They stayed staring at each other like this for what seemed like minutes. It was only a few seconds, but time seemed to be dragging it's heels.

"OK." she finally said, looking around the room. "How long do you think we will be gone? Shall I pack for a week? I'm going to call Angela to take Christine. Unless you want her to be there when. If." She stuttered "To see Pops"

Booth blinked and realised he was wasting precious time.

"No. I don't want her there. She's too young to be exposed to whatever is going on." He said firmly.

It went against Brennan's beliefs that illness and death were a natural part of life. It wasn't something to be hidden away. But she also knew how much Booth was hurting right now. And how scared he was. It was more about his daughter seeing him in a vulnerable state, rather than being her big, strong daddy.

"OK. If you think that's best" she said softly, patting him on the arm as she walked to the closet.

Booth nodded "I do" he replied.

What if he didn't get to Pops in time. What if he missed the chance to say thankyou. I love you. Goodbye.

He stood up and pulled on his sweatpants, not bothering to tie the cords. They hung loosely on his hips threatening to slide down.

"A week should be long enough. I'm sure he'll be OK. And if we need to stay a few extra days, we can do laundry." Booth said, trying to convince himself that all would be well after a couple of days. He couldn't bring himself to believe that Pops wouldn't pull himself up out of this.

He nodded as he walked around the bed, his feet sinking into the soft carpet of their bedroom. He wrapped his arms around Brennan and pressed his chin into her hair, closing his eyes "A week will be plenty of time" he said.

Brennan closed her eyes, feeling his arms closing in around her tighter, his chin pressing into the top of her head. She leaned into his chest and exhaled a long, slow breath.

I hope so