Chapter 9 – New Beginning's


Booth


Present Day (2 Months Later) …

I sat in the hospital room next to Bones bed.

It had been two months since Bones had been kidnapped, and blown from the barge at the hands of Heather Taffet, a.k.a. the Grave Digger, and Bones was still in a coma. She had yet to open her eyes from the brief moment we were able to bring her back on the deck of the coast guard ship.

I spent almost all my time here, sitting, waiting for the moment that she would open her eyes. She had yet to open them. Her brain function remained the same. The doctors couldn't tell me if or when she might regain function. If she would at all. As the days went on, they were less and less optimistic that she would return to us.

I disagreed. They didn't know Bones like I did. They didn't know how smart, strong, and talented she was. They didn't know how many people here loved her and were waiting for her to open her eyes and come back to us. She would come back. I was sure of that.

I rubbed my face; checking my watch. The sun was just starting to rise on day sixty of Bones being in her coma, and I didn't sleep much of a wink last night.

I sat at the edge of my chair, my forearms resting on my thigs as I looked down at the item in my hand and then back at Bones sleeping form. That's what she looked like. As if she was just sleeping peacefully instead of being in a coma for the last sixty days.

Yesterday her stuffy doctor Ethan Beckett had informed all of us that Bones had a medical directive on file. A directive that said if she had been in a situation like this one—comatose with little or no improvement after sixty days—it could be left up to the medical professionals on what next course of action should be taken. That conversation hadn't gone so well.

"Agent Booth, what I am trying to say, is that Dr. Brennan valued science above all else," Ethan tried to reason in his exasperated tone.

I got right up in his face, well aware that Hodgins and Sweets were also stepping forward in case I wanted to sock Dr. Beckett in the nose. At this moment, I really wanted to deck Ethan Beckett in the face.

"Don't stand here and tell me what Temperance Brennan valued." I growled. "You don't know a single thing about her. You don't know her."

Ethan held up a copy of Bones directive in my face. "I know what she wanted. I know what her wishes are, because she requested this and signed this. Doing anything other than her wishes is being selfish on your part…and against the law."

I ripped the document out of his hands. "What did you just say to me?"

Ethan took a visible step back seeing whatever look must've crossed my face. Right now, I was filled with rage, and his face was looking really good as far as a punching bag.

Ethan took another step back, reaching up to loosen the tie around his neck and smooth out his white lab coat.

"What I am trying to say—"

"I don't care what you have to say," I interjected, not letting him finish that sentence. I still held the papers in my hand. I ripped them in half right in front of his face, and slammed them against his chest. "This paper is meaningless. We are not ending her life support, and I don't want to hear another word about it."

"Sir, I…"

I raised my eyebrow challenging him to finish that sentence. His mouth closed, and I could see him look past me towards Cam who was standing behind me. He wasn't going to find and support with Angela, Hodgins, or even Sweets, so he was turning to the other medical doctor in the room.

"I think it would be best if you left the room," Cam suggested diplomatically.

Ethan looked defeated that with all of the I.Q.'s in the room, and majority of them being Doctor's of Science, not one of them was willing to back him up or vouch for him.

"This conversation is not over. The board will want to speak with you."

I stepped out of the way, my arm indicating to the door. "Your done here."

Ethan looked at each of us before he sighed; his eyes casting down, before he walked out of the room.

No one outside of nurses who came in periodically to check on Bones vitals had come back into the room to see us, and I preferred it that way. I didn't care if I had to fight every legal option out there…Bones was not going out this way. This was one time her science was going to fail.

"Is that…"

Hodgins voiced snapped me out of my thoughts as I looked up to see him standing in the doorway. It was routine at this point. Usually everyone from the Jeffersonian started their day with coming to see Bones, and then Angela and I would normally sit with her again at night.

Hodgins was staring at my hands, his eyes wide as he looked at the small square of paper I had been fidgeting with in my hands.

"Is what?" I asked. "Where is Angela and Cam?"

He looked up from the paper, looking directly at me, his coat draped over his arm now. "Stopped at the cafeteria to grab a coffee since we had a late start this morning." He stepped closer to me; his eyes once again fixed on the item in my hand. "Where did you get that?"

I lifted my chin wondering why Hodgins was suddenly so interested in the item in my hand. "What do you know about this?" I asked, ignoring his question.

Hodgins tossed his jacket to the side so that it rested above the recliner I was sitting on. A recliner that I spent most nights sleeping on when I was here. Wasn't any good for my back, the longer I slept on it…and even worse, Bones wasn't around to fix the damn thing.

"Because I was with Dr. Brennan when she wrote it," Hodgins replied.

I stood now, clasping the note even harder in my hand. "Why were you with her?"

Hodgins open his mouth, before his eyes casted down, and he looked at his shoes. I had an idea based on his demeanor now when that could have been, but I didn't want to rush him. I wanted him to tell me himself.

