Set after two bodies in the lab. Forget his arm is in a cast bent at the elbow for a sec too.
It only took a few seconds to cancel her date. She really didn't feel up to facing the outside world, talking to someone who barely knew her. Her capture had affected her more than she was letting on. She walked back into his hospital room and all the anxiety she had experienced outside dissipated. He looked at her a little surprised.
"I rescheduled" she said quietly "My head still hurts"
He seemed to understand and smiled at her. She knew he was teasing her as he waited to say
"We can watch TV if you like"
"Sure"
The relief that ran through her didn't show on her face she made sure of it. She sat down in the chair and shuffled it closer to his bed and went to lean on it. Her head was almost on his shoulder when he reminded her
"Bones, arm"
She half smiled and backed off a little so as not to hurt him. She watched the old movie for a bit before scanning the room. Her gaze rested on Booth's injured arm. She let her hand move so that her arm was lying parallel to his and with barely a space between them. He made no indication of having noticed. She moved so that she was half lying against the bed but still not touching him.
He was well aware of her movements but did not make any move simply concentrating on breathing. He could feel her trembling even if they weren't touching. He wanted to take her hand making sure that she was really there but he knew that he had to wait for her to make the first move. His breath actually caught when the backs of her fingers touched his which surprised him.
She noticed that she couldn't hear him breathing anymore but couldn't look at him. She let her fingers brush against his again then moved her hand carefully so that they wound together. She was reminded of Aurora where he had gripped her hand tightly to 'save' her from the men of that town. It was funny she thought that even so early in their relationship she was comfortable enough to let him dance with her. She felt safer suddenly having a connection with him.
She remembered the day before and their messing about. She had been having such a good time. She smiled involuntarily at the memory of his face as they danced to the music.
"What you grinning about?" he asked quietly startling her automatically starting to move her hand away but she stopped as she noticed how tightly he was holding onto it.
"Hot Blooded" she said by way of an explanation still not looking at him
When she heard him laugh she looked round grinning. He coughed and then groaned causing her to become concerned.
"Be careful" she said gripping his hand not sure of what else to do.
"Your fault" he said sounding like a little boy "You made me laugh"
It made her laugh again. She wasn't sure why but it did.
"I wasn't aware I was so hilarious" he said smiling
"I don't know why I'm laughing" she stopped with some difficulty
"Stress" he said "Had to find its way out somehow"
She just looked at him and he decided to shut up. They watched the film for a few more minutes before she turned to look at him again. He was watching the screen and she took the time to study him. She sighed, looked at the TV again and then spoke
"Thank you Booth"
"You don't have to thank me" he said not turning his head "I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd let someone hurt you"
"I'm still doing it"
"Too stubborn for your own good you are"
She could hear the smile in his voice but couldn't look at him. He squeezed her hand and she looked at him.
"I'd like to see the Bones that was dancing again sometime soon" he said smiling "She was fun"
"And I'm not"
"You are in a different way, she wasn't so argumentative"
"Well maybe we can try it again without the exploding fridge this time"
He barely heard her voice over the television, which she had again turned to look at. He couldn't help the broad smile that crept across his face at these words. He wanted to see her that free again and he wished that David hadn't rung so that they could have continued to dance. He squeezed her hand again.
"I'd like that. I'll see what else I can find in your music collection that we can dance to"
"I may have got rid of that CD" she said glancing at him half smiling "I couldn't have it in my apartment it just reminded me of what happened"
"Well I'll get you a new one and we'll make some new memories to drown out the old one"
She involuntarily blushed at that and he chuckled. She glowered at him pretending to pull her hand away but only to see his puppy dog face. She mock rolled her eyes and sighed making them both laugh again. She settled down again but this time leant her head on the bed as well and he looked down at her.
"You have no idea how relieved I was to see you there Bones" he said after a minute and her eyes connected with his
"I can imagine" she said "About how I felt when I realised that you'd come to save me. You really are a knight in FBI standard issue body armour and for once I don't mind about your alpha male tendencies"
"What?"
"Ask Angela, that's how she described you"
"I won't ask then that girl is scary"
"She's my best friend"
"My point exactly" she looked at him and quickly added "You can't hurt me I'm injured"
"Then it wouldn't make much difference would it?"
He looked nervous until he saw the playfulness in her eyes. That was new he liked it.
"You're evil to the invalid"
"Not so alpha male are you?"
"Hush Bones" he said patting her arm with his free hand "Watch the nice film"
"Do you know what it is about?"
"No" he admitted
"Can we watch something else then?"
"Sure" he said picking up the remote and flicking through a few channels before coming to another movie which was near the beginning.
He had seen it before but he was pretty sure she wouldn't have. He brought his other hand over to hers and placed it over their joined hands gently stroking the back of hers. She was relaxed and soon brought her other hand up to join his. They didn't talk anymore simply sat in silence half watching the movie and half each other.
By the end she was half asleep and he didn't bother to wake her not having the energy himself. They both dropped off to sleep in awkward positions but at peace knowing that they would both deny it in the morning but needing the comfort the other could bring then.