Authors Note: Virpukka, thanks for your review. Everyone: Enjoy and please review :-)
---Chapter Two: A rush to the hospital---
Seeley Booth, special agent in charge at the FBI in Washington, D.C., has had a long, draining day. He was back at work after being ill for the first day and somehow lots of work had collected on his desk. Sorting them, getting updates on ongoing operations, and just getting himself sorted anew took all day long. By the moment the clock reached 5 pm, he was tried, but satisfied to have done good work this day.
His last work for the day was a visit to his favorite team of squints. He needed to get updated by them, but in fact he was eager to see Bones. He liked the group of scientists at the Jeffersonian museum, Angela was a person impossible to dislike, Zach was always so eager to please him. And there was Hodgins, conspiracy lover and non the less a pleasant man. Camille, on the other hand, was someone he had known for years and slept with her once too often. But the person he went to see was Temperance Brennan, bright, beautiful and dear to him.
He was sure that the rush-hour in D.C. got worst every day. Midday it was a pleasant 20 minutes drive to the Jeffersonian, now he needed close to two hours. A visit to the squints no longer looked like a good idea.
Finally he got there, parked his SUV and walked towards the door. Soft rays of light shone through the glass parts of the door. When he reached the door to the Medico-Legal Lab it opened from the inside. Walking out was Angela Montenegro, perfectly dressed for a fresh summer evening in a colorful dress and black cardigan.
"Hey Booth, nice to see you." She looked him down. "Have you got something for us?"
"No, not today. I just wanted to catch up with you."
"You do that. Brennan is still working, a break won't harm her. See you, Jack's waiting." Angela smiled and started to walk away.
"See you, too", Booth replied.
Once inside the lab he oriented himself. The offices were dark, the only light source a table in the middle of the upper level. Seated there and absorbed in her work was Tempe Brennan. Using his security card, he stepped up the stairs and walked to her.
"Hey Bones, you alright?"
His voice broke the silence abruptly. Tempe twitched and looked up.
"Sure Booth", but her voice gave her away. Something was definitely not right. He watched her carefully, while they made some chit-chat about the bones on her table. What was it? Her hair? No, it was stuck together in the usual 'work time-ponytail'. Her fingers? Yes, they where shaking a little while she pointed at some of the bones. Her face? He tried not to stare too hard, no need to get her suspicious.
Then Brennan took a rib to show him something. In the next moment she closed her hand. Booth looked like he couldn't believe what he had seen. Had she really hurt herself with that bone?
Red blood drops between the white bones on the table confirmed his suspicion. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Bones, you're bleeding."
She still didn't move. A part of Booth wondered if she was in shock, but she hadn't even flinched as the sharp edge penetrated her skin.
"Your hand, here, open your grip." Carefully he pried her fingers open to see how much damage was done. The bleeding was in no way life-threatening, but much more than he would have thought normal for a wound in the palm. Most of it was on the inside of the glove, staining the near-transparent latex a bright red color. The wound in the palm looked ugly, more torn than cut and blood welling out around the rib bone.
Bones didn't move, she just stared at her hand, trembling slightly.
Booth looked around, but he could spot no one around the lab. Even the security guards had settled them self in their office for night duty, no longer walking around all the time.
"Bones?" No reaction. This was not normal, was it? He had seen her hurt a lot worse and she still had functioned.
"Temperance?"
That name got her attention. She returned his look, her eyes clouded with confusion. "What?"
"Temperance, we have to get you to a hospital. Come on, you have some bandages in your office, don't you?"
She nodded her head. Booth stepped to her right side, one arm supporting her injured hand, the other around her back to support her. Slowly he lead her around the table, down the stairs and through the glass door into her office. Seating her on the couch, he looked around in search of some first-aid kit.
"Roll boy", she directed him. Booth yanked the sliders open, starting at the top. Normally he would be very interested in all the things she kept there, but today he barely realized it. Top drawer: Tissues - take out-, a assorted collection of ballpoint pens, stencils, pens and in the middle of it a Mont blanc, and other office-related stuff. Second drawer: A thick folder, possibly her new book? There were other papers inside, some sorted, other just sheets with print or handwriting on it. But nothing he could use at the moment. And finally the bottom drawer. There were more tissues, some women hygiene articles, a small clear-plastic bag with make-up and finally the first-aid kit he was searching for. While taking it out he realized her hand-bag lying on top of the roll boy and grabbed it along.
