CHAPTER 9
Brennan grasped tightly to the four items in her pocket. She stood outside Emma's room, hesitating briefly before knocking. There was no response. She knocked again, and again, nothing happened. She cracked the door slightly and poked her head in.
"Emma?" she asked to the room, aware that Emma may not be all that thrilled to see her. The clock beside the bed read 9:02. Brennan had wanted to wait for the DNA results to get in before talking to Emma.
Emma was lying on her left side, her right hand up on the pillow under her head and her left, cast hand, hanging off of the bed. The gold heart necklace hung from her neck. Her eyes were closed. Maybe she is finally getting some rest Brennan thought. Brennan regarded Emma for a while. She looked at her features. Now that Brennan thought of it, Emma's bone structure was shockingly similar to her own. She had the square jaw line, the perfect nose, the high cheek bones. Brennan smiled at Emma and decided to leave and wait in the waiting room. Just as she opened the door again, Emma stirred.
"Is someone there?" Emma asked, her eyes opening.
"Emma, hi. It's Dr. Brennan," Brennan replied, closing the door once again.
Emma began to sit up, "What are you doing here? Are you here to shout at me some more?" Emma said harshly.
Brennan would not have expected any less. She knew that Emma would not be happy to see her given how she had treated her earlier.
"Do I need your partner to protect me?" Emma asked, a frown on her face.
"No, Emma. Look, I apologize for last night. I," Brennan looked down and crossed her arms, "I jumped to a conclusion when I didn't have all of the facts."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Emma stated, obviously still confused about everything that had taken place between the two of them.
Brennan took a breath before continuing, "I thought that you were lying. I'm sorry-"
"What possible reason would I have to lie? What did you think I was lying about? You freaked out over the picture of my father, I don't get it," Emma said as she accidentally leaned on her left hand to prop herself up. "Ahhh!" Emma winced in pain as she grabbed her wrist.
Brennan reacted in an instant and rushed toward Emma. "Are you alright?" she asked as she reached her hand out.
"Fine. Just not used to my cast yet," Emma replied, glancing away from Brennan and grasping her left hand.
Brennan backed off a little. "I know you are probably extremely confused right now, Emma. That is understandable. I wanted to come by to, well, to tell you some things you need to know," Brennan managed to say.
Emma was still looking the other direction, away from Brennan. "Yeah, like what?" Emma forced herself to look back at the doctor.
"Like why I freaked out when I saw that photo," Brennan replied, emphasizing the words 'freaked out' as they were not her own. "Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked, not wanting to intimidate Emma any further.
"That's fine," Emma replied, softening a little.
Brennan pulled a chair up close to the bed. "Emma, the reason I reacted the way I did is because-" Brennan paused, glancing down at her hands folded in her lap, "-because the man in that photograph is my father," she finished her sentence and looked back over at Emma, the pit in her stomach rising.
Emma stared at Brennan, a look of confusion blanketing her face. "What do you mean, that's your father? That man is my father," Emma responded defiantly.
"I know. He is your father……and he is my father," Brennan informed Emma. She waited a moment before reaching into her pocket. She pulled out two pictures; they were identical. She had searched her keepsake boxes and found her copy of the picture. She handed Emma the photo from her album and then revealed her own copy.
Emma still looked confused, "This is a picture of my brother and sister. They died right before I was born. Why do you have the same picture?" Emma asked.
Brennan sighed, figuring that her father had probably lied to Emma about her siblings. "That's me in the picture and that's my brother," Brennan revealed.
"But your name is Temperance. My sister's name was Joy. I was named after her, Emma Joy Branson," Emma explained, knowing that Brennan must have made some kind of mistake.
"My name was Joy. My father-" Brennan paused before continuing, "-our father changed my name. It's a long story; we can save that for another day."
"What are you telling me here? I don't understand," Emma shook her head.
Brennan gazed at her, trying to find the exact words. She thought that Emma would have figured it out by now, but perhaps she was even more like Temperance. Perhaps she needed things spelled out for her. So Brennan thought of the only thing left to say, "Emma, you and I……we're sisters."
As she finished, she reached back into her jacket pocket and pulled out a gold heart necklace with a diamond in the corner. She held it out for Emma to see. Emma's eyes filled with tears and a few began to spill out onto her cheeks.
"Where did you get that?" Emma asked Brennan.
"My father gave it to me when I graduated from 8th grade. I was 14. You said your dad gave you yours when you were 10. He must have gotten them at the same time," Brennan explained, feeling the pressure building in her eyes.
"It was my 5th grade graduation. He was so proud of me because I skipped 4th grade," Emma responded as she reached out and took Brennan's necklace in her hands. She reached up to her neck and clutched her own.
"But how? I mean, why did he tell me you were dead?" Emma asked Brennan, pleading for answers. She wanted to ask her so much more.
"All I know is that he was married to your mother at the same time he was married to mine. I just found this out today. I don't know why he told you we were dead. Maybe it was just easier for him," Brennan explained.
Emma handed Brennan back the necklace, still grasping tightly to her own. "Where is Kyle? Or, wait, that's not his name?" Emma asked.
"Russ, it's Russ. I think he is with our father. I haven't spoken to him in months. He and I, we grew apart and we sort of reunited and then, he took off again," Brennan informed Emma. "It really is a long story. I don't want you to be too overwhelmed with everything. You have already been through so much," Brennan said, wiping her cheeks.
Emma mirrored Brennan and brushed her own cheeks with the back of her right hand.
Brennan watched Emma's face as the realization came upon her. It was like the clouds had lifted and Brennan saw a faint smile begin to spread across Emma's face. Another tear escaped Brennan's pools of blue-gray.
"You're my sister," Emma said, almost questioning, not quite sure whether she should actually believe it. She looked at Brennan as the tears continued to flow.
"Yes," Brennan said simply, confirming to herself the actual truth of what she had learned in the past 24 hours. "This is a copy of the DNA results if you need more proof," Brennan said as she pulled the paper out of her pocket and handed it to Emma. She smiled at Emma, a knowing look on her face.
Emma took the paper and looked at it. She returned the smile and reached for Brennan's hand. Brennan looked down at Emma's right hand, dressed in fresh gauze. She took Emma's hand in hers and gave her a gentle squeeze.
"Thank you," Emma told Brennan, hope reflecting in her eyes.
"For what? I didn't do anything," Brennan replied genuinely. Emma simply smiled and gave Brennan's hand a squeeze back.
"Saving my life," Emma replied.
"I didn't do-" Brennan began to say, but Emma cut her off.
"I used to imagine playing with my sister when I was little. I used to pretend she-" Emma paused, "-you were there with me and we would go on all sorts of adventures. We were always there for each other, no matter what," Emma continued. "I used to talk to you up in Heaven, if there is such a place. I'd always ask you questions and pretend like you answered," Emma's face lit up as she talked about her sister, who now sat before her, holding her hand.
"I'm here to answer you now," Brennan reassured Emma. "I'm here to make up for lost time." Brennan got up out of the chair and leaned over to give Emma a hug. Emma returned it with open arms.
"Thank you," she said again as she grasped tightly onto her newfound sister.
Brennan surprised herself at how quickly she took to the idea of having a sister. But, like Booth had said, maybe for once in her adult life, she would have a chance at a family……
