10.
When I woke up, I was back in my room, and a little woozy from the drugs.
"Hey, sleepy. How do you feel?"
"Floaty. 'S'nice."
"My Bones, anaesthesia junkie."
I tried to Evil Death Glare him, but he just smirked. "That doesn't work anymore, you know. I'm only mildly afraid, not constantly terrified of you now."
"Damn. I'll have to work on a new look." Booth laughed.
"Bones, I don't know where your sense of black humor has come from, but…"
"It's like one of those horrible Lifetime movies you keep making me watch. Steely damaged-goods female has life threatening event, finds love, and learns how to live. Blech."
"You're way better than Judith Light or Meredith Baxter-Birney, trust me."
"What a relief."
- - -
Jack and Angela arrived around seven, and I managed a few good helpings of the food. I saw Angela hand Booth something when they first came in, but was distracted by a hug from Jack. They stayed for about an hour, until Jeanne, who stopped in after her ICU shift ended, shooed them out, saying "Get your behinds out of here. Dr. Bones needs her rest."
Booth was sitting in his accustomed place beside me on the bed, me leaning against his chest.
"They're making less of a fuss about the … us thing than I thought they would."
"Well, Providence is hard to mock." Before I could ask what he meant, he continued. "When you go home, where is that, precisely?"
"Wherever you are," slipped out, before I could stop myself. "I am such a sap."
"Hey, me too, and ditto. But really—am I moving in with you, you with me, or are we finally running off to a white picket fence in the country?"
"My condo will probably sell faster than yours, just for the morbid celebrity value, and . . . I do like your bathtub, what I've seen of it, I mean." I leered at him. "Does it fit two?"
"Bones! Really? No fight?"
I shook my head. "I've been alone at my place for a long time, and most of my things can go into storage for the time being. Eventually, we'll need a bigger place that fits all our things and so I can have an office, plus a room for Parker and a few guest rooms, but for now… your place is good."
"That was … easier than I thought," he mused. "Well, since I'm on a roll…" He got off the bed, pulled out the bag Angela had brought earlier, and removed a small box. My breath hitched, as I recognized what it surely must be. In that instant, all my opposition to archaic, paternalistic institutions flew out the window, and I wondered what he would say next.
Settling back on the bed, he opened the box, revealing a beautiful bezel-set diamond, flanked by two cerulean blue sapphires, set in a platinum band.
"Yes," I said.
"Woman, let me ask you first, would you?" He sighed, then leaned his forehead against mine, looking down into my eyes.
"Bones, will you do me the honor of being my wife, to help me evolve, and to chastise my alpha-male tendencies as long as we both shall live?"
"Yes," I sighed, as he slipped the ring on my left ring finger. It was a little loose, but I promised myself I would eat more.
"Angela suggested the setting, she said it wouldn't snag under gloves."
"Good. I'm not planning on taking it off again, so don't go changing your mind, now."
He laughed, and pulled me in for an at least eight-steamboats kiss.