It is a remarkably short amount of time before two EMT's are descending the staircase into the basement followed by an angry looking Agent Perotta and an uncomfortable looking Dr Sweets. I carefully extricate myself from underneath Booth as the EMT's begin their assessment. Sweets approaches me as I watch but as he opens his mouth to speak, I raise my hand to stop him.

"Not now, Sweets." I cannot deal with anything right now other than ensuring Booth is ok. He eyes me for a few seconds then walks over to one of the EMT's and pulls him to one side speaking quietly to him.

I watch as Booth is placed onto a stretcher. He is still unconscious. The EMT's have wrapped him in a foil blanket and placed an oxygen mask on his face. I feel numb and not just from the penetrating cold in this godforsaken basement. He has to be alright. What am I going to do if he isn't? I stifle a sob as I turn to follow the EMT's up the stairs out of the basement and catch a disapproving glare from Agent Perotta as I walk past her.

I climb into the back of the ambulance without being invited but the EMT's don't say a word about it. The ride to the hospital is long and I spend the entire time holding Booth's hand. I want to talk to him, reassure him that I'm still here with him, remind him how much I love him. But the words won't come. I am still numb and all I can do is just sit and hope.

When we arrive at the hospital Booth is whisked away for tests and scans. I watch as the EMT Sweets spoke to approaches a nurse. He says something to her and looks in my direction. She walks over to me and puts her arm around me. She is an older woman with rich brown eyes that are the exact same shade as her skin. She looks at me kindly and says, "Come with me, hon. Let's get you checked over." I want to protest but I seem to have lost the use of my voice.

She leads me to a small treatment room and gestures for me to sit on the bed. She asks for my name and date of birth which I robotically recite for her. "You were drugged?" She asks. I nod my head, unsure of how she could know that. She puts a blood pressure cuff around my arm and checks my pulse rate.

As she is drawing blood to be sent for testing, I remember something I need to tell her. Something important. "I'm pregnant." I blurt out.

She glances at me, nonplussed and says "All right, sweetheart. I'll get a sonographer down here ASAP. I'll also have a doctor come check you over in a few minutes."

"What about my partner? I need to see my partner." I say, panicked. I'd vowed to myself I wouldn't leave his side and now I don't even know where he is.

"He's having tests" She says calmly. "As soon as I know more, I'll tell you and you can go see him. But right now, we need to take care of you too. I'll be back in a minute, ok?" She pats my hand and leaves the room.

I lay back on the bed. I only intend to close my eyes for a few moments, but I must have fallen asleep as I jerk awake at the sound of the sonographer wheeling a cart into the room. She asks me how many weeks pregnant I am. "I don't know. I've only just found out." I tell her. She nods her head and tells me while handing me a blanket to remove my pants and underwear. It will need to be a transvaginal scan if it is early pregnancy. I grit my teeth as I lay back on the bed again covered up to my waist by the blanket. I hadn't anticipated such an invasive examination, but it is essential if I am to know if this afternoon has had any effect on the foetus.

She works quietly for a few moments shifting the ultrasound wand slightly in order to see what she needs to. It is uncomfortable but not painful. She turns the screen towards me and says, "There's your baby." She points to a tiny dot on the screen. The dot is flickering, and I know it is the heart beating. "Everything looks good. You're about 6 weeks along I'd say." She removes the wand then clicks the mouse a few times. She then hands me the picture she has just printed out. "You can get dressed again now." she says with a smile as she leaves the room.

I take a moment to examine the picture, closely examining the tiny dot that is the foetus. I marvel at the life growing inside me. How could I have felt so reticent about it yesterday? This is the most wonderful thing to ever happen to me and Booth doesn't even know. I feel great remorse at not telling him last night. I should have told him and done the test right then. Maybe today might have turned out differently if we had been communicating properly instead of not speaking after a silly fight.

I pull my clothes back on and slip the scan picture into my back pocket. A few moments later the doctor enters the room followed by the kind nurse. He walks over to the computer in the room and checks my notes. He turns to me and says, "How are you feeling Ms Brennan?"

"Dr Brennan." I correct him "I feel fine."

"Well," he says, "all your vitals look good." He shines his pen light in my eyes "It looks like all traces of the propofol have left your system. It is generally safe in pregnancy so it shouldn't have had any effect on the foetus. Are you experiencing any pain anywhere?"

"No."

