(The Prince in the Plastic)

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I don't own Bones.

Ooooooooooooooooooooo

Though the mood had turned somber, Booth served the brisket and grilled vegetables and sat down with Brennan and Max to eat lunch. Jared storming out of the house had been a possibility when he'd decided to invite him over and talk to him, but he had hoped that Jared would be willing to listen to him this time. Padme had kicked him out of their apartment and she didn't look to be in a forgiving mood. Booth had hoped that would be an incentive for his brother to finally give up drinking. He had been wrong and he was sure it would be months before his brother talked to him again.

Max felt like an intruder and considered leaving, but in the end he stayed. He wanted to show solidarity towards his little family even if what was happening wasn't his business. He knew that addictions were complicated and he knew that Booth would never talk his brother into giving up drinking. Jared had to want to quit and that was the grim truth of the matter. Booth needed to leave Jared alone for awhile and try to quit wanting to his fix him. The only one that could fix Jared was Jared. "This is really good brisket, Booth. Thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome." Sipping some water, Booth wasn't really in the mood to talk and Brennan and Max could see that.

"Although I don't eat meat, everyone tells me that Booth's culinary skills are quite exemplary." Brennan sipped some lemonade and decided to change the subject. "I am thinking about having a small swimming pool put in the backyard. I haven't priced pools yet or found out what kind of permits we would need. If I have it built it will be Booth's birthday present."

Impressed, Max glanced at Booth who seemed to be ignoring the conversation and smiled. "Well, I'll know where to come in the summer . . . I've heard Parker talk about pools. The way he loves swimming pools I suspect he was an otter in a previous life."

Before Brennan could respond, Booth's phone rang and he answered. "Booth."

Both Brennan and Max became concerned when they saw the look on Booth's face. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut and that meant the call was bad.

Standing, Booth stared at Brennan as he finished the call. "I'll be there as soon as I can . . . Bones, Jared was in an accident. He's in the hospital . . . I need to go. Why don't you stay here and I'll call you when I find out how bad this is?"

"No, Booth. I'm coming with you." Brennan stood up and walked around the table. "Dad, you may stay the evening if you wish. I'll call you from the hospital."

"You guys go and see about Jared. I'll clean up and probably stay the evening." Max waved his daughter away. "Go, its fine. You and Booth need to leave now."

Hurrying into the living room, Brennan snagged her purse from the table near the front door and followed Booth outside. Once they were in the truck, Booth turned to look at Brennan. "The doctor that called said that Jared was DUI. I'm not sure what's going to happen since this is his third DUI . . . He's in surgery."

"We'll worry about the DUI later, Booth . . . This isn't your fault. He was drinking before he came over this afternoon and he continued to drink at our house. He made the decision to leave and to drive drunk."

"I know . . . I know that." Worried, Booth started the SUV. "Me covering up for him a few years ago was the biggest mistake I could have made. I should have let him be arrested for DUI." Backing the truck down the driveway, Booth checked to make sure there was no oncoming traffic. "I need you to call Padme for me, Bones . . . Jared had me as the one to contact in case of emergency. I don't think anyone has called Padme yet."

Her phone in her purse, Brennan pulled it out and called Jared's wife. The phone rang three times and she was moved to voicemail. "Apparently Padme isn't taking my calls."

"We'll worry about her later." Booth didn't know what Padme's deal was, but he would get a nurse or a doctor to call her once they knew how Jared was.

Oooooooooooooooooooo

A loud knock on the front door awakened Max. Struggling to pull his pants and shirt on, he called out as loudly as he could. "I'm coming. Wait for me." Barefoot, he padded down the hallway from the guest bedroom, but before he could arrive someone knocked on the door once more. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Max realized it wasn't as late as he had thought it was. Yanking the front door open, he was surprised to find Hank Booth standing on the stoop. "Hey, sorry . . . I was asleep."

Not sure why Max was at the door, Hank walked in to the house and glanced around. "Where's Seeley and Temperance? I hope they didn't have to work on a Sunday."

"No . . . no, they're not at work." Hank closed the door and ran his left hand through his hair. "Um, Seeley didn't call you?" He wanted to handle the situation as delicately as he could.

Suspicious, Hank turned to face Max. "What's going on? Are they here or not?"

"Um, would you like to sit down?" Max pointed at the couch. "I need to talk to you."

"No I wouldn't like to sit down." Hank crossed his arms against his chest. "Talk to me here."

Shrugging his shoulders, Max walked over to the couch and sat down. His feet cold, he wished he'd brought some socks with him from the bedroom. "Okay, look . . . Jared was in an accident this afternoon and Booth and Tempe are at the hospital. The last time I talked to them was at seven. Jared was out of surgery and they were waiting for him to wake up. I'm here manning the fort . . . Are you okay?" Max stood up, fearful the old man was going to faint or something. He was too pale as far as Max was concerned.

Filled with dread, Hank walked over to the chair next to the couch and sat down. "Why didn't they call me?"

"They tried. Tempe said she tried to call you at home, but you didn't answer. She left a message on your machine." Max sat back down. "Jared suffered a compound fracture of his left leg, some cracked ribs . . . they had to put some pins in his leg . . . Tempe said the surgeon thought he was going to make a full recovery, but he'll probably need therapy . . . Booth had her get a hotel room near the hospital and sleep there tonight while he stayed in the recovery room with Jared. I have Tempe's phone number if you want to call her. I have Booth's number too. We can call one of them and get an update."

