"Bones, I've got great news!" Booth called out as he walked into my office on Monday morning. "I-" His smile disappeared when he saw my bruised face. "Whoa. What the hell happened to you? Did you get in a car accident?"

"No, I was attacked in the Jeffersonian parking lot on Friday night," I explained, striving to keep my voice free of emotion. "I woke up in a hospital on Saturday morning and was discharged in the afternoon. I tried to call you several times to let you know what had happened, but you never answered. "

He looked guilty. "Oh. Sorry about that. I had my phone turned off all weekend so that no one would disturb Hannah and me while we were having lots and lots of sex. Did they catch the guy who attacked you?"

"The DC police said that they'd try to locate him, but admitted that my case wasn't a high priority because I wasn't murdered."

"That sucks. At least you're okay now, though. Right?"

"Of course." If you didn't count the lingering pain from my injuries, the difficulty sleeping, the nightmares when sleep eventually came, and the fear that Dickinson would try to hurt me again.

"Good. I'm happy to hear it."

I wanted to hit him. The old Booth would have known instantly that I wasn't really okay. He would have taken me into his arms and comforted me. But that Booth was gone and he was never coming back.

"So let me tell you my great news. I proposed to Hannah on Friday night and she said yes!"

I forced myself to smile even as I wanted to scream. "That's wonderful, Booth."

"There's more. We found out last night that Hannah's pregnant. We're going to have a family! I've never been so happy, and in a way I owe it all to you, Bones. None of this would have happened if you hadn't turned me down last year, finally giving me the chance to move on. For that I'll always be grateful."

"I can't work with you anymore," I blurted out. Seeing him so happy with another woman day after day would be too painful.

"I understand, and I feel the same way. Things have been so awkward between us lately. I think it's best if we both get new partners. Maybe Agent Perotta would work with you again. You liked her, didn't you?"

Didn't he know me at all? "She was an adequate partner on the case we did together, but I wouldn't want to work with her on a regular basis."

"Would you prefer a male agent? I know a lot of agents who think you're hot; they'd jump at the chance to work with you. One of them, Agent Brady, might be a good fit for you. He's a nice guy, and really smart, so he won't roll his eyes at your annoying squint speak. You should give him a chance. In a few years you two could become good friends or even lovers. Maybe you'll end up marrying him and-" He laughed. "Who am I kidding? We both know that every guy you let get close to you ends up leaving in the end. You may as well accept the fact that you're unlovable."

I slapped him across the face as hard as I could, hurting my hand in the process. Yet the pain in my hand was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. "How could you say that? You're supposed to be my best friend!"

He rubbed the area I'd hit. "We haven't been best friends in a long time. How could I be friends with you after you rejected me?"

"I'm sorry I did that. Please let me explain. I turned you down because-"

His cell phone rang and he looked down at the caller ID. "It's Hannah. Gotta go." He opened the phone as he started walking out of my office. "Hello, love of my life and mother of my unborn child. How are you doing, beautiful?"

"Booth!" I moved to block his path. "Don't you dare walk out on me!"

He pushed me aside and kept walking.

"Booth! BOOTH!"

"Booth…Booth…"

"Bren! Sweetie, it's me! It's Angela! Open your eyes!"

I did. Slowly, slowly my brain accepted that I'd been dreaming and adjusted to my new surroundings. I was in a hospital bed. Not my office. Sitting in a chair beside my bed was Angela. Not Booth. Of course not Booth. "Ange…how long have I been here?"

"Since last night. You were attacked in the Jeffersonian parking lot during the Donors' Banquet. An intern found you unconscious and called 911. When you came here, the doctors realized you had suffered internal injuries and operated on you." Tears ran down her face. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry I pressured you to go to that stupid banquet."

"You don't need to apologize, Ange. You were trying to get me to reconnect with the world out of a concern for my well-being; you were being a good friend. You had no way of knowing what would happen."

"I know. But I still feel terrible about it. Booth feels terrible too that he didn't go with you. I have to call him and tell him you're awake."

I laughed. "You don't need to bother him. He and Hannah are probably having lots and lots of sex right now."

Her face was serious. "No, they're not. Booth's at the FBI right now, questioning a suspect in your attack. And you want to know what he was doing before that? He was sitting in this room, in this chair, waiting for you to wake up. And before that, he was waiting in the lobby with me, Hodgins, Cam, Sweets, and Daisy while you were being operated on."

I took a few moments to allow this information to sink in. "I didn't think he cared about me that much anymore."

