Chapter 1 - The End in the Call

The phone chirped from its place on the coffee table, stirring Booth from an uneasy sleep on his sofa. Groggily, he flipped it open and murmured, "Booth."

"Mr. Seeley Booth?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes, this is Seeley Booth," he said, coming more awake.

"Mr. Booth, this is Julie calling from Washington Memorial Hospital. We have you listed as the emergency contact for a Temperance Brennan. I'm sorry to tell you..."

"What? Bones? Is she ok? What happened?" Booth interrupted urgently. Before the woman could continue, he was already up, shoes on and out the door.

"Mr. Booth, I'm sorry, she's been in an accident. She's in critical condition. It's best if you come down here and the doctors can explain her condition further."

Booth snapped the phone shut as he reached his SUV and jumped inside. Without hesitating, he flipped on the siren and spedbdown the street toward the hospital as quickly as the vehicle would take him.

The sun was just lightening the eastern sky as Booth ran into the emergency room. Approaching the desk, he flashed his badge and demanded, "Temperance Brennan? She was brought in from some kind of accident? Where is she?"

The nurse behind the desk tapped on her computer briefly, then lifted her phone and paged a Dr. Carter. "Dr. Carter is her attending and he'll be with you shortly. You can have a seat over there," she said, gesturing toward the crowded waiting room.

Booth raked a hand through his hair and moved to lean against a wall near the door. He was still standing there a few minutes later, struggling desperately to stay in control, when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Agent Booth?" called AD Cullen as he approached from another hallway. "Agent Booth, what have you heard?"

Booth looked up in surprise. "Nothing yet, sir, waiting on the doctor. Sir, no offense, but what are you doing here?"

"Agent Booth, Dr. Brennan is a very valuable asset of the FBI. Do you think you're the only one who gets a phone call if something happens to her?" Cullen muttered, staring at Booth darkly.

Booth straightened a little and replied, "Of course, sir, excuse me." He was stopped from any further conversation with the arrival of the doctor.

"Agent Booth? I'm Dr. Carter, I treated Ms. Brennan here in the ER. Perhaps you could step this way so we can talk?" Dr. Carter gestured toward one of the rooms down the hallway.

Booth sagged, paling. He knew why those rooms were used. He reached out to the doctor, barely able to draw the breath to say, "No, Doctor, tell me now. Is she...?" He couldn't get the words all the way out. He was afraid if he said them out loud, he might just lose his mind.

Dr. Carter shook his head and stuck his hands in his pockets, glancing at Cullen as he confirmed Booth's worst fears. "I'm sorry, Agent Booth. There was nothing we could do, the internal injuries from the car accident were too severe."

Booth's knees buckled, but he was able to pull himself upright again. He ran a hand over his face, covering his mouth. "No," he whispered. "No, no, no."

Cullen stepped up beside him. "Agent Booth, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He reached out and placed a hand on Booth shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Is there anyone I can contact for you? Anyone you'd like to be with you?"

Booth shrugged away Cullen's comforting gesture, shaking his head slowly. His eyes were wet, but he refused to allow the tears to fall here. There would be time for that later, when he was alone. Alone...the word struck him viscerally and he almost fell to his knees again. Alone is exactly what he was now. He took a deep breath and raised his gaze to the doctor. "Can I see her please?"

The doctor's eyes widened briefly, but he nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. Allow us a few minutes to get her cleaned up and I'll send one of the nurses for you."

Booth and Cullen stood in silence as they waited for the nurse to arrive. Several minutes later, the desk nurse appeared and motioned them to follow her. The walk to the exam room was one of the longest walks of Booth's life. The nurse opened one of the doors about halfway down the hall. "In here, Mr. Booth. You can stay as long as you like."

Booth closed his eyes, trying to prepare himself for what he was about to see. He took a deep breath and strode purposefully into the room.

She looked beautiful, peaceful, laying on the gurney. She had some scrapes and bruising on her face, but appeared otherwise unmarked. The staff had removed any evidence of whatever efforts they had taken in their effort to save her life and she was covered discreetly with a sheet. Her right arm was free of the covering and he took her hand gently. Her skin was still warm as he stroked his thumb over the back of her hand.

The control he'd been hanging onto by the very tips of his fingernails almost snapped as he stared at her face. They'd had dinner at the diner earlier the previous evening, laughing and bickering as usual. And now here she was, lying on a gurney, lost to him forever. The juxtaposition of the image of her laughing across the table from him and her still form here almost shattered him.

He sucked in another choked breath and reached out to stroke her face. "Bones," he whispered softly, "Bones...I...I..." There was so much he wanted to say to her, but the words wouldn't come. He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. "I love you," he murmured, before straightening and pushing his way back out into the hall without a backwards glance.

Cullen was waiting outside, but Booth didn't acknowledge him as he nearly ran down the hall and out the emergency room doors into the sun.

Cullen paused a moment before pulling out his phone and dialing a private number. "It's done," he said to the person who answered at the other end and flipped the phone shut. He nodded at Dr. Carter, who had appeared at the end of the hall and had watched Booth's desperate sprint from the building. Carter nodded back, then turned to stare pensively out the door, wondering if he'd done the right thing.

A/N Well, what do you think? I promise that everything is not as it appears, so please bear with me! I know Cullen hasn't been around for awhile, but I just couldn't see Hacker being at all competent here. Next chapter will be a flashback to explain all!