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Though I Walk Though the Valley…….

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

I have reposted the 1st and 2nd chapters of my story because of certain information that was given to me by two of my readers. I am sure you will understand when I say that sometimes the world of the World Wide Web can be overflowing with information. The big problem is finding exactly what you need. Thanks to "Nyre The Black Rose", my sister in-law Dale and Anteater I have access to more information on Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Because of this new information I had to make corrections to some of my story so that it would be more accurate. Just as the television show "Bones" does, I also had to change, or come up with different ways of doing things in order to make the story more dramatic and shall we say 'rush it along'. I know this happens because one of the contributing writers of stories on FanFiction is an actual "Labsquint" and she has pointed out certain deviations from the truth.

In no way should the facts about Hodgkin's Lymphoma, that I present in my story, be accepted as the absolute truth. As much as possible I incorporated information from the following web sites.

National Cancer Institute=/cancertopics/pdq/supportivecare/nutrition/Patient

City of Hope= /patient_care/treatments/lymphoma/Pages/diagnosing

I have chosen not to offer too much information on Hodgkin's Lymphoma because some people that read this story will start to think that they have the same symptoms. While I was writing this story I was even starting to imagine symptoms. When I realized where my mind was going I looked at myself and thought "Geez, what an imagination, and here it is coming out of my own mind".

I hope you enjoy this story. Thank You. Kinoa

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Chapter 1

Special Agent Seeley Booth woke up in the middle of the night soaked in sweat. This was the second week in a row that this had happened. His sheets were wet so he got up and checked the thermostat on the wall. The setting was at 76 but the temperature reading was 59. He went back into his bedroom and checked his Big Bend wind up clock on the night stand. It said 4 o'clock. He sat on the side of the bed and thought about it for a minute. "I don't feel sick but I am hot." This was the first time that he had awakened and felt hot. Usually he just woke up when he felt the cold wet sheets against his skin. He went into his bathroom then to get his thermometer to take his temperature. Within 30 seconds the thermometer beeped. Booth took it out of his mouth and read it. He was surprised to see it at 102.5. "Maybe I'm just starting to get sick and that's why I don't feel too bad. Oh well, I guess I'll just take some Tylenol and try to get some more sleep before I have to get up." Since his sheets were wet he just pulled the blanket off of the bed and went into the living room and his couch. After taking a couple of Tylenol and a large glass of water he lay down on the couch and was asleep in just a few minutes.

The next morning he woke up to the sound of his alarm going off in his bedroom. He jumped up and ran for his bedroom to shut off the clock. He had to sit on the side of the bed for a few minutes so he could catch his breath. After awhile he got up and took a shower. Later on as he was shaving and as he ran his hand over his face and throat he felt a lump at the top of his throat. It didn't hurt so he dismissed it as nothing and went ahead and got dressed after brushing his teeth.

Booth headed for the Jeffersonian instead of FBI Headquarters. He had just finished a case with Bones and he was going to work with her to write up the case. As he walked into the lab area he saw Bones on the platform checking over some bones on the table. "Hey Bones, I have some fancy coffee for us and some breakfast. I'll be waiting for you in your office, chop chop."

Dr. Brennan looked at Angela. "What does he mean by chop chop?"

"He means hurry up with what you're doing and get in there with him." Angela told her with a smile. Whenever Booth used slang Dr. Temperance Brennan usually had to ask Booth what he meant or turn to someone like Angela.

Dr. Brennan removed her gloves and said "If that's what he wanted then why didn't he just say come into your office now?" She hadn't really said it to anyone in particular. Angela just smiled at her as she watched her friend go into her office.

"Why are you in such a hurry Booth? It will only take us an hour or so." Dr. Brennan said to her partner.

"I have to get this report into Cullen before he leaves for the day and he is leaving at 1o'clock. Here's your coffee just the way you like it and a bagel with regular cream cheese. I have the same thing except I have strawberry cream cheese." Cream cheese on her bagel was one of the few non vegetarian items that Bones allowed herself. Booth referred to it as one of her small sins.

While they had their breakfast they started working on the report and were done after almost two hours. Booth sat back against the couch and closed his eyes for a few minutes. Bones looked at him. She noticed that he was perspiring even though the room was cool. She reached up and felt his forehead. He felt hot. "Booth, wake up."

"I'm awake, I was just resting my eyes for a second." Booth said as he sat up straight again.

"Booth you have a fever. You need to go home and get into bed. I'll take the report into Cullen." Dr. Brennan said as she gathered all of the report together and retrieved her purse. She went to the couch and had to wake him up again. "Booth, wake up."

"I don't know why but I feel so tired. I woke up early in the morning and my sheets were soaked from my sweat. I felt okay when I woke up again though. Now though I'm wiped out."

