14.
"No, no, no, no, no…" Booth repeated as he ran towards Sweets. Brennan was stuck for a moment, she couldn't get her legs to move. She knew she was needed but she didn't understand being unable to move.
Booth knelt down by Sweets, dust instantly caking on his dark suit. He looked up at Brennan with red rims around her eyes and her legs began to move.
"This is Agent Booth, I need immediate assistance…" His voice trailed off and Brennan looked up as she had never heard that happen to him before. She stopped as soon as she reached Sweets and Booth and realized she had no words either.
"Immediate assistance just down the road." Booth finished.
"And the suspects sir?" The voice over the radio asked.
"Just get medical assistance here immediately, we have a federal officer down." Booth's voice regained its control as his anger replaced his fear for a moment. He closed his phone. "Bones, is he…."
Brennan's hands shook as she put them on Sweets neck. She breathed for the first time since she saw him, a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "He's got a heartbeat." She said softly. She crouched down to see if he was breathing. Booth began to turn him but she stopped him.
"Booth wait, Masters threw him from the car. I don't want to move him." Brennan answered trying to focus on being clinical in order to determine Sweets condition.
"He what? He threw him… so I'd hit him…" Booth surmised full of anger.
They heard a murmur from Sweets but they couldn't hear what he said. Brennan crouched down more.
"Sweets what is it, can you hear me, can you breathe?"
Brennan was sure she heard a "no" to the last question and despite what she felt was right she considered turning him over.
"Did Sweets crawl over here?" Booth asked and both their hearts sank at the thought of Sweets having to pull himself out of the road.
"Carefully- we turn him." Brennan said and Booth was instantly ready to do as instructed.
In seconds Sweets was looking up at them, his face bruised and bloody, caked with dirt. Both their hearts sank as they looked at their broken duckling.
Booth reached in his pocket for his handkerchief and tried to lightly wipe away some of the dirt out of Sweets eyes and away from his nose so he could breathe better.
"Keep his head elevated." Brennan instructed and Booth complied immediately.
"S….s….so….sorry." Sweets said with much difficulty.
Booth shook his head but he knew Sweets couldn't see. He had a lump in his throat and words wouldn't go past it. He wanted to assure his young friend and felt powerless to do so. Instead he sat on the ground holding his head, afraid to touch even his shoulder, he looked to be consumed with pain.
Brennan barely touched his side where the broken ribs lay and Sweets face squeezed into a repressed and painful soundless cry. He kicked his foot at the reaction of the pain and Brennan tried to keep her composure at the sight of the blood, bruises and debris embedded in his bare injured feet.
"Where is that ambulance?" Brennan asked with gritted teeth.
Booth pulled out his phone with a shaking hand he couldn't control. He was glad the voice on the other end spoke before he had to, Booth wasn't sure he himself could.
"We're right over the hill from you agent Booth, we're getting the signal from the car."
Booth hung up the phone and looked down at Sweets. "Hang out Sweets, they're almost here." He said in a whisper.
Sweets head turned in the palm of Booth's hand towards the voice. His dark chocolate eyes were fused with red when he opened them. He wanted to say something but instead he began to cough, a force that shook his body and racked it with pain. Booth grabbed his shoulder to try and hold it still, a motion in itself that caused just as much pain. Booth swore under his breath, then said a little prayer that the ambulance would hurry.
Before Sweets could stop coughing it arrived and with the dust having settled was able to see them in advance to avoid hitting them as well. The paramedics rushed from the vehicle and soon a stretcher arrived. The techs looked at each other and in seconds knew this was beyond what they were able to work on in the van.
The lead paramedic called in to the chopper who was still on the ground and arranged to rendezvous with him and life flight Sweets to the hospital. When he was done with his call he got behind the driver's seat to find that everyone, including Booth and Brennan were loaded and ready to go.
It was only a second but he saw the agent's arm around the woman partner, both of them tense as though looking down at a beloved child. He put the car in drive and sped off as fast as he could to the waiting chopper.
