"Rebecca? Hi, it's Angela, Seeley and Temperance's best friend..." Angela smiled into the phone, trying to pretend this was any normal circumstance. She broke, a shuddering sob escaping her lips, "I'm sorry... There's been... Seeley's been shot, Rebecca. I need to know if you can come and get Parker. No, Tempe's fine, and so is Parker, they're both just really shaken up." She wrapped her free arm around herself, trying to keep warm in the bitter cold outside. "Thank you. I'll see you when you get here-- yeah, it's room 1220." She hung up the phone and moved to go inside before a thought struck her. She dialed her boyfriend's number.
"Jack Hodgins..."
"Hey Babe, it's me. Listen, I know this isn't exactly my area of expertise or anything... but I just thought of something and I want to see if it's a valid hypothesis."
"Okay, go ahead..."
She drew in a deep breath, "What if it's the guy we couldn't catch... the guy who beat Tempe?"
"Why would he suddenly gun down a restaurant?"
"Think Hodgins! It wasn't any restaurant..."
"Oh God... you think this guy is stalking them? Do you think he was trying to hit Bren?"
"No... I think he knew exactly what he was doing. Get Booth out of the way, and she's got no one to protect her. I think he's planning to finish what he started..."
"Shit..." Jack muttered, running his hand through his hair. "I'm calling Cullen, see what he can do about this. Stay inside, keep an eye on Bren, baby. I love you..."
She smiled, knowing how much he hated saying that at work. "I love you too..." She ran inside, enjoying the warmth. She knocked lightly on the door before opening it to see Tempe and Parker asleep in her chair.
"Tempe... Bren..." She tapped her shoulder gently, waiting for her friend to awake.
"Ang?"
"Yeah, sweetie, it's me. I just called Rebecca, she's on her way..."
"No! Why would you do that?" Tempe's eyes filled with tears, and Angela regretted her action for only a split second.
"Because you need your rest, and this is no place for a little boy to be overnight. Sweetie, it's what's best for him right now. I know you want to keep him with you, make sure he stays safe... but he's so worried about you and his dad, he's never going to sleep fitfully here. If he's with Rebecca, in his own bed... he'll be fine, sweetie..." Angela's hand patted her arm gently, and she nodded. Tempe knew that Parker couldn't stay here... the only reason she wanted him to stay was not to know he was safe, but was because he was just like his father. She felt close to Seeley when she held Parker, and she was afraid to let him go before Seeley was out of surgery, afraid it would somehow jinx them, and he would die.
There was a knock on the door, and Angela opened it cautiously. "Excuse me, Mrs. Booth... I just recieved word he's out of surgery and in post-op. You should be able to see him within an hour..."
"Thank you..." Tempe let herself cry, gently, making sure she didn't wake the sleeping boy in her arms.
"Sweetie, he'll be fine. We'll all be fine, I promise."
"Don't, Ang. You can't make promises like that. Not everything turns out the way we hoped it would..."
Angela sighed, knowing she was thinking to the baby she lost just two weeks ago. Angela herself was still torn up about it, knowing Bren had lost what was going to be her godchild, her first niece or nephew, the first baby she got to spoil rotten until she grew old and died. She smiled, trying to think about how perfect it all seemed to be, before they knew she was pregnant and lost the baby in one instant. Now, nothing seemed to fit right... all the pieces to the puzzle were there, but some of the pieces were bent out of shape, some were water-logged, some pictures were torn from the cardboard. She wondered if they'd ever fit together perfectly again.
"Hey..." Rebecca called, cracking the door open slightly. "Tempe... I'm so sorry..."
"You should probably sleep with him tonight. He... he saw it happen. He'll most likely have nightmares..." A tear slipped down her cheek and she squeezed her eyes shut. She kissed his forehead before passing him into his mothers waiting arms. "Will you call me in the morning so I can update him?"
"Of course. I'll call you later. Thank you for calling, Angela..." And instantly, Rebecca was gone again, the spot in Tempe's lap that had been heavy from the sleep-laden boy was now barren and cold. She shivered involuntarily, more from her thoughts than the cold itself. She kept seeing what happened over and over again. Replaying the scene as if it were her favorite from a movie, instead of the worst nightmare she could've imagined. She watched through her mind's eye as Seeley opened the door, a smile plastered on his lips. A shot rings out, and she sees the blood escaping his body from his right shoulder. She has to think fast, move fast, but she's frozen. She looks to see Parker as his hands fly in slow motion to cover his ears, and she realizes this is the first gunshot he's ever heard. The screams are drowning out her thoughts, and she can only do one thing--protect the child. If it were a movie, she could've analyzed her own reaction, chalked it up to the anthropological need to protect the young, to keep the species going. But it wasn't a movie, and anthropology had nothing to do with it--she was a mother protecting her child, not to keep the species going, but to make sure she and her fiance had something to keep going for. She grabbed him by the elbows, pulling him over the flimsy table and into her lap. Her legs were sore as she threw herself and the boy under the table, her body protecting his. She called out to him, "Seeley! Seeley!" she cried. His eyes watched her, never moving, just blinking slowly. He was going into shock, she knew that, but she felt helpless. Protect the child or risk both their lives and try to save the love of her life? Ultimately, she could only do one thing, and she wrapped her arms protectively around the small child, crying as she watched Seeley slip out of conciousness.
"Mrs. Booth? You can see him now..."
"Is he awake?" She asked, drying her tears with the back of her hand.
"There's something I should tell you..." The nurse explained the situation, and a sob escaped her lips. Angela bent over and wrapped her in a hug, trying to calm her down. There was no use. Nothing made sense now, and Angela wondered if it ever would again.
AN: are you "dying" to know what the nurse said? Wait a few hours, I hope to update again before 6 pm EST:D
Oh, and earlier today I realized I hadn't really talked about the guy who did this to her since right after the entire episode happened... so, I'm tying it back in. Do you like??
