Aiden walked with Antonia down the hallway, his hand was at the height of the small of her back without actually touching her, but she could almost feel him leading her protectively toward the ICU. She could see the ward in front of her and stopped suddenly, causing his hand to press into her for a split second, before he stopped as well.
"I need to use the restroom." She said, indicating the door across the hallway, she looked to Aiden and could see a playful look of suspicion on his face. "Come on, we're on the fourth floor. There aren't any windows in there, and I don't have time to learn how to scale the side of a building. I need to freshen up a little."
He laughed a little, and shook his head. "Okay, but if you're not out in five minutes, I'm going to assume you've escaped through the heating vent, and I'll just go eat alone."
"Deal." Antonia said, stepping across the hallway to the restroom, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, pushing the button on the handle.
She stepped to the mirror and groaned at her reflection, seeing two dark, exhausted eyes staring back at her. She grimaced and turned on the water, staring at her features as they were presented to her. Her hair was still up in a ponytail, wisps of dark brown hair falling over her cheeks, her eyes were sunken in a bit, dark circles beginning to form beneath them. She could see the evidence of her earlier panic attack in the pink hue her skin took after crying, and the sticky feeling of her face from her tears and sweat. She pulled her hair from the ponytail and sighed as her hair fell to her shoulders.
As the water in the sink steamed up, clouding the mirror a bit, she looked down at her bandaged knuckles and sighed. Carefully she unwrapped the bandages, catching sight of the blood that had soaked through at one or two places, she pulled the bandage from her other hand as well, tossing it into the garbage. Her hands went under the water before she checked the temperature and she gasped as she pulled them back, muttering a curse as she fixed the temperature and tried again. The cuts on her hands stung, and she held her breath and closed her eyes as the water ran over them. As soon as her eyes closed she could see Aiden's face and almost hear his voice, and her eyes popped open to stare again at her reflection. "Get out of my damn head." She muttered to herself as she reached for a paper towel and wet it under the warm water. She then began to wash her face lightly with the paper towel, the warm water feeling nice against her skin. She tossed the wet paper towel into the trash, and reached for a dry one, carefully dabbing it over her face as she found herself fighting another yawn. She glared at herself in the mirror and tossed the paper towel into the trash. "You look like shit, Antonia." She said to herself, and then turned for the door. She swung it open and stepped out into the hallway. She looked in both directions and saw that Aiden was nowhere to be found. Her brow furrowed, and she let out an annoyed growl.
She started walking toward the ICU ward, and after a moment heard the light footfalls of someone beside her. Aiden caught up and smiled, handing her something as he smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that." He smiled.
She stopped and looked at what he had placed in her hand and smiled. "A Kit-Kat bar?"
"Merry Christmas, or whatever." He said snatching it from her hand again, he started to open it. "I figured you probably have low blood sugar, it'll help." He opened the package and handed her two bars from the candy bar.
She smiled politely and accepted the gift. "Thank you." They then made their way together toward the ICU, quietly enjoying their treat.
They found where Grace's room was, and were granted permission to visit, laughing when Antonia jokingly told the nurse to flash his badge. They stepped forward toward the room, and Aiden could sense Antonia's anxiety immediately. She started to turn around, and ran directly into Aiden's chest. She just stayed there for a moment, his arm around her slightly, she felt the gentle vibration of his laugh. He put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her around. She let out an irritated whine, and moved forward toward the room.
She stopped by the door, looking in on her sister. They could see Grace on the bed, her eyes were closed, a peaceful expression on her face despite the bandages and wires attached to her, and Temperance sit quietly beside the bed, her head down slightly. Antonia couldn't tell if she was sleeping, or reading. It was so still in the room, she didn't want to interrupt.
"Go." Aiden said, right next to her ear, causing her to jump.
She turned her head and glared at him. "Do you want another elbow to the face?" He rolled his eyes and gave her no choice, pushing the button to open the automatic door, it opened. He then gave her a little push to enter the room. "You are not nice." She said, her voice catching Temperance's attention as she looked up from the journal she was reading.
"Ant." Temperance said, standing up from her seat, she glanced to Grace sleeping, and moved quickly to her older daughter. She cupped her daughter's face in her hands, her eyes bright and full of happiness to see her daughter, but also sharp with concern. "Where have you been all day?"
Any resolve that Antonia may have had at that moment was completely gone the moment she saw the concern in her mother's eyes. Without warning, she wrapped her arms around her mother tightly, burying her head in her shoulder, she started to cry. Temperance looked up, her eyes surprised as she held her daughter, she locked eyes with Aiden for a moment, her brow furrowed.
"It has been an extremely long day, Ma'am." Aiden said softly, watching Temperance's acknowledgement with a slight nod.
Temperance held Antonia for several moments, running her hands through her daughter's hair as she softly whispered to her, trying to get her to calm down. She kissed her cheek and could hear Antonia start to hiccup a little, as they stood and she whispered into her mother's ear. Temperance took her head in her hand and set her forehead against her daughters for a moment. "Just breathe, baby. It's okay." She whispered.
Aiden looked over toward the bed, and could see Grace's sparkling blue eyes looking back at him, her brow furrowed as she watched her sister completely lose it in her mother's arms. He gave a little wave, and he watched as Grace lifted her good hand to wave back, but she still looked confused. He side stepped the mother-daughter emotional moment and stepped over to the bed, smiling kindly at the youngest Booth. She still had a confused look on her face as he approached.
"What happened to your face?" Grace asked with a whisper, the fact of which made Aiden smile slightly. He had actually forgotten about his injury from earlier, and to be reminded of it did make him slightly embarrassed.
"It's an extremely long story." He said, glancing to Antonia, and back to Grace, he watched her eyes widen.
"I think I'll have time for it." She smiled, her voice a bit weak, but she seemed in good spirits, the glint in her eye made him laugh softly. "Are you my sister's personal body guard or something?" she asked.
"Personally, I think people are going to need body guards to protect themselves from her." He said, eliciting a giggle from Grace. He sat in the chair beside the bed and glanced to Antonia and Temperance again, noting that Antonia had finally slowed her breathing and stopped crying, and mother and daughter stood just talking softly to one another for a moment.
Once she recovered, Antonia stepped over to her sister's bed, and sat in the chair beside Aiden, sending him a sideways glance when he noticed that the two of them were talking. She sat down and sighed. "Drama queen."
"Ice princess." Grace snapped back with a sleepy yawn. Antonia reached forward and took her sister's hand. "I'm glad you finally made it."
"I am too." She sighed softly.
Grace could feel the rough scratches on her sister's hand and glanced to Aiden, who shook his head. However, they didn't go unnoticed by Temperance, and she wasn't one to just let it drop without mentioning.
"Ant, what happened to your hands?" Temperance asked, reaching forward she picked up her daughter's hand and looked closely at it. "Did you get into a fist fight?"
Antonia glanced to Aiden, and he was about to speak up when his phone rang. He glanced to Antonia's pleading look, he gave her an apologetic smile. "Excuse me, I really have to take this." he said, getting up. He quickly excused himself from the room to take the phone call.