The ambulance bounced on the roads and with each bump Sweets face cinched in pain. Booth wanted to tell the driver to slow down but he also wanted to tell him to speed up. The techs were checking Sweets eyes and the injuries to this head.
Booth reached in and took the young man's hand in his own. Booth's breathing hitched as Sweets hand didn't move, instead was motionless at first but after a second Sweets fingers moved as he realized someone was there. Brennan put her hand over both until they arrived at the chopper just a moment later.
Sweets was loaded quickly into the chopper and Brennan knew that the speed to which they were moving meant it was bad. They were more concerned it seemed to get him there over securing him properly. Brennan kept a watchful eye while Booth's phone rang.
"So?" Angela asked.
"We have him." Booth said dryly looking at the mangled figure being loaded on the chopper.
"Agent Booth?" The pilot asked and Booth was glad he wasn't going to have to pull rank to get on board. He took Brennan's hand as they boarded.
"Oh thank God." Angela said as she heaved a sigh.
"Let's don't break out the champagne just yet." Booth said thru clenched teeth.
"We'll meet you there." Angela said cutting off the line, knowing what Booth meant.
The helicopter ride made for a quick ride to the hospital as they were able to land on the helipad. Brennan watched closely for any change in Sweets but he seemed to be frozen in time, nothing good nor anything bad on the ride. It seemed as though he were content to be flying, free and careless. As they landed on the helipad she thought things just might be okay, until Sweets vitals began to rapidly drop.
It was a bit of a blur as they pushed him past the partners, seeing him in his dirtied and damaged clothes. She thought of the videos they had been sent with the burn marks, the kicks, all hidden from what they had yet to see, yet the scars they had seen were bad enough. Brennan's feet fell from under her and she sat on the ground as Sweets disappeared from sight.
The stress had added up, the adrenaline from the moment gone and she was left with an exhausted feeling of despair.
"Bones?" Booth said wrapping his arm around her to help her up. "Bones please." He pleaded again but she wouldn't get up.
"What if we lose him?" She whispered.
She looked up at Booth with tears threatening to spill over and saw that his eyes were the same. Something about that surprised her and yet comforted her to know she was not alone in her fears or her feelings towards their young friend.
"I can't." He said more from his lips moving than sound that didn't come out.
Brennan stood up and took Booth's hand as they walked on. She knew they had to be strong for each other, for Sweets.
They sat in the waiting room for a time they did not comprehend. Their minds were elsewhere as the rest of the team began to trickle in.
"Seeley?" A voice asked breaking Booth from his thoughts. He looked up to see Cam looking down at him, Emma at her side. They both had looks of anticipation on their faces. He looked to see Brennan was gone, he hadn't realized she got up.
"Cam." He said in what he could only offer a note above a whisper.
"How…." She began but she had never seen Booth so distraught before and she lost the ability to say the rest.
"He is coming out of surgery." Brennan said approaching them. "I've been quite annoying the doctors have told me with my constant inquiries. But I, I had to know, something." She said her clinical voice dissolving as she reached the end of her sentence.
"Angela and Hodgins will be here soon, they were taking the kids from daycare to a sitter." Cam explained.
"Emma, I'm glad to see you are not in jail." Brennan said to Emma who looked up in surprise, her mind had been elsewhere.
"Yes, thanks to Dr. Soroyan and Miss Julian. But I'm afraid I am no longer employed at the bureau, but that's not important, hopefully it helped to find Dr. Sweets." She said trying to keep her own composure.
"It was." Booth said with a smile. He couldn't think about much more and they all sat and waited until Angela and Hodgins arrived so they could sit quietly.
"I can't believe this is happening." Hodgins finally said breaking the silence. "Sweets was really getting it all together you know? He had really become so much more than that annoying guy." He looked to Emma. "Not that he was annoying he was just…"
"Persistent?" She asked and they smiled.
"Let's not talk about Sweets like he's gone okay?" Booth suggested but didn't want to look at them. They nodded though they were all thinking of their young protégé.
"I'm going to annoy the doctors again." Brennan said and left. She returned a moment later.
