SUMMARY: "No, you're stuck with me." She managed to get out, gripping his hand tightly. He smiled in response, stroking her hair with his free hand.

"Quite honestly Bones, I wouldn't have it any other way."


Water.

The sounds all around her ears resembled that of water. It was all around her, submerging her in its icy depths, dragging her down. Panicking, she tried to swim shakily up to the surface, but was reminded that she could not as her body began to ache with her efforts. She still carried on trying, and even allowed a glimmer of hope to wash over her numb thoughts as she managed to break the surface with a hand, but the blackness threatened to consume her, and the water seemed to be encasing her, suffocating her.

With a last coherent thought of the people she would be leaving behind in the world, she allowed the darkness to finally close in, losing awareness of everything around her.

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He saw her slip from the man's grasp and plummet head first into the raging waters of the sea a short distance below him, and decided in a split second to save her rather than try to chase after the man, who he decided he would rightly kill once they managed to track him down again. Shedding his jacket on the muddy ground next to him, he dived into the water, feeling its icy effects almost immediately, with only one goal in mind. To get to his partner.

His Bones.

Already he could see her flailing about desperately, but every time he made strong motions towards her, the roaring waves would carry her further away, eventually pulling her underneath and not allowing her to resurface. With a sudden flash of determination, he managed to swim up close to her now unconscious figure and pulled her up, holding her against him whilst keeping her head above the swirling mess of salty water. Swimming in the direction of the beach nearby, he could only hope that she was alright. That he had saved her.

Or he would carry the guilt around with him for the rest of his natural life.

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Staggering onto the beach, still grasping onto the motionless woman, he gently laid her on the rich sandy surface, a hand reaching up to brush a wet strand of hair from her.

She wasn't breathing.

His heart pounding, he somehow managed to arrange his senses to lean over her and start doing chest compressions, pounding against the center of her chest. As he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cold ones, he couldn't help feeling a slight sense of loss as he breathed air into her, the agonizing dread that he was going to lose her becoming louder in his thoughts. He was hoping for a miracle.

A miracle.

As though he had breathed life into her, she started coughing up water, rolling gently to one side to get rid of the liquid that had gathered inside her airways. Murmuring softly, he rubbed her back slowly, encouraging her to let it all out, all the while silently offering up a prayer of thanks to the heavens. As she composed herself and rolled back onto her back, her vision focused in on him, as he was hovering up above her.

"B-Booth?" Her voice sounded strange to her own ears, a weak croak compared to her normal self-assured tone.

"Thank god Bones. I thought I would lose you." He felt for her hand, holding it in his own whilst he gazed down at her. She gave a small smile at him.

"No, you're stuck with me." She managed to get out, gripping his hand tightly. He smiled in response, stroking her hair with his free hand.

"Quite honestly Bones, I wouldn't have it any other way." He kissed her softly on her forehead whilst continuing to sooth her as a group of paramedics finally made their way down to where the pair were, and he made a vow to himself that he would never leave her.

END


AN: Plot bunnies attack at... 2:00 AM. I personally do not know that much about what happens after you use CPR on someone who nearly drowns, but this seems to be the general conception, and it stuck. Good night all, now I'm tired. :3