"I haven't been home. I've been at the VA." Hank rubbed his face. "My son is dying . . . I was hoping Seeley would change his mind and go see Edwin before he passes away. That's why I'm here . . . I need to go to the hospital and see about Jared . . . I can't believe all of this is happening at the same time."

Max looked down at his feet and stood up. "Let me go put on some socks and shoes and I'll drive you over to the hospital to see Jared. Just give me a few minutes."

"Alright." Hank stared at his hands as they rested on his thighs. "I guess I should buy a cell phone. I never wanted one, but if I had one I would have found out about Jared sooner."

As Max moved down the hallway, he responded to Hank's comment. "I don't own one, but that's just me. Now that Tempe is going to have a baby, I guess I'll need to buy one . . . damn I hate the idea of owning one."

Hank listened to Max and shook his head. The younger man seemed to have an unusual hate for a phone. It was odd passion, but who was he to judge?

Ooooooooooooooooooo

He found Booth in the room assigned to Jared. Hank entered the room, nodded his head at his oldest grandson and moved over to the bed where Jared lay. "Max told me about Jared and brought me over. He's downstairs getting some coffee."

Rubbing his eyes lids, Booth yawned. "He's been asleep since they brought him in the room. His surgeon is supposed to come by tomorrow morning . . . Bones is at the hotel resting. I didn't want her to stay here overnight. She's going to have her baby soon and she needs to rest when she can . . . We both tried to call you, but you didn't answer your phone. I wasn't sure if you were visiting Dad or not."

"Yeah, I've been at the VA for the last three days . . . your father is dying Seeley. Won't you go see him?" Hank turned to stare at his oldest grandchild. "It might give you some kind of closure."

"I don't need closure, Pops." Booth stood up and carefully stretched his back. "I'm going to go over to the hotel and rest for a while since you're here . . . When you get tired, come over to the hotel and rest. I'll come back here and watch Jared." Booth wrote down the address and room number on a piece of paper he found on the night stand and handed it to his grandfather.

Hank took the paper, sat down next to the hospital bed and stared at his younger grandson. "I have a hotel room near the VA. I slept there last night . . . I can stay here for awhile. I don't think I can sleep anyway, but I need to get back to the VA tomorrow morning. Edwin doesn't have much longer . . . he really is dying."

"Yeah." Booth grabbed his phone from the nightstand and placed it in his pants pocket. "I'll be back by one or two, Pops. Thanks for coming and I'm sorry you didn't find out about Jared sooner."

After Booth was gone, Hank stood up, moved the chair to face Jared and sat back down. "I was hoping that you and your brother would forgive your father for what he did at least long enough to say good-bye to him . . . What he did was wrong, I know that, but I thought you could just talk to him before he left us . . . I'll say good-by to him for you. I won't tell him about your accident. I won't worry him now. It won't accomplish anything . . . Son, I'm here. You wake up when you're ready . . . I love you."

Oooooooooooooooooo

Booth found Brennan sitting on the bed in her hotel room. "Hey, I thought you were going to rest."

Glad to see her boyfriend, Brennan smiled. "I did for a while, but my back started to bother me . . . How is Jared? Is he awake yet?"

"No, he's still asleep . . . Max brought Pops to the hospital. He's going to stay for awhile before he goes back to the VA to be with Dad." Booth removed his shoes and laid on the bed. "I thought I might get a few hours of sleep and then go back."

"I can stay at the hospital tomorrow morning while you go visit your father . . . if that is something you want to do." Brennan was sure Booth would turn her down, but she felt compelled to make the offer.

Tired, Booth adjusted the pillow under his head. "No, I would like you to go back home though. Max can take you. There's no reason for both of us to be at the hospital and our bed is more comfortable than this one."

She appreciated his offer, but turned him down. "No, I'll go back to the hospital with you when you wake up. I'm uncomfortable no matter where I am. This hotel is fine . . . Go to sleep, Booth. The front desk delivered a newspaper earlier. I'll read that for a while." When he didn't respond, Brennan studied him and realized that her partner was asleep. Quietly, she removed the newspaper from the nightstand next to her, opened it and began to read.

Ooooooooooooooooo

Suddenly awake, Jared moaned when he tried to move.

"Son, you need to be still." Hank stood next to the bed and patted his grandson's arm. "You have a broken leg and some busted ribs . . . you're lucky you weren't killed."

"What happened?" Jared felt nauseous. The throbbing pain running up his leg worried him. "Man, my leg hurts."

Pumping the pain pump attached by a clip to the bed railing, Hank tried to help his grandson. "Give it a minute . . . it should get better in a minute . . . you were in a car crash. You hit a parked car . . . you were going too fast when you drove around a corner." Max had told him earlier what had happened. Hank didn't mention that he knew that the injured man had been drunk at the time. There would be time to talk about that later. "Seeley and Tempe are over at the hotel next door resting. They've been here since you were hurt." Hank didn't mention Edwin. Jared was in no shape to see his father and Edwin would likely be dead before Jared left the hospital. "Seeley will be back around one or two . . . Max is here."

Max stood up and walked over to where Jared lay. "We called your wife, Jared . . . She said she'll try to come to see you tomorrow, but she doesn't know when. She has to go to work in the morning . . . I'm glad you're awake. We were all worried about you."

Sleepy, Jared closed his eyes. "Where's my car? Is it totaled?"

Before he could answer, Max noticed that Jared was asleep. "It sure is kid." He looked at Hank. "A totaled car is the least of his problems right now . . . what a mess."

"Yeah . . . everything's a mess right now."

Oooooooooooooooo

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