Everybody in the lab moved at once, surging forward to help, but Hodgins was closer and quicker. "Whoah! Easy there, big guy!" Hodgins darted under Booth's outflung arm to catch him, staggering under the larger man's weight as Booth's legs suddenly gave out completely.
He could feel wracking tremors tearing through the FBI agent's battered body as he tried to lower him gently to the floor. His concern, sharp and sudden, didn't make its way into his voice as he spoke a soft reassurance, "Hey, 's'okay, we gotcha, Booth."
Some of Booth's weight was taken from him as Wendell grabbed Booth's T-shirt from behind. As Bones reached their side, the two men managed the feat of getting Booth turned onto his side and lowered down to the floor without dropping him.
Wendell rose, letting Brennan take his place at Booth's left shoulder. "Booth?" She questioned urgently as she helped Hodgins gently roll the big man over onto his back. "Booth?" Brennan's voice was calm and contained, but when Hodgins raised his eyes to meet hers, he met a gaze that was as concerned as his own.
The movement as they rolled him ripped a breathy moan from Booth, and Angela dropped to her knees at his head. "Shhhh, sweetie." She soothed, placing a gentle hand against one side of his face. Brennan's hand cupped his other cheek and together they held him still. Angela raised her eyes, tears already spilling over and Bones met her gaze, her own blue eyes swimming before she looked back down.
Booth's eyes opened slightly at their combined touch and his mouth worked, forming silent words that they couldn't make out. A crease at one corner of his mouth hinted faintly at one of his infamous grins, before a wince, a shudder and a cry of pain closed his eyes and erased the smile, turning it into a grimace. Both Angela and Bones looked up to find Hodgins moving Booth's badly swollen arm, trying to see beneath it.
"Jack!"
"Be careful!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" Hodgins chanted the litany of apology, but didn't stop what he was doing. As carefully as possible, he moved the agent's arm, exposing a blood-soaked wad of rags that had been pressed tightly under it. He pulled the crusted material away from Booth's stomach and hissed an expletive as the injury was exposed.
Bones raised her eyes from the ugly wound. Her voice was soft and filled with pain, but her words were matter-of-fact. "He's been stabbed."
Tight-jawed, meeting her gaze over Booth's prone form, Hodgins nodded. He flicked a quick glance up towards Cam. "Call 911."
"On it." Cam already had her cell phone to her ear. Her wide-eyed stare of dismay didn't seep into her tone as she started speaking, "This is Dr. Saroyan of the Jeffersonian, we need…"
Letting Cam's voice fade under more important concerns, Brennan turned her head, her voice urgent as she spoke to the young intern standing behind her. "Wendell, get me some of those towels…" She gestured to the items on one of the trays sitting next to a nearby table.
Hodgins worked swiftly, pulling Booth's T-shirt up and away from the wound. "Oh, my God." Angela's voice was filled with horror as she watched the blood flow freely, pooling and running, re-staining the waistband of Booth's already blood-soaked jeans.
Jack shot a glance from Brennan, to Wendell, and then reached out to grab Angela's hands, pressing them down hard onto Booth's shoulders. "Ange, hold him." His blue eyes bored into hers.
"What? Why?" Angela gasped and then paled as she watched Bones take the towels Wendell handed to her and fold them into a compress the size and shape of the bleeding gash in Booth's stomach.
"Oh, God," she whimpered in sudden understanding as Wendell dropped down next to Brennan, throwing his arm across Booth's thighs and using his body weight to hold them.
"He's lost a lot of blood…" Brennan's voice was thick with worry and reluctance. Her hand, holding the towels just inches over the wound, trembled.
She hesitated, and then looked up into Hodgins' face, her eyes blue pools of misery as she whispered raggedly, "I don't know if I can…"
"Very fast and without empathy, Dr. B." Jack's voice was firm, his mind flashing back to the close confines of a buried vehicle as he repeated her own words back to her. A muscle quivered tightly in his jaw and his blue eyes met hers with unwavering support and sympathy.
"Right…"
After taking a deep breath, Brennan nodded once, indicating her readiness and Jack gripped Booth's injured arm to securely immobilize it. Bones, moving swiftly, pressed the makeshift compress mercilessly against the wound in Booth's stomach, applying firm pressure.
Booth's bellow of outraged agony echoed throughout the lab and he jackknifed against the floor. Pinned by Angela's hands and Wendell's weight, he tried in vain to twist away from the pain before he slipped into unconsciousness.
A soft sob broke from Angela as she removed her hands from Booth's shoulders to stroke his face in silent apology. Her eyes lifted to meet the horrified determination in Brennan's face as Temperance continued to hold the compress in place with her left hand. Her right hand gripped Booth's left in white-knuckled desperation as she stared down into his face.
Angela reached out to cover Brennan's hand with her own, and a split second later, Jack's hand covered both of theirs comfortingly. When Brennan's eyes rose to meet hers, Angela smiled in shaky reassurance.
"They're on their way." Cam's voice broke the silence.
