Chapter Eleven:
It had taken them an hour to cut the rusted iron grate off the entrance to the mine. The medics were on standby.
Sam rushed out of the mine into his mother's waiting arms. She clung to him tightly like he was the only person in the world. The paramedics managed to pry him away from his mother and started to attend to his severe dehydration.
Booth reluctantly handed Parker over to the paramedics and watched as they began to work on the two most important people in his world. Parker seemed to be lifeless in the paramedic's arms. 'Seeley, stop it, your son is alive thanks to your partner.' He thought.
Booth watched helplessly as they cut through Parker's shirt. He saw the bullet hole in his son's shoulder. Anger immediately ran through his body. He saw the IV flowing into him, trying to keep him hydrated. He heard something about infection and minor blood loss.
He watched as the paramedics started working on Brennan loading her into the ambulance. He heard them say something about a tension pneumothorax.
Booth watched from the sideline helplessly. Angela came by him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "They are fighters Booth." She told him as Hodgins slipped his hand around his girlfriend's waist. Booth envied the two of them. He would never know if Brennan would ever get the chance to hear him say how much he loved her. He should have never encouraged her to go after Parker. He knew she was recovering from a cold and should have never let her think that going after Parker was okay.
"Ange, this is my fault." Booth whispered. "She went looking for my son when I was unable to."
"We need to administer amoxicillin," the paramedic exclaimed looking at Parker.
Booth spun around. "Don't give him that, he is allergic, he'll go into shock."
"How do you know?"
"I'm his father."
The paramedic nodded and began to administer a different antibiotic. "Anything else we need to know?"
"He is allergic to penicillin, amoxicillin, and sulfa." He said. "Can I go with him?"
"No room."
"Keep him safe." He gave his unconscious boy a kiss on the forehead. "Daddy will be right behind you okay. I love you Bub, stay strong." Parker opened up his eyes for a brief second and drifted back into unconsciousness.
He looked at Brennan. He saw the paramedics cut off her shirt. There was a huge bruise around her ribcage. She started wheezing, like she was trying to get air.
"We have to get her to the emergency room now!" The paramedic immediately did a needle thoracocentesis to relieve the pressure and intubated. That seemed to help her breathing. He went to her and held her hand.
"I love you." He whispered to his unconscious partner. He kissed her on the forehead.
Booth couldn't go with any of them because it was going to be too crowded in the ambulance. He ran to the car and turned on his FBI issued sirens to break every speeding law possible to get to the hospital. Angela went with him. Jack and Zack stayed behind to collect evidence.
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The ride to the hospital had been the longest hour of his life. First they had to hike back to their vehicles and then drive to George Washington General. He ran into the ER leaving Angela to park the vehicle.
"I need to know where Parker Booth and Dr. Temperance Brennan are treated." Booth said to the receptionist. Angela was beside him. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"You are?"
"I'm Parker's father, and Dr. Brennan's partner."
"Parker was very insistent on staying with his Tempe." She said with a smile. "He woke up about twenty minutes ago and demanded to be in the same room as Dr. Brennan. He even threatened to call the FBI if he couldn't see her. We placed them together. They are in ER 2b."
"Thank you."
He ran down the corridor fearing the worse. His fears subsided though when he got outside the room. Booth heard something he thought he would never hear again, the sound of Brennan and Parker's voice.
He came into the room. "Thank God you guys are alright." He started crying. He sunk in the chair.
"Tempe, why is Daddy crying?" Parker asked. He put his hand on his father's cheek. "Daddy, Tempe saved us."
"Yeah she did Bub. Daddy is just so happy that you are okay."
"They stuck me with a needle. Tempe said it was okay, that it was helping me stay hibated." He said showing him where he was hooked up to the IV.
"Hyrdated." She corrected.
"She let them stick her too. She was brave." Parker explained. Booth smiled at his son. "I wasn't going to let them hurt her. I was trying to p'otect her like you said. Booth men p'otect women."
Booth chuckled. The x-ray technician came in. "Hey, we have to take the little guy here for x-rays."
Parker looked a little unsure. "They are going to take a picture of your bones." Brennan explained to him.
"Go with the nice man."
"I'll go with him Booth." Angela volunteered and got down to eye level with Parker. "Hey. Do you remember me?"
Parker looked at his dad. "It is fine Bub. Go down to x-ray with Miss Angela."
"Okay. I guess I will go. You keep Tempe safe."
Finally alone in the room, Booth approached his partner. "I thought I lost you there."
"They said I flat-lined in the ambulance on the way here. Something about a collapsed lung causing multiple organ distress."
The look of anguish crossed his face. "Bones." He whispered. "I failed you. I failed my son. I'm sorry."
"Booth, you didn't fail us."
"I couldn't keep you safe. I couldn't keep my son safe. Let's see, he was shot, you were stabbed . . ."
"And there is no need for you to have any guilt about. I went after your son. You needed him . . . " She trailed off not wanting to add that she needed him. She said placing her hand on his cheek. "You are not responsible for all the craziness that can happen in the world of the people you love. Booth it is too much responsibility for you to have to shoulder."
"Bones, you are incredible. But I should have been able to protect you and Parker from this. My God, he got shot, his mother is dead, you were stabbed and grazed by a madman!"
"Seeley, you aren't responsible for any of that." She whispered. "You are his everything, and he is your everything. You raised a wonderful child."
"You are incredible." He whispered. "Thank you for protecting him."
"All in a days work." She gave him a smile. She started to cough again.
"I shouldn't have let you go after him. Even if you were feeling well, I shouldn't have let you go after him."
"First of all, you don't let me do anything, I decided on my own to find him. I wouldn't have listened to you if you had told me to wait until I felt better. Second of all, they cancelled the search, and something kept telling me to search. I knew that with every passing moment Parker would be in more trouble and that we may not ever had seen him again, then you would have blamed yourself. The loss of your son would have been too much to handle."
He nodded knowing that she was right. "Thank you Temperance. Thank you." He murmured into her hair. She was drowsy, and he was exhausted. He placed his head down near her uninjured shoulder and fell asleep next to his sleeping partner.
Angela came back into the room with a sleeping Parker Booth. She caught sight of them and smiled. The tech slid Parker back on to the hospital bed. "They must have gone through some ordeal." The tech said to her.
"You have no idea."
AN: Thanks for the reviews you guys rock.
You and Me Kelly: I actually used to watch Crossing Jordan but stopped when she was going mental about looking for her mom's killer. So if it seems like this story mirrors it, then sorry. I'll have to try to catch the reruns on A&E to see the similarities. I guess great minds think alike. What was the name of the epi – maybe I can download it. Thanks!
I actually got this idea from camping in the Appalachian Mountains with some college roommates. We were hiking and found some caves and caverns. I thought, hey if I wanted to hide someone in here I could (not that I ever would, as you can see, I have an over active imagination). I actually made Brennan sick because I was sick when I started writing this and was going to make it pure fluff, but it wouldn't be a Bones story without a case, and angst now would it!
I think I know where I want this to go now. I put them together in the ER, but will have them apart for a few scenes. BB fluff to come again. Some angst, just cause I like it, and I might feel evil again hehehe.
Emma 6373 – To answer the questions about a Speech Language Pathologist – I work with people with a variety of communication/hearing/swallowing/speech disorders. I break down the cause of disorder (mostly stroke, developmental disorders) and then rehab them to a point of being able to function in society again. Basically I give a voice to the voiceless and rehab stroke patients. I love my job. If you want to know anything else, I'll be glad to answer any questions.
Keep reading and reviewing – you guys rock my socks!
