Disclaimer: First chapter.

AN: Sorry it took a long time. The day after I published the last chapter, one of my friends actually committed suicide, so I haven't exactly been in the mood to write anything. Pray for her family.

Sam watched helplessly as they wheeled Joy into the ambulance and closed the doors quickly. The sirens were blaring loudly as the emergency vehicle drove off towards the hospital.

The paramedics had asked more questions than they had given answers. How long she had been there, how much she had taken, if she had any allergies. Sam could provide no answers, only sobs, as they checked the pulse of her lifeless friend. Joy had no reaction, no twitch or slight voluntary movement as they placed her on the stretcher and wheeled her away.

Booth sat with his feet propped up on his desk, throwing a tennis ball against his wall repeatedly.

"Agent Booth?" A voice asked him. Booth made no movement at the sound of the voice.

"What do you want Sweets?" He asked in a monotone voice.

"Well, I was wondering if we could talk for a minute?"

"If I don't say yes now, you'll just corner me again tomorrow." Booth replied.

Sweets took that as an invitation to sit down on a chair in front of Booth and start talking.

"I know that you and Dr. Brennan had some very intimate words exchanged between the two of you-" Sweets ignored the death glare from Booth and continued speaking. "And I know that that's the reason she is no longer here. You told her how you felt, and she ran. You don't have to admit to it Booth; I already know. You told her that you wanted to give a relationship a chance, and she told you she could never be that type of person. She got scared and thought that you would be able to move on more easily if she was absent from your life. But, we all know, even Dr. Brennan, that that is incorrect. By her leaving, she made it harder on everyone to adjust. But Agent Booth, you have to be the one to bring her home. You have to do it." Sweets finished as he folded his hands together in his lap.

Booth said nothing as he stood up and walked out of the room.

Beep

Beep

Beep

Joy Keenan was hardly recognizable as she laid on the hospital bed. Tubes and wires were running back and forth around her entire body. Her skin was transparent, and the black circles under her eyes made her look like a phantom.

Her pulse had sped up to about 40 beats per minute since the paramedics arrived at her home. Her stomach had been pumped twice, and she had flatlined once. The doctors considered her lucky to be alive.

All of this continued to run through her mind as Sam sat in the chair gripping Joy's hand. She had been sitting there for approximately thirty minutes when a nurse entered through the door.

"Miss?" The nurse asked. Sam looked up and nodded.

"Yeah?"

"You said this patient's name was Joy Keenan?" The nurse asked politely.

"Yes ma'am."

The nurse paused for a moment before continuing. "There's not a record of a Joy Keenan that matches her description."

"Excuse me?" Sam asked.

"Do you have the patient's purse?"

Sam reached down beside of the bed and picked up the purse that she had grabbed off of Joy's counter as she was leaving for the hospital. She handed it to the nurse, who opened it and took out a wallet. Sam watched the nurse's face turn from confusion to shock.

"What? What is it?" She asked.

"A-are you sure this purse belongs to her?" The nurse asked.

"Yes. I'm positive."

"Oh, oh my. I'm sorry, but I have to step out-" The nurse said as she turned around. Sam grabbed her arm as she turned.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not sure where you got the name Joy Keenan from, but the woman lying in that bed is not her." The nurse explained.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked in confusion.

"The woman lying in that bed is Dr. Temperance Brennan."