Chapter Twelve

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When Booth awoke next morning, he felt dizzy from all the medicine and the sedative drug Lisa had given him. He couldn't remember where he was. He groaned, shifting to find a more comfortable way to lie. His eyes were still closed when he suddenly realized someone was there by his side.

"Bones… Tempe…" he mumbled.

Lisa gave him a glare, but decided to play along instead of correcting him. She kissed his cheek, smiling as she watched him smile slightly.

"Good morning Seeley," she purred. "Do you remember our Sunday mornings? Of course you do, who could forget something like that, right sexy?"

All of the sudden everything came back to him and Booth felt all paralyzed with fear. His ex was lying beside him, god knows why, but if Bones saw this, it wouldn't be nice. Booth tried to come up with something to do. If he'd only had enough strength, he would have kicked her out of this room without even opening the door first.

"What are you thinking about Seeley baby?" Lisa asked seductively, smiling down at him.

Booth was just about to answer when he heard the door slam shut. He first thought it was Bones, but to his relief it was Angela. The relief only lasted a few seconds though.

"Oh my god, you are such a bastard," he heard Angela say.

"And who are you to say something like that to Seeley?" Lisa asked, glaring at Angela.

"Just shut up and get the hell out of here," Booth muttered angrily. But Lisa pretended she didn't hear.

Angela rushed up to the bed, grabbed Lisa's arm and yanked her off the bed. With a scream, she fell to the floor, angrily swearing. Before Angela could control herself, she slapped Booth's face hard.

"That was for breaking Brennan's heart you son of a bitch!" she snapped. "And keep that slut of yours, Tempe deserves someone better," she spat, turning to leave.

"Ange, let me explain, please?" Booth begged.

Angela had just opened the door and slammed it shut, turning to face Booth again. Before she could say anything, a nurse came rushing into the room.

"What is going on here? Agent Booth needs peace and quiet to recover, I'll have to ask you to leave," she said.

"Just get that blonde out of here," Booth said. "Please."

The nurse hesitated, but did as Booth said. Lisa looked mad, but followed the nurse out of the room. "I'll see you later sexy!" she called before the door closed.

Angela turned back to Booth. "It better be good," she said, trying to keep her voice calm.

Booth sighed, explaining everything. When he was finished, his head hurt extremely much, but at least Angela believed him.

"Oh," she mumbled. "So you're saying you don't like her anymore? That you love Tempe?"

Booth couldn't help but smile. "Yeah," he confessed.

"Oh!" Angela sounded a lot happier now. Suddenly she flushed a little, looking at Booth's reddish cheek. "I'm sorry I hit you," she said a bit embarrassed.

Booth mumbled something Angela couldn't interpret. Suddenly a thought struck him. "Bones?" what did Angela mean he broke Bones' heart? Did she know?

Angela bit her lip. "Yeah," she said, "She was here last night and saw you two, I'm afraid she's been crying all night, she almost passed out of exhaustion when I found her, she's in her office now…"

"God," Booth mumbled. He understood Bones would be upset if she'd seen him and Lisa and misinterpreted the whole thing, but what Angela said suddenly made him realize Bones really did love him. A smile crept to Booth's lips as he thought of her. He had just confessed to Angela that he loved Temperance, but he hadn't said it to her, and it was Tempe that needed to hear it, now more than ever. She really deserved to know the truth. That she was his everything. And that Lisa was nothing more than a short affair many years ago.

Suddenly Booth realized he was smiling and immediately stopped as he saw Angela's confused, still a bit amused look. Booth shook his head, suddenly looking sad.

"What am I going to do? Have I ruined everything?"

Angela shook her head slowly. "Just tell her the truth, gosh Booth, I can't remember seeing her this devastated in a long time, she really do need you. Don't ever hurt her, or you'll have to deal with me, got it Booth?"

"Another slap like that? I think I'll pass," Booth muttered, and then he smiled slightly. "I'd rather die than hurt Temperance."

Angela seemed satisfied with that and smiled at Booth. "You are so cute," she said. "If you weren't in love with my best friend, I think I could kiss you."

Booth didn't know how to respond to that and remained silent instead.

"Give me your phone."

Angela hesitated, but handed her cell over to Booth. He dialled the number and impatiently waited for an answer.

Her voice sounded sleepy when she answered and Booth immediately regretted waking her up. He remained silent. What was he supposed to tell her, could he really confess his feelings like this? What if she wouldn't believe him? What if he would scare her away?

Booth had felt so secure, but when he heard her voice on the line, he suddenly felt speechless.

"Hello? Ange, I know it's you, hello?"

Booth swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. "It's me Bones…"

There was a silence.

"Hey, Bones, Angela told me what happened, but it's not what it seemed, you have to believe me, Lisa doesn't mean anything to me, you do…you mean everything to me."

Another silence. Booth started to feel nervous. Suddenly Temperance talked, her voice trembled as she spoke. "It's over Booth, I don't care what you do… or who… When you get back to work, we're not partners anymore, there's no us at all Booth and it never will be."

Booth felt his heart break as he listened to her. He never new about the tears that were streaming down Temperance's cheeks as she hung up, but the pain that ripped through his soul was more than he could bear. A few tears silently escaped his eyes as he let the phone slip out of his hands. He didn't see Angela's sad eyes as she watched him cry. All he could think was – I have lost her forever…

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TBC