I hadn't realized how in depth I was going to go with Sarah's mother being in the hospital, so this will also continue into next chapter. Also, there's a lot more information on why Ellie is like she is and a bit on Jim; as well as a bit of Ellie's PTSD, and there's lots of Bones in this one and he'll be a big part of the next chapter as well. Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoy.

"Jim what's going on?" Bones said nearly running to keep up with him.

"Where's Ellie, when was the last time you saw her?" Jim asked looking for something specific.

"When she asked me my patient's name," Bones said rushing to follow behind. "What the hell are you looking for?"

Jim sighed turning to Bones. "Do you have b-"

"Jimmy!"

Both Bones and Jim turned to who had spoken to see a woman in her sixties with short brown hair smiling at the two on a hospital bed. "Mrs. Avery," Jim said walking into her room.

"Get over here and hug me," she ordered holding out her arms, to which Jim leaned down and hugged her gently.

"How are you? What are you doing here?" Jim asked sitting on the edge of the bed looking concerned at the only woman who'd ever treated him like her son.

Mrs. Avery took his hand and smiled sadly. "I'm having surgery," she told him.

"For what? Did you come here specifically?" Jim asked looking from her to Bones.

"She was shuttled here," Bones explained, seeing the woman was important to him. "She has a brain tumor that hasn't shrunk with treatment, surgical removal is the last option and the hospital has taken her as their patient."

"How long have you had cancer?" Jim asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Mrs. Avery patted Jim's hand shaking her head. "I couldn't do that to you. And Ellie," she said trailing off knowing he would know Ellie couldn't take it. "Is she here?"

"I was looking for her," Jim explained.

Mrs. Avery looked up at Bones. "Do you have a boiler room? Or anything with any small, dark places like a supply closet?"

"Yeah," he answered confused. "There's a supply closet on the third floor."

"Go see if she's okay," Mrs. Avery told Jim, cupping his cheek with her hand. "You've grown up to be so handsome. I'm so proud of you, and I know Richard would be too," she said and Jim cleared his throat at the mention of the only man who had treated him like his son – who had died five years ago.

"Bones'll stay with you, he's a good friend of mine and Ellie's," Jim said standing before kissing her cheek and going to find Ellie.

"How long have you know them both?" Mrs. Avery asked him.

"About four years. I'm closer to Jim," he admitted as he looked through her chart.

"You don't get Jim without Ellie," Mrs. Avery said smiling. "You don't get Ellie without Jim. Believe me, my husband and I didn't ask for him. She was a joy, and her and Sarah were close. But Jim was Ellie's tag along, two years younger; and then they grew up. Jim was trouble, always had been, but he loved Ellie enough to love Sarah too. He got into so many fights when anyone would say something about either of them. They both practically lived with us, but after meeting her father I insisted they come over a lot."

Bones stood uncomfortably as she talked, not used to patients telling him this much; though he hadn't had a patient who knew his friend. "Why did you ask if we had a supply closet?"

Mrs. Avery sighed sadly. "She has PTSD, from the crash. She used to hide in closets, once in a boiler room behind the water heater, under the bed. I once found her sleeping in the bathtub. It's where she feels safe when anything threatens her. I knew coming with her working here would be hard on her, but the hospital made such a generous offer and I haven't seen her or Jim in years."

Bones had put the pad under his arm as he listened, completely enraptured at hearing someone talk about Ellie and how she had reacted to what she'd been through without playing it down; it was natural everything Mrs. Avery had said, after such a trauma, and it explained so much about Ellie. "But she's fine now, right?" he asked and Mrs. Avery looked over at him with furrowed brows.

"As her friend I think you'd have known that," she said suspiciously.

Bones found himself feeling reprimanded as though she were his mother. "I uh, I'm um I," he stuttered under her hard gaze. "I'm closer to Jim."

"You don't get one without the other," she said, her eyes boring into him. "You don't get to walk away from her," she said, knowing enough about young men from Jim to know Doctor McCoy and Ellie had slept together and this was the fallout.

