Booth moaned quietly as Temperance Brennan carefully checked to make sure that he hadn't damaged his neck or spine. Her fingers wouldn't stop trembling, but Tempe told herself that it was just the adrenaline boost she had just endured. Brennan didn't notice Angela kneel down beside her and jumped slightly as her friend placed a hand on her shoulder,
"Oh my god, is he okay? What happened?" Angela asked worriedly seeing distress plainly evident on Tempe's face.
"Booth fainted and fell down the stairs," she stated, trying to distance herself from the emotions fighting for dominance inside her head.
"Booth? Fainted? How'd that happen?" Brennan didn't answer Angela's question, she was distracted again by the agent on the floor in front of her. Booth stirred again and coughed as he slowly regained consciousness. He frowned slightly at the face that swam into focus over him,
"Bones…?" he mumbled, looking confused. "Why the hell am I on the floor?"
"Because you fell. Oh, no you don't!" Bones put a restraining hand on the center of Booth's chest. "You could have head injuries or be concussed and you'll just make it worse by sitting up!" Booth's eyes began to slide closed again,
"'M not concussed, otherwise I wouldn' be awake…." Booth half smiled to himself. "Glad t' hear y' care… Bones…." Tempe's frown deepened as she felt his forehead, just as she'd suspected – burning up with fever. How could a man be so stubborn that he would still come to work, even if he could probably barely wake strait?
One that doesn't have a life outside of work, an irritating voice that sounded quite similar to Angela's piped up. Of course he does, she retorted. He's got that lawyer girlfriend of his and, anyway, that was a rhetorical question! But Booth and Tessa still broke up a while ago…. …Oh, great. Now I'm having arguments with myself, and losing!
"So what do we do now? Besides panic, I mean," asked Angela anxiously, interrupting Brennan's internal debate. Tempe had a very strange look on her face and Angela was starting to wonder if she had been wrong after all about Temperance's feelings for Booth. Maybe she had pushed Booth down the stairs, though, for the life of her, Ange couldn't imagine why.
Booth looked horrible. His face was ashen and he seemed to be bleeding from a gash just below his hairline. There were the beings of bruises all over the far left side of his face and he was drenched in sweat. Other than the bruises and cut, Angela was fairly certain that those symptoms had not been caused by the fall.
"We get him home," Tempe said slowly as though not quite comprehending what she herself was saying. "And then we call a doctor. He only bruised himself in the fall, nothing serious, but he's really sick."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that one out myself, Sweetie. And what is he suppose to do when he's home? It's not as though he's going to be able to fend for himself." Brennan thought for a moment,
"I'll bring some of my work and stay to keep an eye on him until something gets figured out." Angela stared at her for a moment, but her silent shock at Brennan's statement was interrupted by two surprised yelps from Zach and Hodgins, who dropped his coffee and luckily not the large glass jar of beetles in his other hand.
"Ummm…" began Hodgins. "Is this going to be our next murder victim? If so, I think I just remembered I left something highly flammable on my stove at home, so if you'll excuse me-" Brennan sighed and glared at Hodgins,
"He's not dead!"
A/N: Review, review, review! It is your reviews upon which I thrive and am inspired to write more!
