This must be some record, posting an update for a story after more than 5 years? So believe it or not I completed this chapter in one day. Which is much faster than I normal do. I gave this chapter less edits than I normally do too, so pardon any mistakes.

I'm trying to finish this story and I have a couple of other story ideas in my head. And of course I have New Beginnings to complete. So much writing to do and so little time! A shout out to everyone who have read this story and were patiently waiting for me to continue it, this chapter is for you guys.

So picking up where we left off… … here goes.

Booth groggily woke to the sounds of beeping machines. He groaned. His throat felt like he had swallowed sandpaper. A strange sense of déjà vu came over him. His eyelids felt heavy and he blinked against the harsh white light.

"Booth?"

"Wha… …" he slurred.

"It's okay Booth, you're waking up from the anaesthesia."

Anaesthesia? What? It came back to him in a jumble of memories. His left leg had hurt more than usual in the past couple of days. A fact he had tried hard to hide from Brennan. She tended to worry over him and he had been glad he had managed to convince her to go home to rest. That was when he started to feel bad, everything seemed to take more effort. Even lifting his arm. He started to have difficulty keeping whatever he ate down and his leg hurt as much as the first time he woke up in the hospital. He remembered the nurse in the ward looking worried when she came to check on him, and her paging for Dr Casey. Something about a fever spiking. Things got hazy from there.

"Bones?" He opened his eyes, squinting in the light.

"I'm here."

He felt her take his hand. His eyes now accustomed to the fluorescent light of his room scanned his surroundings. He tried to move his hand to her but even that action drained him.

"What… …. happened?" He tried to lick his lips. They felt dry and chapped. He swallowed again, hating the burning sensation at the back of his throat.

"One of the implants in your leg got infected. They had to replace it."

"Tired…" his eyelids felt like lead. The room started to spin a little.

"You're still drowsy from the anaesthesia. Try to rest."

He didn't need any more encouragement. Sleep claimed him before he could even consider protesting.

When he woke again, the fogginess in his brain seemed to have lifted but he still felt as tired as before. His eyes stared at the white ceiling, and as he turned his head he realised where he was. Damn it! I'm back in the ICU.

He remembered Brennan telling him about one of his implants, something about an infection. They must have operated on his leg again. He closed his eyes, trying to steady his breathing, fighting the rising frustration. All that progress he had made during physical therapy had surely now been wasted. His turned his head to find a mop unruly brunette hair on the right side of his bed.

Bones!

With great effort, he ran his fingers gently through her hair. Brennan lifted her head, she looked fatigued and her eyes revealed that she had done a fair share of crying.

"Booth! You're awake."

"Yeah," he croaked. "You look exhausted."

"So do you." Brennan smiled. "I'm glad you're okay. Dr Casey said the surgery was a success. Your fever should settle soon." She reached a hand to touch his forehead which felt warm, he was still having a fever.

"Hey I got blown up at war. What's your excuse?"

Brennan smiled. "I was worried about my boyfriend."

Despite the situation, Booth smiled. He would never tire of hearing her refer to him as her boyfriend. "Like you said, I'm gonna be okay. You should go home, get some rest."

This wasn't his first surgery, she knew the drill. She dipped her finger into the cup of water next to Booth's bed, wetting his lips. He licked his lips, grateful for the cooling sensation.

"No! The last time I left, you ended up in surgery."

"Come on Dr Brennan. You don't believe in stuff like that. Me needing surgery again had nothing to do with you not being here." He tried to appeal to the scientist in her.

"I'm not superstitious but I'd like to see with my own eyes that you're okay."

"I'm okay. Or as okay as I can be. I just – " Booth blew out a breath, no more secrets from her. "I'm just mad alright? I mean I'm back in the ICU, I have another surgery to recover from…."

He closed his eyes, suppressing his anger. All that progress was for nothing? He had made her cry again.

"I'm a terrible person."

"No Booth you're not."

Booth turned his head away from her, refusing to open his eyes.

"Booth look at me. Please."

He couldn't say no to her. He turned, opening his eyes to verify the fact that she was crying again.

"Nobody wanted this. It's not your fault. We knew there was a chance this would happen. Given that you were initially treated in Afghanistan, there was a possibility this would happen. But it's fixed now. Dr Casey had to operate on your leg again. They replaced the infected implant. I was afraid I might lose you."

"So all that hard work to get back on my feet was for nothing?" Booth's voice was emotionless, cold.

"It's a setback, I know but you're the one who never gives up."

"I just can't be the man you need right now Bones."

"I don't need you to be anything. I just need you to recover."

"And how long's that gonna take huh?"

"I don't know but I don't care. I'll wait. I still want to take you home with me. Even if I have to wait a month, a year, I don't care. You… … no we need to start again to get you back on your feet. But that's alright. I'd rather that than you dying."

