I owe you guys a happy chapter, so here it is...Enjoy!
It's been two weeks since Parker's second operation, and things are looking up. He's stable, his CT scans have consistently come back clear, and Dr. Brooks has started to gradually wean him off the ventilator. His oxygen levels have slowly been rising since she started the process a few days ago, so it's only a matter of a couple days until she'll attempt to remove the breathing tube entirely.
With Parker improving, Booth's been able to relax a little. He still hasn't left his son's bedside, unless to go to the bathroom and maybe stretch his legs once in a while, but he's been able to breathe. His belief in faith and his optimistic approach to life are both slowly but surely coming back to him too. That's not to say he doesn't have moments where he doubts that his son will actually wake up, but for the most part, he feels in his heart and deep down in his gut that things are going to be just fine.
It's 3:30 in the morning, and Brennan's just fallen asleep on the cot in Parker's hospital room. She shifts on the mattress and makes a sound that resembles a cross between a dying cat and a screeching tire as she tries to get comfortable again.
Booth skims his thumb across Parker's knuckles and smiles at the teenager. "Bub," he starts, whispering, "I love you." He rises in the chair, leans over, and presses his lips against his son's cheek. He sinks back down and sighs. He feels a slight grip of his fingers and pushes back the chair in surprise. He jerks his head and swallows. "Buddy, can you hear me? Squeeze my hand if you can hear me." Nothing. "Please? I know you've got in ya, bub." Nothing.
Brennan stirs and sits up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She twists her body towards Booth and brushes her hair out of her face. "Booth, is everything alright with Parker?"
Booth looks at her. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
She nods. "You did, but it's fine. What's going on?"
"He squeezed my hand. I felt it. Parker squeezed my hand, Bones."
"I highly doubt that, Booth. You're sleep deprived. It's all wishful thinking."
"I know what I felt, Bones. He squeezed my fingers. I know he did." He looks back at Parker and smiles. His swallows when he feels another slight squeeze of his index and middle fingers. "He just did it again."
Brennan crawls out of bed and stands up. She rests her hand on Booth's left shoulder and kisses his hair. "I'm sure he did, Booth." She moves her hand down, cupping his bicep. "Take a breath and come lie down. Parker's not going anywhere anytime soon. Please. Your body needs rest."
"I can't sleep now, Bones. Parker squeezed my hand—twice!"
She sighs. "I believe you felt him squeeze your hand, Booth, but it's probably nothing more than an involuntary spasm. It doesn't mean anything."
He shakes his head, refusing to believe that this was just some reflex, some insignificant reaction. He knows what he felt and he knows what it means. No one can convince him otherwise. No one.
She sighs again and turns back to the cot, defeated. She slips under the covers and rolls over, facing Booth. "He's improving. He's doing better than he was yesterday, so maybe, just maybe, he did in fact squeeze your hand for real, and it wasn't just a spasm," she relents. This time it's not just for his sake, but for hers, as well.
Okay, maybe it wasn't that happy, but progress equals happiness (in my mind at least) :)