A/N Thanks for the great reviews and all the alert requests. I'll try my best to stay in character and if you find areas that need attention, please let me know. This chapter is a little shorter, but I hope to put some more up later tonight.
Disclaimer - I still don't own Bones or any of the characters.
Chapter 2
The normally strong, invincible Temperance Brennan lay on her left side on the blue mat in her karate gym. She was vaguely aware of those around her, but frankly didn't care. Her main concerns were lying as still as possible, trying to keep tears at bay, and willing the searing pain in her left leg to go away. 'I'm a forensic anthropologist for Christ's sake, I can handle falling in a karate match!' she thought to herself. After a few minutes and at least a thousand throbs later, she realized that the pain wasn't going to go away, so she might as well face it and the alpha male warrior she was sure was kneeling beside her.
She let out a deep sigh, her breathing was a little rapid, and opened her eyes. There was a huge lump in her throat, the type of lump you get when you are trying to keep tears from pouring out. She set her jaw, placed her hands on the mat and pushed up, ever so slowly. She winced as she straightened her legs. Only after she took another deep breath, did she begin to speak. "Booth," she began, "Can you run out to my car and get the gym back from my passenger seat? I didn't bring it in, but I think I'm going to need my tennis shoes instead of the heeled boots I wore in tonight."
Booth was floored. He didn't expect those to be the first words she spoke. He was expecting an ouch or something. He thought to himself, 'She's one tough girl.' After he saw the pleading look in her eyes, he responded, "Yeah, sure Bones. Um—is that all you need?" He then rose to do as she requested.
Brennan started to speak, but was interrupted by her karate instructor, Joseph Michaels. "Temperance, there is a student in the next room who is a physical therapist. Do you want me to go get her to have a look at your, um, your leg?" Joseph then cut his eyes from Brennan's and focused on her left ankle. If he had to guess, it was already swollen to twice its normal size – maybe broken, probably sprained, could be both he thought.
She was still working to control her breathing and not give into the pain that was threatening to overcome her. She wanted nothing more than to fall back onto the mats and cry, but she couldn't do it. She was Temperance Brennan for goodness sake. She would not let this get to her.
She exhaled and said, "No, thank you, Joseph, there's an ace bandage and some medical tape in my gym bag. I'm going to grab a quick shower, wrap my ankle, and then Booth and I have to get to a crime scene." She said this so confidently until someone jostled the mat causing her to wince at the ever so slight movement. She silently thought, 'If I had my gun, I would shoot whoever just did that.'
As she finished answering Joseph, Booth walked back into the gym carrying her green gym bag. "Bones!" he yelled, having heard her conversation with the instructor, "There is no way you are going to that crime scene. You just got the daylight knocked out of you and I doubt you could stand, much less squat to look over a body." Several in the gym heard the exchange and turned toward the excitement. Booth ignored them and continued the banter while dropping her bag at the edge of the mats. "I'm taking you to the emergency room right now. That's final."
Despite her pain, Brennan knew she could handle Booth. "I'm not sure what it being night or day has to do with the crime scene or me falling, but I'm going as soon as I take a shower." Brennan knew she was being snappy, but she had to be to make sure Booth understood that she was resolute. Her ankle would not get in the way of justice.
Booth wanted to snap back, but instead, he decided that he couldn't help her by pushing her. 'She's going to need some help, and if I want to be the one to help her, I have to change my tone,' he thought to himself.
With a changed attitude, Booth turned to Brennan and once again spoke. "Let me see." He said. He was doing his best not to jostle her as he approached her and once again knelt beside her on the mat.
Brennan silently complied with his request and pulled her white pant leg up. As she did this, Booth gasped. Her ankle was horribly swollen, and as red as those Santa suits she once forced him to sniff. He took note of the swelling. As best he could tell, it was swelling from just above the toes to mid-calf and it had only happened 10 minutes ago. 'This is not good he thought-poor Bones.'
As Booth looked her ankle over, Brennan made a mental note of her injury. 'Wide spread swelling,' she thought 'I'll check it thoroughly when I get in the shower and don't have an alpha male audience. Did I hear a pop?' she asked herself. Honestly, she didn't know. All she remembered was planting her foot, raising her right leg, and then pain.
The sound of Booth's voice called her back to the living. "Whoo hoo, Bones, you didn't hit your head too, did you?" he called.
Brennan snapped out of her little trance and commented, "Very funny, Booth, besides, it's a mat, it wouldn't cause a head injury even if I did hit it."
Booth was satisfied that he had gotten her attention and continued with his assessment. "Is it broken?" He asked her with a very compassionate look on his face.
"I don't know, it's swelling too fast for me to really get a feel for the injury." she responded. She followed with a quick, 'I'll be fine' remark and willed herself to get moving.
Booth hated that her response wasn't confident. He knew that if it was only a minor injury she would be spouting off the names of ligaments by now. The fact that she couldn't pinpoint the injury was a bad sign. He quickly focused on her eyes as she once again spoke.
"Help me stand up, and I'll go get in the shower so we can get to the crime scene. I wouldn't want you to make 'the man' angry with your tardiness." She smiled internally at her comment. She was fairly sure that she had used the phrase correctly.
Booth was still kneeling beside her. He placed his arm under her arm and began to stand. He was careful to take up most of her weight without making her seem helpless. Once she was steady, he took a tentative step toward the edge of the mats. She winced loudly. So loudly, that he thought for a second that she might begin to cry.
He began to speak in a quite tone. "Bones, let me carry you off the mat. It's way too squishy, and your ankle is too unstable to walk on this without being wrapped up." He was trying to appeal to her logical nature. "Once we get to the side, I'll let you walk." He finished.
She didn't like the idea, but knew it was for the best, so she complied. "Fine, but don't get used to the alpha male display. I can take care of myself."
"I know Bones, I know." With that sentiment, Booth carried Brennan off the mat and sat her on the level carpet at the side. He quickly grabbed her bag without letting go of her and once she seemed ready, they began the long 15 foot walk to the locker room.
Brennan's thoughts were only on the pain that was taking over her body. With every step, she wanted to scream. She really couldn't put any weight on her foot without feeling like she was walking on a bed of nails. She thought to herself, 'I won't cry or scream, just stay focused. The locker room should be empty and I can loose it once I get in there.'
Finally, they reached the locker room door and Booth pushed it open. Brennan held onto the door frame and stepped inside while leaning on the wall for support.
Booth studied her movements and felt sick at the thought of the pain she was experiencing. She was hurting, and he couldn't fix it. 'A guy hug might help, but it's going to take more than that to fix this. Matters of the heart, I can handle, but this is her specialty, bones.' At that thought, Booth pushed the locker room door open and yelled inside.
"Bones, when you're ready, just yell, and I'll come help you if you need it." He waited for a response, but came up empty. He let out a sigh, grabbed a chair and set up camp by the locker room door.
