A/N - This chapter is pretty long, I hope it is still enjoyable. I am still excited about all the reviews. Please keep them coming to let me know what you think. You guys are great readers.

Disclaimer - Bones and characters are property of Fox.

Chapter 29

Another hour passed and the pair was fairly quiet during the time. Booth turned on ESPN and Brennan half worked / half rested. She tried to focus, but really wasn't able to do that effectively. That was what she hated the most about this whole thing, the medicine messing with her thinking ability. She had denied it to Booth, but he was right. She smiled slightly at a couple of memories from early in their partnership. First, she thought of the time she inhaled the meth. She really didn't remember a lot of details, but Hodgins told her she was crazed. Then, she remembered the Valley Fever incident and how Booth reacted to the anti fungal medications. He was less controlled than she had ever seen him.

Brennan was dozing lightly when Russ and Max came in around 10:00. She woke up and shifted a little as Max came over and kissed his daughter. "You look much better today, pumpkin."

Brennan hugged him and then Russ came over to kiss her. "I'm sorry I didn't come yesterday, Tempe. I was working and then Amy had to work late."

Brennan smiled. "It's okay Russ. I was fairly sedated with medicines anyway; I don't think I was good company."

Russ just nodded and took a seat. He talked a little about what Emma and Haley were up to and how grateful he was for the doctor she had connected them with. They had moved to DC to be close to his office.

The group sat quietly for a while. All of the alpha males kept an eye on the woman they loved. They all loved her on different levels, but still, it was love.

After a little while, Russ noticed his baby sister was scratching at her arms and chest almost unknowingly. "Tempe, why are you clawing yourself?" At the question, Booth and Max focused their attention more to Brennan. Booth had noticed this earlier, but didn't mention it. He thougth it might just be an effect of her being bored.

Brennan snapped out of her trance and pulled her shirt off her arms. She could see the red streaks she was making even through the v-necked under armor shirt she was wearing. "I'm not sure Russ; I didn't realize I was doing it. It's probably just a slight reaction to the medicine. I feel fine."

The three men accepted her answer and talked baseball and hockey. Brennan was very quiet and at some point had fallen asleep.

The nurses had been monitoring her vitals regularly and as expected, just before lunch, the nurse entered. When she prepared herself to check her blood pressure, lifting her sleeve a little, she paused and pulled the blanket off of both of Brennan's arms. This motion woke her up. "Temperance, are you feeling alright?" Brennan just nodded her head was still too sleepy to talk.

The nurse took out her stethoscope and listened to her heart and lungs. "Are you itching? It looks like you've scratched your arms and chest until you've broken the skin." The nurse could see the redness at her neck line and on her arms.

"I suppose I am. I've been scratching without realizing it." Brennan explained even as she scratched her arms.

The nurse nodded and then instructed Brennan to lean forward a little. She did so even though the simple movement was painful. The nurse lifted her shirt and noticed the rash she was developing. She helped her lean back and then took her temperature.

She wrote a few things in her chart and then spoke. "Looks like you are reacting to the percocet, I'm going to change you to a different pain killer, but you've had a couple of doses so it may take a while to get out of your system. It doesn't seem to be an allergic reaction, your breathing is fine. I'll bring you some benedryl. That will alleviate the itching and the rash you have on your back. You also have a mild fever. It could be related to the percocet or due to the surgery. I'll call Jameson and he'll probably start you on antibiotics. Just be prepared, sometimes a fever requires additional in patient monitoring." The nurse finished up and walked out of the room.

The men all stared at her. Booth went and sat on her bed facing her. "Bones, are you okay?"

She smiled, they were obviously worried. "I'm fine Booth. I don't feel sick. I'm sure it's just the medicine causing a reaction. I'll be fine."

Booth and the other men were doubtful, but didn't push. A few minutes later, the nurse returned and handed Brennan a few pills. "Jameson is putting you on an antibiotic. He will be here later this afternoon and he'll determine if you need to stay or can be discharged." Brennan nodded. She really did not want to stay another night. Hopefully he'd let her go home with antibiotics. She took the meds and handed the cup back to the nurse.

The nurse left and Brennan started unhooking herself from the cooling unit so she could go to the rest room. All the men eyed her, wanting to help, but she shot them an 'I'll do this alone look.' They had all seen the look before and knew not to try and help.

She successfully made her way to the bathroom and back to bed. She managed to get herself situated and then laid her head back. She was now exhausted.