"Sweets is out of surgery, they are putting him in a room and we can see him soon." Brennan said and the group had a feeling she was not saying as much as she could.
"So he's going to be…." Hodgins said trying to prompt her with more.
"They don't know. Which seems irrational to me." Brennan said. "While each of Dr. Sweets injuries is fully recoverable, they are concerned with the number of those injuries."
"Lance Sweets?" A nurse asked approaching them.
"Dr. Lance Sweets." Booth corrected and they were all a bit surprised. If anyone teased Sweets about not calling him a doctor it would be Booth.
"You can see him now." She said leading them down the hall. "The doctor is with him now and he's coming off the anesthetic. The doctor asked me to caution you that he is very weak and may not respond well. However based on the fact that we were informed Dr. Sweets was in captivity, it would be best to have familiar faces around."
"Is he in intensive care?" Brennan asked almost concerned they were not heading in that direction.
"No, Dr. Sweets is breathing on his own and has maintained a steady heartbeat. He has been placed near the nurses station based on the number of injuries he has sustained. Here we are."
She stopped and went her own way but the doctor came to the door before they could go in.
"I'm Dr. Henry Wilson." The kind and older doctor said to them. "I'll be taking care of Dr. Sweets, if you have anything I'll be happy to help. Dr. Brennan, you asked for Dr. Sweets x-rays and we will get them to you." Brennan smiled though she felt a little guilty about her insistence.
"Now I stopped you because normally I would want to limit visitors with someone in this condition, but as the nurse said, being the situation he just emerged from, I believe that having familiar faces around will help. He has been very responsive so far, but I'm afraid of when the seriousness of the situation sinks in, as he recovers, how it will be. I know you are all not family so this may be a lot to ask."
"We are family." Booth said interrupting. "I can't speak for everyone but I'm…"
"Yeah, you can." Cam said looking at everyone who nodded their heads. "We're all in Seeley, Dr. Wilson."
"Okay, then just be careful when you see him. I understand you have knowledge of what happened, just know that he has few places that aren't bruised, burned or broken. I'll be back in a little while."
Hodgins took Angela's hand as they went in, Cam took Emma's as they both needed some support and Booth took Brenann's hand last as they filed in. The last two were the least surprised, having seen Sweets before.
Angela took a sharp breath in and Sweets eyes opened.
"I look pretty bad huh?" He asked and began to cough.
"Sweetie, no, hey, don't talk okay?" She said standing to his side. Emma and Cam went to the other side. "You don't look bad, I just, I don't like…" Angela's voice trailed off, she didn't have the right words to say.
"We're just glad you're still with us Dr. Sweets, Lance." Cam said lightly putting her hand inside his. She tried to hide the sharp intake of breath at the number of treated cuts on his hands. She hadn't seen any footage to know where those came from. She got the idea that Sweets was clawing for his own life in some way, the thought hurt to comprehend all he had been thru.
"I didn't miss another date did I?" Sweets asked Emma with a voice that faded in and out. Cam stepped aside so Emma could step closer.
"No, you didn't. I'll be here, waiting for the next one." She leaned forward and kissed a corner of his head, one of the few places that didn't have a bruise or cut. Sweets gave a small smile.
Sweets could tell they were all trying to offer brave faces.
"I am a psychologist you know, I can read your expressions." He said with another cough. Booth stepped forward with a stern face.
"Then read this one Sweets, stop talking." Booth's hard expression melted at the young man's hurt eyes. "We've got plenty of time to talk. Right now just isn't one of them. And yeah you dummy, we are all concerned. And yeah, I'll be honest. You look terrible. Has a lot to do with the concerned looks."
Sweets started to say something and Angela put a light hand on his shoulder as though suggesting he not push Booth to take action.
"And no arguing either, we're going to stay here and keep you company." Hodgins began. "Or maybe it's the other way around. We thought we lost you for a while, a few times. I'd like to keep an eye on you."
The others nodded and added a "me too."
Sweets began to shake his head as though to suggest they all go but they sat down. He idly wondered as he drifted off if things had really changed, they still never listened to him. This time he was glad.