Brennan opened the door slowly and stepped in closing the door behind her

Brennan opened the door slowly and stepped in closing the door behind her. He was sound asleep, and snoring lightly. She smiled he wasn't injured, just sick so she was as terrified as she normal was seeing him lying in a hospital bed. He had been running a fever for the past few days and she had made him come in when he had showed signs of dehydration.

Walking over to his bedside she gently placed a hand on his forehead, it was still hotter then it should be. Pulling over a chair she sat down next to his bed. he was lying completely still save for the slow rise and fall of his chest. Her eyes roamed over his body. He had thrown the covers to one side and was only wearing a pair of three-quarter length pyjama pants that he had asked her to bring in for him. Angela had once called him perfection on legs, and she had to agree. Tanned and toned… she laughed slightly. Then her eyes caught one of his scars, one of his many scars. His body defiantly had some imperfections, some from his days as a sniper, but more from his years with her. She knew the stories of those scars as well as if they were her own. She looked at each of them. The most faded one she knew about that was on his shoulder, from the bomb in her fridge that had been meant for her. She drifted down to the small circular one over his right lung from the bullet that had also been meant for her. Her gaze moved down to his leg, where she could see the large shiny burn mark from when he had burst into her burning apartment to save her from Howard Epps' revengeful brother. On his other leg was the long scar she had given him herself with her unreasonably large gun. Finally her eye line rested on one of the latest in his long list of injuries. Another bullet wound on his hip, she knew he still had never taken that bullet out of the small tar on his desk, since he had put it there after he had gotten out of hospital. That one was from their final confrontation with the gravedigger. On that day, after years of tormenting them, Booth had finally gotten him. Finally gotten what he felt was revenge for them all. Her hand reached out, unknowns to herself, towards that particular mark. Just as she touched it he spoke.

"What are you doing Bones?" he croaked, his throat obviously dry. She snapped her arm back.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you!"

"It's ok! What were you doing?"

"I was just looking… looking at your scars." She sighed. "You've been through so much because of me!"

"What?"

"Most of your scars are because of me! The bullet wounds, the burn marks…"

"But Bones you're forgetting the good scars!" he smiled. She raised an eyebrow.

"How can you have good scars?"

"The good ones are the ones that remind you of the good times!" the eyebrow stayed up. "You need examples." She nodded. He sat up stiffly. "Ok well this one over my eyebrow is from when I hit my head off that ridiculously ornate headboard on our honeymoon!" he smiled. She blushed at the memory. "And this small one on my hand is from when your nail punctured my skin when you were in labour with Keira. And the u shaped one on my foot is from Matthews first pee-wee football game! I still don't know which one of those terrors stood on me!" he laughed. She smiled.

"See I'm just a detriment to your safety and well being!"

"Bones do you really think id still be with you after seventeen years if I thought that was true!" he took her hand. Her smile brightened.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better!" he nodded.

"I said you should have gotten yourself checked out sooner!"

"I know I know!" she stood up.

"I better go the kids will be finished school soon." He didn't let go of her hand as she tried to walk away. She turned back.

"Bones, you need to know that every single scar I have mean a lot to me. You… you and our family make every single thing I have ever gone through worth it all." She smiled trying to hold back the tears forming in her eyes.

"Thank you Seeley." He kissed her hand and she left. He reached over to the bedside table and got his wallet. Opening it up he pulled out the photo he took everywhere with him. The one of his family. His blonde twenty year old son, His other son who had his dark hair and eyes who had just turned eleven, His stunning auburn haired blue eyed eight year old daughter, And his amazingly gorgeous wife. He sighed and repeated "…worth it all."