Darkness. Darkness and breathing, and echoes. There was tightness in her chest, tightness that wouldn't and couldn't be released. Crumpled and bent over, she felt the bed around her with her hands, damp with wetness. She could smell car exhaust and something rotten, and the taste of blood was in her mouth. She tried to run, and found that she was in a small room, dark and alone, cold. She fell to the floor, finding that it was also wet and cold, and now the smell of exhaust was replaced with the smell of blood, her clothes soaked, her body unable to move, her fingers scratching at the concrete floor. She could feel her breath catching, her hands wet and the smell and taste of blood seemed to take over all of her senses. She tried to call out but found that she was mute, her voice having no way to escape her throat, no way of getting out.
Temperance could feel her daughter's hand twitching in her sleep, an indication that she was slowly waking, and perhaps dreaming. Her heart rate was elevated, not causing for much alarm, though it seemed that it was rising a bit more. She squeezed her daughter's hand, noting the door of the room opening, Parker stepped inside slowly.
"Bones." He said, his eyes remaining on his sister as she lay vulnerable and small on the bed, unmoving. His stepmother looked up at him and gave him a genuine smile, nodding to the chair beside her, he sat and she put her arm around him, kissing his temple. There was no need to say anything else. They watched Grace sleep fitfully, her eyes moving quickly beneath her eyelids, as Temperance noted that her heartrate was beginning to skyrocket. She reached forward and pushed the nurse call button, and held Grace's hand in hers, trying to calm her.
"Gracie." She whispered, standing up, she put her hand on her daughter's forehead, feeling sweat as it started to form at her brow. "Gracie girl, it's mommy." She whispered. She looked desperately toward Parker, who stood up quickly. "I can't tell if it's a dream or a seizure." She said to him, noticing as the nurses moved toward the room quickly. Grace continued to twitch, her hand was now gripping Temperance's as she let out a small whimper. The nurse entered the room and looked her over. "I think she's dreaming, but I can't tell." She said softly. "Her blood pressure is elevated, her heart rate is elevated. She has a history of absence seizures, but hasn't had one in years." Temperance explained.
Her breathing hitched, and her muscles tightened at the sound of a gunshot. She jumped, letting out a scream. The flash of light from the shot illuminated a face just inches from her own, and she gasped, leaping back. She fell to the floor and she could feel something beneath her, something cold and soft and hard at the same time, she gripped it with her hands, finding that it was a body beneath her, unmoving. She grasped at the clothes and tried to see if it was someone she knew, someone who needed her. She reached up to the face of the person beneath her, and could feel stubble beneath her fingertips. Another shot, another flash of light, and she found herself staring into the wide, unseeing eyes of her father. "No…" She gasped. "No, Daddy!" Suddenly she started screaming, pounding on his chest again and again. "NO! DADDY!"
The scream that came from Grace's lips was loud and intense, her eyes opened as the hand Temperance was holding was squeezed so tightly, that she also let out a cry. Grace's eyes then closed and her body became tense, her jaw clenching tightly as every muscle in her body began to tighten. Temperance was able to pull her hand from her daughter's and move back as the nurses began to get her through what was probably the worst seizure that Temperance had seen her daughter experience. Grace's tense body was rigid for several moments, and just as quickly as her body had tensed, it seemed to relax right before Grace began to jerk violently. Temperance stepped back and touched Parker's shoulder, who backed up, allowing the nurses to carefully roll Grace slightly to her good side, as per protocol. Her skin was turning bluish as she struggled and jerked violently. Tears sprang to Temperance's eyes as her daughter's body was wracked with wave after wave of painful jerking. The nurses tried to ensure that she wouldn't injure herself further, being sure that her jerking motions wouldn't pull out any wires or tubes, or hit her foot or shoulder on the bed as she rode the seizure out for nearly two minutes before finally the jerking stopped, and her body went limp. Temperance noticed that her heart rate had started to climb down, and her blood pressure began to drop as well. The nurses carefully lay her onto her back, pushing her hair from her face, and making her comfortable again. Parker was standing wide eyed and frightened at what he had just witnessed, and was finally able to release a breath that he had been holding.
"Parker?" Temperance whispered, watching as the nurses continued to assess Grace to see if there were any issues to arise due to the seizures. She knew that after such a seizure, there was a good chance that Grace would need to be cleaned up or her bed changed. She put her hand on Parker's shoulder, and he looked at her. "Why don't you go check on your dad." She said, and he nodded. He walked from the room, and Temperance watched as the nurses prepared to change Grace's bed and dressings. She stepped forward, touching the hand of the nurse, as she prepared a damp cloth. The nurse turned to her and smiled, nodding slightly, she handed Temperance the cloth. Temperance bent down to her daughter's face, and gently wiped the sweat from her brow, kissing her daughter's temple and whispering soft sentiments of love to her baby girl, all the while trying desperately not to completely lose control.
Booth listened to the ring of his daughter's phone, the second time he tried the number. There was no way in hell that he was leaving a message. He was just about to give up and start dialing again when he heard a shuffling on the line. "Antonia?" Booth said, his voice sounding a bit harsh, he waited a moment. "Toni, are you there?"
"Hey, Dad." She replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but knowing that she was failing miserably.
"Don't you 'hey dad' me, where the hell are you?"
"Uh…" She said softly, she looked to Harding. "Where are we?"
"Who are you with?" he barked.
"Ace." She said softly. "I was about to head to the hospital, and he got a call about a case." She said. Booth could hear Ace's voice, and then Antonia tell him to shut up. When Booth hadn't replied, she listened. "Dad?"
He closed his eyes, trying to find his patience, trying not to snap at his daughter, trying so hard not to lose his composure in that hospital waiting room. He heard her call to him one more time, and he could hear a gentle nervousness in her voice. "Daddy?" she said, finally breaking through to him. "Daddy, how is Gracie?"
Booth cleared his throat. "If you want to know how your sister is, you come to the hospital." He said, his voice clear and defiant.
"Dad." Antonia said, just as defiantly.
"I'm not kidding, Toni. I'm not playing this game with you. If you want to know how your sister is, you can come here." He sighed. "Where is the case?"
"If you want to know where the case is, you can just…" She started, and there was a bit of struggle with the phone, and he could hear Antonia arguing as suddenly Harding was on the phone.
"Hey, Deuce." Harding said, clearly trying to keep the phone from Antonia. "She was at the diner, I talked to her. That's when I got the call. It's out past Arlington, car in a pond with a victim in the back seat, obviously dead before the car hit the water."
Booth calmed a bit at his friend's voice, he closed his eyes and sighed. "She should be here, Ace."
"Surly Sue isn't going to do anyone any good sitting in that hospital. I needed a squint." Ace said, and it was clear that Antonia was not pleased with his little nickname.
Booth sighed, looking at his feet, he closed his eyes. "Fine." He said, shaking his head, knowing that she was in good hands. "You just keep a close eye on her. You never know what the hell is lurking around out there."
"You got it." Harding nodded. "I gotta get back on the road, we still have another twenty minutes of driving." He muttered something about traffic.
"Alright." Booth said softly. He heard a transfer of the phone, and swallowed hard.
"Daddy." Antonia said softly.
"She's stable, Toni."
"Thank you." She said softly. "I love you, Dad. Tell Gracie and Mom that I love them too."
"I will." Booth said, as he ended the call and sat down hard in one of the chairs beside where he was standing. He put his head in his hands and sighed, looking up only when he saw his son's sneakers standing in front of him. He looked up and could see the frightened look in Parker's eyes, and it nearly made his blood run cold.