Title: Deja Vu
Disclaimer: Language, violence
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Chapter Eighteen: I Feel You
They rushed him to the hospital. The paramedics seemed to be very optimistic about his surviving. According to them they couldn't find any wounds, aside from the bleeding, broken skin on his knuckles, most likely from banging at the walls. Brennan had been so overcome with emotion that she couldn't drive herself back to the lab. She took up Agent Stone on his offer to drive her, but instead of taking her back to the lad he took her to the hospital. He knew, deep down, that was where she wanted to be, not at work. Dr. Goodman would have to understand, and if he didn't, well, Brennan found that she just didn't care. She knew that her team supported her in any and every way, if she left, they'd go too.
Brennan wasn't sure but it appeared as though Agent Stone was driving like a madman. She didn't have a siren in her car, that small tidbit didn't deter him from running stop signs and driving well over the speed limit. It made her think of Booth and how he drove the same way at times. Maybe it was something they learned to do, some odd part of their agent training. What would he do if a cop car pulled up behind them? She couldn't keep her curiosity to herself and had to ask,
Agent Stone smiled. "That's the benefit of being in law enforcement. Before leaving I made sure that the officers called in the report of your car, license plate and all, to tell all other cops to leave us be, that we were on important duty. If we should come across an officer they'll probably give us an escort. But I don't think that'll happen, seeing as we're now only two blocks away from the hospital."
He pulled into the parking lot just minutes later. She didn't even wait for him to turn the engine off before she was out the door. It had been four days and she couldn't believe they had finally found him. Part of her was afraid that she would get in the hospital and learn that it had all been a dream, that he wasn't there, that he was still lost somewhere in the world. Agent Stone called after her, yelling something she couldn't hear. She slowed her pace, refusing to stop completely. He finally caught up with her, handing her keys back to her.
"I'll leave you to check on him. I'm going to fetch a ride back to the crime scene, see what the forensic team has found," he told her. She nodded her head in response.
As she got to the nurses' station she wished the Agent Stone had stayed. How was she supposed to get in to see Booth? They only let family into the rooms during situations like this. And she didn't know anything about Booth's ex. Had she come all this way for nothing? Should she lie and say that she was in some way related to him? Would they ask for proof? She stepped in front of the counter, thinking quickly on her feet. The elderly lady behind the counter smiled at her.
"How may I help you?" she asked.
"I'm here to see Seeley Booth," Brennan replied, ready to lie about her relation to him.
"And you would be?"
"Temperance Brennan. I'm-"
The woman smiled again, only this time it was more a mask to cover the pity she felt for Brennan. "I've actually been waiting for you. Word was left by," she checked her computer, "Mr. Stone. He said to allow you access to Booth. That you were his family. I will notify his doctor that you're here. Just have a seat, please."
Brennan couldn't believe her luck as she walked toward an empty chair in the room full of sick and waiting people. Agent Stone wasn't as bad as Booth had said he was, it surprised her. Maybe Booth had never seen the other side of the agent. Or maybe the disappearance of his colleague had changed him in some way. All Brennan knew was that she couldn't wait to see the expression on Booth's face when he found out that his savior was a man he couldn't stand. Life was ironic that way. She only had to wait a few minutes before the doctor came to find her. Patients who had been waiting longer gave her dirty looks, but she shrugged them off.
"If you will please follow me, Ms. Brennan," the doctor said, giving her a polite smile.
"Actually it's Dr. Brennan," she corrected him, climbing to her feet.
They started down the hallway toward the room where Booth was being kept. "Ah, so you are that Temperance Brennan. Your name is a familiar one. You do some amazing work, Dr. Brennan."
She smiled, trying to remember something Booth had told her, something about being nice to other people. "Thank you, but really, I have a great team to help me. Booth is one of them. How is he, by the way?"
He checked his clipboard. "Amazingly well for a man who's been missing for four days. The main issue is dehydration but we're giving him intravenous fluids. He was starved over those four days but that didn't do too much damage, it can easily be fixed. The cuts on his knuckles had signs of a slight infection, so we put him on antibiotics. Those will also help fight his fever. All in all, Booth is a very lucky man."
Relief flooded her body. All of his problems were minor. The paramedics had been right, he would be able to make a full recovery. The doctor stopped in front of a numbered door and informed her that she was welcome to stay until visiting hours ended; which would be in three hours. She thanked him and walked into the room. The beep of machines didn't bother her as much as they had the first time she'd found herself by his bedside. He looked better this time, though he was somewhat dirty and pale. There were dark circles under his eyes, making him look like a raccoon. She pulled up a chair and sat beside him. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, and the comforting beeps of the machines, she would have thought he was dead. He looked so different from the strong, fiery, stubborn agent she knew.
She reached out and took his hand in hers. His eyes fluttered open, turning his head sideway he focused on her. "I thought you were a dream. I thought I had finally died."
"No such luck, bucko," she replied, trying to sound cheery. "You'll be fine. According to the doctor all your problems are minor. You'll probably be out of here in a day or two."
"That's good," he agreed. "I can 't wait to sleep in my own bed. Hell, even the couch is looking comfortable right about now. You know, there's only one thing I really want to know, how did you find me?"
"I didn't," she told him. "Agent Stone found you. He drove me here and left word with the nurses that I was to have contact with you. He's not really as bad as you said."
Booth shook his head. "He's a strange man, that one. I'll have to have a chat with him when I get out of here. I'd really like to thank him."
"Well, you're safe now. You're going to be okay," she preached. "Life is going to be okay."
"Any idea who did this to me?"
She shook her head. "No, but they have a forensic team all over that place. I'm sure they'll find out who did it."
He looked at her, really looked at her. "Bones, go home, you look like hell."
"Look who's talking," she responded.
He smiled. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll still be here tomorrow. You said it yourself, I'm safe now. Go home and get some sleep. And I don't want to see you here tomorrow unless it's your lunch hour. At this rate you're going to get fired."
She stood, knowing that what he said was true. And she did feel exhausted. The day had been a tiring one. "Alright, I'll see you at lunch time tomorrow." It came as much a shock to her as it was to him when she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Then she was gone.