I half-expected the name on my caller ID to be a figment of my imagination, produced by my lack of sleep and my intense desire to have my partner back, but the voice was undeniable. Bones was calling me.

"Hey Booth, it's me."

Shivers ran down my spine. I hadn't heard that voice in ten weeks. It felt like music to my ears. But as quickly as the feeling of happiness had swept over me, reality came crashing in. Bones was dead. I had killed her. This couldn't be real. It had to be a dream. It just had to.

"Bones?"

My voice was unsure and I thought I heard her sigh in irritation on her side of the line.

"Of course it's me. Who else would be calling you from my cell phone?"

But you're dead, I wanted to say. I turned around to see Erin still eyeing me worriedly. Mouthing the word "sorry", I quickly made my way to my office, my heart beating rapidly inside my chest. It wasn't making any sense. Bones was dead. She couldn't be talking to me, right now.

"Booth, are you still there?"

Closing the door of my office behind me, I let out a quiet sigh.

"Yeah, Bones. I'm still here."

My throat felt dry and my hands were still shaking. But saying her name, as surreal as the situation was, soothed me. I hadn't said her name out loud since the accident. Even though ten weeks had past, her name was still a taboo in the lad. One day, I had made the mistake of talking about her and their reaction had been… intense. Angela had seem on the verge of crying, Zach's stare had turned glassy and empty, and Hodgins had barked at me to never speak of her again before walking away, leaving us all stunned by his coldness.

"Are you okay? Your voice sounds weird."

Her tone betrayed the worry she felt towards me. I couldn't but feel comforted by that thought.

"I'm fine, Bones. Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

"Actually, there was," she replied, suddenly excited. "Angela has finished her sketch of our Jane Doe. I'm sending you the picture right now. Maybe you could look through the missing person's database to find a match?"

By now, my throat had gone past the point of dryness and my heart was no longer beating in surprise, but now, in mild anger. The conversation was the same. The day of the accident, Bones had called me with the same request. Either someone was playing a very nasty trick on me or I was losing my mind. I tilted for the second option.

"Listen!" I suddenly snapped. "I don't know who you are or why you are doing this. My partner is dead. I have no clue how you got hold of her cellphone, but it's not funny. I cannot be talking to my partner, especially not about a case that has been solved for a month now."

I was breathing heavily, both from the anger and from speaking really fast. I was tempted to hang up, yet my hand seemed unable to let it go. A force was driving me to listen to that sweet voice I had been dying to hear for the longest time.

The impersonator seemed lost at words. Silence filled the other side of the line.

"Booth, what are you talking about? We found the victim yesterday. And I'm clearly alive sine I'm standing here talking to you and I can assure you that I haven't died over the last couple of weeks."

Her tone was matter-of-factly, but I was still sure someone was imitating her. She was dead.

"Listen, Bones. I'm sorry. Send me the Angela's sketch and I'll try to look through the database after my meeting with Cullen. I don't know how much time I will have, I have to pick up Parker at school for his doctor's appointment."

"But Parker's doctor's appointment isn't for another ten weeks. Besides, Cullen is gone on vacation and won't be back for another week."

"What are you talking about? I spoke to Cullen yesterday. He said to meet him in his office this morning. He had something important to tell me."

Why was I even arguing with this person?

"Booth, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you need to take some time off."

I was about to tell that stranger to leave me alone when the door to my office opened. I looked up to find Derek Crane staring at me.

"The meeting's in five, Booth."

"What meeting?" I asked, confused.

Crane was usually the guy in charge when Cullen wasn't around. If Cullen was here, why was Crane summoning me to a meeting?

"The meeting in which we will appoint someone to represent the Bureau at the all-state FBI reunion in Florida."

My heart skipped a beat. I had already been appointed to represent the Bureau at the annual all-state. I was beginning to feel a headache coming on. I simply nodded numbly at Crane who closed the door and disappeared down the hallway. I was suddenly aware of the cellphone still in my hand.

"Listen, Bones. I have to go, but I'll stop by the lab later today, okay? Then you can show me whatever it is that you found."

I hung up before the stranger had the chance to answer. If it really were Bones, then she would be at the lab, right?

Resting my head in the palm of my hands, I thought about this morning's events. Nothing made any sense: Erin had asked me out to a restaurant we had already been to claiming we had never gone; Bones, who was supposed to be dead, had called to talk about a cause another FBI agent had already solved while I had a few weeks off after the accident; and Crane had summoned me to a meeting that had already taken place.

I still had a few minutes before the meeting. Crane's meetings never started on time. I turned on my computer. I would check my emails, then I would make my way to the conference room to attend the already-attended meeting.

There weren't that many emails in my inbox. Rebecca had sent me one, telling me Parker was fine, that his stomach aches were gone and that maybe we ought to cancel his doctor's appointment. I replied immediately that the doctor's office needed a 24-hour notice for any cancellation or else there would be a fine to pay, not realizing that Parker had had two episodes of stomach aches, one recent, and another one around the time of the accident.

I moved on to the next message. My mom was writing about my dad's birthday party, which would be held the following Wednesday, instead of the Tuesday because Jared wouldn't be able to make it on Tuesday. I frowned. I distinctly remembered telling my mom I wasn't going to my dad's party, that Jared could go if he wanted to, but I already had plans. Of course, I had lied, but… Besides, my dad's birthday was in September. October was now long gone and we had slowly crept into November a few days ago.

Scrolling up, I checked the date and time of the email: September 17th, 9:34 pm.

I blinked in disbelief. This has to be another figment of my imagination. How could a message I had replied to months ago be unread, at the top of my email list? I examined the other emails present in my Inbox. All of them were marked September 17th and older. How could that be? Had someone erased the more recent messages in my Inbox?

I dragged my cursor to the right bottom of my screen and double-clicked on the clock. The hands now showed 8:03 am. I looked over at the small calendar beside it: September 18th was highlighted.

I sunk back in my chair and rubbed my face with my two hands. If this was a dream, I was bound to wake up soon. If someone was playing a joke on me, it was pretty cruel. If it were none of these things, then what was happening to me? Had I somewhat been thrown back in time? If so, how? And who?

I was already late for the staff meeting. Whatever was going on, it was going to have to wait a little. Getting to my feet, I hurried out of my office and to the elevator.

"Hey."

I jumped, startled.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Erin was smiling at me, though I detected a hint of worry in her eyes.

"You left kind of fast."

"I know. Look, I'm sorry. Dr. Brennan needed to talk to me about this case we're working on."

Erin nodded.

"You still didn't give me an answer for tonight. Do you want to go to the restaurant?"

The elevator doors slid open and I stepped inside.

"Listen, I'm late for a meeting. But uh, we'll talk later, okay?"

As the doors closed, I closed my eyes and sighed.

I'm going crazy… I thought.