Been working on this for a while. Not totally happy with it but it's fluffy and stuff
SLEEP
Brennan turns her head and her eyes widen in fear as the two headlights grow bigger and brighter. There is nothing she can do as the other vehicle collides with hers, sending them both spinning across the junction. Her airbag deploys and as the cars come to a rest, Brennan's head falls into the airbag. She remains motionless as activity flurries around her. Smoke billows from her engine and the pavement is slowly covered in leaking gas and oil.
Booth arrives at the Jeffersonian medico-legal lab on Monday morning in his usual cheerful mood. But he finds the squints aren't sharing his disposition. Zach is very quiet and Hodgins, who is normally quiet anyway seems more sullen than normal.
"Hey Angela. Has Bones got you lot working through the night with her?" he asks as he ascends the steps to the centre lab. "Where is she anyway?" he is a little surprised she isn't there.
"Booth." Angela says. "You haven't heard." She sighs when she realises he doesn't know. She didn't think to call him at the weekend.
"Heard what?" he asks curiously with his head cocked to the side.
"There was an accident." Angela starts.
"Bones?" he asks.
"She's in the hospital." Angela tells him. Booth sighs with relief that she isn't dead. "But she's in a coma." Angela walks over to Booth and places her hand on his arm.
"When did it happen?" he asks.
"Saturday night." Angela explains. Booth shakes his head. He hadn't seen or spoken to her since Friday. That was nothing unusual but part of him feels like he should have known, like he should have been called. "The Doctors don't know if she'll wake up." Angela tells him. Tears are burning behind her eyes but she can't cry again. She's spent all weekend crying.
"Which hospital is she in?" Booth asks.
Armed with the hosptial information he turns around and walks back down the stairs and out the lab. As Angela watches him going, shoulders hunched and head hanging, she realises should have called him when she found out. He is a friend after all. He should have known sooner.
The nurse working at the nurses' station sees a tall handsome man walking towards her. She knows immediately that he is here to visit someone close to him who is very sick. Her years in the hospital had taught her to recognise the face of disbelief, pain, hurt and anger that someone feels when a loved one is brought in. He approaches her and places his hands on the desk.
"Can you tell me which room Temperance Brennan is in?" he asks. "She was brought in Saturday night, a car accident." He tells the nurse. He sees sympathy in her eyes when she looks at him before checking the computer.
"She's in intensive care on the fifth floor. Room 518." She says. "The elevator is right over there." She points Booth in the right direction and silently he turns and walks away. His heart is heavy and he feels like someone has kicked him in the stomach.
When Booth reaches Brennan's room he stands outside staring through the window, unable to bring himself to go in just yet.
"Good morning, I'm Dr Harris." A deep voice booms out to Booth. He turns his head and comes face to face with a tall dark skinned man. "You can go in if you want." He says.
"How is she?" Booth asks. His voice is quiet and lacking its usual energy.
"She's stable but in a coma. Are you family?" he asks.
"She doesn't have any family." He states. "I'm a close friend." He adds.
"Ms Brennan suffered a severe head trauma in the accident. There is a lot of swelling which is what is causing the coma. We hope the swelling will go down and she'll regain consciousness. She was lucky though, no other injuries except a few cuts, scratches and bruises." Dr Harris explains. "If she wakes up soon she should make a full recovery."
"And if she doesn't?" Booth asks. The Doctor sighs.
"The longer she is in the coma the less chance there is of her waking up. Worst case scenario is she remains in this state for the rest of her natural life. Best case scenario is she wakes up tomorrow."
"But there's no way to tell what's going to happen?" Booth asks.
"She's unresponsive at the moment but that could change very quickly. She's a strong healthy young woman and I have every belief that she can make a quick recovery."
"Thanks Doc." Booth turns back to the window.
"If you need anything, I'll be on the floor." He tells Booth who only nods in response.
It takes Booth a further twenty minutes to actually walk into the hospital room. He is shocked by Brennan's appearance. There are tubes and drips going in and out of her arms and her head is all bandaged up. Monitors beep and flash at the side of the bed indicating her vital signs. As he walks closer he can see the bruising around her eyes. She looks like someone has punched her in each eye really hard. He thinks how fragile she looks. He's not used to that. Bones has always been strong and independent. She can flip a man twice her size if he threatens her safety. Booth has always been wary of that.
"It's alright, you can go closer." A female voice says from the doorway. Booth looks around and sees an older nurse standing with a flipchart.
"Don't mind me, I just need to make a few notes." The nurse walks right over to the bed and checks the drips. "Honey you got yourself a visitor." She says to Brennan. "A handsome young gentleman to be exact."
"Can she hear you?" Booth asks.
"We don't know but some Doctors believe talking to coma patients can help them wake up, especially if they hear the familiar voices of friends and family." The nurse says. "The way I see it, if they hear you and it helps, great. If they don't you don't have to feel like an idiot because no one has to know." She smiles. "Go ahead honey, give it a try. It might even help you." The nurse walks back over to him. "She's still in there somewhere." She adds as she heads out the door.
Booth sits silent in the chair beside the bed. Brennan hasn't moved a muscle the whole time he's been here and that's going on for three hours. He finds it hard to see her like this, she's usually so full of energy. He also hasn't built up the courage to talk to her. He feels a little stupid doing it so he just sits and watches her, thinking about what he'd do if she doesn't wake up.
His thoughts are interrupted by Angela arriving. She walks in, not expecting to find Booth still here.
"Booth?" she asks in a surprised voice.
"Hey Angela." He replies. She walks over and places a vase of flowers by the bed.