"All right, I recommend you schedule an appointment with your ObGyn but apart from that no other treatment is necessary. You're free to go." He turns and goes leaving just the nurse in the room.

She smiles and says "Your partner is going to be kept in for observation. I can take you to him now if you like?"

"Yes, please." I say and follow her out of the door.

She leads me down several corridors until we are in a different section of the hospital. She walks over to a desk where another nurse is working and speaks to her briefly. "This way, hon." She says and leads me to a private side room. I can see Booth laid in the bed through the window next to the door. He is now in a hospital gown with a heart rate monitor attached, an oxygen tube up his nose and a drip in his arm. It is a relief to see him, but he is still unconscious. I start to shake, and tears roll down my face. The nurse sees my reaction and puts her hand on my arm.

"He's alright." She says reassuringly. "His brain scan showed normal brain activity but the tox screen indicated a large dose of propofol and lorazepam in his system. The propofol should have about worn off but the lorazepam might keep him asleep a little while longer. He had the beginnings of hypothermia, so he's being treated with warm fluids in his IV for that. Once he wakes up, they might want to keep him in for a day or two, but he should make a full recovery."

"He has a bad reaction to anaesthesia." I say to her. Still worried.

She nods and says "We know, it's in his records. There's a big difference in dosages between the deep anaesthesia required for surgery and anaesthesia used for sedation. The doctor is certain that it won't have affected him in the same way."

I nod and move to enter his room. I stop just short of going in and turn to the nurse. Booth is always telling me I don't take time to learn people's names. It is basic people skills he tells me. I want to thank this kind woman and the nurses at this hospital don't seem to wear name tags. "What's your name?" I ask her.

She looks a little surprised then says "Marie Clements."

"Thank you, Marie. For everything."

"You're welcome Dr Brennan." She says before turning and walking away as I enter Booth's room.

0-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-0

I have been sitting at Booth's bedside for about an hour when the door opens. I look up to see Angela standing there. I stand up and she rushes over and embraces me.

"What are you doing here, Angela?" I'm pleased to see her, but I am concerned as to why she has felt it necessary to come all this way.

"I needed to see with my own eyes that you and Booth are ok. It was awful listening to it happening and being completely helpless." Tears fill her eyes and she says, "Are you? Ok?"

I nod "Yes Angela I'm fine. My neck is sore where she injected me, and I'm bruised from the handcuffs but otherwise I'm fine."

"And the baby?"

"Yes. They made me have a scan. Everything is as it should be."

She glances at Booth in the bed. "What about Booth? How is he?"

"They said he should recover without any ill effects. He was hypothermic when they got him here and he's still unconscious from the drugs she injected him with."

I sit back down in the chair next to the bed and Angela lowers herself into the chair that is positioned against the opposite wall.

"I've gotta say, Bren. This is all giving me a bit of déjà vu."

I look at her, confused. "You mean with the kidnapping?"

She shakes her head and says "No. Sitting here in the hospital. Only, last time it was you in the bed and Booth was waiting for you to wake up."

I think about how my life has changed since I was in the hospital. Would we have hunted for the Gravedigger's partner if I hadn't been in hospital unconscious living an alternate life in a dream. I don't think we would. And even though it has come at a personal cost to us once again, at least we know that we have tied up all the loose ends where the Gravedigger is concerned. Neither of us should ever worry about being buried alive again.

"What happened to her Angela? To Lucille Burton?" I need to know what happened to her, to know if I did indeed kill her.

"She's dead, Sweetie." Angela says gently. "You did what you had to do to save Booth. You shouldn't feel guilty."

"I don't Ange, I just needed to know what happened to her."

"Let's not talk about it now. You look exhausted." She says, leaning forward in her seat with concern etched on her face.

I want to tell her she has no idea just how exhausted I am but instead I just say "I am."

She stands up from her seat and says "Well, now I know you're both ok, I'm going to go home, take a bath and try to forget this day ever happened." She says jokingly. She walks back over to me and places her hand on my arm. "Do you need anything?"

I think about that for a moment. "I need a phone, Angela. I don't know what happened to mine. A change of clothes would be good, and Booth will need clothes too."

"Ok Sweetie, I'll see what I can organise and I'll get Hodgins to bring it to you." She says with a grin.

"Thanks, Ange"

"Make sure you get some rest Bren. You've been through a lot today."

I nod then watch as she leaves.

I take Booth's hand and talk to him, hoping he can hear me. The words that I wanted to speak in the ambulance come tumbling out of my mouth.

