A/N: I know it's been awhile but I've finally finished my placement and will hopefully have some more time to write before I'm back at uni. Thanks to everyone who has been patient and has stuck around.
This is going to be pretty angsty for awhile but hang in there because they'll always be a light at the end of the tunnel.
After what seemed like an eternity Angela managed to get Brennan out of the car and with Cam's help the two women helped their injured friend make the way slowly towards the hospital entrance. Booth walked a pace behind hands out, waiting to catch her if she fell. His breath hitched every time she stumbled but Angela and Cam held her steady. He could hear her laboured breathing and knew the strain on her ribs must be excruciating.
"We're nearly there sweetie," he heard Angela murmur to her friend and Booth was sure he heard Brennan whimper in response.
He saw it coming and his body moved before his brain even had time to register what was going on. Brennan's stumbling footfalls caught on an uneven piece of ground and she fell forward. Both Angela and Cam had a grip under her shoulders and they struggled to keep her upright. As her body threatened to give in to gravity their arms held her up and the opposing directions her body was being pulled in made her cry out in agony. Forgetting their situation all Booth saw was his partner start to go down and he swooped in and scooped her up making the two women who had been keeping her upright so far gasp in surprise as she was taken from their grasp.
"No!" Brennan sobbed struggling in his grasp, "No, oh God please don't."
"It's okay Bones," he said fighting to keep hold of her as she flailed in his arms, "It's just me, Booth. I'm not going to hurt you."
"No," she groaned her breathing coming in short pants, clawing at his arms the best she could, "No!"
"Booth," Angela said warily, placing a hand on his arm.
"It's okay Ange, I got this," he said facing the worried artist for a second before turning his attention back to the sobbing woman in his arms, "Bones you have to calm down or you're going to hurt yourself."
She went limp in his arms but continued to cry, as if her body didn't have any fight left in it. He was glad she had stopped struggling but he could tell that all her energy was going into not letting her head rest against his shoulder. Even though she wasn't still struggling he didn't count it as a victory. He knew if she had the energy and wasn't in so much pain she wouldn't have been content to let him carry her.
"You're going to be okay," he whispered to her, resisting the urge to place a kiss on the top of her head.
The automatic doors opened to reveal the bustling Emergency Room of Georgetown University Hospital and Booth groaned out loud when he looked around and spotted teams of people sitting around in the waiting room.
"Cam tell me you've got some sort of pull here," he said looking pleadingly at the pathologist.
"I'll do what I can but Emergency is obligated to treat people in a hierarchy of the seriousness of their injuries," Cam said, "I placed a call in before we came but it looks like there might have been a major trauma somewhere," she said looking around at the busy ER.
As Cam headed over to the Admissions desk Booth and Angela stood awkwardly near the doorway. Angela had moved so she was standing on Booth's side and was stroking her fingers delicately through Brennan's hair in an attempt to soothe her obviously distressed friend.
"Agent Booth, Angela," they whipped their heads around at the sound of a familiar voice, "Daisy and I have managed to commandeer a couple of seats over there," Sweets said pointing over to the far corner of the waiting room where they could see Daisy sitting wearily in a hard plastic chair.
"Didn't they have someone see her?" Angela asked.
"There was a seven car pileup on the highway," Sweets sighed, "They told us to wait and that they'd see us as soon as they could."
"That's bullshit," Booth said angrily, cursing internally when he felt Brennan tense in his arms. He glanced at Angela apologetically as the artist glared at him and murmured something to her friend.
"Did you tell them what has happened?" Angela asked.
"I explained, I flashed my FBI credentials but I was still told to wait," Sweets said, "Unless it's life threatening they're not seeing anyone right now."
"He's right," Cam sighed joining them, "They're stretched thin as it is and with the accident I'm afraid it might be awhile before they can see them."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" Booth asked.
"I'm sorry Seeley," Cam said.
Sweets and Daisy had managed to get three seats next to each other and with Daisy occupying one and with their group of seven Booth was tempted to sit with Brennan in his lap but he knew that wouldn't go down well. As if reading his thoughts Angela took it upon herself to take the seat on the right leaving a spare seat between her and Daisy. The artist looked up at him expectantly and he nodded reluctantly.
"Bren sweetie, Booth is going to sit you down next to Daisy and I okay," the artist said, waiting from some acknowledgement from her friend.
"Daisy?" Brennan asked hoarsely, turning her head to catch a glimpse of her grad student.
"I'm here Dr. Brennan," Daisy said kindly, "Booth is going to sit you down okay."
"Okay," Brennan finally agreed.
"Booth support her torso as much as you can as you set her down," Cam said to him.
He did as he was told but Brennan still groaned in pain as he set her down.
"Can't we get her anything for her ribs?" Booth asked pleadingly, hating seeing his partner in pain.
