My Son
Chapter 2
The police officer approached Booth. "What is your son's name sir?" At first Booth didn't hear the police officer so he asked again and this time Booth answered.
"Parker Booth." The officer handed over the back pack to him. Booth's hands were shaking as he reached for the back pack. He looked at the front and he could see it was the one that he had bought for his son just 2 weeks before.
Brennan came to his side as he opened the back pack and pulled out the contents. He carefully opened the plain paper that obviously had something drawn on it. The picture was of a building with the words FBI printed on the front. In the front was a man standing with a cloak flowing down his back and a big letter S on his chest. Next to the drawing of the man was the words "My Dad". In the lower right corner was the name of the owner PARKER BOOTH in big bold letters.
Booth crumpled to the ground. He looked upwards and just yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Parker, Parker, my son, my son." He crumpled the picture in his fists and turned to Brennan who was kneeling by his side. He grabbed onto her and buried his face in her lap. He cried great soul wrenching sobs. Brennan held on to him and tried to comfort him as best she could. She didn't really know what to do because Booth was the one that always handled something like this. She felt helpless so she looked to Angela.
Angela came and kneeled down beside her friend. Brennan was crying almost as hard as Booth was. "What do I do? I don't know how to help him."
"Do just what you're doing Sweetie, that's all you can do." Angela answered as she put her arm around Brennan's shoulders.
While they were on the ground one of the police officers pulled Cam over a few feet away from the rest. "Who is the woman with the father?"
"She is Dr. Brennan of the Jeffersonian. She is Special Agent Booth's partner." Cam answered.
"Do you happen to know if the boy's mother is here in DC?" The officer asked.
"Yes she works in the Preston building. Agent Booth was going to pick up his son because his mother had to work late."
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3:30 PM Preston building
Drew was in his office in the Preston building and watching the TV for any news on the weather before he left for the day. The letters for Special Report came up on the screen. At first he saw the sight of the school bus in flames then they showed the bus driver being questioned by a man as he was being put into an ambulance. The reporter and camera man kept close to the man that had been questioning the bus driver. When the man turned around to go to the school bus Drew could see that it was Parkers father Seeley Booth. Drew had seen the letters LINCOLN ELEMENTARY printed on the side of the bus. He quickly put 2 and 2 together and grabbed his coat and ran to the elevator and the offices where Rebecca worked.
Drew ran directly to Rebecca's office as soon as the elevator door opened. She wasn't in her office so he asked her secretary. "Where is Rebecca?"
"She's in a meeting with a client." Drew ran over to the closest meeting room and opened the door without knocking. Rebecca stood up as he came in.
"Drew what are you doing here?"
"Rebecca, there has been an accident with Parkers school bus." Without thinking twice she ran to get her purse and coat and they were out of the doors within seconds.
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As Cam and the Police officer were talking a car pulled up by the fire truck with a woman and man in it. The woman came running over to where Booth was.
"Seeley, where is my son?" Booth looked up and at Rebecca. He let go of Brennan and stood up. By his swollen eyes and tear stained face she knew what had happened but she wanted to hear it from Seeley. Booth told her what had happened. As Rebecca started screaming Booth went to her and held her in his arms.
"Our son is gone Rebecca, our son is gone."
After a few minutes Drew came over and took Rebecca from Booth. He just looked at Drew. "I'll take care of her Seeley." Drew said as he took Rebecca in his arms.
One hour later the fire had been put out and they had found the burned body of a boy. Booth and Rebecca started to walk over to the body but Drew pulled back Rebecca. "You don't need to see him as he is now Rebecca." Booth continued on without her. Brennan had come over and looked at the body. It was burned beyond recognition. Brennan turned to Cam.
"Can we have the body taken to the Jeffersonian so that we can verify that it is Parker?"
"Yes." Cam gave instructions to the coroner driver that the body was to be taken to the Jeffersonian for positive ID. Brennan noticed then that Booth was standing right behind her. He just stood there and stared at his sons burned body.
As the coroner took the body and placed it in his van Booth said "Where are they taking my son?" He asked this just as though it was just another murder victim's body.
"Cam said that we could have the body delivered to the Jeffersonian so that we could make a positive ID." Brennan answered.
"I want to go to the Jeffersonian than. I don't want him to be alone."
"Okay Booth. Hodgins can drive us back." Brennan took her partners hand and guided him back to his SUV. She saw Drew take Rebecca back to their own car and leave. She opened the door for Booth and he got in the back and to the middle of the seat without saying anything. Brennan got in and sat next to him while Cam got in the back from the other side. Hodgins took the driver's seat while Angela sat in the passenger seat. It took them 30 minutes to get back to the Jeffersonian. It would have been sooner but a heavy snow storm had started and it was difficult to see where he was going. Hodgins pulled up to the front of the building and let everyone get out and then parked the SUV in the visitors section.