Brennan went to find Cam. She was an MD as well as a ME. She found her at her desk doing some paperwork. "Cam, can you come to my office for a minute?"

"Sure what's up?" Cam asked Brennan as she got up and followed her to her office.

"Booth is very sick. He's perspiring heavily and he seems to have a high fever." They entered Brennan's office and found Booth asleep again. Cam felt his forehead and could easily tell that he had a high fever. His shirt was soaked with his sweat.

"I have a thermometer in my desk. I'll be right back." Cam said as she hurried back to her office. As promised she returned in seconds. "Booth, wake up." She said as she gently shook his arm.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." Booth said as he sat up. Before he knew what was happening Cam shoved the thermometer in his mouth. She took his pulse while waiting for the thermometer to beep. By the time she was done taking his pulse the thermometer beeped. She took it from his mouth and checked the display. It read 102. She didn't say anything she just stood and grabbed a chair.

"Sit over here Booth so I can check you for something." Cam said as she grabbed his arm and helped him to get up and sit in the chair. As soon as he sat down she put her hands under his jaw and checked for swollen glands. She found what she thought would be there. "Booth, take off your shirt so I can check the glands under your arms." He did as she said. Cam checked the glands under both of his arms and found only a slight swelling under his left arm. Brennan had grabbed a fresh shirt for him that she kept in her office for him. He had brought extra clothes over when they had come back from a particularly nasty crime scene one time.

"You need to call your personal physician Booth and go in to see him as soon as possible, like today." Cam said as Brennan helped him put on his clean shirt.

"Why?" Brennan asked. "Is it serious?"

"I can't make a diagnosis because he needs to go through some tests. It's never good though when your glands are swollen." Booth fished through his wallet and pulled out a card for his personal doctor. Cam took it from him without asking for permission and went to her office to call his doctor. After 30 minutes she came back in.

"Okay Booth, we're taking you to the hospital. Dr. Trent said that he would meet us there." Cam said as she helped Booth up. Dr. Brennan got on the other side and they walked him outside to his SUV. Angela wasn't in the lab but Hodgins was and he followed them outside.

"What's wrong?" Hodgins asked as they got Booth in the SUV while Brennan got in the driver's seat. Cam turned to Hodgins.

"We're taking Booth to the hospital for some tests. He's very sick. This is going to take awhile so I'll be back as soon as I can." She turned than and got into the back seat and Brennan took off leaving a bewildered Hodgins standing in the parking lot. After he got over the shock of Cam's news he went running back into the lab and looked for Angela.

During the drive to the hospital Cam kept Booth awake by asking him questions. Brennan was surprised when she asked Booth if this had been going on for awhile. "Yes, the night sweats started a little over a week ago. This morning is the first time that it woke me up though. I guess it was because I was running a fever." When they arrived Brennan drove up to the emergency entrance. Cam got out and pulled over a wheelchair. She didn't want to take any chances with him falling. Booth was so out of it that he didn't even argue with her. She took him into the emergency room while Brennan parked the SUV. Cam gave the receptionist all of the information that she needed and told her that his personnel doctor was supposed to meet them here. They didn't have too many people in the waiting room so they took Booth to the back right away. Brennan had come in just as they were going to the back. She made it through the double doors just in time to join them. A few seconds later and the doors would have locked and she would have had to wait outside.

When Dr. Trent joined them they already had Booth on the hospital bed and the nurse had taken all of his vitals. Dr. Trent was around 5'6", his face was weathered looking as though he spent a lot of time outdoors. Brennan noticed right away that he walked with a slight limp.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Trent. Which one of you is Dr. Saroyan?" Cam stood up and shook Dr. Trent's hand.

"Hello Dr. Trent I am Dr. Camille Saroyan and this is Dr. Temperance Brennan. Dr. Brennan is Booths partner and we work at the Jeffersonian. Can I talk to you outside for a moment?" Dr. Trent followed Cam over to the Nurses station where they couldn't be heard.

Fifteen minutes later Dr. Trent and Cam came back over to Booth and Brennan. "Booth I am going to go back to the lab, but I'm going to leave Brennan okay. Dr. Trent will take care of you now. Booth I am going to have to call Cullen about your being sick so that he can funnel any cases to someone else for awhile, alright?"

"Okay, thanks Cam." Booth answered sleepily.

Brennan got up and followed Cam out of the cubicle. "What do you think is wrong with him Cam?" She looked worried and near tears.

"I can't say Dr. Brennan; we'll have to wait until they get through with all of the tests to be sure. I need the keys to Booth's SUV. I'll be back in three hours okay?" Brennan didn't like her answer but she knew that logically it would be best to wait for the tests to be completed before making a diagnosis.