She was still scratching when the nurse came back into the room. "Would you three mind waiting outside, I've got some medicine for your rash I want to help you apply."

The men stood and Booth spoke to Brennan. "Bones, we're going to run get some lunch. Do you want anything? We'll probably go to the diner across the street."

Brennan just shook her head, she wasn't really hungry.

The men exited and the nurse had Brennan sit up and drew the curtain in the room. She instructed her to pull her shirt off, leaving Brennan sitting on the bed with just a sports bra. "This is hydrocortisone cream. It will help with the skin irritation. I think you are just experiencing a side effect of the percocet not an anaphylactic reaction. Are you experiencing any other symptoms?" Brennan shook her head. Honestly, she felt fine. The nurse continued to put the cream on her back. "Why does he call you Bones?"

Brennan rubbed some of the cream on her arms, wincing a little as she rubbed it over the places where her skin was broken. "Oh, that, he's always called me Bones. At first, he did it because he didn't like me. Now, it's just what he calls me. I hated it at first, but now I like it."

The nurse nodded and helped Brennan get her shirt back on. "Let me know if you need anything."

A few minutes later, Angela came in. "Where's your army of alpha males?" she asked as she walked through the door.

"They're at the diner across the street. Booth has gone without pie for 24 hours and is probably in withdrawals." Brennan smiled at her friend.

"How are things going with Booth? Any developments?" She hadn't been alone with her friend in a few days.

"No, Ange, we're still just partners." Brennan's face grew somber as she spoke.

Angela could read her friend like a book. "Oh, this is hot. You have it for him, bad. Bren, you have to tell him." Angela was grinning.

"Ange, I can't. I can't risk our partnership. You know that." Brennan was being honest, she wanted Booth as more than her partner, but his list wasn't finished. They had work to do.

"Bren, how do you know you couldn't date and still remain partners? You aren't FBI." Angela hoped this would yield some results.

"I'm sure the contractor policy is the same as the employees'." Brennan made her statement in a tone that would let Angela know she was done talking about it.

Angela thought for a moment. She would do a little investigating on her to find out what the policy really was. If her friend wouldn't do it, she would take care of it.

"So, after we left here yesterday, Hodgins and I went to the diner together." Angela sat on the bed by her friend.

Brennan smiled. "So, what does that mean?"

Angela shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Bren, I mean I love him, I really do, but I am afraid to marry him. What if I don't love him later?"

Brennan nodded. "Angela, you know I'm not good with this, but if love really does exist, do you always feel it or is it sometimes overshadowed by the release of other neurotransmitters? I would think that just because you don't feel it all the time, it doesn't mean you've completely lost the sensation." Brennan hated psychology and hoped that was more scientific than psychological.

Angela just smiled. "You know Bren; you sure seem to know a lot about love to not believe in it." Angela grabbed her hand. "So, do you think I should go back to Hodgins?"

"I do, I really do. I mean you guys are a good team." Brennan squeezed her hand.

A tear rolled down Angela's cheek. She missed Hodgins and knew that she loved him. She just hadn't been able to commit for a lifetime. Maybe now, she just needed to do it.

Angela quickly wiped her eyes as she heard the guys come back in. "Hey Angela!" Booth called.

"Hey studly." He just rolled his eyes at her typical greeting.

Booth placed a take out box on Brennan's table and cut her a sly smile. "Booth, I told you I didn't want anything."

"Oh come on Bones, I know you can't turn down French fries and milkshakes." He grinned as he handed her the milkshake.

She didn't say anything; she just opened the container and started on the fries. It was a little painful to swallow, but she didn't care. They were good. As she was eating, they brought in the hospital lunch tray. Booth looked under the cover and wrinkled his nose at the hospital food. He grabbed the pudding and a spoon and sat down to eat.

Brennan laughed. "Booth, didn't you just eat?"

Booth grinned and said, "Yes, but pudding is like Jell-O Bones, there's always room for more."

She just went back to her fries. He was unbelievable.

As promised, Marc returned around 2:00. He said hello to all in the room and Max, Angela, and Russ excused themselves rather quickly. They all promised to call later when she was home.

Marc started working with Brennan. This time Booth stayed. He needed to see what this therapist was doing to his partner, his Bones.

Marc started the entire cycle again. He massaged her leg focusing on her calf and thigh and then made her repeat the lifting and letter exercises. This time Brennan really struggled to complete the tasks. 'It's going to be a long road.' She thought to herself.