His Bones declaring her undying devotion to him. For a time, he didn't think he'd ever hear that. Her words lifted his mood somewhat. He again determined to work hard at his recovery, refusing to give in to the part of him that was tempted to wallow in self-pity. How did he get so lucky? One day, one day I'll be the man you deserve.

"I don't deserve you Bones."

"You've been there for me our entire partnership. Let me be here for you."

Booth sighed. "I'll make it up to you. I promise." He brought her hand to him kissing it gently.

"Promise me you won't die."

"I'll try my best."

Veronica breezed in, noticing the sombre mood, she tried to lighten the situation. "Well I knew you missed me Seeley but you didn't have to go to this extent. All you needed to do was call."

Booth gave the motherly nurse a tiny grin, "You should've told me that earlier. Saved my darlin' Bones here a whole lot of heartache."

"Yes poor Temperance was a bag of worry. You should've seen her."

"I resent the both of you talking about me when I'm sitting right here." Brennan protested.

"I'm sorry Bones. How long has she been here?" Booth directed the question at Veronica.

"You came out of surgery yesterday night. That's more than twenty-four hours ago."

"Do me a favour will ya? She needs to go home and get some rest."

"I think so too."

"What?! Would you both stop. I'm still here."

"Bones look. I need to get some rest but so do you. You look worn out. It's gonna take some time for me to get better. You need to pace yourself, if you get sick who's gonna come visit me huh?"

"For someone in the ICU, he makes a good point." Veronica chipped in.

"I'm in good hands here." Booth nodded to Veronica.

"Yes I have more than twenty years of nursing experience under my belt." She winked at Booth.

"You can come visit me tomorrow. I promise I'll be fine. Besides they'll probably keep drugging me up anyway."

"Again, he's right. And if anything changes, I promise I'll call you immediately. Not that we think anything would change."

"Go home Bones." Despite his weakened state, Booth managed to flash her his patented charm smile.

"My, if I was a young again I'd fall for that smile in an instant." Veronica teased as she injected the IV bag connected to Booth's arm with a sedative. "I can see why you're reluctant to leave this handsome specimen here. But, don't worry, his heart belongs to you. Everyone knows that."

Before Brennan could respond, Booth's eyes closed, the effects of the medication kicking in. She smiled. She loved him, undeniably so. She leaned over his sleeping face, placing a kiss on his cheek.

… …

The next few days were seemingly mundane. Booth's recovery progressed faster than with his first surgery. His other injuries were already on the mend and this time round he didn't have a pneumothorax to contend with. He had spent almost six weeks in the hospital by the time he left the ICU a second time and his broken left clavicle had healed nicely, allowing him free use of both arms. His progress also allowed Brennan to feel confident enough to leave him alone for longer periods of time.

It was one such evening when she visited Booth when he brought it up. He had been toying with this idea for some time but knew she needed convincing. He knew he couldn't let her put her life on hold for him. He loved her too much for her to do so. He also figured it wasn't healthy for her to spend all her time with him, worrying over him.

"I think you should go back to work at the Jeffersonian."

"And leave you alone?"

"No, you can still come visit me after work."

"I don't think I'd like solving cases without you, or working with another agent."

"I don't like the idea of you working with someone else too. I mean not that I'm jealous or anything but the thought of you going into the field with someone else… let's just say I don't trust anyone to protect you like I can."

"I was able to look after myself rather well when I was in Maluku."

"I know Bones but it's my job to protect you from now on. Although now it doesn't seem so." Booth sighed. "Not that I can do it from my hospital bed anyway."

"I find that I have no interest in doing any field work at this current moment."

"But you need to work. Do some archeological anthropology stuff or something. Study some really old bones maybe? We both know that I'm gonna be out of commission for a while and you can't be keeping me company for months. You need to get back to your old life, even if it means it's without me."

"I don't like how that sounds, without you."

"I'm not saying break up or anything, just move on. Get on with life, and I'll be here, waiting. When I'm back on my feet I'll be able to join you." He didn't know when that would be or whether that was ever going to happen, which made what he was trying to persuade her to do all the more important.

Brennan hesitated, considering Booth's proposition.

"You've left me alone for longer amounts of time now and I'm still good. Nothing bad's happened. I'm still recovering. That's proof that it's okay to leave me for an entire day and go back to work right?"

Brennan smiled. "You used logic on me."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I? So you agree? Go back to work?"

"I'd like some time to consider your proposition before deciding if I would agree to your request."

Allowing her life to go back to normal while he recuperated felt selfish. She needed to think, she wanted to consult someone on this. Much as she hated it, she knew just the person to talk to.

What do you all think? Any good? Who do you think Brennan's going to talk to?

My next post would be for New Beginnings but I would update this story, hopefully frequent enough. A review left on your way out would be much appreciated.