"Throw your credentials around a little bit," Angela said.
"I'll do my best," Cam said, "Sit tight Dr. Brennan. Seeley do you want to come with me?"
The way she said it Booth knew it wasn't really a question and after staring at his partner for a moment he followed the pathologist back over towards the Admissions desk.
"If we're going to be waiting her awhile it's probably a good idea if you get her something to eat," Cam said to him, "And enough with the hands on. I know you want to be there for her and play the knight in shining armour but you're going to have to hang back for awhile or at least stop trying to be so hands on with her."
"You're saying I should've just let her fall?" Booth asked angrily.
"No, I'm not saying you should've let her fall but I know you Seeley and I know that given the chance you're going to give into your instinct and wrap her up in a Booth bear hug," Cam said placing a hand on his arm, "You just have to give her some time and let Angela and I do the heavy lifting. I think the best thing you can do is just be there, be a presence but don't be in her face. Let her come to you, and she will when she's ready but you have to let her be the one to come to you."
"She's scared of me," Booth said and Cam's heart broke at the anguish she could see reflecting in his eyes.
"It's not you she's afraid of," Cam said smiling sadly at him, "It's what you represent."
"She's not freaking out around Sweets," Booth sighed, "Why is it just me?"
"Look, we don't even know exactly what happened to her and I'm sure there is a perfectly logical reason why she's reacting to you the way that she is but I'm telling you that you can't push her. You can't force her to want to come to you it has to come from her," Cam said, "Now go and find a vending machine or something and get everyone something to eat while I try and work the Saroyan charm on that scary looking nurse at the desk."
Sitting back was definitely not something Booth was good at. He was an action man and never sat on his hands just waiting. He knew what Cam had said was right but it didn't make it any easier to accept. His own brand of 'guy hugs' had served him well in the past, so much so that she had once commented on the fact that he was always around to hold her when she was scared or upset. To have to sit back now and watch as someone else offered her the hugs and comfort he had once been in charge off was going to be torture. Still, he wanted to be around when she finally did decide that she felt comfortable enough to want him near so he decided he was going to do exactly as Cam had said. He was going to be there for her in every way that he could without actually touching her. He knew it was going to probably be one of the hardest things he would ever do but he would do it for her.
Juggling several packeted sandwiches he headed decisively back to where their little group was seated. Brennan's face was pale and pinched in pain but she had stopped crying which made it a little easier for him to quell his urge to reach for her. Handing a packet to everyone he hesitated before handing Brennan's sandwich to Angela and went to stand next to Cam.
"How'd you go getting her some painkillers?" he asked taking a bite of the soggy egg sandwich he had procured for himself.
"No luck," Cam shook her head, "They won't hand out drugs until she's been seen by an ER doctor."
"And the ER doctor's are too busy to see her," Booth muttered angrily.
"Her injuries aren't life threatening," Cam reassured him, "We would know by now if her ribs had done any damage to her organs. She's in pain but it's not going to kill her."
"Thanks Camille, that's very reassuring," Booth said sarcastically turning his attention back to Angela who was arguing quietly with her best friend.
"Sweetie you need to eat something," Angela said holding the sandwich out to Brennan who was shaking her head, "Brennan you've have to eat," the artist said more forcefully.
"I'm not hungry," Brennan said softly, turning to face away from her friend, wincing when it pulled at her ribs.
"Dr. Brennan I know you didn't get to have the food they gave to us," Daisy said not needing to elaborate on who 'they' were, "But I did and while hospital food is far from nice this is a whole lot better than what we got there. I think you should eat it, if only to spite them. By eating now it's just another way to prove that they lost and we won. We're not there anymore," she said holding out half of her own sandwich to the wary anthropologist.
There was a moment of complete silence as the group watched on and everyone seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief when Brennan took a small bite of the sandwich. Sweets smiled and kissed the top of Daisy's head before handing her the rest of his sandwich. Booth's brow furrowed as he thought about what had just taken place. Daisy Wick, perhaps the most annoying intern ever to step foot inside the walls of the Jeffersonian had just persuaded her stubborn boss to eat. Daisy Wick, the woman Brennan had once spent two hours ranting about as she wore a trail in the rug on his living room floor had just effectively done his job. He was the one who got her to eat. He was the one who brought her take out when she worked ridiculously long hours in the lab. He was the one who dragged her to the diner for breakfast when she refused to take a break for lunch. He was the one who turned up at her door in the middle of the night with Thai food and a smile. It was his job to make her eat and he had just been superseded by an overly peppy intern who had once been the bane of Brennan's existence.
Cam's hand on his arm reminded him of exactly why she was his oldest and dearest friend. She knew him and she knew how hard it was for him to watch his partner like this.