"Hey sweetie, I brought fresh flowers today, they smell really good." She talks as if Brennan can answer. "Oh and Zach is really excited. He was working on that skeleton you didn't finish, civil war soldier number 3123. He's spent all day working on it and he got an ID. You would have been really proud of him." Angela looks over at Booth. "You know Booth, I'm really sorry." Angela says.
"For what?" Booth asks.
"I should have called you." Angela tells him. "When it happened, I should have thought to call."
"It doesn't matter."
"No it does. We're all friends now, you had a right to know, not have it sprung on you like this morning." Angela walks around and sits on the edge of Brennan's bed facing Booth.
"I'm sorry." She repeats.
"It's okay Angela." Booth stands up and Angela rises too. "I should get going." He says. "I'll see you later." He is about to head for the door but Angela grabs him and wraps her arms around his neck. Booth hugs her back, surprised at his own actions.
"She's going to be okay Booth." Angela says before she pulls back. Booth just nods and walks to the door. He glances back one last time before he walks out leaving Angela and Brennan alone.
Booth returns to the hospital later in the evening. The cards in the room tell him Zach and Hodgins have been by since this afternoon. Booth deposits the small potted plant he brought beside the bed.
"Flowers don't last very long so I brought you a plant." He says before he realises what he's doing. He realises it isn't so hard to talk to her so he takes off his jacket and sits down in the chair. Loosening his tie he tells her about his afternoon at work.
"Okay, so that must have bored you." He says when he's done. "Um, I'm thinking about getting a puppy. I used to have one when I was a kid and I thought it might be cool for when Parker comes to visit." He says. "I can't decide between a Spaniel or a Labrador." He sits back in the chair. "Wake up and you can let me know what you think." He says. Part of him hopes she will just wake up right then and there. But she doesn't and the pain hits him in the chest. He realises she might never wake up.
A few hours pass and Booth realises he should go home and get some sleep. He puts his jacket on again and is about to walk out the room but he is drawn back to her. He plants kiss delicately on her forehead then leaves. As he walks out he doesn't see Angela hovering by a wall behind him. She smiles as he leaves, having heard what he'd been saying for the last twenty minutes.
For the next few days Booth visits Brennan before work and over lunch. After work he stays until the nurses kick him out, all the time telling her mundane things and making jokes. Angela is often there too. They both care for Brennan a lot, but in very different ways. As the days pass the bruising on Brennan's face clears and her cuts and scratches start to heal. Everyone hopes the same healing is going on inside her head.
Exactly a week after the accident, Booth is sitting with Brennan. He picks up her hand and holds it, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.
"Come on Bones, this is getting a little tiresome. I know you've been working hard but there are easier ways to get a break. Like take a vacation." He says with a smile. "It's much more fun going kayaking in Jamaica than lying here in a hospital bed." He stares down at her. "Bones, I care about you too much to see you waste away. So if you have any sense you'll wake up right now and start living life again." His voice is raised and quite forceful. He is about to put her hand back down when he feels a very light but definite squeeze. His heard starts to race and his eyes dart over her face looking for signs of life.
"Bones?" he stands up and leans over her. "Bones, squeeze my hand." He says. Again, he feels a squeeze. He reaches over and presses the buzzer for the nurse with his free hand. In a few seconds a nurse comes running in.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"Nothing is wrong, she squeezed my hand." Booth looks over and smiles at the nurse.
"I'll get the doctor." The nurse runs out again.
"Come on Bones, open your eyes." He encourages. "If you don't, I'm going to stay here twenty four hours a day and bug you until you do." He threatens. Like he has worked some magic, Brennan's eyes begin to flutter. She blinks them open and a soft moan escapes her lips.
The voice that has been talking to her has been getting louder. The first time she heard him he was quiet and distant. But now it's like he's right there in her head and he's starting to annoy her. The only way to shut him up seems to be to do as he asks. Her eyelids feel heavy but she forces them open. All she sees at first is a bright white light but as she blinks a few times the light dims and a face comes into view; a familiar face with a broad smile going from ear to ear.
"Hey, are you back with me?" he asks. In her head she is telling him to stop talking, she has a headache. But all she hears coming out her mouth is a moan. She panics about why she can't say what she's thinking.
"Temperance, I'm Dr Harris. Can you hear me?" Brennan nods as she seems unable to say 'yes'. She takes in the blurry figure of a dark skinned older man.
"Do you know where you are?" he asks.
"Hospital." She whispers. Finally I can say what I'm thinking.
"That's right. Do you remember what happened?"
"No." she whispers. She remembers a lot of noise and lights but nothing else. "Booth." His name is the next word to come out her mouth.
"I'm right here." He leans over her again and his face is clearer this time. She can make out his eyes. He's still gripping her hand, like he's never going to let go. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Temperance, we need to run a few tests okay." Dr Harris says. Brennan nods but the movement makes her head explode with pain. She cries out and grips Booth's hand hard. Despite the pain she is obviously in Booth can tell from the strength in her hand that she is going to be fine.
"Agent Booth." Dr Harris turns to the agent. "We'll need you to wait in the hall." He says. Booth doesn't want to go but he knows he has to. He leans over and kisses Brennan's forehead.
"I'll call Angela." He tells her. Brennan nods very gently, pain still rocketing through her skull.
"Booth." Brennan calls quietly. Booth returns to her side. He is confused by the slight smile tugging at her lips. "Get a Labrador." Booth is taken aback by her words and a confused look spreads across his face as he walks into the hall. If she heard me talking about the puppy, she heard me telling her I love her.