Sorry it's been so long kids… blame my muse… as soon as I get into a story, it decides to rebel… but I think it may be back… so let me know how this chapter is… if I hate it, and it sucks, I'll rewrite it another time.

Two hours later, Booth paced the floor of the hospital waiting room, smirking angrily as he realized the irony in this. He'd finally found her, and now that he knew without a doubt that Andrew would never touch her again, he was still stuck doing the same thing he was doing before they even knew who Andrew was. Pacing.

He wanted to punch something, but knew that would get him kicked out of the hospital. He really wanted to be at the gym right now, but he wanted to be with his Bones even more. In truth, if it had been anyone other than Brennan who he was waiting for, he would be in the gym, punching a bag until his arms were so sore that he couldn't even lift them. Well, unless it was Parker, he amended his thought. Sighing inwardly, he folded his arms and balled his hands into fists to prevent himself from punching the concrete wall beside him.

A woman in scrubs walked out and called "Family of Temperance Brennan?"

He jerked his head up at the voice that suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "Me. I'm her partner. And her medical proxy."

"And I'm Dr. Lang," The woman said. "Your partner just got out of surgery. She had a concussion, three broken ribs, a broken clavicle, a ruptured spleen, lacerations to her liver, a broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, a minor fracture to her jaw, a broken leg, more cuts than we could count, and just about every inch of her is a bruise. Though we hope she will wake up soon, it is hard to say. We don't know if she suffered any lasting brain damage, and even when she does wake up, the pain may be too much for her to handle. We may just opt to keep her sedated once we make sure there's no severe brain damage."

"Where is she? Can I see her?" Booth asked frantically.

"She's in the ICU right now. I'll take you there. It will be good for her to have a familiar face there when she wakes up. But you need to be careful with her. She was raped. And beaten. Her body will heal, but we don't know what her mental state is at the moment. Just let her know that you're there for her, no matter what happened to her, and that she's safe now. Let her take the lead as far as conversation goes. And if she starts to get agitated, press the call button on her bed, because we simply can't let her blood pressure go up that much. It's dangerous for her heart after the surgery. Don't push her if she seems to not want to talk about something. Understood?"

Booth gulped and nodded, praying that the doctor was just over-reacting, wishing that this was all just a nightmare. That he could just pinch himself awake and his Bones would be in her lab, looking at skeletons and forgetting to eat or sleep, instead of lying in Bethesda ICU.

But one look at the woman in the room he was lead to told him otherwise. She was attached to more machines than he'd ever seen in his life, and her face was so bruised and swollen that he wasn't sure it was really his Bones lying there. He looked at Dr. Lang, who seemed to read his question in his eyes. She nodded. "That's her. I promise. Don't let her know that you couldn't even recognize her. It may upset her."

He turned back to the woman lying in bed and took a seat in the chair beside her bed. Taking out his phone, he sat back and dialed Angela's cell.

Angela was frantic. She knew they'd found her friend, but that was all she knew. Well, she also knew that Brennan hadn't been dead when they found her, but she had no idea how she was currently. She'd spent the last two hours pacing Hodgins's living room and ranting about people who thought it was okay to kidnap and torture her friends. Hodgins had given up trying to get her to sit down hours ago, and had resigned himself to sitting on his couch and watching his distraught fiancé. Under any other circumstances, the things she said would have been comical, but now he doubted anything would make him laugh. He'd known Brennan for several years, and despite his initial reservations about the quiet, socially awkward genius who had become his boss nearly eight years ago, he'd grown to respect and love her.

Angela's rant was interrupted by the sound of her cell ringing, and before Hodgins had even registered that the sound was indeed a phone, Angela had answered the call with a panicked "Oh God, please tell me that she's okay."

Hodgins couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but he knew that the news couldn't be good based on the way Angela dropped into the chair beside him. "Oh my God. Booth, is she up to us visiting her? I just need to know that she's still breathing. I have to see it for myself." After a moment, she hung up the phone and grabbed her purse. "We're going to the hospital," she told her fiancé, and he grabbed his keys and followed her to the car.

The first thing she was aware of was the pain. Then, as she became more lucid, she realized there was something in her throat, making it hard for her to breathe. She coughed and gagged, trying to get it out, but when that didn't work, she tried to tug at it. But there was someone pulling her hands away from her mouth, pinning her arms down, and there was a voice telling her to stop fighting, but she didn't even know what was going on anymore. Everything hurt, and if she didn't get some air soon, she knew she wouldn't survive. So she fought against her captor with all the strength she had left, but it wasn't enough, and soon the arms holding hers down had pulled her up and wrapped her in a bear hug.

Wait. A hug? And not just a restraining hug either. A comforting one. And she knew those arms. They were the same ones that held her whenever she was scared. Booth. Booth was here, holding her. It was impossible. Booth was dead. But somehow, his arms were wrapped tight around her, it was his chest her head rested on, and his thumb stroking the side of her neck. She felt herself relaxing into him, and closed her tired eyes again. They weren't doing her much good anyway, she reasoned. She could barely open them at all, and as a result all she could see were blurry blocks of color. Sighing, she snuggled into her partner and obeyed his command to let the tube sticking down her throat breathe for her.

Booth had moved his chair as close as possible to Brennan's bed, so that he would be the first thing she saw when she opened her eyes. After his phone call with Angela, he didn't have to wait long. She began to struggle with her breathing tube as she awoke, and Booth had to take both of her arms and pin them gently to the bed. "Bones!" he said forcefully, trying to snap her out of it. But she just continued to struggle against him, trying to sit up and pull out the tube down her throat. "BONES!" he practically yelled, trying desperately to get her attention. "Bones, it's alright, you're safe. It's Booth, I'm here. Bones, STOP FIGHTING!" Her breaths were coming out in pained gasps as she tried to fight the machine that was breathing for her. He pulled her into a bear hug and started stroking her neck, trying to sooth her.

Suddenly, he felt something change. Her shoulders relaxed, and she stopped struggling, though she still had some trouble with the tube down her throat. "Shh, Bones, just relax. Let it breathe for you. Wait for the nurses to come and take care of it." Booth finally remembered the doctor's orders and hit the call button, then continued rocking her back and forth while he waited for the nurses to come help her.

Good? Bad? Should I rewrite this? Lemme know kids!