I can't tell you how happy it makes me that you like the story, especially considering I've never tried something this angst-y before. Thank you!
Sorry for any possible mistakes – I'm not a native speaker, so...
Chapter IV
She was already waiting there, at the hospital, when they brought him down from the helipad on the roof. They all were, but the others hung back, letting just Brennan approach the stretcher.
Booth was awake but seemed unfocused, probably pumped full of sedatives or painkillers. He had an oxygen mask on, an IV tube in his arm and some bruising across the visible, upper part of his chest; face bruised, swollen, with traces of blood partially cleaned by the paramedics – he still looked like the most beautiful thing she ever remembered seeing.
She stood there frozen in the middle of the hallway, unable to move or say anything. 'What was the appropriate thing to say in situations like this one? What could she say to... He would know, Booth always knew what to say'
"Booth..."
It was him who signaled the paramedics to stop and took off his mask.
"Bones...hey...I'm fine. I'm fine, OK?"
She must look terrible if he, in his current condition, felt the need to reassure her. She unconsciously touched a hand to her cheek and felt the wetness there, her throat feeling like somebody was choking her from the inside. All she managed to do was lay a trembling hand on his chest.
"Booth" she tried putting everything in just saying his name, as no other words seemed to be able to come out of her mouth.
The corners of his lips moved like he was trying to smile but the sedatives probably took full effect and his eyes closed.
"Ma'am we have to go"
The FBI team brought them up to speed on the rescue operation as they were all waiting for the doctor with news on Booth's condition.
Once Hank Sutton was identified as the probable kidnapper the agents paid him another visit. He wasn't found at home, but a mobile phone invoice carelessly left on the kitchen table gave them the information needed to do a trace of his phone to his cousin's cabin in the woods. It was almost frustrating how such obviously unintelligent criminals managed to elude identification for so long. A SWAT team was transported by helicopter to a clearing a mile or so from the cabin, from which point they proceeded on foot as not to alert the kidnappers. Using an infrared scanner to pinpoint the exact location of the people inside they were easily able to take the cousins down. Sutton refused to relinquish his gun, forcing the SWAT team to kill him - "suicide by cop", as the FBI agent put it. His cousin was in custody.
All in all, a relatively easy operation, the agent had said. It was Sweets to notice his fidgeting, like he hesitated to share something.
"Agent Garcia, is there anything else?"
He looked uncomfortable. "No, not really... I... It was... If Booth wants to give the details it's his story to tell, but in my report I'll be recommending mandatory visits to you, Doctor Sweets. It...he didn't look too good and that place..."
Brennan intervened "Of course he didn't look good – there was extensive bruising over the upper...:
Sweets stopped her "I believe he means psychologically, Doctor Brennan"
"Oh" she frowned. "But why..." she stopped mid-sentence as the door opened and the doctor came out, instantly surrounded by everybody.
"How is he?"
"What is the extent of his injuries?"
"Is he going to be fine?"
"What can you tell us doc?"
He raised a hand to stop them.
"Agent Booth will be fine, his external injuries are being tended to as we speak; we just finished a complete MRI scan and there are no life-threatening internal injuries" he shook his head "How that is possible I don't know, considering"
"Considering what?"
"Doctor Brennan, you are listed as his emergency contact, so I am at liberty to disclose the information. However..."
"My friends from the Jeffersonian can stay and so can doctor Sweets. Just tell us"
They all sat in the waiting area, a feeling of dread looming.
"First of all, Agent Booth is severely malnourished and dehydrated, showing that he was rarely given sustenance during his captivity. He suffers from mild hypothermia and has extensive and severe bruising over the most part of his body – he was badly beaten, while his hands were tied up. Three ribs on the left side are broken, one of them puncturing his lung – fortunately it was a superficial puncture that healed by itself. We'll still need to operate to realign the bones properly"
"Punctured lungs can heal by themselves? I thought..." Angela interrupted.
It was Brennan who answered "If the puncture is superficial, in can happen. It is...extremely painful though"
"Two ribs on the right side are cracked, and so is the mandible and right zygomatic" he looked at Angela "Cheek bone". He hesitated a bit and lowered his eyes.
"There are also... multiple burns, with various degrees of healing, over his torso and abdomen from electrodes having been attached to the skin" he stopped here, letting them absorb the information.
It was Sweets who appeared confused this time "Electrodes...?"
Again Brennan was the one who answered, her back ramrod straight and hands clenched tightly in her lap. "Delivering electrical currents through electrodes attached to the body is a well-known method of inflicting pain". She swallowed hard "He was tortured"
More than an hour had passed before they were allowed to see Booth. He was still unfocused and agitated, as the doctors couldn't give him more sedatives because of the drugs the captors had used.
"I'm sorry but you'll all have to go now" the nurse was adamant about that.
"We can't just leave him alone like this!"
"One person can stay, but if he gets more agitated you'll have to leave"
No verbal communication was needed as Brennan just pulled a chair near the bed and sat while the others filed slowly out the door.
She looked him over, forcing a clinical detachment to her survey of his body. It was much worse actually seeing what the doctor described. Clinical detachment down the drain, she catalogued the visible injuries with a lump rising higher and higher in her throat. 'Can't lose it now can't lose it you have to stay strong he needs you get a grip get a grip!'. She forcefully swallowed the lump and leaned over him. He was still agitated, eyes jumping wildly from one corner of the room to the other, hands fisting the bed sheets.
"Booth... hey, Booth... you're okay, you're safe now"
He focused on her face, still breathing too fast under the oxygen mask.
She touched his face and made an enormous effort to smile. "You're okay, I'm here"
He was trying to say something and she removed the mask to hear him. His voice was faint and she had to lean closer to hear him. "Bones...you...you didn't come...he said you'll never come for me... you didn't come...don't leave me here"
She would have never believed that words have the power to physically hurt so badly. She felt like someone stabbed her in the middle of the chest and couldn't breathe for a moment.
"I...I... tried Booth, I..." she wanted to run; she wanted to go somewhere and bury herself into a corner and never come out again.
"Doctor Brennan you'll have to go. His heart rhythm spiked and his breathing is much too fast. I'm sorry but..."
Booth pulled off his mask himself this time, again seeming more present. "Don't please...don't send her away. Stay with me, Bones" he pleaded with his eyes.
Brennan didn't wait for the nurse's approval to sit on the bed, lightly holding his hand. There wasn't a force in the universe that could move her from this spot.
He fell asleep shortly after, gripping her hand hard, and she just sat there for hours until they came to take him to the OR to fix the broken ribs.
Only after he was safely out of surgery, sleeping, and the others again came and left, she went home, sat on her couch and cried harder than she ever remembered crying in her life.
