Disclaimer: I own nothing…
Summary: When Parker ends up in danger, Booth calls Brennan… A call that changes both their lives forever.
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Here's the next chapter. Again, the lyrics are from Snow Patrol. This time the song is "Open Your Eyes." Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you enjoy this one… I should have more for you soon.
Open Your Eyes:
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
He sat on the edge of his chair, his eyes on the floor as he wrung his hands, listening to the sounds of the hospital around him. For a moment, he glanced up, as though he felt her there, and then, as quickly as his eyes had found her, they were back on the floor. She looked on sadly, taking in the little boy curled in the chair beside him, and how he swallowed hard as he tried to hold back the tears he wanted so badly to let himself cry.
After a moment, she approached and took the seat beside him. "I brought you some coffee," she told him gently, holding out the Styrofoam cup she held.
It took him a moment to respond, but when he finally did, a sad smile touched his lips, and he accepted her offer with a quiet "Thanks."
"Sweetie, she's gonna be okay." She told him gently, rubbing his arm softly in reassurance.
"You can't know that."
His voice was flat, as though he feared allowing himself to feel anything. She understood. Over the past twenty-four hours, he had been forced to feel far too much. And almost all of it had been painful. "Booth, I know you're scared, and you're hurting, and you feel guilty as hell, but you have to stop blaming yourself for this."
"How? How can I possibly stop blaming myself? I'm the one who brought her the case. I'm the one who was stupid enough not to realize that the first thing this bastard would do was go after my son. I'm the one who made the fucking phone call, Angela! She's in surgery right now, getting a bullet removed, that I may as well have put there myself! She may very well not make it out of that room alive, and I'm the one who put her there!"
"None of this is your fault. You didn't know she would go there, Booth. You called because you needed her. She happened to be in the area, and so she went in… It was stupid, and irrational, but she saved your son's life." Tears were gathering in Angela's eyes as she watched him. He still wasn't looking at her. Instead, his eyes were trained on Parker who sleeping peacefully at his side, not a scratch on him.
As she watched, he jerked his head back and buried his face in his hands. It only took a moment before Angela heard the harsh sob that was torn from his lips, and she could only imagine what he must be feeling. With a gentle hand, she reached out to rub soothing circles on his back, her own tears threatening to slip as she watched him.
"I can't do this without her, Angela. All I want is to look into her eyes one more time. I want to look into her eyes and tell her how sorry I am, and how much she means to me, and… God, I don't even know… I just want her here." He let out a pained laugh, then, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut tight. "I never should have made that call."
"What would have been better, Booth, losing your son, as well as his mother, or almost losing Bren? She's not dead, Seeley. You're sitting here, and you're talking to me like she's dead, but she's not. You are not going to lose her. She's stronger than this; we both know that. Soon, she's gonna be out of surgery, and she's going to wake up, and the first person she's going to see is you, watching over her, just like you always do." She watched as he nodded, his eyes locked on his hands once more. He wasn't buying it; the fear he felt was too strong.
"Booth," she drew his attention back to her when she reached over and took his hand in hers. "I get that you're scared. I am, too, but we can't expect the worst. Have faith… In her. She's not going to leave you like this. She'll pull through, okay?"
He smiled a bit then, and turned his eyes to her. "She is stubborn…"
"Exactly." Angela answered with a smile of her own, as she looked at him for a moment, noting the exhaustion she saw in his eyes. "And when she wakes up, I want you to tell her how you feel…"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, don't give me that!" Her eyes expressed the annoyance she was feeling as she shook her head and watched him closely for a moment. "I'm not stupid, Booth. I see the way you look at her. I see the way you always need to be touching her, like you're afraid she'll fade away if you let her go… And I see how you believe in her, even when she can't believe in herself. She feels the same way, I know she does, but she'll never make the first move… Just tell her, okay?"
He finally gave her a real smile, it was small, but it was something. "I'll think about it." He told her honestly.
"Alright." She answered gently, giving him a half smile as she stood. "Look, Booth, I know you won't leave here until you know she's okay, so I'm not even going to try, but I think Parker needs to get some sleep… Would you like me to take him for the night? I just live a couple blocks away, and I can have him back in no time if you need us…"
"You wouldn't mind?"
"Of course not." Angela told him with a smile. "He needs some rest, and you need to be here… Just call me if she wakes up, okay."
He nodded as he reached over to wake the sleeping Parker. Pulling the boy onto his lap, he explained the situation to his son. After a short argument, during which Parker made it clear that he wanted to see Brennan as soon as she woke, Booth finally managed to assure him that he would be one of the first to see her when she woke up and after kisses and hugs, he sent Parker off with Angela.
And the moment they were gone, he let himself break down, all the tears he had been holding in finally falling as he sat and waited.
All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you
My bones ache, my skin feels cold
And I'm getting so tired and so old
The anger swells in my guts
And I won't feel these slices and cuts
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
It wasn't long after Angela had left with Parker that one of Brennan's doctors had approached, informing him that the surgery had gone well but she was still in rather critical condition. And so now, here he was, at the front desk, just about ready to get down on his hands and knees and beg to see her. The woman at the desk had made it perfectly clear that only immediate family would be allowed to see her in her current condition, and he was torn between an intense urge to strangle the woman, and the emotion that kept building inside of him. If he couldn't convince her soon, he was sure he would break down right there in front of her.
"Look," his eyes moved to her name tag quickly, his voice full of desperation, "Faye, I understand that it's against protocol, but I have to see her." He heard the break in his voice and he felt the tears begin to cloud his eyes, and all he could think of was Temperance. "Please. She doesn't have anyone else. The only family she has is her brother, and I left a message with him, but I don't know if he's gotten it, and I have no idea when he's going to get here. It's my fault she's lying in that bed right now… Please, just let me be with her. I don't want her to wake up alone…"
For a moment, she stared at him, and he almost thought she was going to turn him down again. But then she sighed heavily and shook her head before meeting his eyes. "Okay," she finally agreed, "but if anyone asks, you're the fiancé."
He breathed out a sigh of relief as he gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you." And in an instant, he was taking off down the hall to be with his partner.
Get up, get out, get away from these liars
'Cause they don't get your soul or your fire
Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time
Every minute from this minute now
We can do what we like anywhere
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine
The moment he stepped into her room, he couldn't hold back the tears that began to fall silently. It was strange; he couldn't remember ever having been so emotional in his life. But then, he had never almost lost his ex, his son, and his partner before.
With tears still falling, he pulled a chair up beside her bed and took her hand gently. "Hey, Bones." He began quietly, his eyes moving to their hands. It terrified him that he couldn't feel her there with him, and it only made him hurt more.
"Look, I know you probably can't hear me, but I need you to know, I'm sorry. I never wanted you to end up here… God, I never want anything bad to happen to you. I never want to see you hurt… But now you're here, and I'm the one who put you here, and… And I never got the chance to tell you how I feel." He paused for a moment, pulling in a shaky breath as his eyes moved to her face, and he smiled sadly. "But I'm not going to tell you now… Because you're gonna wake up, and you're gonna pull through this, and when you do… That's when I'll tell you."
Again, he paused, reaching forward to push the hair from her eyes. "I'm not gonna lose you, Temperance. Not now, not ever."
All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you