Thank you to all who reviewed and thank you for your continued support. Means a lot to me. Vmf447 (thanks for waiting), phyllis, RobinAngelena, kareneb, FaithinBones, GalaxieGurl (perhaps they might), jsboneslover, ZinaR, 554Laura, aadams00, Gailuvspurple, wentzer, yvonnes91 (no need to wait for October for this chapter), bookwormlady, regbride12.
With one hand Booth pushed the IV pole and with the other he held on to the back of the hospital gown he had on. He had always wondered why they had to be left open at the back and for now, to him, it was an inconvenience. He didn't want everyone he was walking past getting a view of his behind.
"Mr Booth, you really should get back to bed." A nurse hurried up to him.
"I'm fine. I let you guys stitch up my forehead didn't I? Let you do those scans on my head, hook me up to this IV too. I mean, I feel fine. I just wanna see my wife, that's all."
"Then at the very least let us get you there in a wheelchair."
"I feel fine okay?"
"You had a head injury. You were dehydrated and had almost no food for five days."
"Which is being fixed with the IV. I promise I'll be back to my room once I talk to my wife."
"I assure you, she's doing well."
"I wanna see for myself okay?" Booth argued as he continued walking. "Besides, her room is not that far away."
The nurse was about to argue about a wheelchair but seeing the look of determination on Booth's face, relented.
"Ten minutes, then I'm coming to get you."
"Fine."
As the nurse turned to head back her other duties, Booth let out a breath. He wasn't a hundred percent yet, that he knew, and he was grateful the nurse didn't give him more grief for being out of bed. A wave of dizziness washed over him as he walked but at least he was feeling better than while being held captive.
The short walk to Brennan's room felt like an eternity and finally at the entrance to the room, he saw her asleep on her bed. He had been assured by doctors and nurses that she was in no danger and would make a complete recovery, but he knew he had to see her. See for himself. The helicopter had taken them straight to the hospital and they had been separated, each to receive their respective treatments. That had been hours ago. Although he had the assurance that she was okay, he didn't like that he hadn't gotten to see her since then. Now, seeing with his own eyes, he felt as if he could finally let go of that breath he had been holding.
He slowly stepped into her room, not wanting to wake her. Groaning softly as his sore muscles protested, he lowered himself onto the hard plastic chair by her bedside.
"Mmmm…. Booth?" he heard her mumble as she slowly woke.
"Hey Bones."
Brennan turned her head, blinking her eyes, attempting to free herself from the bonds of sleep. Her brilliant brain quickly assessed the situation, realizing that he was very likely doing something he shouldn't.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your own room resting?"
"Don't do that. You're beginning to sound like the nurse who didn't want me to see you."
"And for good reason. You shouldn't be out of bed."
"I just had to see you." Booth's tone softened and Brennan broke out into a smile. She reached her hand to him and he took it, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. He beamed his charm smile back at her.
"The doctors assured me that scans of your head show no signs of internal bleeding." She blinked back tears. "I was so worried."
"You know me, I got a hard head. Nothing a couple of stitches couldn't fix." Booth pointed to the bandage on his head. "Good thing they didn't have to shave my hair off."
Brennan couldn't help but chuckle. Booth did love his hair.
"And your ribs are merely bruised, not fractured."
"Yeah. Doc said you hurt your ankle really bad." Booth replied, turning the focus of their conversation to her.
"It's not that bad. As least not fractured, but I'll have to wear a brace and keep weight off it for at least four to six weeks. As I suspected there is tearing of the anterior talofibular ligament."
"And we're both were dehydrated but they're fixing that with these." Booth pointed at the IV line running into his arm. Brennan had a matching one too.
"Don't eat too fast. I know how you get when you're hungry. Our bodies need time to adjust back to normal nutrition levels."
"I know. Not like they gave me a whole steak or something." Booth chuckled. "I'll be fine as long as they keep serving that pudding."