"This isn't appropriate," Bones said as he walked toward the door.

"You get back here young man," she ordered and Bones turned to her surprised. "Sit down."

"I have other patients," Bones said meekly.

"Sit down!" she said nearly yelling and he hastily sat across from her. "Did you know about the crash?" she demanded.

"Yes ma'am."

"Did you know about my daughter dying in the crash?"

"Yes ma'am," he answered chastised.

"Then you knew that Ellie was broken, that she is broken. You knew beforehand and you know now, so you do not get to walk away. She doesn't let people get close to her, she's been hurt too many times and she has seen too many people she cares about die; so when she lets you in it means something. She saw something in you that she thought was worth the risk of getting hurt, so you don't get to walk away."

Bones sat wide eyed staring at her, seeing the tears in her eyes and knowing she cared for Ellie as she had for Sarah. "Yes ma'am," he said nodding, knowing she was right and yet he still couldn't imagine seeing Ellie everyday and acting like she wasn't going to die.

"She doesn't make it easy, does she?" Mrs. Avery asked with a small sad smile.

"No," Bones said with a short laugh.

"You saw something in her then," Mrs. Avery said mostly to herself. "She's very caring and compassionate but she hides it well. You saw it I take it?"

Bones looked at her before looking away, refusing to admit anything.

"You did. She doesn't make it easy to care for her but once you do, you're in for it. It's been twenty years and I still do."

"You've known her for twenty years?" Bones asked surprised.

"Just about. She and Sarah met when they were eight. A boy in their class had pulled Sarah's pigtail and Ellie punched him dead in the face." Mrs. Avery broke off laughing and Bones chuckled lightly as he pictured it. "And that settled it, they were friends for life. Loosing Sarah destroyed us both."

Bones took her hand and squeezed it gently making her smile in spite of herself.

"I don't know what happened between you and Ellie, you don't have to tell me. What I want to know is if you can look past it," she said, grabbing his hand when he tried to let go.

Bones sat for a moment considering what to say. "She didn't do anything," he admitted. "Something is going to happen and I can't look past knowing that."

"Is it bad?" Mrs. Avery asked concerned.

Bones nodded before standing. "You should rest, you're going into surgery in a few hours. If you have any questions on your procedure then I would be happy to answer them," he said before turning to the door.

"You've looked at my charts," Mrs. Avery said calling him back. "You know there's not even a twenty percent chance I will survive this surgery, and that refusing the surgery would give me three weeks."

"Yes," he said wondering what it was she was trying to tell him.

"Promise me you and Jim will take care of her, because she doesn't have anyone else. This is going to hurt her, I don't know how much damage it will do but she might break even more. And I don't think Jim will be enough to put her back together."

Bones looked at her, seeing the tears as they began to fall. "I'll try to do what I can," he said, not promising much, knowing he could never look at Ellie again without imagining her dying.

…

It took Jim a while before he finally located the supply closet, having passed it twice – it being no more than a door at the end of a hallway, the same as any other door, and so he hadn't really noticed it. But he did finally notice it and when he opened it to see the carts and shelves of supplies he knew she was somewhere in here.

"Ellie," he whispered and was not surprised when he heard nothing, he hadn't expected her to answer. He walked past shelves of gauze and bandages and battery packs and equipment before he reached the back wall and found Ellie with her knees to her chest hidden in the corner.

"She's dying," Ellie whispered when he sat beside her.

"Yeah," he said wrapping an arm around her shoulder and then rested his cheek on the top of her head as she leaned against him.

They sat there in the silence, in the darkness, and did no more than breathe together; they were losing the last person that had cared for them, and they both realized just how much she had meant to them.

"She's missed you," he mumbled into her hair. "You should see her."

"How do you think we would've turned out if we didn't have her and Mr. Avery?" Ellie asked as Jim pulled her up.

"I don't think we would've made it," he answered honestly. "Come on," he said leading her out of the room. The bright lights of the hospital were nearly blinding, the noise deafening; Jim knew why she hid in the quietest and darkest places when she was upset – she could disappear, she could fade away.