Brennan continued to hold onto Booth's hand as she walked him into the building and to the Lab. The coroner had already delivered the body and placed it on the cold stainless steel table. Booth saw it and went up to the platform. Everyone watched him as he pulled a chair over by the table and took hold of the badly burned hand of the boy on the table. He just leaned his head against the edge of the table and started crying silent tears for the son that he would no longer be able to hold or play games with. Normally Brennan would have prevented him from contaminating the table but she knew that tonight was different. She knew that he needed to hold onto his son's hand for the last time.
"Let's get busy. I don't want him to have to look at his son like this any longer than he has to." Quietly, they put on their lab coats and started to get samples from the body. Cam took imprints from the bodies teeth while Brennan obtained samples for DNA matching. She was able to get blood from the left arm that had apparently been under the rest of the body. They removed what was left of the clothes so they could check for any other obvious markings and to take measurements.
After an hour had gone by Hodgins came over to Brennan. She had been examining the hand that hadn't been burned. She couldn't remember Parkers hand being so large. Hodgins whispered to her. "We need to get a sample from Booth to test his DNA against his sons."
"I'll get it." Brennan said as she grabbed a swab to get what Hodgins needed.
Brennan stood by Booth and gently shook his shoulder. He had apparently cried himself to sleep. "Booth, wake up." He raised his head and looked at Brennan. His eyes were swollen and blood shot. He blinked several times and rubbed his eyes. The bright fluorescent lights were almost blinding.
"Booth I need to get a sample from you to compare your DNA against the body." He sat up and opened his mouth so that she could swab the inside of his mouth. Brennan got what she needed then handed the swab to Hodgins. She turned back to Booth then.
"Booth, get up and come and lay down in my office."
"I don't want him to be alone." He said as he stood up and blinked his eyes again at the bright fluorescent lights.
"He won't be alone. Cam, Hodgins and Angela are here." Brennan said as she guided him over to her office. Booth stopped before going into her office.
"I have to go to the bathroom first." He let go of her hand and walked over to the men's room.
As she waited outside of the men's room door she looked at her watch. Fifteen minutes later she looked at her watch again, he still hadn't come out. She knocked on the door and didn't receive an answer so she opened the door and called out to him. "Booth, are you all right?" No answer. Brennan walked in and turned the corner wall and looked in. At the end of the row of wash basins she found him sitting on the floor and just staring out in space. She went to him and kneeled on the floor beside him and waited for him to look at her.
"I was remembering when I had to potty train him. Rebecca brought him over to my house at 7 in the morning while he was still asleep. He was 1 ½ years old and she was having a hard time getting him to start using his potty chair instead of just peeing in his diapers. Instead of giving me the usual diaper bag she brought in a child's Potty chair. When I asked her why she hadn't brought any diapers she just looked at me with her hands on her hips and said "You have the same equipment he does so show him how big boys pee in their potty chair and that only babies wear diapers. I have Pull Up diapers in his little suit case and some overnight diapers. You're his father so do your part and potty train him." She gave Parker a kiss then walked out.
"Were you able to train him in just one weekend?"
"Yes I did. When he woke up I took him into the bathroom where I had his potty chair. I pulled off his diapers and placed him on a stool that I had next to the toilet. I told him to hold his penis then I pulled mine out and started to pee and he did the same thing. I had to wipe the side of the toilet up but he got most of it inside. I put his diaper back on and we washed our hands then I sat him on the counter and I looked him in the eyes and I said "Now that is how big boys go potty. From now on whenever you have to go potty you tell me and well go potty together like big boys okay?" He said okay and that was that. I took him into his bedroom and put his pull ups on and only put diapers on him at night."
"Did he have any accidents?"
"Just once and after that he would come and wake me up and we would go potty together. Rebecca said he had two accidents at home but then he always got up and went potty by himself once she showed him that he had to do it by himself because she didn't have a penis like him. She said he didn't have any more questions after she showed him that she didn't have a penis." Brennan and Booth laughed at his memories of his son.
"Let's get up and go into my office. My couch opens up into a bed and you can lie down." She got up and pulled him up after her. They went into her office and Booth stood to the side while Brennan opened up the couch so that it laid flat. She helped him take off his jacket and made him sit down while she pulled his shoes off. He lay down and she gave him a pillow for his head. She went to a large drawer and pulled out a blanket that she kept in there for the times when she worked late. She covered him then closed the drapes, turned off the lights and started to leave when she heard him call out to her.
