A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I was supposed to update this on Saturday - at least, that was my plan - but the stress from moving to a dorm and starting school made me forget :/ I'M SO SORRY! Forgive me? *puppy dog eyes*
Chapter 4 – Unexpected, Part II
Booth had just arrived in D.C. for the long weekend and was at baggage claim, waiting for his duffel to arrive. It had been almost 2 months since he'd last had a chance to go home and Brennan had had one sonogram while he was away. Her next scan was scheduled to happen this Monday and thankfully it was early enough so he could go with her, before he had to leave again.
He thought about how she'd look now – how much her stomach had grown. He had tried to get her to send pictures of her at least once a week, but she wasn't comfortable with sending pictures of her bare stomach to a computer that was available to all the soldiers on base. And he respected that, so he made do with just seeing her on the occasional long weekend. And when he did, he had trouble keeping his hands off her stomach and he knew he was annoying Brennan, but he couldn't help it. It was just in his nature. And he really couldn't wait to touch her bare stomach again and talk to their baby.
His thoughts were interrupted by his cell phone ringing.
"Booth." He answered, slinging his duffel over his shoulder.
"Booth, it's Cam." He heard a familiar voice say on the other end.
There was a tone in her voice that alarmed him, causing him to stop walking. Something had happened to Bones. He knew it. Either her or the baby. No, if it had only been the baby, Brennan would've been able to call herself, so something was wrong with her. He scanned the airport, looking for a place to sit as he suddenly felt dizzy, but there were too many people. He leaned forward, shutting his eyes and ran a hand over his face. Then he stood up straight again and started walking incredibly fast through the crowd of other travelers.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Brennan, she uh…" Cam took a deep breath to gather some strength. "She fell down the stairs on her way down from the platform."
"Is she okay? Is the baby okay?"
"Brennan's okay-"
"But the baby isn't?" He asked, his voice already starting to crack.
"We don't know yet. We're on our way to the hospital right now."
"Is Bones there? Can I talk to her?"
"Yeah, she's right here."
Booth waited to hear his Bones' voice. He wanted to hear from her that she was okay.
"I'm okay." Brennan said immediately, somehow knowing that was what he was going to ask. "Michelle is driving us to the hospital."
"Why didn't you call an ambulance?"
"I felt okay. I didn't want to make a fuss about it!" She explained.
"Bones, there's a baby inside of you. You have to think of our baby!"
"I know!" She practically yelled into the phone. "I am thinking about our baby. If I wasn't pregnant I wouldn't even have gone to the hospital." She said more softly, trying to relax upon Cam's instructions.
Booth sighed and hung his head, disappointed in himself for blaming her of not thinking about the baby.
"Right." He sighed again and got in one of the many cabs that were waiting outside. "I'm sorry, Bones."
He heard Brennan sigh and imagined her closing her eyes and leaning back in her seat, resting her head on the headrest.
"Where are you?" She asked.
"I just got in a cab. I'll be there within an hour." He told her. "How far are you from the hospital?"
"Michelle just stopped in front of the entrance. Cam and I are on our way in."
"Okay, I'll hang up now. Just hang on, okay? I'll be there soon."
They both hung up and went about each their business; Brennan getting admitted and Booth trying to get the cabdriver to drive faster. Of all the lousy cabdrivers that broke practically every traffic rule, he had to get one of the few that actually abided by the law?
He was left to his own thoughts for an hour and they were filled with nothing but worries. He worried that the baby might not be okay. He worried that, if they lost the baby, Brennan would push him away and that that would lead to them breaking up. He wouldn't be able to handle that.
He prayed to his God that the baby would live and they'd be parents in 3 months. Please, God. Please…
He slammed the door to the cab shut and ran inside the hospital at high speed, his duffel slung over his shoulder.
"Temperance Brennan, I need to know where she is." He asked the clerk standing at the admin desk.
The clerk looked up at him with a friendly smile, too chipper for Booth's mood and it was making him angry. How could anyone smile like that in a place like this? People died here day in and day out. It made him want to punch the guy, so he fell to the ground.
"What was the name?"
Booth had to take a breath to not start yelling at him. "Brennan. Temperance Brennan."
The clerk turned to the board of admitted patients, before turning back to Booth again. "Down the hall, first door to your right. She should be there. If not, please come back and I'll find her physician for you."
"Okay, thanks." He said, before taking off for Brennan's room.
He stopped in front of her room and observed the scene inside. Cam was holding Brennan's hand and she was letting her. None of them were moving their lips, so no words were exchanged until Cam noticed he was outside, watching them. He stepped inside as Brennan turned her head. Cam let go of her friend's hand and stood up to walk out. She squeezed Booth's upper arm, when she'd walked up to him.
"Call, if you need anything." She whispered and left.
Booth nodded and watched her leave, before walking around the bed and sitting down on the chair previously vacated by Cam and grabbed Brennan's hand.
"She's gone." She choked out.
"What?" Booth asked.
She closed her eyes and sighed, gathering strength. "The baby." She let out a sob. "She's dead."
Booth felt his eyes fill with tears. "A girl?" He asked and received a nod.
She placed her free hand over his holding hers and looked at him. "I'm sorry, Booth. I'm so sorry." She sobbed.
"What? No, Bones. It's not your fault." He assured her, trying his very best to stay strong for her.
"Yes, it is! I should have called an ambulance, but I didn't and now she's dead!"
Booth was struggling to not start crying, but in the end he couldn't hold the tears in any longer. He grabbed a firmer hold of both Brennan's hands and cried like he'd never cried before. He moved his other hand up to her cheek, moving closer to the bed.
"It could've been too late even if you had called an ambulance. It wasn't your fault."
"You can't know that. It's an assumption."
"You don't know, if it's your fault either." He said and that silenced her. "Look, we don't know why this happened and we probably never will, but… when – or if – we're both ready, we can try again?" It sounded more like a question than a statement or a request.
She just looked at him, without giving him and answer – just leaving the proposal hanging in the air.
She moved, so her back hit the railing on the other side of the bed. She was inviting him to join her on the bed. He squeezed her hand, before moving up to lie down beside her, never letting go of her hand. Brennan fiddled with the label on his uniform that said "BOOTH", smoothing her thumb over the name. He stroked her arm, causing Goosebumps to rise on her arms.
"Are you going to run away now?" He asked, when she'd calmed down. He was unsure of what this would do to her.
"No." She said softly and sniffled. "If this had happened with anyone else, it would be you I'd go to for comfort. You're the one I need." She said, not happy about admitting to needing someone. "I need you." She repeated nonetheless.
"And I'll be here." He said and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer to his chest.
"But you'll be going back on Monday-"
"I'll figure something out." Booth said, interrupting her. "You're not going to be alone in this."
Then they just held each other as they cried for the loss of their baby girl.
Tbc…
It was mean of me to kill their baby, I know, but it was in my head and it was the only thing that inspired me to get this fic going.
