Usual disclaimers apply. And now we're racing to the end of this story...

It had been the longest 24 hours since the time when her parents disappeared. Brennan had been sitting with Booth constantly, dozing on an uncomfortable chair at his bedside, stroking his hand, talking to him, pestering the doctor and nurses with questions, focusing all her willpower on him waking up.

Now he had finally regained consciousness, and had spoken to her. He seemed to recognize her, to know where he was, and what had happened. And then he had fallen asleep again. Finally Brennan agreed to go to the nearby hotel to sleep properly, but had been back at his side before he woke up again early the next morning.

"Bones?" He shifted his head on the pillow and gazed at her earnestly. She fought back a smile, as she bent forward and kissed him gently on the lips.

"I'm here," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"

He moved as if to raise his right hand to his face, remembered, and raised the left one instead, feeling the bandage on his head gently and wincing. "My head feels ready to explode, and my arm is throbbing, but apart from that - I'm just great." He gave her what had probably started out as a smile, but ended as a grimace of pain.

"You can expect to feel rough for a while, Booth. Just get plenty of rest."

He frowned. "What day is it?"

"It's Sunday morning. You were unconscious for nearly 24 hours. Then you slept soundly all night."

"Parker..." He struggled suddenly to sit up, and she gently placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him down onto the bed again.

"There's no way you're fit to go get Parker, Booth. You need to stay here, under observation, until you've got the all-clear. That head injury could have been nasty. If you hadn't deflected the blow with your arm, your skull would have shattered. Just like Matt Garrison. The weapon checked out, by the way. It already had traces of blood on it that matched Garrison's. You were very lucky."

He sat pondering that for a moment, and she absently thought of the Xrays she had studied the day before. She shivered as she thought how close she had come to losing Booth, and he must have picked up on that, because he took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"I must tell Rebecca," he said.

Brennan shook her head. "It's okay, Booth, I called her, I talked to her."

She guessed he must be thinking about the last conversation she had had with Rebecca, because he looked concerned rather than relieved by her statement. "It's alright," she repeated, stroking his hand soothingly. "I explained the situation to her. I think she understood."

"Understood? Yeah, I bet she understood," he said bitterly. "Understood that she has even more excuse to keep him away from me permanently."

"That's not going to happen," Brennan said confidently, hoping she was right. She thought of the conversations she had had with Rebecca, first of all telling her that Booth was unconscious in hospital, then letting her know he had woken up. Rebecca had seemed genuinely concerned, and the two women had had a long conversation.

Booth did not seem convinced. Only the pain in his head stopped him from throwing off all the sensors and tubes and climbing out of bed. A nurse appeared, demanding to know why he was so agitated, and gave him some painkillers that made him sleepy, and as Brennan sat next to him he gradually closed his eyes and slept again. When he woke it was midafternoon. He just lay, looking at Brennan, and she guessed he was thinking about the time he should be spending with Parker at the zoo. "They should discharge you tomorrow morning," she said, in an attempt to console him. "I'll drive us home, and then you can call Rebecca and sort out when you can see Parker."

"She won't let me see him," Booth said morosely.

"Come on, Booth, stop being so negative. I didn't think you were the type to give up," Brennan scolded him. He looked up, as if hurt by her words.

"I haven't given up, Bones. I just don't want the kid to get hurt."

"And Rebecca doesn't want you or Parker to get hurt," Brennan explained patiently. "She's in a difficult situation, Booth."

He looked up at her sharply, then shrugged. "I guess I'm going to be free for a while, with this," he said, indicating his plastered arm. "Maybe I can see more of Parker to make up for this weekend. Just until they move."

"Maybe." Brennan gave him a small smile. No need to say anything until Booth was on his feet again, and they could sort things out properly.

The next morning, Booth was duly discharged, and climbed wearily into his car so Brennan could drive him home. He sat quietly, saying little, and Brennan found herself glancing over at him as she drove, concerned at his silence. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah." Booth tried to summon up a smile, and she appreciated the effort he was making, guessing he still felt bad about missing the day out with Parker.

"Do you feel up to calling into the lab?" she asked. "I promised the others I'd give them a full account of what happened, and I think Angela wants to see for herself that you're okay."

"If you want." Booth gazed out of the window.

"Booth..." She saw him turn to face her. "Please - I still haven't told them anything about us. Not us as - well, as us. Would you mind if we kept it quiet for a while longer? I'm still not used to the idea."

He looked disappointed, but nodded his agreement. "I won't say anything," he promised. "It's up to you. They're your friends."

"They're our friends," she corrected him. "But I'm the one who works with them every day. Just - let's have a bit of time together before we let them know, okay?"

Okay, we have a chapter with the squints next, so if there's anything you're unsure of in this story please let me know so it can all be cleared up. Then there will be an epilogue, and then I'd better get writing the next one, I suppose! It will be called A Weekend Break.

As always, reviews gratefully accepted :-)