Her body was shaking, but she had no sense of being. She couldn't hear her teeth chattering, or feel her hands trembling while she held her daughter in her arms. Sounds weren't sounds, and numbness lifted from her toes and warmed her body quickly. Her lips had touched his, and they were not yet cold. His eyes were closed, and there was an air of peacefulness that filled his features. His skin was warm to the touch, but pale and ashen.
The EMTs around her were speaking, but their words meant nothing, and if she were in any state of sound mind, she'd suggest that perhaps she was suffering from a stroke. Pain ripped through her brain and her chest, and slowly, or so it seemed, an intense pressure of something raw and untouched was rising from within her soul.
She didn't know what possessed her, or what her body was doing, but the calmness was quickly replaced with unadulterated rage. The manifestation of this anger only took a second, but contained so much of what she had carefully pushed deep down in her soul. It contained anger so deep, and so hidden, that the darkness that rushed through her made her blood hot. She looked down at the cooling body of her husband, the man that had laid his life down once again for his family, and placed her free hand on his face. She couldn't feel the tight hold of her daughter any longer, or the EMTs tugging at her to move from the gurney. She couldn't feel anything but the rising anger that pulsed through her veins.
Temperance's body vibrated with that passionate anger, and seconds passed as she curled her fingers on his face, leaning down to kiss him again. She wanted it all to be a dream, she needed it all to be a dream, and begged that when she pulled her lips from his, that his eyes would be open. She pulled from his face, and no such thing happened. He was just as still as the moment she had placed her lips on him. "I'm sorry." She whimpered, unsure of what she was sorry for, she couldn't find any other words that could express the broken numbness that filled her being.
Grace was silent, her eyes staring down at the still figure of her father; she could feel the anger rushing through her mother's body. She could feel her trembling. What felt like eons to Temperance was a few small seconds, and in her imagination she felt that this was the way the rest of her life would be now that he was gone. Everything would move in slow motion until it simply stopped.
Her eyes closed for a moment, as the rage and passion contained in her body took control, and it was as if something had possessed her suddenly. Her free hand bunched into a white knuckled fist, and her teeth ground together. She had no breath left, though she was veiled in an absolute calm that was almost ghostly.
Suddenly, a sound left her body that could only be described as primal. The words she screamed didn't matter, it was the sudden blows to her husband's chest with her closed fist that had caught everyone off guard. "You can't leave me!" She screamed. "You can't! I won't let them take you! No! No!" She screamed as she pummeled him again and again, slamming her fist squarely into his chest.
Suddenly two of the EMTs grabbed her, pulling her from the body, she lunged forward and made contact one more time with the complete force of her body before she began to completely crumble. "He can't die! He can't! I need him!" She screamed between gnashed teeth. "He can't die!" She screamed.
In the scramble to pull her from the body, they heard a gasp of air and a strangled sound that erupted from the hysterical screams. They turned to see a pair of wide brown eyes staring at them, and his body jerking as he fought against the tube in his throat.
Expletives were thrown from the EMTs as they released Temperance and ran to the gurney. Booth's eyes focused on hers as he struggled to breathe.
"Booth!" Temperance screamed. "Booth!" , but the gurney was pushed away quickly toward the emergency doors. She wanted to scream that she loved him, that she needed him. She wanted to scream that she was sorry, she simply wanted to be with him, and all of that was pushed away through the doors of the hospital. She found herself without breath or strength. Suddenly, her daughter felt heavy in her arms, and Temperance felt the weight of exhaustion and drop in adrenaline drilling into her with intense force. She felt sick and broken, a crushing weight on her chest.
Grace gripped her mother tightly, calling for her again and again with no response. Temperance stumbled and drifted as she felt an arm try to loop hers. Indignant pride prevailed, and the touch of another person was the last thing she wanted. She needed her husband, she needed him. She stumbled away from the hands reaching for her and let out a pain filled yelp as she lost her footing. She was jarred by the scream of her daughter, and instinctively turned to protect her from the fall. Her arms wrapped protectively around Grace as gravity pulled her toward the pavement. The impact was sharp, and the blackness was inviting, as she was suddenly swallowed by the chaos.