Booth looked on with anger. He hated seeing her struggle; she had done enough of that to last a lifetime. He also hated watching another man touch her in such an intimate way, even if it was to help her heal.

Marc hooked her up to the electrotherapy machine and started it. Booth watched as Brennan flinched each time Marc turned one of the dials. When he hooked it to her calf, Booth saw her gritting her teeth and saw a small tear well up in her eye. At that point, Booth pulled his chair closer to her and started to rub her back a little. From there, he could feel her tensing with every pulse of the machine.

By 2:45, Marc had finished and explained the therapy regimen to Brennan. "We're going to want you to come every other day for the first few weeks. Once you get out of the hard cast, you're going to need to come once a day. When you have your screws removed, we will start you on an intensive twice a day program for a couple of weeks. I'll be honest with you Temperance; you are going to have a lot of work to do." He patted her on the leg. "I've made you an appointment for Thursday morning. Take it easy tomorrow. I'm leaving you the electrotherapy portable unit. You need to use it twice a day and do the exercises I did with you each time. There is a paper in the unit that explains everything for you"

Brennan just nodded as he packed up the machine and sat it on the couch. She hated that machine, but understood its purpose. She willed her self to unclench her jaw and said "Thanks, I'll be there on Thursday."

Marc left and Booth looked at Brennan and hated the look in her eye. He didn't say anything. She grabbed the nurse call button and pushed it. In a few seconds, her regular nurse walked in. "Temperance, do you need something?" The nurse had only worked with her for a few hours, but could tell she was not a complainer.

Brennan just nodded and explained. "I was hoping you could get some ice for my calf and thigh and I wasn't sure what time I could have additional pain meds, but I was hoping it was soon."

The nurse nodded and said, "Absolutely, whatever you need. We typically wait until you ask for pain meds once you are 24 hours out unless you go over 8 hours. You can have them every 4 right now. We are going to switch you back to Lortab, just a stronger dosage than you were taking at home. I'll get you some ice and meds and be right back." She quickly turned and left the room.

Booth just looked at her. "That bad, huh."

She couldn't really talk, so she just gave him a single nod.

As promised, the nurse returned with two ice wraps and the medicine. She gave Brennan the medicine and helped her situate the ice on her calf and thigh. Brennan thanked her and laid back. After a few minutes, she began to feel better and spoke to Booth. "I think I hate that machine more than serial killers. It's effectively torture."

Booth laughed a little at her comparison. "Bones, it'll get better."

In a few minutes, Brennan fell asleep and Booth was once again watching a hockey game. The nurse came back in and took her vitals and temperature. Her temperature was 100.2.

"What does that mean?" Booth asked.

The nurse smiled and answered. "It's not very high so it is probably nothing. Her body has just been through a lot of prodding over the last 24 hours. It most likely just stress or a reaction to the percocet, but we have to watch her for infection. Jameson will probably just send her home on antibiotics just in case." Booth just nodded, he figured it was stress, she showed signs of fever a couple of times through everything and it turned out to be nothing.

Brennan slept for another hour or so and woke around 4:15. Booth had already packed all of her things in anticipation of taking her home in a couple of hours. "You didn't have to pack that stuff Booth, I could have done it."

"I know you could Bones, but I got it. I need to do something besides watch sports anyway." He smiled as he placed her bags on the small couch.

There was a quiet knock at the door and Jameson entered. "Temperance, how are you this afternoon?"

Brennan answered fairly quickly. "I feel fine and the pain is manageable. I rather dislike the therapy regimen, but I understand why it has to be done."

"Good, I see you reacted unfavorably to the percocet. You probably need to stay away from it in the future, but you reaction is not uncommon. At any rate, I'm going to give you a prescription for the stronger Lortab for the pain and a hydrocortisone cream for the skin irritation." Brennan listened patiently as the doctor spoke; she really just wanted to know if she could go home.

The doctor continued after looking at her chart. "You've also been running a bit of a fever, as long as you aren't feeling ill, I'm going to send you home with a short course of antibiotics. I just want to make sure it's not an infection. Check your temp when you take meds, if it goes up, call us. I'll get everything together and when the nurse comes back, you'll be free to go. Try to keep comfortable and keep that ankle elevated in the cooling unit as much as you can stand."

'Thank goodness,' thought Brennan and Booth at the same time. They had both had enough of hospitals for quite a while.