"Aubrey said he'll bring the children by tomorrow."
"Yeah. For now they're happy to know Mommy and Daddy are okay. Christine was worried."
"We are very fortunate Aubrey found us in time. I'm almost certain Jake would have killed us if he caught up to us when we attempted to escape a second time."
"I have no doubt. But I knew it was the only chance we got. I took a chance that the chopper we heard was help. I didn't want Hank and Christine to think we didn't do everything we could to get home to them."
Brennan nodded. "Yes, if the worst happened, I would like them to know that their parents did not give up. Aubrey told me Hodgins and Angela were instrumental to locating us."
"The squint squad never fails right?" Booth grinned and Brennan smiled back. "You sure you're okay?"
"I imagine I feel similar to how you're feeling, but you might be in more discomfort since you were the one they gave a beating, more than once in fact."
"Nah, I'm fine."
"We should take a couple of days to recover."
Booth didn't reply immediately but after a moment of silence, spoke. "I'm gonna get myself discharged first thing tomorrow morning. Jake's still out there. We've got Logan in custody but Aubrey said he isn't talking. We need to figure things out. Get Jake."
"He is dangerous but you shouldn't go against medical advice. Your body needs time to heal."
"It's not the first time we've done this. I mean we've got blown up and shot at and we still went right back to work. We just need these IVs to work their magic and it'll take some time to be a hundred percent again but I wanna get back out there. It's not like I'm gonna run a marathon or something, just gonna talk to Logan."
"Then I'll go back to work tomorrow too."
"What? No."
"There shouldn't be an exception, we're partners. I told you before, where you go, I go."
"You should rest Bones."
"And you shouldn't?" Brennan raised her voice and Booth was glad she had her strength back.
"Quiet down or I'll get kicked out of here."
"I merely want you to recover fully Booth." Brennan huffed.
"I know. But you're leg's hurt. I can get around easier than you can for now."
"The lab has been modified for Hodgins' wheelchair. I don't see how I couldn't work from one."
"Look, just hear me out. Aubrey'll bring Hank and Christine by tomorrow. Spend some time with them. They missed us. Then go back to work."
"And you?"
"I told you what I was gonna do. I'll see them tomorrow night back home."
"We're both still recovering, I'll need crutches at home, we might need help… especially with Hank."
"Aubrey's been sleeping in Parker's room. He'll stay a couple more days till we get our strength back."
"That does sound like a good arrangement."
"As long as we keep our fridge filled with food, Aubrey will stay as long as we need him to with no complaints. I kinda miss his beef stew."
Brennan shook her head, smiling.
"So it's settled then, I'll get myself discharged tomorrow, you can stay another day if they want you to. I'll talk to Logan…"
"I would like to get back to the lab."
"Clark still needs to bring the bones back to the lab, get 'em cleaned. I'll make sure he calls you once he's done that and you can advise him. Good enough for you?"
"And you can't do that with Aubrey?"
"My gut's telling me something and it's gotta be me who talks to Logan."
"To find out the reason why they took us without going through the proper channels?"
"Something like that. I mean Aubrey's already tried talking to him and he got nowhere."
At that moment, a nurse arrived with a wheelchair. "Mr Booth, time to get back to your room."
"Right." Booth slowly got up, allowing the residual dizziness to subside. He pressed a kiss to Brennan's forehead. "Sleep tight. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."
Booth turned to see the nurse smiling at him. "What?!"
He pointed at the wheelchair. "I'm not getting into that."
He deftly manoeuvred himself and the IV pole past the wheelchair and into the hallway, heading back the way he came.
"I apologise for my husband's behaviour." Brennan called out to the nurse who was following behind Booth.
"Bones!"
A short filler chapter, leading on to the coming chapters as we unravel the mystery to B&B's kidnapping. I'll still try my best to put up a chapter once a week or thereabouts. If not from this story then my other one. Thank you again for your patience and support!