Dr. Trent met her outside of the cubicle. "We're going to be taking Booth up to the 2nd floor for testing. It might take three to four hours. If you want you can either go home or wait in the 2nd floor waiting room."

"I'll go to the waiting room." Brennan said. She heard Booth calling her so she went over to the cubicle where they had him in a wheel chair. "Take my gun and cell phone Bones. I don't think they'll like having them up there." He gave her a weak smile.

Brennan took his hand in hers and put her head by his ear. "Whatever this is Booth we'll handle it together just like we do in the field." To his surprise she kissed him on the lips and then his cheek then stood up and took his gun, holster and cell phone and backed up and out of the cubicle. Dr. Trent joined them while Brennan went out to the hallway and asked directions to the elevators and the 2nd floor waiting room.

Three hours later, as promised, Cam came in to join her. "Has Dr. Trent come out to tell you anything yet?" Cam asked Brennan as she sat down with two coffees she had brought along with some sandwiches, a hamburger for herself and a garden burger for Brennan. Brennan didn't touch hers though she said that she was too worried about Booth to feel like eating. Cam understood so she didn't push it.

Another 4 hours later a nurse came over to Brennan. "Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan and Cam both stood up. "I'm Dr. Brennan."

"Would you follow me and I'll take you to see Mr. Booth and Dr. Trent." Cam sat back down again while Brennan went with the nurse. The nurse took Brennan to Dr. Trent's office where she saw Booth sitting in front of Dr. Trent and another man in a white coat by Dr. Trent's desk.

Booth stood up and took Brennan's hand in his and she sat down next to him. Dr. Trent noticed how they continued to hold hands. He thought to himself 'This woman is more than just a partner'.

"Okay Booth here is what we now know that you have. The lab wasn't doing too much so I was able to get them to put a rush on everything. We know for sure that you have Hodgkin Lymphoma, which is a type of cancer. This is Dr. Clark who is an Oncologist." Dr. Clark stood up and shook Booth and Brennan's hand. He was as tall and broad shouldered as Booth, unlike Booth though he had a runner's build. When he sat back down Dr. Trent continued. "You're lucky Booth that Dr. Brennan and Dr. Saroyan work with you. Left on your own I have no doubt that you would have waited a lot longer to come to me, as it is we've caught it at an early stage and as soon as we have the results of the biopsy well know better as to how far it has progressed. Dr. Saroyan and I talked about it when you first came in and I agree with her that it's only located in the area between the base of your neck and the upper part. To make sure though we took that one biopsy from the node under your arm that was a little swollen. I am going to put you under Dr. Clarks care. I've been talking to him and we both went over your tests so he is already familiar with your case. If you agree we'll start the chemotherapy on Friday which is the earliest appointment we could get you. I'm sure you've heard of how ruff chemotherapy is on a person. So prepare yourself for difficult times for the next 6 to 9 months. Now I don't know what kind of relationship you and Dr. Brennan are in but I would advise you to make a deposit at a sperm bank before you start treatment. Although drugs now days are less likely to cause infertility you never know how your treatment may progress so if you want any more children make that deposit to be on the safe side." For the next hour Dr. Trent and Clark gave Booth and Brennan all of the information they would need to get through the chemotherapy.

"Now that you have all of the information I can give you do you want to go through with the treatment? I just want to mention that the longer you wait the more likely the cancer will spread." Dr. Trent said. He had been Booths doctor for as long as he had been in DC so he knew him very well.

"What is the survival rate with the type of treatment you are proposing?" Brennan asked.

"The chances are very good for this type of cancer. Ninety eight percent of all patients come out of the treatment with full recovery and can go back to a normal life again. For you Mr. Booth it will be a little easier since you are in top physical shape now. With hard work on your part I have no doubt that you'll be back at work within less than a year, sooner if you're a good boy and follow all of your Doctor's orders." Dr. Clark said.

Booth looked at Brennan. She nodded her head and he turned to the two doctors and said "What papers do I have to sign?" Dr. Trent picked up his phone and asked his secretary to bring in all of the forms that Booth needed to sign.

"Now besides the appointment for next Friday my secretary will make an appointment for you with a dietitian. I also remember you told me once that the FBI had you going to a Psychologist for certain problems, that I don't think exist anymore, I will need his name and phone number so I can talk to him." Booth started to protest.

"Don't argue with us on this Mr. Booth. There are going to be hard days ahead of you and some patients go into a deep depression." Dr. Clark told him. Then he looked at the two people in front of him holding hands. "I presume that Dr. Brennan will be taking care of you?"

"Yes." Brennan said before Booth could say anything to the contrary.

"Helping someone go thru what you are going to go thru can be almost as hard on the caretaker as it is on the patient. So she may need someone to talk to also."

TBC……………………..