He let out a long sigh, before he met my gaze again. "It was last year," he began. "When the Grave Digger buried us alive. Dr. Brennan and I were out of air and out of time. She was brilliant—" he paused to look over at Bones sleeping form, before he looked back at me— "—and figured out a way to make the car airbag explode, which created enough force to help us out, especially if we were less than four feet underground—which we were. The downside to the airbag exploding could have resulted in our deaths because of the small, enclosed space. I recommended that if there was someone, she wanted to write a note too…that was the time."

For a moment I stared at him in disbelief—then I looked at him with even more interest. "She wrote me?"

Hodgins shrugged. "I always assumed so, but she never said. I wrote to Angela. When did she give it to you?"

I looked at the letter. "She didn't. When CSI did a full sweep of her apartment, they found this addressed to me and thought I should have it."

I toyed with the idea since the day Bones was abducted on whether to open this letter. Like Hodgins had just thought, he figured that Bones had given the letter to me to read—but she hadn't. I sat here many of nights with this letter in my hand just starring at it—the words calling to me to want to read it.

I looked at the letter in my hand, which weighed almost like a feather, yet it felt so heavy just holding it. Every time I thought I worked up the courage to open it and read it, I thought about the fact that if I did…it would feel so final. That Bones would somehow know that I had opened the letter and never wake up and come back to us. It was ridiculous—I know—but a part of me hoped that if there was something to look forward to in reading it…that maybe Bones would wake up and give it to me personally to read.

Hodgins smiled slipped, seeing the internal struggle I was facing. "I gave mine to Angela to read as soon as I got out of the hospital. I hate the Grave Digger as much as you for what she did to me…but it was also the moment that me almost dying is what finally pushed Angela over her fear to take that chance on us. For that—and only that—I am grateful. I thought her reading the letter would confirm my love for her."

I pondered Hodgins words in my mind. No one from the Jeffersonian knew about Bones's last words to me. No one knew that just before she was thrown from the barge, she admitted that she was in love with me.

It was one of the best things I had ever heard. It also made me incredibly angry that I had to hear it only to not get the chance to say my feelings out in the open to her.

I come here every day; from dusk to dawn to sit with Bones. Every day I tell her how I feel as if she was awake and listening to my confession that I didn't get to say before all this mess ever happened. I hope she hears me. I hope it does something—anything—to maybe want to bring her back, so I can tell her in person.

Hodgins already knew he was in love with Angela. Angela knew it too…but it took almost losing him to take the leap. Unlike Angela and Hodgins, what I had to know was if Bones still meant it even when she wasn't facing death. Would she still want me when things returned back to normal? Would she still want to take that leap? No regrets was what she said.

"Are you going to read it?" he asked pulling me from my internal thoughts.

I swallowed, lifting my shoulder to shrug slightly. "You gave yours to Angela. Bones didn't give it to me. If she wanted me to read it…she would have given it to me."

He nodded, before his eyes flashed with a determination. "Maybe she wasn't ready then. A lot has changed in a year, Booth. If I had to bet—" –he put his hands up realizing what he had said with regards to my past in gambling— "—she would want, you to read it."

"Read what?" Angela asked, walking in the door with Cam on her heels.

I shoved the letter back in my inside coat pocket.

"Nothing," Hodgins and I said in unison.

Angela looked at Hodgins and I suspiciously, thankfully letting the subject drop between us.

"Has there been any change?" Cam asked, extending her hand out to offer me a fresh cup of coffee.

I accepted the cup, offering her a smile of appreciation for the boost of warm caffeine. "No change from the last vital check," I informed, taking a sip myself. All three of their faces fell. "No Zack?"

All of them shook their head, but it was Cam to respond. "Says he still more useful at the lab."

In the sixty days that Bones had been here, Zack had only visited a number of times that I could count on one hand. He hated hospitals, but that wasn't the reason he didn't visit. His coping method was that if stayed at the lab, worked tirelessly to cover for Bones that in some way it would get Bones to wake up. As her grad student, he looked up to her. Zack was always seeking her approval.

Angela moved over to the side of her bed, her hand reaching out to stroke her face, before grabbing hold of Bones hand and squeezing it. "I'm starting to fear she never will wake up," she said despondently.

Hodgins came to her side, his hand on her back as he rubbed small circles. "Don't say that Angie. She will come back to us."

Cam came to stand next to me, her shoulder bumping into mine. "How are you doing?" she whispered.

I shrugged, taking another sip of coffee, my eyes on Bones. "I'm fine."

"Uh-huh," she said in that annoying voice of hers that I hated. That tone that she knew I was lying, and I didn't care. "You look like crap."

I scoffed. "Anymore compliments?"

She placed her hand on my upper arm. "Temperance wouldn't want you running yourself ragged like this. Tired all the time. You should go home, eat a good meal other than hospital food, and get some rest."

I shrugged her arm off. "I'm fine, Cam. I'm fine."

