Disclaimer: Obviously, I still don't own them. What a pity, really.

Helloooo everybody! Nice to be back. Thanks a lot to everyone who has reviewed!

I almost can't believe it took me over a week to update, and I'm sorry – but you know how life is. Work, family... it can be quite stressful at times! But enough with the talking, let's move on with my little story.

Temperance Brennan had not said one single word since she had arrived at the hospital. She was sitting in the waiting room in an almost catatonic state. She didn't move, didn't cry, though traces of tears were still visible on her cheeks.

She could still hear her own screams in her head and the footsteps of the policemen as they were trying to follow the shooter. They didn't catch him - somehow the man had managed to vanish from the crime scene. She could still see Booth lying on the ground, covered in blood. She had clutched his hand until the paramedics pulled her away, still she had insisted to ride with him on the ambulance, and nobody had dared to protest when seeing the painful look on her face.

Somebody had informed the FBI, as Cullen was already waiting when they arrived at the emergency room. He had called at the lab, and the squints had rushed to the hospital as fast as they could.

Angela sat right beside Brennan and just held her, realising it was no use to try to make her talk. She had offered her some water, but the anthropologist didn't drink a single sip.

Deputy Director Cullen paced the waiting room like an animal in a cage. At times he was joined by Hodgins, who also just couldn't sit still and kept jumping up from his chair to look down the corridor.

Zach sat beside Angela with a troubled look on his face. He was clearly unable to cope with the situation, as there was no logical explanation whatsoever for what had happened.

They waited for about half an hour until a doctor entered the room with a serious look on his face. "My name is Dr. Sam Fulton. Are you the family of Agent Seely Booth?"

Brennan looked up, still not saying a word. Cullen turned around.

"I'm Deputy Director Cullen, FBI, Agent Booth's boss, and these are his partners. We weren't able to reach his parents or any other immediate family so far. How is he, Doctor?"

The doctor looked at his chart.

"I will be honest with you. Agent Booth has sustained some very serious injuries and we have been working very hard to keep him alive. Apart from the gunshot wound he has several broken bones, and a head injury that we will have to monitor closely. We managed to stabilize him and he is in surgery right now, but his condition is still very critical."

Cullen did his best to act calm and collected. "I know he is in the best of hands here. We will all stay here in case there is any news."

Dr. Fulton nodded. "I am very sorry, I wish I could give you better news, but all we can do right now is wait. I'll inform you straight away when the surgery is over."

Hodgins took Angela's hand. Tears wear running down her cheek. She rested her head on Brennan's shoulder, while Brennan still sat there with an empty look in her eyes.

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Time passed slowly in the next hours. Too slowly. Zach and Angela had finally fallen asleep, lying uncomfortably across some chairs. Cullen had left the waiting room to call Booth's parents again, who apparently were on vacation somewhere in the Caribbean and couldn't easily be reached. Hodgins was staring out of the window, watching the sunrise and rubbing his eyes every once in a while. Finally he sat back down next to Brennan, resting his head in his hand.

"You really should try to rest a little, Dr. Brennan."

She shook her head.

He sighed. "Dr. Brennan, we are all really concerned. We are worried sick about Booth, but we are also worried about you. You had to watch all that happened to him. Clearly, you still are in a state of shock, which is not surprising. You haven't said a word since we got here."

She looked down on the floor.

He put a hand on her knee. "We're all scared. It might be easier on you if you let it out. We're here to support you. It won't help Booth if you let yourself dehydrate or starve. "

He saw her eyes getting wet. Finally, a single tear slowly ran down her cheek. She looked at him.

"I can't lose him." She sounded desperate.

He nodded. "I know."

They both sat in silence. After a while, he gave her another cup of water. This time, she finally drank it.

After a while, Cullen came back. He looked exhausted.

"I finally reached Booth's parents. They will take the next possible flight."

Again, he started to nervously walk around.

They continued to wait.

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It seemed like forever until Dr. Fulton finally returned. Everyone stood up and looked at him anxiously. Brennan got scared when she saw the concerned expression on the doctors face.

"Is he..." she whispered.

The doctor put his hand on her arm. "He is alive and out of surgery," he said, "he was brought to the ICU. It was a bumpy ride, but he made it through."

They all sighed with relieve. Hodgins took Angela in his arms.

Cullen drew a deep breath. "So he is going to be ok?"

Dr. Fulton hesitated. "We are doing all we can." he finally said. "We were able to get the internal bleeding under control, which was our biggest challenge, so that is a good sign. We are still worried about his head injury. Luckily, we didn't detect any cerebral hemorrhage, but still, as there is some swelling to his brain, we have to keep an eye on that. We have to wait and see what the next couple of days will bring. He needs time to recover. Physically and, even more, emotionally, I suppose."

Brennan cleared her throat. "Is he awake yet?" she asked.

The doctor shook his head. "He is still sedated, and we intend to keep it that way for a while to help him recover. Still, it might be good for him to have somebody at his side. So if one of you would want to sit with him, that is fine with me."

"I'll go." Brennan said determined before Cullen or the others could speak. She couldn't stand the thought of Booth being alone at this moment.

Angela looked at her. "You think you can handle this? You look so worn out, Sweetie. You've been through a lot today."

Cullen agreed with her, but they both couldn't change her mind. Brennan insisted that the others should leave though in order to get some sleep.

Angela gave her a hug. "Call me if you need anything, Bren. Promise me that. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

While Brennan was following the doctor to Booth's room in the ICU, thoughts were spinning around in her head. She was afraid. The pictures of the warehouse came back to her and made her shudder.

They finally arrived at Booths room, which was located at the end of a long corridor. It had a glass front, and Brennan could see Booth lying in his hospital bed. He was hooked up to machines, monitors and IVs. His left leg seemed to be elevated under the blanket and his left arm was strapped across his heavily bandaged chest. He obviously could breathe by himself, yet he was still getting oxygen through a tube under his nose. Brennan swallowed hard. Dr. Fulton put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know this is hard to watch," he said, "but keep in mind that everything you see is there to help him get better."

He opened the door for her and let her in. Brennan sat down in a chair next to the bed. She carefully touched the back of Booths hand. His face didn't move a muscle. Brennan stared at him with a blank expression. "I almost lost you," she thought. She felt the tears coming again, though she eagerly tried to avoid them.

Every once in a while, a nurse came to check Booths vitals. It was an elder woman with a warm smile. She brought Brennan a blanket, which she thankfully took and cuddled into. She felt exhausted, even though she had told Angela and the others she was doing ok. She tried hard to keep her eyes open, but after another hour, her head sank to her chest and she fell asleep.

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A couple of hours later, Angela entered the Jeffersonian, only to find that Hodgins and Zach were already there. She gave them a surprised look.

"I thought you guys were going to get some sleep after you dropped me of. How long have you been back here?"

Hodgins smiled at her sheepishly. "Couple of minutes, I guess." She could tell he was lying. They probably had spent every minute trying to come up with some new evidence.

Angela glanced at the papers on Hodgins desk. "Is that a copy of the file? The one of Isabel Diaz? How'd you get that?"

Hodgins patted on Zach's shoulder. "Genius boy here and I pulled it from the computer in Brennan's office. I figured she wouldn't mind, as it is for a good cause."

Angela nodded approvingly. "Way to go. I see, we all have the same thought on our mind."
All three looked at each other.

"Let's find that bastard!" they all said at the same time.

Whoa, that was a pretty hard chapter to write and even after reading and correcting it several times, I'm still not quite content. I hope you still like it. I'm not quite sure where I'm heading with this, so constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome!
Chocolate cookies for everyone who reviews! ;o)