"Give it time Seeley," she said softly to him.
As well as Camille could read him he felt like he was one of the lucky few who could read Brennan like a book. He could read the little nuances in her face better than anyone but you didn't have to know her well to recognise what was going to happen next. With the sandwich halfway to her mouth Brennan's face took on a positively greenish tinge and Booth lurched forwards completely forgetting everything Cam had said to him earlier. He scrambled for the waste paper basket resting next to the table of magazines next to Angela and shoved it in front of her face as the small amount of food she had ingested rebelled against her stomach.
"Oh sweetie," Angela sighed pulling her friend's hair back as she continued to retch pitifully into the bin, "Just let it out."
When she was done Brennan groaned miserably and grasped at her ribs that were undoubtedly screaming in protest after her violent heaving. Her head lolled to the side obviously exhausted and Angela wrapped a comforting arm around her shifting so that Brennan's head rested on her shoulder.
"That's it," Booth growled, the soiled rubbish bin still clutched firmly in his hands, "I can't stand this anymore."
"Don't shoot anyone Agent Booth," he heard Sweets call after him as he stalked over towards the Admissions desk.
"Can I help you?" the portly nurse at the Admissions desk looked up at him as he glowered down at her.
"Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI," he said flashing his badge and banging it down on the desk.
"You're with the kidnapping group as well I assume," the nurse said, "I've already spoken to Dr. Sweets and Dr. Saroyan from your group and like I've told them there's nothing we can do right now you'll just have to wait."
"Look lady, my partner has been held and tortured by an Indonesian terrorist group. She's been beaten and denied food and water. She's scared and she's in pain and I'm not moving until you find me a doctor who will see her," he growled.
"I understand that she's in pain but there are a lot of people here who are and unfortunately with the accident we've had to give priority to those who have been hurt in the crash," the nurse said.
"I'm sorry about the crash I really am but she's my partner and she's in pain there has to be something you can do," Booth pleaded with her.
"Agent Booth believe me if there was something I could do I would," she said sympathetically.
"Is there someone I can speak to?" Booth asked, "To see if we can speed this up a little."
"Sure," the nurse said, "You can speak to the little boy with the broken arm who has been waiting for three hours, or perhaps you'd like me to tell the woman who needs stitches in her forearm who has been waiting for four hours that she'll have to wait even longer because an FBI agent feels like his partner's pain is more important than anyone else who has been forced to wait because of the accident."
She was being snide with him and he itched to raise his voice at her but he knew she was correct. There was a waiting room full of people waiting to be seen who were in just as much pain as Bones and had been waiting longer to be seen.
"Do you know how long it'll be?" he asked.
"Hard to say Agent Booth," she said, "But I promise you we're doing everything that we can to get through seeing everyone."
"Okay, okay, thank you," he said, "Oh, my partner, she wasn't feeling well and was sick," he said brandishing the rubbish bin out in front of him in her direction.
"I'll get you a basin," she said compassionately taking the bin from him.
He thanked her when she returned and took the kidney bean shaped dish she handed to him. He smiled at the little boy with the broken arm as he passed on his way back to his group, suddenly feeling worse for wanting to push Brennan up through the list. He could only imagine how the boy's mother must be feeling having to wait while her son was injured, if it had been Parker, well he definitely wouldn't have been as patient as she was being.
Brennan's head was still resting against Angela's shoulder when he returned and the artist took the basin from him, tucking it safely into her friend's arms that rested in her lap. Brennan's eyes were closed and for a second Booth thought she had fallen asleep.
"Can I go home now?" she mumbled, "I just want to go home."
"Not yet sweetie," Angela said combing her fingers through her friend's hair, "We've got to wait a little bit longer to see a doctor and then we can go."
"I don't need a doctor I just need to go home and sleep," Brennan complained, "I'm tired Ange I just need to sleep."
"I know I'm sorry sweetie I really am," Angela said and Booth could tell that this was hurting the artist just as much as it was hurting him, "But you need to see a doctor. I promise as soon as that happens I'll take you home and you can sleep in your own bed."
"I'm just tired," Brennan sighed, the soothing motion of her friend's fingers combing through her hair making her sink further against Angela's body.
"Just rest Bones," Booth said softly as her eyes drooped closed.
The sounds of the bustling waiting room seemed to fade away as his attention was focused on nothing but the woman in front of him who was slowly drifting off to sleep. He longed to be the one her head rested against, he longed to be the one running his fingers through her soft hair. Instead he got to be the one who caught the basin before it hit the ground as it slipped from her grasp when she finally gave into her exhaustion and for the moment that was all he would have to be content being.
"It won't be forever," he had to remind himself, "Not forever."
A/N: Hope that satisfies as an acceptable first chapter back. Send me a review to let me know you're still out there gentle readers.