I could see she wanted to argue with me, but glad that she didn't. I know she was only coming from a good place in caring about me. She could read me so easily that she knew I blamed myself for what happened. That I hadn't figured out the clues earlier in that I could get there. Maybe if we had more time, we could have disarmed the bomb, or given her more time to escape before the blast.

I went over that entire time in my head every waking second. I studied our case file over and over again, and each time I grew more frustrated that I couldn't find another way. Another clue, another option, another…anything. I failed as an agent. I failed Bones. I wanted…no, I needed to make things right.

Our conversation was put on hold, when I saw behind Cam's shoulder both Julian and Sweets were just stepping off the elevator and headed our way. I placed the coffee down on the side table next to the recliner, eager to hear the news.

"I thought we would find you all here," Julian said, stepping into the room with her briefcase.

Sweets looked at Bones, his face still filled with sadness before he looked to each of us, his eyes resting on me last.

"Tell me you have good news," I said.

Julian broke out into a grin. "Heather Taffet lost her appeal," she announced.

There was a collective shout of excitement around the room. Everyone here had been affected by the evil Heather Taffet inflicted on our small family.

My eyes glanced back at Sweets who I would have thought—even through his shrinky façade—would also be happy with the news. Something else was wrong. Sweets seemed off…like he was disturbed by something.

"What else?" I asked.

Julian looked at me and then Sweets. "Chér, how do you do that?"

"I am a trained agent with the F.B.I. It's my job."

She grabbed the lapel of her jacket, pulling it towards her, before she cleared her throat and replied, "An hour after Heather Taffet was taken back to her cell, she hung herself."

"Good riddance," Hodgins exclaimed without remorse.

"How did she manage to do that?" Angela asked curiously. "I thought she was in maximum security for the most dangerous of criminals where she was watched routinely."

Julian shrugged. "Don't know, and don't care, cherié. If you ask me, that woman did us all a favor by leaving this world by not sucking any more money out of taxpayers."

Sweets cleared his throat. "She left us something in her cell."

I looked from Sweets to Julian. "What? What did she leave?"

Julian reached in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She extended out for me to take. I felt Hodgins, Angela, and Cam all step closer to me so they could hover over my shoulder. I could tell from Julian and Sweets faces they already knew what was on the paper.

I opened the folded piece of paper to only see two words scribbled in ink on the page.

You won.

After a moment, it was Sweets that spoke up. "When Ms. Taffet lost her appeal, that was the ultimate loser in the game she had set up to play. In her eyes, losing to Dr. Brennan—to all of you—was simply unacceptable. The only logical option was to take her life."

"That's an acceptable response to me," Hodgins agreed excitedly.

Angela met him with a gaze, but even that didn't deter Hodgins. In a way, Angela could and would never understand the horror and pain that Hodgins went through that day. Death was never something I wished or wanted to have to do—but I want to protect anyone in this room. Especially Bones.

"From your lips to gods' ears, chér," concurred Julian.

"It's finally over," Cam said with a finality.

"Not yet" I reminded everyone, my eyes looking to Bones.

"Any changes, chér?"

I shook my head, but before I could respond, there was a noise. A noise that didn't come from the small group all standing in close proximity, but a noise directly behind us.

Everyone turned back around, my legs already moving me towards the side of Bones bed. Angela and Hodgins moved towards the other side, while Cam, Sweets, and Julian all stood at the foot of the bed.

The noise had come from Bones. Her fingers twitched. Then her hand moved. Her forehead started to pucker upwards, before I could see small movements behind her closed eyelids.

"Bones? Bones!" I whispered urgently.

She stirred, but her eyes remained closed. I waited a few seconds, before I called out her name again. This time her eyes fluttered; before her eyes opened, her lashes blinking lazily.

I could only imagine the smile that lit up my face as I looked down at her. I instantly grabbed her hand, her small fingers and palm enclosed in my much larger, beefier one.

"Bones."

I gave her a moment. It had been two months, and I could see her mind was trying to catch up and figure out where she was and what could have possibly happened to her.

Bones looked over at Angela and Hodgins first, both of them smiling wide at her. She looked from them to Cam, Julian, and Sweets, her eyes taking in each of their faces as the wrinkles on her forehead became more pronounced.

She finally turned her head towards me, her eyes looking down at our joined hands, her features only growing more pensive as the moments ticked on. My internal alarm bells started going on, and that feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach was starting to get stronger.

Bones's eyes left our hands, as she looked up at me. Her gaze looked distant. Aloof. She was looking at me with a mixture of worry and also need as if I held all the answers in the world for her.

She sucked in her bottom lip, her breaths coming out in little pants. I didn't want to rush her, but I was becoming more increasingly concerned. So was everyone else as the moments ticked on.

Her mouth opened.

And then she spoke.

"Who are you?"


A/N: I know…you all probably hate me with all these cliffhangers. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.