Booth carried the kit and tissues over to her. He sat down with her and took her hand on his leg. It was still bleeding, perhaps even a bit more than before because of the movement. He could see no way to remove the glove, not without adding pressure to the bone still sticking in her hand.
"I'll put some bandages around your hand and drive you to the hospital", Booth announced and Brennan simply nodded. During all his attending to her hand she just sat still. Booth really wondered about her behavior. He was sure that he hurt her with bandaging her hand but closing her eyes was her only reaction.
When he was finished, her right hand was a large clump of bandages, held in place by some band-aids he had found in the first aid kit. "Temperance, can you walk?", he asked her. Carrying her would be a problem, she was slender and he had enough muscles, but dealing with the doors and car keys would be awkward. But if she couldn't walk, he would do it.
"Y... yes", she answered, pushing herself to the edge of her couch.
"Here, let me help you. Can you hold your hand up?"
She nodded. Slinging the shoulder strap of her purse around him, he reached out and helped her stand up. Again he used one arm to support her back, but this time he needed the other to open the door. Once or twice he had to fasten his grip, as she staggered a bit. Booth wondered, if she was in shock and tried to remember what he had learned about the signs and dangers. Pale skin. Check. Rapid breathing. No. Fast, weak pulse. He would check after seating her in the car. Confused and/or disorientated. Was she? She was not her normal bright self, so perhaps there was something dizziness. Booth got a gut-feeling that he should get her to the hospitals ER asap.
Opening the passenger door for her, he helped Brennan into his SUV. Handing her the seat belt, he said: "Can you fasten it yourself?"
"Sure." She took the buckle into her uninjured left and tried to stuck it to the bracket. While Booth closed the door and walked around the car, she missed several times. "Ouch." Her finger had collided with the bracket.
"Here, let me help you." Gently Booth took the buckle out of her hand and fastened the seat belt. He strapped himself in and started the car. Anxious he tried to hold a conversation with her, talking and hoping for answers to detect if she was staying with him. He should have checked her pulse, he couldn't do this while driving. What was more important? Checking on her or reaching the hospital?
"Bones?" No answer. Booth caught a glimpse at her head, resting against the window. But traffic was heavy, he couldn't spare his attention to look at her properly. "Bones? Temperance?" He nearly yelled her name.
"Eh?"
Was she answering or just moaning? Why hadn't he called an ambulance? What if she was in shock? Hundreds of thousands of horrible scenarios build up in his mind. Now his hand started to tremble out of fear for her. What if he had killed her with this stupid idea? But surely she hadn't lost enough blood to be in shock, had she? Or had she taken something? But why? And why had nobody realized it?
"Temperance", as this was the name she was answering best to, "where do you hurt?"
He was rounding a corner that sharp that his back tire collided with the curbstone. "Ouch... doing?"
She was reacting! Booth nearly started to grin, then he realized that his driving had hurt her further. Now her head was no longer resting at the window, she was bending over her hand, head held low.
"Sorry. Just stay with me a few more minutes, we'll be there soon." He tried to comfort her. Traffic was getting lower, so he could spare one hand from the steering wheel and touch her back softly.
Finally he reached the drive way to the parking lot of Washington Memorial. Booth paused for a moment. He could drive right up to the emergency entrance, but after handing her to the medical personal he had to drive away and find a parking spot, park and walk back. And they would not let him to her in the ER then. Or he could park first and then walk or carry her to the ER.
"Boo..."
"Bones, I'm here." That decided it. He would not let her alone in the hospitals system. "Just a moment, I'll park the car."
Thankfully there was a spot right at the entrance of the lot, with about the shortest possible distance to the hospital, available. He stopped the SUV, climbed out and headed for her door. Helping her out of the large car was weird, normally she was just hopping out the moment he stopped.
"Can you stand?" He asked and saw at the same moment, that she couldn't. Booth took her in his arms, careful not to let her hand or head bang against the car and yet impatient with himself. Faster, faster, get her help, every cell in his body screamed. He was torn between running for help and walking carefully so that he hurt her not further.
Brennan's head rested against his left shoulder, her eyes half closed and dark with pain. The white bandages on the right hand were spotted with blood, her hand lying over her stomach. He was just thankful that she was wearing her usual pair of trousers and not a business suite or some flowing and fancy skirt.
After a short distance - but it felt like a marathon run to him - he reached the entrance door and could deliver her into the professional hands of hospital doctors.
