35 Weeks
The report on the computer screen was dancing before Brennan's eyes. The longer she stared at the black words, the more they seemed to tremble. She rubbed her eyes again, and reached for her water bottle, hoping that the pain in her head would just go away for a minute, a second.
All she wanted was a little bit of silence.
She turned her attention back to her computer screen, and continued typing. Her fingers moved along with the throbbing of her head. She felt her child move within her womb, and her hand rested on her abdomen for a moment, hoping that the baby would calm for another moment or two.
All she wanted was peace.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard at a record pace, and the words she wrote appeared to be moving without purpose as she again tried to focus. She rested her head in her hands, and closed her eyes. She almost didn't hear the sound of the light knock on her door. She looked up, and was met with the cheerful blue eyes of her colleague.
"Hodgins?" She said, though her voice sounded a lot deeper than she had intended. She felt groggy, almost drunken by the headache, and she could see the guilt in his interruption.
"Are you okay, Doctor B?" Hodgins asked, keeping his voice low.
"Yes." She replied, clearing her throat. "Was there something that you needed?" She asked, noting that Hodgins did look concerned for her, she lifted an eyebrow.
"I had something to show you from one of the victims from the train depot." Hodgins said. He watched her try to get up, and stepped forward. "But it's alright, I could just hook up the camera up at the platform, and…"
"I prefer to see it myself, Doctor Hodgins." She said, pulling herself up slowly, she rested for a moment.
"Are you sure you're alright, Doctor B?"
"Just a little bit of a headache." She said, giving Hodgins a grateful smile. "I'll be right out there." She said. Hodgins gave her a nod and turned to walk out of the office. He gave her one more glance and noticed that she was steadying herself at her desk. He stepped out to find Angela, on his way to the platform.
Brennan managed to steady herself, conquering the dizzy spell that had threatened to knock her over. It made her feel triumphant. She then walked slowly toward the doorway. As she stepped out into the lab, she noted that the lights seemed a lot dimmer than they typically were. She squinted as she looked up at the fluorescent lights, and the glass skylights, and noted that it was dark outside, and she realized the late hour. Her phone rang in her pocket, just as she reached the steps, and she lifted it to her ear.
"Brennan?" She said into the line, glancing to the platform, she tried to block out the throbbing in her head. The line was full of static, and she could hardly hear Booth. She turned and held her finger to her ear. "Booth? Is that you?"
He sounded rushed, or upset, and she could hardly make out what he was saying. The lights in the lab dimmed and brightened, and she looked up. "Booth, I can't hear you well… are you on the way here?"
All she heard was the word 'home'.
"Are you on the way home?" She asked.
"You should be home, Bones." Booth's voice was clear. "You're supposed to be on bed rest."
"I'm at the lab." She said, speaking loudly, because the line was still full of static. "Booth?" She exclaimed.
And suddenly darkness.
Darkness, and then a crashing sound of metal and glass.
Then silence.
"Booth?" She said into the phone, but the phone was silent.
Silence.
It was silent, but not in the way that one would expect. It was filled with halting voices and alarm. It was filled with terror.
She ran for the door of the lab, feeling her way through the familiar open space that she had walked so many times before. She heard people calling for her in the darkness, calling her name with immeasurable fear. Ignoring the elevators, she slammed her hands into the door she knew as the stairway and the emergency lights lit her way downstairs toward the parking garage.
Out of breath and dizzy, her brain pounded in her skull, her abdomen burned as the baby pounded at her womb. The parking garage was quiet, almost completely black, and she pressed the button for her keys. She could hear sirens in the distance, so she knew that Booth couldn't have been far away when he called, he couldn't be far away at all.
She pulled herself into the car, cursing at her large size as she positioned herself behind the wheel of her small vehicle. She pulled at the seatbelt, listening to her own breathing as her head continued to throb. The seatbelt wouldn't reach around her large belly, and she couldn't remember if she had even bothered that morning when she came into the lab.
She didn't care.
The seatbelt slammed against the window as it flew back, and Brennan started the car. With a squeal of her tires, she maneuvered out of the parking garage into the street.
The darkness of the lab seemed to plague the street as well. The streetlights weren't working, and the buildings that surrounded her were dark. She put pressure on the accelerator and felt the tires screech beneath her as she avoided traffic and followed the sound of the sirens.
It was abrupt and painful, the squeezing of her belly made her want to scream, and her head exploded in a white heat. She shouted in pain, squeezing her eyes closed as her foot slammed down on the brake.
The sirens were coming nearer, and her eyes opened to see that split second, when the bright lights of the speeding SUV hurled toward her, the flickering blue, red and white flashing.
She tried to scream, and was silenced.
Nothing was left but silence.
The sweet embrace of peace at last.
