A nurse came in and immediately joined Max next to Brennan. "Dr. Brennan can you hear me?" Brennan's eyes remained fixed on the ceiling.
"Baby, squeeze my hand if you can hear me?" Max coaxed, but she continued to stare at the ceiling. She could hear them, she understood, but processing what they were saying and what they wanted was suddenly in very slow motion.
She very lightly squeezed Max's hand as she tried to speak. She became aware of something in her throat. "She is fighting the tube. Dr. Brennan, you are intubated, stop fighting the tube." She felt herself convulse against the object in her throat as the words sunk in and she slowly started to relax. "That's it Dr. Brennan, you know it is a good sign she is fighting it, means she should breath okay on her own. I am going to get her doctor in here and see if we can get that removed."
Max watched the nurse leave and then turned his focus back to his daughter "You hear that, she is going to see if they can get that tube out of you." He smiled down at her as her eyes opened a little wider now and she slowly turned them to see him. Her vision was like auto focus camera lens, trying to focus on her fathers face as it was going in and out of focus as her eyes adjusted to being open again. "You don't know how good it is to see those beautiful eyes again. You scared us all pretty good." She squeezed his hand tighter as she continued to stare up into his face.
As the doctor and nurse came back in Max was ushered out of the room while they took care of his daughter. He found himself walking into Booth's room a short minute later.
Pops looked up and saw the look of relief on Max's face. "She's okay?"
Max nodded "She is awake, doctor is in with her now. How is he?"
"About the same; But he is strong and I have faith in him."
Max walked up beside the bed "Hey Booth, she is awake. Now get off your ass and wake up." Pops chuckled at the con, Max looked at Pops and smiled. "Sounds silly doesn't it, but maybe if he can hear me and knows she is awake he will wake up again."
Both men sat in silence for a few moments "You know Hank when they get released; they are going to need someone to take care of them."
"I am aware of that. I took care of Shrimp here his whole life and I have no problem taking care of him again." Hank eyed Max wondering why he brought that up.
"I know that, but you know I was thinking it would be easier for us to work together rather than you at Booth's and me at Tempe's." A glint came to Max's eye. "Hank, these two need each other and it would just be wrong of us to not encourage that ... to aid in their recovery."
"Are you suggesting … what I think you are suggesting?" He couldn't suppress the smile that was creeping across his face.
Max gave Hank the look of pure innocence "I was just thinking about us, you and me, we aren't spring chickens anymore Hank, we could share the duties. Tempe's place is spacious and less obstacles for them to navigate while they are getting back on their feet. Tempe's room is big enough to add another bed and there is the guest room that you and I could share."
"Hmmm, I see your point; Shrimps place is more cluttered, but also gives them more things to hang onto if they have problems walking. But I seem to remember Seeley telling me about a dual head shower that Temperance has?" He glanced at Max for collaboration.
"Booth knows about that?"
"Apparently they got all muddy or something during a case and he showered over there."
"Uh huh" Max nodded making a mental note he was going to have to ask the FBI agent about that little incident. "So what do you think Hank, would be easier on us old folks."
"You got a deal." Both men smiled at each other and then slipped back into their comfortable silence.
Another half an hour and Max returned to Brennan's room smiling as he watched his daughters eyes greet him. He walked over to the bed, bending down he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I am so happy to see those eyes again. I was so worried about you honey." She moved her mouth as if she wanted to say something and he stopped her "Shhh let your voice rest. I'll be here."
She swallowed and crinkled her brow due to the discomfort of the action. "No" came out in a raspy voice. "Tell you mother was in chapel." Her blue eyes locked onto the identical blue eyes of her father, his lips slightly parted as he processed what she said. Her voice fluctuated between being raspy and a whisper "She said you would understand." A small smile touched his lips as he slowly nodded to his daughter.
"Booth?" came out in a hoarse whisper and she cringed as her throat reminded her how raw it still was.
"Pops is sitting with him. He still has not come around after his second surgery, but you know Booth, he is just waiting for the perfect time."
The short time she was awake had been tiring for her and adding the extra strain of producing words out of a very sore through caused Brennan's eyes to grow heavy. Before he eyes closed against her will she reached for her fathers hand and held onto it as she drifted off to sleep.
Max sat there smiling thinking about the chapel, how he felt arms around him, felt her hand on his hands, but couldn't see anything. I didn't want to tell anyone, I mean come on how do you tell people your dead wife is next to you hugging you. But he felt her and then the sense of peace he felt shortly after her embrace. He had been right she was letting him know Tempe would be okay. Even in death his Christine was looking out for them.
He also felt something else, the sadness of her not being there and the years of loneliness he had endured since her death. No one knew that the first six months after she was killed he was very close to joining her, but then his sense of duty and love to his children prevailed and possibly a little push from Christine kept him in this world to do what he knew he had to, protect their children.
He leaned back in his chair, never letting go of his daughters hand and for the first time in the last couple of days he managed to take a nap.
Down the hall Pops kept vigil at Booth's bed willing his grandson to wake up, but as the minutes ticked off into hours, he was beginning to worry. Seeley had awoken once, but not since he collapsed in Brennan's room. Pops fought with his own mind, which was considering the worse. Pops stared down at his hands; it wasn't suppose to be this way, he wasn't suppose to be by his grandson's bed waiting for him to possibly die.
He shook himself erasing the image of a casket from his brain. He told himself no mentally, his grandson would be just fine. He was big and strong, he was an army ranger for Christ sakes, he went through hell over there and had been tortured and he came back. This little accident couldn't keep him down. Pops looked up with water eyes as the door to the room opened. "Hey Mr. Booth How is he?" Sweets asked as he slipped in.
"Hey Kid. You can see for yourself, not much has changed since they brought him back from surgery last night."
"Mr. Booth …"
"Call me Pops, everyone else does."
"Oh Okay Pops. Why don't you go get some rest and I will sit with him."
"Not leaving him. Not until he wakes up."
"Oh okay … umm do you mind if I sit with you?"
"Seeley says you get all shrinky on him, your not …" he was looking at the young man and shaking his head slightly.
"No, no. I just … Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth are different than anyone else that I deal with, they are more like family.
Pops chuckled, "You know they call you baby duck right?"
"Yeah, they mentioned it." He raised his eyes brows to Pops "not to me mind you, they were doing that thing they do, where they talk to each other like the third person is not there." Sweets smiled at the memory "I never told them but for them to give me that nickname was fitting. "He glanced at Pops "I did imprint on them, kids or people from similar backgrounds, for the most part, find their own kind. They were my own kind."
"You know Seeley thinks a lot of you. He just isn't good with feelings."
Sweets smiled, "I knew about the feelings part. Look at him and Dr. Brennan, neither of them will admit they are in love, but … I never knew they cared about me."
"Oh he will never tell you in so many words, but I am sure as time goes on you will see it."
"I think I have seen it some, but thank you for telling me."
A groan came from the bed and both men head snapped towards Booth. As they noticed an arm move they both rose and almost jumped to the side of his bed. "Shrimp?"
"Bones" came out in not much more than a breath."
Pops smiled down at him, "Max was here a little while ago, she is awake."
"See her?"
"No you are not doing that again, you pulled a bunch of stitches out and they had to take you back to surgery. You are going to rest."
"Please" Booth crocked out
"NO" Pops raised his eyes brows to his grandson showing this conversation was over. Booth's eyes were slits, but he still showed his annoyance when he looked at his grandfather. "You can glare all you want Seeley, it didn't do you any good as a kid and it won't now." Booth didn't have the strength to argue, he was just happy she was awake, she was back, he was back, everything would return to normal.