"Bones."
"Yes."
"Would you come and lie down with me for awhile until I go to sleep, I don't want to be alone." Without even thinking about it she closed the door and went to the couch and removed her shoes. He lifted the blanket so she could lie next to him. He scooted down a little so she could hold him and he could put his head on her chest and wrap his arm around her waist. She wrapped her arm around him and ran her hand through his hair until he went to sleep.
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8 PM Friday Evening: Lincoln Elementary
While checking Lincoln Elementary school on a routine patrol officer Swanson and Davidson shined the patrol cars spot lights around the grounds and the building. They spotted movement in the bushes by a tree and stopped to check it out. In among the bushes they found a small boy. His head had apparently been bleeding as a result of it hitting a large rock. They tried waking him up by calling to him and shaking his arm. The child gave no response though so the officer carefully picked him up and wrapped him up in a blanket they had in the trunk of the car then took him to the closest hospital.
In the emergency room the Doctor examined the boy and found a 2 inch gash on the back of his head which he stitched up. When he was done he went out to the police officers. "How is he doing Doc?"
"I found a 2 inch gash on the back of his head but otherwise he seems to be okay. It's a good thing he had a heavy jacket on and fell in the bushes otherwise he would have been suffering from hypothermia also."
"Did you find any information on him that would tell us who he is?" The officer asked.
"The nurses went through his clothes and couldn't find anything. We're going to send him upstairs to pediatrics and keep an eye on him after they take some X-rays. For now will list him under John Doe. Tomorrow morning if he hasn't regained consciousness we'll start looking for other reasons as to why he isn't waking up."
"Thanks Doc. We'll check to see if there are any missing children reports out. How old do you think he is?"
"He looks to be about 7." The police officers left then and returned to headquarters to file a report and check for any missing children reports.
As Swanson and Davidson walked into the front they saw a man and woman waiting for someone to interview them. The woman was crying and the man had his arm around her. Swanson stopped and asked the Front Desk Sergeant who the couple was. "That's Mr. and Mrs. Case. They are here to file a missing persons report on their son."
"How old is the boy?"
"They said he was 7 and that he never came back from school." The Sergeant answered after checking the registration.
"I think we might have found him Sergeant." Davidson and Swanson went over to the couple.
"Mr. and Mrs. Case?" Davidson asked.
"Yes." The man answered.
"I am Officer Davidson and this is my partner Officer Swanson. Our Sergeant said that you're here to file a missing persons report on your son. Is that correct?"
Mr. and Mrs. Case both stood up. "Yes, have you found him?" Mrs. Case asked.
"We did find a young blond headed boy that appears to be 7 years old. We found him in front of Lincoln Elementary school. He had apparently fallen and hit his head. We took him to the hospital where they are taking care of him." Davidson said.
"That must be Danny." Mrs. Case said excitedly. "Is he alright?"
"When we left he was still unconscious. If you'll come with us we'll take you to the hospital." Mr. and Mrs. Case followed the officers to their patrol car and left for the hospital.
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7 AM Saturday Morning: Jeffersonian
Hodgins had been sleeping at his desk when he was awakened by his computer beeping with the results of the DNA tests. He rubbed at his eyes and looked at the screen. In big bold letters it said NO MATCH FOUND.
He jumped up and ran over to Dr. Brennan's office. The door was closed so he knocked on it softly but it remained quiet on the other side of the door. He opened it a little and peeked in. When he saw Dr. Brennan and Booth on the couch he opened the door and walked over and crouched down by Dr. Brennan's side. They were in the same position they had gone to sleep in.
"Dr. Brennan, wake up." Hodgins whispered as he lightly shook her shoulder. Brennan opened her eyes to see Hodgins. She looked down at Booth and saw that he was still asleep. She carefully pulled herself out from under him and stood up. She covered him up again and followed Hodgins outside of the office.
"What have you found?"
"We need to get a sample from Rebecca to get her DNA. I ran Booth's sample against the boy and no match was found. Do you know where she lives?" Brennan stared at Hodgins.
"I have a feeling that the body is not Parker. I was examining the arm and hand that wasn't burned and I couldn't help thinking that it wasn't Parker because the hand was larger than what I remember Parkers being. Wait here and I'll get her address." Brennan went into her office and pulled up Rebecca's address. She quickly wrote it down and went out and gave it to Hodgins. "Is Angela still here?"
"I think so, at least she was when I fell asleep at my desk."
"Okay if she is take her with you. Rebecca has to be handled carefully and Angela is good at that. I don't want to give anyone false hopes." Hodgins left then to get Angela and Brennan went back into her office.
TBC……………….