A/N

Sooooooo sorry for the long wait for an update, the problem with my laptop was terminal, the entire hard disc failed and I had to get a new one etc.etc. Complete nightmare!

Thanks to all who have reviewed, you're the best ;-)

This is just a short one to let you know I'm back and will be updating regularly.


Two weeks later.

Consciousness returned with a mixture of pain and confusion. Without moving or opening his eyes, Booth took stock of what he could. He was lying on his back on a bed that was far too uncomfortable to be his own, his head hurt like hell and his mouth felt so furry he almost wanted to shave his tongue. His body felt both numb and sore, as though made of lead; and try as he might, opening his eyes required far too much effort.

Desperately trying to recall where he was and how he got there, Booth became aware of the tube under his nose feeding a steady stream of sweet oxygen into his lungs, so obviously he was in a hospital bed; lifting his hand to try and scratch his nose, Booth also realised he had a monitor clamped on the tip of his left index finger and a drip in the back of his right hand. The most confusing aspect of his awakening was the feeling of wearing a hat, his head felt rather hot and itchy, obviously he'd had a bump on the head, must have been a hell of a bump, Booth thought, if the jackhammer between his eyes was anything to go by.

Booth was unfortunately well accustomed to the feeling of waking up in a hospital bed, usually with a hazy recollection of how he had come to be there. This time however, the confusion of having no memory of what had happened was starting to worry him, trying to open his eyes to search for a familiar face to answer his questions Booth fought a rising panic as his eyelids refused to cooperate. Trying again, he was rewarded with a slight fluttering, barely enough to let any light in, but certainly more than enough to intensify the already searing pain in his head.

Peering down at his immobile body, Booth noticed the familiar and blessed call button close to his right hand, summoning his rapidly depleting strength he managed to grab the device, and his efforts were quickly rewarded by the sound of footsteps and the hazy outline of a figure leaning over him.

"Agent Booth, glad to have you back with us. My name is Nurse Owens, but just call me Sam, I've been taking care of you the last couple of weeks."

Couple of weeks? Booth thought incredulously, "what happened?" he croaked, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

"The doctor will be here to see you shortly, she'll explain everything," Sam replied in an annoyingly cheerful tone whilst simultaneously checking his pulse, "how about I get you some ice chips to ease your throat?"

Without waiting for a response she turned and left the room, leaving Booth fighting to stay awake. His body's quest for sleep was not yet able to override his desire to discover what had happened, although if the doctor didn't arrive soon he was sure his need for rest would win out.

A short time later Nurse Owens arrived with her precious cargo, closely followed by another woman who Booth was sure would be very attractive if his eyes could just focus on her.

"Hello Agent Booth my name is Doctor Michaels, I have been your physician during your stay with us," she began, "I'm sure you have lots of questions but I'll try to save your energy and answer most of them straight away."

Booth lay still and listened to the doc's proficient description of the last two weeks of his life. It was hard to take in, especially as the events leading up to his hospitalisation were still hovering on the edges of his patchy memory. He was relieved to here he was recovering well and shouldn't have any long term problems, but he was still left with the feeling that he had forgotten something very important. His attention was quickly returned to the doctor when he realised she was asking him a question.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" he managed to whisper, wishing the nurse would just hand over the damned ice.

"I asked whether you could remember banging your head, you had a small contusion on your skull at the sight of the haemorrhage."

Sensing his hesitation at answering, Sam helped him take a couple of sips of the rapidly melting ice, the water tasting far sweeter to Booth than even a cold beer on a hot day. Taking a couple of minutes to think Booth flashed back to something that had happened almost a month ago.

"Yeah I did," he replied, his voice already stronger, "although it was a few weeks ago. I was chasing a suspect and made such a rookie mistake I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. He ran down an alley and hid in a doorway, I was running past when he whacked me across the head with a plank of wood. He didn't even hit me that hard but I think there must have been a nail or something in the wood cos it hurt like hell."

"Well that's probably what caused it, always safer to get these things checked out just in case," Doctor Michaels stated in a somewhat parental manner. "It doesn't always need to be a heavy blow to cause some damage, just remember that in future. Now get some rest, you've still got some healing to do," she added, then turned and followed Nurse Owens out of the room.

"Ok doc," Booth said, his eyes starting to droop, the short conversation had exhausted him and his body knew its' ability to heal was much more adept when sleeping.

However just as he was dropping over the edge, a sudden and terrifying vision flashed into his mind: Bones standing before him, blood seeping from a savage tear on her lower lip, her stance defeated and fearful; her eyes usually so bright and fiery, were brimming with tears and flooded with shock and fear. But by far the most shocking aspect of his vision was the fact that she was looking directly at him.

Instantly Booth was wide awake, his heart slamming hard enough to trigger an alarm on the monitor.

"What the hell was that?" he cried out to the empty room, although all his instincts screamed that he probably didn't want to know.



A/N

Like I said just a short one, will update soon.