"He definitely cares. When your doctor came to the lobby to tell us that your surgery was done, and that one of us could sit with you, Booth was out of his chair before the guy finished the sentence. The Booth we all know and love is back, and I'm pretty sure he's here to stay."

XXXXXXXXXX

Some time later, I heard familiar footsteps and saw Booth standing in the doorway of my room. He was looking at me in a way I hadn't seen in a long time, a way that never failed to make me smile. "Hey, Bones."

Angela looked at him, then turned back to me and smiled. "I'm going to go find Hodgins. See you later, sweetie."

"See you later, Ange."

Booth stepped aside to let Angela pass, then walked into the room and took the seat beside my bed. "I'm so glad you're awake, Bones. I was afraid you might never wake up. That I would lose you forever."

I knew that feeling well. "I felt the same way when you were in a coma after your brain surgery."

He reached for my hand and I gave it to him. "How are you feeling now?"

"Tired, but I'm receiving an adequate amount of medication, so I'm not in much pain. Overall I'm thankful that I'm alive."

"So am I. I've been praying to God and every saint I know that you'd be okay. Dickinson should be thankful too, because now I won't have to kill him."

"Dickinson? You mean William Dickinson?" My heart rate accelerated. "You have him in custody?"

He squeezed my hand. "Yeah. It's okay, Bones; he's not going anywhere."

"He confessed?" My heart rate returned to its normal rhythm.

"Eventually. He tried to deny everything at first, but when I realized he had a broken wrist, I knew he was the one. I used the same tactic on him that we used on Rick Turco in the Warren Lynch case. Remember?"

I remembered. Warren Lynch was a wealthy businessman who had caused a train derailment in an effort to fake his own death. That had been the first case I'd worked with Cam as my boss. "So you told William I'd woken up and identified him as my attacker."

"And it worked. He's never going to hurt you or any other woman ever again."

I kissed his cheek. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me." He looked ashamed. "If I had gone to the banquet with you like you'd asked, you wouldn't have been attacked in the first place. I would have protected you."

"It's not your fault, Booth. As I told Angela, you had no way of knowing what would happen at the banquet. Besides, you couldn't have gone because you already had plans with Hannah."

"Speaking of Hannah-"

"Oh God. You're going to tell me you're engaged and expecting a baby."

He laughed. "What? No, no, no. I was going to say that she asked me to give you these." He reached a hand into his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. My sunglasses. The ones I had given to Hannah when she was in the hospital. "She said she couldn't keep something that belonged to you." He paused, took a deep breath. "That's why we broke up."

I took the sunglasses from him and placed them on the bedside table. "You and Hannah broke up?"

"Yeah."

"Because of my sunglasses?"

"Because I belong to you too."

I was confused. "But you said you'd moved on. You and Hannah were so happy together."

"Hannah did make me happy; I won't lie about that. It felt good to be loved. But I realized that I could never love her completely because I'm still in love with you, Bones. I've always loved you and I always will, even if you never want a relationship with me. That's the truth, and I promised God and myself that if you woke up I'd tell you." There were tears in his eyes.

Booth loves me.

We haven't missed our moment.

Booth loves me.

I could feel my own tears forming. "I'll tell you the truth too. When William started kissing me, I wanted to enjoy it because it had been a long time since someone had kissed me. But I couldn't because I kept thinking of you. I wanted you to be the one kissing me. I turned you down last year because I was afraid, but I'm not afraid anymore. I want to give us a chance."

He kissed me with a tenderness I'd never known before, and every foolish romantic cliché I'd heard over the years suddenly made perfect sense.

"Will you take me home?" I asked. I disliked spending time in hospitals and would rather be recovering in my own bed.

"Now?" He laughed. "You just had surgery! You'll need to stay here for at least a few days."

"You left a hospital shortly after getting blown up."

"And I had to go back, remember? Stay here until they're ready to send you home, and I'll take you. If you let me, I'll stay with you until you get back on your feet. I could cook for you, clean, do your errands, do whatever you need. I'll be your personal slave. What do you think?"

"I don't want you to be my slave, Booth. Just be you. That'll be enough."

"I can do that," he said with a charm smile.

"Good." I felt my eyelids fluttering closed of their own accord. "I'd like to keep talking to you, but I think I'm going to fall asleep again."

"That's okay. Go ahead and rest, Bones. I'll be here when you wake up."

When I re-entered REM sleep, I didn't dream about Booth and Hannah again. I dreamed of Booth and me, and of a happy future that seemed more possible than ever.

XXXXXXXXXX

Only one more chapter (a fluffy epilogue) to go!

Thanks for reading! All comments are greatly appreciated.