CHAPTER 14

Brennan's breathing had finally calmed. Her head lay on Booth's left shoulder, his head tilted slightly to rest on hers as he stroked her hair. They were still sitting on the floor, both leaning against the couch in Emily's room. Booth's legs lay out in front of him while Brennan's were bent and were resting on top of his thighs. She brought her left hand to her face and wiped her cheek. How long had it been? Neither one of them knew. They sat…listening to each other's breathing and silently asking the other for strength.

Brennan closed her eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. As she let it out, Booth kissed the top of her head.

"She's in recovery. The surgery went well," Dr. Caldwell appeared in the doorway.

Booth and Brennan got to their feet, Booth slightly embarrassed and Brennan not caring in the least.

"Do you have any test results in yet?" Brennan inquired.

"I'm going to go check right now," Dr. Caldwell replied.

"Can we see her?" Booth asked.

"Of course," Dr. Caldwell replied with a soft smile. "She won't be awake for another half hour or so. She's had a lot of anesthesia today, so she'll need to take it easy."

With that, she was gone. Booth and Brennan looked to each other and made their way to the recovery room.

Emily's face looked swollen to Brennan. The first thing she did was brush her cheek, as though Mommy's touch would make everything better…*oh, if only* She pulled up a chair and Booth followed suit. Taking Emily's left hand in hers, Brennan squeezed gently and bowed her head. Tears streamed easily as Brennan formed the words in her head. And then she held her daughter's hand between both of hers, raising it as she closed her eyes and spoke aloud:

"Dear God…I know…I know I've never believed. B-but that doesn't matter right now. Please…please…heal our baby," Brennan pleaded, the wide rivers of her eyes overflowing. Booth watched and listened intently and then he leaned his head in and placed his hands on top of his wife's and his daughter's. And he too closed his eyes.

They sat in silence for a long while. Brennan hoped for a miracle. Even though she knew it was scientifically impossible, she didn't care. She was desperate and she wanted God to heal Emily right here, right now. Science didn't matter. Tests didn't matter. All that mattered was their Emily's health and happiness.

A soft clearing of a throat interrupted the family prayer. Booth and Brennan both looked to the doorway to see Russ leaning against the doorframe.

Brennan sprang to her feet and threw her arms around her brother.

"Angela called me," he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm glad you're here," Brennan replied, pulling away as another pair of tears spilled onto her cheeks. "But what about Haley?" she added.

"She's out of the hospital and breathing on her own again. Amy demanded that I come. Her sister is helping her out," Russ explained.

"Emily will love to see you," Brennan told him.

Russ rubbed her shoulder. "I am so sorry, Tempe. What do the doctors say?" he asked.

"She needs aggressive treatment. They haven't said it, but I think she'll need a bone marrow or a stem cell transplant," Brennan replied as she wiped her cheeks.

"Do you think one of us could be a match?" Russ asked.

"It's possible. We need to wait for these test results before we start talking about that," Brennan replied.

On cue, Dr. Caldwell reappeared in the doorway, clipboard in hand.

"A new face," she said upon seeing Russ.

"Russ Brennan. I'm Emily's uncle," he replied and shook her hand.

"Michelle Caldwell," she replied and quickly turned to Brennan and Booth. "Results are in. Philadelphia chromosome-positive ALL."

Faces were blank. Brennan had been studying up, but she hadn't yet heard of this type of leukemia.

"What is that?" Booth asked.

"It is rather rare in children with leukemia and even rarer in a child of Emily's age. Normally, it is seen in adolescents. But Emily fits this subtype and we need to begin treatment immediately. The first 48 hours of treatment are critical," Dr. Caldwell explained.

"Oh God," Russ said as he looked away from the doctor and over at Emily.

"This changes the prognosis, doesn't it?" Brennan asked, hoping that Dr. Caldwell would say no…but she knew.

"It's more complicated now, but it just means that the treatment is adjusted accordingly. I was going to wait until morning before starting her induction therapy. With the splenectomy, her immune system is weak, but we need to begin as soon as she comes out of recovery," Dr. Caldwell replied. "I am going to start her on high powered antibiotics immediately," she added after seeing the pained looks on the faces standing before her.

Brennan looked over at Emily and her heart wrenched.

"How long will induction take?" Brennan inquired.

"With lower risk ALL, it takes nearly a month. But with Ph1, the drugs are in higher doses, so it will take approximately 12 days. If she goes into remission, then we will assess her status for a bone marrow or stem cell transplant," Dr. Caldwell continued.

Russ and Booth both looked to Brennan. She was right. Somehow, she just knew that that's what it would take. Booth stepped towards Brennan and took her hand.

"Aggressive treatment and fast," Brennan voiced her one coherent thought.

"Exactly," Dr. Caldwell replied.

"When will she be awake?" Booth asked.

"She should be waking up soon," Dr. Caldwell replied. "I'll see you back in her room to begin induction," she added before pausing a moment and then disappearing into the hallway.

Booth began pacing the small recovery room, his eyes darting between his daughter, his wife, and his brother-in-law.

"Tempe, I didn't know it was this bad," Russ said, looking his sister straight in the eyes.

"Neither did we," Booth said as he paced.

Brennan sighed. "If they can destroy the cancer cells quickly, then her risk will go down and her prognosis will improve. Unfortunately, the cancer is attacking her CNS," Brennan replied, looking between her husband and brother.

"What's a CNS?" Russ asked.

"Central nervous system. Brain and spinal cord mainly," Brennan explained, switching back to doctor mode.

"That's why she had the seizures?" Russ asked.

"Yes," Brennan replied.

"Jesus, Tempe," Russ said as he sighed, his hands on his hips.

Silence fell over them for a few seconds until…

"Daddy? Mommy?" Emily whispered. Her eyes fluttered open and Booth and Brennan were by her side in a millisecond.

"Look who's awake. Hi there, pumpkin," Booth said, smiling genuinely at his ailing daughter as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Hi, baby. You made it through the test and everything is just fine," Brennan explained, intentionally leaving out the surgery. "And look, Uncle Russ is here," Brennan added, smiling as she turned to her brother.

"Unca Wuss?" Emily questioned as her eyes attempted to focus on him.

"Hey there, princess," he said, leaning down to tap her gently on the nose.

She blinked a few more times before speaking again. "Daddy? Where's my popsica?" she asked.

Booth and Brennan smiled. Her memory hadn't been affected, that was for sure. Daddy had promise her popsicles and pudding and that's what she was going to get.

"What flavor do you want?" Booth asked.

"Gwape, pwease," Emily replied, her voice raspy.

"1 gwape popsicle coming right up," Booth said, smiling down at her as he stood upright and left the room on a mission to find his daughter the best grape popsicle Johns Hopkins had to offer.