*beep ... beep ... beep ... beep*
The monitor next to the hospital bed was beginning to irritate Brennan.
"I don't know what that means. Can we please turn off the sound for the moment?" Temperance Brennan frowned at the specialist sitting opposite her, gesturing at the monitor. She looked over at Seeley Booth. His head still bandaged after the surgery that had saved his life, but left him in a coma. Temperance shook her head, "I mean. I know what you're saying, but I don't understand. He should have been awake by now, surely?" she asked. She was confused and scared. She had sat by his bed for four days, waiting, wondering, willing him to wake up.
She had written, deleted and rewritten the second half of her novel while sitting in that room. Visitors had come and gone, but she remained. They had told her to go home. Rest. Go to work. Not to worry. But how could she? He was her partner. He was her friend. He was. She wasn't sure exactly what else he was, but she felt he was definitely something else.
"Ms Brennan" the doctor began.
"Doctor Brennan" she corrected him, her irritation obvious in her tone.
"I'm sorry, Doctor Brennan, Mr Booth suffered a reaction to the anaesthetic as you know. His coma may have developed as a response to that, as well as the brain surgery, to allow his body to pause bodily actions and heal the most immediate injuries before waking. It therefore could be a compensatory state in which the body's expenditure of energy is not superfluous." the specialist said. Brennan continued to frown at the doctor. "He may wake up tomorrow or next week. Worse case, he won't wake up at all. Unfortunately with these types of cases, we just don't know. It's a wait and see situation. We will keep him comfortable, I assure you" he added.
"I want you to do more than keep him comfortable." Brennan cut him off, her hand waving his suggestion away. "He requires twenty four hour monitoring. I want him to be cared for privately. I want him moved daily, fed regularly". Temperance authoritatively said, standing up. "and washed daily." she added. She knew that Booth was extremely conscious of his personal hygiene and she wanted to make sure that he was cared for in a fitting manner. "Doctor Brennan, that falls outside our standard care regime. We just don't have the manpower" he began to say. Brennan held up a hand, once again stopping him from speaking. "Fine. Then I want him moved to the nearest private hospital to the Jeffersonian Institute. And I want him moved today. I don't care about the cost. Money is not going to be an issue, so don't bring that subject up. You have no idea who this man is. To his colleagues. To his family. To his son." She faltered over the words. "To me".
"Doctor Brennan, it may take more than a day to find a placement" the doctor tried to explain, his hands outstretched. "Just have him moved as soon as possible" she said, before turning on her heel and leaving the hospital room where Booth lay.
"A baby? Really? That's wonderful! I'm so happy!" Booth wrapped his arms around Brennan and hugged her tightly to him. "Really? You really are happy?" Brennan asked him, cupping his cheek in her hand. He nods and grins at her, pulling her down to kiss her deeply. Brennan pulls back, tilting her head, smiling at her handsome husband. "You know what we were talking about earlier? I think you're right. About selling the club. It's going to be too hard for us, working nights, and caring for a baby." she said.
Booth nodded "I'm going to contact my lawyer in the morning, tell him I want to sell. He can handle it for me. You know, I think we ought to take a little vacation. Might be the last one we take alone for a while" he said, resting his hand on her still flat belly.
"Are you sure you want to hand over the selling to someone else and just go away?" she asked him. Booth shook his head. "The staff can handle things while we're away. And we'll only be away for a couple of weeks. I mean, I'd love it if he could sell it that quickly, but realistically it could take a couple of months or more. I'll talk to the staff in the morning. I want you to get online and find us a nice little resort to hide away in. Maybe down the coast. Some sun and sand and cocktails."
Brennan smiled and shook her head "No cocktails for me. Baby on board. Remember?" she giggled patting her belly. Booth hugged her hard and stared into her eyes "a baby" he whispered. She looked at him, then sat up. A lot had happened in the last few days. A murder. The investigation. Everyone under suspicion. Jared, Booth's brother, had been lucky to avoid going to jail.
"What about Jared?" Brennan asked cautiously. Booth shrugged "I don't wanna talk about my brother right now." He shook his head ending the subject. There was no love lost between the Booth boys. If he didn't see Jared again for a while, that would be just fine with him.
Brennan smiled at him, she knew better than to pursue that conversation, instead, seductively, pulling the pins from her hair, letting it fall like a silken curtain across her face, she dipped her head to kiss him again, deeply, her tongue teasing and her lips soft against his. Her body curled into him as they sat together in the big leather chair in his office.
"You are to monitor Mr Booth twenty four hours a day. He needs to be moved regularly according to this regime." she said handing folders to each nurse. She had spent hours researching and putting together a treatment plan for Booth. "I don't want him developing any bedsores. I also want him monitored carefully for pneumonia. I want him treated at the first sign if it occurs, and I want to be informed of any changes in his condition immediately." she said, ticking items off a list. "And he needs physical therapy daily to prevent contractures and orthopaedic deformities. When he wakes up I want to make sure that his muscles have not deteriorated too much, so that his therapy will be less radical." Brennan rattled off her instructions to the nurses that were going to be caring for Booth. The stood looking at the information folders she had provided them. They realised that she was not going to just leave him to their care. They were going to be under her scrutiny at all times and therefore, they were quite aware that this was not going to be an easy carers position.
Temperance had made sure that Booth had the best facilities available to him. Saint Germaines had been reluctant at first to admit him at such short notice, however, Brennan made it quite clear that a generous donation to their building and equipment foundation would be forthcoming if her requests were met.
Needless to say the hospital bent over backwards to accommodate Booth as quickly as possible when she produced a hefty figure for them. Brennan also had hired private nurses who would work directly for her, thus not taking the much needed nurses from the general hospital patient's roster. The hospital agreed and made sure that all equipment and facilities were available to them at all hours of the day. Of course, the two brand new high tech CT machines that Brennan donated may have made them more amenable to her requests. She had also acquired brand new exercise machines that would be used by Booth when he woke up and was ready to do the physical therapy needed to get him back up on his feet and mobile again, and would be donated to the hospital on his eventual discharge.
There was no question in Brennan's mind that Booth would be coming home eventually. If she had any say in it, it would be sooner rather than later, and she would be there for him when he did.