"It's me, Booth. I'm here. The doctor says you're going to be ok; we just need to wait for the drugs to be out of your system. I love you, Booth. So much. I have something to tell you and I want you to be awake to hear it. Please just wake up, I promise I'll be here."

I cross my arms on his bed and lay my head on them before drifting to sleep.

0-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-0

I am awoken by Booth's voice "Bones?" he says quietly.

I lift my head up to see his eyes watching me. "Booth! You're awake!"

"Where are we Bones?" He says. His voice is hoarse, and I can see he is confused.

I reach up and press the call button for the nurse. I realise that he will have no recollection of what happened to him and the confusion in his expression quickly turns to concern as he observes my dirty, tear stained face.

"You're in the hospital, Booth."

"Hospital?" He asks and I nod. "Why?"

I hesitate, unsure if I should tell him what happened. I know he won't remember but I don't want to traumatise him by telling him before he is ready.

"Bones?" He asks but there is a warning in his tone. He knows I am hiding something.

"You were drugged, and you've been unconscious for several hours. You were hypothermic but apart from that you don't appear to have suffered any injuries. Once the drugs wear off you will be fine."

"Drugged?" He says. "Is that why my head is so foggy? I feel like I've drunk about a half bottle of scotch."

"Do you remember anything?"

"I don't know, what day is it?" He looks around the room as if the answer is on the wall.

"It's still Thursday." I check my watch because I know it's late. "Although it's almost Friday now."

"Huh." He says. "I feel like I've been asleep for a week."

"What is the last thing you remember?" Maybe if he remembers some of it, the rest might not be so traumatic to find out.

He thinks for a moment then says "I was on my way to the Jeffersonian. Angela had called me to tell me she had found something out about William Burton's sister. It worried me, I hadn't spoken to you all morning and something in my gut told me I needed to make sure you were safe so I told her I was coming over so she could show me. I called Sweets and left him a message to come and meet us. The last thing I remember is parking the SUV at the Jeffersonian." He lifts his hand to cup my face and wipes the fresh tears of relief off my cheek with his thumb. "Why was I drugged? And how?"

I am amazed that he is so cognizant and can recall so much from prior to being kidnapped. "She got you, Booth. The Gravedigger's partner. It was Lucille Burton, William Burton's sister. She injected you with anaesthetic and abducted you."

His eyes widen and he says, "I was buried alive?"

"Not quite." I say and he looks at me sceptically. But before I can elaborate, the nurse enters the room.

She checks his vitals and asks how he is feeling. He tells her his head is foggy but otherwise feels fine. She tells him a doctor will be along soon and leaves the room.

As soon as she is gone his eyes focus on me. "Bones, what happened? I need you to tell me."

I hear the double meaning in his words, he needs me to tell him because he doesn't know what happened but also because he needs to know the truth. I am certain that when he finds out exactly what happened he will be angry with me about my disregard for my own safety. I decide to give him a condensed version. "I thought we were both going to die. We didn't know she had taken you until we got the message. I knew I was the only who could save you, but I didn't know if my plan was going to work. Then when I woke up and saw you laying in that hole, I couldn't even see if you were still breathing! I thought I was going to lose you." My emotions begin to get the better of me with each word I say, and I don't tell him as much as I had planned to. By the end I have to swallow a sob.

"Plan?" He says flatly. I do not answer, and he says a little louder and more insistent "What plan, Bones?"

I do not want to discuss this here, not now when he has only just woken up. I am about to tell him that when we are once again interrupted. This time by the doctor.

The doctor checks his chart and asks him how he is feeling. Booth gives her the same reply that he gave the nurse. Foggy but fine. She advises that he gets some sleep which he objects to as he has only just woken up. She reassures him that it is the best route to recovery and that if he wants to go home in the morning, he'll do as she suggests.

After the doctor is gone, he turns his attention back to me. I am expecting him to begin interrogating me about how I saved him from Lucille Burton, but he shifts sideways in the bed making a gap on one side. He opens his arms and says "If I should be getting some sleep, you definitely should be. You look exhausted Bones and sleeping up here next to me has got to be more comfortable than sleeping in that chair."

I don't hesitate at his invitation and clamber up onto the bed next to him. I lay as close to him as I can, carefully so as not to dislodge any of the wires or tubes attached to his body. He holds me close as all the tension in my body melts away and I drift off to sleep safe in the knowledge that he is holding me in his arms, and he is going to be all right.