"I want to see you next Monday to remove your stitches and hard cast you. Take it easy until then. No work until you can comfortably function without the narcotics, probably after your appointment with me at the earliest. Just remember, do not attempt to stand or walk without your crutches at all. If you break a pin before you are healed, you will be in a mess." The doctor was finished and he shook both of their hands and left.

"I'm going to go ahead and run all of our things out to the SUV. I'll be back in just a minute." Booth figured that was the most effective way to get her and the things to the car.

As he approached the SUV, his cell phone rang. It was Nichols so he answered, hoping to get her off the phone really quickly. "Booth," he said as he flipped the phone open.

"Booth, I just got a new file and was hoping you could come by and take a look at it this evening. I think it will be very interesting and we could handle working it." The young agent explained the purpose of her call to an unwilling Booth.

"Listen Nichols, I'm off until Thursday. I'm sure if you need the Jeffersonian, you could call Cam and she could help you out. You don't really have to go through me just to get their help." Booth hoped that would satisfy her, no such luck.

Nichols tried to take her request to the next level and said, "I understand that Booth, but I really feel like you should take the first look at the file. I'm not even sure if this case will take the Jeffersonian or not. It might be one we could solve alone, we are both good agents." She hoped appealing to his cocky side would be enough to get him to buy in.

"You know what, you want to solve it without them, go ahead and try; just don't do anything to jeopardize the admissibility of evidence in a trial. You do that, you deal with Caroline." Booth really didn't care what she did as long as she didn't screw up.

Nichols realized she was unsuccessful, so tried another approach. "Come to think of it, maybe Dr. Brennan should take a look at the case. It was a totally decomposed corpse found in the woods near Alexandria. Maybe I could bring it by later this evening for her to look out."

Booth bit back the urge to jump through the phone and strangle her. Of course, Bones would need to help in this case unless Nichols had earned her doctorate in two days. "Nichols, I'll ask Bones if she wants to take a look at the file, but if she doesn't feel like it, that's final. Anyway, it won't be tonight, maybe in the morning. I'll send you a text message letting you know." Booth was finished and flipped the phone shut leaving a surprised Nichols on the other end of the line.

Booth threw the bags in the back seat of the SUV and slammed the door shut. He really didn't want to be bothered by Nichols, but he would have to deal with her when he went back to work, hopefully if Bones looked at the file, he could avoid problems later. He walked back to Bones' room to find her signing her discharge papers.

"You're all set." The nurse said as she stepped out and wheeled in a wheel chair.

Brennan's eyes grew wide, she would not leave in a wheel chair, she wasn't an invalid. Booth intercepted her thoughts and said, "Bones, I'm sure it's hospital policy and you wouldn't want to give this nice nurse any trouble would you?" He grinned and used his arms to pretend to reveal the wheelchair to her. "Your chariot waits." He laughed as he said it.

Brennan puffed and rolled her eyes, but let him help her off the bed and into the wheelchair. The nurse rolled her down the hall as Booth jogged to pull the car up. He waited in the circle at the entrance until the nurse rolled her out. He helped her stand and she grabbed her crutches to make the five step journey to the SUV. She got herself in and buckled up. She was glad to be leaving the hospital.

The pair rode in silence until Booth spoke, "Bones, do you want me to take you home and then go out and get your medicine? I don't mind."

"No Booth, you've already paid for too much stuff for me anyway, I'll pay you back when I go by an ATM. Anyway, just go through a place that has a drive through and I can pay for it myself." She really felt guilty for letting him pay for things. She obviously made more money than him. She supposed it was his alpha male tendencies that made him want to pay for things.

"Bones, it's not a big deal, you have good insurance anyway." Booth was honest he didn't care to take care of things for her. He might not be rich, but he could handle it. "Do you have a thermometer, or do we need to get one?" He wanted to make sure she didn't ignore the doctor's orders.

"I do have one, I'm not sure that I ever even used it, but I have it just in case." Booth was satisfied at her answer and pulled through a drive through pharmacy.

He passed the things through to the pharmacy tech. They waited in the car for a little bit, but they quickly filled the prescriptions and Brennan passed Booth her credit card to give the tech. She signed the forms passed back to her and they headed to her apartment.

They got home around 6:00 and Booth ordered take out Thai. "Bones, you should feel lucky that you are on the delivery routes of so many restaurants. You have your pick."

She made her way back to her bedroom to change and shower. She quickly realized that taking a bath was quicker and more comfortable although getting in and out of the tub was tricky as was putting on the hydrocortisone cream. She managed anyway.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Booth had dinner on the table and the pair ate. They talked about nothing for the most part. Booth did tell her that Rebecca had called and was going on a business trip in a few weeks, the first week of November. He would get to have Parker for an entire week. That rarely happened and he was excited.

"Hopefully that will be the week I get my hard cast off. Maybe I can cook you guys mac and cheese one evening." Brennan couldn't believe she just volunteered to cook for Parker and Booth. What was even more unbelievable to her was the fact that she really wanted to do it.

Booth's eyes grew wide at the thought of the cheesy goodness. "Bones, that would be great. Parker has a Booth stomach and will love it."

Booth decided that now was as good a time as any to bring up Nichols' phone call. "Hey Bones, I hate to bring it up, but Nichols called earlier and wants us to take a look at a case tomorrow. I told her no at first, but she was pretty persistent. She said it's a skeleton in the dry decay stage of decomposition." Brennan cut her eyes at him. 'Had he been listening to her well enough to know that the final stage of decomposition was dry decay? I wonder if he knew that dry decay meant 50 – 365 days post death?' A smile grew on her face as she thought about his squinty side.

He noticed her pondering something and asked, "What?"

She snapped out of her day dream and spoke again. "Nothing. Does she want us to go to your office?"

Booth knew she wouldn't be able to resist looking at graphic pictures of Bones. "She probably would, but I told her IF we met, she would have to come here. You don't need to be out tomorrow."

"It's fine Booth, she can come by. Just make sure she gets the bones shipped to the lab. I don't trust the FBI techs with my bones." She explained.

The pair finished eating and Brennan walked over to the cabinet to take her medicine. Booth saw her and thought, 'good girl,' but didn't dare say a thing.

They settled on the couch for a little while watching television between phone calls. Angela, Russ, and Max all called to check on her.

Around 9:00, Brennan remembered that she hadn't gotten her mail in a couple of days. She thought about doing it herself, but moved a little, felt pain and opted not to try. "Hey Booth, would you mind running downstairs to get my mail for me? I haven't done it in a few days."

"Sure Bones, where's the key." He jumped up from the couch and walked to the door.

Brennan pointed to the front door. "It's the little gold one on the red key ring hanging on the key rack."

With that, he walked out the door and went downstairs. He opened her box and found a lot of mail, but not as much as he expected. He figured her fan mail must go to her publisher. He could tell by the size of the envelopes that she had several cards, probably well wishes.

He walked back in her apartment and handed it to her. "Thanks Booth," she said as she flipped through it. She stopped when she saw one yellow envelope. Booth sat beside her and couldn't figure out why she stopped.

He noticed she had that lost little girl look and spoke. "What is it Bones?"

She looked up at him and made a simple statement. "It's from Zack. I can pick his handwriting out any day."

She pulled the card out of the stack and sat it on the coffee table. She then reached for her crutches as she spoke. "I'm going to go to bed now. I think I'll sleep in my room now that my ankle is stable." He watched her fumble trying to carry the card and the cooling unit. He stood and took the cooling unit from her and followed her to her room.

"I'll set this up for you and let you go to bed. If you need anything, just yell." Booth offered the small amount of help, but didn't push.

She placed the still sealed card on her nightstand and went into her bathroom. Booth could hear her brushing her teeth as he finished up and closed her bedroom door.

He went back into the living room and turned on ESPN. He wasn't paying attention to it though; he was worried about her reading the card from Zack alone. He knew her emotions were still raw and that she felt guilty about what happened to him. They all did.

In her bedroom, Brennan climbed into bed and placed her aching leg into the cooling unit on top of the three pillows Booth set out. She could tell she had been up a little too much already, but she was feeling okay. She checked her temperature and found it to be 99.2. That was a good sign. She lay back on the pillows and opened the card. A few stray tears fell as she read. 'Oh Zack,' she thought before putting the card down and drifting to sleep even though her mind was racing. If she hadn't been medicated, she was sure sleep wouldn't have come.

Booth watched television until 11:30 and then flipped it off. He texted Nichols telling her to come by around 11:00, not before. He then turned off the lights in Brennan's apartment. He didn't realize until that moment that he didn't like her sleeping in her room. He couldn't stare at her sleeping or place small kisses on her cheek. Despite that fact, he still felt at home at her place. He liked it.